Issue 28 Summer 2017

CONTENTS: Labour vs Tories and back-stabbers, Scott McDonald. Abnormal times for UK local elections, George Hardcastle: Trump: the USA's elected monarch, Alex Davidson. Chemical Attacks in Syria: who benefits? Alex Davidson. Palestinians human rights hunger strike. Palestine haunts British politics, Brian Durrans. Housing for whom? A view from London, Pat Turnbull. Is this really the end of Neo-liberalism? Paul Sutton. Russian revolution and other revolts, Gina Nicholson. A picture of how the Soviet people lived, Pat Turnbull. The Spanish civil war 80 years on, Frieda Park. Experience of Haiti: exclusion by election, Ken Cable. The world turned upside down.

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Articles featured in Issue 28

• Housing for whom? A view from London
  Friday, May 26, 2017

  Decent and affordable accommodation for ordinary people in London has been systematically undermined by national and local government policy and by the inflated market in housing. Social housing is increasingly hard to get and buying a home is completely unaffordable. How can this be changed?
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• Labour vs Tories and back-stabbers
  Wednesday, May 24, 2017

  The Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn promises a different Britain, for the many not the few. The Tories will use their election machine to try to replicate their success at the last election, however, predictions of a landslide have shaky foundations. There is everything to fight for.
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• Palestine haunts British politics
  Tuesday, May 23, 2017

  British imperial policy expressed in the Balfour declaration was behind the creation of the State of Israel. It was motivated by rivalries with other powers and a desire to undermine working-class movements, including the new revolution in Russia. It had little concern for Jewish people and even less for the Arab population of Palestine.
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• Palestinians human rights hunger strike
  Monday, May 22, 2017

  Palestinian prisoners in Israel are on hunger strike demanding that their basic human rights are respected. Violations include, torture, solitary confinement, medical negligence and denial of visits. Approximately 20% of the population has been detained, affecting every Palestinian family. in a letter to the New York Times, the leader of the strike, Marwan Barghouti explains why it came about.
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• Trump: the USA's elected monarch
  Monday, May 22, 2017

  President Trump's inexperience is demonstrated in the inconsistency of his foreign policy and the conflicts that have arisen in his administration. This came to a head with his sacking of the Director of the FBI, James Comey who was investigating links between the Trump team and Russia. He surrounds himself with family members and close allies. There are fears that he will stumble into a major international conflict due to his impulsiveness.
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• Chemical attack in Syria: who benefits?
  Sunday, May 21, 2017

  Without any proof the Western media has been quick to point the finger at President Assad for the chemical weapons attack in Idlib. But he would seem to have little to gain from such an action as he is winning the civil war. There are, however, several competing factions within the country and regional powers who would have plenty to gain.
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• Russian revolution and other revolts
  Sunday, May 21, 2017

  The Russian revolution, although the most important and successful case, was part of a wider movement of mutiny, rebellion and strikes which were happening across Europe at the same time. In Germany and Hungary workers also seized power. in France there was wide spread mutiny in the army and navy and in Britain there was industrial unrest and resistance in the armed forces. Sympathy for the Russian revolution helped stop the military intervention aimed at the new socialist state.
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• Abnormal times for UK local elections
  Saturday, May 20, 2017

  Politics are dominated by constitutional issues - Brexit and Scottish independence - despite the Labour leadership's attempts to shift the debate to an attack on Tory austerity. It has not been helped either by attacks from within the Parliamentary Labour Party. Against this background the Tories made gains in recent local and mayoral elections, however, the results were not uniform across the country.
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• The Spanish civil war 80 years on
  Friday, May 19, 2017

  The Spanish civil war is still of live significance today. The coming of the Second Republic in Spain posed a challenge to the reactionary forces which had dominated the country and offered hope workers and peasants. European capitalism, still reeling from the Russian Revolution, preferred to side with the fascist military coup against the democratically elected government. In doing so it not only ensured the defeat of the republican forces, but also paved the way for further fascist aggression and the Second World War.
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• Experience of Haiti: exclusion by election
  Thursday, May 18, 2017

  The desire of the people of Haiti for progressive change has been thwarted over decades by the ruling elite and external intervention. Recent elections have had low turn outs and been subject of endemic manipulation and fraud. Though people are disillusioned just now things will not stay that way.
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• Is this really the end of neo-liberalism?
  Wednesday, May 17, 2017

  Wolfgang Streeck's book "How Will Capitalism End?" considers the structural problems of capitalism which culminated in the financial crisis. This is to be welcomed, however, there are weaknesses in his approach including a neglect of big economies outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the continued impact of technological development. Is capitalism really approaching its end?
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• A picture of how the Soviet people lived
  Tuesday, May 16, 2017

  Extracts from the work of the writer Georgi Kublitsky who travelled the Soviet Union over the years and described its economic and social development. These extracts deal with the development of the different nations in the Soviet Union and focuses on Azerbaijan as one example.
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