International Socialists (CWI Scotland)

It is a human response to be sad when somebody dies. But many working class people will be celebrating her death because of the absolutely destructive and long lasting effect she had on the lives of millions of working class and poor people. She is seen by many as a kind of modern day Genghis Khan. Elected into office in 1979 she unleashed a ferocious assault on the living standards and democratic rights of working class people.

‘Austerity’ is discussed by politicians and the media in terms of it being a proper response to the financial situation that British and for that matter world capitalism finds itself.  It is all so reasonable and ‘scientific’. Austerity has become a ‘neutral’ word for the bosses and political leaders. Every now and then the true human cost of austerity is reported. George Scollan is just such a reminder of the human cost.

The latest Government attack on welfare claimants is an attack on the poorest and most vulnerable sections of society. Yet again the unemployed are being made scapegoats for a crisis of capitalism caused by the banks and big business. With an ever growing number of unemployed people trapped in poverty and competing for fewer jobs, the Government's 1% cap on benefits means an even tighter squeeze on the poverty stricken who are already struggling to make ends meet.

Millionaire Tory Chancellor Osborne began his Autumn Statement speech with excuses for economic predictions reduced from 0.8% 'growth', to -0.1%, a contraction, and lower forecasts for years. Two days later the Guardian reported: "The City has put the UK on triple-dip recession alert after news that falling factory and North Sea production have sent the output of industry plunging to its lowest level in 20 years."

MPs' expenses, bankers' bonuses, corporate tax dodgers; this deep, long-term crisis of capitalism has brought with it a thorough-going crisis of legitimacy in capitalist institutions. The murky Murdochgate scandal implicated media bosses, political leaders and police tops and led to the setting up of the Leveson Inquiry into press standards. The report from the first part of the Inquiry is due to be released on Thursday 29 November.

Trade unionists have demonstrated their determination to defend jobs and services. The overwhelming mood on marches in London, Glasgow and Belfast was that further, more militant action is required to fight back against and defeat the Con-Dem coalition's savage cut-backs. The TUC demonstration in London on 20 October, attended on the TUC's estimate by 150,000 workers, was a great success. Ten thousand also marched in Glasgow and thousands in Belfast in separate demonstrations. It was not on the scale of 26 March last year, nor as enthusiastic as the public-sector strikes and demonstrations in June and November.

The report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel has ripped aside the tangled web of lies and cover-up woven by the South Yorkshire police, the government and the army of lickspittles in the press who denigrated Liverpool and the victims of the man-made catastrophe in 1989 that was Hillsborough.

The 2012 Olympic Games, held in London, will start with the ‘Opening Ceremony’ on Friday 27 July, watched by an estimated audience of 1 billion people around the world. Beyond the sporting excellence, Manny Thain looks at the crass commercialisation and increased state repression that accompanies the ‘greatest show on earth’. World records will not be the only things broken at this year’s Olympic and Paralympic games. Promises for a lasting legacy - affordable housing, decent jobs, increased sports participation, and the rest - are being broken, too. The greatest sporting show on earth has been dragged down by crass commercialisation, and become a test-bed for increased state repression.

If the recent appearance of Bob Diamond, the head of Barclays Bank, before the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee was intended to demonstrate some kind of public accountability of bankers before parliament then it dismally failed. It served merely to emphasise the timid approach of establishment capitalist politicians towards the top bankers

David Cameron was stoutly defending the 'nation'. This is what he claimed after he was humiliatingly defeated by 26 votes to one at the 9 December EU summit and withdrew from participating in discussions over a new EU treaty. Which nation?