Eric Chester (RCN and IWW), who comes from the USA, uses the experience of the ‘New Deal’ Keynesian reforms to show that the neo-Keynesian ‘solutions’ advocated by so many on the Left today will be unable to resolve the current crisis of capitalism in any way that benefits the working class. The global economy is…
Blacklist – Enough Is Enough, Time For Action
Blacklisting continues on a daily basis up and down the country. Why, oh why? With our best trade union activists denied work and kept off-sits, this massively lessens our ability to organise and stand up to building employers on site. This means no ELECTED conveners or other shop stewards or safety reps, and our lives…
The Bedroom Tax in Northern Ireland
This article on the ‘Bedroom Tax’ in Northern Ireland comes from eirigi. Several parallels (some erroneous and some useful) have been drawn between the ‘Bedroom Tax’ and the Poll Tax. However, even Thatcher’s Tory government never tried to introduce the Poll Tax into Northern Ireland in the context of the Republican struggle there. Today, the…
We did not win but we are now the Left in UNITE
The results of the election for the General Secretary of UNITE election have been announced. This was a contest between the incumbent Broad Left Len McLuskey and the Rank & File challenger, Jerry Hicks. McCluskey had the support of the Right (they offered no challenger of their own, which speaks volumes) and much of the…
Jerry Hicks – UNITE General Secretary Election Update
George Osborne said ‘Faster deeper’ cuts he meant it. Our side calls for strike action against those cuts – but do we mean it? The announcement that Unite, is calling for a 24-hour general strike against austerity measures is very welcome. A serious program of strikes to defeat the Con Dem government is long overdue…
Riding Two Horses At Once – The SWP and Scottish independence
The following extended review of Keir McKechnie’s pamphlet, Scotland – Yes to Independence: No to Nationalism, was started before the most recent crisis in the SWP became public. Until the SWP resolves this crisis, its political interventions are likely to have more limited impact on the Left than in the past. Socialists should support those…
Allan Armstrong (RCN) replies to David Jamieson (ISG) – part 1
David Jamieson of the International Socialist Group has replied to two contributions made by Allan Armstrong of the Republican Communist Network (see David Jamieson of the ISG replies to Allan Armstrong). These took a critical look at ISG member, James Foley’s pamphlet, Britain Must Break, and examined the prospects for the Radical Independence Campaign, and the role…
Red Baiting And Slurs
The SWP Central Committee has tried to draw a hard line between recent events inside the party and the wider Socialist and Trade Union movement. The SWP CC has made two arguments to defend the indefensible. The first is that affairs inside the SWP are a purely internal matter, and of no concern to other…
Blacklisted Jerry Hicks Candidate For UNITE General Secretary Speaks Out
Emancipation & Liberation has been giving its support to Jerry Hicks, the rank and file candidate for the General Secretary of UNITE. In this article reprinted from the rank and file Siteworker bulletin, Jerry attacks the current UNITE leadership’s ‘Johnny-come-lately’ attitude towards the pernicious system of blacklisting, of which Jerry has himself been a victim.…
Single Ends And Hobbit Houses
Murdo Ritchie places the so-called ‘Bedroom Tax’ into the wider economic and political context of housing provision today. When debating supporters of capitalism and capitalist markets I am told about the system’s greater efficiency in the use of natural resources. At this point, I ask my opponent if they have an indoor toilet. They smile…