Newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist)
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British imperialist designs in Africa
Green paper proposals to further criminalise the workers' struggles
Highlights of November 17 Meeting
The danger of world war and the democratisation of international affairs
Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea reiterates its just demand
Increasing attacks on the elderly
IMPORTANT MEETING HELD ON NOVEMBER 17
AN important meeting was called by the Central Committee of RCPB(ML) on Sunday, November 17. It was attended by cadres from the London Region and invited cadres from other parts of the country.
The meeting was held to mark the launch of the second stage of the project to advance and consolidate the technical base of the Party.
A representative of the Central Committee spoke on the significance of this programme, and of the stage of the development of Workers' Weekly and of the Party's press.
A call was given for the maximum political mobilisation to accomplish the practical tasks which present themselves at this stage, representing a decisive requirement for the working class and people at this time.
The meeting was held in a militant and enthusiastic atmosphere, and it concluded with a practical programme as part of the launch of the project.
Highlights from the points raised at the meeting are reported on (Click here for article)
ON NOVEMBER 14, Michael Portillo, the Defence Secretary, made a statement about Zaire in Parliament. He described the Great Lakes region of Africa as "facing a complex emergency and a potential humanitarian catastrophe". He pointed out that Britain had "been actively involved in contingency planning" since November 8. A "reconnaissance force" of about 40 troops was to be sent to the area.
The hoax that is here being perpetrated is that because aid is desperately needed, it is in the best interests of the peoples of this area of Africa to be occupied by British, Canadian, US and other military forces. This is in the long tradition of British imperialism which colonised Africa allegedly for the best interests of the Africans, the "white man's burden". The history of British and other European colonialists throughout Africa is a long and bloody one. Whole city ports in Britain flourished on the inhuman slave-trade, while the British capitalist class has been able to bribe a whole stratum of the working class as a labour aristocracy with the superprofits from its colonial adventures. Infamously, Cecil Rhodes is said to have remarked that imperialism was a necessity in order to prevent a revolution of the working people.
The circumstances have changed, but the rhetoric is fundamentally the same rhetoric. Intervention is carried out under the signboard of humanitarian assistance, while the peoples of Africa suffer the effects of continued intervention, the incitement to conflict and the supplying of arms by the capitalist powers. The revelations of the supplying of £3 million of arms to the erstwhile Rwandan government forces via Israel and Albania by a British registered firm should come as a suprise to no one.
The untold tragedies of Africa, including the massacres and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of refugees in the Great Lakes region, stem from the imperialist domination and carving up of Africa and the continued plunder of its natural resources and the sucking out of its produced wealth by foreign capital.
It is disingenuous of Michael Portillo to portray the plight of the peoples of Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire as a continuation of a century of "violent clashes (which) have occurred periodically between local tribes and Tutsis of Rwandan origin", and the British response as showing a "deep concern for our fellow man", with a "sense of pride that British armed forces can make a difference". He was, however, accurate to say that "the British armed forces have substantial experience of Africa". Dating back beyond the last century, to the Boer War at the turn of the century, stretching through the first world war fought partly over the redivision of Africa between the imperialists, to the invasion of Egypt forty years ago, the suppression of the anti-colonial struggles in Kenya and interventions in Nigeria and other parts of Africa – the armed forces have been sent in to serve British imperialist interests.
In saying that Britain has "no vital national interest" in this region, has Michael Portillo forgotten that the government has a "Minister for Africa" in Baroness Chalker, the Minister for Overseas Development? The bottom line for the government is that in Africa, as Lynda Chalker explained last month, "pro-poor policies" as she called them, "are also good economics". Lest it be thought that the Minister was referring to the benefits for the African peoples, one has only to look at a speech by her on "Investment in East Africa" given at a Seminar organised by the Financial Times on November 6. She says, speaking of East Africa – Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda (countries immediately to the East of Zaire, Rwanda and Burundi) – that East African cooperation, "is an essential step towards creating the mutual confidence that can assure political stability in a region of Africa where Britain has friends and interests. So this is in our interest too." She speaks of how it may "offer opportunities to British companies" and of areas "in which the UK private sector has expertise to offer".
The anachronistic dreams of empire and high-flown stories of "civilised" assistance masking the interests of the financial oligarchy – all of which received multi-Party support in Parliament – must be opposed by all progressive and democratic people. It should not be forgotten that Britain also, as Michael Portillo pointed out, "shares the United States' notions [b]y and large" and is an enthusiastic supporter of the US-led neo-colonial military "Crisis Response Force" for Africa, which Portillo described as an "excellent idea", a force aimed at preventing the peoples of Africa from sorting out their deep-rooted problems. In this context, Portillo also referred to the "Joint Rapid Deployment Force" which, as he explained last month, Britain has established "to give us the means of effective rapid response to a threat to our interests".
Workers' Weekly resolutely condemns the government and the support given by the Labour Party for its planned military foray into Central Africa, using the pretext of sorting out the problems of the people there. The African peoples, as people everywhere, can only solve their problems by overthrowing imperialism. The working class must fully dissociate itself from the imperialist activities of the British government, and demand that the peoples of the region be allowed to solve their own problems free from imperialist intervention and interference.
MILITANT ACTIONS AGAINST THE CRISIS IN EDUCATION
TWO DAYS OF ACTION against the effects of the Major government's cut-backs in higher education took place throughout Britain on November 19 and 20. Whilst students organised a 5,000-strong national demonstration in London and other actions on November 20, lecturers and workers in Higher Education went on strike the preceding day. It was reported that over 120,000 took part, closing down 192 colleges and universities. Rallies, meetings and other initiatives were organised as part of the protest. The breadth and scale of the action was such that the organisers said that this was the first time that members from all unions involved in higher education acted in unison and it was pointed out that for the first time union members at Cambridge University also participated in such an action. Other workers on strike such as the sacked Liverpool dockers and others supported the action. The big capitalist media gave minimal coverage to the action.
A militant spirit prevailed throughout, and the protests were an expression of all concerned to raise the level of the fight to stop the anti-social offensive on the front of higher education. How can this level be raised and carried forward? At the present, some of the main leaders have the idea that the issue is just simply one of "money". At the main London rally of lecturers and workers, for example, one union leader declared "higher education is being starved of funds" whilst another thought that "a fair settlement after honest negotiations" was the issue. Another said that a "line had to be drawn in the sand".
The level of the struggle against the crisis in higher education cannot be raised in this way. Whilst fighting for more money for education, the workers and others need to have a broader outlook. They cannot dispense with a political line which not only defends their interests but most importantly takes up the necessity for the level of education of the whole society to be constantly raised. Fighting for a genuine social and public education would be part of the struggle of the working people to reverse the anti-social trend and put the initiative in their own hands. In this way, the struggle will develop to open the door to the progress of society. This would not only be "drawing a line in the sand" but developing a perspective where the necessity for drawing such lines becomes a thing of the past.
THE GOVERNMENT on November 19 published a Green Paper on its "consultative proposals", Industrial Action and the Trade Unions. The proposals are aimed at further making the strike struggles of the workers subject to legal action of the courts and in particular are aimed at introducing measures which will in effect make strikes in public services illegal. According to the proposals, unions will be open to legal action and claims for damages where a strike is held by the courts to have "disproportionate, or excessive effect". Rules covering pre-strike ballots will be changed to require the support of a majority of those entitled to vote, rather than a majority of those voting. The notice period for industrial action after workers have voted in favour will be doubled from 7 to 14 days. Rights to time off for trade union duties will be abolished, as will the requirement for employers to produce information for collective bargaining. The government wants responses to its proposals by February 28 next year but there are no plans for any legislation to be introduced before the next general election.
The proposals are part of the plans of the bourgeoisie to further criminalise the workers' struggles in the light of the increasing resistance to the anti-social offensive. Protracted resistance from postal workers, transport workers, health workers and teachers has seriously disrupted the privatisation plans of the bourgeoisie over the recent period. In particular, the government is concerned about the disruption to its Private Finance Initiative which is not attracting the required investment to privatise public services, whilst the resistance of the workers continues. At the same time, the proposals are causing contradictions within the ruling circles because increasing sectors of the bourgeoisie see that such Thatcherite proposals are no longer working and do not represent a "way forward for industrial relations". They are increasingly pinning their hopes on renewing their relationship with the TUC leaders and on the Blair policy for a "new partnership" between employer and employees and between the public services and private finance. They see this as the way forward to stop the resistance of the workers so that they can intensify the anti-social offensive.
It is important that the Green Paper proposals are seen in the context of the struggle which the working class and people are waging against the intensification of their exploitation and against privatisation and other anti-social measures. In developing their resistance to the anti-social offensive and these attacks on their right to organise, they must also oppose any new arrangement created between the bourgeoisie, its social democratic wing and the labour aristocracy. Such a relationship is aimed at making the anti-social offensive "workable" for the bourgeoisie.
Workers cannot accept that the criminalisation of their struggles is legitimate. It is essential that the working class fights for its own pro-social programme as a way out of the crisis, an alternative way the society should be organised so that the needs of the people are put as the central concern.
THE FIGHTING CALL TO Improve the Content, Extend the Readership was launched in February, in line with the decision of the Central Committee to focus on the development of Workers' Weekly as key to the Party's advance. For this development, it was analysed that serious work must be carried out to improve the quality of the content of the newspaper hand in hand with the constant work necessary to expand its readership. The aim is to place an instrument in the hands of the working class whereby it can provide itself with modern class consciousness so as to prepare to turn things around in Britain and go for socialism.
It is only the working class which can lead society in working out solutions and finding a way out of the crisis. RCPB(ML), as the vanguard of the working class, has a great responsibility to elaborate these positions as a crucial part of organising for socialist revolution. The objective situation is demanding a way forward. Privatisation and the other responses of Thatcherism to the capitalist crisis have been shown to be bankrupt. In these circumstances, the Labour Party is putting forward a blueprint for a New Britain which can only exacerbate the situation and spell greater dangers for the working people. The anti-social offensive demands that a pro-social programme be developed in opposition. The disaffection of the people with the archaic political process and institutions which disempower them demands democratic renewal. Internationally, the situation demands opposition to all imperialism, especially the attempts of the US to impose its dictate, to British imperialism's activities, and for the working class to call for the democratisation of international affairs and give proletarian internationalist support to the struggles of the working class and people throughout the world for their rights and interests. Overall the objective conditions demand that capitalism be overthrown and socialism be established and built. It is necessary for the Party's newspaper to rise to the occasion and respond to these needs.
Since the launch of the programme to Improve the Content, Extend the Readership, there is a recognition amongst the cadres and from the readers of the newspaper that some advances have been made in the content. The paper has targeted the working class and its concerns, as well as other concerned sections of the people, addressing them with a revolutionary outlook. However, there is much work that needs to be done to further advance this programme. Its stage is that of concentrating on working hard on the content of Workers' Weekly, while making initial steps in distribution and extending the readership.
As was announced at the London Region Social last month, the Party is now set to launch a new initiative to develop the technical base within the programme to Improve the Content, Extend the Readership. The Party stands at the threshold of important advances which this development provides the possibilities for.
The key issue now centres around the necessity to develop Workers' Weekly as a force in the working class movement. This initiative is being worked out in the context of the development of the Party's work initiated at the Coventry International Seminar on The Retreat of Revolution and the Tasks of the Communist and Workers' Movement, held in the first days of 1994. Following from the Coventry Seminar, the Central Committee of RCPB(ML) provided the Party with its draft general line for this period in the document There Is A Way Out of the Crisis, released for discussion on March 19, 1994. The Party then released the Draft Programme for the Working Class in January, 1995, following which the aim of its work has centred around the task of the working class taking up such a programme as its own. The fighting programme to Improve the Content, Extend the Readership is being unfolded as part of this work, which is leading to the 3rd Congress of RCPB(ML). These landmarks have represented the Party grasping hold of what was required to advance at each stage. The initiative to further develop this fighting programme represents what is needed at this stage, to fulfil the needs of the times for a communist newspaper, a newspaper of modern communism.
In general terms, the work of the Party is to prepare the subjective conditions for revolution in Britain, for the realisation of the strategic goals of socialism and communism. At any time, there is a practical task which is decisive. In the Central Committee's view, this practical task arising from the development of the technical base is such a case, one on which the whole Party must concentrate. This will serve both the organising of the working class with the newspaper as a tool, and the raising of the level of political culture and combating the treacherous role of social democracy in the workers' movement. It is necessary that the independent voice of the working class be heard, so as to challenge the domination of the media by the financial oligarchy, to build the movement to turn things around in Britain, and to build the political unity necessary so that the anti-social offensive is reversed. The paper will elaborate the necessity for a socialist Britain, the perspective of the struggles of the working class for their complete emancipation and the emancipation of all humanity. This is the inexorable gravitation of the proletariat in Britain, and the newspaper must hit at the illusions spread by the bourgeoisie and social democracy that stand in the way of the workers taking up this path.
The development of the technical base provides the opportunity to make an advance in the work. This includes an improvement in the form of Workers' Weekly, so that the form facilitates the serious appraisal of the paper in the workers' movement.
This project requires the maximum mobilisation, and each cadre must fulfil their responsibilities in this respect so that the opportunity to make a decisive advance is not missed. The Party calls on all the communists, the progressive and democratic forces and all those who are aspiring to a new society to join in this project, to work to extend readership of the paper, to get subscriptions, to read and discuss the content, and to raise finance for this important development.
In the serious discussions which followed, the importance of developing the profile of Workers' Weekly at this stage was emphasised, so that its communist voice cannot be ignored. It was pointed out that this is inseparably linked with the crucial task of eliminating the isolation and marginalisation of communism and the Marxist-Leninist Party. This is a crucial question not just for the development of the newspaper as such but for the ending of the marginalisation of the working class and people in the affairs of the society. It was stressed that the work to realise this advance represents a very great challenge, and the atmosphere was one of enthusiasm to carry out this work.
DISCUSSIONS WITH YOUTH AND STUDENTS
| Discussions with youth and students at various universities have in the past week dealt with international questions, such as how the danger of world war can be averted. Below we summarise a presentation at one college. With the ending of the Cold War the imperialists and their ideologues promised a new world order of stability, prosperity and peace, but that has not been the outcome anywhere. The big powers are all jockeying for position, forming themselves into economic and military blocs, and contending to redivide the world among themselves. A feature of this period is that the international norms agreed at the end of the second world war, and codified in the UN Charter and other documents, of non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations, are ignored and openly proclaimed as outdated. The big powers consider themselves free to interfere in the affairs of other countries, for instance in the recent past in Somalia and other African countries, in the Middle East and the Balkans. There are various areas of tension where the big powers claim to be bringing peace, only for the situation to worsen all the time. The big powers are vying to control key regions, just as they did before the first world war, as stepping stones to dominating whole continents. The US and other big powers are attempting to isolate their competitors in order to control Europe as a step towards dominating Asia, the biggest prize, and then the whole of the world. Trade wars are intensifying and the danger of world war from the contending blocs is increasing. To expand their influence the big powers are attempting to impose on every country the "free market" economy, pluralism and a concept of human rights based on private property. Those who do not comply are labelled as "rogue" states and subjected to all manner of pressure, provocation and attempts to destroy the systems their people have chosen, as with Cuba, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and others. The overall trend is towards further violation of sovereignty, further conflict and catastrophic world war even more terrible than that which has gone before unless the people of the world prevent it. And in such conflict and war it will be the youth who will be the cannon fodder. This trend is not a matter of wrong or mistaken policies on the part of various world leaders. It is a consequence of the capitalist system itself, as the monopolies desperately search for new sources of capital and new areas of investment in order to cling on to their profits in a situation of deepening world economic crisis. This dangerous situation must be reversed. The people must demand that the equality, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, big or small, be recognised. All people of the world must be allowed to live according to the system of their choice. There has to be no interference in the internal affairs of countries or in the affairs of any region. The big powers should get out of the Balkans, the Middle East, Central Africa and other regions of tension and let the peoples there settle their own affairs. All military blocs and trade blocs must be disbanded. There needs to be democratisation of the United Nations, especially the Security Council, with abolition of the big power veto and enlargement on a geographically equitable basis. Britain must end all colonial and neo-colonial relations and withdraw from NATO and the European Union. |
DPRK reiterates its just demand The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on November 18, was authorised by the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to issue the following statement:
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As already reported, KCNA released a statement on September 27 urging the south Korean authorities to immediately return to the North its submarine and crew, including dead bodies. The small submarine ran aground off the south Korean city of Kangrung. The crew had no choice but to go ashore.
Our demand was based on the North's good intentions to keep the incident from leading to increased tension and undesirable developments that are unfavourable to the effort towards peace and the peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula. Our efforts were also just, and mirrored the unanimous hope of the international community to find a peaceful and humanitarian solution to the incident in compliance with international law.
The south Korean authorities, however, have failed to accede to the North's just demand, ignoring its good intentions and the hopes of the international community, though nearly two months have passed since the incident occurred. They have no reason to refuse to send the submarine and its crew back to the North.
As to the grounding itself, the submarine's engine failed while on a routine training mission, so the crew had no alternative but to go ashore. The south Korean authorities, too, confirmed this. Yet, they continue to describe the submarine as an "armed spy sub" and have conducted a massive manhunt against the survivors for some 50 days with the mobilisation of a two million strong force from the three military services and sophisticated equipment. The manhunt reminded one of a large-scale war against the 20 seamen from the North who do not even have rifles. The facts fully show how cruel and vulnerable the south Korean puppets are.
It is quite natural that not only the Korean nation but all the people of the world are denouncing the puppets for the brutal massacres.
The south Korean authorities, who have no sense of shame, are despicably restricting inter-Korean relations under the pretext of the incident. By doing so, they have committed another anti-national, inhuman crime. We the victims will not tolerate their arrogant acts. There is a limit to our self-restraint.
The south Korean authorities must apologise for the killing of our seamen in cold blood, and unconditionally return the submarine and the dead bodies to the North at an early date. If they persistently refuse to accept our demand, they will be held wholly responsible for the possible consequences. We mean what we say. It is the revolutionary spirit of our army and people to be true to our word. There is no guarantee that the incident, which should be resolved in a peaceful way, will not develop in another manner.
The south Korean authorities must act with prudence and unconditionally accept our demand at once. (Source: General Delegation of DPRK in France)
In many areas continuing care for elderly people in hospital or NHS nursing homes has long since disappeared. In line with their programme of cutting back spending on social programmes, and in particular to reduce expenditure on hospital care, the government redefined such care for the elderly as "social care", subjected the elderly to means-testing and placed them in private nursing homes or homes run by local authorities. (See Workers' Weekly, Vol. 26, No. 21)
Now the medical care of thousands of elderly people in nursing homes has been put in further jeopardy by a decision to stop GPs' taking on new nursing home patients as from April 1 next year. This decision is in response to a government White Paper breaking up the duties of GPs into "core" and "non-core" areas, with the non-core areas requiring specific contracts which should be charged for as "extras". The withdrawal of GPs from this responsibility means that health authorities will have to seek and pay for care from other sources such as community health trusts or GPs who specialise in geriatric care. In fact, it is not only the frail and elderly that will be further hit by this move, although statistics show that since they require 10 times more consultations than the national average, they will be hardest hit. Other areas of healthcare that will require specific contracts which must be charged for as "extras" include minor surgery, child health monitoring (these are regarded as "core" areas), pre-operative assessments, post-operative care, sub-fertility treatment, drug dependency arrangements, involvement in drug trials and caring for mentally ill patients under supervision orders.
Whatever concepts and terms the bourgeoisie introduces to codify its so-called social "reforms", its agenda remains the same – to step up the anti-social offensive so as to ensure that every aspect of the economy is geared to making maximum capitalist profit. The elderly – those who have given their lives to producing the material needs of society – are increasing in number and many have a greater need for social assistance than other sections simply by virtue of their age. What is the response of the bourgeoisie? To characterise their needs as "non-core", i.e. marginal in everyday language; to make them fend for themselves; to make them a source of profit. Rich pickings can be extracted from this growing section of the population, as is the case with insurance schemes and pension funds. For example, Westminster Health Care Holdings PLC, which trades in the design, development, acquisition and operation of purpose-built facilities for the provision of long-term care for the elderly, increased its turnover by 37.8% to £69.5 million between 1994-1995 and increased its pre-tax profits by 23% to £13.8 million in the same period.
It is clear from their policies that those in power have withdrawn from responsibility not only for the well-being of the elderly but for the well-being of the whole society, other than themselves; and that in fact nothing and no-one will be spared by them in pursuit of their anti-social offensive. The elderly are the responsibility of society as a whole and are entitled to their claims on society recognised as of right.