Archive for September 2000

1 September 2000

Cops Gear Up for Battle

PREPARING FOR protests around the Olympics and the World Economic Forum's Asia-Pacific Summit in Melbourne, Australia's Federal government are rushing draconian new 'shoot to kill' legislation through parliament, writes Molly Cooper.

1 September 2000

What's behind the Loyalist Feud?

THE LONG-simmering feud between the UDA/UFF and UVF last week spilled over into a bloody battle for control of the Shankill area, the loyalist heartland in Belfast...

1 September 2000

Action needed to defend Glenn Kelly

BROMLEY COUNCIL'S vicious attack on Socialist Party member and UNISON branch secretary Glenn Kelly has plumbed new depths, writes Bill Mullins.

1 September 2000

Venezuela: Revolution and counter-revolution

THE ELECTION of Hugo Chávez marks a new stage in the struggle of the working masses in Venezuela and reflects a new phase of upheaval throughout the continent...

1 September 2000

Turn the Heat on the Bosses

Have you had a holiday this year? Did you get a relaxing Bank Holiday break as well? Probably not according to recent surveys, which show how few holidays workers in Britain have compared to the rest of...

8 September 2000

Defend the right to Asylum

ON CHRISTMAS eve 1999, when most youngsters were awaiting a visit from Santa, five-year-old Patrick received a visit from a Home Office official who handed him a deportation notice...

8 September 2000

Defend Glenn Kelly

GLENN KELLY, branch secretary of Bromley UNISON was suspended by the council on 31 July on trumped-up charges, writes Bill Mullins.

8 September 2000

The Police's racist agenda

THE NOTTING Hill Carnival has become the latest battleground in the Metropolitan police's media war against the Black community...

8 September 2000

Labour's new threat to campaigners

ANIMAL RIGHTS activists are being targeted by police and politicians, who are threatening a clampdown on their activities, writes Molly Cooper.

8 September 2000

Michael Davis, of the M25 Three, speaks to The Socialist

IN JULY, the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of Raphael Rowe, Michael Davis and Randolph Johnson, the M25 Three...

8 September 2000

Mobilising to stop Nazi terror in Germany

THE TRIAL of three Neo-Nazis, who had beaten and kicked Alberto Adriano to death, has ended with their conviction and sentences ranging from 16 years to life...

8 September 2000

French Lesson to TUC

AS DELEGATES to the Trades Union Congress prepare to go to this year's conference, a leader of the French fishermen's blockade reportedly said: "If we don't take this action, people will walk over us - but we cannot allow this to happen, writes Bill Mullins, Socialist Party Industrial Organiser.

8 September 2000

Peugeot workers say: "Reclaim the union"

PEUGEOT MANAGEMENT have made their third 'final' offer to workers at the Ryton plant, near Coventry...

8 September 2000

Scottish council workers' strike

THE STRIKE by UNISON members in Scotland's local councils on 29 August was absolutely solid. All services apart from emergency cover were severely disrupted and over 90% of members took part in the action...

8 September 2000

Labour Let Rich Run Riot

THE NEW Labour government has let the wealth divide in Britain run riot. Even our normally subservient union leaders can sense the rising anger at this and say they will attack the government for letting...

15 September 2000

Cut Fuel Tax

INDUSTRY MINISTER Stephen Byers argues that cutting duty on fuel by 2p a litre would mean cutting public spending by £1 billion...

15 September 2000

Prelude to a downturn

A THREEFOLD increase in oil prices is causing major headaches for the capitalists internationally. Fuel protests by fishermen, truckers and farmers brought France to a standstill, forcing the government...

15 September 2000

WEF Melbourne protests: Police fail to defeat protest

MEDIA REPORTS of the recent three day protest against the World Economic Forum (WEF) could not hide the brutal tactics of the Victoria state's police, writes Zac Wright, Socialist Party, Australia.

15 September 2000

Force New Labour to Scrap the Fees

SINCE NEW Labour came to power the position of students has continued to deteriorate. Fees and the abolition of the grant mean that debts have spiralled, applications have fallen and student poverty has...

15 September 2000

Bromley Says: No cuts, No victimisation

THERE WERE Bromley UNISON members and local residents including night care workers and tenants in sheltered accommodation. There were other trade union activists...

15 September 2000

Prague 2000 - Take direct action - End Profit System

WHILE PROTESTS against fuel prices were taking place in France and Britain, 10, 000 protesters blockaded the entrance to the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia...

15 September 2000

Blair: running on empty

Massive suppport for Fuel Protests: LIKE THE ghost of Margaret Thatcher, Blair has mobilised the forces of the state to break the fuel protests by truck drivers' and farmers...

22 September 2000

New Labour In Crisis

BLAIR THINKS that the fuel crisis is over. But the political crisis for New Labour gets worse every day. Two opinion polls put them behind the Tories. Despite all the propaganda, 63% of people blame the...

22 September 2000

Prague anti-capitalist protest Fight For Socialism

ON 26 SEPTEMBER, capitalism's globetrotting circus stops in Prague, the Czech Republic's capital city. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank are in town, writes Manny Thain.

22 September 2000

Seven Days that Shook Blair

SOME MEDIA 'experts' dubbed the fuel protests 'poll tax revisited'. Seven days of protests shook Blair and New Labour to the core. People have had a glimpse of the power of collective struggle - France...

22 September 2000

The destructive forces of global capitalism

THE WAVE of anger which swept through Seattle against the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting last November, has continued on its course...

22 September 2000

Socialist Alliance conference

AT A time when New Labour are unpopular as never before, the need for the widest possible socialist challenge at the general election is clear...

22 September 2000

A Turning Point in Britain

THE DRAMATIC 'seven days in September' of the fuel crisis and its aftermath represents the most serious challenge to the Blair government since it came to power in 1997, writes Peter Taaffe, Socialist Party General Secretary.

29 September 2000

What's the alternative to New Labour?

THE RECENT oil protests graphically demonstrate the need for a new workers' party. The action of the protesters represented the most serious challenge to the Blair government since it came to power in...

29 September 2000

Biwaters workers fight closure

THE BATTLE to save 700 jobs at Biwaters pipe works in Clay Cross, is getting underway. Since the takeover of the company by multinational Saint Gobain, with closure announced 45 minutes later, trade unionists,...

29 September 2000

Prague Protests Czech police go in heavy

TENS of thousands of people demonstrated in Prague against the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meeting there, writes Molly Cooper and Rob Crowhurst report from Prague.

29 September 2000

The movement which stopped Britain

FOR A week in September, fuel protests and pickets almost brought Britain to a halt. The protests though stirred up much controversy, with the government accusing the protesters of colluding with the...

29 September 2000

When Housing goes to market

MARGARET THATCHER promised to create a "property owning democracy" by selling council houses and applying the 'benefits' of the market to housing provision, writes Jared Wood.

29 September 2000

Indian kidnapping stokes sectarian divisions

THE CITY of Bangalore in the Indian state of Karnataka is facing a general strike on 28 September over the kidnapping of veteran film actor Rajkumar by the infamous bandit Veerappan...

29 September 2000

New Labour and the Trade Unions

Workers' disgust at New Labour's failure to deliver anything on wages, pensions, jobs or services has raised once again the question of Labour's links with the Trade Unions and the need for a new workers' party...

29 September 2000

Free the Funds

'FREE THE Funds - trade union campaign for a new workers' party' is the new cross-union campaign initiated by the Socialist Party...

29 September 2000

Blair's empty promises

TONY BLAIR and his government used their party conference speeches to frighten voters about a possible return of the Tories...