Referendums can be defining moments in a country’s political culture, as the Scottish Independence referendum showed. They offer a unique opportunity for a national debate on a single issue. There is no escaping the fact that the referendum on EU membership could have huge implications on the political landscape of the UK. It is, therefore, […]
Posts under ‘International’
Western policy in Syria is bankrupt. But that doesn’t stop the aerial attacks
Oct 11th, 2015 by Mike Phipps.The US has been bombing Syria for over a year. Russia began this September, as did France. Turkey has strafed targeted ISIS positions in the country and Israel has also conducted air strikes on Syrian military installations. Canada has been bombing Syria since April and Australia since September. Jordan began a year ago as did […]
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Emergency motion to Labour conference on Syria and ISIS
Sep 23rd, 2015 by Newsdesk.Readers will be aware of the likelihood that David Cameron will seek House of Commons support to extend UK participation in the bombing of Iraq to Syria in the near future. In discussion between various organisations, the following model emergency motion has been drafted. This is clearly life and death issue for the people of Syria. […]
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EU membership means no renationalisation
Sep 18th, 2015 by Danny Nicol.Public ownership of gas and electricity is destined to become a cherished aim of the Labour Party. For years under privatisation, the swindling of the consumer has gone hand-in-hand with outrageous profit-taking by the corporate giants, to the loss of the public purse. Far from helping customers through keen competition, the main effect of energy […]
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The case for Britain staying in the EU
Sep 18th, 2015 by Peter Rowlands.It is now clear that a substantial section of the left in the Labour Party has come to the conclusion that the UK should leave the EU, a position enormously enhanced by the TUC statement this week that any deal involving a diminution in employment or social rights that Cameron won prior to the referendum […]
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Labour’s policy on EU must force Cameron to address public aspirations and concerns
Sep 17th, 2015 by Michael Meacher.It is fairly clear, even among Europhiles who want to stay in, what most people object to about the current state of the EU and what they would like to see changed. The membership fee is uncomfortably large, some £11bn every year. Free movement of labour works well between countries of similar living standards, but […]
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Cameron’s declared bombing aims in Syria are ridiculously vain
Sep 11th, 2015 by Michael Meacher.We have all learnt that Cameron routinely makes up policy on the hoof, but he has really outdone himself by his explanation of his case for bombing Syria. First of all as he states it, his military case is the defeat of ISIS. This is risible since the contribution that he is planning for Britain […]
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Dithering Dave and the refugees
Sep 8th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.I detest the term “game-changing“, but the wide publication of the little body of Aylan Kurdi washed up on a Turkish beach touched millions of hearts coarsened by decades of anti-immigrant racism and hysteria. Having obstinately set his face against taking more refugees, Dave and his pitiful government were shamed by the huge numbers taken […]
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Why bombing would not have averted the Syrian refugee crisis
Sep 3rd, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Just a few of points by way of counterfactual theorising in response to James Bloodworth’s piece in the International Business Times about Syria and the decision not to go to war. James’s chief contention is that, had the Commons voted to bomb Assad and his regime this time two years ago, the appalling refugee crisis […]
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Ending ‘life support’ for western economic model underlies China crisis
Sep 2nd, 2015 by Ann Pettifor.After two days of trouble and strife in global stock markets, the Federal Reserve’s New York President William Dudley said in remarks to reporters that a September interest rate hike seemed “less compelling” now than in recent weeks. These two words alone calmed global financial markets, and pushed up the price of oil. So everything’s […]
