>New Worker Online Digest > >Week commencing 2nd June, 2000. > >1) Editorial - Shadow boxing. > >2) Lead story - Tuition fees: The real barrier to university. > >3) Feature article - Africans need no interference from neo-colonialists. > >4) International story - Assembly doors are open again in Belfast. > >5) British news item - GM crops fiasco deepens. > > >1) Editorial > >Shadow boxing. > >THE jeering and party political point scoring of the Labour and Tory >parliamentary front benches is always a tedious spectacle. Anyone with the >stomach to follow the "debates" between these pompous individuals over the >past two weeks must by now be ready for a good loud scream. > > The leaderships of both parties are beginning to focus their attention on >the next election. Their problem is that neither intends to abandon the >policy introduced by Thatcher of protecting the rich from higher taxes and >neither intends to cut Britain's huge "defence" budget. As a result we are >going to get a lot of soft words in lieu of hard cash and a lot of "new" >ideas for re-arranging the few bits of furniture we already have. > > Labour has chosen to make an issue of Oxford university's failure to give >a place to a young woman from a state school. This has enabled the Labour >leaders to cast themselves as principled opponents of snobbery and >privilege and champions of state education and working class pupils. > > There's nothing wrong with championing state education of course. The >trouble is, none of it rings true because we all know that these supposed >champions of the working class have not only failed to restore the student >grants system -- they have supported the introduction of tuition fees for >students and made it even tougher for working class young people to go to >college at all. > > In fact all the fine words in defence of one young woman have cost the >government nothing -- making the money available to give everyone a chance >is another matter and does not enter the Labour leaders' arguments. > > The Tories have chosen a different battleground -- their old favourite >subject of law'n'order. For them it's always the same recipe of tackling >crime by taldng up a bigger stick and dishing out more punishment to >offenders. We're all supposed to forget that crime figures actually rose >when they were in government. > > Was it not it the Tories who presided over a prison system that was >bursting at the seams and then proceeded to privatise prisons and prisoner >transport? During those years there were riots by prisoners, industrial >actions by prison officers and scandals over breaches of security. And all >the time civil liberties were eroded and the level of crime still went up. > > The Tories also hope to score with the pensioners by promising a rise in >the weekly pension instead of the one off payments for winter fuel and the >Christmas bonus. They are doing their best to exploit the widespread anger >at the recent insulting 75p a week increase offered to pensioners. > > But pensioners are not impressed by a proposal that is merely a >re-packaging of the same money. Neither front bench is prepared to give the >pensioners what they have repeatedly called for -- restoration of the link >between pensions and average male earnings. Britain's campaigning >pensioners will not be fobbed off and will carry on their fight for justice. > > Militant action and active campaigning on the part of the whole working >class is needed now to put an end to the parliamentary shadow boxing. The >coming year has to be a year of action and the focus of the campaigning has >to be the Labour Party's current leadership. > > The Tories are, as they have always been, a party created to represent the >interests of the ruling capitalist class and despite their crude populist >appeals they will uphold through thick and thin the economic gains the >Thatcher government brought to their class. > > The Labour Party on the other hand is largely financed by the trade unions >and has an organisational and historic link with the labour movement. It is >not the property of Blair, it does not have to be dominated by the >careerists of Millbank Tower. We say, Blair's class collaborationist >politics can and must be defeated. That requires making the call for a >democratic Labour Party a reality. It requires struggle and participation >in our own movement. > > ********************* > >2) Lead story > >Tuition fees: The real barrier to university > >by Daphne Liddle > >VARIOUS Government ministers this week have been courting publicity by >attacking the Oxford University selection process -- after it rejected the >highly talented Tyneside 18-year-old Laura Spence -- for being culturally >elitist. > > The Labour Party is blatantly trying to win back some of its fast >dissolving popularity among the working classes by pretending to champion >working class applicants to traditionally middle and upper class seats of >learning. > > But at the same time it has been planning to increase student tuition fees >to the full cost -- with help only a means tested basis for the most hard up. > > This will mean fees ofaround £4,000 a year for an arts course, £6,000 for >science and even more for medicine. The fees are supposed to be met by >parents. > > This will do far more to prevent students from working class and middle >income homes getting to any college than any alleged snobbery among Oxford >course selectors. > > There is of course cultural snobbery involved in the selection processes. >The selectors deny this and are probably unaware of it -- but it's >institutionalised. > > Selectors look for more than just paper qualifications. They say they are >looking for confidence and other less tangible qualities. > > In reality they are, unconsciously looking for a reflection of their own >middle class academic cultural values and world outlook. > > But this is not the biggest obstacle in the path of aspiring working class >students. Lack of funding for the whole education system is -- and that's >the Government's responsibility. > > The medical course that Laura Spence applied for only had five places and >that too is a scandal. This country is in desperate need of more good doctors. > >There are no heart operations happening in the whole country of Scotland at >present because the one and only heart surgeon resigned recently. > > The Government's plans to combat cancer cannot happen because ofa shortage >of specia Iist doctors. NHS wai ting lists are a national scandal because >we do not have enough doctors. > > We cannot afford to lose people like Laura Spence. It is a false economy. >The money spent on training her at Oxford would be more than repaid by the >work she would one day be able to do for the NHS to relieve illness, to >rescue people from being on sickness benefit while on long waiting lists. > > There were almost certainly other good applicants rejected for that course >who are also a loss to British medicine. > > The university selectors have complained that not enough students from >working class backgrounds apply to the most prestigious universities. > > One of them let slip one of the main reasons. Students nowadays apply for >courses at whatever higher education institute is near their home so they >can live more cheaply with their parents while they study. > > This is an effect of removing student maintenance grants and imposing the >existing £1,000-a-year tuition fees. > > Working class young people are afraid of taking out huge student loans >that will leave them to begin their working lives saddled with big debts. > > Even with the student loans, most find it very hard to make ends meet and >are forced to take on part-time or even full-time jobs while they study. > > The jobs market is now geared to this with employers siting call centres >and such near universities to benefit from the cheap, non-unionised labour. > > But the students suffer from trying to do too much. They spend their >student years fighting exhaustion and anxiety. There is not much time for >traditional student activities like having fun or political campaigning. > > The traditional social life of young adults away from home for the first >time does not exist for those who have to stay in the parental nest to make >ends meet. > > Their work suffers too. Working class students are distinguishable from >their wealthier colleagues because their grades are lower, projects less >likely to be handed in on time and so on because work and study are not >easy to combine. > > It is a very unequal struggle and working class students are daunted. They >do drop out or fail to achieve their potential. > > They are being betrayed by Labour politicians who themselves benefited >from a proper grant system that enabled them to get where they are. > > There are thousands of other working class pupils who never even >contemplate going to university because they have been let down by an >education system that does not have enough teachers. > >Laura Spence has been accepted by Harvard University in America and >probably has a bright future. But there are thousands of other young >working class people whose talents and potential are being poured down the >drain by the system and we are all the poorer for it. > > ********************** > >3) Feature article > >Africans need no interference from neo-colonialists. > >THERE is a new scramble for Africa going on among imperialist powers that >is comparable to what was happening at the end of the 19th century, >speakers told a meting in London last week. > > The meeting was organised by the New Worker to honour Africa Liberation >Day with invited speakers Explo Nani Kofi of the African Liberation Support >Campaign, Hakim Adi of the African and Caribbean Progressive Study Group, >Chris Coleman of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain >(Marxist-Leninist) and New Communist Party general secretary Andy Brooks. > > Explo Nani Kofi began by attacking the role of the capitalist press in >spreading misinformation and covering up the truth of what is happening in >many African struggles but in particular what is now happening in Zimbabwe >and Sierra Leone. > > "The capitalist press calls the tune and too many people who think of >themselves as progressives are dancing to it" he warned. > > He went on to give an account of his own experiences of living under >neo-colonialism in Ghana. He saw political comrades who were active against >capitalism incarcerated or even killed. > > He was among those forced to find a way out of his home country -- though >the governmentwas trying to shoot those trying to escape. This was done at >the behest of the imperialist powers. Explo told the meeting that if he had >not been forced into exile in Britain he would have been unaware of the >existence of the working class movement here. > > On Zimbabwe he cautioned against helping imperialist aims to divide the >workers and peasants of that country. > > The peasants and workers are united in reclaiming the land that was >forcibly taken from them. > > On Sierra Leone he said the motive of imperialists like Tony Blair was >profit -- the arms trade and diamonds. > > He called on progressives in Britain to recognise that working class and >peasants throughout Africa have a vital leading role to play which should >be supported. > > "Africans need no interference to liberate themselves from >neo-colonialism," he said. > > Hakim described the blatant interference of imperialist organisations like >the World Trade Organisation among sovereign African countries. > > But he said the opposition to all this is growing. The recent >demonstrations in Seattle and the City of London against capitalism are >only the latest events in a long-running movement that has been fighting in >Africa for many years. > > He then gave a lengthy account of how the people of Zimbabwe were forcibly >robbed of their land by British imperialist forces under the command of >Cecil Rhodes. > > Chris Coleman also warned against the new scramble for Africa and stressed >the importance of combating imperialism here in one of its main homelands. > > Andy Brooks supported this. He said it was not our job to interfere in how >African people conducted their struggle for liberation but to support all, >throughout the world, who make a stand against imperialism. > > There followed an interesting discussion and a collection raised £135. > > ************************* > >4) International story > >Assembly doors are open again in Belfast. > >by Steve Lawton > >CERTAINTY is a rare commodity in Irish history. The twists and turns in the >recent years of the peace process epitomise the way progress has so far >defied everything thrown at it. It has stalled, taken a battering and >looked like breaking down catastrophically many times. It still may, >depending on how the British Government now proceeds. > > Following the Ulster Unionist Party council's decision last Saturday to >accept the IRA's decommissioning statement, devolved governing powers were >restored to the Legislative Assembly at Stormont Castle, Eelfast. Though >still far from business as usual, it does mean all parties to the process >-- including the UUP and Sinn Fein -- will re-connect in addressing the >daily political challenges. > > But the Democratic Unionist Party, which has two seats on the 12-member >Executive, remains "semi-detached", as Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams put it. > > The IRA had said it would put weapons permanently beyond use in the >context of the overall arms hand over, including British demilitarisation >and on the basis of the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. The >UUP vote has cleared the way for the political institutions, which were up >and running seven months ago but suspended in February, to resume work for >a second time. > > David Trimble's recommendation as UUP leader and First Minister to support >that IRA statement won the day by a close margin, bringing into sharper >relief the persistentdivision in unionism as it comes under increased >pressure. The 862-member council voted 459 to accept with 403 against (56 >and 47 per cent respectively). The result was welcomed by US President >Clinton. > > Hardline unionist opposition therefore remains unrepentant. Given such a >substantial vote against Trimble, fears have been prompted of a serious >polarisation within unionism. > > No doubt this is reflected in the heightened Loyalist paramilitary feuds. >And they, of course, must also submit to the disarmament process. But that >will only add up to a destabilising movement if the British government give >them the opportunity to wreck the Agreement. > > Gerty Adams said: "I met a rejectionist unionist in the hall [of Stormont >Castle] and he said 'It won't last'. If that attitude is taken then our >confidence is ill founded; but our confidence is in the people who voted >for this agreement north and south and we cannot let their votes be >foundered or undermined by those who resist change." > > The British government having suspended the Assembly powers once until the >IRA had made yet another unilateral concession, has clearly demonstrated >its arrogance to both communities. > > In its temporary, yet swift and arbitrary dismissal of the fledgling >institutions, certain forces within the state are reminding everyone that >it can take such decisive action whenever it deems it in its interests to >do so. In part, this is the securocrat problem that Sinn Fein refer to. > > The hard and long process required for cross-community development and >reconciliation to take root is dependent upon the British Government >sticking to the Good Friday Agreement. Both Sinn Fein and the unionists >have gradually developed in many local ways a degree of cooperation on >everyday issues. This is also reflected in north/south links and in the >growing commercial interests in the north. > > The heart of the long term issue is that the British state wants to make >very sure there is no dominant political shift that challenges the social >and economic basis of society in Ireland. That may seem, in any case, a >long way off; but peoples re-united develop a new arsenal of knowledge for >the future based on centuries awareness of their history to continue >change, once that challenge has been taken up. > > Nothing stands still. The momentum remains strong for a permanent >settlement of the conflict which has deeply scarred the north of Ireland. >Sinn Fein chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said: "We want to build a >future for everybody. The question is, are we up to it? I think we are. I >think we can get this right." The first reconvened Executive gathers as we >go to press. > > ********************* > >5) British news item > >GM crops fiasco deepens. > >THE RESULTS of the sowing of crops contaminated with genetically modified >seeds by mistake are deepening. > > The Government has failed to either advise farmers to plough up the crops >now in the ground or offer them compensation. > > In Scotland, Scottish Rural Affairs Minister Ross Finnie has ruled out any >Government compensation and told farmers they must sue the Canadian >company, Advanta, that supplied the seeds for any costs they may incur. > > This has led Jim Walker, the head of the National Farmers' Union in >Scotland, to advise farmers to leave the crops growing until the Government >clarifies the position on compensation. > > Speaking for the environmental group Friends of the Earth, Kevin Dunion >said: "Yet more conflicting advice puts the environment at risk. Every >additional day these illegal crops remain in the ground they pose a real >and unnecessary risk to the environment. > > "The seed crushers will not crush it and the supermarkets will not buy it. >The only decision which will protect the environment is to plough these >crops under." > > Farmers fear that supermarkets will boycott any seed that may be >contaminated and the whole disaster could cost them millions. > > But there are far greater potential costs. Monsanto, the company that has >pioneered these crops has recently discovered that GM soya -- widely used >in all kinds of food products -- contains unexpected gene fragments. > > There is no evidence that these in themselves are dangerous -- or that >they are safe. What the evidence does show is that companies like Monsanto >have no real idea what they are unleashing and cannot hope to control all >the knock-on effects of what they are doing. > > Another four-year study by Professor Hans Hinrich Kaatz, a leading German >zoologist, has found that genes from GM crops can jump the species barrier >to mutate. > > He found that an alien gene used to modify oilseed rape has transferred to >bacteria living in the digestive systems of bees. > > This implies that such genes could transfer to the bacteria in our own >insides. This could have an impact on the bacteria's role in helping the >human body fight disease, aid digestion and facilitate blood clotting. > > A year ago Dr Arpad Putzai published research which showed that eating GM >potatoes damaged the stomach lining of rats but his work was fiercely >attacked by scientists working for the GM companies and for the Government. > > It could give rise to any number of totally new, mutated bacteria, some of >which could be harmful. > > Dr Mac-Wan Ho, a geneticist at the Open University, said: "These findings >are very worrying and provide the first real evidence of what many have >feared. Everybody is keen to exploit GM technology but nobody is looking at >the risk of horizontal gene transfer. > > "We are playing with genetic structures that existed for millions of years >and the experiment is running out of control." > > Scientists are now worried that if a gene which provides resistance to >anti-biotics crosses from a GM crop to bacteria it would make many diseases >impossible to treat. > > ********************* > > >New Communist Party of Britain Homepage > >http://www.newcommunistparty.org.uk > >A news service for the Working Class! > >Workers of all countries Unite! > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >Accurate impartial advice on everything from laptops to table saws. >http://click.egroups.com/1/4634/8/_/_/_/959896247/ >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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