Part One – the Meaning of the May 5th Elections A good kicking for the Lib-Dems disguises the wider impact of the National Question on May 5th On May 5th, the Lib-Dem-initiated referendum proposal to introduce AV to Westminster elections was massively rejected in every nation and region of the UK, including Northern Ireland. In…
20 Years After the Poll Tax – Lessons for the Anti-Cuts Movement?
The article below was originally written for Red Banner, an Irish socialist magazine for discussion and debate. In its conclusion this article draws some of the key lessons needed to conduct a successful struggle against the cuts today. It is twenty years since Thatcher’s Tory government tried to impose the Poll Tax. Officially termed the Community…
A Reply to James Turley’s ‘Who’s Afraid of George Galloway’?
In Weekly Worker, no. 865, James Turley has attacked those who wrote an Open Letter urging no vote for George Galloway in the Holyrood elections on May 5th. The Open Letter was originally published on the Manchester-based blog, Infantile and disorderly (The Editorial Board of Emancipation & Liberation added its members’ names after the initial…
Open Letter – No Vote for Galloway
This was issued by the Manchester-based blogger, ‘Infantile and disorderly‘, on May 2. On May 5, George Galloway will be standing for election to Holyrood. The former Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow and Labour MP for Glasgow Kelvin is heading the George Galloway (Respect) – Coalition Against Cuts list. He has the backing…
Cheering for War and Empire
After years in which its wars have become more and more unpopular, the U.S. political and military establishment finally has a “success” to celebrate. 3 May 2011 The following article first appeared in Socialist Worker (US) THE ASSASSINATION of Osama bin Laden is being celebrated as rough justice by U.S. politicians across the spectrum and…
An examination of the results of the ‘no’ victory
So, the ‘No’ campaign against the Alternative Vote (AV) managed to win decisively in every nation and region of the UK. Even in Scotland, where on paper a ‘Yes’ vote was supported by a confident SNP, sections of the Labour Party, and the Lib-Dems and Greens, the ‘No’ vote won handsomely everywhere, apart from Edinburgh…
The case for Abstention in the AV referendum
In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the AV referendum on May 4th will very much play second fiddle to the elections to Holyrood, Cardiff Bay and Stormont. Ironically though, it is precisely in these three areas that the outcome of the referendum could be determined. People going to vote in the devolved assembly elections will…