Spokesman Books

James Walker reviews One Belt, One Road in this month's issue of LeftLion. For those who haven't yet found themselves a (free) copy, or for readers outside of Nottingham, his summary has been put online here: http://www.leftlion.co.uk/articles.cfm/title/book-reviews--may-2016/id/8227 One Belt, One Road ( The Spokesman , issue 130) Edited by Tony Simpson; published by Spokesman Books ISBN: 978 0 85124 8509 Price: £6  Available on our website at  http://www.spokesmanbooks.com/acatalog/Spokesman_Journal.html

During 2016, the debate about Trident has great salience as the British government seeks parliamentary approval for its intention to build four new 'Successor' submarines to replace the ageing and increasingly decrepit Vanguard Class (see Substandard , Spokesman 129 ). This is a hugely expensive and technically challenging programme, vulnerable to cost overruns in a similar way to the programme to build the smaller Astute attack submarines at Barrow-in-Furness in northern England. Have such lessons about costs really been learned? Contents Editorial Vintage Trident - Ton y Simpson Force for good? - Cdr Robert Green Downwinders and other Casualties - Lawrence S. Wittner New Cold War? - Johnathan Steele China, Bri tain and Labour - Jenny C legg Labour Movement - Jeremy Corbyn MP 'So far as ma y be lawful' - Len McCluskey Architect or Bee? - Frances O'Grad y Suffragette - Jo Vellacott 'Economy' no more? ...

Issue 130 of The Spokesman , 'One Belt, One Road', is now available. Among the books reviewed in this issue are two titles on pacifism and conscientious objection: The World is My Country , by Emily Johns and Gabriel Carlyle, and Refusing to Kill , by Oliver Haslam and PPU Publications Group.  Cranks and Kites Two peace-oriented publishers; two different approaches to presenting the lives of conscientious objectors and opponents of the First World War. The World is My Country calls itself a ‘celebration’, whereas Refusing to Kill is a more sombre appraisal, and pulls no punches. Read together, they prove there is room to remember both the anguish and the triumphs of this extremely diverse group. Refusing to Kill is primarily intended for use by teachers and students, as the layout and language indicate. It outlines the various forms of conscientious objection, such as non-combatant COs, who would drill and train but not serve; those who submitted to alternative l...

  'Viewing Fish at Flower Pool': A souvenir of Russell's visit to the Western Lake, Hangzhou Bertrand Russell is hugely influential in China, and has been for almost a century. He is recommended reading for high school and university students. The General Manager of The Commercial Press, which has published Russell in translation in China since his nine-month visit in 1920-21, quotes him in speeches. Russell’s statement towards the end of his life, ‘What I have lived for', seems to have made a powerful and lasting impact. Russell's story in China is closely interwoven with that of The Commercial Press, which is itself an institution of some durability in the ups and downs of China’s recent history.  The Commercial Press Head Office, built in the 1950s, is on Wangfujing Street in the centre of Beijing.     Apparently, one of the founders of Commercial Press suggested that Russell be invited to China, and CP put up a considerable sum t...

To Friendly Political Parties and Movements Athens, 29 June 2015 Dear Comrades and friends, As you know, following the historic victory of SYRIZA in our national elections on January 25 of this year, a government of social salvation was formed in Greece, headed by our Party President, now Prime Minister Mr Alexis Tsipras. The new government’s clear mandate from the Greek people was to end the policies of extreme austerity, to relieve the socially weaker strata and to resolve the intolerable public debt crisis through negotiations, thereby creating the conditions for economic recovery and growth. Negotiations have been going on since February between the new government and our EU partners, together with the other institutions involved in the Greek program. From the beginning, the government’s position has been that the Greek people’s mandate should be respected and that Greece should be treated as an equal partner in the EU and the Eurozone. The neg...

In late 2014, the US Navy awarded an $84 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification contract for 'tactical missile tube manufacturing'. In total, according to the US Navy, 17 missile tubes will be manufactured: '12 for the UK Successor lead ship, four for the OR [Ohio class ballistic missile submarine Replacement] First Article Quad Pack and one for the Strategic Weapons System - Ashore (SWSA) test facility.' What is this arcane language telling us? The $84 millions is to fund 'joint United States and United Kingdom Common Missile Compartment (CMC) missile tube manufacturing'. According to Rob Edwards ( Sunday Herald , 23.11.14), 70 per cent of this cost is being paid by the UK. Curiously, 12 of the first 17 tubes are for the 'UK successor lead ship'. This is curious for two reasons. Firstly, the UK government has deferred until 2016 the 'main-gate' decision on Trident replacement. Secondly, the UK government has repeatedly claimed in publi...

Problems of NATO The Spokesman 124 ISBN: 978 0 85124 834 9 Price £6.00 'Ukraine’s precipitate economic decline in recent decades, since it separated itself from the Soviet Union, is charted in this issue of The Spokesman ... Even before those momentous changes, beginning in late 1991, greater influence in the Soviet periphery had long been an objective of Western strategy. Once Ukraine became independent, the chosen methods to achieve such influence combined sponsored developments of Ukrainian ‘civil society’, much of it courtesy of the US government-funded National Endowment for Democracy, with long-term economic, political and military interventions by the European Union and NATO. Instability and conflict in Ukraine may not trouble the Americans much, located as it is on Russia’s borders, but it should certainly concern Europeans who, among other considerations, will be asked to pick up much of the tab.' Tony Simpson, Editor Read all of Tony's Editorial on...

Following the police raid to remove journalists and others occupying the offices of Greek public broadcaster ERT, SYRIZA called a demonstration in defence of democracy in Greece which gathered in Syntagma Square in front of the Parliament on the evening of Sunday 10 November 2013. Greece takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union in January 2014. For six months, including the campaign for direct elections to the European Parliament in May, Greece will preside over the affairs of the Union. In foreign affairs, will Greece prioritise peace in the Middle East and advance the creation there of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction? Will it bring to bear its good connections in the region so that the EU reinforces the momentum towards peace in Syria and constructive engagement with Iran? Under the Greek Presidency, what will be the priorities of EU policy towards Israel with respect to its illegal occupation of Palestine, the continuing construction of the illegal ...

William Hague, the UK Foreign Secretary, couldn’t bring himself to utter Edward Snowden’s name, when he made an urgent statement to the House of Commons on 10 June 2013. This was in the wake of Snowden’s revelations about ‘Prism’, the US National Security Agency’s covert and extensive surveillance operation, which has been ongoing since 2007. Mr Hague wasn’t going to comment on ‘leaks’, as he repeatedly told the House. This rather put the Foreign Secretary 'behind the curve' in the debate that followed, excerpts from which are reproduced in this number of The Spokesman. Some of his comments to the House have been called into question by subsequent developments. We publish some of the seminal texts of this developing story. *** The Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation was established in 1963. In this, our fiftieth anniversary year, we take stock a little. What was happening then? What pre-occupied Russell? What was the peace movement doing? Contents: Editorial ...

The Spokesman 119 Edited by Tony Simpson Ayse Berktay has been locked up in a Turkish prison since October 2011. She and some 200 others are, periodically, before Turkey’s Tribunal with Special Powers as part of the ‘KCK trials’. KCK stands for Kurdish Communities Union, which the Turkish government has labelled a ‘terrorist’ organisation, although the actual basis for this draconian claim is not at all clear. In December 2012, many Kurds, some Turks and various others gathered at the European Parliament in Brussels to consider ‘The Kurdish Question in Turkey’. The conference was sponsored by the United European Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) political group, with support from Greens and Socialists. It had the sub-title, ‘time to renew the dialogue and resume direct negotiations’. Notwithstanding attempts by the Turkish authorities to restrict Kurdish participation, the conference heard from many speakers of diverse backgrounds and nationalities. They included two prominent K...