Trade unions have
historically bargained for better terms for the sale of labour power;
they have not been able to challenge the existence of the labour market
itself. Today, however, the relation between "political" and "economic"
struggle have changed.” -- Perry Anderson. "The Limits and Possibilities", in The Incompatibles: Trade Union Militancy and the Consensus,1967.
April 9, 2013 -- Socialist Resistance -- If we need yet another argument about why we must put our political
energies into building a fighting alternative to [the Labour Party] then
compare and contrast these statements on the death of Margaret Thatcher:
Ed Miliband MP, Labour leader of the opposition, said:
I send my deep condolences to Lady Thatcher’s family, in particular Mark and Carol Thatcher. She will be remembered as a unique figure. She reshaped the politics of
a whole generation. She was Britain’s first woman prime minister. She
moved the centre ground of British politics and was a huge figure on the
world stage.
The Labour Party disagreed with much of what she did and she will
always remain a controversial figure. But we can disagree and also
greatly respect her political achievements and her personal strength.
April 9, 2013 -- SinnFein.ie -- Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams commenting on the death today of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said:
Margaret Thatcher did great hurt to the Irish and British people during her time as British prime minister.
Working-class communities were devastated in Britain because of her policies.
Her role in international affairs was equally belligerent whether in
support of the Chilean dictator Pinochet, her opposition to sanctions
against apartheid South Africa; and her support for the Khmer Rouge.
Here in Ireland her espousal of old draconian militaristic policies
prolonged the war and caused great suffering. She embraced censorship,
collusion and the killing of citizens by covert operations, including
the targeting of solicitors like Pat Finucane, alongside more open
military operations and refused to recognise the rights of citizens to
vote for parties of their choice.
February 19, 2013 -- Life on the Left, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with permission -- In the summer of 2012 I drafted an article on the New Democratic
Party (NDP) for the purpose of introducing a discussion among some comrades
seeking information about the party that now forms the official opposition in Canada’s House of Commons. While by no means a definitive
study, the article draws on a number of books, academic papers and other
documents addressed to the history and nature of Canadian social democracy, all of which are referenced or linked in the text. A French
version of this article, addressed to a Québécois readership, is
published in the current issue of the left journal Nouveaux Cahiers du Socialisme devoted to “La question canadienne”, a critical analysis of the “Harper revolution”.