Lead story

War on welfare

by Daphne Liddle

THE CON-DEM Coalition government faced a series of defeats in the House of Lords on its welfare Bill following attacks from bishops, former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown and former Tory Cabinet members Lord Mackay, who all challenged different aspects of the Bill.

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Syria: imperialism steps up the pressure

by our Arab Affairs correspondent

FEUDAL Arab rulers and their imperialist mentors stepped up their campaign to destabilise Syria and bring down its Baathist-led popular front government this week, with the Arab League call for the resignation of President Assad and further appeals to the United Nations for an international sanctions regime that can only lead to another Nato war.

[ Syria: imperialism steps up the pressure ]

Capitalist crisis and class consciousness

by Eric Trevett

IT IS NOT often that we agree with Mervyn King, the head of the Bank of England, but we concur with his appraisal that the present economic crisis may be more profound than that of the 1930s and that there is no way of avoiding a further recession.

[ Capitalist crisis and class consciousness ]

Editorial

Stop imperialist threats to Iran

BRITAIN and the rest of the European Union have imposed more sanctions against Iran and an imperialist armada, led by a US aircraft carrier, has entered the Persian Gulf.

The Iranians say the EU oil embargo over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme is “unfair” and “doomed to fail”. More pointedly they threaten to retaliate by mining the entrance to the Gulf at the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil exports pass. The recipe for another war in the Middle East is brewing.

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