Socialist Fight Issue No. 8 Winter 2011/2012 Price: Concessions: 50p, Waged: £2.00 €3.00 Euro zone crisis—Morning Star warns of the ‘germanisation’ of Europe! Page 2 Contents Page 2: Editorial: Euro zone crisis—Morning Star warns of the ‘germanisation’ of Europe! Page 3: GRL Pages: London Busworkers under attack – Remove Unite RIO Wayne King By Gerry Downing. Page 4: GRL “We are not dogs” petition and campaign, URGENT- PINHEIRINHO UNDER ATTACK Page 5: Unite behind the sparks, Site Worker Report, Off with their heads (of agreement)! Page 7: The 2011 Summer Riots: Engels, the English working class and the difference from the thirties By Celia Ralph. Page 8: Leon Trotsky – As he should be known By Ret Marut. Page 9: A meeting with a Friend of Israel By Therese Peters Page 10: Two Salient points on the Libyan up-rising – in defence of vulnerable Libyans By Ella Downing. Page 10: International relations established with comrades in Argentina and Sri Lanka. Page 11: Defence of the Imperialist Nation State is a reactionary trap for the working class By AJ Byrne. Page 13: The framing of Michael McKevitt By Michael Holden. Page 14: Defend Civil Liberties: Political Status for Irish Republi- can Prisoners, — IRPSG. Page 15: Bloody Sunday March for Justice. Page 16: Letter to The Kilkenny People by Charlie Walsh. Page 17: Dale Farm Irish Travellers (Pavees) fight on By Tony Fox. Page 18: We are not the 99% By Ella Downing. Page 19: Engels "On Authority" By the Liga Comunista. Page 21: On consensus: from Murray Bookchin’s "What is Com- munalism? The Democratic Dimensions of Anarchism". Page 22: Death of Kim Jong II; Defend the North Korea. Page 23: The Manifesto of the Luiza Mahim Collective (against special oppression) September 2007. Page 24: CON 17 Won’t Fool The Working Class! Revolutionary Marxist Group of South Africa. Page 25: Must We Adore Vaclav Havel? From Michael Parenti's Sarkozy to Cameron, "We are sick of you Blackshirts and Reds (1997). criticising us and telling us what to do. Page 26: On the Continuity of Trotskyism, By Gerry Downing. Page 31: The AIUF is the tactic, Permanent Revolution is the You say you hate the Euro and now you strategy By Ret Marut. want to interfere in our meetings." Page 36: Where We Stand – Socialist Fight EB Socialist Fight is produced by the SF Editorial Board. Signed articles do not necessarily Contact: PO Box 59188, London, NW2 9LJ, [email protected] represent the views of the SF EB. ,đoàn kết là sức mạnh, Jedność jest siła اتحاد قدرت است ., ,Unity is strength, L'union fait la force, Es la unidad fuerza, Η ενότητα είναι δύναμη ykseys on kesto, યુનિટિ થ્રૂ .િા , Midnimo iyo waa awood, hundeb ydy chryfder, Einheit ist Stärke, एकता शक्ति, है единстве наша сила, vienybės jėga, الوحدة هو ,unità è la resistenza, 団結は力だ", A unidade é a força, eining er styrkur, De eenheid is de sterkte ,אחדות היא כוח ,bashkimi ben fuqine !Ní neart go chur le céile, pagkakaisa ay kalakasan, jednota is síla, 일성은 이다 힘 힘, Workers of the World Unite ,القوة Socialist Fight Page 2 Euro zone crisis—Morning Star warns of the ‘germanisation’ of Europe! London, highlighting once again the parasitic nature of Editorial British capitalism in the Global economy. There was he crisis of the Euro zone is the latest even fantastic talk from the and most threatening of the current sceptics that the Empire had crises of capitalism which opened up returned and now Britain in 2008 with the subprime mortgage could provide the financial Tbubble collapse. Then the crisis was only put services to the BRICS, that The knives are out! EU leaders at the crisis summit off by huge public subsidies to all the major powerfully growing sector of banks to prevent their collapse. But the debt the world economy! dominated by the German banks”. On Thurs- had to go somewhere and so the banking crisis day 15th Brian Denny, of No2EU was warning But the Liberal Democrats were distraught as became a Sovereign crisis. Now whole nations of a “green light for Germany to impose a com- well they might, British industry could not were threatened with bankruptcy and so are mon EU austerity policy and deepen the ger- survive outside of the EU and even the sup- all the major banks again into the bargain. manisation (what a word, so redolent of British posed gain of protection for the City was also anti-German chauvinism!) of Europe” and This crisis brought about a huge scramble be- illusionary after closer scrutiny; the financial finished up by demanding a “people’s move- tween the world’s Imperialist powers to shift services tax would impinge severely on it re- ment to resist corporate power by demanding the burden of the crisis onto the shoulders of gardless, many realised. Britain had ceased the repudiating of the debts of the banks and a their rivals. From a geo-political perspective doing what was her historic policy in Europe referendum on EU membership to regain de- the combination of the US, the UK and France since the Hundred Years War, playing one mocracy here and across Europe”. embarked on a war on Libya to rob Libya’s camp off against another and so dominating natural resources, to open her economy to the herself, she was now too weak to do so. And on Friday 16 we were treated to Bob again full force of neo-liberal finance capital exploita- demanding British jobs for British workers over And the relationship with France was in a terri- tion. the Bombardier Derby train contract: ble state now Sarkozy had said to Cameron, “ministers had no reason to carry on with a But it was also a move against the threatening "We are sick of you criticising us and telling us procurement process “loaded against Bombar- emergence of a rival Imperialist power bloc, what to do. You say you hate the euro and now dier. Political inaction came together with EU The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China you want to interfere in our meetings." And it diktat to deliver a hammer blow to train build- and South Africa) in alliance with Germany and did not help with the relationship with the US ing in the nation that gave railways to the Italy swinging both ways, as in WW I and II. either. Britain’s special relationship with Amer- world”. One of David Cameron’s first acts as PM last ica was based on her ability to intervene in May was to sign a military pact with France for Europe to the advantage of the US. Germany Clearly the Star and Crow are arguing here the sharing of aircraft carriers etc. And a mili- was the winner in this first round but all was what is in the best interests of the British tary alliance is a political alliance. calculated without taking into account the “nation”, i.e. They think they have a better European working class. Crucially how would plan to save capitalism, in this case sclerotic But these best laid plans may yet come un- its combativity affect this power struggle? British Imperialism than Cameron. As we say stuck. Because the British economy is more like Would it be able to fight its own corner as a on page 8 any Defence of the Imperialist Na- the US economy than any other, it is enor- global class? tion State is a reactionary trap for the working mously reliant on the City of London and man- class: aging the global exploitation of finance capital To answer that we must discover how the in alliance with the military power of the US. trade union bureaucracies are reacting and to “So British workers should ally with one section And France is in Europe far deeper than Brit- find this out we must look in the pages of the of the British Imperialists (led by Clegg and ain; it is in the Euro zone. So it must defend Communist Party of Britain’s paper, the Morn- Miliband) and place demands on another sec- that Euro at all costs or its collapse will cause ing Star. The Star had nothing to say on Mon- tion (led by Cameron, who only sometimes gets unforeseeable calamities. And it is very difficult day apart from a letter extolling the difficulties things right, the ‘quite rightly’ above) to aban- to see how the Euro zone can pay its debts. and the good position Worker Liberty were don the City and turn to manufacturing. And taking. we will achieve this by appearing to be better According to The Guardian these amount to organisers of British Imperialism than the cur- €8, 140, 289, 600, 000 or €24, 521.69 for each But by Tuesday 13th Bob Crow spoke and the rent misguided Cameron, to know what is good of the 332 million members of the EU, a stack Star knew where it was going; with Cameron for it and to offer it very sensible and construc- of €500 euro notes 546, 806 miles high. That and the euro-sceptics. “It is no surprise 48 tive advice; “look if you want capitalism to will take an awful lot of sweated labour to pay percent of the British people now support work as we do, this is how you must do it”. off; it represents savage exploitation of the withdrawal with only 33% in favour of staying” European working class, savage despoliation of opined Bob. The Star then quote Clacton Tory “These wretched revolutionists, in a conflict the semi-colonial world and WWIII.