Lead story

Syria warns Turkey

by our Arab Affairs correspondent

THE SYRIAN Arab Army is continuing the crackdown against armed terrorist groups in Aleppo following the end of a unilateral Syrian cease-fire that was largely ignored by the sectarian gunmen in the rebel-held enclave in the heart of the city.

Russia’s reconciliation centre in Syria has delivered about 10 tons of humanitarian aid to Aleppo civilians, and the Russians and the Syrian army are ready to resume “humanitarian pauses” in Aleppo if they receive guarantees from international organisations that they are ready to let patients, wounded and civilians leave the rebel-held areas.

But the week-long “pause” in Russian and Syrian air-strikes against the rebels is continuing and humanitarian corridors remain open for any civilians trapped in the fighting.

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Syria warns Turkey

RMT calls national protest

THE TRANSPORT union RMT has called for a national protest for next Tuesday, 1st November, to assemble at 12.30pm in Old Palace Yard, opposite Parliament, to voice support for the role of train guards in its long-running dispute with Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR)/Southern Rail.

It is a national demonstration and rally because the issue of defending the role of properly safety-trained guards on trains is arising all over the country because the private train-operating companies — urged on by the Government — are trying to save money by abolishing the role of train guards and going over the driver-only-operation (DOO).

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RMT calls national protest

by our Scottish political correspondent

FOR the past four months First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been greatly exercised by Britain’s impending departure from the European Union (EU). After frequently jetting off to Europe to plead the case with deputy under assistants from assorted EU foreign ministries to let Scotland do a separate deal with the EU, she finally had some serious talks with a serious figure. On Monday the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland met with the Prime Minister at Downing Street.

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Brexit

Editorial

Identity or class

THERE’S a lot of discussion and very confused thinking about “identity politics” going about on social media at the moment, especially in relation to the efforts to portray the Labour Party, and the supporters of Jeremy Corbyn in particular, as riven with anti-Semitism. This is ironic in that historically the real anti-Semites have always accused socialists and Jews of being part of a massive global conspiracy together — along with free masons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals and mysterious trans-dimensional beings of the type rarely seen outside of episodes of Dr Who.

In this context identity seems to be an amalgam of ethnicity, culture, gender, age and individual feelings at any particular moment. And it is being used by our bourgeois culture not to find our common humanity but to separate us into small and smaller pigeon holes; to isolate us from one another. <

The aspect of identity they miss out is class but it is our class that most governs our everyday lives. As workers we are wage slaves; there is no other way to survive. Unlike our distant ancestors we have no option to find ourselves a convenient spot in the woods to build a hut and there is not much food available to be hunted or gathered for free. The land and the means of getting our food all belong to someone else and we are forced to play by their rules to be allowed to subsist. And their rules are all-pervading.

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Identity or class