>New Worker Online Digest > >Week commencing 10th March, 2000. > >1) Editorial - Livingstone for Mayor. > >2) Lead story - Livingstone sets Labour leaders spinning. > >3) Feature article - Asylum relief delayed. > >4) International story - Israel on the run. > >5) British news item - Call on Met to investigate race deaths. > > >1) Editorial > >Livingstone for Mayor. > >FROM the moment that Ken Livingstone announced his decision to stand as an >independent candidate in the London Mayoral election the campaign to try >and reduce his massive lead in the opinion polls began. > > This consists of efforts by the Right of the Labour Party and the Tories >to revive the old Red Ken-bashing routine of the eighties and a less crude >campaign targeted at the left and the labour movement based on two main >themes -- that his candidature will split the movement and that he can't >succeed without help from Labour Party activists and union cash. > > Blair's description of Livingstone as a "disaster for London" begs the >question, "whose London is he talking about?" Livingstone could well prove >to be a disaster for the City sharks impatiently circling around London's >Underground waiting for fresh pickings from tube privatisation. > > But Livingstone is no disaster for the majority of Londoners who don't >want the tube privatised and who are still angry and dismayed about the >government's response to the Paddington rail crash. > > Different arguments are being used to target the labour movement. These >aim to help Blair overcome the crisis he and his cronies created when they >shamefully weighted Labour's electoral college against Ken Livingstone. > > Despite much tut-tutting about the way the internal Labour selection was >carried out the Morning Star has nonetheless declared itself against >Livingstone -- in other words it is backing Frank Dobson and Blair. > > Last Tuesday's Morning Star editorial quoted what Livingstone had said >about the setting up of Arthur Scargill's Socialist Labour Party. It sought >to make Livingstone choke on his own words -- calling on Scargill to stay >in the Labour Party and fight for change. > > Yet, the two situations are completely different. Scargill was forming a >new party in permanent opposition to the Labour Party and was hoping to >recruit members, including members of the Labour Party, into the SLP's ranks. > > Livingstone on the other hand is not setting up a separate party. He has >been at pains to persuade his supporters in the Labour Party not to put >themselves in danger of expulsion. > > If comparisons are to be made with the present situation it is not Arthur >Scargill and his SLP we should be looking at but the case of Dennis >Canavan, Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Falkirk West. > > He was given the thumbs-down from on high when he sought to stand as an >MSP candidate in the seat he had long held as a Westminster MP. But he was >a popular local MP. The high-handed treatment Dennis received angered the >local Labour Party and electorate. When he stood as an independent >candidate he won the seat comfortably. > > In both cases Canavan and Livingstone wanted to stay in the Labour Party >and fight as Labour candidates. Both were on the receiving end of >anti-democratic measures which confounded this aim as well as the clear >wishes of a majority of Labour Party members and voters in their respective >localities. > > Our Party is committed to the struggle to keep the link between the trade >unions and the Labour Party strong. We also call for the maximum vote for >Labour in elections -- the only way to keep the Tories out and elect a >government that is organisationally linked to the working class movement. > > But that does not mean we support Blair and his right-wing followers nor >do we support the Labour government when it carries through anti-working >class policies either at home or abroad. Our criticisms are made loud and >clear. > > We say: "The call for a democratic Labour Party has to be made throughout >the movement along with support for Labour Party activists with mass >support when they come into conflict with the Blair leadership." > > Clearly Canavan and Livingstone are in this position. We therefore urge >all London electors to vote for Ken Livingstone in May. > > We also believe the recent events in Falkirk, in the London Mayoral >selection procedure and in the shoddy election of Alun Michael in Wales >highlight the fact that all bourgeois elections are fundamentally designed >by and for the benefit of the capitalist ruling class. The limitations of >bourgeois democracy are clear for all to see. > > For real change, for the creation of a socialist society the working class >needs to seize state power through revolution guided by the principles of >Marxism-Leninism, > > ************************** > >2) Lead story > >Livingstone sets Labour leaders spinning. > >by Daphne Liddle > >THE LABOUR Party officially suspended the membership of Ken Livingstone >after he announced his decision to stand as an independent candidate in the >elections for a mayor of Greater London. > > The next day an opinion poll published in the Guardian gave Livingstone a >55 point lead over the official Labour Party candidate, Frank Dobson. > > Now the Millbank power house is internally divided with recriminations and >accusations flying over their disastrously managed campaign to Stop Ken. > > In particular Labour Party general secretary Margaret McDonagh has come in >for heavy criticism for misjudging the mood of Londoners and Ken >Livingstone's resolve to stand his ground. > > The poll gave Ken Livingstone 68 per cent, Frank Dobson 13 per cent, Steve >Norris the Tory candidate 11 per cent and Liberal Democrat Susan Kramer 11 >per cent. > > The Millbank campaign against Ken Livingstone has been so blatant and >unfair that everything the spin doctors have done to stop him has boosted >him in the eyes of Londoners. > > He is a realist and aware that the giant poll lead is probably misleading: >"I don't believe in these huge leads," he said. "They will melt away in >what will be a pretty brutal campaign." > > He now faces an uphill task to raise funds for his campaign to match those >of the three main parties -- around £450,000. > > His campaign has launched an appeal for funds. But even before this some >£20,000 was reported to have been sent by wellwishers. > > He says he will spend the next two weeks putting people in place to run >his election campaign and drawing up a manifesto. "I am starting with >virtually nothing," he said. > > So far no Labour MPs have dared to support him openly and Millbank has >wheeled out a succession of hacks to condemn his stand -- some of them >former left-wingers. > > But some are still arguing that Ken should be the official Labour >candidate after polling thousands more individual votes than Frank Dobson. >He won 74,000 votes compared to Dobson's 24,000 yet the rigged electoral >college system of voting gave Dobson the victory. > > Livingstone said: "Frank won because one trade union leader and one Co-op >branch cast eight per cent of the total votes in Frank's favour without >balloting their members. > > >massive pressure > > "Labour MPs' votes were given 1,000 times the weight of an individual >party member and -- under massive pressure from the whips in a ballot that >was not even secret -- most of them cast their votes for Frank." > > Ken Livingstone has repudiated any official tie up with any fringe groups >such as Arthur Scargill's Socialist Labour Party or the London Socialist >Alliance. It is possible that if Livingstone wins, and that seems likely, >the demand to restore his Labour Party membership will grow. With a massive >public endorsement, it will be difficult for Millbank to refuse him. > > If elected there will be a limit on wha the can do. When Labour first >created the post they made sure it came with a limited budget and remit but >winning in itself will shatter the myth that the right-wing grip on the >Labour leadership -- and some of the trade unions -- cannot be challenged. > >This will give heart and encouragement to genuine socialists throughout the >labour movement to renew their efforts to reclaim the movement for the >working class. > > Livingstone's campaign will focus on the future of the London Underground. > > The Blair leadership wants it privatised -- in spite of the disaster that >has brought to British Rail. Ken Livingstone wants to keep it in the public >sector. > > Another mistake made by the Labour leadership is to try to scare voters >with the " looney left" tag and references to when Livingstone was leader >of the Greater London Council. > > >transport policy > > For most Londoners this was a good time when, for the only time in living >memory, London had a transport policy that worked. Cheap fares led to an >increase in the use ofpublic transport and a big reduction in traffic >congestion. > > Also it was a time when money was spent on some of London's most needy, >for example low cost holiday schemes for children from deprived areas >funded through the Inner London Education Authority -- now sorely missed. > > ********************* > > >3) Feature article > >Asylum relief delayed. > >by Caroline Colebrook > >HOME Office plans to disperse refugees to local authorities throughout >Britain to relieve pressure on Kent and the south-east have been delayed >because not enough accommodation could be found. > > Immigration Minister Barbara Roche told the House of Commons last Monday >that the operation, due to happen on 1 April, will now have to be phased in >gradually as accommodation becomes available. > > The Home Office says there will be an announcement on the state of >readiness of the plan to move 4,200 asylum seekers every month from April. > > And the Government has had to pledge an extra £10 million to help councils >provide the accommodation and back-up services that the refugees will need. > > Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, leader of Kent County Council, said: "We were >expecting on April 1 for the Government to take over the dispersal of >asylum seekers which we are handling in Kent at the moment. > > "Clearly, if this is delayed we will be very disappointed but not, >perhaps, entirely surprised." > > There has been a lot of pressure to move the refugees, mainly clustered >around Dover, because of the strains on local authority resources. > > This has been exacerbated by parts of the right-wing press with alarmist >tales of Kent and the south-east being swamped by fortune-seeking bogus >refugees. > > Some local papers have made much of the fact that Kent County Council may >have to raise council tax levels by £3 a year per household to cope with >the needs of the refugees, who include 900 unaccompanied children. > > The London Borough of Hillingdon, which includes Heathrow Airport, is >considering a similar rise in council tax. > > Many of those arriving are from the former Yugoslavia where the >imperialist powers have fostered racist and nationalist clashes and where >last year Nato bombed the country for three months causing homelessness, >unemployment and thousands of casualties. And to make matters worse the >shells Nato used were tipped with radio-active depleted uranium. > > In addition many Roma people have been driven out of eastern Europe after >the fall of communism and the rise of unemployment followed by racism. > > Home Secretary Jack Straw's Immigration and Asylum Act will eventually >take responsibility for looking after refugees away from local authorities >and put it in the hands of the new National Asylum Support Service. > > Asylum seekers will have no choice about where they are sent throughout >the country. They will not be eligible for any benefits but will be given >food vouches to cover essential needs and £10 a week in cash. > > This is a reversal to the system set up first by the Tories but overturned >in the courts. > > From Monday 3 April the new rules will apply to refugees who claim asylum >at the port of entry -- around 40 per cent. > > But the remaining 60 per cent, those who wait until later and claim asylum >once they are inside Britain, will remain the responsibility of the local >authority. > > They will be able to claim a mixture of cash, social security and housing >benefit and to remain in London and the south-east while their claims are >considered. > > Barbara Roche told the Commons: "A phased implementation is the sensible >course. The arrangements have been tested in simulated trials. Bringing >port applicants into the scheme first will enable the National Asylum >Support Service to deal with any teething difficulties before rolling out >the scheme fully." > > She declared that the 40 per cent who claim asylum on arrival will be >given accommodation "on a no-choice basis in cluster areas". > >The Immigration and Asylum Act was amended on its passage through the >Commons so that families with chi Idren will not be forced to exist on >vouchers unless the Home Office can guarantee to settle their claims within >six months. > > Meanwhile Glasgow City Council seems to have got its act together and is >already accepting bus loads of refugees as part of an agreement between >Scottish councils and 33 London boroughs. > > They are being offered accommodation in multi-story flats throughout the >city and will be able to continue to receive cash benefits instead of the >hated food vouchers, which humiliate and stigmatise. > > The Glasgow City deal is voluntary and outside the Government dispersal >scheme. The terms and conditions under which the refugees are received will >be governed by the Scottish Parliament because it comes under social work >legislation. > > The deal will offer support on a three tier basis. The deputy project >manager of Glasgow City Council, Brian O'Hara said: "We may end up with >some people receiving support, others receiving support and accommodation, >and others accommodation only and others nothing -- depending on the >decision they receive from the National Asylum Support Service. > > The Glasgow City deal will help some 600 families. In all, Scotland is >expected to take another 6,000 asylum seekers under the Government's >dispersal scheme, eventually. > > The dispersal scheme will need an estimated 40-60,000 accommodation places >a year. > > The cost of this would be easy to meet if spread evenly through income tax >rather than falling on particular local authorities. > > Then there would be less need to disperse refugees in isolated clusters, >far from interpreter services and the legal services they need to find >their way through the maze of asylum laws. > > No doubt the right-wing press will continue to lament the total cost but >will fail to mention that this is the cost of the undermining of communism >in eastern Europe and imperialist attacks on Yugoslavia. > > Whatever the costs to income tax or council tax payers, the costs in terms >of loss of home, friends, family and so on to the refugees themselves is >impossible to calculate. > > ************************* > >4) International story > >Israel on the run. > >by Our Middle East Affairs correspondent > >LEBANESE partisans are stepping up their actions against the Israelis and >their local stooges while back in Tel Aviv the Barak government has >formally declared that it's getting out with or without an agreement with >the Arabs. > > Two members of Israel's puppet "South Lebanon Army" (SLA) auxiliaries were >killed and another wounded in Hezbullah (Party of God) guerrilla attacks >this week to speed the Israelis on their way. > > Last Sunday the Israeli cabinet endorsed a July evacuation of the southern >Lebanon "security zone" -- a decision greeted with jubilation by Hezbullah >as "an official recognition of defeat of the Zionist invaders by the >Lebanese people and its Islamic resistance". > > But Hezbullah warns that it will not cease fighting until the last Israeli >soldier leaves the last inch of Lebanese soil. > > For Barak the humiliation of being chased out of Lebanon is easily >outweighed by the political reward he hopes he'll get from the Israeli >public who are sick of the war and the mounting casualty lists. Though this >is of no comfort for the bunch of cut-throats in the "SLA" whose future >looks exceedingly grim following a Tel Aviv Supreme Court decision last >Monday to deny the 2,000-odd auxiliaries asylum in Israel after the guns >fall silent. > > Now they are of no further use the fate of these Arab traitors is low on >Barak's agenda. Hezbullah has made it clear what's in store for them if >they stay behind -- withdrawing an earlier offer to pardon "repentant >collaborators" and calling on other countries to deny them asylum should >Israel request it. > > Barak's main problem is what happens after Lebanon. Hopes of a quick-fix >deal with Syria have vanished because the Labour-led coalition will not >concede to the only condition which will bring peace -- total withdrawal >from occupied Syrian territory. So he's hoping to revive the Palestinian >track of the "peace process". > > Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat met this week to talk about a >resumption of negotiations stalled when Israel refused to fully implement >the agreed third-stage West Bank evacuation. > > President Arafat, whose patience with the Israelis has long been attacked >by some quarters of Palestinian opinion, is on the political offensive now. >He's again talking about declaring an independent Palestine by the end of >the year. Arafat's said this before and always backed down under Israeli >and American pressure. This time he seems to mean business. > > "This is the moment of truth," Arafat stated this week. "Israel should >stop wasting time, stop playing with the agreement. We don't have lots of >time. We have to implement the agreements". > > And the upsurge of violence in the Israeli Arab town of Taibeh is a >warning of what the future may bring. Four members of the Palestinian >resistance, believed to be members of the Islamic Palestinian Hamas >movement, were killed following a 14 hour gun battle with Israeli security >forces besieging the apartment block they were hiding in. > > The Israelis say the guerrillas were preparing explosives for a new >bombing campaign in Israel. They claim the resistance has made a "strategic >decision" to renew the armed struggle to disrupt the "peace process". But >all the Arabs know that if the Palestinian returns to violence it is >entirely due to the stubbornness and bad faith of the Israelis who don't >even honour their own agreements. > > The fact that the battle took place in an Israeli Arab region, part of >Palestine seized in 1948, where the Arabs theoretically "enjoy" the >benefits of Israeli citizenship, is another warning to Barak and his ilk >that the flames of Palestinian anger can no longer be confined to the >occupied West Bank and Gaza. Time is definitely running out for Barak. > > ********************* > >5) British news item > >Call on Met to investigate race deaths. > >THE FAMILY of two black men found hanged in separate incidents last week >travelled from their home in Telford, Shropshire, to London to ask Home >Secretary Jack Straw and the specialist race crimes unit at Scotland Yard >to take over the investigation. > > The relatives of Harold "Errol" McGowan and his nephew Jason say they have >lost confidence in their local force, the West Mercia Police, to find the >killers. > > Errol McGowan died last July in suspicious circumstances. In his part time >job as a pub bouncer he had angered a group of white racist thugs by >refusing them admission to the pub. > > After that he was subjected to a sustained campaign of racist abuse, >assaults and death threats. He reported this to the police a number of times. > > Yet when he was found hanged, in circumstances where it would have been >most difficult to hang himself, West Mercia Police dismissed it as suicide. > > This was within a few months of the publication of the McPherson report. > > Errol's nephew Jason was not satisfied with the investigation and began >his own inquiry. Then he came in for a campaign of racist threats and abuse. > > He was found hanged on New Year's day, also in very suspicious >circumstances. West Mercia Police also tried to write this off as suicide >until a national newspaper took up the issue. > > Local people were outraged that Telford was being portrayed as a race hate >town with lynch mobs but it does not take large mobs to carry out vicious >racist murders. Tiny groups of very nasty racists can occur anywhere. > > Scotland Yard's new race and violent crimes unit has offered to take over >the investigation but West Mercia Police say they have appointed a new team >of detectives and will continue the inquiry themselves but will seek advice >from the Scotland Yard unit "when it is needed". > > Jack Straw has told the family he can only recommend to West Mercia that >they hand over the investigation but the final decision is with the chief >constable of West Mercia -- and he has said he will not change his mind. > > * A third Leeds United footballer has been arrested and questioned in >connection with a racist attack in the city centre that left student >Sarfraz Najeib seriously injured. > > Reserve team striker Tony Hackworth was questioned for 12 hours and then >released on police bail. > > *French footballer Emmanuel Petit, who plays for Arsenal, was last week >supported by two members of the rival Aston Villa management team when he >told the Football Association, at a misconduct hearing, that an offensive >gesture he made was in response to racist abuse from a small group of Aston >Villa fans. > > Villa fist team coach Steve Harrison and goalkeeping coach Paul Barren >both gave evidence at the hearing which backed up Petit's claim. > > ********************* > > >New Communist Party of Britain Homepage > >http://www.newcommunistparty.org.uk > >A news service for the Working Class! > >Workers of all countries Unite! __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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