Prudence

Gordon Brown, delivering his pre-budget report, provided little hope of any early festive cheer for workers. It was presented as ‘tax and spend’ by the Tory press. However, it also contained the greatest extension of means-testing in welfare state history.

While Brown’s ‘war chest’ is empty, ours, while not overflowing, is filling up nicely. Our readers thankfully do not adopt Brown’s ‘prudent’ attitude. Special mention must this week be made to the donation of £15 given in memory of comrade Ray Gibbon, who “retained an intense active interest in the politics of class to the day he died”.

This, along with other donations, nudged us just over our monthly £450 target. Thanks also to comrades GO and HG, who weighed in with £25 apiece, RT (£20), TH (£20), GJ (£15), HG (£10), TP (£10) - with PM’s £5 taking us over the target to £455. We thus end our month in the black. Now let’s ensure there is no slackening off over the holiday season!

Robbie Rix

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Number 410

Thursday November 29 2001

The Weekly Worker is available from bookshops across the United Kingdom or can be delivered direct to your door by completing our online subscription form.

For a paper and partyism
Marcus Larsen calls for the Socialist Alliance to take the next logical steps at its December 1 conference

Party notes
Come all ye faithful

Letters
Bourgeois workers; Ipswich lesson; SA debate; Denmark vote; PFA strike; Language barriers; Two questions

Anti-privatisation: Sectarian shadow
Alan McArthur reports on the November 24 founding conference of the Socialist Party-initiated anti-privatisation campaign

Self-determination for Gibraltarians
Eddie Ford outlines a Marxist position on the recent controversy over this Mediterranean island

Media monster
Danny Hammill reports on the media-lynching of Jonathan King

Conference - a rough guide
John Bridge, a member of the Socialist Alliance conference arrangements committee, goes through the ins and outs of the December 1 conference and gives some partisan guidance

Socialist Alliance: Heading for a split?
Dave Craig of the Revolutionary Democratic Group argues that it would be premature for the Socialist Alliance to discard federalism - it needs democratic federalism

Socialist Party hypocrisy
The Socialist Party in England and Wales has laid down an ultimatum. If the December 1 conference of the Socialist Alliance accepts the constitution proposed by the Socialist Workers Party, the SP will walk out. James Mallory looks at the arguments used to justify such an action

What sort of democracy
What is democratic centralism? Not the bureaucratic travesty that has blighted the left for most of the last century. Harry Paterson and Alan Stevens put the record straight

The fourth stem
The CPGB urges all Socialist Alliance members to back our constitution. Out of the six stems on offer this constitution most effectively combines the principles of organised unity in action with the freedom to openly criticise in a political paper

Spirit of Maclean
Socialism 2001 has its prophet of old. Ronnie Mejka reports