Lead story

Cuts not working

by Daphne Liddle

CHANCELLOR George Osborne on Wednesday announced yet another budget of cuts to essential public services even whilst he was forced to admit indirectly that previous cuts had failed to improve Britain’s economy.

All his predictions for future growth and productivity were revised significantly downwards as the list of missed targets for paying off Britain’s debts fell like an avalanche of rotting leaves in autumn.

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Cuts not working

Thousands march to kill the housing bill

by New Worker correspondent

THOUSANDS of Londoners marched through the capital last Sunday to call on the Government to ditch the toxic Housing Bill, which would effectively mean an end to council housing.

Amongst changes in the Bill are an end to secure tenancy agreements for new social renters, higher rents for council tenants who earn upper-middle incomes and a requirement for landlords to check a tenant’s immigration status.

The Government claims the Bill will turn “generation rent” into “generation buy” but since house prices in the capital are way above what most Londoners could ever afford it is more likely to turn “generation rent” into “generation sleeps on the streets”.

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Thousands march to kill the housing bill

Editorial

Thieves falling out

PRIME Minister David Cameron has had a hard week, first the President of the United States has launched a bitter attack on him over Libya and then his own mother joined the Liberal Democrats.

President Obama came to power nearly eight years ago on a pledge that he would not embark on any more foreign wars, and he blames Cameron and former French President Nicholas Sarkozy for dragging him reluctantly into the attack on Libya. It smacks of naughty boys caught out stealing sweets — when it all goes wrong and they get caught blaming each other: “It’s not my fault — he made me do it”.

It is also a back-handed way of admitting that the war against Libya has turned into a disaster — for the imperialists as well as for the Libyan people. There is no regret for the bombing of Libya and the casualties that caused, nor for the brutal murder of Colonel Gaddafi. For the imperialists the real disaster is that their conquest of that country is not complete. There is still an active resistance, their best allies in the region are extreme right-wing Muslim fanatics who are impossible to control, and taking over the huge Libyan oil reserves is proving more complicated and expensive than they had hoped. Had everything gone the way the imperialists hoped, Obama would be happily taking the credit.

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Thieves falling out