Latest News & Comment
June 2013 - Capitalist political parties forcing head teachers to run schools as businesses ‘for the benefit of the children’?
With the Labour and ConDem governments pushing educational privatisation of schools through their Academy programmes and other capitalist parties like UKIP wishing to ‘Thatcherise’ education in a similar vein, the detrimental effects upon standards and society’s class based dislocation are clear to see.
Head teachers are now considered to be successful based upon their financial and accounting abilities in running their school ‘businesses’ rather than their skills in bringing out the inherent talents of all children.
The consequent bullying and the driving out of more experienced and ‘expensive’ teachers is clearly highlighted in the linked article. click here.
June 2013 - Capitalism’s total morality void evident across Western governments, Establishment parties and media.
In both domestic and foreign affairs, the urgent removal of all vestiges of the Capitalist system and its thought processes becomes more urgent day by day.
The mass of perpetual lies poured forth by the adherents to the Capitalist system are absolutely sickening to all rational and reasonable people within society.
We hear and learn every day of decisions and policies emanating from the capitalist cesspool that are costing people their lives, their livelihoods, their aspirations and their very will to survive.
Recent examples of the morality void include the collaboration between the US and British regimes over the ‘Prism’ programme whereby millions of people in both capitalist police states are subject to constant surveillance. The boy nerd turned adult nerd, William Hague, even had the gall to deny any collaboration. This was swiftly discredited by the brilliant whistle blower, (deserving of great honour), Edward Snowden. The same sort of denials by the discredited capitalist liar Obama in the US have also been swiftly shown to be the absolute piffle that they are.
Following these Obama Lies, there swiftly followed his foreign policy untruths accusing Syria of war crimes of which they are mostly on the receiving end. These capitalist gangsters must think that we have extremely short memories bearing in mind the Colin Powell and Blair lies over ‘weapons of mass destruction’ leading to the Iraq War.
The real, undemocratic and secret decisions affecting our lives are made behind closed doors by closet fascist organisations like the Bilderberg group. Its founder was a European Prince, a card carrying member of Hitler’s SS.
The members include war criminals (wanted for questioning by Spain etc.) like Henry Kissinger. They also include top business executives and leading capitalist sleazy politicians like Labour’s Healy, Mandelson, Ed Balls and the Tories such as Kenneth Clarke, Osborne and Cameron. The British media, including the BBC refuse to seriously investigate the power and decisions of these organisations, but instead throw smoke screens and pour derision over opponents (as with Andrew Neil on the ‘Sunday Politics’ supported by the Establishment ‘stooge’ David Aaronovitch).
The media and politicians are to some extent being forced (by pressure from the ‘left’) to address the problems of the use of Tax Havens by the sickeningly wealthy. We can’t hold our breath on any real progress in these areas, however, since all the capitalist politicians are ‘in the pockets’ of the sickeningly wealthy.
With the Labour Party policy of depriving the working class of decent, reasonably priced social housing, being continued by the ConDem coalition, the bubble in housing prices which largely led to the current economic meltdown is being desperately reinflated by Osborne’s policies. The result will again be tears for those unfortunates ‘hooked’ by the bankers when the house prices again crash and the properties are snatched back by the lenders. The capitalist media constantly tell us how the British economy is improving. We can’t, however, believe any of the statistics thrown at us. Inflation is far above the ‘official’ figures while wages, terms and numbers in employment are far worse than what we are ‘officially’ told.
The perpetuators of the lies and those helping to keep the lid on the rage of the working class are showered with riches and honours. They should be behind bars.
May 2013 - Reactionary Labour Party ‘Grandees’ queue up to back ‘Snoopers Charter’.
The Labour Party leader, Miliband and other reactionary ‘Grandee’ leaders of the capitalist party have been queuing up to back the Tories in their demands that the so-called ‘Snoopers Charter’ be hurriedly brought into lawful imposition upon the British people. This charter, going under the official title of a ‘communication data bill’, gives the police, secret services and God knows who else, the right to delve into personal emails, look back on what websites British individuals have been visiting and investigate all their past ‘phone calls.
This invasion of privacy must be some of the most fascistic, regressive, invasive, undemocratic legislation that has ever been imposed upon the British population. The power to investigate any aspect of any British citizen is already, covertly, in the hands of the police and security services. To positively encourage such invasion of everyone’s privacy puts us into the sort of situation that existed in Hitler’s Germany when everyday snooping and finger pointing led to a paranoid state of affairs where criticism of any aspect of Government could lead to torture and death.
The LibDem leader has stated that such legislation would not be passed while they were part of the Government coalition. Will this be one of a series of huge lies that have been brought forth by this largely discredited capitalist dungheap of a party? The fact that the Labour Party is backing the fascistic draconian legislation should tell the British public everything that they need to know about this treacherous capitalist enemy of the working class. Some of its personnel are amongst the most reactionary politicians of the last few years. John Reid, one of the advocates of the legislation, is by far more fitted to sitting in capitalist boardrooms as a Director, than representing anything remotely concerned with British workers. Jack Straw’s C.V. is equally obnoxious. His tenure of office is closely associated with illegal rendition and torture, the Hillsborough cover-up and the illegal invasion of Iraq (amongst other things). Alan Johnson, another keen advocate, has a reputation (in some quarters), as a former Union leader, of betraying his members’ interests. Miliband, the untalented, privileged, largely American educationally influenced leader was part of the Gordon Brown entourage that was hugely responsible for abandoning the last few restrictions on rampant, unfettered, capitalism in the ‘City’ and elsewhere that has bankrupted our Country. They still push for an extreme capitalist austerity upon our people when what is clearly needed is the complete overthrow of the rotten system.
The British trade union movement and socialists everywhere should stand firmly against this onslaught. Unions should distance themselves from fascistically influenced and inclined political parties such as today’s Labour Party.
May 2013 - Dehumanisation bred by Capitalism.
We all know that British employers can in the overwhelming generality be described as self serving individuals to whom their employees are regarded as mere expendable ‘assets’. This dehumanisation of British individuals by the process now known as ‘capitalism’ is something against which British people have been fighting throughout our history. The Levellers in the C17th and the Chartists in the C19th both tried to bring in political reforms (e.g. the Agreement of the People and The People’s Charter) that would protect the individual from persecution by ‘impressment’, ‘slavery’ and incarceration in ‘dark satanic mills’ and the workhouse.
This dehumanisation is spreading again in modern day Britain. With the increased privatisation implemented in our industries and in British institutions, including the NHS and schools by the Blair and Brown Labour governments and carried on by the ConDem coalition, the workers in these organisations are now feeling the full experience of unbridled capitalism upon their lives. They now find that, rather than being valued members of society, able to express themselves, they are regarded under privatisation as merely easily replaceable human ‘assets’ of uncaring profit maximising organisations.
The aim of these organisations is to obtain the greatest amount of labour at the least cost. There is no sympathy for longstanding employees who have devoted their energy and lives to public organisations. They can be readily replaced by cheaper, probably less experienced, younger ‘cannon fodder’ for the big gun capitalist-run enterprises.
Trade unions are, of course, possible impediments to all these regressive developments. The failure of the British Trade Unions to stand up to this degredation, however, has been most noticeable since the time of the war waged by all the Thatcherite state apparatus on the most heroic and noble of the resisting unions, the Arthur Scargill led NUM. In contrast to this heroic resistance, a major problem for workers has been the alliance between self-serving, well paid pro-capitalist trade union leaders and the capitalist Labour Party both in and out of government.
With the current capitalism serving political set-up in Britain, no improvement can be seen on the horizon. Only by the Socialist Labour Party wielding some political influence in our Country can any progress with regard to the human condition of British workers be viewed with any degree of optimism. The fight back by an SLP led and inspired British working class is more urgently required than ever!
May 2013 - SLP remember Burford Levellers.
The annual Levellers Day commemoration took place on 18th May. The SLP were pleased to be able to fly our banner again this year. The relevance of the Levellers becomes ever more important as our hard fought for democratic rights are being systematically removed by consecutive capitalist British governments. One of the features of the day was a presentation by speakers including John Hendy QC which was opened up to public questioning. We heard that there are moves afoot for the adoption of a modern day ‘Agreement of the People’ to help protect our ‘natural rights’.
The commemoration at Burford was of a military action in May 1649 by dissident ‘Leveller’ sections of the New Model Army. The sentiment was expressed from the audience that the really advanced, progressive, radical Levellers were these soldiers who the historian Christopher Hill termed the ‘physical force Levellers’ (as distinct from the less radical political leaders who even shunned the term ‘Leveller’).
They were refusing to fight an ‘imperialist’ war in Ireland on behalf of the ‘grandees’ including Cromwell and Fairfax. The results of this ‘imperialism’ included the massacres of Drogheda and Wexford and the ‘troubles’ that exist right to this day. Some of their leaders were shot by firing squad under Fairfax and Cromwell’s command. The preceding tragedy for British history was the assassination of their natural leader Thomas Rainsborough in late 1648, probably with Cromwell’s connivance.
A military confrontation between Leveller troops led by Rainsborough and their political opponents led by Cromwell might well have proved truly progressive and democratic for the whole of Britain if the Levellers had prevailed (a distinct possibility). As it is, we have had to suffer generations of regressive capitalism. The call was made at the event for our children to be taught this radical history, currently suppressed in schools, which, of course, preceded the French revolution by about 150 years.
May 2013 - Disgraceful BBC ‘right-wing’ bias no surprise.
The SLP has first hand information relating to the institutional ‘right-wing’ bias of the BBC in its ‘flagship’ weekly programmes, ‘Any Questions’ and ‘Question Time’.
It is readily apparent that it is extremely rare for true socialist views to be ever aired on these programmes. It is many, many past years since our leader had an invitation to appear on either show. Other than that, we have never received any invitation relating to Party personnel. The usual representation on the panels is of Establishment ‘toadies’.
This is disgraceful enough but wouldn’t be quite so beyond the pale if we occasionally had some discussion of socialist alternatives. The crucial point hidden from the public, however, is the choice of questions. Although the audience are allowed to submit them there is censorship of which questions are allowed for debate.
SLP members have attended both programmes and have found a consistent ‘right-wing’ agenda to the adopted questions. The latest example occurred with Any Questions of May 17th. The producer thanked the audience for their wide range of questions before the programme was aired. Then came the live broadcast and ‘lo and behold’ every question aired (the Producer claimed to have chosen them) was on a ‘right-wing’ agenda, including capital punishment and the ethnic influence on crime in Britain.
To sum up the travesty of this polluting of British public opinion by a state run propaganda machine, we must mention the absolute disgrace that the views of a former Detective Chief Inspector on the panel were more ‘liberal’ than those of either Labour, LibDem or Tory M.P. also appearing. What a disgrace!
May 2013 - A look back at early SLP activist - Alice Wheeldon.
The life and work of an early Socialist Labour Party activist, Alice Wheeldon, who died in 1919 has been commemorated in the Midlands. She was falsely 'set-up' and imprisoned by the British State for her anti-war activities during the First World War.
To read more please click here.
May 2013 - Stop Press – SLP local election results and comment.
We wish to thank all our candidates for their hard work and impressive performances in the local elections. These were, of course, mostly in rural areas of the Country, which is not necessarily our most productive area of support. Nevertheless, early indications are that we have in some cases beaten the Greens and the LibDems and our vote has held up well compared to previous local election results.
The Labour Party has not gained the required momentum to enable it to form the new Government in 2015. In fact, in the South Shields by-election, its percentage of the vote fell dramatically. Labour will suffer at the 2014 European election because of its support for the capitalist European ‘club’.
If UKIP feel that they have the field to themselves with regard to escaping from this set-up, then we can go one better on them since we call for IMMEDIATE withdrawal, not long drawn out ‘pie in the sky’ aspirations and referendums. UKIP have thrown a spanner into the political ‘works’. The Socialist Labour Party will be the ultimate beneficiary. BRITISH ESTABLISHMENT BEWARE!- SLP are coming!
May 2013 - Lords leaping upon NHS privatisation opportunities.
During the last week, the House of Lords has nodded through the mass privatisation of the NHS. These rampant capitalists who have their snouts firmly rooted in the financial trough are obviously looking forward to further lining their pockets, as huge quantities of publicly owned assets are gifted for their personal use as privately owned ‘financial resources’. As the 1945 Labour Party manifesto said, there is a necessity to curb those ‘hard’, uncaring capitalists who exploit our people via excessive interest, rent and profit-taking. Such ‘low life’ inhabit the House of Lords. The answer to curbing them ‘at a stroke’ would be to follow the example from the year 1649 when this corrupt institution was abolished pretty well overnight.
The example that these capitalists would like to follow, with regard to the NHS, is that as experienced in the USA. In that healthwise ‘degenerate’ regime, the horrendous practices would be enough to cause many to wish suicide rather than experience the system. We learn that it is in the interests of hospitals there to sometimes ‘botch’ operations. This keeps people for longer periods in hospital, thereby increasing revenues and the resultant insurance settlements enable the capitalist crooks who own the ‘health’ services to ‘cash in ‘ on hospital errors. Furthermore, under the American health system, if you can’t afford the treatment then ‘hard luck’. This was the British system prior to the establishment of the NHS. Millions of lives were ruined, people died unnecessarily and families broke up as a result. Do we want to go back to this?
With the new privatisation of ambulance services, we can clearly see that the next step will be that if you can’t afford to pay for your ambulance to or from hospital then again ‘hard luck’.
We must not let this regression and degeneration of our Country’s services proceed. We should take stringent steps to make clear to the extreme right wing exponents of these sick ideas that long prison sentences should await any exploitation by them of our hard won social services. We should also make clear that whatever suffering they impose upon our sick and infirm, then we shall repay them on the same basis ‘in spades’.
April 2013 - The Rich Capitalist scroungers and their media mouthpieces.
With the capitalist media, including the BBC, Channel 4 news and Sky constantly pushing a right wing agenda, it is time to put some true facts before the British people. Reality is that vast sums in the billions of pounds are being siphoned off into tax havens whilst tax avoidance and evasion run amok amongst the financial ‘elite’.
At a time when the Tory and UKIP far right political agendas are being pumped down the throats of the masses by these media outlets, little coverage is given to facts such as these:-
It has been reported that Google had UK generated revenues in 2011 of £26 billion and paid only £6 million in tax, a miniscule rate of tax! Their executive chair (also a government advisor) has indicated that the Company’s use of tax havens will continue. RBS bank has poured more than £25 billion into tax avoidance schemes. Tax avoidance and evasion are estimated to cost Britain £120 billion per year. Many huge international companies (including Amazon and Starbucks) which operate here are paying little or no tax to the British exchequer.
All this information receives little or no coverage from the capitalist media. The capitalist politicians in Parliament are generally ‘in the pockets’ of these scroungers.
Meanwhile, the capitalist media concentrate on relative financial trivialities, relating to the working class. Misleading myths are promoted such as :-
• That there are generations of workless work-shy families. Benefits are too generous - myth! • Spending on benefits is out of control - myth! • The benefit bill is high because of cheats and fraudsters – myth! • Most benefit expenditure goes to the unemployed – myth! • Most benefit claimants are long term – myth! • Universal benefits are expensive and inefficient – myth! • Most claimants are sitting at home on benefits for years – myth! • Many people choose to claim disability benefits rather than work – myth! • We are spending vast amounts on large families with hordes of children – myth!
A true view of what is occurring has been produced in a pamphlet by CLASS- the Centre for Labour and Social Studies which can be viewed by clicking here.
For further current news stories from the SLP please click here.
For old news stories from the SLP please click here.