Europe

A bomb exploded in the Moscow metro at 8:40 local time this morning, at the peak of rush-hour in the busiest underground system in the world. So far the number of casualties has reached 39, though this is bound to increase.  There will be neither lasting prosperity or peace for Russians or Chechens as long as capitalism and the national hatreds it breeds on both sides continue to exist.

Imagine a game of football where the manager of one team made up the rules to benefit his own side, where the goalposts were moved and where the referee was on his side. The outcome of such a match would, of course be known in advance by the winning side, who would then run around the stadium in a state of ecstasy, yelling “Victory!” That is precisely what happened with the now infamous Hutton report.

The Hutton inquiry produced few surprises. Naturally Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell were exonerated. This inquiry was no different to any of its predecessors, since no such inquiry ever found a government to be guilty. It was a whitewash.

With great sadness we have just learned of the sudden death of comrade Angel Val Mendizabal at the age of 81. The father of a remarkable family of revolutionaries, Angel was a proletarian class fighter all his life.

A sudden change took place in the Greek political scene on January 7, when PASOK president and Prime Minister Mr. Kostas Simitis announced that he would resign as president of the party at the party's emergency congress on February 6th. He also announced that he would resign as Prime Minister the day after the elections, which will be held on March 7th. The next day, January 8, the party's Central Committee (CC) met and accepted Simitis' resignation and decided the date of the congress and the procedure for the election of the new leader.

Teflon Tony, otherwise known as the 'Houdini of British politics' has narrowly escaped a major political defeat yet again. It is however fair to say that his protective layer of teflon may be wearing off, as the Labour majority in parliament was reduced to just 5, down from the on-paper majority of 161. To reduce a majority of 161 to just 5 is the absolute height of incompetence. The bill on tuition top-up fees passed its second reading by a vote of 316 to 311, and the Labour Party's parliamentary group is looking seriously beleaguered after an intense few days of political haggling and backroom swindles.

Teflon Tony, otherwise known as the 'Houdini of British politics' has narrowly escaped a major political defeat yet again. It is however fair to say that his protective layer of teflon may be wearing off, as the Labour majority in parliament was reduced to just 5, down from the on-paper majority of 161.  Thebill on tuition top-up fees passed its second reading by a vote of 316 to 311, and the Labour Party's parliamentary group is looking seriously beleaguered after an intense few days of political haggling and backroom swindles.

On Saturday 24 January, the British TV channel, Channel Four, broadcast a documentary about the miners’ strike. Anyone who tuned in looking for an objective account of the strike was doomed to be disappointed. The purpose of this documentary was not to clarify what happened but to blacken the memory of the striking miners and mislead the present generation by a combination of lies, falsifications and trivialisation. Against all the lies, distortion and venom, the Marxists will defend the memory of this epic struggle and pass on the great lessons to the new generation that is destined to carry on the fight to a victorious conclusion.

Since last summer we have seen a widespread debate about the pros and the cons of GM products. There are people for and against GM products from all the different political shades. The bourgeois papers have been very keen on giving voice to different people in the debate. What is missing, however, is a class point of view. No one poses the question from the point of view of ordinary working people.

Once again Tony Blair and the Labour Cabinet are prepared to take on the wider labour movement and its own natural supporters in imposing the unpopular policy of top-up university fees. Will they get away with it this time?

The festive season in Britain got off to a grim start with the discovery of two pensioners who died weeks after their gas supply was cut off because of an unpaid bill of £140. These events happened, not in 1840 but in our own times. The Office of National Statistics predicts that 2,500 people will die of cold this week. The cause of these deaths is usually attributed to things like influenza, heart attacks, pneumonia and the like. But the real cause in most cases is poverty and neglect.

After eighteen months of trying to patch together an agreement between the member states, the talks on the EU constitution collapsed last weekend in Brussels. Different excuses have been given for the collapse, but the real causes are to be found in the fundamental economic contradictions that are emerging between the EU member states. The European Union is now revealing its true face. It is a tool in the hands of the multinationals and of each national bourgeoisie with which to impose their attacks on the living standards of the masses.