> >New Worker Online Digest > >Week commencing 3rd November, 2000. > >1) Editorial - Lessons of BSE. & Time for a change. > >2) Lead story - NHS betrayed. > >3) Feature article - BSE must not happen again. > >4) International story - Sinn Fein slams new Unionist veto. > >5) British news item - Protest for justice. > > >1) Editorial > >Lessons of BSE. > >THE Phillip's Report into BSE (mad cow disease) found that a climate of >secrecy in Whitehall, delays in taking action, lack of communication >between government departments and ineffective policing of the meat >industry combined to waste valuable time in dealing with the crisis and >that this put the public at risk of the human variant CJD for longer than >necessary. > > For the most part the report shies away from apportioning individual >blame, although a number of civil servants and politicians are named and >criticised. Even so the report has highlighted the fact that where it was >essential to err on the side of caution the government and others in >Whitehall failed to do so. > > The report only deals with the BSE crisis. But there are important lessons >to be drawn from what has happened in respect of a number of other matters >affecting public health and safety. > > One of these is the issue of Genetically Modified (GM) foods, in which >huge vested interests are pushing for permission to proceed on the one hand >while there is clear disagreement among scientists about the short and long >term effects on the other. > > Other issues that demand less secrecy, more truthful public accountability >and effective government action include those concerning the dangers posed >by nuclear sites and nuclear waste disposal and the use of depleted uranium >to "enrich" weapons and provide ballast for aircraft. > > Even if the Phillip's Report did give the former Tory government a nasty >suck rather than a good hard bite, we still need more investigations of >this kind and public inquiries with full investigative powers. Public >health must come first -- not corporate greed, transnational muscle or >military secrecy. > > ************************* >Time for a change. > >DEPUTY Prime Minister, John Prescott, told the House of Commons last week >that "there is growing evidence that weather patterns around the world are >increasingly stormy and extreme". He said the storms that battered Britain >in the past few days are a "wakeup call for everyone". Though Prescott >didn't say so there are many experts who now believe these events are >caused by global warming. > > His call for measures to be taken to strengthen the infrastructure and >prepare for future damage are of course to be welcomed and we hope this >means the government will make funds available to do the necessary work. > > But the implications are far more serious than this. If we are indeed >entering a period of global climate change the effects on national >economies will be enormous. Agriculture, fresh water supplies, the control >of infectious disease and every aspect of economic life will be severely >affected. > > The prospect of climatic change makes the need for social change >essential. The system of capitalism, which serves a minority of rich elites >around the world and which is only concerned about profits and short-term >interests, is incapable of enabling humanity as a whole to cope with the >problems that may lie ahead. > > We have already seen in Britain that repeated episodes of flooding have >prompted the insurance companies to warn that flood cover might either be >dropped from policies or the premium rates raised significantly. Obviously >this will hit low income households hardest and if the problems continue it >will create a crisis in housing. > > We have seen too the chaos severe storms have caused for people getting to >work, for maintaining electrical supplies, for business and commerce. > > What is needed is strategic planning, public ownership and control over >all public transport, electricity, gas and water supplies, house building >and services. If shortages arise the supply of food and goods cannot be >left tojust the market place where those who have can gobble up everything >and those who have not get left with nothing. > > We can't be doing any longer with a capitalist system in which climate >change is seen as a good time to switch investments into the manufacture of >umbrellas and sandbags. Socialism is the need now -- a system in which the >majority rules, in which the levers of economic power are publicly owned, >in which planning can be introduced to meet the needs of everyone and in >which the problems of our time can be met and tackled. > > ********************* > >2) Lead story > >NHS betrayed. > >by Daphne Liddle > >HEALTH Secretary Alan Milburn last Tuesday signed a long term agreement >with a representative of the private health sector to establish the joint >planning and exchange of patients -- another step along the road to NHS >privatisation. > > The agreement -- a concordat with he Independent Healthcare Association -- >is expected to lead to some 100,000 National Health Service patients being >treated in private sector hospitals and nursing homes. In many cases the >doctors and nurses caring for them will be NHS employees. > > It will cover renting spare operating theatres for hip operations and >other non-emergency operations by NHS doctors and nurses working under >their normal NHS contracts. Unions are worried this is a halfway house to >privatising the jobs of thousands of healthcare workers, as is happening to >healthcare ancillary workers under Private Finance Initiative Schemes. > > The concordat will also provide for private or voluntary sector hospitals >to be commissioned for non-emergency care using the private sector staff >and allow critical care patients to be transferred between private and NHS >hospitals -- presumably to free-up beds in NHS hospitals and reduce the >incidence of operations being cancelled at the last minute or lack of >special care beds by transferring patients to the private sector after they >have had their operations once they no longer need full intensive care. > > The concordat will involve joint work on intermediate care and >rehabilitation services and sharing information on the supply of health >care workers. > > The move comes against a background of another impending winter crisis. >Week after week this autumn different health service bodies and unions have >warned that yet another winter flu crisis is likely, with patients waiting >long hours, even days, for treatment in accident and emergency units while >there are too few beds and too few nurses to care for them. > > Under these circumstances, the public are being told the only way out is >to accept patients being diverted into private hospitals. > > This is an appalling confidence trick to give taxpayers' money to the >shareholders of the private healthcare companies -- money that is >desperately needed in NHS hospitals to buy more beds and employ more nurses. > > Those patients treated in the private sector will not be charged directly >so the Government is claiming that the principles of the NHS -- no direct >payment for care -- will not be broken. > > This is misleading -- what the private hospitals will gain in public >funding, the NHS will lose. Every pill administered, every cup of tea will >be a source of profit. > > There are many in Labour's own ranks who are well aware of this. David >Hinchcliffe who is the Labour chair of the House of Commons Select >Committee on Health warned that Alan Milburn should not have "got into bed" >with the private sector. > > He said: "Giving comfort at a time when it is known that the private >sector is struggling is not something I would expect a Labour government to >do." > > Public sector union Unison also condemned the move and said the agreement >could only be acceptable as a stop-gap measure until the NHS had enough >capacity of its own to cope. But the agreement signed is long-term. > > And, in spite of the grand ten year blueprint for the NHS announced by the >Government last summer, with thousands more doctors, nurses and beds, PFI >deals are still leading to a steady decline in the number of NHS hospital >beds. > > Under these schemes, private sector finance builds and maintains new >hospitals, employs cleaning and catering staff and rents the buildings to >the NHS. Thus health workers' jobs are privatised, taxpayers pay through >the nose for buildings which will never actually belong to the NHS and are >controlled by the private sector and it is financiers, not doctors, who >decide how many beds each hospital must have -- on the basis of potential >profit. > > There are few profits to be made from spare beds kept empty for most of >the year for epidemics and emergencies so the total numbers of beds are >invariably cut by PFI schemes and so the NHS dependence on private sector >beds will be made permanent. > > The private sector beds to be hire by the NHS under this concordat will be >very expensive. Ursula Pearce, who chaired the South Birmingham Community >Council, in a letter to the Guardian. said that the cost of buying 10 >intermediate care beds in private nursing homes will be �156,000 compared >with �47,000 or 11 extra intermediate beds in two local NHS community >hospitals. > > The Government last summer promised a massive rise in NHS spending. Now >the have agreed that a large part of this will go straight into private >sector profits and patients will get much less benefit from it than if it >was spent directly by the NHS. > > And as PFI schemes continue to cut NHS beds, so the winter flu crisis is >set to be a feature of every year and dependence on the private sector will >increase. > > ********************** > >3) Feature article > >BSE must not happen again. > >by Caroline Colebrook > >THE TRANSPORT and General Workers' Union, which represents tens of >thousands of agricultural and food processing workers, last week called on >the Foods Standards Agency to make public health its top priority, >following the publication of the Phillips Report into the BSE crisis. > > This call came as the FSA raised doubts over the safety of British lamb >and other meats after the practice of feeding them on processed animal >waste has continued. > > The Phillips inquiry found that BSE (mad cow disease) arose originally >after cattle has been fed on the processed remains of sheep which had died >from the fatal brain disease scrapie. Now it is feared the new form of the >disease may have been passed back to sheep but is being mistaken for >scrapie. Either way, allowing the remains of diseased animals into the >human food chain could still put consumers at risk of contracting the human >form of the disease -- new variant CJD. And both BSE and scrapie have long >incubation periods so the disease is often not noticed. > > The Co-op retail chain condemned all feeding of the remains of animals to >farm animals being raised for meat, which are natural herbivores and called >on the FSA to outlaw such practices. > > The FSA is now recommending increased monitoring of all farm animals >raised for meat in Britain and research into whether animals such as pigs >and poultry can carry diseases fatal to humans like BSE and also the >development of tests which can show quickly if an animal is infected. > > It wants the use of recycled carcasses and blood for feed to be outlawed >and fish farming practices to be examined. > > The Phillips report, published last week, was a damning indictment of >Government complacency and inaction. It blamed successive administrations >for contributing to the catastrophe but said nothing could have prevented >the BSE epidemic nor the infection of human consumers. > > The long incubation period of the disease meant it had taken firm hold and >diseased meat was in the food chain long before the disease became apparent >and before the first cattle were identified as suffering from a new killer. > > But once scientists did start to raise the alarm, during the mid 1980s, >former Government ministers and civil servants did their best to suppress >the evidence. They did not want to start a food scare. They repeatedly >assured the public the disease could not jump from one species to another >and that people were safe -- although they had no evidence on this one way >or the other. > > So there was no ban on possibly infected mechanically recovered meat >getting into the food chain -- into hamburgers, pies and sausages, between >1989 and 1995 when the first evidence that the disease could infect humans >emerged. > > Since then at least 80 people have died from the new variant CJD and >because of the long incubation period of the illness tens of thousands of >people could still fail victim. > > There is no way of knowing the numbers that will be involved but the >Government is now revising its estimates upwards. Professor Peter Smith, >head of an official advisory group on BSE1 said last week: "My own personal >belief would be that we are more likely looking in the region of a few >hundred to several thousand more than the tens or hundreds or thousands, >but it must be said, we can't rule out tens of thousands at the moment." > > So it is all the more worrying that -- in spite of the massive but belated >slaughter of all cattle that might have bee infected the disease, or other >simlar diseases, may have passed to almost any other farm animal and may >still be in the human food chain. > > Barry Leathwood, the TGWU national secretary for agricultural workers >stressed that the government must keep the Food Standards Agency >independent from the vested interests of farmers and the Ministry of >Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. > > He said: "We must never again find ourselves in a position where fears >over contaminated food are swept under the carpet and consumers are treated >with utter disregard. This report documents one of the worst failures of >Government this country has even seen. > > "The new Food Standards Agency must be completely independent of the >Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Foods. Only then will the >precautionary principle be established as the guiding rule when dealing >with new food processes. > > "The TGWU represents members from plough to plate and is keen to act as a >source of information about the abuses in the agricultural and food >industries." > > ************************* > >4) International story > >Sinn Fein slams new Unionist veto. > >by Steve Lawton > >SINN FEIN ministers Martin McGuiness and Bairbre de Bruin called for an >emergency session of the northern Ireland Assembly Executive last Monday. > > Following the Ulster Unionist Party's Council meeting last Saturday, a >motion was passed barring Sinn Fein representation at north-south >ministerial council meetings, unless IRA decommissioning begins according >to their dictates. > > It further threatens to undermine the Good Friday Agreement if there are >any moves by the Irish or British government's to impede the Ulster >Unionist Party council decision. > > Deputy First Minister Seamus Mallon of the SDLP said political leaders >were once again on the brink. He said it was unacceptable that "one party >to this political process is dictating to an Irish government, or to >ourselves, or to Sinn Fein, or to any body else as to who will be present >where and when." He too was seeking a special meeting ofthe Executive as we >went to press. > > So what crime have the IRA committed this time? According to Sinn Fein >president Gerry Adams MP, the IRA has -- he deduced from the latest IRA >statement -- enabled "inspection and re-inspection of arms dumps" and the >issue of "putting IRA weapons verifiably beyond use" is given a "context >outlined by the Army Leadership in which this could be accomplished." > > He said this was a matter between the IRA and British government, but that >Sinn Fein has influenced this peace process. The UUP's action, Gerry Adams >said, is an "ungracious rejection ofthe IRA initiative." > > While northern Ireland minister Peter Mandelson acts out the role of an >impartial referee, he warned that if the Good Friday Agreement is wrecked >he said "you just have to look at the Middle East to see the alternative." > > Yet if he took himself at his own word then he would recognise how >destabilising are the critical changes the British government itself has >made to the Policing Bill for the republican and nationalist communities. > > Education minister Martin McGuiness said: "Sinn Fein are deeply concerned >at the path David Trimble has chosen to pursue." He pointed out that the >UUP leader and First Minister "is in clear breach of the spirit and letter >of the Agreement." > > He went on: "Sinn Fein's right to representation on the institutions and >the executive comes from our significant electoral mandate." No one can >"set limits on the rights and entitlements of nationalists and republicans. >There can no Unionist veto." > > As we go to press the Irish government's health minister Micheal Martin >agreed to meet Bairbre de Bruin, his opposite number in the north, but >separately from the formal ministerial meeting, which today was expected to >see the launch ofa new north-south body to improve food health and safety. > > Fine Gael meanwhile called for an all-Party conference ofthose responsible >for creating the Good Friday Agreement. > > While maintaining that decommissioning is an issue, they nevertheless >agreed with Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams that "Sinn Fein does not hold >Executive positions by dint of patronage from the UUP." > > Speaking after a meeting of Party activists in Castlebellingham last week, >Gerry Adams MP may have struck where it mattered: "Could it be that Mr >Trimble's move [to exclude Sinn Fein from ministerial meetings] is tacit >acknowledgement that Unionism isn't up to the challenge of working >alongside other citizens or of developing and sustaining a peaceful future >based on equality?" > > ********************* > >5) British news item > >Protest for justice. > >by Ray Davies > >CARDIFF Reds Choir and Palestine Solidarity Campaign Wales joined >supporters from all over Britain last Friday on a picket outside the Appeal >Court in London to protest at the wrongful conviction of Samar Alami and >Jawad Botmeh for the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in 1994. > > The two young Palestinians were activists who wanted to see peace and >freedom with justice for their land. > > The legitimate campaign left them easy scapegoats. Samar and Jawad were >sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for conspiracy -- not the actual bombing. > > The judge accepted they were not part of any terrorist group and no >forensic evidence connected them with the incident at Balfour House. > > Yet the two each received 20 year sentences for their alleged role in the >bombing. > > Who bombed the embassy? Many questions have never been answered, including >the loss of security video footage and log book and the identity of the >group who wrote a letter claiming responsibility. > > Defence counsel Michael Mansfield last week told the court that a hitherto >undisclosed MI5 report revealed that Botmeh and Alami had no connections >with this organisation. > > The Crown Prosecution Service used public interest immunity certificates >several times to deny relevant evidence to the defence and, it now appears, >to the judge. > > Former MI5 officer David Shayler has revealed that some of Lhe evidence >being withheld includes intelligence that a large, well-organised group was >casing the embassy some months prior to the bombing, while the jury was >told there was an intelligence vacumn. > > For the judge to have had this report would have been crucial and it could >have radically altered the outcome of the trial. > > The case has been adjourned to seek advice about evidence which was withheld. > > Campaigners for justice for Alami and Botmeh are calling on supporters to >write to their MPs at the House of Commons, to Home Secretary Jack Straw at >the Home Office, to the Director of Public Prosecutions at the CPS >headquarters, 50 Ludgate Hill London EC4M 7EY and the Attorney General, >Lord Williams of Mostyn to ask them to drop the charges. > > They say: "Raise the issue in your union branch, join the campaign to free >Samar and Jawad". The campaign can be contacted at 020 8863 2294 -- phone >or fax. > > ********************* > > >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] _______________________________________________________
