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The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain


Lead story

Yemen: Houthis hit back

by our Arab Affairs correspondent

THE HOUTHIS hit back at the Saudi and Emirati invaders and their local puppets in Yemen last week, targeting military and industrial complexes across Arabia. The Saudis responded with deadly air-raids on civilian targets in the Yemeni city of Saada and the key port of Hodeida that left scores dead and hundreds more wounded.

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High finance, low pay

by New Worker correspondent

A GROUP of workers not noted in the annals of labour militancy are those at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) who are coming to life industrially. On Monday staff belonging to Unite (which includes the former Banking, Insurance and Finance Union) began balloting for action to oppose what the union calls “a programme of severe cost-cutting, which is set to turn the FCA into a bargain basement regulator”. This includes pay cuts and a new appraisal system “which punishes strong performers”.

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Welcome the Year of the Tiger

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined diplomats, politicians and businessmen at an online reception held by the Chinese embassy in London on Monday to welcome the Chinese New Year.

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A finishing school for Nazis

Review by Dermot Hudson

I RECENTLY stumbled on this historically based thriller, which proved to be an interesting and fairly enjoyable watch. It stars Eddie Izzard, who co-wrote the film, as an MI5 agent sent to infiltrate a school for German girls in the south of England. This was quite a change from Izzard’s usual roles, and he proves himself to be an excellent and capable actor. The film also includes veterans such as Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent.

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Editorial

Boris flails around

ONE COULD ALMOST feel sorry for the Prime Minister as he flails around trying to fend off the charges from the jeering opposition benches because, in the great scale of things, Boris Johnson’s ‘partygate’ lies pale into insignificance compared with Tony Blair’s duplicity over the invasion of Iraq. Blair was, in comparison, let off lightly by the Parliamentary Labour Party, which let him quietly slink off to make a living on the US lecture trail and pose as a peace envoy for an imaginary UN Palestinian peace plan called the “road map” or some such nonsense.

BoJo repeatedly dismissed Labour calls to resign during heated exchanges in the House of Commons this week, with one Labour MP calling him a “liar” to his face and Sir Keir Starmer saying Johnson had “shown nothing but contempt for the decency, honesty and respect that define this country”. But it’s not Labour Johnson has to worry about – it’s the backstabbers in his own party that will bring him down sooner or later.

There’s no shortage of wannabees waiting to take his place and the only reason that they haven’t so far moved for a motion of No Confidence is that some would rather wait until after the local elections before showing their hand.

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