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A slimy act of treason
NEW Labour's reputation for duplicity and conspiracy against workers' interests was further enhanced on Tuesday by Peter Mandelson's announcement that the government has accepted the Hooper report.
He says that Royal Mail will "forge a strategic minority partnership" with another operator.
We say that the government has stuck a knife in the ribs of a publicly owned, comprehensive postal service.
Not only has Mr Mandelson got his way over ditching Labour's manifesto commitment to keeping the Royal Mail in public hands but Dutch transnational TNT has already put its snout in the frame as a "credible partner."
And, once again, while the privateers will reap rewards, the losses will be nationalised, since the taxpayer will be responsible for covering the deficit in the Royal Mail pension fund.
Former Ofcom deputy chairman Richard Hooper trots out the usual claptrap about Royal Mail having been less efficient than its competitors elsewhere.
But he and other Royal Mail critics ignore the reality that Royal Mail does not cherry-pick which mail it delivers.
It has a statutory responsibility to deliver a comprehensive service at the same price to addresses throughout Britain and Northern Ireland.
Its ability to do so on a viable basis has been deliberately undermined by the Tories and new Labour, at the behest of European Union marketisation directives, which whittled away the mail monopoly, handing over the most lucrative areas to privateers and leaving the rest to the public carrier.
This has been nothing less than a deliberate conspiracy to destroy Royal Mail by people with a paranoid antipathy to public enterprise and notions of social solidarity and decency.
They have already shown, in the similar planned death by a thousand cuts of the nationwide post office network, a total disregard for local communities.
Neither the government nor the opposition, which is equally committed to privatisation, has any mandate for this slimy act of treason.
Trade unions and local communities should unite in a protest movement of sufficient scale to put an end to this disgraceful betrayal of the people.
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Royal Mail on road to sell-off
NO IDEA: Peter Mandelson has said that Royal Mail should "forge a strategic minority partnership" with another operator.
POSTAL workers attacked the government's plan to allow part-privatisation of the Royal Mail on Tuesday and vowed to resist the sell-off.
The announcement followed the publication of a report by former Ofcom deputy chairman Richard Hooper which called for a major upheaval in the ownership and operation of the postal service, including allowing privateers to take a minority stake in the service.
Unelected Business Secretary Lord Mandelson told the House of Lords that the government had accepted a recommendation that Royal Mail should "forge a strategic minority partnership" with another operator.
Setting out the recommendations of Mr Hooper's review of Royal Mail, he said that Dutch courier giant TNT had already expressed an interest in exploring a "strategic partnership."
CWU general secretary Billy Hayes retorted: "The majority of decent politicians and the general public are fed up with privatisation.
"We have all seen the failure of the market, so why would you recommend any sort of privatisation of one of Britain's key public services?
"Whether it's staff shares or minority stakes, any sell-off or joint venture will lead to full-blown disastrous privatisation," Mr Hayes warned.
"It always starts off like that and ends up broken up and downgraded, with job losses and loss of service.
"We will oppose any form of privatisation and hold the government to their manifesto commitment to keep Royal Mail fully integrated and wholly publicly owned," he vowed.
Lord Mandelson said that he would welcome expressions of interest from other "credible partners," should they come forward. He added that the post office network would be excluded from the privatisation plans.
The Hooper report recommended that the government "should take over responsibility for reducing substantially the pension deficit" at Royal Mail, which the government accepted, Lord Mandelson said.
He also accepted Mr Hooper's recommendation that Ofcom should take over responsibility for regulating the postal market from Postcomm.
The pensions deficit, which was £3.4 billion in 2006, is likely to have doubled by the time a new valuation is made next year.
Lord Mandelson claimed that the status quo was "untenable" and put Britain's universal postal service at risk. He said that implementing the changes would provide "benefits for everybody."
Lord Mandelson said that it was "absolutely clear" that the main challenge to the Royal Mail was from the impact of new technology such as email, rather than new Labour's decision to deregulate the postal industry at the insistence of the EU.
Communist Party general secretary Rob Griffiths said: "There should be no need to go to the private sector when the government can find up to £500 billion to recapitalise the banks.
"Now is hardly the time for the government to trumpet the virtues of private expertise when the public is stumping up a huge fortune to save the private sector from bankruptcy."
The CWU is pressing ahead with a strike this Friday by up to 2,000 of its members at a number of mail centres in a row over office closures.
The strike will affect mail centres in Liverpool, Crewe, Coventry, Bolton, Stockport and Oxford.
See reference:
A slimy act of treason
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Premier under fire for failing Palestinians
NOT LISTENING: Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
LABOUR MP Jeremy Corbyn branded Prime Minister Gordon Brown's feeble call for Israel to ease constraints on Palestine's economy a "joke" on Tuesday.
Mr Brown met his Israeli counterpart Ehud Olmert at Downing Street a day after joining Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad at a forum in the City of London to promote British private investment in Palestine.
Mr Brown politely urged the Israeli premier to ease restrictions on capital flow, trade and movement, which he said damaged the development of the private sector in the region.
But he ignored calls to press Mr Olmert to end illegal settlements and the devastating siege on the Gaza Strip, intended to weaken the democratically elected Hamas government.
He also failed to confront the Israeli premier over his government's brutal repression of the basic rights and freedoms of the Palestinian people.
Mr Corbyn told Mr Brown to "stop pussyfooting around" and put pressure on Israel to obey international law.
He branded the Premier's feeble call to Israel to ease economic restrictions on Palestine "a joke," when "Israel has built an illegal wall, increased settlement, encircled Gaza and bombed willy-nilly the people imprisoned behind barbed wire.
"He should demand that Israel obey international law UN resolutions and end the starvation of the people of Gaza," Mr Corbyn insisted, attacking Mr Brown's push for privatisation and free-market economics in Palestine.
"This is the last thing Palestinians need," he said, stressing: "They are desperate for food, water, energy and public services, but, above all, they are desperate to control their own lives and not be occupied by Israel or dictated to by the West."
Palestine Solidarity Campaign general secretary Betty Hunter added: "We are horrified that, whilst our Prime Minister meets with Ehud Olmert, the Israeli government is systematically creating starvation and disaster in Gaza.
"The British government should act now to end the horrific siege of the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, work to implement UN resolutions and international law, and ensure that Palestinians finally achieve their right to self-determination and peace."
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund are calling on Israel to end restrictions on cash shipments to Gaza banks.
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'Rip-off energy firms need tougher action'
TOOTHLESS energy regulator Ofgem urged speedier action from the gas and electricity privateers on Tuesday to slash unfair pricing from their bills.
The regulator said that the companies are on track to cut more than £500 million from bills, but is not happy with the pace of progress.
Ofgem wants faster action from companies to end the premiums that are paid by poorer households using pre-payment meters for their energy needs. It said that, since its probe began, premiums which have been paid by customers, including pre-payment meter users, had fallen by more than £300 million.
At the beginning of the year, pre-payment meter customers had been paying an average of £125 more than direct debit customers. Suppliers have also signalled at least a further £200 million in reductions for more than four million households who are not connected to mains gas and are unable to gain the best deals.
But Ofgem chief executive Alistair Buchanan said: "We've seen encouraging signs since the end of our initial investigation, but we demand more and quicker action for those customers currently losing out.
"And we are about to consult on new rules to end unfair pricing in future. If we are not satisfied with the suppliers' responses, we can, should we choose, go to the Competition Commission."
Public-sector union UNISON welcomed the move, adding that an immediate Competition Commission inquiry is the best option.
Head of utilities Steve Bloomfield said: "Poor consumers will be hit heavily by unfair pricing and this needs to be investigated immediately.
"Currently, we don't have an energy market working in the public interest and UNISON has been pressing the government to refer the market to the Competition Commission for some time. We hope that these findings will highlight the urgency of the issue and are calling for an inquiry to be launched immediately."
But GMB general secretary Paul Kenny dismissed the idea of a probe, saying: "Ministers need to get the message fast. Ofgem does not have the power or the political will to stop the energy companies ripping off consumers.
"Threatening to refer these companies to the Competition Commission is not taking action, it is the equivalent to sending a memo. Ofgem needs to be replaced with a body with the powers and the direction to cap prices," he insisted.
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Activists vow to continue protest against Raytheon
HARDY anti-war campaigners vowed on Tuesday to continue their rooftop protest against arms manufacturer Raytheon into a second week.
The protesters who climbed onto the roof of Raytheon's office block near Bristol last Tuesday night continue to brave rain and sub-zero temperatures, waving banners, painting slogans on the roof, blowing whistles and shouting slogans through a megaphone.
Their supporters, who visit every day, bring food and supplies, which are hauled up onto the roof on the end of a rope. The activists, who are part of Bristol Stop The War, plan to stay indefinitely to protest at the city's involvement in the arms trade.
US-based Raytheon is the fourth largest arms company in the world, with a $20 billion (£13bn) turnover per year. It is heavily involved in the manufacture or delivery systems of bombs and missiles, which have been used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
One roof-top protester said on Tuesday: "The US and Britain had no more right to invade Iraq or Afghanistan than nazi Germany did to invade Poland or France.
"Raytheon played their part by producing foul, indiscriminate weapons and we won't be quiet till they have left our city for good," the protester said.
Bristol Stop The War campaign group is organising a rally on Saturday December 20 in support of the protesters from 1-3pm.
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Bush shoe attacker 'abused by security forces'
THE brother of the Iraqi reporter who hurled his shoes at US President George W Bush during a Baghdad press conference accused security officials on Tuesday of breaking his arm and ribs.
Muntadhar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for al-Baghdadiya satellite channel, has been turned over to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's guards to face further investigation following the Sunday incident.
Durgham al-Zaidi said that his brother was being held in the heavily fortified green zone compound in central Baghdad.
"He has got a broken arm and ribs and cuts to his eye and arm," Mr al-Zaidi charged.
Mr al-Maliki's press secretary Yassin Majid said that Muntadhar al-Zaidi could face up to seven and a half years in prison for "assaulting the leader of a foreign country."
In Gaza, around 20 Popular Resistance Committee fighters staged a demonstration in support of Mr al-Zaidi on Tuesday.
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Still no justice
WHY was an open verdict returned on the de Menezes shooting? We need to know, says JOHN WIGHT.
Last week, a jury delivered an open verdict at the inquest into Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes's killing.
This innocent man was shot seven times in the head by armed undercover police officers on a Tube train at Stockwell station on July 22 2005.
And the verdict clearly provides grounds for a full public inquiry into the events leading to his death. It also constitutes grounds for a judicial review of the inquest itself - in particular, coroner Sir Michael Wright's decision to gag the jury by ruling a verdict of unlawful killing inapplicable.
The day before de Meneze's killing, London had witnessed a string of failed suicide bombings. Two weeks earlier, suicide bombers had succeeded in detonating bombs on London's transport system, resulting in a tragic and devastating loss of life and injury.
The atmosphere in London and in the country as a whole in the aftermath of July 7 2005 was one of fear, anger, confusion and a desire for revenge.
The government, from then prime minister Tony Blair right down to junior ministerial level, immediately and vigorously attributed blame for the horror to extremism and global terrorism. It refused to countenance the merest suggestion that Britain had been targeted due to its involvement in the invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Instead, it claimed that the problem lay within Britain's Muslim community, where extremism had taken root and posed a threat to internal security and the very fabric of our society.
These were the circumstances in which counter-terrorism police were deployed to find and nullify the threat presented by the four would-be suicide bombers still at large in the wake of the attempted second suicide attack.
De Menezes was a Brazilian migrant who had moved to London in 2002. He worked as an electrician and was on his way to work from his home in Tulse Hill in south London when he was killed by armed police.
Officers followed him from his home to a bus stop, then onto a bus, off the bus, into Stockwell Tube station and finally onto a Tube train.
Police claimed that de Menezes had stood up when they entered the train carriage, moved towards them in a threatening manner and that they had announced who they were by shouting "armed police," exactly as procedurally and legally obligated.
However, at the inquest, witnesses said that de Menezes had remained seated throughout, that no warning had been given and that he had been grabbed and shot without putting up a struggle.
What also emerged from the inquest was the sheer incompetence of the overall operation.
From commander level all the way down to the officers on the street, this was a police operation defined by lack of proper information, woeful communication and panic.
Police mistakenly believed that de Menezes was terror suspect Hussain Osman, who was thought to be living at an address in the same block of flats as de Menezes.
The police had numerous photographs of the suspect, pictures which would have dismissed de Menezes as the suspect almost immediately, but, inexplicably, these pictures were not shared with surveillance officers on the ground.
CCTV images of the events leading up to the shooting show armed officers hurtling down the station's escalator, propelled forward on adrenaline.
By this point, it was clear that the operation had escaped them and that, in the resulting panic and confusion, they'd become vigilantes masquerading as police officers.
Questions as to how and why the operation was allowed to get to this stage, why de Menezes was not stopped before getting onto a bus and why he was not intercepted before entering the Tube station, outside which a team of undercover officers was deployed, have served to undermine both the much-vaunted professionalism of the Met and the procedures employed in armed undercover operations.
Perhaps the most sickening aspect of this tragic event was the way in which the police, through the right-wing press, attempted to slander their innocent victim in the immediate aftermath.
Reports of him jumping the ticket barrier and being dressed in bulky, unseasonal clothing later proved false. More disgraceful still was the flagging up of his immigration status, thereby attempting to dehumanise him as an "illegal immigrant," as if somehow mitigating the officers' actions in killing an innocent man.
The head of the Met at the time of the shooting was Sir Ian Blair.
Former London mayor Ken Livingstone backed the police commissioner in the face of calls for his resignation and has maintained his support for the police officers involved even after the return of the open verdict by the jury at the coroner's inquest.
In a BBC interview, Livingstone described Cressida Dick, the police officer in charge of the operation on the day of the shooting, as a "future Met police commissioner" and one of the most "talented officers" he had worked with. After the killing of de Menezes, Dick was promoted to the post of deputy assistant commissioner.
But Livingstone's praise for Dick contrasts with the opinion of the de Menezes family lawyer Gareth Peirce, who said that "serious and catastrophic failures by Dick alone in the conduct of the police operation had been identified."
Peirce went on to say that "the handling of the events that led up to the fatal shooting was disastrous. It was disastrous on the part of the senior officers who had a public duty and were paid to exercise that duty of care."
The truth is that de Menezes joined the victims of July 7 2005 as yet another innocent victim of George Bush and Tony Blair's wars in the Middle East.
Ultimately, the conduct of the police both before and after the shooting, along with the coroner's disgraceful decision to gag the jury, has only served to breathe life into the adage, "who will guard the guardians?"
As for the de Menezes family, they have pledged to continue to fight for justice for Jean Charles and to see individual officers face prosecution.
Given what we know of the British political and legal establishment, they have a mountain to climb. But they can take comfort in knowing that they are not alone. On the contrary, their struggle is our struggle.
ON THE INTERNET
www.justice4jean.org
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Diary of a Naebody
GORDON DOWN rounds up his week.
Friday
The Downing Street staff party. We had to have it a little early this year because most of them are being laid off next week.
A jolly time was had by all, I think, although the conversation was a touch monotonous. Everybody was talking about the recession.
I returned to my office afterwards feeling somewhat fired up and phoned the chairman of one of the biggest banks.
I told him in plain terms that, if he did not agree to cut his interest rates within 24 hours, I would order the army to station a tank outside each of his remaining branches.
He laughed.
"Where are you going to find 23 tanks from, Gordon? They're all in Afghanistan. Go home and sleep it off."
Saturday
Terrible headache. Haunted by memories of last evening. All my own fault. In the festive spirit, I enjoyed a small glass of sherry at the staff party.
Although I mixed it with tap water as usual, I fear there may have been more sherry than water.
Either that or the vol-au-vents were off.
They were certainly cheap - one pound for all you could carry at our local supermarket's closing-down sale. I'll take those that are left back tomorrow and demand a refund.
Monday
Mandy outlines his plan to solve the credit crisis - join the euro.
I am sympathetic but pointed out that dozens of Labour MPs have warned me that, if we were to do that, their constituents would turn against them en masse.
Mandy was dismissive.
"Look, they're all going to lose their seats at the next election anyway. Does it really matter why they lose them?"
Just as Bill Clinton never inhaled, I sometimes think that Mandy never exhaled.
Tuesday
I had my close personal friend and protege president-elect Obama on the phone.
He wants to know if the British government would like to mount a rescue plan for General Motors similar to that we organised for our banks. "You give them all of Britain's money," he said, "and, in exchange, they'll say thank you."
I agreed that it was a very tempting and flattering offer, but I had to admit that we haven't actually got any more money.
Nonetheless, I offer him seasonal greetings and urge him to keep in touch.
It's essential that we world leaders maintain constant contact so as to have hour-by-hour oversight of the crisis as it unfolds.
"Sure, Tony, sure," he said, "I'll call you again in a couple of years to see how you're doing."
Thursday
The Home Secretary phoned in a panic. She wanted to arrest 16 more Tory frontbenchers.
"Somehow they've found about the recession!" she gasped. "I smell leaks!"
I told her that, as far as I know, the recession's been on the News at Ten.
Even Cameron's lot were bound to notice sooner or later.
"So what you're saying is that I need to arrest all the BBC as well?" she said. She rang off before I could stop her. One way or another, it has been a trying week.
And I forgot to take those damned vol-au-vents back.
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Brown's big trip
JEREMY CORBYN examines the PM's whirlwind tour of foreign parts.
Gordon Brown reported back to the Commons on Monday following his weekend trip.
A city break to Brussels wasn't enough for the PM - he then embarked on a whirlwind tour to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India after the recent EU summit. It was a kind of high-speed political tourism.
Our intrepid Prime Minister learnedly told the House of Commons that his trip to Afghanistan had enabled him to see "at first hand the hard and dangerous work that the armed forces are doing in very arduous conditions."
Brown paid tribute to the latest casualties, adding to a toll that is fast approaching 150. He then announced that Britain would be deploying more troops to the country, taking total number of British personnel in Afghanistan to 8,300, before assuring a slightly nervous House that they would be reduced again in August.
We have heard this claim before - in 2001, 2006 and last year. Yet the numbers are still rising and will continue to do so unless there is a change of policy.
Claims that five million refugees have returned remain uncorroborated, as do claims of rising school attendance and better security across the country.
Independent observers continue to report appalling levels of corruption and record levels of drug production and have highlighted the Kabul government's inability to control most of the country.
Journalists with access to the Taliban, such as Ghaith Abdul-Ahad writing in Monday's Guardian, report that the growing obtrusive Western presence is fuelling recruitment. Attacks on convoys and NATO depots have increased and some troops can only be supported by air as roads are under Taliban control.
As an aside, the Prime Minister said that he had talked to Afghan President Hamid Karzai about the problems of corruption and the need to help train Afghan forces. And well he might - the disappearance of aid money and widespread corruption dominate the administration.
The bottom line is that there is no end in sight to this multibillion-pound war, which has lasted longer than WWII. Ministry of Defence officials themselves have suggested that it could last another 30 years, which would make it the longest deployment of British forces anywhere.
Its origins lie in Bush's "war on terror" concept, which is now being padded out with an analysis that seeks to demonise the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"There is a chain of terror that links the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan right through to the streets of the UK and other countries around the world," Brown told Parliament. "And that chain of terror must be broken."
He also claimed that "terrorists based in Pakistan" had been responsible for the Mumbai bombing.
There are no clear war aims in Afghanistan, just a vague pledge to root out the Taliban, and there is no limit to the war.
US special forces operating independently of any other command have been bombing border villages in Pakistan. The increasing death toll of civilians on both sides of the border dividing the Pashtun people will inevitably spread the conflict.
A student of the use of language and rhetoric will observe that Pakistan has slowly moved from being a full member of the "big tent" of Bush and Blair to an inadequate ally in the war subject to regular public complaint by administrations on both sides of the Atlantic. The denigration and humiliation of Pakistan are hardly conducive to good relations.
Historical parallels are often inappropriate, but there are many between Vietnam and Afghanistan.
The latter had the specific task of "rooting out the Taliban and capturing bin Laden." It did achieve regime change, but, seven years on, opposition to the occupation is greater than ever. The guerilla methods that defeated British and Soviet forces in the 19th and 20th centuries are being used once again.
US involvement in Vietnam began with the deployment of military advisers and grew into the defence of an unpopular and out-of-touch government. Vietnam's neighbours were invaded with huge loss of life. Eventually, it ended with humiliation in 1976, when the remaining beleaguered US personnel had to be air-lifted off the embassy roof.
Barack Obama won the US presidency following a brilliant campaign and unprecedented mobilisation of young people. His initial headstart over Hillary Clinton was precisely down to his opposition to the Iraq war. He claims, though, that the real war is in Afghanistan and has pledged to deploy more troops there and force the NATO allies to do the same.
Forty years ago, US president Lyndon Johnson and his "great society" were destroyed by the Vietnam war. Blair was forced out of office by Iraq.
Now, Brown seems keen to be a willing partner in this folly, committing more and more money and soldiers to a war that cannot be won.
Wars start when politics fail and wars have to end through political negotiation. Every NATO and US commander knows that, at some point, they are going to have to talk to some elements of the Taliban. The question is, how many must die before they do?
All quiet at the EU
DEBATE at the EU economic summit revealed tensions between member states over the degree of fiscal stimulus required in the current crisis.
Nobody, though, questioned the central role of private-sector banks and now publicly owned banks in creating this misery and mess in the first place. There was no mention either of the three-decades-long lending regime that led to a property boom and massive industry in credit while the destruction of manufacturing was allowed to carry on apace as if it were an uncontrollable act of God.
The legacy of Milton Friedman's monetarist policies, which were so enthusiastically endorsed by Reagan and Thatcher, is still with us.
For the moment, the trend is to try to pump money into the system in a bid to create consumer demand. But looming mass unemployment and the absence of any long-term plan to shift towards a supply economy is storing up big problems in the near future.
Every European country will discover that rising unemployment creates anger and bitterness and the same sense of hopelessness that the slumps of the past have brought.
This is not the time to embrace the market values of the banks that created the problem in the first place.
The answer lies in planned economies and a shift to production for need.
Jeremy Corbyn is Labour MP for Islington North. He can be contacted at corbynj@parliament.uk
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Christmas Ideas
NICK MATTHEWS solves your shopping dilemmas with 12-ish gifts for Christmas!
1. A TREE
A real "guilt-free" tree means the Woodland Trust. Dedicate a tree for just £15 in one of the trust's woods around the country, nice for a Boxing Day visit. Or, for the young, how about membership of the Wildlife Detectives: go to: www.woodland-trust.org.uk
2. CHRISTMAS FIZZ
Christmas means a bit of sparkling wine, so how about the new Co-operative Fairtrade Cape Sparkling Brut at only £7.99. It's produced by the Du Toitskloof wine co-operative in South Africa's Western Cape and is available from selected Co-op shops.
3. A DROP OF THE HARD STUFF
I would not usually recommend Waitrose or Sainsbury's, but they are selling Havana Club Anejo Especial Rum 70cl at £13.99, three pounds off the normal price, and, with the credit crunch, we all need to save a few pennies.
4. CHRISTMAS PUDDING
Fairtrade organic Christmas puddings produced by The Village Bakery are available from Oxfam shops or online at www.oxfam.org.uk, where you can also pick up a 225g box of fairtrade luxury Belgian chocolates in dark, milk and white chocolate.
5. MUSIC
The classical CD of the year has to be Fiesta, featuring the stars of the Proms, the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. It's a stunning recording on Deutsch Grammophon of a selection of the best in Latin American music live from Caracas.
For folkies, my favourite is Gaughan Live! At the Trades Club on Greentrax, where Dick Gaughan plays the hotbed of radicalism that is the Hebden Bridge Trades and Labour Club at the end of his annual tour of England. It's full of great songs, but my favourite is Tom Paine's Bones.
World music CD of the year has to be the release after a decade of the Buena Vista Social Club live at Carnegie Hall. This superb double album is available from Cuba Solidarity Campaign. Ring (020) 8800-0155 to order.
6. COFFEE TABLE BOOK
Peace: 50 Years Of Protest 1958-2008 by Barry Miles, priced £25 , tells the the story of the Nuclear Disarmament symbol, its origins and how it became a global symbol for peace. It's a large-format book with over 150 pictures and illustrations and is available from CND online shop at www.cnd.org
7. STOCKING FILLER BOOK
Crossing The River Of Fire: The Socialism Of William Morris is a beautifully produced small book, by Hassan Mahamdallie. It's published by Redwords priced £7.99 and is available from Bookmarks, London. Visit www.bookmarksbookshop.co.uk to order.
8. POETRY
For lifting the spirit, there's Palestine by David and Helen Constantine. It's part of the Modern Poetry in Translation series and costs £11. It includes a collection of first-class poems, original and in translation, dealing with the idea, the myth and the reality of Palestine. Available from www.mptmagazine.com
9. FOR THE JAZZ LOVER
How about Forward Groove! Jazz And The Real World From Louis Armstrong To Gilad Atzmon by our very own Chris Searle, Britain's leading jazz critic. Order from Britain's leading bookshop www.foyles.co.uk and save £2.25 online from the list price of £14.99.
10. FINE SILVER JEWELLERY
Try some fairtrade silver jewellery from Mexico and Peru, including moon and stars earrings and a Dragonfly brooch from my own favourite fairtade online shop run by Stella Emblis for Nicaragua Solidarity. To order, visit www.nicaraguasc.org.uk, a site that also has a terrific DVD movie and music CD selection.
11. 2009 DIARY
First choice has to be Housmans 2009. At £8.95, it includes the famous International Peace Directory, plus notable anniversaries and quotations. This year, it celebrates 50 years of the establishment of London's Peace House, home to Peace News and Housman's Bookshop, and 75 years of the Peace Pledge Union. See www.housmans.com
12. AND FINALLY...
If you hurry, there are a few exclusive Martin Rowson Morning Star Christmas cards left - five cards for £8 (plus £1 p&p) or 10 cards for £15 (plus £1 p&p). Call (020) 8510-0815 (Mon-Fri 9-4pm) to order.
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Culture
| | Beauty and ambiguityINTERVIEW: Conceptual artist ALKE SCHMIDT reveals the logic behind her dramatic pictures. |
| INTERVIEW: Artist Alke Schmidt ALBUM: Mary Lou Williams, A Grand Night For Swinging Red Folk with Mike Newman Beth Porter on Film Chris T-T | The T&G story by Andrew Murray Catching History on the Wing by A Sivanandan Women's Voices from the Spanish Civil War Ed. Jim Fyrth with Sally Alexander Big Boy Rules by Steve Fainaru The Thin Blue Line: How Humanitarianism Went to War |
| | BOOK: Forward Groove: Jazz and the Real World by Chris Searle LIVE: Futureheads/Johnny Foreigner LIVE: Pure Reason Revolution LIVE: Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip ALBUM: Burning Pilot - Cold Caller |
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