I wish I could be like Philip Watts
Former Shell chairman Sir Philip Watts damn well knew for years that the company he headed systematically overstated oil reserves by something like 25%.
After all, most of the overstatement occurred during his stint as chief executive of its exploration and production division, which kind of makes it hard to plead innocence.
That was why he had [...]
Chris Harman: a small element of truth
People that follow internal developments in the Socialist Workers’ Party rather more closely than I do sometimes argue that Chris Harman is the keeper of the orthodox Cliffite flame against the depredations of the Rees-German revisionist clique.
Who knows? No political differences at the higher levels of that organisation are ever revealed to the ordinary membership, [...]
David Miliband: down there with the kids on the street
As one cruel but accurate joke puts it, Ralph Miliband devoted his life to making the theoretical case for the proposition that Labour has nothing to offer the working class. David Miliband has devoted his life to proving it.
I have met both men. Despite his dreadful Blairite politics, David struck me as rather more personable [...]
Sheridan’s new party: launch statement
Purely for information purposes, here is the founding statement of the new party Tommy Sheridan – in alliance with the Socialist Workers’ Party and the Socialist Party – is due to launch this weekend. An organisational motion follows.
What about the politics of the thing? Aside from a few swipes at former comrades in the Scottish [...]
Nicaragua: Meet the new boss
Blame The Clash. Thanks to them recording an album called Sandinista! I became aware of the Nicaraguan revolution. In the eighties, I considered what happened in that country as the definitive response to the argument that all revolutions inevitably led to Stalinism. That in itself was an important step in my developing political awareness. I [...]
Labour and the Warwick Agreement: Rip it up and start again
It was encouraging to hear Derek Simpson argue over the weekend that the Blairite political project amounts to ‘a Tory agenda dressed up in Labour clothes’.
Some of us have been saying as much since 1994. But even if the Amicus leader is 12 years too tardy in reaching this conclusion, that mere fact that such [...]
New Labour: tough on pay
‘Tough choices’ need to be made to safeguard Britain’s stability, chancellor Gordon Brown writes in the Financial Times today. Sadly, as with any set of choices, there will be losers:
‘This year, to fight inflationary pressures, we have ensured that public sector pay awards have averaged 2.5 per cent, the lowest for a decade. For the [...]
Whatever happened to Neil Kinnock?
From Harold Wilson awarding the Beatles OBEs to Tony Blair inviting Noel Gallagher to Number Ten, Labour leaders have always seen rock ‘n’ roll as the key to the yoof vote.
But Neil Kinnock managed to get this simple tactic as badly wrong as he got most other things, as this 1982 clip from Top of [...]
Leaving Labour for the Liberal Democrats
Labour has lost around 200,000 members since Blair took over, so another few dozen will hardly be missed. Frankly, my dears, I doubt the Blairites give a damn:
‘Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett is facing defections from her local Labour Party over the Middle East crisis.
‘The Liberal Democrats say they expect 30 to 40 Labour members in [...]
Wal-Mart and the Chinese Communist Party
Odd how the ongoing love affair between US multinationals and Chinese Stalinism is the key underpinning of the world economy today.
This blog has on several occasions pointed to the union-busting activities of Wal-Mart and its UK operation Asda. But while the GMB remain dangerous adversaries, the retailer is allowing the establishment of a Communist Party [...]
