On 1st April Israel attacked an Iranian consulate in Damascus. 16 people were killed including two senior Iranian generals. This attack was against international law and gave Iran the right to make a retaliatory strike against Israel. But Israel has always made it clear that any attack on Israel would be responded to with even greater force by … Continue reading Israel’s Iranian Dilemma—Editorial
The re-imagining of antisemitism and its implications
by Eamon Dyas The new definition Although the process had begun much earlier, the change in the definition of antisemitism began to have a direct bearing on the British body politic after Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party since 2015, took the party close to government in the 2017 general election. It was only … Continue reading The re-imagining of antisemitism and its implications
How fast does the deer fly fly?(1)
Trust me, I'm a scientist! Richard Jones --------------------- Reflections on questions concerning global warming Part 1: introductory --------------------- "Climate change is a multi-billion pound industry" A climate change sceptic --------------------- “Not surprisingly, the flow of information about climate change is dominated by the commercial media, and therefore directed mostly at backing profitable ventures. We see … Continue reading How fast does the deer fly fly?(1)
Secession and Ineffective Law
By Madawc Williams Between any two sovereign states, the only reality is Power Politics. Also true when a region within a sovereign state has a local majority who’d like to secede. And it’s common for both sides in secession struggles to claim that International Law is on their side. To have this repeated with great … Continue reading Secession and Ineffective Law
Notes on the News
By Gwydion M. Williams The Strange Death of Free-Market Globalisation Sponge-Up: the Reagan / Thatcher legacy 1688: Parliament Without Democracy Snippets Israel and Iran – Glad to Hate Each Other Come Fly With Me, With Fly-Blown Quality Snow In Belgium, Caused By Global Warming Modi’s India Starmer and the Errors of Ramsay MacDonald Housing Impossible … Continue reading Notes on the News
An End to Oligarchs?
John ClaydenThere is a recent very worthwhile edition of The Duran with Michael Hudson, Alexander Mercouris and Glen Diesen which discusses the likely prospects of economic change in the West in favour of the working class. It concludes that it will be only possible if there is a revolution here in favour of the East http://Youtu.be/OFrxgMFbN8c?si=siHnoaak8bi-12MyThis is their … Continue reading An End to Oligarchs?
The Russian Art of War, How the West led Ukraine to Defeat
The Russian Art of War, How the West led Ukraine to Defeat by Jacques Baud Published by Max Milo, 2024 John ClaydenThis book is both a useful synopsis of Russia's Ukrainian SMO (Special Military Operation) as well as a more general description of the shortcomings of western military thinking compared to present day Russian Military … Continue reading The Russian Art of War, How the West led Ukraine to Defeat
Palestine Links
Manufacturing Famine: Israel is Committing the War Crime of Starvation in the Gaza Strip (B’Tselem Position Paper, April 2024) Did an Israel Lobbyist Confect an Antisemitism Story About a Palestine Demo? (Rivkah Brown, Novara Media, 22 April 2024) Mishal Husain Effortlessly Takes Down Suella Braverman's Attack On Met Police In Painful Exchange (HuffPost, 22 April 2024) … Continue reading Palestine Links
George Galloway
Speeches and contributions to debates in the House of Commons by George Galloway All accessible by reading George Galloway’s entry: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10218/george_galloway/rochdale Football Governance Bill 23 April A Bill to establish the Independent Football Regulator; to make provision for the licensing of football clubs; to make provision about the distribution of revenue received by organisers of football competitions; … Continue reading George Galloway
Julian Assange
URGENT CALL TO DEMONSTRATE On Monday 20th May Julian Assange will find out whether the UK will allow his extradition to the United States for his publishing which revealed war crimes and human rights abuses.We are calling for an urgent demonstration at the Royal Courts of Justice in London from 8am as the monumental decision … Continue reading Julian Assange
Sahra Wagenknecht— April Newsletters
Labour Affairs is pleased to publish extracts from the April newsletter of the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) to give our readers an insight into the developing positions of this new left wing party in Germany. It is a breakaway from the ‘woke’ and war supporting left party Die Linke and is already outpacing them in … Continue reading Sahra Wagenknecht— April Newsletters
Reeves in a Straightjacket—Editorial
The ritual of the annual Mais lecture took place on 19th March. The Mais lectures have been taking place since 1978. The year is not accidental. Thatcher was about to come to power. She proposed to abandon the postwar economic consensus of a managed economy in which the state assumed responsibility for economic areas considered crucial to economic success: health, … Continue reading Reeves in a Straightjacket—Editorial
Israel’s Plans for Rafah – Redefining Genocide as a Humanitarian Mission
Eamon Dyas In order to complete the final stage of its full-scale invasion of Gaza the IDF says that it will be necessary to forcibly move “1.4 million people - or at least a significant amount of the 1.4 million people” that have now crowded into Rafah. The population of Rafah was around 280,000 before … Continue reading Israel’s Plans for Rafah – Redefining Genocide as a Humanitarian Mission
“A Point of Order” on the ICJ Ruling
John McDonnell, the ICJ and another empty House of Commons Michael Murray (The photo shows the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands) On the 19th of March last, Labour MP John McDonnell tweeted: “The Government is sending arms to Israel that may be being used in attacks on Gaza, which under ICJ judgement may be … Continue reading “A Point of Order” on the ICJ Ruling
Tax Justice
“Tax Justice: Richard Murphy’s Taxing Wealth Report 2024: a timely antidote to the innately unjust neoliberal tax policies coming to the fore in both Tories and Labour parties as we approach another General Election. " https://youtu.be/RlyFYNeGtCg?si=7JA47WxFKt_nmw43
A Brief Glimpse at the Seventies Squatting Movement
John Clayden"A people without knowledge of its past is like a tree without roots". Marcus Garvey This was on a banner in Catford Market with Bob Marley playing in the background, where I was canvassing for the Lewisham mayoral candidate John Hamilton recently. The same sentiment naturally applies to the working class: the working class must … Continue reading A Brief Glimpse at the Seventies Squatting Movement
A personal reflection on Rochdale
By Nadia Klok London Secretary of the Workers Party of Great Britain “It all starts here you see,” states my father, as we walked down Duke Street off Grosvenor square some few years back, “Where do you think Simon Bolivar got his taste for revolution against Spanish Imperialism? Or where Karl Marx got the balls … Continue reading A personal reflection on Rochdale
Historical Context is Crucial—Ernest Bevin and Zionism
John Clayden (The photo shows Ernest Bevin on the right of Churchill, 8 May 1945)The Left and that includes the very influential Zionist left have succeeded in wiping out a substantial chunk of working-class history namely the crucial contribution made by Ernest Bevin. This will come as no surprise to dedicated readers of this magazine … Continue reading Historical Context is Crucial—Ernest Bevin and Zionism