Britain Follow

"AN OPINION poll carried out in Iraq will make good reading for US president George Bush and British prime minister Tony Blair." So claimed the BBC on Tuesday morning. The Hutton report has obviously bent the BBC's judgement. The kindest thing you can say is that the BBC has "sexed up" the results of the poll that it commissioned.

"THIS IS not the time for politics. We must show our unity against the terrorists, regardless of class or party." So proclaimed all the mainstream politicians in Spain and Britain after last week's bombings. But the governments supporting last year's war did not lose one minute in trying to squeeze the political advantage for themselves.

IN TWO key areas of the north west of England meetings of the Unite Against Fascism coalition gathered anti-Nazi campaigners together last week. In Oldham, former British National Party councillor Maureen Stowe urged people at a rally to stamp out the BNP in the elections in June.

THE LAUNCH of Unite Against Fascism in the north west of England made front page news in Manchester last week. The Manchester Evening News, the leading newspaper in Britain's third biggest city, gave headline coverage of Unite's press conference. It was held in Manchester Town Hall on Friday.

BLAIR HAS effectively abandoned his attempt to say international law supported the invasion of Iraq. Speaking to a hand-picked business audience last week, he said "it may be that under international law" the US and Britain are not authorised to topple regimes they don't like.

THE GREEK centre-left party that pursued Blairite policies for four years was swept out of office at last Sunday's general election. New Democracy, the Tory party, took 47 percent of the vote to 41 percent for Pasok, equivalent to the Labour Party in Britain.

DID A British warplane cause a passenger plane to crash killing all 15 people on board? Has Britain's Ministry of Defence been desperately trying to cover up the incident?

NEW LABOUR boasts that it has been hugely successful at cutting unemployment. The number of people out of work and claiming benefit, 892,000, is at a 30-year low. But this "success" is based on a great illusion. There is increasing evidence that the real unemployment figure is much higher, perhaps two million more.

THERE ARE moments when the forces which really rule in society suddenly reveal themselves-20 years ago the state unleashed its full might against the miners during the year-long strike. Police, courts, media, judges, the benefits system, coordination between different industries-all were used in a concerted effort to smash the most powerful union in Britain.

BRITAIN'S BIGGEST all-out strike is having a big impact in Scotland. Some 5,000 low paid nursery nurses are out actively winning the solidarity they need to win a decent national pay rise. They are getting a great response from delegation work aimed at winning donations from union branches.

Respect candidates who will challenge New Labour were selected in two key regions of Britain last weekend. Socialist Worker talked to those chosen and discusses the battles they will be taking up

LOW PAID education workers have begun the biggest indefinite strike in Britain for many years. The 5,000 nursery nurses walked out in three quarters of Scotland's local authorities on Monday. Liz McCulloch, a nursery nurse and Unison union steward in East Ayrshire, explains why: