Peugeot, Amicus and the TGWU: how not to fight a car plant closure
The KLF famously burned £1m in the name of art. Now Amicus and TGWU look set to repeat the stunt, in the name of heaven knows what. This blog has previously been critical of the two unions for limiting their campaign against the closure of Peugeot’s plant in Ryton to shelling out that huge sum [...]
Oliver Kamm: an apology
In an earlier post on this blog, I suggested that author and Times columnist Oliver Kamm ‘lifted’ material on the left wing of the pre-war French socialist party from a book by US writer Paul Berman. Such a suggestion of plagiarism is of course unwarranted and I withdraw the accusation unreservedly. Sincere apologies to Mr [...]
Wal-Mart: every day union busters
This clever animation satirises Wal-Mart and Garth Brooks simultaneously. And both of them richly deserve it, no? Bookmark It
UKIP’s Polish colleague
Maciej Giertych – MEP for Poland’s Liga Polskich Rodzin party – this week spoke in a European Parliament debate to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish civil war. His remarks were openly pro-fascist: ‘Thanks to the Spanish army and Franco the communist attack on Catholic Spain was thwarted. The presence of [...]
Labour deputy leadership contest
Rightwing blogger Guido – real name Paul Staines, apparently – has this to offer on the forthcoming contest for the nominal number two job in New Labour: ‘Hain is the best organised and he’s in pole position, with lots of committed supporters, Martin Linton and Nick Palmer are organising for him. ‘Harriet Harman (wearing Brown’s [...]
Tommy Sheridan defamation case
Former Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan’s defamation action against the News of the World opened at the Court of Session in Edinburgh yesterday. From this account in the Daily Record – the Scottish equivalent of the Daily Mirror – makes clear, there are widely differing accounts of what he Sheridan did, and more importantly [...]
John Prescott and the 1966 seafarers’ strike
Forty years ago, British seafarers – then numbering 65,000 – mounted a six-week strike for better pay and a cut in working hours from 56 to 40 a week. The political and economic impact was enormous. The UK’s already precarious balance of payments took a big hit, provoking a run on the pound. The Labour [...]
John Prescott and Phil Anschutz
The DPM is in trouble again, this time for his links with American businessman Phil Anschutz who owns the Millenium Dome, and wants to develop it into Britain’s first super-casino. Let’s see. This wouldn’t be Phil Anschutz, the rightwing evangelical Christian that gave $1m to Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole’s political library, and a further [...]
What I said about Galloway in 2003
After the Daily Telegraph wrote what ultimately proved to be a libelous article accusing George Galloway of being in the pay of Saddam in April 2003, I wrote an article on the affair for the Weekly Worker. It has been causing controversy ever since. Recently the Respect activist Ian Donovan – a former Spart and [...]
Labour: left split on leadership challenge
The Labour left is apparently divided over who should mount the symbolic challenge to Gordon Brown when Blair finally does step down, according to the Sunday Telegraph: ‘The Campaign Group has split into two factions. One is led by Alan Simpson, the MP for Nottingham South, and backs Michael Meacher, the former environment secretary, as [...]
