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“Man’s dearest possession is life, and since it is given to him to live but once, he must so live as to feel no torturing regrets for years without purpose; so live as not to be seared with the shame of a cowardly and trivial past; so live, that dying he can say: All my … [Read more…]

Mr Varennikov comes from a poor Cossack family in the Krasnodar region near the Black sea, and was among an early generation of working-class people to receive a good education under Stalin, rising to a senior rank in the army. The day of Stalin’s death was very hard, a real shock. A part of my … [Read more…]

Having cancelled several planned 48-hour strikes in an effort to reach agreement with employers, the first industrial action by firefighters in a generation started at 1800 on Wednesday 13 November with a 48-hour walkout over pay and conditions. In the biggest mobilisation of troops since the Gulf War, 19,000 armed forces, a mixture of army, … [Read more…]

[For the first section of this article, we rely on Scott Ritter and William Pitt’s pamphlet, for the second on the imperialist media coverage] “War on Iraq: What team Bush doesn’t want you to know” by Scott Ritter and William Rivers Pitt is a timely contribution to the exposure of the cynical lies and hypocritical … [Read more…]

Resolution 1441 Since we last wrote about Iraq (see Lalkar Nov/Dec 2002), there have taken place some developments which are worth commenting upon. On 8 November, the UN Security Council (SC) unanimously passed Resolution 1441, which provides for a tough new inspections regime backed by the threat of force. Under the terms of this resolution, … [Read more…]

On 30th October, the Israeli “national unity” coalition collapsed, paving the way for yet another general election, which is to take place on 28 January. On 6 February 2001, Sharon was elected prime minister by a landslide majority of 62.6% over 37.2% for Labour’s Ehud Barak on a platform of peace and security. Nearly two … [Read more…]

It is difficult not to comment on an item which appeared in the 22 November 2002 issue of the New Worker, organ of the New Communist Party (NCP), which claims to be a Marxist-Leninist Party and an adherent of the dictatorship of the proletariat. But somehow it manages to square all this with its support … [Read more…]

In the area of pensions we are hearing a great deal these days about attempts of the capitalist class in effect to lower wages by reducing or eliminating what they contribute to their workers’ retirement pensions. The general crisis of capitalism is causing capitalists to cut wages – but slyly they are not for the … [Read more…]

Train drivers yesterday [8 January 2003] refused to move a freight train carrying ammunition believed to be destined for British forces being deployed in the Gulf. Railway managers cancelled the Ministry of Defence service after the crewmen, described as “conscientious objectors” by a supporter, said they opposed Tony Blair’s threat to attack Iraq. The anti-war … [Read more…]

[This article is based on a presentation made by Ian Johnson to the SLP Education School in Yorkshire on 31 August /1 September 2002.] In the latter part of his life (1880, three years before he died) Karl Marx gave an interview to an American journalist, John Swinton of the New York Sun, in which … [Read more…]