Issue: 1949
Dated: 30 Apr 2005
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After eight years of New Labour rule, Britain remains one of the most class divided societies in the world — and things are getting worse. If you are born into poverty, you will almost certainly live and die in poverty.
Around 300 people gathered in Glasgow last Saturday for a conference on "Voices from Africa, Voices of Resistance".
Forty Asian workers are gathered outside the Ambala Foods factory in Stratford, east London. They stand in small groups chatting in several different languages, playing cards or eating curry from polystyrene bowls.
No welcome for academy plan Teachers and parents got an excellent response from the public when they petitioned last weekend against plans to introduce city academies into Islington, north London.
Birmingham Teams of volunteers flocked to Salma Yaqoob’s campaign headquarters over the weekend and distributed 3,000 placards around the Sparkbrook & Small Heath constituency. Others spent many hours canvassing, distributing campaign material and organising.
Striking workers closed Glasgow’s subway system for four days from Friday of last week. The workers, members of the T&G union, struck in support of their pay claim and against attacks on conditions.
Jubilant delegates left the conference of the university lecturers’ AUT union in Eastbourne on Friday of last week after a historic gathering.
The Iraq war was illegal, and Tony Blair knew it. That is the central charge of a leaked document about advice presented to the prime minister before the assault on Iraq began.
The front page news in New York City last week was former senator Bob Kerrey’s announcement that he was considering a campaign for mayor next year against incumbent Michael Bloomberg. Kerrey (not to be confused with fellow Democrat John Kerry) is a famous war hero — winner of the Congressional Medal of Honour, the US’s highest military decoration.
China has witnessed three weekends of anti-Japanese protests. Small protests began at the start of April. Then on Saturday 9 April thousands of protesters, mainly university students, marched through the capital Beijing and smashed windows at the Japanese embassy.
Japan has been a key element in US global policy since the US occupied the country after the Second World War. The Japanese and US ruling classes want to see greater Japanese military power.
The US has appointed one of Saddam Hussein’s most feared generals as "a special security adviser" to the new Iraqi government. Wafiq al-Samarrai was head of General Military Intelligence during the uprisings in the Shia south and Kurdish north following the end of the 1991 Gulf War.
The South American country of Ecuador is in turmoil. Lucio Gutierrez, the president in whom the mass movement once placed great hopes, has fled the country.
In a series of meditations the Nicaraguan poet and priest Ernesto Cardenal described the "kingdom of god" as a socialist society. Twenty years later, in 1979, Cardenal and three other Catholic priests became ministers in a Sandinista government which came to power through revolution.
Next month marks the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Hitler’s Nazi regime. But May will also see over 100 candidates standing for the fascist British National Party (BNP) in the general election.
One of the greatest myths about the Second World War is that Allied armies liberated Europe from Nazism on their own. The truth is that many national liberation movements played a key role in driving the Nazis out of their own countries.
Giovanni Pesce was born in France to a family of anti-fascist Italian emigres working as miners. He joined the Communist Party and fought in the Spanish Civil War for the International Brigades.
Muslims form the biggest non-Christian religious group in Britain. There are 1.6 million Muslims in the country, about 2.7 percent of the population. Most are concentrated in inner city areas.
George Galloway, the Respect candidate for Bethnal Green & Bow, went head to head with his Labour opponent Oona King in a heated debate held in the east London constituency on Wednesday of last week.
Thursday 28 AprilWorkers Memorial Day
Harold Rosen, one of the surviving veterans of the struggle against Oswald Mosley’s fascists in east London in the 1930s, has thrown his weight behind George Galloway’s election campaign.
I hear that Trevor Manuel, South Africa’s finance minister, has appeared in the British press calling for people to vote Labour because of the party’s commitment to tackling world poverty.
The issue of Iraq has moved to where it should be — at the centre of this election campaign.
Sugar is as much bound up with the history of slavery and colonialism as cotton, which this column looked at last week.
Respect candidate Janet Alder, who is standing against Labour minister David Lammy in Tottenham, north London, took her campaign to the Broadwater Farm estate last week.
Lindsey German, Respect’s candidate for West Ham, won loud applause when she told a student hustings that we have to fight in the coming election to "make poverty history, make war history".
Labour candidate Oona King has been accused of "dividing the community" in Bethnal Green & Bow after her campaign distributed two different leaflets to different areas — one of which removed any reference to Muslims.
Babar calls for anti-war vote Babar Ahmad, the south London IT worker facing extradition to the US on trumped up terrorism charges, has called on voters to back anti-war candidates, including George Galloway.
"Galloway is a popular man in Bethnal Green & Bow, where over 40 percent of the population is Muslim, and King’s 10,000 majority is looking increasingly shaky."UPI press agency report syndicated to papers around the world last week
Download a PDF of <a href="graphics/1949/1949_mayday.pdf">Socialist Worker's May Day Greetings</a>. Six tabloid pages 1,283 KB
The reality that Bloody Sunday the play depicts is not that of Bloody Sunday itself, but of the tribunal.
Bloody sunday is the latest in the series of tribunal plays staged by the Tricycle Theatre in London.
Vera DrakeDirected by Mike Leigh
The Jerwood Photography awardsOpen Eye Gallery, Liverpool, until 4 JunePhone 01517099460
The general election campaign has only caught fire when the issue of Iraq has been raised. On the doorstep and on the streets, people are angry about being lied to, angry at Tony Blair’s arrogance and angry at the soaring cost of the war — both in terms of lives and money.
The death of Steve Donnelly is an enormous loss to the labour movement. Coming from Kirkby, a solid working class town on the outskirts of Liverpool, Steve began and finished his working life with AC Delco, a car components engineering business.
Your story (Socialist Worker, 16 April) on the scandals surrounding postal voting points to a very serious issue.
The new millennium has already seen millions march against war — from London to Mumbai, from Washington to Cairo. Governments have toppled in the face of mass opposition on the streets in Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador.
Socialist Worker has been vital reading for Respect and anti-war activists during this general election campaign. Last week we brought together reports from across the country that highlighted the vibrancy of the left’s challenge to New Labour.
To celebrate International Workers Day, Socialist Worker presents a special price CD offer on Yo Yo Mundi’s Sciopero.
ESTELLE PETER DOHERTY TERRI WALKER Lady Sovereign | Roll Deep | Ras Kwame | Skitz & Rodney P with MC D | Skemer & Big P | Wiley | Bruza, Crazy Titch with DJ Cameo | Bigga Fish
Respect at the polls John Rees, Lindsey German, Janet Alder and Judy Cox provide reports and analysis
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