History of British Trotskyism book launch On May 21, 2002 Socialist Appeal organised a successful public meeting in central London. More than 100 people packed Conway Hall, with some having to stand, to hear Ted Grant launch his new book History of British Trotskyism. The event was also to celebrate 10 years of Socialist Appeal, and 75 years of Trotskyism.
Report of the book launch, London, May 21, 2002 (With photos!) This is a report of the successful meeting in London organised both to launch Ted Grant's book History of British Trotskyism and to celebrate 10 years of .
The Unbroken Thread: Report of London Meeting, May 21, 2002 This is a shorter report of the same event.
Britain: Who are the Real Wreckers? Those workers opposed to private parasites being brought in to run and exploit the public services are described by Tony Blair as "wreckers". Those who take action to defend themselves and their families are similarly "wreckers".
The political levy debate: Should the unions dump Labour? Socialist Appeal has published this special supplement as a contribution to the current debate surrounding union funding for the Labour Party. Socialist Appeal calls for trade unionists to not contract out, but to contract in, and reclaim the party that the unions created 100 years ago.
Britain: Workers' Rights Under Attack - Unions must follow Italian lead Following the example of the United States, Thatcher attempted to transform Britain into a deregulated low-wage economy. To the disgust of trade unionists, Blair is attempting to carry through a similar policy. Rob Sewell examines what has happened and argues for a radical alternative to Blairism.
Britain: Is the new-found Royalist optimism justified? The Queen has started her Golden Jubilee tour of Britain, and particularly with the events (and non-events) following the death over Easter of the Queen Mother, the media are trying to create a revivial of the monarchy's public standing. Steve Jones looks at this, and at the real role of the British monarchy.
National Government, Invergordon and the ILP The British working class has a history of swinging from industrial action to political action. This is as true today as it was in the 1930s. This article looks at the great struggles of 1929-31, when the polical leaders of the workers' parties failed to respond to the tasks required of them, leading to the defeat of the workers and the return to power of the Tories.
Equal Value in the NHS: Fight for equal pay! Peter Doyle, an organiser for the public sector union Unison in Cumbria, Northern England, reports on the Equal Value claims that his union region is submitting to the government to get women workers in traditional "women's jobs" in the health service the same levels of pay as workers in traditional "men's jobs". They are on the verge of an important victory.
The Falklands Crisis - A Socialist Answer This is the complete text of a pamphlet written by Ted Grant in May 1982.
The Falklands War - 20 years later On March 30, 1982, in response to Argentina's deepening economic crisis, and the repression of General Galtieri's military-police dictatorship, the workers had taken to the streets of Buenos Aires. The regime was staring overthrow in the face. It responded by starting a war, one of the principal aims of which was to distract the attention of the masses. In all wars the policy and analysis of every organisation is put to the test. The analysis made by the Marxists, on the other hand, remains as valid as when it was written. Unlike other tendencies we can reproduce everything we wrote twenty years ago without changing a single word.
Where is Blair leading the British Labour Party? Lessons of the 1931 National GovernmentIn August 1931, the Labour movement was reeling from the ravages of a world slump and the collapse of the second Labour government. After an intense campaign in the capitalist press, the Labour prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald, crossed the floor of the Commons with a handful of supporters to join with the Tories and Liberals in forming a National Government. This reactionary government unleashed an all-out assault on the conditions of the working class, and especially the unemployed. This event was considered one of the greatest betrayals in the history of the Labour Party. "The...
A Global Steel War? On Wednesday March 6, President Bush imposed tariffs as high as 30% on most steel imports coming to the US from Asia and Europe. This will hit European steel makers hard, especially in Britain where there is a slump already in the steel industry. In periods of capitalist economic downturn, national interests predominate over international. Bush is supposedly a supporter of the "free market". But the Wall Street Journalcalled the tariff "perhaps the most dramatically protectionist step of any president in decades." By Michael Roberts. (March 7, 2002) We are also publishing two articles from the British Marxist magazine Socialist Appeal about the...
