> >New Worker Online Digest > >Week commencing 8th September, 2000. > >1) Editorial - Lottery danger. > >2) Lead story - Crisis in our schools. > >3) Feature article - Skills shortage leads to immigration policy rethink. > >4) International story - Truckers bring France to a standstill. > >5) British news item - A great day at Burston. > > >1) Editorial > >Lottery danger. > > THE news last week that another £47 million was going to keep the >Millenium Dome solvent aroused fury in much of the capitalist press. Apart >from the usual jibes against the Labour government from the Tory papers >there was also a more general criticism of the whole idea of continuing to >prop up the Dome. The money could, it's argued, be better spent. > > But this apparently attractive argument is fraught with danger. It >encourages the idea that lottery money should be used to help the NHS and >other public services in need of extra cash and undermines the lottery's >original spending rules. > > So, what's wrong with that? Surely it would be better to help hospitals >rather than the Dome? The problem is that the public services are the >responsibility of the government and should be funded through a taxation >system that is fair -- that is a system of income tax which takes most from >those who have most. > > The lottery should not become an extra tax upon the poor, albeit a >voluntaly one, while the wealthy continue to be let off the hook. At >present the unjust tax levels of the former Tory governments still apply. >The rich continue to benefit from a tax system which is grossly weighted in >their favour. Top levels of tax need to be raised -- not lowered even further. > > Once lottery money is allowed to supplement government funding for vital >services like the NHS it will quickly become a regular practice and >eventually a normal part of the budget. The government of the day could >then consider cutting taxes on the rich even further. > > It is interesting that in the recent contest for control of the lottery it >was the bid put in by Richard Branson that seemed favoured. This was the >bid that boasted of making more money available for "good causes". Could it >be that the Treasury has its eyes on this money and that the media is just >softening us up for yet another method of taking from the poor to give to >the rich? > > ********************* > >2) Lead story > >Crisis in our schools. > >by Daphne Liddle > >THE START of the new school year this week revealed the most serious >shortage of teachers in our classrooms in England and Wales for over two >decades. > > In London alone there are vacancies for 1,000 leachers. > > Research from the National Union of Teachers published last week has >revealed head teachers resorting to desperate measures to try to ensure >that every class has a teacher. > > They are using unqualified and untrained teachers, including technicians. >New staff are being appointed without even being interviewed. > > Teachers are being sought in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In some >cases the curriculum is being modified to fit the staff available. And >class sizes are growing. > > "When push comes to shove," said one headteacher, "you've got to put a >body in front of the class. So long as you know they are not going to kill >a child or maim them, what choice do we have?" > > Another said: "I was in great danger of losing the teachers of the two >other classes due to stress and violence, so we took on this lady after a >20-minute interview on the phone to Australia. It was an act of faith." > > Government figures show all schools fully staffed but the NUT has found >that at the end of last term 10 per cent of all teaching posts fell vacant >in those schools surveyed and four per cent of posts are still vacant. > > This is three years into a Government that promised us "education, >education, education". And it is a crisis that has been predicted over and >over by teaching unions who have warned that pay and conditions are >worsening as more and more burdens are laid on teachers. > > Teachers have been repeatedly insulted and ignored. They have been made >scapegoats for an abysmally funded education system. They have been forced >to compete in exam league tables and now they have had perform ance pay >imposed to set each teacher in competition with their colleagues. > > This year has seen yet another improvement in GCSE and A level results. >But far from being congratulated, the teachers and hard working pupils have >been told this must mean the exams are getting easter. > > Chris Woodhead, the leader of the Government watchdog Ofsted, has insulted >teachers and students by saying: "We need A levels that are as academically >rigorous as they have ever been. Indeed I would like them to be more rigorous. > > "As standards rise in schools then we ought, in our public examinations, >to be looking to raise the level of demand at all levels as well. > > "Let's preserve A levels that really do stretch the intellectually most >able but let's recognise that such qualifications are only for a minority." > > In other words, if the majority of working class pupils can pass A levels >then they can't be worth having. > > And of course, whatever the teachers do by his standards they are doing >wrong. > > He does not consider that the rising pass rate may be due to pressure from >the Government to excel in exam tables that makes schools reluctant to >allow pupils to sit exams if their chances of passing are in doubt. > > Many children are probably being denied the chance to have a go because of >this. > > Woodhead was head of Ofsted under the Tories but Labour have kept him in >place in spite of his blatant elitist attitude. This is not the way to >provide equal opportunities for working class children. What is the real >agenda? > > The Government is now rushing head over heels to privatise "failing" >schools and "failing" local education authorities. The failures result from >long-term underfunding and complex social problems. > > The policy of naming and shaming failing schools, sacking teachers and >putting in new high paid super-heads is proving, predictably, an abject >failure. > > Ten out of 11 superheads have quit within a year or so. Quick fixes like >this will not give our children a better education. > > Even schools with good resuits are being threatened for not making enough >improvement. The ultimate agenda is to privatise the lot. > > Business people are not going to be able to improve education where >trained professionals could not. > > The Government knows this. Mass privatisation will create a second-rate >education system for working class children. > > It will turn out pupils qualified only to run the wheels of what industry >we have left but denied the opportunity for real educalion. It is the >education policy of Wackford Squeers. > > ********************** > >3) Feature article > >Skills shortage leads to immigration policy rethink. > >by Caroline Colebrook > >THE GOVERNMENT is considering relaxing immigration laws to persuade foreign >"entrepreneurs" to come to Britain and fill gaps. > > A pilot scheme is to be set up under which the rigid immigration rules >would be eased for those with "intellectual property" -- such as a business >idea for ecommerce. This could be the forerunner of more sweeping reforms >that would allow thousands of qualified workers to settle. > > It will be a major departure from immigration policy under both Labour and >Tory governments since the 70s which has virtually barred people coming >into Britain with the idea of settling and working. > > The only exceptions have been those with relatives in this country, asylum >seekers deemed genuine or those setting up a business who could prove they >had at least £250,000 to sustain themselves. > > Home Office minister Barbara Roche is due to outline the scheme on 11 >September in a public speech at the Institute for Public Policy Research. > > From next April, under the pilot scheme, foreigners will be allowed into >Britain on a points basis up to a maximum quota of 100,000. > The points will be awarded on the basis oftheir age and qualifications. > > They are expected to fill gaps in information technology, engineering and >teaching. > > Predictably some right-wing papers have reacted with racist scaremongering >about hordes of foreigners being allowed in. > > And the decision takes place against a background of racist ploys from the >Tory party on foreign doctors being a danger to patients because of >language problems. > > Also various NHS trusts, schools and education authorities are sending >recruitment teams all around the globe in a desperate bid to fill vacancies >in nursing and teaching. > > These gaps are the result of long-standing Government failures to pay >nurses and teachers and to invest in health and education. > > Shadow home secretary Ann Widdecombe has condemned the plans and claims >they will lead to more illegal immigration. > > The plans also ignore the fact that there are many highly qualified asylum >seekers languishing in detention centres and evenjails who are prevented by >law from working in their professions in this country. > > It would be far cheaper to give these people the necessary language and >other training to fill places here. > > Also the policy is shameless exploitation of developing countries who have >invested in training these qualified people. > > Already Nelson Mandela has complained that Britain is enticing away South >Africa's best doctors and social workers. > > Setting up a brain drain that will hit south Asia, Africa and the >Philippines will increase the gap between the rich and poor countries. > > And of course much more investment in our own education system so that it >can produce the full range of skilled workers needed. > > ************************* > >4) International story > >Truckers bring France to a standstill. > >STRIKING French truckers have rejected the government's latest offer to end >a dispute which has brought much of France to a standstill this week. Lorry >drivers and militant farmers are blockading nearly all the oil refineries >and fuel depots in the country as part of their campaign for cheaper fuel. > > Over eighty per cent of petrol stations have run dry and rationing has >already been imposed in some regions. Parisian boatmen joined the growing >movement against high fuel prices on Wednesday blocking the Seine with a >line of barges. > > In the south Nice airport warns it may have to cancel flights if the >protests continue and the highspeed train network has been disrupted by >protesters who have set fire to tracks or driven vehicles onto them. > > Talks between the Transport ministry and the main freight federation broke >down mid-week when the haulies rejected the government's proposals as >"insufficient". > > The National Federation of Road Hauliers (FNTR) which represents 15,000 >road haulage firms said "the proposals formulated last night by the >Transport Ministry go in the right direction, but they were deemed >insufficient". The decision was taken after consulting their local >representatives, who unanimously rejected the deal. > > The government -- forced to back down to similar demands from trawlermen >demanding a cut in diesel last week -- offered to cut fuel tax by 35 >centimes (3.5p) a litre this year and 25 (2.5p) centimes a litre in 2001. >The FNTR looking fora cut of at least 5p a litre this year. > > The protests so far have come from the great swathe of French small >businesses and the selfemployed sector who are effectively organised in >powerful trade federations. > > And the social-democratic government is wary of confronting these powerful >lobbies. It has cried to pin the blame for the rise in fuel costs on the >oil-producers themselves, ignoring the fact that a large part of the cost >to the consumer is the duties levied at point of sale not to mention the >crash in the value of the Euro against the dollar over the past 12 months. > > Organised labour is standing to one side. The General Confederation of >Labour issued a statement this week pointing out that if the government did >meet the hauliers' demands it would do nothing to help workers in the >industry. > > This was echoed by the French Confederation of Workers which said the >hauliers were "defending only their own interests" which ignored the >problems of the road haulage industry. > > These included the "deplorable social conditions, salaries worthy of >indignation, unpaid hours of overtime and lack of respect for minimal >safety conditions" -- none of which originated with the increase in fuel >prices. > > ********************* > >5) British news item > >A great day at Burston. > >by New Worker correspondents > >HUNDREDS of trade union and labour movement activists descended on the tiny >Norfolk village of Burston last Sunday. With banners unfurled they marched >the one and three quarter mile Candlestick before assembling on the village >green for speeches, songs and entertainment. > > The annual celebration and commemoration of "The Longest Strike in >England" was revived in 1983 and has been held ever since. > > Back in 1914 Annie and Tom Higdon, the two village schoolteachers, were >sacked by the local squirearchy on trumped-up charges because of their >socialist political activities including their support for the agricultural >workers. > > Their pupils went on strike in support of their teachers and set in motion >a chain of events that culminated in the involvement of wide sections of >the Trade union movement at home and abroad, the setting up of the Strike >School and a bitterly fought strike against the local education authority >that lasted for the next 25 years. > > At Sunday's rally many trade union and left wing organisations displayed >their banners and had stalls. Prominent among the banners were the National >Union of Teachers, the Communication Workers' Union and the TGWU general >union. > > John Edmonds, general secretary of the GMB general union, made a clear >call on the Government to restore the link between the basic state pension >and average earnings, pointing out that as Michael Portillo had predicted, >without this link the state pension will continue to wither to become of >negligible value. > > "Unless the Government restores the earnings link," he said, "and protects >the value of the pension, we will be making Portillo's awful prediction >come true. > > "Restoring the earnings link will raise morale in the labour movement and >erase the painful memory of the 75 pence a week pension rise. > > "That is why the GMB is putting down the pensions motion at the TUC and >why it is drafting a motion for the Labour Party conference." > > Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn agreed to speak at short notice after Tony Benn >was forced to pull out because of his wife's illness. > > The threatening rain held off, allowing the NCP stall to raise over £50 >and sell more than 60 New Workers. > > ********************* > > >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. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
