THE PERSECUTION OF JULIAN ASSANGE (Part 1) A review of Nils Melzer: The Trial of Julian Assange, Verso Books, 2022 A CASE FOR A RAPPORTEUR ON TORTURE By Peter Brooke The persecution and torture of Julian Assange can only be understood in its details as caused by the coming together of two distinct political projects. On the one … Continue reading The Persecution of Assange
Listening to Italy by Orecchiette The new old President On 3 February 80 year old Sergio Mattarella was preparing to move house after the end of his seven year term as President of Italy. He was emphatic that he had no wish to serve again. The process of electing a successor started on 24 January … Continue reading Italian Presidential Elections
Notes on the News By Gwydion M. Williams Notes on the News Diplomacy – a Polite Name for Intimidation The Bane of Ukraine China Still Rising x Tolkien, Race, and an Amazon Blessing Snippets Silly Truckers Monbiot – Terrified of Hopes of Rescue Warmer Seas Mean Worse Weather And After Covid-19? Diplomacy – a Polite … Continue reading Notes on the News
Ukraine: Where to find the Truth in enormous detail By Craig Murray https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2022/02/ukraine-where-to-find-the-truth-in-enormous-detail/ In the massive propaganda blitz over Ukraine, there is one place where you can find, in enormous detail, the truth about what is happening in the civil war conflict zone on a daily basis. That is in the daily reports of the Organisation for … Continue reading Ukraine and the OSCE
News conference following Russian-German talks 15 February 2022 Following Russian-German talks, Vladimir Putin and Federal Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz made statements for the press and answered journalists’ questions. The US and the UK must be very unhappy about the Putin/Scholz meeting, which was all about enhancing the well-developed economic relationship between Russia and Germany, including Russia's supply of energy … Continue reading Putin/Scholz meeting
The Strange Death of Labour England There was certainly no garden party for the Labour Party leadership when the result of the Leave voting North Shropshire by-election was announced. The seat had been a Conservative seat for over 100 years with the Liberal Democrats coming second until Blair’s 1997 election victory, when Labour took 2nd place. In 1997 … Continue reading The Strange Death of Labour England—Editorial 1
The S-Word – Editorial 2 Starmer used the “S” word [Socialism] in an article in the Guardian in 2020 and avoided it in an interview in December 2021. This is easily explained by the Labour leadership election that took place in the interim. He used the “S” word in 2020 when it served his leadership ambitions … Continue reading The need for Policies—Editorial 2
How the Establishment functions From Craig Murray's blog: I suggested in my last post that the British Establishment may be looking for a way out of the terrible Assange debacle without raising difficult truths about the United States justice and penal system. The functioning of the Establishment, the way it forms a collective view and … Continue reading Assange by Craig Murray
Diary of an ex-Corbyn foot soldier (February, 2022) Dictionary definition of “foot soldier”: “…a dedicated low level follower…” Michael Murray: murraymicha@gmail.com; Facebook: Michael Murray London On 25th January, the Labour Party National Executive Committee (NEC) voted 24 - 13 against a motion calling for the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) Whip … Continue reading “Time for a new Parliamentary Party of the Left?”
How to Pay for it - 150,000 new council dwelling per year at social rents. By Michal Lerner To win the next general election, Labour must give bold answers to the question ‘How will you pay for it?’. Let us therefore imagine an interview between an interviewer (I) and a member of the Shadow Cabinet (L) and suggest … Continue reading How to Pay For It — Q & A
Labour and Housing – Part 6. The financial implications of the Right to Buy scheme By Eamon Dyas The Thatcher legacy that began as practical policies in 1979 and which continues to permeate British politics was based on a strategy consisting of three components. Firstly, the oft-repeated mantra of the need to roll back the … Continue reading Labour and Housing
What Am I Going to do Next? Part 12 Where will the money come from? Dave Gardner Funding for universities through student loans: why this is a nonsense In a previous article I noted the inequality in funding between universities and vocational education. Universities get roughly five times as much money per student as do … Continue reading What Shall I Do Next?
Nordstream 2, Germany and the US Jack Coldrick I’m increasingly getting the feeling that the current security crisis in Ukraine is being fuelled by this issue. Ultimately, the final decision was in Germany’s hands and the agreement between Merkel and Biden was an acknowledgment of that fact. But the dynamics seem to have changed after the … Continue reading Nordstream 2
Toward a socialist foreign policy: Introduction to helpful sources of geopolitical analysis (No.1, February, 2022) - Michael Murray December last the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly (130 majority) for a motion condemning the glorification of Nazism, neo-nazism and all forms of racism - past and present. So what? You might ask. Ought not we expect that from … Continue reading A Socialist Foreign Policy
‘Global Britain’ Eamon Dyas 'But neither should a country, especially one with such a proud history as ours, slip gently into a lower league without a strenuous effort at least to prevent it,' said Tony Blair (20/1/22). That's Blair's programme since 1997 in a nutshell. He had come to power with a promise to make … Continue reading British Imperialism Forever
Who are ‘NHS Providers’? Feargus ORaghallaigh I found the story at the link below remarkable ... https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/dec/13/hotels-being-used-as-care-facilities-to-relieve-pressure-on-nhs Here is a related story: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/dec/12/number-of-healthy-patients-stranded-in-english-hospital-wards-rises-by-80 I have long held the view that the current NHS is actually a system of hospital-led private provision of health care (much of it provided on a for-profit basis) funded by the … Continue reading NHS Providers
Listening to Italy by Orecchiette Towards a new President? On 3rd February Italy's President Mattarella will have completed his 7 year term and a series of elections for his successor started on 24 January. The 1009 electors: “I Grandi Elettori” are the members of the elected upper and lower houses of parliament. Plus the five appointed Senators for … Continue reading Italian Elections
AFTER THE BOMBS FALL WE’LL BE ONE You make the world in your own image. The remorseless banks of piggery that snatch at your meagre savings, without interest while throwing millions to a shady property developer who build homes beyond the reach of those who build them. Organised crime will be much more sophisticated, in … Continue reading After the Bombs Fall
Labour Affairs 