There was a large turnout, in the centre of Exeter, to show soladarity with the people of Gaza. The demonstration was called by Exeter Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Exeter Stop The War Coalition.

Socialist Party members who took part handed out dozens of leaflets and collected £25 for the fighting fund. The presence of CWI flags was well recieved.

It was disappointing that a 'major party of the left' forgot to mention the role of imperialism in the atrocities taking place in the Middle East and by default the part that is to be played by Socialist ideas in it's solution.

Exeter Socialist Students intend to follow up the action by action in Exeter University where there is a large number of students from the Middle East.

Report by SB

Stop the Slaughter in Gaza - Mass struggle is the only way out

Israel's government's rule has been a chain of scandals and failures. Now they are trying to save themselves from defeat in February's elections, by means of a wholesale slaughter of Palestinians in this long planned attack.

Bush, and Obama, have refused to force Israel to immediately halt the carnage. Bush used similar brutality in their occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. While Miliband makes feeble calls for a cease-fire, the White House has even blamed Hamas for the attacks and condemned the Hamas rocket fire into Israeli cities.

Abu Abas, Mubarak and the Arab league leaders condemn the massacre. But they were complicit in Israel's starving of the Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants by Israel's 16-month siege. These regimes willingly carry out the dictates of imperialism. Mubarak's authoritarian regime in Egypt collaborated in the imprisonment of the Palestinians by preventing free movement of goods and people on Egypt's border with Gaza. Mubarak even met Israel's foreign minister Livni on the day before Israel's attack.

Hamas' rocket fire cannot defeat the Israeli state's oppression of Palestinians. The Israeli ruling class do not care about the working class inhabitants of the towns bordering Gaza, but uses their plight to justify the war. The Israeli government does not defend the real interests of ordinary Israelis, rather it exploits their fears.

Every gain made in the history of Palestinian struggle has been the result of active mobilisation of the masses. Tragically for Palestinians neither Hamas, nor Fatah, nor the Arab regimes, have a strategy to defend the masses and stop the Israeli state's slaughter.

The Socialist Party and the Committee for a Workers' International calls:

· For an immediate end to Israeli attacks. For and immediate end to the siege.

· For escalation of demonstrations and protests against the war, in the Middle East and internationally.

· No trust in the world powers or the United Nations. Organize the masses in self-defense. Mass action by Palestinians and Egyptians to break the siege that imprisons Gaza and appeal for support from the working masses internationally, especially in the Middle East, including Israel.

· For united struggles by the workers and poor to overthrow all the capitalist regimes in the Arab states and in Israel. For worker's governments across the Middle East which can end the cycle of violence by resolving the contentious issues in the interests of working people and start to create a society run for the needs of ordinary people.

· For a Socialist Palestine and a Socialist Israel as part of a Socialist Federation of the Middle East.


---- DEMONSTRATIONS THIS SATURDAY (3rd January) ----

Exeter -

12noon in Bedford Square, Exeter High Street.

Organised by Exeter Stop the War.

London -

12.30pm in Embankment, Central London.


For more details please email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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In conjunction with Devon County Council, North Devon Council has approved in principle the plan to build a rubbish incinerator as part of the redevelopment of a stretch of land by the river Taw in Barnstaple. The proposed incinerator would burn 50,000 tonnes of waste per year and is intended to ensure that the local authority complies with the European Union Landfill Directive, which aims to reduce the amount of refuse that is disposed of in landfill rubbish dumps.

However, these incinerators have been linked to a number of health problems, including increased risk of heart disease and cancer. They can release heavy metals, fine particulates (linked to cancer and heart disease) as well as polluted water, which could be an issue considering the site is a flood plain. They also release dioxins, the chemical implicated in the Irish pork recall.

The location of the mooted incinerator is right bang in the centre of town. Surrounding it is housing, retail units and the new further education college will be built next door! Downwind of it is more housing as well as a large secondary school. It is estimated that most, if not all, of the 25,000 residents of Barnstaple and nearby villages will be exposed.

A meeting for those opposed to the scheme was arranged last Tuesday (9th December). Two anti-incinerator campaigners from Cornwall were the invited speakers, and gave an in depth analysis of the environmental and health dangers, as well as emphasising that there needed to be a positive argument for an alternative, which could help comply with the EU Directive as well as provide a means to use the waste as a potential resource, rather than just get rid of it.

Much helpful practical advice was given, in terms of contacting officials and finding out information. However, the Socialist Party members present at the meeting made the point that getting over a technically and legally correct argument, while useful, would not win the campaign by itself. What is needed is to involve the citizens of Barnstaple in stopping this threat, by campaigning in the town and on the estates, and ultimately putting immense pressure on the Council. Both Lib Dem County Councillors in the town support the scheme, and are up for reelection next year, while the Lib Dem MP, up against a strong Tory challenge at the next election, is 'keeping an open mind', which translated means 'waiting to see which way the wind blows'.

The scheme is at an early stage at the moment, as is the campaign. North Devon Socialist Party intends to work and make the necessary arguments to stop these potentially dangerous plans.

Workers at Appledore shipyard have accepted an offer from Babcock Marine management, ending the industrial action they have participated in. Among other grievances, the strike action was concerned with pay, which was £60-80 less per week than Devonport workers in the same company doing equivalent jobs.

The deal sees a 12% wage increase over two years, and the majority of other demands put forward by the unions (GMB and Unite) accepted by management.

Throughout the dispute, Babcock Marine had attempted to bully and threaten the workforce into submission, with threats of closure and downsizing. An annoucement of job cuts at the company's Devonport operation was made, and middle managers were threatened with the sack if they joined in the action. Unfortunately for Babcock, the news of their record profits had to be released at this important time also!

Despite all that the company threw at the workers, they held firm, with large numbers on picket lines and 100% of engineering staff out. Although they did not achieve parity with their Plymouth counterparts, they did achieve a significant above inflation pay increase at a time of insecurity and increasing redundancies and hours cuts. They showed that unity in action, even in the current climate, will get results, even with only a few days strike action. Both unions on site worked together, and they received the support and solidarity of their fellow workers at other shipyards, through the Confederation of Ship Building and Engineering Unions (CSEU), as well as North Devon Socialist Party.