Britain

Behind the term “private equity” hides good old “asset stripping” or “corporate raiders with junk bonds”. It is not about making profits from making things and selling them. It’s about making money from money, buying up companies, stripping them and putting them back on the market with a mountain of debt. Or to use a simpler term, it’s capitalism.

The Blair government’s decision to press ahead with huge spending on updating Britain’s nuclear arsenal highlight the growing contradiction between the needs of ordinary working people and the people at the top. If ever these weapons were used it would be the end of civilisation as we know it. More reason therefore to struggle for genuine socialism.

All the figures on the British economy reveal the underlying sickness of the whole system. The indebtedness of the population has reached record levels. Now all the signs are there of a coming serious slowdown. This is what Gordon Brown will inherit as he prepares to become the next Labour Prime Minister.

The stench of sleaze emanating from Number 10 Downing Street marks the end of the Blair era. Brown is no alternative. Both men will lead the Labour Party to defeat in the future. What is needed is a genuine left alternative. That is why it is so important that John McDonnell gets the required number of nominations to be able to stand for the party leadership.

While there is growing awareness that the coalition forces have been defeated in Iraq, to withdraw now would be seen as a catastrophe for the American Administration, a humiliation with far-reaching consequences similar to their defeat in Vietnam.

Family, friends and comrades of Phil Mitchinson gathered in Cardiff on Saturday 13th January for a memorial meeting.  We came together to celebrate his life that ended so tragically.

Hayden Phillips' inquiry into political party funding which was leaked last week aims to impose a cap of £50,000 on donations to political parties. Hidden behind this proposal is an attempt to stop the trade unions funding the Labour Party in a big way and thus break the influence of the labour movement as a whole over the party.

While no money is available for spending on healthcare, education, pensions, etc., billions of dollars are spent on building up massive security systems. Each terror scare adds to the profit margins of the big security companies. It is an indication of the sickness of the society we live in.

The capitalist system that flourished in the time of Dickens is still upon us, as are all of its ills and evils. Reminiscent of the popular festive tale A Christmas Carol, in 2006, we still find that the everyday lives of working people are subject to the whims of a minority of parasitic individuals. This has found expression most recently in the Farepak fiasco.

It is 100 years since the Labour Party first emerged as a force in parliament, and 100 since the Trades Dispute Acts granted British workers some basic rights against prosecution by employers in case of strike action. Today workers have fewer rights than they did then. Since 1906 the British ruling class have attempted to break the link between Labour and the unions, but have systematically failed.