Articles
Thursday, November 25, 2021
Soviet military assistance was sent to Afghanistan in 1979 to help defend the progressive and democratic government against Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. This is well known, as is its outcome - the withdrawal of the Soviets, final defeat of the government and the take over by the Taliban. What is less well known are the historic links between the young Soviet Union and the newly formed Afghan state, which involved aid and cooperation over decades. Neither are the achievements of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, overthrown by the Taliban, which promoted the rights of women and girls, workers and farmers.
By contrast the West and the USA supported the terrorists facilitating the seizure of power by the Taliban. They wreaked further destruction and massive loss of life through their invasion. And now the US has withdrawn and the Taliban are back in power again.
Thursday, November 25, 2021
There is a long and grim list of statistics about the poverty, inequality and discrimination being inflicted on British people by the Tories. Whilst prime minister Johnson talks about "leveling up", a "high-wage high-skill workforce" and "building back better", these are largely myths - if they have a practical purpose then that is to put public money into the hands of private businesses. But the establishment are not convinced by Johnson's leadership and there are public divisions over a range of issues.
Meanwhile Keir Starmer is still foundering as leader of the Labour Party, worrying his allies who depend on a more convincing performance for their jobs at the next election. Despite his sustained attack on the left it showed no signs of being cowed at the recent Labour conference where there were significant policies victories, particularly on Palestine.
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
If you don't run they can't chase you, is a new collection of stories from those in the frontline in the fight for social justice as told to Neil Findlay. Some hard-fought battles ended in defeats, like the Miner’s Strike, some are partial wins with the fight for proper justice still in progress, like the Hillsborough campaign, but others, were victories like the anti-Apartheid struggle. We can take inspiration from these accounts and the courage, tenacity and humour of all those in Britain and beyond who chose to fight.
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
Haiti is once again in the news. It only features when there is a disaster or crisis of which there have been many in its troubled and complex history. These have usually been caused by a combination of a small but bitterly-divided dominant political elite allied to dominant foreign powers, once European but since the late nineteenth century the United States and now including the United Nations. The current situation is essentially no different, but in its combination of natural disaster and several inter-linked political crises it is different in its intensity, imposing even greater misery on the ninety per cent plus of Haitians who get absolutely nothing from the present system.
Sunday, August 29, 2021
Despite the continued mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic and the botched exit deal from the EU, Boris Johnson still seems Teflon coated. Johnson has been able to survive so far because of his popularity in the Tory Party and his huge majority in parliament. Also because the establishment want an orderly transition to a new leader which doesn’t expose the Tories failures too much nor their anti-democratic practices, contempt for the electorate and corruption. Divisions are beginning to emerge among the Tories on multiple issues meaning Johnson, far from being invincible, is looking increasingly insecure.
Saturday, August 28, 2021
Despite Tory failures there is a woeful lack of opposition from the official opposition in the shape of Keir Starmer. Labour’s poor electoral performances of late have underlined Starmer’s lack of credibility with the voters. He and those around him have drawn the wrong conclusions from electoral defeats in the so-called Red Wall constituencies. The real causes of alienation in working class communities and the radical changes needed to address them are ignored in favour of superficial responses, like making Labour look “patriotic” by appearing with Union Jacks. This is a poor imitation of the Tories and goes down particularly badly in Scotland. There is too much concentration on parliament and not enough on class struggle.
Friday, August 27, 2021
For centuries enormous struggles have taken place a across Latin America against Spanish, British and US imperialism and their domestic allies. In the course of that time there have been tremendous victories, like the Cuban revolution, and huge defeats like the overthrow of the Popular Unity government in Chile. But people across the continent have kept resisting and fighting for change. Even a few months ago few would have predicted that a self-declared Marxist would be elected president of Peru. In Bolivia, after a bitter defeat for the left and Evo Morales and a campaign of right wing terrorist violence, nevertheless, Luis Arce from Morales’s party, the Movement Towards Socialism, won the presidential election. In Chile the left has a majority on the convention writing the new constitution for the country. None of this was achieved by purely electoral politics – these successes arose from the struggles of the working class, social movements and indigenous peoples.
Thursday, August 26, 2021
More than 4 million people, by official estimates have now died from coronavirus. Inequality between rich and poor has been the cause of high death tolls as countries lack the infrastructure and resources to treat and vaccinate people. Even in some rich countries, such as Britain, there have been high death tolls as governments have little regard for the welfare of their people. But some countries, such as China and Vietnam, have done a much better job of looking after their populations.