£1 PROUDLY OWNED BY OUR READERS Morning Star Monday December 4 2017 For peace & socialism Incorporating the Daily Worker A sneak peak at Vijay BORROWING IS THE KEY Prashad’s new book Red Star Over the Labour’s version of Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’ will Third World fi x the economy, writes ALAN SIMPSON: p8 BOOKS: P11  FIRST SUSTAINED INCREASE OF POVERTY IN DEPENDENTS FOR 20 YEARS  SOCIAL MOBILITY COMMISSION QUITS: ‘NO CHANCE OF PROGRESS’ IS THIS MAY’S IDEA OF A FAIRER BRITAIN? by Felicity Collier The poorest households are being hit The dire news comes after the with rising housing costs, higher food entire board of the cross-party Social and energy bills, debts and being unable Mobility Commission quit in protest, THERESA MAY saw her claims for to build up a pension, the charity said. with chairman Alan Milburn warning a Tory “fairer Britain” take a second Foundation head Campbell Robb there is no chance of the current gov- humiliating blow in two days yester- said: “These worrying fi gures suggest ernment making progress in fi ghting day as it emerged the nation is seeing that we are at a turning point in our poverty and inequality. its fi rst sustained increases in child fi ght against poverty. In her fi rst address as PM in 2016 and pensioner poverty in 20 years. “Political choices, wage stagnation Ms May pledged to fi ght “burning injus- There are now 14 million people and economic uncertainty mean that tices” and create a “fairer Britain.” living in poverty, including 4m chil- hundreds of thousands more people But ex-Labour minister Mr Milburn dren and 1.9m pensioners, the Joseph are now struggling to make ends meet. said he was quitting after months of Rowntree Foundation report found. This is a very real warning sign that “indecision, dysfunctionality and lack In the last four years alone, up to our hard-fought progress is in peril. of leadership” from Ms May’s party. 400,000 more children and 300,000 The charity urged the Tories to end He said: “The worst position in more pensioners have been pushed a four-year freeze on working-age ben- politics is to set out a proposition that into poverty — and little progress is efi ts and tax credits and to invest in you’re going to heal social divisions being made in reducing its preva- large-scale construction of more genu- and then do nothing about it. lence among working-age adults. inely affordable homes to rent and buy. Turn to page 4

UNIVERSAL CREDIT CORRUPTION IN TEL AVIV RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP Top Tories protect themselves against fallout Crowds gather to demand the head of England stymied by fortress Oz from new benefi t scheme News: p3 Benjamin Netanyahu World: p7 Sport: p14 Morning Star 2 NEWS HOME Monday December 4 2017

LATIN AMERICA 2017 CONFERENCE

SOLIDARITY Corbyn can ‘restore Britain’s standing’ Activists hear how country can earn some international respect PORTSMOUTH by Ben Chacko With England drawn to play in Congress House Panama in Group G at next year’s football World Cup, Mr A JEREMY CORBYN govern- Galloway wondered “which ment would have an independ- team will David Cameron be ent foreign policy and “restore supporting?” to laughter from Britain’s standing in the the crowd. SOUTHAMPTON world,” those gathered for the Labour MP Chris Williamson Latin America Conference said that Mr Corbyn by contrast heard yesterday. had always “stood up for pro- The Labour leader gressive movements in Latin addressed the conference by America — let’s hope it’s not too videolink, praising partici- solidarity with people in the Let’s get even more people on long before he does that from pants for their work for “jus- US mobilising in defence of the streets.” the steps of Downing Street.” tice, peace and democracy” their democracy and rights Former MP George Gallo- Mr Murray agreed, saying across the Atlantic. and to counter a British gov- way said US aggression nations such as Cuba and Ven- Unite chief of staff Andrew ernment that was bragging towards Venezuela was ezuela which had defi ed an Murray said distancing our for- about its “special relationship because Washington “doesn’t unjust world order had always eign policy from that of the US with Washington — a special want any Latin American needed solidarity from pro- was more important than ever relationship with racism, with country governed in the inter- gressives around the world. in the era of Donald Trump. misogyny.” ests of its own people. Only when a Corbyn govern- Before the US president’s He called for a mobilisation “It’s independence they can- ment’s commitment to peace election we knew he was a “vul- to stop the president’s pro- not tolerate.” and justice created the need gar, ignorant and mendacious jected visit to our shores, say- But he added that Britain’s for Hands Off Britain move- braggart,” Mr Murray noted, ing that if Mr Trump did show rulers had “great affection” ments abroad will we have but now it was clear that he also up “our record for holding the for Latin America — “after all “repaid our debt to the heroic had “the outlook, temperament biggest ever demonstration they keep their money there, people of Latin America,” he and prejudices of a fascist.” [against the Iraq war in 2003] as we saw from the Panama declared. It was essential to show has been held long enough. and Paradise papers.” [email protected]

NEVER FORGOTTEN: A LABOUR PARTY man pays tribute to Fidel Castro outside the Cuban embassy in London Murray: time that ‘vicious’ Galloway bar is overturned

by Ben Chacko invasion of Iraq and for saying in Congress House that then prime minister Tony Blair and US president George IT IS “long past time” for the W Bush had assaulted the TRIBUTES “vicious, illegal and disgrace- country “like wolves.” BRIDGWATER ful decision to expel George No disciplinary action has Galloway from the Labour ever been taken by Labour Castro ‘alive forever’ in Party” to be overturned, against Mr Blair over the war, Andrew Murray said yesterday. which led to hundreds of thou- fi ght for another world The Unite chief of staff, who sands of deaths and the birth was a long-time chairman of of extremist Islamist move- SPEAKERS paid tribute to “He will be alive forever. the Stop the War Coalition, ments such as Isis, despite Cuban revolutionary states- Another world is possible,” she praised Mr Galloway for his evidence that he lied to Parlia- man Fidel Castro at this week- declared. role in “the leadership of that ment to justify British par- end’s Latin America confer- Journalist Victoria Brittain movement” which organised ticipation. ence in central London. saluted Fidel’s “unprecedented the largest march in Britain’s Following his expulsion, Mr A year on from the death of and legendary international- history against the Iraq war Galloway helped found the “El Comandante,” Cuba’s ism,” pointing to Cuba’s support on February 15 2003. anti-war Respect party, for ambassador to Britain Teresita for liberation movements in His backing could be sig- which he won the Bethnal Vicente Sotolongo denounced Africa and work to heal the sick nifi cant as he is close to Labour Green and Bow parliamentary “rapacious wars for the con- and give sight to the blind leader Jeremy Corbyn and seat and later Bradford West, quest of the strategic across the world through Oper- helped run the party’s highly losing the latter to Labour’s resources of the planet, lead- ation Miracle. successful 2017 election cam- Naz Shah in 2015. ing to grotesque inequalities Former MP George Gallo- paign. Since Mr Corbyn won the that have taken us to the way warned the “gold-toothed Former MP Mr Galloway Labour leadership in that year, brink.” pirates of the Caribbean in was expelled from the Labour Mr Galloway has expressed a This competition for domi- Miami” that they would never Party on October 23 2003 for desire to return to the party nance and control was a “vicious succeed in getting their hands allegedly bringing the party and a change.org petition call- circle that Cuba decided to break on Cuba again to turn it into into disrepute, including by ing for his reinstatement has 59 years ago” under Fidel’s lead- the “casino and bordello” that calling on British soldiers not received over 5,000 signatures. ership, she said. Castro swept away. to obey orders in the illegal [email protected] MANCHESTER Morning Star Monday December 4 2017 HOME NEWS 3

Pic: Mark Thomas UNIVERSAL CREDIT LONDON Activists brave the cold to say: freeze the roll-out by Peter Lazenby

MORE than 70 towns and cities rallied at the weekend against the Tories’ bid to cancel Christmas for the hundreds of thousands left penniless by universal credit this December. Unite Community head and supporters singing anti- Liane Groves said Saturday universal credit carols. had been “a great success” John Coan, Yorkshire and and that this was “just the North East organiser of start” of the union’s Unite Community, said: campaign against universal “The government’s contin- credit. ued roll-out of this deeply She warned that “over a flawed policy risks forcing million” workers claiming hundreds of thousands of in-work benefits are going people into penury and to take a financial hit. potential homelessness “Life is going to get a lot through rent arrears. worse for Theresa May’s “The punitive sanctions ‘just about managing’ regime which has been families and it is Unite’s visited on the disabled and aim to ensure that these unemployed is also being families use their anger at inflicted on those in receipt the ballot box and vote out of in-work benefits this cruel government,” she “Unite Community is said. calling for an end to all Introduction of the new benefit sanctions and the benefits system is causing suspension of the roll-out of delays in payments, leaving universal credit. households with no income “Our tireless activists for six weeks. were out in 15 or so towns In areas where the and cities in the north, system has been introduced standing up for low-paid use of charity foodbanks workers, the disabled and has increased by 30 per unemployed on Saturday. cent. They braved freezing Among the actions was a temperatures to get our stall run by Leeds and message out to the public.” Wakefield union members [email protected]

DOUBLE STANDARDS Top Tory MPs delay universal credit in their own backyards One law for senior Conservatives, another for the rest of us, storms Labour MP by Felicity Collier of Maidenhead, Ashford, homelessness right before quences in their own seats. this forward. But it’s not the South West Hertfordshire and Christmas. “If they want to pause and best way.” Chingford, and Woodford Elsewhere, UC will be fix universal credit for them- Citing the Human Rights TOP Tories are “putting off” Green. rolled out between now and selves, they should do it across Act, he said courts could look the disastrous consequences Only the generally pro- December 2018, without fur- the whole country.” at whether the state fails of universal credit by quietly Labour area of South Oxhey, ther parliamentary votes, Scotland’s children’s com- to provide such basics. delaying it in their own con- a working class area in David Department for Work and missioner Bruce Adamson “Poverty is the big- stituencies, Labour has Gauke’s constituency, will Pensions (DWP) documents has said he may consider tak- gest human rights warned. have universal credit (UC) show. ing legal action over the uni- issue facing children Prime Minister Theresa imposed on time. Ms Peacock, MP for versal credit roll-out if it in Scotland at the May, Work and Pensions Sec- The London Borough of Barnsley East, said: “Even further disadvantages young moment,” he said. retary David Gauke and Waltham Forest, which serves while claiming everything is people. felicitycollier@ former Work and Pensions Labour seats rather than Iain fine with the universal He called for political lead- peoples-press.com Secretary Iain Duncan Smith Duncan Smith’s seat, will also credit, top Tories have qui- ership on the issue, warning have excluded its roll-out in implement UC earlier. etly delayed it in their own that social welfare reforms their seats for at least three The decision follows a gov- constituencies. It’s one law could leave some children months as part of changes ernment defeat in the Com- for them, another for the rest without a warm secure home PREFERENTIAL quietly brought in following mons, where MPs unanimously of us. and hot meals. TREATMENT: PM Theresa last week’s Budget, Labour voted for Labour’s motion to “The very people who Mr Adamson said: “If chil- May pauses universal MP Stephanie Peacock “pause and fix” the policy dreamt up the whole idea and dren in Scotland aren’t getting credit in top Tory seats R revealed. which is causing debt, poverty then made such a mess of it those basic things then legal The delay will cover most and increasing the threat of are now putting off the conse- action may be the way to take Morning Star 4 NEWS HOME Monday December 4 2017 blackliStiNg Unite launches new legal action for blacklist justice by Peter lazenby lives ruined deserve to see the leading blacklisters in court.” For decades, the construc- FRESH legal action has been tion industry was plagued by launched against construction blacklisting, first organised bosses who blacklisted thou- through the Economic League, sands of workers because they then its successor the Consult- were trade union activists or ing Association, both of which raised health and safety con- gathered and stored informa- cerns. tion on trade union and politi- Unite said it wanted to cal activists but also workers expose the “controlling minds” who merely drew attention to behind the blacklisting scan- health and safety problems. dal and see them brought to The association, which kept justice. a blacklist of over 3,000 con- The union is taking legal struction workers, was paid by action in the High Court on companies to provide them behalf of 70 blacklisted con- with information on job appli- struction workers. cants. It announced the launch of If the applicant was on the the case ahead of a lobby of battlE: A 2013 protest blacklist, he or she would be Parliament on Wednesday as against the blacklist refused employment. part of a union campaign for The Consulting Association a public inquiry into blacklist- tice and have to answer for was closed down in 2009 after ing. their actions. a raid by government officials. Unite assistant general sec- “Since 2009, the individuals Unite and the GMB union retary Howard Beckett said: who were the controlling have already taken legal action “Unite is determined to minds behind the systematic on behalf of blacklisted work- ensure that the people blacklisting of workers have ers, winning millions of directly responsible for black- sought to avoid taking respon- pounds in compensation for listing workers and ruining sibility for their actions. the victims. their lives are brought to jus- “The workers who had their [email protected] FigHtiNg Social Cressingham Gardens clEaNSiNg: Tenants of estate in Tulse Hill, a south London estate south London, is facing and their supporters imminent demolition as WorlD oF Work marched to Lambeth part of Lambeth Coun- town hall on Saturday to cil’s unpopular regenera- demand that they be tion plans which would balloted over the see 300 homes flattened TUC survey reveals reality council’s plans to and replaced with private of life in zero-hours Britain demolish their homes. and social rented units. by Peter lazenby and almost half say they do not pointed out that there are 7.4 have written terms and condi- million people in working house- racE roW tions, the poll also revealed. holds who are living in poverty. A CATALOGUE of appalling TUC general secretary “This government has over- treatment of workers on zero- Frances O’Grady said: “Most seen a rapid rise in insecure, hours contracts has been people on zero-hours contracts poorly paid work, which is McDonald’s veil ban exposed by a TUC survey. are not on them by choice. driving shocking levels of in- The results, published today, “They’d much rather have work poverty,” she said. reveal that that many zero- the security of guaranteed “The vast majority of chil- hours employees have few hours and the same rights as dren in poverty have a work- basic rights at work — and employees. The so-called ‘flex- ing parent. sparks off bun fight only accept the contracts ibility’ these contracts offer is “It is therefore no surprise because no other jobs are one-sided. that two-thirds of workers on available. “Now’s the time for the gov- zero-hours contracts are seek- Security turns away woman wearing hijab According to the survey, just ernment to ban zero-hours ing better protections at work. one in eight say they have a contracts, as they have done “Labour will ban zero-hours by Felicity collier want, because this isn’t OK.” restricts/prevents anyone right to sick pay and one in 14 in other countries like New contracts and introduce a £10 Another customer inter- wearing hijab or any other are eligible for redundancy pay. Zealand.” an hour minimum wage,” Ms vened to say: “You can’t stop religious dress from coming More than two-fifths say Shadow work and pensions Abrahams pledged. ANTI-RACISM campaigners her coming in here.” to restaurants. they receive no holiday pay secretary Debbie Abrahams MP [email protected] have protested against McDon- She was finally allowed to “We welcome customers of ald’s after one of its branches approach the counter but then all faiths and apologise to the in London refused to serve a left saying she no longer customer as this situation woman because she was wear- wanted to buy anything. shouldn’t have taken place,” it FroNt PagE ing a hijab. “It didn’t feel real because said. Islington Stand Up to Rac- I had seen so many videos like McDonald’s has since apol- ism gathered outside the this and it was finally happen- ogised and said in a statement: IS THIS MAY’S IDEA OF A FAIRER BRITAIN? branch in Seven Sisters Road ing to me in real life,” she said “We are taking this matter on Saturday after the 19-year- later. “I was in so much disbe- very seriously and are FroM P1: “The Prime Minis- which revealed a postcode lot- Founder and chairman of old student, who asked not to lief. addressing the situation with ter has said a lot about her tery with wealthier regions social mobility charity the Sut- be named, was repeatedly told “The friend I was with was the individuals involved. desire to improve social mobil- offering the worst prospects ton Trust Sir Peter Lampl said by a security guard to remove shocked and scared, and said “The security guard, from ity. Talking the talk is all very for poor children. of Mr Milburn’s resignation: her hijab before entering on it was a risky situation. When a third-party company, has well, but you also need to walk Shadow cabinet office min- “The Commission under his Thursday. it was over, I finally realised been suspended.” the walk. I see precisely no ister Jon Trickett said: leadership has done much to The woman, who is a British how these situations can Stand Up to Racism’s joint chance of making progress.” “Theresa May has rewarded highlight the extent of the Muslim of Middle Eastern become dangerous. This is not secretary Weyman Bennett All three other commission- the rich whilst holding every- problem. descent, had filmed the secu- a one-off thing.” told the Star: “US President ers on the panel, including one else back. It is no surprise “It is vital that the Prime rity guard, asking him to She has vowed never to walk Donald Trump has endorsed former Conservative education the whole Social Mobility Com- Minister renews the commit- admit that it was because of into a branch of McDonald’s Islamophobia on a global basis. secretary Gillian Shephard, mission has resigned in frus- ment she gave in her first her hijab. He replied: “It’s just again. We have to fight it locally, how- also resigned. tration. statement in Downing Street a matter of taking it off.” The fast food giant — which ever it manifests itself. The walkout came days “Under the Tories, how well to ensure that life chances are She explained that she doesn’t offer any halal-certi- “Women have a right to after the board delivered a people do in life is still based not determined by social back- wore it for religious reasons, fied food on its menu — told an wear whatever they want, report on the grim state of on class background rather ground.” adding: “I will stand in line outraged Twitter user: “We whenever they want.” social mobility in Britain, than on talent or effort.” [email protected] and I will get the food that I don’t have a policy which [email protected] Morning Star Monday December 4 2017 HOME NEWS 5

UNFAIR BRITAIN Pressure mounts to scrap the cap Huge Unison petition forces MPs to discuss public-sector pay by Peter Lazenby wrote to Prime Minister local councils, schools and those same services struggle Theresa May demanding an police forces opt for less to attract suffi cient numbers explanation as to why the stressful, better-paid jobs out- of new recruits. TORY ministers will face Budget had failed to address side the public sector, and “Each and every month, the demands in Parliament today the “woeful” lack of pay rises value of public-sector pay to abolish the public-sector pay for public-sector employees. packets is in decline and, with cap that has allowed thousands He said: “For more than infl ation now 4 per cent, the of workers to sink into poverty. seven years, public-service gap between what dedicated Many workers have been workers have been getting public servants are paid and forced to quit the public sector, steadily poorer as the gap what they can afford grows including the NHS, as the between their wage rises and ever wider.” value of their wages has failed the cost of living has grown. Mr Prentis said the gov- to keep up with the rising cost “As a result, they’ve been ernment appeared to have of living. left thousands of pounds a no plan to restore public- Today’s debate has been year worse off, which has sector pay to its level forced on the government by had a profound impact on before the fi nancial crisis a petition launched by public- the fi nances of millions of of 2007-8 or to fi nd a way of sector union Unison, which has families, and on local econ- stemming the loss of “dis- received almost 150,000 sig- omies as households with illusioned” staff. natures since September. public-service employees The debate, at 4.30pm in It calls on the government rein in their spending. Westminster Hall, follows to scrap the 1 per cent pay cap “Services too are suffering months of union campaigning and to give public- sector as many experienced staff for the cap to be scrapped. workers an immediate pay from hospitals, [email protected] increase at least in line with infl ation, currently running at 4 per cent. COME OUT Ahead of the debate, FIGHTING: Unison general secre- Dave Prentis tary Dave Prentis

LABOUR McDonnell gets behind INDUSTRIAL fi rst political game jam

JOHN McDONNELL threw his coming along and playing weight behind the launch of games. It’s a form of commu- Driving examiners Britain’s fi rst political game nication where people genu- jam in London yesterday. inely engage in the political The shadow chancellor programme.” joined arts collective Games “We’ve got 70 people here for slam the brakes for the Many at the event on a whole weekend developing new Saturday, calling it a remark- games that will set the political able breakthrough for agenda for the coming period.” Labour’s youth engagement. The project follows the suc- on new test plan Around 70 Labour Party and cess of Corbyn Run, a game other left-wing activists, video where players take control of by Peter Lazenby Serwotka said: “PCS members HEALTH SERVICE game programmers and enthu- the Labour leader as he avoids in the DVSA have tried to siasts took part in the game jam, attacks from the Tories. negotiate around their con- where participants break up into Games for the Many co- DRIVING examiners begin a cerns, but the door has been NHS campaigners circle small teams and have 48 hours founder James Moulding said 48-hour strike today in protest slammed shut in their face. to create small video or board the game, released during the at the introduction of a new “They now feel they have no round at-risk hospital games with a political message. =election, had over 150,000 test which they say will mean alternative but to take indus- Mr McDonnell told the Star: downloads in its fi rst four days working longer hours without trial action to bring home to HUNDREDS of NHS paigners have kept up a “It’s not just a matter of people and reached two million people. extra pay. the public how damaging the campaigners ringed a West 20-month campaign against The test, which was due to DVSA proposals are. Yorkshire hospital holding the plans and are now be introduced today, drops “Learner drivers inconven- hands on Saturday in seeking a judicial review. some parts of the old one and ienced by this have our sym- protest against its proposed Campaigner June Holmes introduces new aspects, such pathy, but the blame lies closure, writes Peter told the Star that 500 people as profi ciency in use of satel- squarely with the DVSA and Lazenby. had turned up from as far STAR SUPPORTERS’ lite navigation technology. the government. Calderdale and Hudders- away as Chatsworth, The new system also means “It’s time that the minister fi eld NHS Trust wants to Chorley and Lincolnshire. CHRISTMAS RAFFLE examiners will have to oversee realised what’s been happening shut the 400-bed Hudders- “The trust says that the more tests per day. on his watch and took action to fi eld Royal Infi rmary (HRI), ward closures are ‘part of 1st Prize: BMX Mountain Bike Combo Brynmawr Thousands of tests are address it for the workers and including its A&E unit, and the routine activity’ of the Ayboy with accessories. reported to have been can- for learner drivers. transfer most of its functions hospital because of a celled by the Driver and Vehi- “DVSA have cancelled thou- to neighbouring Halifax. shortage of staff over the 2nd Prize: Bottle of Havana Club Cuban rum cle Standards Agency (DVSA) sands of tests next week due The trust says the closure winter months. They say that because of the dispute. to their intransigence over a and transfer of services is a this is a temporary measure. 3rd Prize: DVD Went the Day Well, anti-fascist fi lm The Public and Commercial dispute they have had two temporary measure, but “We have got a close eye Services union (PCS) laid the years to resolve.” campaigners fear the move on them and they will not Raffl e tickets £1 a strip, phone Dave Brown, 07956 blame for the dispute at the In a PCS ballot, 84 per cent will lead to “closure by get anything past this 302-168. Cheques made payable to Dave Brown, 4 door of Transport Secretary voted for strike action on a 70 stealth.” campaign and our solicitors Bowen Close Ty Fry Blaenafon Torfaen NP4 9NU Chris Grayling. per cent turnout. Hands Off HRI cam- Irwin Mitchell.” Draw is Thursday December 7 at the Imperial Hotel in Merthyr PCS general secretary Mark [email protected] Morning Star 6 NEWS WORLD Monday December 4 2017

IN BRIEF SOUTH AFRICA YPG clears Isis from east of river SACP praises ‘remarkable’ election campaign by Our Foreign Desk achieve a marginally better for the ANC, 11 for the Demo- considerable anti-ANC hostil- ANC does not belong to the cor- SYRIA: People’s Protection result, winning three council cratic Alliance (DA) and eight ity from working-class com- rupt and corporately captured.” Units (YPG) fi ghters have seats after only campaigning for the Economic Freedom munities. Notwithstanding SACP general secretary cleared areas east of the THE South African Commu- for two weeks was a remark- Fighters (EFF), while a this, the SACP did not run an Blade Nzimande stressed that River Euphrates river of Isis nist Party (SACP) leadership able achievement.” number of smaller parties anti-ANC electoral campaign, the party was “not supporting militants, a spokesman for congratulated comrades in the The municipal poll marked received one seat each. although this might well have a particular slate or presiden- the mainly Kurdish militia Free State at the weekend over the fi rst occasion since the SACP Free State provincial won us considerably more tial candidate” in this month’s announced yesterday. their participation in the Met- party was declared illegal in secretary Bheke Stofi le said votes,” the party said. ANC elective conference. Noureddine Mahmoud simaholo by-election. 1950 that it contested an elec- the party would consult the “We ran a campaign focus- He urged delegates to “elect praised US and Russian The annual augmented cen- tion independently of the ANC. community over possible coun- ing on the socio-economic con- a leadership collective that support for forces tral committee meeting in The SACP won three seats, cil coalitions. dition and aspirations of work- will move the ANC out of its operating in eastern Deir Ekurhuleni commented: all on the proportional repre- “In the course of campaign- ing-class communities and on current leadership paralysis.” Ezzor province, express- “While the SACP had hoped to sentation list, as against 16 for ing, the SACP encountered the principled basis that the [email protected] ing hope of more co-ordi- nation with the two powers to protect liberated areas. US Defence Secretary HONDURAS PALESTINE James Mattis confi rmed on Saturday that Washington would soon stop arming Trump told the YPG. Nasralla calls for election recognising Asylum-seekers Jerusalem off ered €3k to go rerun amid street violence would end GERMANY: The Interior by Our Foreign Desk Ministry suggested yesterday that rejected OUTRAGE: peace talks asylum-seekers who return OPPOSITION candidate Sal- Family and home voluntarily could vador Nasralla issued a call at friends gather PALESTINIAN represent- receive a one-off payment the weekend for the Honduran around atives warned US Presi- of €3,000 (£2,650). presidential election to be 19-year-old dent Donald Trump at the Those who qualify can rerun after the government Kimberly weekend against his apply by a February 28 authorised the security forces Dayana’s rumoured intention to deadline and would be to quell mass unrest. coffi n on recognise Jerusalem as given the money once they Cabinet secretary Jorge Saturday after the capital of Israel. arrive home. Hernandez said that some con- she was shot President Mahmoud Migrants who agree to stitutional guarantees would dead during a Abbas’s adviser Mahmoud go back even before their be suspended for 10 days to protest Habash said that, were Mr asylum request is rejected allow security forces to bring supporting Trump to do so, it would have already been offered the situation under control and Salvador amount to a “complete €1,200 per adult and €600 a 6pm-to-6am curfew was Nasralla, destruction of the peace per child under a different declared nationwide. witnesses say process.” programme for almost a “The curfew is to safeguard by police Mr Habash added that year. the security of the country,” “the world will pay the he said after meeting poll price” for any change. observers from the Organisa- It has long been US Suicide bomber tion of American States and thoroughly investigated,” sition is concerned over the “under the supervision of an policy to recognise Tel Aviv the European Union. claimed the police. suspension of the running international electoral tribu- as Israel’s capital because kills at least six “This is the time for the peo- National Police spokesman results service and a supposed nal, not the local one, because Palestinians hope that ple to feel supported by their Jair Meza said that 12 people TSA computer breakdown that there aren’t suffi cient condi- occupied East Jerusalem AFGHANISTAN: At least armed forces and their police, had been wounded in clashes came when Mr Nasralla was tions to guarantee” a fair vote. will be the capital of their six people were killed and because it cannot be that between offi cers, armed with fi ve points ahead in the count. Asked what reply he had future state. 13 wounded yesterday somebody decides to loot or tear gas, batons and water can- The TSA now puts incum- received from the government, Offi cials in Washington when a suicide bomber on rob.” non, and protesters. bent Juan Orlando Hernandez he replied: “They haven’t have disclosed that Mr a motorbike struck a Police have been accused of He added that numerous ahead by 46,000 votes, with 95 responded and I don’t think Trump is considering the football stadium in the a number of shootings, with up businesses had been looted in per cent of votes counted. they will.” move as a way to offset eastern city of Jalalabad. to six civilians dead, including the capital and in San Pedro Mr Nasralla stressed that The crisis is reminiscent of likely deferment of his Nangarhar provincial a 19-year-old woman killed at Sula. his demand for a rerun applied the 2009 coup that ousted campaign promise to move governor’s spokesman a pro-Nasralla protest by gun- The Supreme Election Tribu- only to the presidential poll, president Manuel Zelaya, the US embassy there. Attahullah Khogyani said men identifi ed as police offi cers. nal (TSA) claims to be carrying not the parliamentary and whose Libre party is part of Resistance group that the bombing had “We still do not know if the out a hand count of over 1,000 other elections held at the the coalition which is seeking Hamas added its own taken place shortly after a assailants were police offi cers polling boxes that presented same time, adding that a fresh to unseat Mr Hernandez. warning, calling on the pro-government rally or not, but the case is being “inconsistencies,” but the oppo- ballot should be conducted [email protected] Palestinian people “to ended at the stadium. revive the intifada if these Two intelligence service unjust decisions on members were killed and Jerusalem are adopted.” 10 others wounded on GERMANY The Palestine Liberation Saturday in multiple Isis Organisation also advised bomb attacks in Jalalabad. Washington against Anti-racists hit with water moving its embassy, saying that all US embas- cannon to protect far right sies in the Arab world Grivaux plans force would have to close in the POLICE in Hannover blasted some activists tried to block face of Arab outrage that to intervene in Libya anti-racists with water cannon the road to the Hannover con- would follow such an FRANCE: Government at the weekend during a pro- ference centre. action. spokesman Benjamin test against the far-right Alter- Despite near-freezing tem- Grivaux revealed yester- native for Germany (AfD) peratures, offi cers deployed a day that Paris plans to set holding its leadership confer- water cannon in an attempt to up an African military ence in the city. disperse the crowd. force to intervene in Libya Protests began peacefully One protester’s leg was bro- against human traffi ckers. on Friday evening, with dem- ken as he was dragged away Mr Grivaux said that “an onstrators holding up banners by police. intra-African force must reading “Our Hannover — col- Barriers and barbed wire be able to intervene,” after ourful and in solidarity.” They had been erected around the recent televised footage of continued on Saturday with conference centre and thou- Have your say – send a letter a migrant slave auction in numbers swelling to as many sands of extra police offi cers (of up to 300 words) to Libya provoked horror and as 6,500 people. deployed to protect the anti- [email protected] condemnation worldwide. Altercations between police immigration and Islamopho- or by post to 52 Beachy NOT WELCOME: Anti-racists outside the AfD conference and protesters broke out as bic party. Road, London E3 2NS Morning Star Monday December 4 2017 WORLD NEWS 7

VENEZUELA GREECE: Protesters marched through Athens at the weekend to condemn the EU over its Opposition policies on migrants which traps displaced people in lawless talks make Libya. Hundreds of thousands of African migrants are stranded ‘signifi cant in inhumane camps in Libya where many are abused and even progress’ sold into slavery. The EU pays the Libyan WEEKEND talks in the coastguard to prevent migrants Dominican Republic crossing the Mediterranean and between Venezuelan return them to overcrowded government and opposi- detention centres in Libya. tion forces made “signifi - cant progress,” according to Dominican President Danilo Medina. He said the two-day dialogue had been marked by an atmosphere of mutual respect and would resume on December 15. “The government and the opposition declare that there has been signifi cant progress in the search for an agreement that peace- fully resolves the situation in Venezuela. It’s better to go slowly so that things go well,” added Mr Madina. “The fi rst big news is that we sat down and discussed topics of the highest interest for the Venezuelan homeland,” said government delega- tion head Jorge Rodriguez. “The second great news is that we have worked in depth on the six points. We are very close to an agreement.” Opposition representa- tive Julio Borges called for “more rights for Venezuelans to overcome this crisis.”

ISRAEL YEMEN Fights after rebel 50,000 oppose Bill alliance schism to let Netanyahu off leave 100 dead by Our Foreign Desk we will turn a new page by Fury over law designed to shield PM from corruption shame virtue of our neighbourliness,” he said on TV. by Our Foreign Desk Bill, since he is mired in mul- of the probe against Mr Netan- personal lawyer, who is also OVER 100 people, mainly His comments were wel- tiple corruption investigations yahu in December 2016, but his cousin, represented the Houthi fi ghters, were killed in comed by the Saudi-led coali- at present. this weekend’s was the largest German fi rm involved and is clashes in the Yemeni capital tion, which said it was “confi - UP TO 50,000 protesters Marchers carried placards yet. suspected of trading infl uence Sanaa at the weekend, when dent of the will of the leaders marched through central Tel denouncing Mr Netanyahu as If adopted by the Knesset, with the Israeli leader in the group’s alliance with and sons” of Mr Saleh’s General Aviv at the weekend, condemn- the “Crime Minister,” chanted the legislation would see police return for a hefty cut. former president Ali Abdullah People’s Congress to return to ing a parliamentary Bill “Bibi is a disgrace” and withholding conclusions in Mr Netanyahu’s close ally Saleh fell apart. the Arab fold, repeating Riya- designed to spare Prime Min- called for him to corruption probes into Mr and his Likud party’s chief Although they had been dh’s allegation that the Houthi ister Benjamin Netanyahu “go home” or be Netanyahu, sparing him from whip David Bitan was inter- united since 2015 in resisting movement is a creature of Iran. from public shame over cor- jailed. a potential public outcry. rogated by police yesterday on Saudi-backed forces seeking Houthi leader Abdel-Malek ruption probes. Weekly demon- He is accused of accepting corruption charges dating to to return ousted president al-Houthi called on Mr Saleh The controversial Recom- strations have gifts of expensive wine and his pre-parliament days. Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to to “show more wisdom and mendations Law, dubbed the taken place every cigarettes worth up to £100,000 He was grilled in relation to offi ce, Mr Saleh announced on maturity.” Netanyahu Bill by Israel’s S a t u r d a y from billionaire Arnon accusations that he promoted Saturday that he was ready to However, a separate state- opposition, is due for its second e v e n i n g Milchan and of trying the interests of criminals in turn a “new page” in relations ment from Mr Saleh’s erst- reading in the Knesset today. since the to stitch up a deal return for debt relief while he with the Riyadh-led regional while allies branded his speech The Bill, if passed into law, opening with the infl uential was a municipal politician coalition. “sedition” and “a coup against would prevent police from Yediot Aharonot years ago. His offer would require our alliance and partnership” publishing their recommenda- newspaper for bet- Mr Bitan is the driving Saudi Arabia and its allies to that has “exposed the decep- tions to the Attorney General ter coverage. force behind the Recommen- stop military attacks on Yemen tion of those who claim to on whether to charge suspects There are also dations Bill which, apart from as a fi rst step. stand against aggression.” in existing cases and ban them allegations relating restricting police publication “I call upon the brothers in Mr Hadi, who is in self- altogether from advising the to a possible confl ict of their recommendations to neighbouring states and the imposed exile in Saudi Arabia, Attorney General in future GRAFT of interest involving the attorney general, would alliance to stop their aggres- commented that he would sup- cases. CLAIMS: a £1.5 billion purchase also penalise anyone found sion, lift the siege, open the port “any party confronting The Israeli leader would Benjamin of German submarines. leaking to the media. airports and allow food aid and Houthi terrorist gangs.” benefi t personally from this Netanyahu The prime minister’s [email protected] the saving of the wounded and [email protected] Morning Star 8 FEATURES Monday December 4 2017 Star Comment Let us be rid of US hegemony GATHERING to debate, celebrate, criticise, fundraise for and show solidarity with progressive movements across the world has long been a feature of labour movement life in Britain. But, as several speakers noted from the platform at the weekend’s fantastic Latin America Conference 2017, it’s a newer experience as we salute the achievements of international socialism to feel it may be within reach in our country as well. To have in Britain “a government that will fight to uphold the principles of solidarity and justice around the world,” as Unite’s Andrew Murray put it on Satur- day, would mean a serious upset to the US-led global order. This is why the prospect of a Corbyn government gives so many in the British Establishment the colly- wobbles. This is why Corbyn has come under enormous pressure to drop his longstanding opposition to the warmongering Nato alliance and to renewing our nu- clear weapons stockpiles despite their eye-watering cost at a time when our public services are starving to death. INNOVATIVE: Shadow chancellor John McDonnell It’s why some Labour MPs had kittens over his at- addresses a post-Budget rally in West Bromwich tendance at a Stop the War Coalition Christmas meal in 2015 and why politicians and the media alike lined up to condemn his unwillingness to unleash a nuclear apocalypse. ECONOMICS Britain’s “special relationship” with the US relegates us to a subordinate position, and while Theresa May HEN former US is rightly condemned for her slavish pandering to a president Franklyn dangerous bigot in the White House she is hardly the Roosevelt launched first — Tony Blair did not earn the nickname “the poo- his 1930s New Deal dle” for nothing. into the United State’s depression- John McDon But subordinate though it is, Britain remains an imperialist country with a particular role in propping eraW politics, wealthy elites in the American Liberty League were incan- up the Washington Consensus. descent. Their denunciations focused on a claim that Roosevelt had HIH “betrayed his own class.” The City of London is a “global hub for illicit finance,” For fairly obvious reasons, Labour’s in the words of a Financial Times investigator, and acts shadow chancellor John McDonnell will not face the same denunciations. Labour’s Ne as a gateway to European markets for US banks, spec- ulators and asset-strippers. But be in no doubt, the neoliberal right Our diplomacy and foreign aid budget are tools for are already after him. promoting the politics of privatisation and lining the The Tory Party HQ has unleashed pockets of unscrupulous firms like Adam Smith Inter- a pack of house-trained journalists and Labour’s economic plan is not about filling in national. back-bench MPs, hounding the shadow Almost all the world’s tax havens are British crown chancellor with “Trivial Pursuit” dependencies, allowing a footloose global elite to stash questions about the annual cost of of how we live, work and protect our future, their cash beyond the reach of law or justice, while the servicing government borrowing. country maintains a worldwide network of military Why class this as Trivial Pursuit? Britain had been living in a giant the Tories at all. The whole point of Well, because even the Tory govern- Ponzi scheme. When it (inevitably) “ When FDR their strategy is to foster a belief that bases. ment hasn’t a clue about the cost of crashed, Labour’s mistake was to bail only “rebuilding society” should count These facilitate our armed forces’ role as an extension future borrowing. out the bankers rather than the real launched the as irresponsible borrowing. This is the of the long arm of the Pentagon, whether that is through McDonnell repeatedly makes the economy. antithesis of truth, but if it works what direct participation in US wars or, as in the infamous point that government borrowing costs Today’s debt overhang is the moun- New Deal in do the Tories care? case of the Chagos islanders, by allowing us to provide can range from 0.4 per cent to 1.8 per tain of casino debts not the failure of the ’30s, the The government’s Industrial Strat- Washington with bases and territory for its own opera- cent, far lower rates than anyone else public investment programmes. egy, launched on the back of the tions at the expense of local populations. Even our nu- can borrow at. But his real point is Labour never required the casino to US elite Budget, falls into the same trap. clear arsenal is not independent, but can only be that wherever else you look, govern- pick up the tab. Praised for the analysis of the prob- launched with codes controlled by the United States. ments adopting this approach for When Sweden went through its own called him a lem and damned for the paucity of When Tory or Blairite politicians say a Corbyn gov- infrastructure investment get eco- banking crisis in 1992, it allowed plans to tackle it, the government looks ernment would threaten our standing in the world, it nomic returns in excess of 10 per cent. banks to fail. Before taking them into class traitor. tied to a belief that deregulatory obses- is this sordid state of affairs they seek to maintain. That is the way the domestic national ownership Sweden extracted sions, that lay behind the last crisis, A truly independent foreign policy does not rest on “money-go-round” works. It is the way pounds of flesh from bank sharehold- McDonnell will somehow rescue us from the next. nuclear weapons or military interventions, but on pre- Germany uses its state-owned KfW ers; requiring the banks to write down Bunkum. senting a different face to the world as Cuba’s ambas- bank and how Denmark uses its munic- losses and issue warrants to the gov- will not face Thankfully, McDonnell starts from sador described her homeland doing 59 years ago: ipal banks. It is also the way you ernment. the same somewhere else — much closer to the using the expertise and resources of our people to rebuild a broken economy. When distressed assets were sold, outlines floated elsewhere under the heal and to build. The real problem McDonnell faces the profits too flowed to taxpayers. And claims. But banner of the Green New Deal. That would be a nightmare for the US ruling class is convincing people that Labour is eventually, when banks went back into Rebuilding, not just to boost the econ- as well as our own — and a left-led Britain can expect not proposing to rerun the debacle of the private sector, the Swedish govern- be in no omy but to avoid ecological disaster, to encounter all the dirty tricks we have seen played the 2008 “rescue plan.” ment recouped more money by selling is McDonnell’s starting point. against progressive governments in Latin America, Britain’s post-2008 austerity years its shares in the companies at a profit. doubt, the His problems will not be rooted in from fake news to economic sabotage and from con- were never created by the poor. Nor How unlike Britain, where the cur- convincing the public. His challenge stitutional coups like that seen in Brazil last year to the were they the consequence of irre- rent government Budget proposes to neoliberal will not just be to get past neoliberal bloodier military kind, as one serving general threat- sponsible government spending. sell RBS shares at further public right are opposition, but also past those parts ened when Corbyn first became Labour leader without The 2008 crisis was driven by a losses of over £20 billion. Where Swe- of his own party (and the trade union a whisper of protest from top brass or the government. deregulated banking sector, chasing den made a profit from its bank sales, already movement) that want the future to look That’s why it is more important than ever that we waves of unsecured lending, in reshuf- Britain’s Tories will not even guaran- just like the past. show solidarity with peoples fighting for socialism fled debt bundles, and always pretend- tee to break even. after him ” Walk around Midlands or Northern abroad — their fight is most definitely ours. ing that ever rising asset prices would Saddling the public with gamblers’ towns and you soon see why heartland cover piecemeal losses. debts or polluters’ debts doesn’t worry Labour votes went for Brexit. Scratch Morning Star Monday December 4 2017 FEATURES 9 ANNIVERSARY Awkward questions still linger over the McGurk bar bomb Forty-six years on, the victims’ families are still being denied the truth, writes RICHARD RUDKIN OR those looking for an example of why the “Trou- bles” were labelled the dirty war, they need look no further then the McGurk’s Bar Massacre, which claimedF the lives of 15 people includ- ing two children and left many others injured. On December 4 1971, without warn- ing, an explosion ripped through the bar owned by Patrick and Philomena McGurk who lived on the upper floor of the premises along with their chil- dren. The force of the explosion was so powerful the building collapsed. Those that were not killed by the blast or crushed by the falling masonry were seriously burned by the flames that engulfed the rubble fuelled by the shattered gas mains. For the relatives, the stench of cover-up and collusion began almost before the dust from the explosion had settled. Without one shred of evidence, a statement in the Royal Ulster Con- stabulary’s (RUC) duty officer’s report said that a man had gone into the bar onnell and with a suitcase — presumably to be picked up by a known member of the Provisional IRA (PIRA) — for use on another target when the bomb exploded prematurely. This report was given to the British Army, thereby setting in motion a TRAGEDY: Rescuers dig with bare hands through the rubble of McGurk’s bar propaganda campaign that over four in Belfast, where 15 people died in a bomb blast on December 4 1971 ew Deal decades later leaves the families still fighting for justice. However, Campbell’s confession the RUC had made out the report blam- Ignoring eye-witness statements raises many questions. Days before the ing the PIRA for a premature explo- that gave a description of the “bomb- bombing, three members of the PIRA sion, the British army commanders in potholes. It is the transformation ers,” the RUC instead complied with escaped from Crumlin Road prison, already knew that the bomb exploded a request by Brian Faulkner, then situated not far from McGurk’s bar. “outside” and not inside the bar. Northern Ireland prime minister, to On the day of the bombing the area They also knew that the victims were e, writes ALAN SIMPSON dig the dirt on those that were killed was still saturated with troops with all innocent people, probably targeted or injured. road blocks at almost every corner by a Unionist terror group. Yet still the surface. It isn’t racism or xeno- The good news is that today’s young Victims’ backgrounds were scruti- until shortly before the bomb exploded. they circulated the lie that it was the phobia you find beneath but pessi- people are probably the first genera- nised and some had their homes Is it likely that having aided an PIRA through the media and all gov- mism, disconnection and contempt tion with access to technologies and searched in an attempt to find any escape of three of its members, would ernment agencies. — for Westminster as much as Brus- skills that might actually avoid climate evidence to link them to the PIRA. the PIRA, or any other terrorist group, Moreover, on December 23 1971 the sels. It stalks the lives of people for breakdown and transform the future. When this failed, unofficial reports drive around a “troop-saturated” area commanding officer of the troops whom GDP growth is an illusion, job They may also be the last generation surfaced of a paramedic hearing a with a bomb on board? From my expe- responsible for that area had his sol- security a memory and pay rises a with the chance to do so. deathbed confession of a victim, where rience, no. Yet Campbell and his asso- diers post a statement to the people thing only Grandad recalls. it was claimed “he had warned another ciates did. What made them sure they near McGurk’s which stated that “he This is McDonnell’s starting point; o McDonnell’s plan is not man in the bar about the bomb.” wouldn’t be stopped? How could they was looking forward to a period in and where Roosevelt too pitched the about filling in potholes. It When scrutinised, no statements be sure the road blocks would be lifted? which the residents will not lose their second phase of his New Deal. It is the wholesale transfor- were traced and neither the victim nor But it doesn’t stop there. How did friends in a repetition of the Provos begins with jobs. mation of how we live, work the paramedic identified, nor indeed the RUC “lose” crucial evidence includ- accident in McGurks Bar.” The Republican right hated Roo- and protect. Public borrow- anything to prove either existed. ing fingerprints taken from the car Since 2009, with the help of other sevelt for putting trade union rights ing will not be the problem. Media outlets on the briefing of the abandoned by the bombers? Why did agencies including the human rights and decent pay at the heart of his SIt can easily be supplemented by security forces ran with the lie that the RUC, supported by the British advocacy groups Rights Watch and the infrastructure and employment pro- municipal (green) bonds, similar to the PIRA were to blame. Politically, army, conspire to blame the PIRA? It Pat Finucane Centre, the families have grammes. those used to provide Britain’s towns everyone in the information chain is the answers to these and other ques- uncovered an archive of documents But Roosevelt knew that if you and cities with energy security 200 from the RUC right up to the defence tions that contribute to the suggestion suggesting the RUC was involved in a wanted to build for a reskilled, inclu- years ago. minister were reading off the same of collusion and cover-up. propaganda campaign. sive tomorrow, you couldn’t do it on A Labour chancellor could also copy page, leaving the families and the sur- In 2009 Ciaran MacAirt — grandson The families now want the British Deliveroo’s terms and conditions. Britain’s international neighbours, vivors as the only ones knowing the of Kitty Irvine, who was killed in the government to release all its files on McDonnell recognises this, but he using a national infrastructure bank truth. explosion, and author of The McGurk’s the McGurk’s bombing. also knows something even more chal- to de-risk the public investment pro- However, in a twist to events, in Bar Bombing: Collusion, Cover-Up and You may read this and ask: “What lenging, that the jobs that get us out grammes that transformation will 1977 following a tip-off Ulster Volun- a Campaign for Truth — uncovered a about the murder of British soldiers?” of today’s mess will have to be “cli- require. teer Force member Robert Campbell briefing report prepared for the British That’s a good question. But what con- mate” jobs; repairing the climate more The key, however, is the courage to was arrested and admitted that he was forces’ commander in Northern Ireland tributed towards the hatred of the sol- urgently than the roads, leaving car- face the predictable onslaught. responsible for bombing McGurk’s bar Sir Harry Tuzo, which stated that the diers? Lies, discrimination and a lack bon in the ground and fertility in the McDonnell’s “crime” will be in seek- but refused to name his associates. bomb disposal officer at the scene of justice. That’s why I want the truth soil, and replacing unsustainable, pol- ing to defend his class, not betray it. Campbell stated that the bomb was believed in his expert opinion that the too. luting energy sources with clean, sus- His own resolve is clear. He just needs initially intended for a known repub- bomb was placed at the entrance and tainable ones. The most glaring chal- the movement to be pulling with him lican bar, but as the bar had security not inside the pub. n Richard Rudkin served in Northern lenges will be in a skills programme — into a different future — rather than on the door, McGurk’s Bar was chosen The importance of this can’t be Ireland with the British army and is to deliver it. clinging to an unsustainable past. instead. underestimated. It proved that before now a journalist. Morning Star 10 LETTERS Monday December 4 2017

ALL ABOARD? GRAHAM STEVENSON Brexiteers explores our online archive Kate Hoey and Nigel Farage on the Leave campaign boat ahead of 80 YEARS AGO TODAY... the EU referendum Hollywood stars’ kids launch Xmas drive for victims of fascism in Spain CEDRIC BELF- actor Helen Gahagan ■RAGE reported in Douglas, who was the Daily Worker of infamously insulted by December 4 1937 from Richard Nixon as being the US that, at a party in “pink, down to her the Beverly Hills home underwear,” was also on of Oscar Hammerstein, the committee along “children of famous with Florence Eldridge, Hollywood stars” would the stage and screen inaugurate a “Christmas actor. drive on an international Although support for scale for aid to the child the drive would later be victims of fascist classed as “premature aggression in Spain.” anti-fascism,” backers The sons of Gloria included the president Swanson and Edward G of Mexico, many Robinson with many distinguished French others would collect gifts and German writers, donated by children the leader of the during the week of the Swedish social demo- drive. crats, Lloyd George, Five million Christmas Bernard Shaw, Lady stamps had been issued Asquith and Clement by Hollywood’s Motion Attlee. Picture Artists’ Commit- In the 1950s, Mile- tee for Spanish Democ- stone was blacklisted as racy, a body which had being Moldovan and an astonishing 15,000 March and Tone were members. Film stars named as communists IRISH BORDER were alive to the fact that by McCarthy’s House their international fame Un-American Activities enabled “infl uence and Committee. Helen leadership of a unique Douglas’s political kind.” career was destroyed by Hoey brings case for Key organisers were venom from Nixon but silent movie star Richard Arlen co-operated with Arlen, Franchot Tone, a McCarthy. distant relative of the “father” of Irish republi- You can Brexit into disrepute canism, Lewis Milestone, read editions of a director best known for the Daily Worker I NEVER had Kate Hoey The Labour MP seems to UK leaves the European and make the Dublin govern- All Quiet on the Western (1930-45) and pegged as a US Republican but think that if a “hard” border Union, the Dublin government ment pay for that too? Front and Melvin Star (200 0-today)Morning after her recent pronounce- is to be put in place between should be compelled to pay for It’s views like hers that Douglas, well-known in , online at ment on Brexit I have had to Northern Ireland and the it. bring the case for Brexit into later years for playing mstar.link/DWMSarchive think again. Republic of Ireland after the Never mind that, prior to disrepute. The best way to father fi gures on Ten days’ access costs the Good Friday agreement, resolve the Irish problem is television. just £5.99 Weekend cryptic solution 1,216 Weekend Sudoku solution the Irish Republic always had the same now as it has always His wife, pioneering and a to pay for the policing of a been — remove the border congresswoman and year is £72 border that the Dublin govern- altogether and let the Irish, ment never wanted in the fi rst north and south, not to mention place, Ms Hoey now espouses east and west, develop proper a policy of which that other devolution within a united Ire- Republican, Donald John land. Trump, would strongly And, without the DUP, the approve. Tories might fi nd it hard to Why doesn’t she go the muster a majority in the whole hog and propose build- future. Hoey should surely ing a wall from Muff in the support that as a Labour MP. north all the way around to MARTIN ROGAN Carlingford Lough in the east Ayr

POLITICS MAIDENHEAD Why do some ‘intellectuals’ Pub ban on May not turn to the right later in life? fair at all I ROARED with laughter at thinking it has something to I am not a thorough-going I FEEL it would be very your report on the surveil- do with increasing wealth and Marxist-Leninist, rather just unfair if all the pubs in lance of author Kingsley Amis forging the “right” connec- on the left, Labour if you her constituency of after the second world war (M tions to get on. like. So I simply cannot Maidenhead barred PM Star November 28). There were several others understand those like Mur- Theresa May aka Mrs Describing the former com- like Amis including novelist doch who at one time seems Mayhem from the munist, the article quotes a John Braine who later to have believed in the dic- premises in protest at the report describing him as “a expressed support for the Viet- tatorship of the proletariat cut in local and national rather nebulous personality nam war and communist and years later said she police numbers. who tries to compensate by turned right-wing author Iris thought that one of the best After all, her renditions impressing with extreme Murdoch. On another page you things the Thatcher govern- of various Kraftwerk hits statements and arguments on mention one David Horowitz, ment ever did was the Trade are extremely popular on everything.” who was one of the beautiful Union Act. karaoke nights down at the OH SO STYLISH: I note tie and beard combo would The trip from left to right people in the ’60s with the If you can fake sincerity, you Fool & Bladder. that Jeremy Corbyn is on lead to a revolt into style over their life seems to be a fashionable California protest- have got it made — apparently. PETER STORCH the cover of the new issue eventually. common thing with so-called ers and is now an active leftie- CHRIS GOULD Argyll and Bute of GQ magazine. It was KEITH FLETT intellectuals. I cannot help hater. Norwich always clear that the red London N17 Morning Star Monday December 4 2017 BOOKS 11

BOOK EXTRACT SHAKING THE WHOLE WORLD: (Right) The World is Atop of a Volcano (Komintern) poster by Vladimir Mayakovsky and (below) The March of Humanity mural A global by David Alfaro soundtrack Siqueiros for revolution From India to Mexico, China to Iraq, the momentous events of 1917 in Russia inspired artists all over the world to produce a poetry for mass action, says VIJAY PRASHAD N 1924, Mexico’s Manuel Maple fl ute / While in the other I hold the war duct land reforms and to pursue cul- Yenan Forum on Literature and Art. est source, in order to observe, expe- Acre wrote a sublime and com- bugle! / I am the Bedouin, I am tural and educational policies that Mao had closely read Lenin’s exhorta- rience, study and analyse all the dif- plex poem, Urbe: Super-Poema Chengis, / I salute none but me! favoured the masses. tion from 1905 that the new revolution- ferent kinds of people, all the classes, Bolchevique en Cinco Cantos “Maddened with an intense joy I With 90 per cent of Mexico illiter- ary literature might serve “the mil- all the masses, all the vivid patterns (City: Bolshevik Super-Poem in rush onward, / I am insane! I am ate, visual and theatrical arts were lions and tens of millions of working of life and struggle, all the raw mate- Five Cantos). Here was language insane! / Suddenly I have come to necessary to transmit the values of people — the fl ower of the country, its rials of literature and art.” Istuttering against the old forms, look- know myself, / All the false barriers the revolution. It was during the early strength and its future.” He was sym- It was among the people that the ing for new terms, new idioms, new have crumbled today! 1920s that artists started to paint pathetic to the fact that, like Russia artists and writers would learn not ways to express the new world that ‘I am the rebel eternal / I raise my Mexican public spaces and actors and Mexico, China was a country with only about the social contradictions artists wanted to produce: “Russia’s head beyond this world, / High, ever began to take their theatre on the high illiteracy. in the heart of the masses but also lungs / blow the wind / of social revo- erect and alone!” road, when educators went to rural Mao was clear that the revolution- about the imagination of the masses lution toward us. This desire to write against the areas to teach and when land reform ary movement had two armies — the and so produce art for that imagina- The poem, dedicated to the “work- numbness was what would draw in provided the material basis for dignity army of guns, which had fought to tion. ers of Mexico,” echoed the impatient writers from China to Chile, eager to in the countryside. secure the base area of Yenan, and The task of the revolutionary intel- style of the Soviet poet Vladimir fi nd new language to keep up with the All of this was to promote the values the army of pens, which would need lectuals is to “collect the opinions of Mayakovsky, who also felt that the old kind of left-wing futurism of the Sovi- of the 1911 Mexican revolution despite to provide another kind of armour for these mass statesmen” — the people language, steeped in feudal culture, ets. It is the sound that one hears from the hesitancy of the leadership that the working-class and the peasantry. — “sift and refi ne them and return was not adequate for the revolutionary Islam, surely, but also from the burst- emerged. In this time came the murals them to the masses, who then take era. ing imagery of Chilean poet Pablo of Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Sique- riters and artists them and put them into practice.” This Old Russian was saturated with Neruda, the “nervous montage” cin- iros and Jose Clemente Orozco, the have to go to the is what Italian communist Antonio feudal implications, just as the hier- ema of Cuban fi lmmaker Santiago paintings of Frida Kahlo and the pho- people, Mao said, in Gramsci, writing in his prison cell at archies of the system produced bodies Alvarez or, later, the dream-like mem- tography of Tina Modotti and Manual order to understand around this same time, called elabora- that were fi lled with subservience, the oirs of Iraqi communist writer Haifa Alvarez Bravo. the people rather tion — to take the views of the masses hunched shoulders, the head down- Zangana. Many of these artists were mem- than imagine a fan- and elaborate them from common cast. Maple Arce wrote at a particularly bers of the Mexican Communist Party tasyW population that would remain sense to philosophy. But the new Russia had a new atti- exciting time for Mexico’s history. and also of the Syndicate of Technical outside their imagination. “China’s Through wall newspapers and pam- tude. Lenin’s wife Krupskaya From 1920 to 1924, powerful struggles Workers, Painters and Sculptors, revolutionary writers and artists, phlets and theatre and songs by revo- recounted the “altered language” she of peasants and workers forced the whose manifesto said that Mexican writers and artists of promise, must lutionary troupes, the intellectuals heard from women workers and peas- Mexican government to deepen its art is great because it “surges from go among the masses; they must for would transfer this popular philoso- ants at a meeting. The speakers, she revolutionary commitment. the people, it is collective.” It would a long period of time unreservedly phy back to the masses. “Writers and remembered, “spoke boldly and When the government vacillated break hierarchies, straighten spines, and wholeheartedly go among the artists concentrate such everyday frankly about everything.” between a revolutionary agenda and loosen tongues. masses of workers, peasants and sol- phenomena,” lectured Mao, “typify How to speak boldly now as poets, reformism, the organised working- Twenty years later, in May 1942, diers, go into the heat of the struggle, the contradictions and struggles as artists, as actors, as designers? class and peasantry fought it to con- Mao gave a series of lectures to the go to the source, the broadest and rich- within them and produce works which People like Mayakovsky produced awaken the masses, fi re them with novel work, inventive work, work that enthusiasm and impel them to unite tried to fi nd itself in the atmosphere and struggle to transform their envi- of radical democracy. They wanted ronment.” to shatter the numbness of society. In the crucible of revolutions, It was to break the numbness that whether Russia after 1917 or China Nazrul Islam, Bengal’s communist in the 1940s or Cuba after 1959, lit- poet, wrote his triumphant song Bid- erature underwent a major transfor- rohi (Rebel) in December 1921. Islam mation, with revolutionary artists and others were frustrated with the tugging at the strings of reality, fi nd- present and eager to create the future. ing new ways to say new things. These early communists, as the Artists and writers tried to fan the historian Suchetana Chattopadhyay fl ames of revolutionary change and called them, were surrounded by lit- understanding. Their audience was erary magazines with names that not the old aristocrats or the bourgeoi- evoke the desire for a new opening sie but the workers and the peasants — Bijali (Lightning) and Dhumketu who wanted a soundtrack for their (Comet). The police read Dhumketu revolution, poetry for their actions on and described it quite accurately. “The the streets. whirlwind energy of the style and infl ammatory character of the lan- ■ Vijay Prashad is guage had a great unsettling effect the chief editor of on premature and unbalanced minds LeftWord Books. with whom the paper was immensely This is an extract popular.” from his forthcoming Nazrul Islam’s poem Bidrohi car- book Red Star Over ries the urgency of Mayakovsky and the Third World, to Maple Arce, of the poets of revolution- be published by Left- ary electricity. Word Books, details: “In one hand of mine is the tender leftword.com Morning Star 12 FEATURES Monday December 4 2017

Contact [email protected] to join future activity 28 days for the Star in your area FIGHTING left WITH IntermediateSupersonic IVAN Sudoku Tell us FUND BEAVIS what you’d like to see YOU’VE RAISED: WE NEED: more of in your £2,084 £15,916 paper and email IN THESE giddy days early in ills of this world if we thank the pursuit of these daydreams. the fundraising cycle, I take Lord hard enough. We all know the script, of editorial@ time off from my usual angst- So far as I can see, most re- course, which is why it is dan- ridden worry that the Morning ligions end up in confl ict with gerous for people like me to do peoples- Star cannot survive without each other and cause endless anything other than praise the bucketloads of hyperbole from suff ering to the overwhelming organisers of this year’s Ade- press.com yours truly. So yesterday I majority of people on Earth. I lante Latin American confer- steered away from watching would have thought, therefore, ence for staging such a memo- daytime television trash such that we should be putting all rable occasion and then get as the Andrew Marr and Robert our combined strength into back to encouraging more and Peston shows and instead con- trying to reduce the hold that more readers to support the templated the question of why faith has over people and get- paper fi nancially. That is what so many people believe that ting those people out and I shall do and my weekend ser- engaging in a quick confab about confronting the misery mons are hereby abandoned. with almighty God can cure the that is caused by the military Have a great week. Give by post… phone… or online Payable to PPFF to: From 10am-5pm on At morningstar Fighting Fund, 52 Beachy (020) 8510-0815 online.co.uk/support Solution tomorrow… Rd, London E3 2NS TODAY’S WEATHER TV & RADIO

★ INVERNESS Cloudy 9°C max, feels like 6°C Wind 9mph SW

★ ABERDEEN Partly cloudy 8°C max, feels like 5°C ★ GLASGOW Wind 11mph W Cloudy 9°C max, feels like 6°C Wind 7mph W ★ EDINBURGH Sunny day ★ LIVERPOOL 8°C max, feels like 5°C Wind 9mph WSW Cloudy 10°C max, feels like 7°C Wind 11mph WNW ★ NEWCASTLE Partly cloudy Some shows shouldn’t need ★ SHEFFIELD 7°C max, feels like 4°C Partly cloudy Wind 11mph W 9°C max, feels like 7°C to be made, but sadly are Wind 7mph WNW dross” shows with Concorde: by Ann Douglas Living The Dream (9pm). The story ★ NORWICH ON ONE level, shows explaining the of Concorde, the fi rst supersonic ★ BIRMINGHAM Partly cloudy best way to try to avoid an otherwise passenger plane, is just bonkers Cloudy 6°C max, feels like 4°C enough to be worth the watch as Wind 7mph W inevitable price rip-off over your 9°C max, feels like 7°C utility bill shouldn’t need to be Britain signed up to one of the most Wind 9mph NW made. Given this disgraceful state of expensive airline projects in history aff airs however The Martin Lewis — £1.3 billion in development costs — in a desperate eff ort to seal the ★ LONDON Money Show (8pm ITV) does a ★ CARDIFF good job of explaining how to deal on entry into the European Cloudy Sunny day protect yourself against gas fi rms Common Market. 9°C max, feels like 7°C Finally, if you’ve been puzzling 10°C max, feels like 9°C Wind 7mph WNW taking the proverbial. Wind 4mph W Similarly a show which shouldn’t over last month’s Zimbabwean need to exist, this week’s Employ- “not-a-coup” and don’t mind a able Me (9pm, BBC2) continues the late-night viewing, Mugabe and ★ PLYMOUTH ★ SOUTHAMPTON NEXT FEW DAYS… process of helping disabled people the Democrats: Storyville overcome prejudices to fi nd (11.30pm, BBC4) may be of use. Partly cloudy Sunny day The rain will initially hold off on a employment, including a fi rst-class The feature-length fi lm follows 11°C max, feels like 10°C 9°C max, feels like 8°C cloudy day tomorrow, but honours journalist with cerebral two people, one from the opposition Wind 4mph NW Wind 7mph NW Wednesday will see the heavens palsy who is struggling to break into and one from Mugabe’s camp, open and the winds sharpen. It will through the process of rewriting the continue wet and windy through the industry. Thursday, with an added northern On a slightly more upbeat level, country’s constitution. It has some chill as the weekend nears. Channel 5 is doing one of its useful insights into the balance of intermittent “not actually terrible power in 2013-14. Morning Star Monday December 4 2017 FEATURES 13 FULL MARXCORE CONCEPTS EXPLAINED Can we be alienated when we love shops? ARX’S critique of capitalism wasn’t This week the MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY explains how limited to econom- ics. It included the way capitalism we are all objectifi ed by our capitalist economic system affects the way peo- Mple think and behave as individuals. ALIENATION: Argos workers prepare mill owners advertised jobs for Capitalist commodity production, stock ahead of Black Friday sales “hands,” they did more than just he argued, turns everything “into demean their employees, they objec- alienable, vendible objects in thrall tifi ed them. to egoistic need and huckstering. Sell- “The market” itself becomes a ing is the practice of alienation.” thing, almost a person. How often Commodity production and con- have we heard on the news statements sumption magnifi es the signifi cance such as: “The market was gloomy of an alien entity, namely money. yesterday but today rallied and Alienation arises from the trans- showed signs of positive jubilation”? formation of use values into com- It’s almost as if they are describing modities. Even people are treated as someone rising from their sick bed “things” (employees, consumers) and and dancing in the streets with a bot- society is fragmented into isolated tle of bubbly in their hands. individuals. The market is presented as Expressing this approvingly, Mar- supreme, invested with super-human garet Thatcher once famously said powers, which obscures the real that “there is no such thing as soci- nature of ideological, political and ety.” economic relations. In his theses on the German phi- With the transition from feudalism losopher Ludwig Feuerbach, Marx to capitalism, people accepted a new declared that we are all “products of kind of servitude. As “free” wage- circumstances and upbringing” and labourers and “free” consumers they that “life experiences change percep- became ever more subject to the rule tions and beliefs.” Clash sang: “I went to the market to queer thing, abounding in metaphys- by gaining pleasure from our own of money. At the same time he emphasises realise my soul. What I need, I just ical subtleties and theological nice- achievements and for the benefi ts it Yet while work — production — that “it is people who change circum- don’t have.” ties.” brings to others. offers the possibility of collective stances.” Humans are able to think We have probably all wondered Its signifi cance goes well beyond Yet even in modern society most action, consumption became increas- and to act. This enables us to unite what on Earth the point can be to a its use-value and is mediated by of us contribute to the common good ingly a largely private experience both theory and practice, interacting multibillionaire adding another few advertising, fashion and a host of in one way or another. And the gleam embodied in commodities mediated in a continuous modifi cation of human billion to their pile — one form of subjective factors. of socialism, exemplifi ed by inde- by advertising and fashion. nature: “By thus acting on the exter- insanity that makes no sense In The German Ideology, pendent self-activity is ever present But we needn’t simply wait upon nal world and changing it, [a person] to any unalienated human Marx and Engels declare: — because, strangely, money does not some perfect society to acquire a at the same time changes his own being. A “The vocation, designa- buy you happiness (or love)! socialist outlook. People can reduce nature.” Native North Amer- lecture on tion, task of every per- In The Holy Family, Marx and their own alienation through collec- Marx introduced the concept of icans simply could Britain and the son is to achieve all- Engels say that capitalists and pro- tive action for the common good, what he called the “fetishism of com- not grasp the notion Russian Revolution with round development letarians are equally alienated, challenging the dictats of capitalism modities.” Anthropologists and mis- that a gift from Mary Davis takes place at of all their abili- although they experience their alien- and imperialism. sionaries (in the service of capital as Europeans for the Marx Memorial Library ties.” ation in markedly different ways. It is through working together with well as God) were at the time busily allowing them to While people The wealthy and powerful know others in our neighbourhoods and discovering and converting many live nearby had on December 7 at 7pm. See may not feel alien- full well that they are somehow apart communities, in trade unions, in the ancient cultures to Christianity, in meant that they had mstar.link/MMLcourses ated, many grasp from the rest of humanity, but see labour movement and in a Marxist the process fi nding unusual ritual acquired the land by that we are less than their alienation as a badge of their political party that we humans can object-practices, which may explain purchase. “How can for details we could be. The superiority. begin to realise ourselves, changing why Marx used the word “fetish.” anyone possess land?” sheer tasks of survival A specifi c form of alienation is our nature by developing what Marx Only later did Sigmund Freud and they complained. Indeed! and the routine of worka- “reifi cation” — the “thinging” of called our “slumbering powers.” his followers borrow the term to A commodity is not just day life are familiar to most human relations — or, more elegantly, The ultimate victory for those who describe how objects can become a something bought and sold. Com- of us. devaluing human relations to the would struggle for a communal soci- fi xation when they act as sexual trig- modities capture human labour So, in their social lives and hobbies, point of being just like things, or ety is the end of alienation. We’ll gers. Commodity fetishism isn’t a within themselves. “A commodity if not in work, people try to combat attributing to a thing the qualities of probably continue to shop, some of sexual deviancy but a way of relating appears, at fi rst sight, a very trivial the lack of control that prevents them a living organism. us may even remain “dedicated fol- to the world through things. thing, easily understood,” Marx wrote from fulfi lling themselves. In truly “Objectifi cation” of human beings, lowers of fashion,” but our wants will And it’s central to the functioning in Capital, continuing: “Its analysis free labour, we’d value what we do, whether as sex objects or consumers, no longer be dictated by the owners of capitalism. As the punk-rock group shows that it is, in reality, a very not by what it enables us to buy, but is comparable. When 19th-century and managers of capital.

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