National demonstration set for 24 October: bring the troops home

The Stop the War Coalition has decided on a date for the national demonstration - demanding an end to the occupation of Afghanistan - in London this autumn. Saturday 24 October is the date for the first major national demo focussed on Afghanistan since November 2001, shortly after NATO troops invaded the country.

The intensifying of military operations in recent weeks has pushed the occupation up the news agenda. The efforts from politicians and press to whip up support and marginalise criticism have largely failed, as demonstrated by the Independent's recent poll which showed majority support for bringing UK troops home. The warm response Stop the War activists have received on stalls in the last couple of weeks is another indicator - here in Tyneside we're having a public stall in the centre of Newcastle tomorrow, and expect lots of support.

Anyone who's helped with Stop the War stalls will have experience of relatives of military personnel coming up and saying they agree with us, not to mention soldiers and ex-soldiers themselves expressing support. I've already blogged about Joe Glenton, who has refused to return to Afghanistan and is bravely speaking out about why he opposes the occupation. His wife, Clare, has now given her account of why she supports Joe's stand.

On a related point: yesterday's official announcement of the Iraq inquiry suggests there'll be a long campaign by anti-war activists to get justice. The inquiry panel announced that they expect their investigations to last until the end of next year and not report until 2011. It's good to learn that some hearings will probably be televised and that the whole process will be streamed online - whatever conclusions the elite Establishment panel reach, at least all the information will be out there and the key figures will be subject to scrutiny.

British soldier takes protest to Downing Street

Joe Glenton has today handed in a letter to Gordon Brown which explains why he won't fight in Afghanistan. The lance corporal recently became the first serving soldier to speak out publicly against the UK's role in occupying Afghanistan, making a powerful contribution to a Stop the War meeting in London.

In his letter he describes the military action as 'unethical', and concludes with these words: 'I do not believe that our cause in Afghanistan is just or right. I implore you, Sir, to bring our soldiers home.' His court martial begins next Monday.


The BBC, meanwhile, has reported the new casualty figures for deaths and injuries of British soldiers in Afghanistan. 57 soldiers were wounded in action in just the first two weeks of July, more than the total for the whole of June. During this month there have been 22 deaths of British troops in Afghanistan, the highest number since the occupation began in 2001.

The BBC site also has a full list of British troops killed, in both Iraq and Afghanistan, since the 'war on terror' began.

Police do unity and solidarity too - with the military

Police officers with the Met are to be allowed to wear union flag badges to express their support for troops in Afghanistan. The Metropolitan Police commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, has made an exception from the usual blanket ban on police wearing anything that might be seen as compromising their 'independence' (ahem). Read the Guardian's report here.

It's an absurd situation, as evoked by presenter Eddie Mair's pointed question put to a Met representative on Radio 4's PM: could this perhaps undermine the police's independence when they are policing a Stop the War demonstration? Indeed - that's pretty unanswerable. Chris Nineham was also interviewed - on behalf of the Stop the War Coalition - and he pointed out that wearing these badges, though purported to be 'neutral', can only be interpreted as a pro-war, pro-occupation gesture.

He also noted that a majority of British people oppose the occupation and want the troops brought home - the Met's attitude is out of kilter with the public mood. It also, so it seems, is yet another example of the Establishment rallying behind the war effort, as with the endless media propaganda demanding we all drop opposition, "get behind our boys", and limit criticisms to the detail of spending on helicopters.

Vestas - unity in action

Developments in the Vestas dispute have come thick and fast in the last 24 hours. Occupying workers at the plant on the Isle of Wight were given their redundancy notices yesterday evening, for "gross misconduct", i.e. their industrial action to save over 600 jobs. They were told they are to receive no redundancy pay. This morning hundreds of protestors lobbied the court hearing to determine whether Vesatas could go ahead with removing the occupying workers. An injunction was refused, which means the occupation - which began last Monday - can continue for at least another few days.

The fact that workers at the Newport factory manufacture wind turbines, which are vital for developing a 'green economy', is profoundly embarrassing for the government, from whom there has been little sign of determination to ensure the plant remains open. Market forces are ultimately allowed to govern whether workers keep their jobs and, at the same time, scupper efforts to make the energy industry more environmentally friendly.

It is inspiring to see how trade unionists have rallied to support the non-unionised Vestas workers, but it's even more significant that the unions have linked up with green campaign groups and anti-capitalist activists in a common struggle. This is an economic dispute with a very political dimension to it, raising profound questions about how we reduce climate change and - an even bigger issue - the kind of economic system we need.

The highly impressive solidarity protests and meetings - bringing together unions (especially the RMT), environmentalists, socialists and local people - indicate the potential for the climate movement. The movement is at its strongest when it is united, broad-based and takes on specific campaigns tied in to the bigger politics of climate change and capitalism.

For a more detailed commentary on the background and significance of the Vestas workers' militancy, and the solidarity campaign, I recommend Elaine Graham-Leigh's analysis (which advocates nationalisation of the energy sector).

Afghanistan: majority opposition to occupation

It is reassuring to discover, from the Independent's new poll, that a majority of the British public remain opposed to our troops occupying (with other NATO forces) Afghanistan. The media campaign to stir patriotism and rally support for the war has evidently had little impact. Likewise the Tories' efforts to make alleged under-resourcing of UK troops the central political issue. The poll findings indicate that many people realise the crucial issue is in fact the presence of troops in the first place - not the state of their helicopters or weaponry.

Most importantly, 52% want an immediate end to the occupation. This is enormously impressive when you consider that virtually no mainstream political or media voices express such a viewpoint. The whole debate around Afghanistan, in Westminster and in newspaper columns, is premised on the assumption that obviously troops must remain. The differences concern technicalities and the defence budget: exactly how much money should we spending on the occupation?

The anti-war movement remains vital for promoting the case for immediate withdrawal of the troops. Stop the War and its partner organisations have a unique track record of mobilising large demonstrations against war and occupation. It's likely there will be a major national demo in November (probably 14 November, co-inciding with NATO defence ministers' summit in Scotland and the anniversary of the invasion in 2001).

There's also a big Edinburgh demo in the pipeline, for the same day, to take the message direct to the politicans waging this war. And Stop the War is calling on local groups everywhere to initiate protests when the toll of British military dead reaches 200 (it's currently 191). These protests will commemorate the Afghan dead as well as military personnel killed in the conflict.

Tony Cliff archive

This article is also published at www.counterfire.org
I've decided to initiate a new blog - in addition to the luna17 blog - but only for a brief period. It will of course remain online indefinitely, as an archive, but I've set myself the strict (and non-negotiable!) deadline of 31 August for posting new entries. I thought I'd use the extra time freed up by the summer hols to attempt something I've had niggling away at my consciousness for a little while.

The basic idea is simple: to select examples of writing and speeches by Tony Cliff and collate them in one place. Cliff was the founder of the group that later developed into the Socialist Workers Party and a leading member of the SWP until his death in April 2000, aged 82. Born in Palestine and becoming a revolutionary as a schoolboy, he devoted nearly seven decades to Marxist politics and the project of building socialist organisation.

He obviously produced an enormous amount of political commentary, analysis, history and biography - through articles, essays, books and speeches. As well as three printed volumes of his selected writings - and numerous books still in print - there is a major online collection at the Marxist Internet Archive. Ian Birchall, a SWP comrade, is currently writing a biography of Cliff (there's already Cliff's own memoir, A World to Win). So, why bother with a blog devoted to Cliff's work?

One simple reason is that it will include video as well as text - indeed the first link I've posted is a video interview with Cliff, as lucid as ever in 1996. I especially like sites which combine text and video, and frequently check YouTube (especially the channel run by Ady Cousins) for left-wing speeches and other sources. The new blog is a chance to combine different media to provide an accessible selection of Cliff's political contributions.

There's a personal element too: I became a revolutionary socialist in 1992, aged 14, and have read Cliff ever since (I was also lucky enough to hear him speak on numerous occasions). I've learnt a tremendous amount from Cliff - the blog can be regarded as a record of my personal enagagement with his ideas. It should resonate, however, with others of the same political stripe, and hopefully be of interest to those who are new to Cliff's political thought and the tradition he represents.

It is not an attempt at anything systematic or complete - instead it is one socialist activist's selection and will therefore inevitably reflect the editor's own current preoccupations, and the political context we are all presently operating in. Someone else might produce something quite different - indeed I might myself, if I was doing this at a different time.

This leads on to another issue, namely contemporary relevance. A remarkable amount of Cliff's output feels fresh and topical. I am selecting sources I regard as relevant and well worth engaging with today. Cliff was expert at applying the intellectual richness of the Marxist tradition to a changing world - his writings can guide us in doing precisely the same today. I'll be providing brief commentaries on many of the sources, in particular to draw out lessons for us today.

Arguably Cliff's greatest political contribution was in the area of building revolutionary organisation, addressing the questions of what it means to be a revolutionary and which strategies and forms of organisation are needed to enhance the struggle for a better world. This wasn't merely theoretical - he continuously sought to build such organisation in practice, from 1930s Palestine through to the British SWP, numbering thousands, of his later years (and his support for its sister organisations in the International Socialist Tendency). Much of the material I'll be choosing is acutely relevant to the theory and practice of building a revolutionary party.

Finally, I will be considering Cliff's work thematically, i.e. linking different pieces according to a shared topic or focus. A chronological approach - like at the Marxist Internet Archive - can be useful, but I also think it's good to make connections based on the political topic, regardless of when sources are dated. What, for example, did Cliff have to say about the Middle East over several decades, and how might that help our understanding of the region today?

Malalai Joya: an inspiration

300 people packed the Conway Hall in London for a major public meeting on Thursday, hosted by Stop the War. Malalai Joya, who has survived five assassination attempts, talked about her continuing struggle to help free Afghanistan from military occupation. Read this report of the meeting for more.

The report is accompanied by a video of the talk, plus a video of a short but moving speech by Joe Glenton, a courageous soldier who is refusing to fight in Afghanistan. Stop the War is calling for all local groups to organise emergency protests when the 200th UK soldier is killed in Afghanistan. There will also be a national demonstration in October or November, demanding the occupation ends.

a few good reads

I'm heading off on a trip to France tomorrow, returning on Friday night. When I started packing this morning, my thoughts turned to what I might read on the long coach journey from north east England to Paris. Assuming I'm awake (we set off at the indecently early time of 6am) and I'm not distracted by the 45 year 9s I'm accompanying (many of them will be absorbed in their own private iPod worlds), it should be a rare chance to indulge my bibliophilia.

I'm not sure what I'll take yet, but it's prompted the idea of recommending some of my good reads from recent months - as a guide to possible summer holiday reading for others. The next few weeks or so can, for many people, be the best time of the year for getting stuck into a few books.

I read Richard Seymour's 'The Liberal Defence of Murder' over Christmas - unusual choice for the festive season, I know - and found its excavation of the long history of liberals' and ex-lefties' support for war and imperialism fascinating. The author is responsible for the Lenin's Tomb site, which since 2003 has offered (amongst other things) critiques of the liberal justifications for the 'war on terror'. The book illustrates that recent rhetoric of 'humanitarian intervention' is part of a long tradition, and that modern apostates like Christopher Hitchens and Nick Cohen are not as unusual as might be supposed.

I've read some of the key figures in the Marxist tradition in the last few months, including extracts from many of Lenin's writings in the book 'Revolution, democracy, socialism: selected writings'. It's edited by Paul Le Blanc, with a very snazzy design, and covers Lenin's entire political life. Lenin was mostly a clearer writer than many assume (if they've never gone to the original sources) and the long introductory piece by the editor is superb in providing context and explaining why Lenin is so relevant.

Shortly after getting the book I read George Lukacs' short book about Lenin - I read it online at the Marxists Internet Archive, but at the Marxism festival a couple of weeks ago a new edition was on sale. John Rees' meeting about it was very popular - hopefully many of the people there went and bought the Lukacs' book, as it really is a superb (and accessible) summary of the main issues around building revolutionary organisation.

I also read the chapter on Lukacs in the John Rees book about the dialectic - The Algebra of Revolution. I bought this when it came out a decade ago, but found the Lukacs material forbidding - I'm glad I went back to it, though, as there's incredible insight into why people have the ideas and consciousness they do, and into how capitalism manages to perpetuate itself. But also, on a more hopeful note, how the system creates the conditions for its own destruction by working class revolution.

Another book I've returned to is Tony Cliff's political memoir, A World to Win, written shortly before his death in 2000. Cliff traces the building of revolutionary socialist organisation in Britain from just after World War Two onwards. It is a manual for revolutionaries, with countless lessons on strategy and tactics and how to build an organisation - just like Cliff's own biography of Lenin in the years up to 1914, 'Building the Party'. In fact these two books complement each other very neatly.

I've enjoyed Michael Rosen's political poems ('Fighters for Life'), which can be dipped into every now and then. He's a versatile author who can write for adults or kids, whether poetry or prose, and with a more or less explicitly politcal focus. I'll conclude this piece with a snippet of prose from Rosen, which - considering the current death and destruction in Afghanistan and Pakistan - seem especially pertinent:

'It didn't work out the way it's supposed to. The four of us on a platform. We were supposed to have given up. We should have learnt that being unconvinced is what counts for wise. But we're here. Shocked again. Coming out of our kitchens to say, if nothing else, everyone here is sick of the age-old cruelties. We should have noticed history had ended but we got distracted by some massacres.'

Media myths about Afghanistan

As the right-wing press and supposedly 'neutral' organisations like the BBC parrot the Ministry of Defence line on Afghanistan, it is vital to get alternative sources of information and analysis. There's clearly a war drive from the bulk of mainstream media, using recent deaths of British soldiers to stir patriotism and argue that such losses illustrate the need for more troops and more money for the armed forces. The truth is that a full withdrawal is the best thing for those troops, as well as being what's right for the Afghan people and the future of their country.

The calls for more cash are especially cynical and revolting. Tory politicans and the armchair generals of the press are attempting to portray this government as insufficiently militarist - quite an audacious challenge. We're supposed to believe that alleged underfunding of the armed forces is yet another example of Labour incompetence. This sudden desire for extra public investment is galling at a time when the same right-wingers demand cuts to public services (and the pay of those providing them).

So, here are a few links to some refreshing alternatives. I recommend reading Seumas Milne's excellent analysis of the current situation from The Guardian. He acknowledges the new right-wing propaganda offensive, but tears its arguments apart. Lindsey German's 'Spinning out of control' also responds to the dubious justifications for the on-going war and occupation.

The Stop the War Coalition has produced a new leaflet 'Ten Reasons to get the troops out of Afghanistan', which is not only worth reading but can be used on stalls by campaigners and distributed widely. Stop the War is organising a public meeting on Thursday with Malalai Joya, a courageous Afghan MP who has championed women's rights and opposed the occupation of her country. She has written about the truth of Afghanistan today in an article on the coalition's website.

The new media and political campaign to whip up 'patriotism' in support of war emphasises the urgent need for a renewing of anti-war activists' efforts. As these articles make clear, the reality on the ground shows up the pro-war myths as ridiculous.

MOT for teachers? No thank you

I've written an article on the new 'MOT for teachers', published today on the Counter Fire website. I argue the proposal - involving inspections of teacher competence every five years - is symptomatic of a wider assualt on the public sector, reflecting the effects of the neoliberal offensive in recent years.

This is an issue the teacher unions ought to treat as high priority, as it affects every teacher in the country and (as I argue) taps into some deeper issues concerning education and public service.

jobs not bombs

This article is also published at www.counterfire.org

"The biggest rise in unemployment since records began", says the man from the BBC. In the space of just 3 months the jobless figures have risen by 281,000, taking the total to around 2.4 million. Experts are now talking about the 3 million threshold being just a matter of time.

Unemployment is the sharpest, most devastating, expression of the current recession: it demonstrates, more than anything, what the crisis of capitalism means for working class people. We are seeing levels of joblessness unknown during the last 12 years of 'Labour' government. Youth unemployment is at its highest since 1995.

The jobs crisis inevitably has consequences politically. It has of course blown apart Gordon Brown's now seemingly distant reputation for sound economic management. At the same time, levels of workers' resistance are still relatively low - whatever glimmers of hope we may get from fightbacks by workers at Visteon, Lindsey etc - and this weakens the Left.

Despite such limitations, it's obvious that potential exists for bringing together the increasing numbers of young jobless people and trade unionists in united activity. Students, who will be confronted by rising graduate unemployment on leaving university, can also play an important part in the struggle to defend jobs. This will require co-ordination and initiative, more than we have seen so far. There's no avoiding the creeping sense that generally the left has been lacklustre in respsonding to the greatest crisis of the system since the 1930s. This has to change.

While people are struggling to find work, we see continuing investment in the bloody occupation of Afghanistan. It exposes the sheer absurdity of the system's priorities. Yet the Tories and the generals have the nerve to deploy patriotic rhetoric to demand still more money for war, more "boots on the ground". If we on the left are to shape the agenda, we need to challenge capitalism's twisted priorities and its media cheerleaders - the slogan 'Jobs not Bombs' is more pertinent than ever.

Protesting against war, then and now

It is inspiring to see this exclusive new footage of the great anti-war march of 15 February 2003. It brings back fond memories for some of us - I'm reminded in particular of the sheer overwhelming sense of unprecedented numbers. I also admire the initiative of journalist and blogger Brendan Montague, who shrewdly used freedom of information legislation to obtain this previously unseen material from the police archives.

Current events in Afghanistan are reminding us all of the need to continue mobilising against war and imperialism. This report of Monday's Stop the War protest in London is from the same blog as the 15 February footage. There's also a number of videos of speeches from Monday's Media Workers Against the War meeting online, including this one by Guy Smallman (recently returned from Afghanistan).

Getting to grips with Afghanistan

A very useful, enlightening documentary about Afghanistan - produced by John Rees for the Islam Channel - is now available to view online. It, unfortunately, turns out to be extremely timely, with the death toll for British soldiers in Afghanistan rising and a growing sense of paralysis for the occupying forces.



The Timeline format appears to involve going back in history to trace the roots of a current hot political issue - this is evidently well suited to a political, military and human disaster that is both acutely contemporary and rooted in a complex history. Where news media give us (partial) snapshots of a dislocated present, this documentary genuinely illuminates the present by placing it in context. Though the subject matter is grim, this makes a refreshing change.

war, crisis, imperialism

This article is also published at www.counterfire.org

One of the most useful meetings I went to at the weekend - at the Marxism festival in London - was about war, the economic crisis and imperialism. Lindsey German cited a recent speech by General Sir Richard Dannatt, who argued that economic and ecological crises make the world more unstable (and thus military conflict more likely).

The generals are using this as the basis for lobbying for greater military spending and "more boots on the ground", as Dannatt put it. This is at a time when the public sector is threatened with a squeeze on spending and workers are told to accept less in hard times. It is also, of course, at a time when the war in Afghanistan shows signs of worsening, with no indication of a solution for the NATO leaders.

The links between war and economic crisis came up in discussion at last night's Stop the War organising meeting in Tyneside. We talked about the issue of military recruitment and how we can campaign against the disgusting propaganda deployed by the armed forces to recruit young people - who often have little hope of finding jobs - to fight in their wars. We mustn't allow the inexorable rise in youth unemployment to become good news for the military recruiters.

Haifa Zangana spoke eloquently, in the same meeting at Marxism, about the continuing occupation of Iraq, with over 100,000 mercenaris still operating there - which gives the lie to the poular illusion that the occupation is pretty much over. In our local meeting yesterday we agreed that the new inquiry will ensure Iraq remains on the news agenda and that we must take the opportunity to mobilise for a total withdrawal, together with demanding truth and justice from what looks suspiciously like a cosy Establishment inquiry (though admittedly better than first envisaged, as it will be mainly in public and can apportion blame).

We also started planning for two major priorities in the autumn. The first is a big public meeting to oppose Islamaphobia, and defend Muslim communities, to take place in Newcastle in October. The second is the enticing double whammy of demonstrating at the G20 finance ministers in Scotland on 6 November, then at the NATO defence ministers (also in Scotland) just one week later. We'll be organising transport and looking to get a great turnout. The G20 protests in particular will be a chance to connect the wars and occupations to the economic and environmental disasters affecting us all.

Marxism - highlights here

The irrepressible Ady Cousins has already posted videos of the best two talks I went to at Marxism - in London this weekend - on his excellent YouTube channel. Tariq Ali provided a clear and comprehensive survey of American imperialism in the Obama era. The Logan Hall, by far the biggest venue used at the event, was absolutely packed. He struck just the right balance in critically analysing the reality of US foreign policy today - it's not radically different to before Obama's election - while acknowledging that saying good riddance to Bush and Cheney was extremely welcome.



The other highlight was the talk John Rees gave about revolutionary leadership, which was linked to a short book about Lenin by the Hungarian Marxist Georg Lukacs. He managed to convey the essentials about both Lenin and Lukacs - himself an influential and exceptional figure in the marxist tradition - as well as illuminating the big questions about revolution, organisation and leadership.

Ady's also posted Slavoj Zizek's side of the Zizek-Callinicos debate, which I was also at on Saturday - especially popular with students, it had the Logan Hall overflowing. Although not rising to the standards of the Obama/imperialism and Lenin/Lukacs sessions, this meeting certainly generated a lot of discussion in the bar afterwards (not just due to Zizek's penchant for risque jokes).

Tower Hamlets College: a fight for the public sector

Richard McEwan, secretary of the UCU branch at Tower Hamlets College, was a speaker in the opening rally - attended by over 1000 people - of the Marxism festival last night. Staff and students at the college are battling agianst cuts, especially to the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses. Their militant campaign has included protests, walkouts and occupations - and it continues to build momentum. The report of Marxism's opening rally, online here, quotes Richard saying:

“The three and a half weeks since the cuts were announced have been the most intense and exciting that I can remember,” he said. “We have had unofficial walkouts, student protests, a huge march through Tower Hamlets and we will be on strike tomorrow.

“There has been an audacious level of resistance at Tower Hamlets. But we know that the biggest fight is coming in September – and we need to link up with the rest of the public sector to win it.”

He is absolutely right that the autumn will see more struggles in education and across the public sector. The dispute at Tower Hamlets College indicates how those who work in or use public services are being made to pay for the crisis. But it is also a signpost to the potential resistance that we can mount in response.

The spirit of '68

My copy of the new International Socialism arrived in the post today - and it's now also online. It's easy to overlook John Rose's review of a new book about 1968, tucked away at the back in the print edition, but it is worth a read. The reviewer begins by recalling speaking at various student occupations - in solidarity with Gaza - earlier this year, and notes that there was at least a hint of '68 in these militant internationalist actions involving students at over 30 universities.

He recommends Gerd-Rainer Horn's 'The Spirit of '68' as an introduction, but also points out problems with the book's acount of the political legacy of the late 60s upheavals. Rose's review captures the global scope of the demonstrations, strikes, riots and occupations of this period, which seems to reflect the book under discussion. The magnificent democratic spirit of these times is evoked powerfully.

But, as Rose observes, there are difficult dilemmas thrown up by movements of mass action. It can matter immensely how activists engage with these. One line of response to these upsurges of struggle (and how they unfolded) was the evolution of 'red terrorism' - Red Brigades, Baader-Meinhoff, the Weathermen - which later encouraged a backlash against the legacy of the radicalism of these years.

The important point Rose makes is that these groups' disastrous strategies grew out of the mistaken outlook of some left-wing activists, who believed an elite revolutionary vangaurd - not the mass action of workers and students - was key to change. They also celebrated spontaneity without a grasp of the need for on-going organisation - or of the particular kinds of organisation required in different contexts.

Rose, unlike Horn, recognises the importance of revolutionary socialist groups like the International Socialists (IS) - forerunner of today's SWP - in championing a serious and radical alternative to such mistaken trajectories. IS made a sharp turn to organising among students in 1968, with its leading figure Tony Cliff devoting a great deal of time to discussing politics with students in the LSE canteen (as he recounts in his brilliant autobiography, A World to Win).

At the same time IS didn't give up on the idea that organised workers are necessary to change the world - this proved vital during the upturn in workers' struggles of the early 70s. IS grew dramatically in '68 - especially recruiting students - and grew further in the years that followed.

We aren't, unfortunately, seeing a re-run of the late 60s. We are, however, in an age of capitalist crisis, war and ideological turmoil. Even if the student - and to an extent worker - unrest we are seeing now is only an echo of '68, it is nonetheless significant. A sharp turn to mobilising and organising the newly radicalised, with a particular emphasis on politically conscious students, is required. With the recession biting, and youth unemployment soaring, there's an extra edge this time around. Learning the lessons of earlier eras is a must.