National News
Tribunal ruling ends student deportations
HOME Secretary Theresa May last week faced disaster as a ruling in the Upper Tribunal ended her policy of deporting thousands of students on the basis of no real evidence.
The Upper Tribunal is responsible for dealing with appeals against decisions made by certain lower tribunals and organisations.
On Wednesday 23rd March this tribunal found that May had deported thousands of students from Britain on the basis of unscientific hearsay evidence.
The Home Office had detained innocent people, accusing them of made-up charges without providing anything to back it up, denying them their day in court and then deporting them.
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Hundreds turn out in Swansea to shout down White Pride
HUNDREDS of anti-fascists turned out last Saturday in Swansea to stage a noisy counter demonstration to a planned march by White Pride racists and fascists.
Ten people were arrested in Swansea city centre during the far-right rally, which attracted just a handful of supporters
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The so-called “White Power” demo saw just over 20 supporters unfurl National Front and other banners in front of Swansea Castle, while crowds in Castle Square, who had come to join Swansea United, a celebration of the city’s multi-culturalism, drowned out any noise they made.
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Cameron’s new workfare plans
PRIME Minister David Cameron is planning to force young unemployed people to work a 30-hour week for just £57.35 per week unemployment benefit.
Young people need “order and discipline”, said the man who cannot control the hooligans on his own front benches.
The proposals would put young adults who have been out of work, education or training for six months (“neets”) into compulsory community work such as making meals for the elderly or joining local charities.
Under the scheme, Jobseekers’ Allowance would be abolished for 18 to 21-yearolds and replaced with the already announced “Youth Allowance” of the same amount — £57.35 per week, or £1.91 per hour of work.
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Scottish Political News
by our Scottish political affairs correspondent
AS THE final touches to the previous New Worker were being made, the Scottish Parliament closed amidst a welter of self-congratulatory speeches before MSPs headed off to gobble up their Easter eggs to give them strength for the six week election campaign trail.
To celebrate the occasion the Scottish National Party’s (SNP’s) appointed Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) has decided to close down for the duration and has refused to answer Freedom of Information requests in case they embarrass SNP ministers.
informed
A journalist who had been investigating the SNP’s unheralded policy of introducing standardised tests for Scottish schools was brusquely informed that the SIC had “decided not to issue any decisions that might put forward a critical view of the ministers” and that he would hear nothing until after the Holyrood election.
One wonders what is the purpose of the office of Information Commissioner at all if it prevents people finding out what ministers are up to.
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In Defence of Songun
Reviewed by George Cockburn
Dermot Hudson (Lulu Press, 2015), available from www.lulu.com — £5 or NCP Lit PO Box 73, London SW11 2PQ — £4
THE IDEAS of Juche and Songun are two of the major developments of Marxist thinking that have emerged from the Korean revolution, and added to the theoretical armoury of the world socialist and communist movements.
In particular Juche and Songun have offered a valuable path for many small, developing countries to emulate. They are a valued contribution to the struggles for national independence and socialism in our times, and have attracted followers around the world.
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Busy doing nothing
WORKERS in Britain feel that more than a third of their time at work is unproductive according to a survey conducted recently by Ian McVey, director of Qualtrics, a software company.
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International News
Palmyra victory ‘our Stalingrad’
Sputnik
THE FINAL victory over Daesh (IS) in Palmyra on 27th March has been the most significant victory of the Syrian people in the last five years of the civil war.
After about three weeks of severe fighting for the most important historical heritage site of the country, seized by Daesh last year, the Syrian army has finally gained the upper hand over terrorists.
The Syrian army confirmed on Sunday that it had liberated the historic city of Palmyra from the Daesh terrorist group with the support of national aviation and Russian Aerospace Forces.
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No to corruption in Ukraine’s banking system!
Sputnik
A REPORT compiled by a group of British experts on corruption revealed that Ukraine has become deeply bogged down in pervasive corruption and red tape.
The level of corruption in Ukraine has reached levels never before seen and directly includes current President Petro Poroshenko’s administration, according to the report, which RIA Novosti has acquired.
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Former Brazilian President will not allow coup against Dilma Rousseff
Radio Havana Cuba
ON WEDNESDAY former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told a gathering of supporters of the Workers’ Party that they would not let the country’s opposition mount a coup against President Dilma Rousseff.
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Syria is ‘too small’ UN recalls plight of African slaves for federalisation
by Valeriy Melnikov
PRESIDENT Bashar Assad told French lawmakers visiting Damascus on Sunday that Syria is too small for federalisation, a member of the delegation told Sputnik after talks with the Syrian leader.
“Assad emphasised that Syria is a small country and too small for implementing an idea of federalisation, also due to the fact, that all communities are linked and closely woven together,”
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UN recalls plight of African slaves
Radio Havana Cuba
THE UNITED Nations last Friday marked International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, honouring the memory of millions of Africans forcibly removed from their families and homelands.
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The Rolling Stones in Havana
by Juan Jacomino
THE ROLLING Stones seemed to have left no stone unturned to ensure that for the first time the Cuban capital came to feel the tremors that a world-class live rock concert can generate.
The celebrated British band delighted Havana residents and visitors with two hours of thundering rock and roll on Friday night, in what international news organisations are already calling an historic concert.
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Features
17 years after war — again protesting against NATO
by Heather Cottin
ON 24TH MARCH 1999 the United States led its European NATO allies in a 78-day bombing campaign targeting Serbia in order to destroy Yugoslavia, the last socialist country holding out in Europe.
NATO planes bombed hospitals, factories, schools, trains, television stations, bridges and homes, killing thousands of Yugoslavs. In 2000 the same NATO forces destabilised what remained of Yugoslavia — the republics of Serbia and Montenegro — then overthrew its political leader, Slobodan Milosevic.
Later they imprisoned and tried him in a pro-NATO court in The Hague, Netherlands, for alleged war crimes. Failing in its attempt to convict him, the court case ended when Milosevic died there on 11th March 2006.
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Kim Il Sung: fighter for communist unity
by Dermot Hudson
THE GREAT leader President Kim Il Sung was born 104 years ago on the 15th of April, his lifetime spanned most of the 20th century and saw many great events and upheavals such as two world wars, the October Socialist revolution, the expansion of the international communist movement and socialist camp and sadly the frustration of socialism in some lands
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