Lead story

Spawn of Blair betray Corbyn

by Daphne Liddle

THE HOUSE of Commons voted on Wednesday night, after a marathon 10-hour debate, for the British government to join in the bombing of Syria along with the United States and various other imperialist lackeys.

Britain will be contributing one squadron of ageing RAF Tornadoes and Eurofighters, now renamed Typhoons. They will be using Brimstone missiles that come equipped with laser and radar guidance designed to be deployed against moving targets, and this will be a showcase for David Cameron to sell a few more.

So far he has sold them only to Saudi Arabia, which is using them to flatten Yemen.

Britain’s contribution to destroying ISIS will be a token gesture compared with the efforts being put in by Russia and the United States.

And like the Unites States, Britain will be acting without the permission or agreement of the legally elected Assad government of Syria. The real purpose of the western imperialists is to protect the disunited rag-bag collection of mercenaries and Islamic extremists in Syria who are fighting to bring down the Assad government.

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Spawn of Blair betray Corbyn

Junior doctors force Hunt retreat

JUNIOR doctors in England have won an important victory against plans by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to impose new terms and conditions that would both cut pay and increase hours at work.

On Monday, the British Medical Association (BMA) successfully pushed Hunt into lifting his threat to impose the new contract on our junior doctors.

In response, the strike that was planned to start on Tuesday morning was called off at the eleventh hour.

But there are more battles to come as Hunt agreed to hold further talks with the BMA to come to a resolution.

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Junior doctors force Hunt retreat

Vietnam solidarity activist Len Aldis dies

VNS

JLEN ALDIS, the Secretary of the Britain—Viet Nam Friendship Society (BVFS) has passed away at his home at Tomlins Grove Street, London. He was 85.

A peace campaigner known throughout the world, Aldis made great efforts to help Agent Orange (AO)/Dioxin victims in Vietnam.

In a statement last Saturday, local police said they were called by Aldis’s friends who were worried that he had not answered nor responded to phone calls recently. The campaigner was then found inside his house and pronounced dead at the scene.

Len Aldis first went to Vietnam in 1989 and returned annually to assist people who had suffered in wars, particularly those living with the effects of Agent Orange, a toxic chemical the US sprayed on Vietnam during the war.

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Vietnam solidarity activist Len Aldis dies

Editorial

Cameron’s War

THE TORY government is poised to enter the fray in Syria this week following David Cameron’s victory in parliament with the support of 66 Blairite Labour MPs and the venal Liberal Democrats. Seven Tory MPs took the principled stand and opposed the war motion and another seven abstained. Their number would probably have been greater had not the Labour leader made the vote a forgone conclusion by bowing to Blairite pressure and allowing a free vote on Cameron’s proposals to bomb Syria.

The majority of Labour MPs stood by Jeremy Corbyn and the vast majority of the working class, who are opposed to any further British military interventions in the Middle East. After the vote Corbyn said: ”The fact of the matter is, David Cameron’s case was not convincing, lacking either credible ground troops or a plan for a diplomatic settlement. Since he first made his case for airstrikes in Syria, last Thursday, opposition has mounted; in the country, in parliament and in the Labour Party.

“It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that the Prime Minister realised opposition to his ill thought-out rush to war was growing — and he needed to hold the vote before it slipped from his hands. I have argued, and will continue to do so, that we should re-double our efforts to secure a diplomatic and political end to the conflict in Syria. British service men and women will now be in harm’s way and the loss of innocent lives is sadly almost inevitable.”

Nevertheless, Corbyn’s decision to give his MPs a free vote rather than imposing a three-line whip gave Cameron a free hand to play the war-lord and pose as a statesman in the international arena. If past experience is anything to go by this Syrian gambit will all end in tears. Riding on the coat-tails of US imperialism is a dangerous and costly game. Blair tried it in Iraq and Cameron’s previous Coalition did it in Libya, and we all know what happened then.

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Cameron’s War