Feature

An elderly man spent his days at the European Social Forum in Florence with his multicoloured umbrella open above his head. It wasn't raining; for most of the time it was bright and cold. But his umbrella carried a message: 'Grazie ai ragazzi' (thanks to the kids). His point, I think, was not so much to celebrate this multilingual, multiethnic gathering. Rather he was acknowledging that this was a gathering of a new kind, with a new vision.

Tony Blair's watchword for industrial relations has always been 'partnership'--problems between bosses and workers can be resolved without reference to strikes or other forms of industrial dispute. But there's nothing like a strike to show the true attitudes of those who preach industrial peace. Partnership works as long as the employers and their allies in the media, the government and among the rich and powerful get their way.

This is one of the biggest questions facing socialists today. Take the defence of the National Health Service, which concerns millions of people. The NHS is a very good example of a past reform. It did not exist until 1948. Its introduction was vigorously opposed by conservative forces. It was very much in the interests of the great mass of the people, and especially of working class people. It was also, from the beginning, something of a compromise, but a compromise more in our favour than otherwise. Of course, not everything described as a reform is anything of the kind.

'Duncan was modest about his outstanding abilities'
Chanie Rosenberg

For Duncan the personal and political were one--he never considered his own wellbeing and gave what he could to both.

The vast majority of people at the European Social Forum (ESF) will be Italians. While I haven't the space to teach you Italian, I can provide some background on the largest organisations likely to be active in Florence

One year on from the bombing of Afghanistan and you would assume from the spin emanating from Downing Street and the White House that life had returned to normal. The first postwar British tourists even departed recently for a ten-day sightseeing tour of Kabul, Herat, Bamian and Mazar-e-Sharif. But don't go booking your summer holiday in Kandahar just yet.

The biggest anti-war demonstration ever in Britain. One of the largest demonstrations in Britain ever. The largest multiracial demonstration ever in Europe. The superlatives have mounted up for the massive protest march against war on Iraq and for a free Palestine on 28 September in London. Despite early police estimates of 40,000, around ten times that figure turned up, exceeding the expectations of even the most optimistic organisers.

Everyone has their breaking point and I'm afraid the FBU has reached theirs.' These are the words of Jim Burge, a firefighter of 15 years based in North London, who takes home just £21,500 per year. He was speaking shortly before the FBU leadership announced that they were suspending their first two strikes over pay after the government hinted that there might be more on offer than the 4 percent on the table.

This is an edited interview with Rolf Ekeus on Swedish radio, 29 July 2002. Ekeus was executive chairman of Unscom 1991-97. He was Sweden's ambassador to the US 1997-2000. He is also chairman of the governing board of the Stockholm Peace Conference and OSCE high commissioner on national minorities. We join the interview as Ekeus explains how the US influenced Unscom inspection tours...

1982

Despite intelligence reports that Iraq still sponsored groups on the State Department's (SD) terrorist list, and 'apparently without consulting Congress', the Reagan administration removed Iraq from the state terrorism sponsorship list in 1982.

Source: New York Times, 28 February 1982.

The removal made Iraq eligible for US dual-use and military technology.

Source: Mark Phythian, Arming Iraq (Northeastern University Press), p34.

1983