Prince Charles 14th November 2008: On the occasion of his 60th birthday, Prince Charles should be applauded as a caring and hard-working businessman, innovator and charity worker, who has improved the fabric of life of many thousands of people individually and collectively in numerous real ways. His example is the exact opposite of false accusations of parasitism and flunkeyism, and is an excellent advocate for the Monarchy. This
Barack Obama 8th November 2008: The election of Barack Obama as President of the USA is a welcome move from the ultra-reactionary neo-con regime of George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, but it should not be mistaken for a fundamental change towards a people-based social system. When Obama takes office in January, the main decisions in the world will still be determined by global economic forces of monopoly capitalism, multi-national corporations, and the historically inevitable dynamic force of imperialism. He will still be faced by the biggest financial crisis for decades; he will delay the withdrawal from Iraq, and may even intensify the war of pluner in Afghanistan. The widespread popular hysteria surrounding his campaign and his election will swiftly give way to disappointment and mediocrity as the real crisis still remains. The real problem with his political outlook is not, as the cynics have claimed, that it is too "socialist" but that it is not socialist enough.
Financial Crisis 19th October 2008: Gordon Brown has been hailed by some simple-minded international politicians and media as the man who saved the whole of the global banking system with his multi-billion pound bail-out scheme. These bloated parasites seem to be oblivious to the fact that it was policies such as those Brown has been enacting for 11 years that got us into this mess in the first place. But why have so many banks been saved by government intevention in the first place? In the 1930s, hundreds of banks were allowed to collapse under the weight of "market forces". The answer is that the whole of capitalism is dependent on the banking system. The UK economy is more dependent than virtually any other major economy on banking and financial services. Just as Marx predicted, in the most advanced stage of imperilaist capitalism, credit has become the principle method of exploitation, and it is the ordinary people who will suffer the consequences and who will pay for the cost of rescuing a moribund system.
Iceland 10th October 2008: Iceland has been targeted as a state which promotes terrorism, according to the British government. Why else would the 2001 Anti-Terror Law be used to investigate the latest manifestation of the international financial catastrophe? Perhaps the USA will invade Reykjavik.
Mandelson 5th October 2008: At the end of a week when the struggling American taxpayers have been squeezed for ever more hundreds of dollars to prop up the extortionate dealings of a handful of multi-billion-dollar banking conglomerates, and when Gordon Brown's moribund government has been given a tiny spark of hope by the worst financial crisis for seven decades, our esteemed Prime Minister has seen fit to reinvigorate his ailing regime by re-employing in his cabinet the toxic corpse of the disgraced and hated Lord of Darkness, Peter Mandelson. This scheming Machiavellian Enemy of the People will be the necrotising fasciitis of this government, and will only hasten the process of its own skankerous degeneration. Quite what the Prime Minister - who hates Mandelson to the depth of his core - thinks he can possibly achieve by such a move is beyond any rational analysis.
Georgia 28th September 2008: The Russian intervention in Georgia, to protect the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, was a defensive act against the aggressive bombardment by the military forces of the reactionary government of Georgia. The autonomous status of the two regions was extinguished in 1991 after the collapse of the USSR, but the national self-determination of their people and communities has prevailed nevertheless. Unlike the imperialist intervention by NATO in Kosovo, the separation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by Russia from Georgia was not because of an imperialist scramble for resources; the establishment of independent entities in these two regions is fully in accordance with Stalin's enlightening definition of a nation on the basis of language, history, economy, culture and consciousness.
Banking Turmoil 26th September 2008: The last week or two has seen substantial turmoil in the world of banking, lending and finance, with several large banks supposedly being on the brink of "collapse" (whatever that means). The heaviest price will be paid by the poor who can least afford the burden; but the whole crisis is detached from the real world of material progress and consumption. If society were organised on scientific principles instead of being up for sale to the lowest bidder then the resources of the world could be used for the benefit of everybody instead of the profit of the few.
Two Handsome Hunks 15th September 2008: Inherent in the science of Dialectical Materialism is the existence of opposites and the resolution of contradictions. Today we celebrate the 24th birthday of the gorgeous and delightful Prince Harry, but also remember the sad passing 2 years ago of the very handsome actor Pablo Santos.
Capitalism 10th September 2008: A senior executive of the Energy firm E.ON has been criticised for saying that high gas and oil prices "will make more money for us". That is the essential truth and purpose of capitalism - to make profits for a minority of rich people instead of using scientific knowledge for the social benefit of the whole of society. It is a measure of the perversity and decadence of the modern capitalist and imperialist world that a man who tells the truth is condemned and criticised for being "insensitive".
The Land of the Free 5th September 2008: One of the key speakers at the Republican Party Convention in St Paul referred to the USA as "The Great Land of the Free". It would have been more accurate to refer to it as the Land of the Imperialists; the Land of the Warmongers, the Invaders, the Bombers, the Exploiters, the Despoilers, the Oppressers, the Expropriators, the Polluters; the Land of the bigots, the Christian fundamentalists, the homophobes, the Creationists, the racists; the torturers of the detainees in Guantanamo Bay. It is the land where a fair trial depends on being able to afford a lawyer rather than the weight of the evidence; where black people are disproportionately imprisoned and executed; it is the land of the selfish and the atomised individual who has no concept of world citizenship. It is the land which lets the poor die because they cannot afford a doctor or a dentist. It is the land which seeks to export its own vision of "democracy" at the point of a gun to millions of people all over the world who only want to live their own lives in their own way. It is the land which has used nuclear weapons in warfare and has threatened to do so again.
Olympics 28th August 2008: The Olympic Games in Beijing were a spectacular success, and excellently showed the superior ability of collective organisation by the efforts of the people on the basis of national prestige and cultural uplifting instead of being restricted by petty financial concerns. It is a great credit to the science of the Chinese government that pollution levels were successfully and dramatically reduced, by stopping emissions and by managing rainfall at the crucial time. It is a further credit that there were so few athletes disqualified because of drug tests. Just as the Chinese should be proud of their organisation of the Games - and of their record gold medal haul - the British team should also be proud of their achievement in winning 19 gold medals. We also salute the excellent results and efforts by Tom Daley, who finished 7th out of 30 competitors, and who should be rewarded with a knighthood to help him overcome the trauma of being molested by Tessa Jowell at the airport after his homcoming.
Olympic Diving 12th August 2008: Blake Aldridge has been impertinent, immature and disrespectful in criticising Tom Daley publicly and unfairly for his own failings, on the basis of false accusations. Blake's dives were significantly worse than Tom's, in spite of Blake's false claims. In contrast, Tom has behaved impeccably in the aftermath of his disappointing performance, and has only criticised Blake in private. We wish Tom well in his individual diving next week, and expect that his performance will improve without the malign influence of Blake Aldridge.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn 4th August 2008: Alexander Solzhenitsyn was not only one of the most hysterical perpetrators of slander, lies and exaggerations about the history of the USSR (he made the overtly ridiculous claim that 110 million people were murdered during the Soviet era, including 44 million in WW2, and 66 million before 1953, and that tens of millions were in labour camps throughout the 1960s and 1970s) but also he was also a far-right reactionary with fascist sympathies. He advocated that the USA should attack Vietnam again after 1975, and that it should intervene in the revolution in Portugal in 1974; he bemoaned the liberation of Portugal's colonies in Africa; pretended that tens of thousands of American PoWs were being used as slave labour in Vietnam; criticised the democratic reforms which were pursued by King Juan Carlos in Spain in 1976 after the death of Franco; described Spanish anti-fascist demonstrators as "terrorists"; and advocated the restoration of the Tsarist regime in Russia alongside a resurgence of the Orthodox Church. One thing which was accurate in the news reports today is that he was "influential" - unfortunately a large proportion of the media and public opinion appear to have been duped into thinking that such a slanderous third-rate liar, fantasist and fascist sympathiser somehow constitutes an objective source of truth about 20th century history.
Anniversary 26th July 2008: It was on this day in 1953 that the heroic people of North Korea successfully defended their native homeland against the warmongering exploits of the United States of America, and forced the USA into a humiliating ceasefire. The same day was also the beginning of the military uprising which eventually led to the Cuban revolution. Today the Croydon OMRLP celebrated these anniversaries with lots of food and cultural interaction with fellow Marxists from other parties in an event which will help to uplift the spirit and determination of the progressive forces across the world.
Radovan Karadzic 22nd July 2008: Ostensibly, it is hoped that the arrest of the former Bosnian Serb President, Radovan Karadzic, will lead to a fair trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague, on the charges in relation to the Srebrenica massacre. However, the historical record of selective double standards by the western powers does not lead to optimism. The circumstances of the death of Slobodan Milosevic in 2006 give rise to suspicions that he was not given proper medical treatment for his heart condition, and he was removed from his position as President of Yugoslavia was after a western-backed coup and after the NATO bombardment of Yugoslavia for 2 months in which 2,000 people were killed. Manoeuvrings by the USA against Yugoslavia - the blocking of aid and trade credits - began in November 1990 (i.e. before the Yugoslav wars even started) as a prelude to turning the Adriatic coast into a backwater for German and EU exploitation, and providing US access through the southern Balkans.
Benefits 21st July 2008: The latest scheme invented by the ridiculous Work and Pensions Secretary, James Purnell, which ostensibly provides incentives for unemployed people to find employment, is in reality a smokescreen for the failings and decline of capitalism. It will serve only to reshuffle the labour market for menial low-paid jobs, drive down the real wages of the workers, and further stigmatise and marginalise some of the poorest and least fortunate members of the community.
Hands Off China 19th July 2008: Today the Hands Off China Campaign was launched (at the instigation of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist)) to defend the independence and sovereignty of the People's Republic of China, and to refute the slanderous distortions which have become prevalent recently in the western media on the subjects of Tibet, the Beijing Olympics, and the activities of aid and investment in other third world countries. Unlike the USA, the IMF and the World Bank, such aid is given to develop societies for the benefit of the people instead of extracting profits and raw materials and with one-sided conditions attached. The Croydon OMRLP is proud to be affiliated to this initiative and was represented at the launch meeting.
Voting 9th July 2008: Hazel Blears' idea that there should be some sort of lottery to encourage people to vote in local elections, and provide a reward, is a nincompoopismatic bourgeois deviation based on the false premise that voting is a worthy civic action per se. In reality it is yet another pathetic and ultimately futile attempt to entrench the institutional and self-perpetuating imperialist oligarchy, by damping down the political consciousness and involvement of citizens between elections.
Iran 9th July 2008: Iran has tested some new missiles which have a range large enough to reach Israel and various American military bases. This is a progressive step towards peace, security and national independence, and not a "threat" as has been portrayed in the reactionary media. It makes it less likely that Israel will make a pre-emptive nuclear or other attack on Iran or anywhere else.
Knife Crime 6th July 2008: The solution to the scourge of knife and gun crime must be social and political. There are no simple answers in metal detectors or random searches by the police. Since May, there have been 27,000 stop-and-search incidents by the Metropolitan Police, but only 2% of them resulted in a knife being found, and only 5% resulted in a person being arrested. A key element should be that schools should be allowed to equip children with a moral compass, a sense of worth, and a political awareness of their society so that they feel a stake in their community instead of a sense of worthlessness and wretched nihilism. Teaching art, music, theatre and culture is more important than pursuing a fetish for tests, targets, league tables, the mentality of short-term cost-benefit analysis and of writing off the children in the lower end of the spectrum. The fact that there are more people (including increasing numbers of women and children) in prison in both the UK and the USA than in most other European countries shows that prison doesn't "work"; it would be better to invest money in community groups and youth workers instead of more prisons.
Zimbabwe 1st July 2008: The BBC and other media today got themselves in a frenzy of righteous indignation about the failure of the African Union to condemn the position of President Mugabe of Zimbabwe after the "flawed" and "rigged" election. The journalists explained the inaction of the AU because of the number of other African leaders who have rigged elections or not allowed them for decades. They did not, however, explain why these other so-called despots - such as the leaders of Equatorial Guinea, Libya or Sudan - are not also subjected to widespread condemnation and vitriol by western media and governments. Why do they single out Zimbabwe for this impertinent outside interference and lecturing? I think that they are not even conscious of their own double standards. It was only a few weeks ago that Gordon Brown went bowing and scraping before the king of Saudi Arabia to beg for cheap oil, without condemning that government for its own human rights abuses.
Italy 27th June 2008: The Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has proposed an Enabling Act which will make it possible for emergency laws to be passed without proper scrutiny, and has announced the intention that all Roma Gypsies will be forcibly fingerprinted - ostensibly to prevent crime and vagrancy. This is a typical example of the scapegoating and oppression of minorities as a method of distracting the population from general economic difficulties at a time of growing capitalist crisis.
Zimbabwe 26th June 2008: One should always take the mainstream media with a rather substantial pinch of salt when they are reporting on events in progressive countries which are at the forefront of the struggle against imperialism, but it is clear that the situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated politically and economically, with several instances of violence in the context of the presidential election. The government of Robert Mugabe may indeed have been marked by bad handling and management of the land reform issue, and serious flaws in the election process, but that does not mean that there is an obvious alternative. Morgan Tsvangirai is a shallow and vacillating figure who cannot be trusted to take a reliable path on anything; the MDC is little more than a puppet organisation of western big business interests, and it is arguable that the real power lies with an army junta rather than with Mugabe himself. Any internal coup or external intervention could quite easily make the situation worse, with the possibility of escalating genocide and no magic wand to end drought or provide food. Lenin teaches us that alliances are useful only at some times and not others; waiting until the time is ripe and the situation is different is often the key to successful advances in the march towards a more progressive world. Thus there should be no ill-considered blunders into the internal affairs of Zimbabwe, either militarily or in the form of sanctions.
Anonymous witnesses 24th June 2008: The Law Lords ruled last week that the evidence of anonymous witnesses cannot be considered reliable as the main element of a prosecution case, because the identity and accuracy of the witnesses cannot be investigated or tested by the defence. The government has now said that it will introduce emergency legislation to "remedy the problem" and to allow such evidence to be admissable. They are missing the point that the "problem" was "remedied" by the Law Lords' ruling in the first place - i.e. the problem of innocent people being convicted on the basis of testimony by liars or fantasists.
Liberty 12th June 2008: Quite what David Davis thinks he is going to achieve by forcing a by-election in Haltemprice & Howden on the issue of defending civil liberties - detention, ID cards and so on - is not clear. From his party's point of view, repealing the 42-day detention limit should be a matter for the Conservative Party if it wins the next general election. A by-election circus, with the Liberal Democrats and Labour both probably absent from the battle, only serves to show up the whole charade of bourgeois parliamentary democracy for the exclusivist sham that it is.
Detention Without Charge 12th June 2008: The passage of this abominable proposal - by a vote of 315 to 306 - is another ratcheted step towards the establishment of a quasi-fascist state. Joseph Stalin said that social democracy - in this case, the Labour Party and Labour government - is objectively the moderate wing of fascism. Georgi Dimitrov said that fascist power was "the open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic, and most imperialistic elements of finance capital". We should not fall into the trap of singling out a small sub-group of MPs for criticism, such as the nine DUP MPs, the Independent MP for Blaenau Gwent, or the blatantly opportunist and unprincipled UKIP MP and other MPs who supported the government in return for various bribes and unprincipled deals; all 315 of the reactionary criminals are equally to blame for the fact that the fascist state is now slightly more overt, more blatant and more openly reactionary than before.
Detention Without Charge 11th June 2008: The proposal to detain "terrorist suspects" - in other words, innocent people - without charge for up to 42 days is outrageously illiberal and counter-productive. A steady stream of only a few people being detained in this way will only serve to stoke up resentment and alienation among the various minority communities who are already under a state of siege. It will not serve to prevent the general public being blown up on the tube. If there is any real reason for someone to be detained for a prolonged period, and if there is any reason to think that they are terrorists, then they should be charged and tried in the normal way.
Republic of Nepal 29th May 2008: The abolition of the monarchy, and the transformation of Nepal into a republic, is not a necessary precondition for the establishment of a people's democracy, but has happened in this case mainly due to the stubbornness and inadequacy of King Gyanendra himself.
Petrol Tax 28th May 2008: In the shadow of the current impending environmental crisis, and in the light of the fuel protests by lorry drivers, the solution should be to increase taxes on petrol (in order to make drivers pay according to the amount of pollution they produce) and reduce taxes on vehicles themselves.
Tom Daley 21st May 2008: Happy Birthday to the European men's 10 metre diving champion, Tom Daley, who is 14 today. Tom is an excellent example of the type of commitment and discipline which should be encouraged in young people by collective provision and funding of constructive activities for building health and character, instead of allowing young people to degenerate into a cultural wasteland of selfish despair, crime, debauchery, alcoholism, hooliganism, violence and degeneracy.
Jeremy Bamber 16th May 2008: Jeremy Bamber, who was convicted of murdering five members of his own family in 1985, has been told by the court that he will have to serve a whole life tarriff and will die in prison. It is right that someone who has committed horrendous multiple murders should be punished by a very long term of imprisonment - until they are in old age - but in the case of Jeremy Bamber it is wholly unfortunate because he is probably innocent, and has been punished for 23 years for the crimes of his deranged sister Sheila Caffell.
Revisionism 15th May 2008:
The April edition of Workers Power, which is the magazine for what it calls the British Section for the Fifth International, has two articles which promote reactionary positions on different international issues, supposedly on the pretext of supporting revolutionary and worker struggles. One calls for an independent Tibet, repeats western media lies about the "brutal" actions of the Chinese police in suppressing a violent and reactionary uprising by feudalist elements, and makes the absurd claim that ethnic cleansing has reduced the Tibetan nationality to a minority within its own land. Quite how the Tibetans can be a minority of just 95% of the population - with advantageous access to education and culture in their own language - is beyond any rational or scientific analysis. It should be remembered that Marxism-Leninism is, more than anything else, a science, whereas pseudo-Trotskyite revisionism is a muddled, backward and reactionary muddle of thoughts which can only lead to capitulation and appeasement rather than revolution and progress.
The second article flatly accuses Robert Mugabe of "stealing" successive elections in Zimbabwe, even though he and the ZANU-PF government have repeatedly been re-elected with majorities which were outside the scope of any credible irregularities. The official results of the recent elections, as verified by the ZEC, are very similar to the unofficial figures as assessed and verified by the MDC, and any substantial accusation of ballot-rigging is way beyond the rational.
Burma 13th May 2008: The slow response by the authorities in Myanmar to the cyclone devastation should not be used as a weapon of imperialist intervention. The army in Burma should be responsible for distributing food aid, without there being a shadow of invasion hanging over their heads on the spurious pretext of speeding up the aid and relief process.
Drugs 7th May 2008: I welcome the government's decision to reclassify cannabis as a class B drug, and the decision of Mayor Boris Johnson to ban the consumption of alcohol on public transport. Both are potentially useful small steps to combat the scourge of the degeneracy and hopelessness which is the hallmark of modern western societies, but will only be of use if they are properly enforced instead of police officers ignoring the criminality of those who undermine the cohesion of society.
Tibet 21st April 2008: Those who attacked the Olympic torch relay and who criticised the Chinese authorities for the situation in Tibet were mere proxies for a far more reactionary political agenda of engineering the secession of Tibet from China (Tibet has been a part of China for 700 years) and using it as a base for British and American imperialism in dominating the Asian region militarily and economically. The rich mineral wealth of Tibet would be plundered for profit of a few, rather than being used for the benefit of the whole people of China in building social provision and industry. Control of Tibet's water sources would bring powerful control over the two billion people who depend on the seven major river systems which originate in Tibet. We hope that the people of Tibet will not be bamboozled into supporting the reactionary separatist agenda of the Dalai Lama and the unrepresentative remnants of feudalism who are in exile in India, in a way that the western media have been.
Income Tax 19th April 2008: There is supposedly a growing rebellion of Labour MPs who are unhappy about the increase from 10p to 20p of the lowest income tax band. Why are they moaning about it now, more than a year after it was first announced? Why did so many of them vote for it in the first place?
Zimbabwe 12th April 2008: Gordon Brown says that the situation in Zimbabwe has become "intolerable". Since when has it been any of his business to decide whether to "tolerate" the political or electoral situation in another country? Instead of interfering in, or dictating to, another country's government, he should shut up and mind his own business.
Education 11th April 2008: A local education authority has been exposed as having used anti-terrorism legislation to spy intrusively on an innocent family, on the spurious and ludicrous pretext that it was protecting the admissions policy of a popular school. When the forces of the state and establishment come to treat ordinary citizens as a subversive enemy, instead of providing for their needs, the reactionary and oppressive nature of the state is exposed for what it really is. The state - locally and nationally - should provide for the basic needs of its people, including education for its children, instead of waging an oppressive war like a feudal satrap in a desperate attempt to shore up its own decaying position.
Beijing Olympics 6th April 2008: The onlookers and wellwishers who went to see the Olympic torch relay through London today were overwhelmingly positive. There were just as many positive demonstrators, with Chinese flags and Olympic insignia, as there were negative protesters ostensibly supporting Tibet. Unfortunately it was the minority who dominated the news bulletins on television, because it was they who were naughty, disruptive and violent. It is regretable that so many apparently reasonable and progressive people, including the likes of Peter Tatchell, were led astray by the unrepresentative reactionary posturing of the Dalai Lama and his religious clique. The best solution is that the Olympic Games should not be tainted by political boycotts, and the people of Tibet should be allowed to solve their own problems within China and without the interference of western governments on the pretext of supporting reaction and feudalism.
MPs' Expenses 4th April 2008: Taxpayers last year paid £4,000 for food just so that the deputy prime minister John Prescott could stuff his greedy gob on official expenses instead of paying for it from his normal salary. This and many other examples of extravagance show the bureaucratic attitude of the so-called people's representatives who have become detached from the real conditions of the people.
Zimbabwe 31st March 2008: The main television news media in the UK has been spouting out all sorts of excitable nonsense over the last two or three days about the elections in Zimbabwe; there are all sorts of rumours - started and spread by partial sources - to the effect that the election has been, or is being, heavily rigged or stolen; that Robert Mugabe has fled to Mozambique; that the army is debating how to tell him that he has lost; or that a peaceful transition of power may be imminent. The BBC and Channel 4 news both also repeated, as if it were an established fact, allegations that previous elections were also rigged. None of this is based on any substantial evidence or reliable reports. There may have been minor irregularities in some of the elections, but I have no reason to believe that they were, or are, of sufficient magnitude to make a substantive change in the overall results. Instead of spreading hysteria and excitement about "momentous" or "historical" events, the media should report the facts and wait for proper news. Experience of the enlightening logic and theory of Marxism-Leninism has taught me to take BBC reports with more than a pinch of salt when it comes to the reporting of events in progressive countries. There should also be no more nonsense about expecting, or asking for, any sort of intervention by South Africa or the other neighbours of Zimbabwe. It is not the job of Thabo Mbeki to be a stooge of western cultural or electoral imperialism.
Zimbabwe 27th March 2008: Robert Mugabe's government has mismanaged the policy of land redistribution, and there is evidence that plans are underfoot to rig the forthcoming presidential election. The bad state of Zimbabwe's economy does not, however, mean that a miraculous recovery would appear as if by magic if a different president were to be elected. There may well be significant shortcomings in the policies or abilities of Morgan Tsvangirai or the Movement for Democratic Change.
Bhutan 25th March 2008: It has been generally reported that the people of Bhutan are mostly reluctant to embrace parliamentary democracy, after it was introduced and imposed on them by the insistence of the King. The reason would seem to be because it is a fake, flawed, bourgeois democracy which might be likely to be degraded by corrupt and careerist politicians, and that it would might lead to western crime, corruption, disease and cultural degeneration. It would be better to have a more inclusive and interactive people's democracy, along the principles of Juche adapted to Bhutan conditions, with the King still firmly in a position of popular adulation.
China 20th March 2008: It is not yet clear how many people have died in the disturbances in Tibet, or what exactly has caused them, but it is reasonable that the authorities should be entitled to restore order to prevent further loss of life. The people of Tibet should have the benefits of self-determination, but Socialism With Tibetan Characteristics would be superior to Feudalism With Tibetan Charateristics as well as being superior to an imposed Socialism With Chinese Characteristics. The people of Tibet should build their own society without being distracted by the bogus and outdated figurehead of the Dalai Lama being pretended or presented as their representative. It should also be remembered that all objective historians regard Tibet as having always been part of China - and not an independent state, as is sometimes thought. Meanwhile, there should be no boycott of the Beijing Olympics; the games should not be used as a political football.
EU Constitution 6th March 2008: Yesterday the House of Commons voted by 311 votes to 248 not to allow a referendum on the new proposed EU Constitution, despite all three main parties having promised one. This means that 74 MPs, including most of those who call themselves "Liberal Democrat", abstained. Where were they? Why do they indulge in such a basic betrayal of those who elected them? And why do they even pretend to be democratic?
Afghanistan 29th February 2008: It is a matter of concern that Prince Harry's military tour of duty in Afghanistan has been jeopardised by premature reporting by foreign websites. The fact that his presence in Helmand province is now known by the Taliban means that he and his colleagues are in particular danger, and he should now be withdrawn to return to the UK as soon as possible. I have great respect and admiration for his courage, dedication and willingness to serve his Queen and country, and for the technical work he has been doing. There can be no doubt that his toughness and courage are matched only by his hunkiness and gorgeousness. However, none of this should distraqct from the basic fact that the British and other western military forces have little or no purpose in being in Afghanistan at all; it is a reckless imperialist adventure which has no real connection with the safety and security of people here in the UK, or with British economic interests. Not just heroic hunky Harry but all British forces should come home from Afghanistan.
Benefit Claimants 28th February 2008: The Daily Telegraph reports that the government is planning a draconian reform of the benefits system, including incentives for private firms to find jobs for unemployed claimants, and punitive reductions for vulnerable people who do not "co-operate". This is yet another smokescreen to hide the reality that the existing economic system does not provide adequate oppoprtunities for the poorest people, and seeks to blame the victims for their own plight. It is bound to end up as yet another re-shuffling of schemes and gimmicks to hide the number of unemployed people under different labels and action plans.
Heathrow Protest 27th February 2008: Gordon Brown said that decisions about what happens in the country should be made by members in the chamber of the House of Commons, and not by the people on the roof. The problem is that decisions are not made by either group of people - the real power lies with the tyranny of the European Union, and with multi-billion pound international corporations. Meanwhile, I salute the courage and tenacity of the anti-runway protestors who managed to get onto the roof.
Mohamed Fayed 19th February 2008: The insane rantings of Mohamed Fayed, who claims that Princess Diana was murdered by a huge conspiracy of people including Prince Philip, Prince Charles, MI5, MI6, the CIA, French Intelligence, Tony Blair, several peers, police officers and personal friends, is nothing more than a bizarre smokescreen to hide theresponsibility for failures in security arrangements at the Ritz Hotel in Paris - for which Mohamed and Dodi Fayed were, themselves, substantially responsible.
Northern Rock 19th February 2008: The collapse and nationalisation of Northern Rock means that billions of pounds of losses and gains have been transferred, as if by some process of magic or alchemy, from one set of people to another. It is still very meaningless in terms of the real material conditions of the world. This bizarre spectacle - which exposes the type of crisis which is inherent in capitalism - is totally unconnected from the normal process of human progress and development, which is supposed to enrich people with things and fulfil needs rather than cojure up mysterious headlines with several zeroes in them.
Castro 19th February 2008: We wish Fidel Castro well in his retirement, and salute and applaud his steadfast leadership throughout 49 years of the Cuban revolution. We recognise the superior development by Cuba of basic human requirements such as health, education and housing, and we sincerely hope that the forwarfd-thining and progressive policies of the government of Cuba will continue to resist the sabre-rattling of the United States of America. Normalisation of links between Cuba and the USA - in terms of trade and tourism - can only happen on the basis of mutual recognition and acceptance of national sovereignty.
Kosovo 17th February 2008: The province of Kosovo has decided to make a unilateral declaration of independence today, but it is a very peculiar and warped idea of "independence" which reduces the area to a colony of the European Union, whose government can be overruled by the EU, and whose national integrity will be destroyed by the colonial whims of the EU and the imperialist manoeuvrings of NATO. The reality of the last few years has been to legitimise and accelerate the marginalisation and exclusion of the Serb minority, just as much as the Albanians were being downtrodden by the Serbs before the external intervention. The only acceptable future for an independent Kosovo would be one free from foreign occupation, with equality of esteem and participation by all communities in the country, and on the basis of a democracy built by the Kosovo people themselves - not the "democracy" which has been dictated and demanded by the EU.
Kim Jong Il 16th February 2008: On the occasion of his 66th birthday, we salute the steadfastness of the Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il, the Workers' Party of Korea, and the people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, in their unity and determination to build a strong and independent Korea, to defend their nation on the basis of the Songun policy, and to maintain progress in the six-party talks despite the unconstructive delaying tactics of the USA in providing the promised energy assistance and technology. It is by unswervingly following the Juche line that the continuing existence of the DPRK has been assured, when other communist countries have fallen by the wayside more than a decade ago.
Guantanamo 12th February 2008: The USA has graciously decided to allow six Al-Qaeda suspects to be tried by a military kangaroo court in Guantanamo Bay, on the basis of confession evidence which was gained by torture. The fact that the proceedings will be tape-recorded (but not broadcast) is being emphasised by the authorities, as we are supposed to accept this blatantly illegal and unjust charade of civilisation. Meanwhile, the world's biggest war criminal, President George Bush, boldly states that he will veto any attempt to ban the use of water-torture as a method of extracting confessions from terrorist suspects.
Archbishop 10th February 2008: The Archbishop of Canterbury has suggested that some aspects of Islamic sharia law might be incorporated into, or recognised by, British law. In light of this outrageous suggestion, some people are calling for him to resign. I hope not; the longer he stays in office the more the establishment of religion will be discredited.
Queueing 5th February 2008: A government body calling itself the "Commission on Integration and Cohesion" has issued advice to immigrants that they should queue for things, not spit on the pavement, and not assault people. Perhaps Hazel Blears, the cabinet minister responsible, should re-name it as the "Commission for Stating the Obvious".
Suharto 31st January 2008: The death of the Indonesian dictator, General Suharto, reminds us of the hundreds of thousands of people who were killed in the name of preventing the spread of communism. It is a bizarre but typical example of the double standards of imperialism that wholesale massacres in Indonesia, Angola, Latin America and other countries are glossed over by the western powers as a "price worth paying" whereas similar numbers of hundreds of thousands of people who were executed after due process of law for counter-revolutionary and treasonable activities in the USSR in the 1930s are routinely grossly exaggerated and magnified without proper evidence.
Gaza 24th January 2008: Local activists have blown holes in the southern border of the Gaza strip, thereby allowing residents to cross the border to obtain supplies from Egypt. This is a practical act of liberation which will ease the restrictions which are slowly strangling Gaza society as a result of blockades and sanctions being applied by Israel. It is a reminder that military occupation is not the only way in which strong nations can oppress and stifle the independence and self-determination of weaker ones.
London Mayor 21st January 2008: The Channel 4 programme "Dispatches" has highlighted the excessive powers of the position of Mayor of London, and the lack of effective methods of scrutiny of those powers. The solution should be for more powers to be held, and more decisions made, by the London Assembly. The programme was, however, flawed in conflating criticisms of the constitutional structure of the Mayor and Assembly with criticisms of the policies of the incumbent Mayor Ken Livingstone.
Harry Potter 17th January 2008: The highly institutionalised reactionary old fool, Pope Benedict XVI, has denounced the Harry Potter books and films as being "diabolical" and based on "witchcraft" and "the occult". These words are designed merely to disguise the fact that His Holiness is jealous of the youth, vigour and gorgeousness of Daniel Radcliffe, in whose body and flesh Harry Potter has come to be incarnated.
Cultural Diversity 7th January 2008: Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali of Rochester claims that there are some "no-go areas" where non-Muslims are afraid to go. This is complete nonsense; I have always felt completely safe in areas such as Brick Lane or Southall, where there are substantial numbers of Muslims in the local population, and I celebrate the diversity of such areas. Such statements make me feel proud to be an atheist.
Benazir Bhutto 27th December 2007: The assassination of Benazir Bhutto comes as no surprise, and was completely expected. Ms Bhutto herself was the first to acknowledge that she had put her own life in grave danger by returning to Pakistan in October. If she had been returned to the position of prime minister, then she would have been a willing puppet and stooge of U.S. imperialism, with her stated wishes to allow American forces to cross the border from Afghanistan in pursuit of the Taliban. She would have been just as useless for the poor, and she would probably have been sacked for a third time for corruption, in the unlikely event of the PPP winning the election under her leadership. The only realistic prospect of her returning to power would have been as a prop for the wretched and reactionary regime of President Musharraf, and the irony of her assassination - which I condemn - is that it served no practical purpose; Bhutto was in any case part of the past and not part of the future of Pakistan.
Climate Change 15th December 2007: The agreement on climate change which has been reached in Bali is a small step towards a long-term solution to the problem of climate stability and environmental sustainability. However, it is mostly only about further talks and the poossibility of an agreement in 2009. It is unlikely to lead to real substantial change as long as the existing world political and economic system is based on the extraxtion and exploitation of wealth and resources by the rich over the poor.
North Korea 14th December 2007: I welcome the news that the New York Philharmonic Orchestra will perform in Pyongyang. This is a small but meaningful step towards peaceful co-existence and enhanced cultural understanding between the USA and the DPRK.
Amir Khan 8th December 2007: Today the extremely gorgeous Amir Khan celebrated his 21st birthday and successfully defended his boxing title against Graham Earl. Mr Earl's bitter comments afterwards, when he blamed the referee for stopping the fight early, were to disguise the real reason for his disappointment: the truth is that he was jealous of Amir's lovely handsome face and beautiful muscular body. Meanwhile, the rest of the population of the country has been dancing and singing all night to celebrate the joyous news of Amir Khan's victory. Amir also had an ulterior motive for wanting to win the fight. Not only did he want to keep his title and his unbroken record of successive victories in all of his professional fights, but he was eager to preserve his beauty for his fans by preventing his opponent from damaging his lovely smooth handsome face with any cuts, bruises, scars or blemishes.
Croydon Council 3rd December 2007: Today was the last meeting of the full council in Croydon before Christmas. For the first time in nine years, observers from the public gallery were not invited to join in with mince pies and drinks afterwards. This exclusive and hierarchicalist attitude of the incumbent Mayor is a symptomatic manifestation of the frantic and frenzied reactionary hysteria of the bourgeoisie in the modern era of neo-imperialist crisis, as it desperately tries to hold onto its expropriated privileges at the expense of the proletariat.
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