Volume 3 No 191 2 February 2011 30P/80P for a Workers’ Government
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So& Wloirkdersa’ Lirbeirtty y Volume 3 No 191 2 February 2011 30p/80p For a workers’ government Murdoch under Double Why floods? pressure page 2 dip? page 5 page 10 Egypt: support democratic revolution and workers’ freedom No to Islamist counter-revolution! No to army takeover! See pages 5-8 NEWS What is the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty? Will Murdoch be saved? Today one class, the working class, lives by wing scandal sheet — ploiting the story — well, selling its labour power to another, the amusing but nothing to do they have all been doing it capitalist class, which owns the means of with us. We should resist for years! production. Society is shaped by the that. What the phone-hacking capitalists’ relentless drive to increase Press Watch This is fast turning into scandal shows beyond their wealth. Capitalism causes poverty, By Pat Murphy Britain’s equivalent of the doubt is the extent to unemployment, the blighting of lives by infamous Dreyfus case in which the various compo - overwork, imperialism, the destruction of the environment and France in the way it is ex - nents of Britain’s ruling much else. Rupert Murdoch’s News story. posing the corruption of an class are interwoven with Against the accumulated wealth and power of the International group has Then others became con - overconfident, unaccount - each other, with mutual in - capitalists, the working class has one weapon: solidarity. long been the bane of the vinced that they too had able ruling class. terests and personnel, all of The Alliance for Workers’ Liberty aims to build solidarity left. been the victim of hacking Earlier this month, after which they will fight to through struggle so that the working class can overthrow The Sun and News of the and pursued their own years of denying any protect. News International World (NoTW) have rou - complaints. Fearful of criti - capitalism. We want socialist revolution: collective ownership knowledge of the criminal has been able to get away tinely attacked trade cal damage, at least two of industry and services, workers’ control and a democracy behaviour of his journal - with persistent law-break - unions, demonised the left complainants, Professional much fuller than the present system, with elected ists, former NoTW editor ing for years because the and championed Thatcher Football Association leader Andy Coulson finally re - forces supposed to hold representatives recallable at any time and an end to and then New Labour. Gordon Taylor and PR ad - signed chief political ad - them accountable are actu - bureaucrats’ and managers’ privileges. There is great pleasure to viser Max Clifford, were of - viser to Tory leader David ally on their side whether We fight for the labour movement to break with “social be had, therefore, in seeing fered huge payouts by Cameron. that be the police, the PCC partnership” and assert working-class interests militantly it struggle to kill off the News International to get The Met police are being or the government. against the bosses. poisonous scandal which them to settle without a asked to explain why they That will become even Our priority is to work in the workplaces and trade unions, has developed around trial. supporting workers’ struggles, producing workplace bulletins, phone-hacking at the A trial would have meant failed to investigate the clearer when Culture Secre - helping organise rank-and-file groups. NoTW . the exposure of documents original allegations prop - tary Jeremy Hunt eventu - We are also active among students and in many campaigns It started in 2005, when and records showing just erly and failed to tell the ally — and inevitably — and alliances. the Royal Family began to how many journalists were people whose names ap - approves Murdoch’s bid to suspect that salacious sto - involved. The payments peared in Goodman and buy up the 61% of BSkyB We stand for: ries about them could only were again attempts to be Mulcaire’s records that that he does not already they had been hacked. own. • Independent working-class representation in politics. have been the result of done with the scandal be - The Press Complaints If these forces will con - • A workers’ government, based on and accountable to the phone hacking. An investi - fore the true scale of the Commission (PCC) twice spire together to help the labour movement. gation led to the conviction operation could be ex - carried out enquiries which tabloids keep us fed with • A workers’ charter of trade union rights — to organise, to of the paper’s royal re - posed. porter (Clive Goodman) But that didn’t work. The concluded that there was salacious stories about foot - strike, to picket effectively, and to take solidarity action. no evidence of further mis - ballers, soap stars and ac - • Taxation of the rich to fund decent public services, homes, and a private investigator cover-up unravelled as (Glenn Mulcaire). The more victims have uncov - conduct or attempts to mis - tors, we can only imagine education and jobs for all. NoTW bosses hoped that ered evidence, more jour - lead it. the ruthlessness with • A workers’ movement that fights all forms of oppression. Full this would put an end to nalists have been sacked At every level of the which they would try to equality for women and social provision to free women from the story and so did the and the Met Police have British state there appears undermine any workers’ the burden of housework. Free abortion on request. Full Metropolitan Police. The been dragged into the scan - to have been a conspiracy movement to resist the cuts equality for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Black and white Met conducted a cursory dal. to cover up the criminality and challenge their power. workers’ unity against racism. investigation, sought no There is a temptation to of the News of the World. That’s not the paranoia the • Open borders. evidence of wider phone- treat the substance of all Even the paper’s media ri - left are often accused of. It • Global solidarity against global capital — workers hacking and essentially this as a sideshow — rich vals have shown no interest is simply knowing your everywhere have more in common with each other than with helped the paper bury the celebrities fighting a right- in investigating and ex - enemy. their capitalist or Stalinist rulers. • Democracy at every level of society, from the smallest workplace or community to global social organisation. • Working-class solidarity in international politics: equal rights NHS reform: is this GP choice or for all nations, against imperialists and predators big and small. • Maximum left unity in action, and openness in debate. market madness? • If you agree with us, please take some copies of Solidarity to sell — and join us! 07950 978083 [email protected] By Stuart Jordan hand power back to the 20e Tower Workshops, Riley Road, medics, but only to burden London, SE1 3DG them with further financial The BMA has been in the restraint. vanguard of opposing the The Nuffield Trust’s re - Health and Social Care search into medical groups Bill now being debated in in California shows the Parliament, but it is not a GET SOLIDARITY massive expansion of mar - consistent or coherent op - ket mechanisms to regulate ponent. health care may come into EVERY WEEK! For instance, Dr Hamish direct conflict with GP’s Meldrum of the BMA qual - duty of care. Special offers ified his criticism with this Their report starts by ac - statement: “The BMA sup - GPs rule okay? G Trial sub, 6 issues £5 o knowledging the strong fi - ports greater involvement nancial incentives in the US G 22 issues (six months). £18 waged o £9 unwaged o of clinicians in planning to “over-treat” patients. For services”. tives in the UK are not fi - The old NHS operated example, patients are given nalised. But however it is without cash exchange, G 44 issues (year). £35 waged o £17 unwaged o Meldrum was expressing more expensive, compli - the BMA’s long-standing organised, we can expect fi - without financial incentives cated procedures in order nancial considerations to for staff or services. Serv - G European rate: 28 euros (22 issues) o or 50 euros (44 issues) o grievance that GPs are that hospitals and doctors sidelined from decision- increasingly influence clini - ices and workers in the can tap higher insurance cal decision-making and NHS were motivated by Tick as appropriate above and send your money to: making processes in the payouts. NHS. But Meldrum should distort health needs. values of human decency 20e Tower Workshops, Riley Road, London, SE1 3DG To counteract this ten - These tendencies will be not individual monetary remember that these pow - dency, firms like Kaiser Cheques (£) to “AWL”. ers were stripped from exacerbated by shortfalls in gain. Clinical decision mak - Permanente have incen - funding. The Guardian (31 ing was made without medics as part of the pri - Or make £ and euro payments at workersliberty.org/sub. tivised “quality primary January) reported that west pressures of the market vatisation process where care” that promotes “pre - London GPs involved in a clouding medical judge - clinically-trained managers vention” and “minimises government “pathfinder” ment. To combat the Health were replaced with finan - Name . costly hospital-care”. GPs scheme for the new system and Social Care Bill, oppo - cially-driven executives. are given money to keep will face a £1 billion short - sition groups will need to Those executives intro - Address . people out of hospital. fall in funding by 2014-15. articulate an alternative po - duced the internal market, Meanwhile it is unclear And an internal NHS docu - litical vision which tells the which meant, for the first that the patient has re - .