Britain

Despite clashing with both the RISE festival and the traditional Tollpuddle Rally, the main hall at the TUC’s Congress House was largely full for this year’s AGM and rally of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC), the main new umbrella grouping for Left activists inside the Labour Party. Amongst others, a number of the platform speakers from the trade union movement, including Jeremy Dear (NUJ), Mark Serwotka (PCS) and Paul Mackney (NATFHE) took time to outline the ongoing process of attacks against the public sector being carried out by the government.

Our readers will recall that The Economist called on its readers to vote Marx off the top of the list of the most revered philosophers. We appealed to our readers to vote for Marx and keep him at the top. In spite of The Economist’s best attempts Marx won! This comes as no surprise to us. We await The Economist's explanation with interest.

Radical changes in consciousness often spring from arbitrary collective experiences. Last week’s bombings in London are no exception. On the surface, the story being broadcast and repeated by the journalists, politicians, and purveyors of “objective information” appears to be true. But there is more to it than that.

The recurring theme of today’s mass media coverage can be summed up in three words: “Business as usual.” After all, life goes on for most Londoners. This indomitable spirit of the ordinary people is something that Tony Blair and the Establishment are seeking to exploit. One thing is clear: if the imperialist bullying continues, the epidemic of terrorism will continue to spread uncontrollably, a terrible expression of the impasse of the capitalist system on a global scale.

Whoever was responsible for today’s terrorist attacks in Central London showed no mercy to the innocent victims of their actions. Such activities are utterly repugnant to anybody who defends the cause of socialism and the working class. This kind of action serves only to bolster the forces of reaction. It must be condemned outright.

This article was written before today's terrorist attacks on Central London. However, today's events will undoubtedly be used to strengthen Blair's attempt to introduce ID cards in Britain, with the excuse that they will help "fight terrorism". They exist in the rest of Europe, so “what’s the big deal?” many may think. The point is they will not be mere ID cards. The legislation that is being prepared will allow the government to have detailed files on the activities of every person living in this country.

House price increases are slowing down in Britain. In June in London prices actually fell. This is the beginning of the end of the house price bubble and it will be very painful for many families who have borrowed on the basis of the increased equity in their property. It will have a knock-on effect on the whole economy as spending is already slowing.

“Attending this conference and its fringe meetings has indicated a change in mood. Derek Simpson has said that he wants to return Amicus to where it belongs that is in the hands of the membership, not as an extended hand of the multinationals. Activists in the union have to make sure that this is carried out in practice.”

The new Health Minister Patricia Hewitt has just announced that the government is to stump up £3 billion extra for operations. Good news? Not entirely – the entire wad is to be passed over to the private sector.

The establishment of the Premier League in Britain, a renaming of the old First Division, in the early 1990s opened up a period of naked commercial exploitation of football. The new league exists to maximise the profits and commercial potential of the richest clubs at the expense of the rest. Central to this are clubs like Manchester United, the world’s richest club which has now been virtually bought up by US tycoon Malcolm Glazier, who has grabbed control of over 75% of the club’s shares.

Over the past weekend the Annual National Conference of the 67,000 strong college and university lecturers union, NATFHE, which took place in Eastbourne, Britain, unanimously agreed to support the Bolivarian revolution and the measures that it has taken to help the workers and poor in Venezuela.

This resolution was unanimously passed by the Central London Branch of the National Union of Journalists in a meeting held on May 12.

As a postscript to British Perspectives 2005 (What is happening in Britain) Phil Mitchinson analyses the results of the recent general election in the context of mounting insecurity in the British economy, politics and society as a whole. Labour won the election with the smallest share of the vote of any victorious party in history. With the government's majority severely reduced how much longer can Blair last? 'New' Labour has set off on a collision course with its own backbenches and with the trade unions and the working class.


Labour has won an historic third term victory in the 2005 General Election, yet there will be no dancing in the streets, no street parties, in fact little enthusiasm at all. The combination of widespread opposition to the war in Iraq, distrust of Blair, and disillusionment with the failures of the last two terms of Labour government means that Labour won the election with the lowest share of the vote, just 36 percent, of any victorious party in history.

 

We recently published a review of a film shown on the BBC entitled Faith which wove together the lives of its fictional characters with the real events of the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike. The result was a moving drama and an unusually honest account of this great struggle, sympathetic to the miners and their communities. The film’s director, David Thacker spoke to us about the making of the film and his own political views.

Mick Brooks looks at the historical background to the British car industry and in particular that of Rover. It is a history of decline, of underinvestment, and finally of collapse. Now all the attempts to save Rover by looking for private buyers have failed. It is a reflection of the decline of the British capitalist class as a whole.