Current issue dated: 10 May 2008| 2100

Highlights

BACKLASH HITS NEW LABOUR

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Gordon Brown humiliated at polls, as millions are bitter over war and inequality » more

Haiti: occupation and resistance

Peter Hallward spoke to Socialist Worker’s Anindya Bhattacharyya about oppression, food riots and the growing struggle against neoliberalism » more

Fight for Bolivia’s future lies behind referendum

Bolivia is at a crossroads once again » more

Why anti-abortionists want to cut the time limit

A major debate on abortion will take place in the House of Commons on Monday 12 May, writes Farah Reza » more

Heathrow Airport expansion plan is big business for Gordon Brown

New Labour’s plans for airport expansion at Heathrow are part of its commitment to the market, writes Elaine Graham-Leigh » more

Michael Rosen: New Labour's private degeneration

Regeneration has become a byword for New Labour’s disregard for democracy and slavish devotion to business, writes Michael Rosen » more

Full contents

May 2008 elections

» Backlash hits New Labour

Gordon Brown humiliated at polls, as millions are bitter over war and inequality

» Right wing policies to blame for Gordon Brown’s rout

New Labour was thrown into disarray last week after polling its worst election results in 40 years in local council elections in England and Wales and losing the high profile election for London mayor to Tory candidate Boris Johnson

» Has David Cameron revived the Conservatives?

Many people across Britain are horrified at the apparent “resurgence” of the Tory party after last week’s elections

» Movement must counter the Nazis

The fascist British National Party (BNP) managed to grab a London assembly seat last week

» Build the left for the battles that lie ahead

The rout suffered by New Labour on Thursday of last week and the defeat of Ken Livingstone as mayor of London have left millions of people fearful of the prospect of a return to Tory government

» Radical vote squeezed at the ballot box

The closely fought mayoral contest between Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson dominated the London elections - and seriously hampered the Left List’s ability to make an impact

» Ken Livingstone's long march to the right

The underlying assumption behind Ken Livingstone’s campaign for re-election as London’s mayor was that the votes of the left were in the bag, and that his key job was to capture the votes of the right

» Wales: more disaster in Labour’s heartlands

In an echo of the general trend, Labour lost over a quarter of the seats it was defending in the elections in Wales

» Eleven years on from Labour's 1997 victory - how hope turned to despair

The appalling election results last week have sparked a refreshing, if slightly panicked, debate inside the Labour Party

» Nature of Labour is at root of crisis

Every previous Labour government has provoked a major rebellion from the left after it betrayed the hopes that had led to its election

» The failed strategy of reclaiming Labour for the left

The alternative of “reclaiming” Labour has proved a dead end

» Who Says?

Reactions to the election results

News

» Packed meeting in parliament backs sacked nurse Karen Reissmann online only

More than 200 health workers, trade unionists, service users and MPs packed into a room in the House of Commons yesterday to show their support for Karen Reissmann, the Manchester psychiatric nurse and leading union member who was sacked for speaking out against cuts and privatisation

» Crucial abortion vote on 20 May - mobilise for the demonstration outside parliament online only

On Tuesday 20 May the first vote on abortion law in 18 years will take place in the House of Commons

» London anti-Nazi protesters vow to drive BNP out of City Hall online only

Around 300 people rallied at short notice outside City Hall in London on Tuesday evening to protest against the fascist British National Party (BNP) grabbing a seat on the London assembly in last week’s elections

» Pete Doherty and Jon McClure speak out against the BNP online only

Two of the musicians who played at the recent Love Music Hate Racism (LHMR) carnival attended the Tuesday evening protest against the BNP held outside London’s City Hall

» Death toll rises in Sadr City siege

Over 800 people are feared dead in the poor slums of Baghdad following a brutal month-long siege by US forces and their Iraqi allies

» Reality of the unwinnable war in Afghanistan

The US has announced it will deploy an additional 7,000 soldiers to Afghanistan to plug the gap left by its European allies

» US air raids fuel Somalia's flames of resistance

Somalia exploded in a wave of riots on Monday in protest at rocketing food price rises

» US dockers strike against war

Tens of thousands of dock workers across the west coast of the US struck on 1 May in protest at the wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan

Cartoons

» Tim: Gordon Brown's meltdown

» Tim: 'playing for laughs'

International

» Fight for Bolivia’s future lies behind referendum

Bolivia is at a crossroads once again

» Pay struggles shake Egyptian regime

The government of Hosni Mubarak announced last week that all Egyptian public sector workers would receive a 30 percent wage increase as part of an effort to head off growing militancy

» South Koreans protest on May Day online only

Some 15,000 people participated in the May Day demonstration in Seoul, the capital of South Korea

» Anger at Burma storm deaths

Storms in Burma had killed tens of thousands, with many thousands more still missing, as Socialist Worker went to press

» Bangladeshi workers win rice

Garment factory bosses in Bangladesh have been forced to hand out sacks of subsidised rice to workers in response to a growing strike wave in protest at rising food prices

» Farmer suicides rise in India

Shocking statistics reveal that the rate of farmer suicides in the Indian state of Maharashtra has gone up in recent years despite continual pledges of state assistance

Features

» Socialists and history: a battle for the past

A People’s History Of The World by Chris Harman has just been republished by Verso in an edition for the US as well as Britain

» Haiti: occupation and resistance

Peter Hallward spoke to Socialist Worker’s Anindya Bhattacharyya about oppression, food riots and the growing struggle against neoliberalism

» Heathrow Airport expansion plan is big business for Gordon Brown

New Labour’s plans for airport expansion at Heathrow are part of its commitment to the market, writes Elaine Graham-Leigh

» Stopping airport expansion

‘If a third runway is built at Heathrow, my house will be directly under the flight path

» Why anti-abortionists want to cut the time limit

A major debate on abortion will take place in the House of Commons on Monday 12 May, writes Farah Reza

History of war

» The beginning of organised violence and the origin of war

Neil Faulkner's series starts with a look at how the first conflicts between humans developed

Letters

» Letters

Reviews

» Review of Donald Freed's new play Patient Number One at the York Theatre Royal online only

It is December 2009

» Art In The Age of Steam

Dan Swain explores a new exhibition that showcases art influenced by the development of the steam railway network

» Chinese Whispers: Exposing the exploitation of migrant workers

John Pilger recently edited a book of articles by investigative journalists including Martha Gellhorn, Robert Fisk, Seymour Hersh and Paul Foot, written over recent decades

» The Red Book

Meaghan Delahunt’s second novel is about the coming together of three very different characters in India

» The Birthday Party

The Nobel prize for literature winner Harold Pinter’s first full-length play returns to the theatre it made its debut at 50 years ago

» Honeydripper

Honeydripper is set in Alabama in the 1950s and stars Danny Glover

Editorial

» Palestine: 60 years of violent oppression by Israel

Sixty years ago next week the state of Israel was founded through the violent theft of historic Palestine

» Storms and flooding aren't just natural disasters

Thousands dead and more than a million homeless - a grim statistic from Burma in the aftermath of the severe cyclone that hit the country last weekend

» Tony Blair’s malign influence

Time magazine has just revealed a list of who it believes are the 100 most influential people in the world

Debate and Comment

» Michael Rosen: New Labour's private degeneration

Regeneration has become a byword for New Labour’s disregard for democracy and slavish devotion to business, writes Michael Rosen

Obituary

» Ron Yates

Preston SWP are deeply saddened by the death of Ron Yates

News & Reports

» Birmingham Fujitsu workers to ballot for fight against plant closure online only

Workers at Fujitsu’s Birmingham site are balloting for action ballot over the company’s plan to export production to Texas

» Further education unions reject pay offer

The six further education unions – UCU, GMB, Unison, Unite, ACM and ATL – have rejected a 2

» Teachers' union must capitalise on momentum

Teachers in the NUT union are debating their strategy in the fight against Gordon Brown’s pay limit, following their hugely successful national strike on 24 April

» Debating the pay fight

Delegates to the PCS civil service workers’ union conference in two weeks’ time will discuss the next stage in the union’s fight for decent pay

» Health workers must throw out pay deal

After two consecutive years of pay cuts the government is telling more than a million health workers that we must tighten our belts yet again with our new pay deal

» St Andrews students protest for affordable accommodation

Students at the University of St Andrews protested on Friday of last week against the closure of Fife Park, one of the university’s two budget halls

» Teachers at Withins School in big vote for action

Members of the NUT teachers’ union at Withins School in Bolton were set to strike on Thursday of this week, after a 94 percent vote for action

» Reports round-up

Wybone workers' pay strike | Lambeth Unison won’t be gagged | Bosses ignore own report into Yunus Bakhsh

» Get behind Shelter workers

Shelter workers struck across the country for 48 hours last week in defence of pay and conditions as well as against dismissals and management bullying

» Single status round-up

Leeds | East Staffordshire | East Dunbartonshire | West Dunbartonshire | Allerdale

» March in defence of union activist Eddie Fleming

Up to 100 people marched through Hastings last Saturday to protest against the sacking of Eddie Fleming, a PCS civil service workers’ union rep, by management at the Hastings Child Support Agency office

» BMA employees to strike over performance related pay

Members of the GMB union who work at the British Medical Association (BMA) have voted overwhelmingly for strike action over an imposed system of performance related pay

» Anger at Usdaw conference expanded online

Delegates gathered at the Usdaw shop workers’ union conference in Blackpool last week

» Frome demonstration for sacked Butler and Tanner print workers online only

A demonstration in support of sacked print workers took place last Saturday in Frome in Somerset

» May Day marches round Britain online only

Thousands of people celebrated International Workers’ Day with marches taking place in towns and cities across the country

Meetings and events

» Meetings and events

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