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paper of the left
Morning Star incorporating the Daily Worker — for peace and socialism
Wednesday May 27 2009
60p
Parliamentary power games JEREMY CORBYN looks at the latest attacks on our democracy: p7 ALSO INSIDE John Wight uncovers the truth about Gurkhas • Gregor Gall on cutbacks
Shell in court over activists’ execution GLOBAL oil giant Shell will face a US court today charged with complicity in the state murder and torture of Nigerian activists who protested against the firm’s exploitation of the country’s gas reserves. Campaigners have hailed the trial as a landmark achievement merely for dragging a multinational into the dock.
The case has been brought by the family of Ken SaroWiwa, a writer and activist who was a committed opponent of Shell and the Nigerian regime. In 1994, Mr Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists from the Ogoni tribe were accused of causing the murder of four tribal chiefs and were subjected to a military tribunal without representation or right to appeal. They were found guilty and were hanged on November 10 1995. So great was the international outcry following the executions that British premier John Major described it as “judicial murder.” The trial, which begins in New York today, stems from two lawsuits accusing Royal Dutch Shell and Brian Anderson, the former managing director of its Nigerian subsidiary Shell Transport and Trading, of being complicit in the executions. The case is seen as having unprecedented repercussions for Shell and other multinationals which stand accused of human rights abuses across the world.
by PADDY McGUFFIN Shell has been active in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, which contains most of the country’s mineral resources, since 1958. The indigenous tribes of the region, including the Ogonis, have mounted resistance to what they see as the wholesale rape of their land. Farmlands and fishing waters have been destroyed and polluted to a horrific extent and deforestation, oil leaks and gas flares blight the landscape. A founder member of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, Mr Saro-Wiwa was a thorn in the side of a government which was increasingly reliant on the income generated by oil revenues. As the peaceful opposition grew, so too did the brutality of the military clampdown — with, campaigners argue, the tacit approval if not the active encouragement of Shell. The company denies the allegations. Mr Saro-Wiwa’s son Ken Wiwa said: “In a sense we already have a victory, because one of the things my father said was that Shell would one day have its day in court.” Turn to p4
Oil giant accused of complicity in Nigeria’s ‘Ogoni nine’ hangings
CLEAR MESSAGE: Campaigners protesting outside Shell’s AGM in London last week.
INSIDE: Rallies demand EU backing for farms 3 ● Liberalisation ‘has hurt postal service’ 6 ● TV & Radio 10 ● Sport 11&12
FOREIGN NEWS
2 MORNING STAR Wednesday May 27 2009
STAR
comment
Improving democracy WATCHING David Cameron and Jack Straw posture about which party is more committed to constitutional reform and decentralised power is like watching two bald men arguing over a toothless comb. We have all witnessed the rhetoric and we know that both parties are determined to centralise all meaningful power. The two men’s refusal to countenance a change in the first-past-the-post voting system, which renders most of the electorate’s votes academic, is a classic case of vested interests. The two-party voting system has become more entrenched in recent years, with greater monitoring of who can be a candidate taking place at party leadership level. And the power of patronage conferred on prime ministers, under the convention of the royal prerogative, ensures that the vast majority of MPs are nothing more than voting fodder. Far from this being an essential part of democracy, it amounts to its antithesis, allowing popular opposition to illegal wars, to privatisation of public services and to neglect of state pensioners to be undermined by the payroll vote and those MPs aspiring to join the payroll.
★✩★ And the elephant in the room, when discussing democracy, is the failure of the Labour government, after 12 years in office, to tackle the anomaly in a self-proclaimed democratic society of the entire second house being dependent on privilege and patronage. Either there should be a unicameral system or, if a second house is deemed essential, it should be fully elected. Such has been the controlling nature of new Labour that, even when it has proposed new structures, it has manoeuvred to ensure that local decisions are subject to its own will. This provoked resistance in the shape of voters backing Ken Livingstone as an independent in London, opting for the Scottish National Party in previously Laboursolid Scotland and denying Labour a majority in Wales, although it remains the dominant and still recognisably social-democratic force in Cardiff Bay. And new Labour’s addiction to the US practice of directly elected executive mayors has weakened democratic accountability. Alan Johnson’s call for a referendum on electoral reform for Westminster elections is belated and, with Gordon Brown all but dead in the water, appears more as the opening salvo in a leadership contest than a genuine demand for fair elections.
★✩★ The Morning Star has consistently supported the introduction of proportional representation, based on multi-seat constituencies and the single transferable vote system (STV) that is used in the Irish Republic. STV allows voters to prioritise not only parties but also candidates within party lists, weakening the sclerotic grip of party leaders. This reality exposes as a nonsense Cameron’s rejection of PR, which he claims, without substantiation, would shift power from the powerless to the powerful. In practice, he and new Labour are happy with a two-party system that has promoted political convergence of not only both governing parties but also the third option. And as worthy as proposals for ending medieval modes of dress and address, for text alerts to voters and for popular petitions to be considered as the basis for legislation may be, they are peripheral to the main issue of electing a Parliament that represents the full gamut of public opinion.
Medical supplies finally let into Gaza EGYPTIAN officials have finally allowed about 20 solidarity activists into Gaza to deliver medical equipment, having left them stranded at the Rafah border for two days. But Palestinian Rafah border chief Ghani Hamad said Egyptian authorities had prevented 19 others from getting through during Monday’s crossing. Derry Sinn Fein councillor Gerry MacLochlainn, who accompanied the Hope for Gaza Convoy, said the weary activists had handed over 25 ambulances, a kidney dialysis machine, wheelchairs and more than $47,000
(£29,535) worth of medicine paid for with money raised by charities and donations. Egypt and Israel have enforced a strict blockade on Gaza since the democratically elected Hamas administration quashed a Western-backed coup bid by Fatah forces two years ago, allowing only limited amounts of humanitarian supplies in. Medical equipment has been in especially short supply since Israel’s bloody offensive against Gaza ended in January. Solidarity activist Arafat Madi condemned Egypt’s decision to block the 19 activists.
“It took us almost two months to prepare the convoy and the lorries and gather the desperately needed medical equipment,” Mr Madi stormed. MPs from Italy, Greece, Ireland, Switzerland and Britain took part in the Hope for Gaza convoy, led by Italian senator Fernando Rossi. Speaking in Gaza, Mr Rossi condemned the international community’s tolerance of Israel’s punishing blockade. “Those who do not say ‘No’ to this siege and ‘No’ to this oppression in Gaza are against freedom for the Palestinian people,” he said.
Pyongyang ships to face boarding raids South Korea responds to nuclear bomb test SOUTH Korea has responded to Pyongyang’s second nuclear test by joining a US-led military initiative to search North Korean ships in its territorial waters for weapons of mass destruction. North Korea has warned that it would consider South Korea’s full participation in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) as an act of war. Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong Ju was quick to emphasise that Seoul’s participation “does not specifically target North Korea.” “The PSI is part of global efforts to curb the flow of weapons of mass destruction,” Ms Lee declared. States which have signed up to the PSI have committed to stop and board any North Korean ships suspected of carrying illicit arms in their territorial waters. China has refused to take part in the PSI, disputing its legality.
by TOM MELLEN Beijing called for calm yesterday, saying that the UN security council should help to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the “Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.” On Monday the security council expressed “strong opposition to and condem nation of ” Pyongyang’s nuclear test, which violated security council resolution 1718. The rotating council president for May, Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin, demanded “that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea comply fully with its obligations under resolutions 1695 (2006) and 1718 (2006) and other related security council resolu-
Nine are questioned on sectarian murder
tions and statements.” Speaking at a regular press briefing yesterday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu called on all parties concerned to “seek a calm and proper response and to pursue peaceful resolution of the issue through consultation and dialogue. “We think the relevant actions of the security council should be conducive to achieving the nonnuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula,” Mr Ma emphasised. Monday’s nuclear test and subsequent short-range missile launches suggest that Pyongyang is more concerned about the prospect of a pre-emptive strike than tighter UN sanctions. In an editorial released yesterday, the KCNA state news agency said Washington’s announcement last month that it will deploy a dozen F-22 fighters to Okinawa in southern Japan and Guam “lay
bare the sinister and dangerous scenario of the US to put the AsiaPacific region under its military control.” The US maintains 50,000 troops in Japan and another 28,500 in South Korea. Yesterday’s KCNA editorial confirmed that Pyongyang does not expect any positive change under US President Barack Obama. It accused Mr Obama of following the “reckless warmongering policy” taken by his predecessor George Bush, who launched a pre-emptive invasion of Iraq in 2003. “The US would be well advised to halt at once its dangerous military moves against our republic if it wants to escape the lot of a tiger moth, bearing deep in mind that any attempt to make a pre-emptive attack is little short of inviting a disaster itself,” it warned.
MURDERED: Youth worker Kevin McDaid.
POLICE were questioning nine men yesterday after a community youth worker was beaten to death by a sectarian mob in Northern Ireland. Kevin McDaid, who was dedicated to easing sectarian tensions, was targeted on Sunday evening by a gang of up to 40 football fans. They had entered a mainly Catholic housing estate in Coleraine, Co Londonderry, following matches involving Rangers and Celtic. His wife Evelyn, who was injured in the attacks, appealed for an end to sectarian violence. “He wouldn’t want retaliation for it,” Ms McDaid explained, adding: “He wouldn’t want my sons to get hurt, he wouldn’t want this. “He was trying to keep the peace, he didn’t want all this nonsense that’s been going on here for years and years.” She reported that the mob claimed during the attack that they were members of loyalist paramilitary outfit the UDA. “UDA, they called themselves the UDA,” Ms McDaid said, adding: “I went across to help him and they beat me and then my neighbour had to step in to save me and she was pregnant and they beat her too.” Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said that a sizeable group of loyalists was responsible for the attacks.
Readers & Supporters CARDIFF MORNING STAR SALES PITCH: Meet every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month, between 11.30am and 1.30pm, by Nye Bevan’s statue on Queen Street. Pamphlets, flags, Tshirts and badges available – come and have a chat and give a hand. For further details contact Rick on 07973 857-048.
EDINBURGH STALL EVERY SATURDAY, 122pm, Princes St at the Galleries. To help, call Richard (0131) 447-8130.
GLASGOW CITY CENTRE STALL, every Saturday, from 12 noon, outside Borders
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bookshop, Buchanan Street. To help, call (0141) 579-2390 or 07986 706-290.
as was Chester Road West). For further details contact Glyn on 07817 860-735.
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ALL-WALES MORNING STAR CONFERENCE “Wales and the Economic Crisis” Speakers and sessions TBC. YMCA, Pontypridd; 10.30am — 4.15pm, Saturday June 13. For further information contact Rick on 07973 857-048.
SURPLUS BOOK SALE – 10am3pm, Saturday May 30, “Onekx,” 120 Cromer Street (corner of Judd Street) WC1 (Tubes Russell Square, King’s Cross or Euston). Come and help us sell, be a customer or both. Also an opportunity to bring us your surplus books and small items of bric-a-brac. Further information on (020) 7278-5764 or 6649.
SHOTTON MORNING STAR SALES PITCH and No2EU — Yes to Democracy leafleting. Meet Glyn and Trevor 12 noon — 1pm, first Saturday of the month, outside Iceland (Woolworths
SOUTH YORKSHIRE SOUTH YORKS RSG meets bimonthly at the Bath Hotel, Victoria
Street, Sheffield. Details from David Granville, tel (0114) 267-6156. FOR HELP WITH LOCAL SALES ring Bryan Munsey on (0114) 2334758 or Steve Andrew on 07772 606-947.
Advertise your event here – free! Selling the Star? Got a fundraiser for the paper coming up? Ring the advertising department on (020) 8510-0815 or email starads@peoples-press.com
FOREIGN NEWS
Rights group call for Swat curfew to be lifted so aid can enter area A US-BASED human rights group has called on Pakistan to immediately lift a curfew in the Swat Valley and airlift food, water and medicine to residents. Human Rights Watch made the appeal as military forces continued to surround towns and block off routes in and out of the area as part of its war against Taliban insurgents. Human Rights Watch spokesman Brad Adams said yesterday: “The government cannot allow the local population to remain trapped without food, clean water and medicine as a tactic to defeat the Taliban. “People trapped in the Swat conflict zone face a humanitarian catastrophe unless the Pakistani military immediately lifts a curfew that has been in place continuously for the last week,” Mr Adams said. Tens of thousands of civilians remain in the valley and surrounding districts, unable to flee due to ongoing fighting and military restrictions. More than two million people have fled, reducing the threat of civilian casualties, but more than 160,000 people are trapped in refugee camps and a dozen times that number are staying with relatives or elsewhere. Pakistan’s military said the situation was too dangerous for civilians to be allowed to move freely in the valley.
MORNING STAR Wednesday May 27 2009
Rallies demand EU backing for farms FARMERS rallied in Brussels, Berlin and Dublin on Monday to press EU chiefs to support milk prices — or face a collapse in Europe’s dairy sector. Some 6,000 farmers with 700 tractors clogged roads in the German capital, bringing traffic in some areas to a halt.
how they were going to feed, clothe and educate their children as incomes collapsed. Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations leader Padraig Walshe warned that the EU commission’s failure to support small farmers was generating “a real crisis, a social problem out there on family farms in Europe.” The EU commission introduced milk quotas in 1984 to help tackle the then notorious butter mountains created by overproduction and to support prices. But, under pressure from trading partners, the EU has started to phase out farm subsidies. In November, the EU agreed to lift them by 1 per cent per year, then scrap them in 2014-2015.
health benefits, funded either through a new healthcare trust or by the company. The deal freezes pensions until 2015, eliminates semi-private hospital coverage and ends tuition assistance for workers joining after January 1 2010. The CAW also said that a 3,600 dollar (£1,963) holiday compensation payment has been cut to offset other costs, including pensions. Mr Lewenza explained that the agreement allows GM Canada to meet the cost benchmarks set by the federal Canadian and provincial Ontario governments — namely making cuts to become competitive with non-unionised Toyota Canada. Mr Lewenza said that there is little doubt that GM will file for bankruptcy in the United States and said there’s a real possibility it will do so in Canada. “The integrity of our collective agreement will be protected,” he vowed.
Christiania loses residency case A DANISH court has ruled that residents of Copenhagen’s semiautonomous Christiania neighbourhood have no right to use the former navy base they took over three decades ago. The Eastern High Court yesterday dismissed a lawsuit against government plans to regain control of the partially self-governing community. About 900 people currently live in Christiania and, according to lawyer Stig Grønbæk Jensen, they have temporary permission to remain there and will not be
evicted immediately. The neighbourhood was created in 1971 when hippies began squatting a derelict 18th century navy base on state-owned land. It became a flower-power community with psychedelic-coloured buildings, open cannabis peddling and limited interference from the government. Today, Christiania is one of the capital’s biggest tourist attractions, averaging one million visitors a year. Christiania spokesman Thomas Ertman insisted the state’s ac-
AFGHANISTAN: A suicide bomber rammed an explosiveladen vehicle into a NATO convoy in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, killing three US soldiers and an Afghan civilian. The bomber struck as the convoy passed by the capital of Kapisa province, north of Kabul. US military officials predict bomb attacks will rise 50 per cent this year to 5,700 — up from 3,800 last year.
FRANCE: The Church of Scientology could be dissolved in France if it is convicted in a trial that opened on Monday in a Paris court, where the sect and seven of its French leaders stand charged of organised fraud and illegal pharmaceutical activity.
MOOVE ALONG: A police officer blocks a cow and farmers with his shield during a demonstration in Brussels.
Auto workers take wage cuts so company can get handout CANADIAN Auto Workers members have voted to support a cost-cutting deal with General Motors as the US corporation bids to qualify for more government handouts. On Monday workers voted by 86 per cent in favour of the deal, which cuts wages, pensions and benefits. CAW president Ken Lewenza claimed that his members had no choice but to accept the agreement, which also stipulates that GM car assembly and parts plants in Ontario will stay open. “They understand the crisis in the auto industry — the vote shows that” Mr Lewenza said. According to the CAW, the tentative deal with GM Canada provides that the starting pay rate for new hires will be 70 per cent of the established rate, with increases of 5 per cent per year for six years. New hires will be entitled to the same retiree
Suicide bomber hits NATO group
France takes on Scientology
by Our Foreign Desk
Brussels saw around 1,000 farmers from half a dozen countries protest, with tractors and cows in tow, to press their demands for EU milk quotas to be lowered so that prices, which have fallen by up to 50 percent over the past year, can rise again. Police intervened when a few farmers tried to break through the EU security perimeter, but order was quickly restored. In France, angry farmers demanding reduced EU quotas closed off more than 80 processing plants. The protesters made sure no milk could be collected from farms to be processed into butter and cheese — the second such protest day in a month. And over 30 dairy farmers from the Irish Farmers Association’s (IFA) national dairy committee protested at the EU Commission offices in Dublin. IFA official Mary Sherry emphasised that farming families were “frantic with worry” about
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ceptance of their occupation has given them de facto rights to the area — and he said that residents will appeal against the ruling to Denmark’s Supreme Court. Mr Ertmann pointed to a 1987 Justice Ministry memo finding that it was likely that the state could only reassert its control over the base if it entered into an agreement with residents. Over the years, there have been many clashes between police and residents. In 2008, police fired tear gas to dispel demonstrators protesting the eviction of squatters.
Cyclone kills 73, floods villages
Addressing protesters in Brussels, Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association president Jackie Cahill argued that the crisis caused by the collapse in dairy farmer incomes had been triggered by the EU Commission and Farm Council — and he said they were responsible for correcting it. Mr Cahill demanded a U-turn by the commission, saying it must
support prices to save dairy farmers from bankruptcy and protect Ireland and Europe’s dairy and agri-processing sectors. Later in the day, EU agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel announced that ministers had agreed to pay out planned subsidies earlier than expected — but they did not budge on the EU quota system.
INDIA/BANGLADESH: Cyclone Aila lashed eastern India and Bangladesh on Monday, killing 73 and stranding thousands. The storm destroyed nearly 3,000 thatched and mud houses and toppled a large number of trees in nearly 300 villages across the Indian state of West Bengal, where at least 34 perished. High waves hit coastal areas in Bangladesh, killing at least 39.
MORNING STAR CONFERENCE SURVIVING CAPITALISM’S CRISIS The Morning Star is to host a national conference on Saturday June 20 2009 at the TUC Conference Hall, Congress House, 23-28 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS There will be morning and afternoon plenary sessions, including questions and answers and debate. We also aim to have a number of workshops, covering themes as diverse as the crisis in manufacturing, trade unions and their response to the crisis, housing, health, the environment, peace, the Charter for Women and welfare reform, all to be hosted by guest organisations. The cost is £10 a head (£5 unwaged). Free refreshments (including sandwich lunch) will be provided. Registration commences 9.30am. Conference ends at 4.30pm.
Solidarity stalls may be booked – details available on request.
PUT THIS DATE IN YOUR DIARY NOW! LET US KNOW YOU INTEND TO COME – BOOK EARLY IF YOU CAN! Contact the Secretary (Conference), William Rust House, 52 Beachy Road, London E3 2NS (Tel: (020) 8510-0815). Cheques should be made payable to PPPS The conference is supported by ASLEF, the Association of Indian Communists-GB (Marxist), the Campaign Against Criminalising Communities, the CPB, Croydon TUC, the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, the Greater London Association of Trade Union Councils, Health Emergency, the Indian Workers Association (GB), the Institute of Employment Rights, the Labour Representation Committee, Lambeth Trades Union Council, the National Assembly of Women, OH Parsons Solicitors, the Prison Officers Association, Thompsons Solicitors, the Stop the War Coalition, SERTUC, Unite, the United Campaign to Repeal the Anti Trade Union Laws, the Workers Music Association, the Venezuela Information Centre, Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and BECTU.
NEWS
4 MORNING STAR Wednesday May 27 2009
Shell in court over activists’ execution from p1 Mr Wiwa added: “To live for all these years without justice, without getting a sense of relief, seeing the perpetrators of the crimes continuing to benefit from their crimes, these are difficult things for any human beings to deal with.” James Marriott of the London-based campaign group Remember Saro-Wiwa said: “This is a demonstration of perseverance. Shell have fought extremely hard to prevent this case reaching court. Just to get to this point is a victory in many ways. “It is hugely important Shell are held to account for what they have done and continue to do in the Niger Delta. It is erroneous for firms to say they have no sway with the government, they have enormous sway. Ninety-five per cent of Nigeria’s export is oil.” The Morning Star contacted Shell headquarters in the Netherlands for comment but at time of press they had failed to respond.
‘Patriotic’ protest turns into racist attack
ANTI-FASCIST campaigners warned of a rise in racist activities in the Luton area yesterday after a “patriotic” protest ended up attracting far-right hooligans who attacked the local Asian community. by LOUISE NOUSRATPOUR Hundreds ran rampage through the town on Sunday, intimidating local people and attacking Asian residents, according to Unite Against Fascism (UAF).
Nine rioters were arrested, several cars were damaged and an Asian-owned business had its windows smashed. The demonstration was organised by groups calling themselves United People of Luton and March For England. Both groups claim to have no links to political parties, although a previous demonstration held by them in Luton last month attracted known members of the far-right British National Party (BNP). Love Music Hate Racism local activist Andrew, who did not wish
to reveal his full name for fear of reprisal, reported: “I walked out of my front door to be greeted by around a hundred protesters running across the dual carriageway at the top of my road. “Some of them had their faces covered with masks or wore black balaclavas. Their placards read ‘No Sharia Law’ and they were chanting ‘terrorists out.’ It was very intimidating. They were banging on Asian shopkeepers’ windows.” Andrew said that the mob were almost all white and male and had
come from as far away as Cornwall, Bournemouth and London. UAF joint secretary Weyman Bennett said that the riots bore all the hallmarks of the far-right. “This is what a BNP Britain would look like. We’ve always argued that the BNP is not like the other political parties — it is a fascist organisation dedicated to using racist thuggery to spread fear and hatred on our streets,” he warned. “If the BNP gets seats in the European elections, we can expect more of this sort of racism
and violence. “That is why it is so important for everyone who opposes the BNP’s thugs and bigots to turn out and vote against them at the elections on Thursday June 4.” Luton has become a focus for far-right activity in recent months following the controversy over a protest by a small Muslim group against British troops coming back from Iraq. Racists have used the protest as an excuse to whip up hatred against the town’s Muslim community.
Cameron tries to capitalise on voters’ anger
Brit swine flu cases hit 184 AN outbreak of swine flu at a school has seen the number of cases leap by 47 to 184. Of the new cases, 44 were linked to the school in the West Midlands. The remaining three patients, from London and the east of England, were either returning travellers or people linked to previously confirmed cases.
Wales No2EU — Yes to Democracy PUBLIC MEETINGS • No to the Lisbon Treaty and an EU super-state • Keep our public services public • Stand up for workers’ rights • Reject the racists and fascists Hear Bob Crow (RMT general secretary) and Wales No2EU candidates Robert Griffiths (Communist Party general secretary), Rob Williams (victimised convener at Linamar car plant, Socialist Party), Laura Picand (trade union staff official), Trevor Jones (Deeside TUC secretary) and others SWANSEA 7.30pm May 28, Dolphin Hotel, Whitewalls NEWPORT 7.30pm June 1, Newport Centre, Kingsway CARDIFF 6.30pm June 2, Sandringham Hotel, St Mary Street (with Bob Crow)
JOIN THE CAMPAIGN at www.no2eu.com or phone Peter Skelly (RMT) on 07920-724-862
TORY toff David Cameron did his best Tony Blair act yesterday in a brazen bid to turn public outrage at MPs’ and bankers’ greed to his advantage. In a speech heavily trailed in the “liberal” Guardian newspaper, the Conservative leader ignored his own party’s business connections and dodgy MPs and launched a thinly veiled assault on the public sector. Declaring that his party would seek to introduce “a new politics,” Mr Cameron (left) announced a handful of proposals that included slashing MPs by 10 per cent and handing councils new fundraising powers. But the bulk of Mr Cameron’s speech was taken up with hollow rhetoric. “When people see MPs caught cheating but still clinging on, bankers reaping their bonuses despite breaking the economy, they see a world that is built to benefit powerful elites they feel a terrible but impotent anger,”” cooed the Eton-educated Tory. He then veered swiftly into familiar Tory territory. In a speech littered with mantras such as “individual power,” “smaller parliament” and “curbing the executive,” he continued: “This rise in top-down cultural authoritarianism, combined with the steady growth in the size and scope of the state, has created an entitlement culture where self-re-
liance and social responsibility are gradually eroded.” Mr Cameron’s “people’s crusader” act failed to impress Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn, who labelled the Tory’s speech “routed in traditional populism ignorant of the great needs of the poorest areas of the country.” Mr Corbyn accused the Tory of planning to reduce central support for local government and pass the tax burden on those least able to pay. “It seems like a return to the poll tax and the record of Thatcher and Major,” Mr Corbyn said. Jeremy Corbyn: p7
Expenses ‘go to local parties’ SEVERAL members of the shadow cabinet used their office expenses to pay more than £150,000 to their local party associations, it was revealed yesterday. Shadow leader of the Commons Alan Duncan (above) paid £42,000 to the Rutland and Melton Conservative Association, while shadow children’s secretary Michael Gove paid £27,000 to the Surrey Heath Conservative Association, the Daily Telegraph reported. Shadow health secretary Liam Fox also pays £9,000 a year to the Woodspring Conservative Association in Bristol. And the Tories’ international development spokesman Andrew Mitchell is said to have paid Sutton Coldfield Conservative Association an annual sum of around £8,000 for the last four years. The MPs have justified the amounts as paying for costs such as rent, office space and telephone services provided by the associations. Other Tory MPs caught red handed include Tory leader David Cameron, who claimed a total of £82,450 on his second home allowance over five years. The amount included a £680 bill for repairs to the property, which included clearing wisteria and vines from a chimney, replacing outside lights and resealing his conservatory’s roof.
IPCC clears officer who Self-harm in tampered with evidence Scottish female A SENIOR police surveillance officer who admitted tampering with his evidence during the inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes was cleared yesterday by an official investigation. The Special Branch officer, known only as “Owen,” deleted text from his computer notes before speaking to the inquest in October last year. The Independent Police Complaints Commission said that the officer had acted naively, but found no evidence of “deliberate deception.” The revelation prompted accusations of a “sickening cover-up” by family members of the innocent Brazilian, who was shot dead at Stockwell Underground station on July 22 2005. The note referred to a comment from Deputy Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick (pictured), who was in charge of the police operation on the day.
prison rockets by over 800%
It referred to her saying that Mr de Menezes could “run onto Tube as not carrying anything.” “Owen” failed to refer to the note both when the IPCC began investigating the death in 2005 and during the 2007 health and safety trial, the IPCC found. On October 7 last year, a week before he gave evidence to the inquest, he removed the line of text before handing the note to Metropolitan Police lawyers.
THE number of incidents of selfharm in Scotland’s only all-female prison has “rocketed” by over 800 per cent, it was revealed yesterday. Scottish Prison Service (SPS) figures showed that there were 64 reports of self-harm or planned self-harm in Cornton Vale prison in Stirling last year. Twenty-one of the incidents involved young offenders. The total is the highest of all of Scotland’s prisons and is up from seven in 2004. But an SPS spokesman said: “Following years of unreliable data, SPS set out clearer defi nitions to be used to report the issue of self-harm in the prison population. “As a result, reports of self-harm are up primarily for this reason.”
NEWS
SNP attacks public cash claim for new nuclear sites GOVERNMENT plans for a new generation of nuclear plants were left in disarray yesterday after the head of Britain’s biggest nuclear generator, Elecricite de France (EDF), revealed that new stations could not be built without public subsidy. EDF boss Vincent de Rivaz claimed last Monday that a “level playing field” was needed to allow the nuclear industry to compete with other green energy sources. The utility giant plans to build four new plants in Britain, one of which may be sited in Scotland. The Scottish National Party (SNP) government strongly opposes the plans and the news drew a rapid response from Mike Weir MP, their energy spokesman in Westminster. Branding the admission by Mr de Rivaz as further evidence that nuclear power was “unaffordable, unwise and unnecessary,” he said that the SNP’s drive for renewable energy was the only “sensible” way forward in creating a green energy future and in providing jobs during troubled economic times. “Claims that there would be no public subsidy for new nuclear stations were always fantasy, and this admission by EDF is both embarrassing and damaging for the UK government,” he said.
Churchill’s family slam BNP adverts SIR Winston Churchill’s family have described the BNP decision to use his image in a party election broadcast as “offensive and disgusting.” Pictures of Britain’s wartime prime minister feature alongside archive footage from the second world war in the British National Party’s broadcast, which was aired last night. BNP chairman Nick Griffin uses part of Churchill’s famous “blood, toil, tears and sweat” speech to promote his own manifesto.
MORNING STAR Wednesday May 27 2009
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Bleak outlook for young unemployed
BRITAIN’S poorest youngsters will be “permanently damaged” by the recession unless action is taken over the rising tide of unemployment among under-25s, youth charities warned yesterday. The number of under-25s claiming jobseeker’s allowance has risen 80 per cent to more than 450,000 in the past year, according to a report published by The Prince’s Trust and the Cass Business School.
And the spiralling figures coincided with warnings that the network of youth organisations which have in the past supported young people is itself in danger of “thousands of cuts.” In some parts of Britain — such as Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales and Wansbeck in Northumberland — one in six young people are claiming jobseeker’s allowance. The report warned youth charities were struggling to cope with the spiralling demand in deprived areas. The sector is made up mostly of smaller groups working across a wide range of services. Youth charities rely disproportionately on corporate funding and charitable trusts, both of which are particularly vulnerable in an economic downturn. They have difficulty attracting major public funding, with animal welfare charities receiving five times more donations. The report found that income for young people’s charities represents only 1 per cent of the volun-
by LOUISE NOUSRATPOUR and SIMON SAUNDERS tary sector’s £48 billion income. The Prince’s Trust chief executive Martina Milburn warned: “Britain’s most vulnerable youngsters will be permanently damaged by the downturn, unless they receive the support they need. “We need to help young people into jobs — only with their ideas and creativity will we be able to pull ourselves out of the recession.” A UNISON spokeswoman called on the government to use public funds to help young people into the jobs market. “It is disheartening and demoralising that more and more young people are unable to find work when leaving school or university,” she said. “The government must take measures to help young people find work. Threatening job cuts in local government is the wrong thing to do. The government should use public money to create jobs, for example by kick-starting house building and offer more apprenticeships.” The UNISON spokeswoman also called on businesses to look to the future and recruit young people into their enterprise.
Jobless figure soars by 80 per cent
UPWARD SPIRAL: More than 450,000 people under 25 now face life on the dole. “Employers must not be shortsighted and use the recession as an excuse to stop recruiting for the future,” she added.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said: “We know young people are finding it tough in this recession. That’s
Campaign seeks recall of disgraced MPs A CAMPAIGN to give voters the power to sack MPs by signing a petition to “recall” them was launched yesterday. The recall proposal being advocated by the 38 Degrees organisation in the wake of the MPs’ expenses scandal would force elected politicians to seek immediate re-election if a certain number of constituents signed up to the demand. Recall ballots are the first sub-
ject to be raised by the new group, which aims to use online campaigning tactics through its website 38degrees.org.uk to put pressure on politicians for action on a range of “progressive” issues. Executive director David Babbs said: “We’re launching the recall campaign because people need new ways of holding MPs to
account to restore trust in politics, shake MPs out of their complacency and halt a dangerous slide into all-out political disillusionment. “Self-policing is not enough. People must have the power to remove MPs who have disgraced themselves or flouted their electors’ wishes.”
Polling conducted for 38 Degrees — named for the “tipping point” angle at which avalanches begin — suggested that, even before the recent controversy over MPs’ expenses, almost half of people were disillusioned by political parties’ unwillingness to take action on issues they cared about.
why the Chancellor announced in the Budget a guarantee of work or training for all young people if they are unemployed for a year.”
Weather today ALTHOUGH eastern parts will start the day dry with some sunshine, it will soon turn cloudy and damp here as wet and windy weather continues to sweep eastwards during the morning. As the cloud and rain clears from the west during the afternoon, it will turn brighter and showery behind. Outlook: Tomorrow will be warmer and much less windy, with spells of sunshine for the eastern parts of Britain. Elsewhere it will be cloudier with a few spots of light rain or drizzle possible.
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‘Die-in’ to mark Afghan bombing
KEN GILL 30.8.27—23.5.09
PLACING AN AD?
ANTI-WAR protesters wearing wedding dresses and suits will stage a “die-in” at a British military base in north London today in opposition to Britain’s increasing involvement in the Afghan war. The action at HMS Warrior in Northwood will mark the second anniversary of the attack on a wedding party at Haji Nabu in Afghanistan. Forty-seven civilians were killed by the US bombing — one of many wedding parties to have been massacred by occupation forces. The action is believed to be the first large-scale civil disobedience against the war. Maya Anne Evans, the first person to be convicted for demonstrating without police permission in the vicinity of Parliament, will be taking part in the die-in. Speaking before the event, she highlighted: “Sixty-eight per cent of people in Britain want all British troops home from Afghanistan, but we’re still there and we’re putting more troops in — at the request of US President Barack Obama. “The blood of Afghan brides and grooms is on our hands, thousands of Afghan civilians have been killed by US/NATO bombing.” Fellow activist Milan Rai, who will also take part in the “die-in,” warned that Britain was increasing its intelligence and military presence, not only in Afghanistan but also in Pakistan. “Britain’s peace movement must do more to raise awareness about our government’s involvement in the escalation in Afghanistan and Pakistan.” The organisers of the event include Voices in the Wilderness UK, Justice Not Vengeance and the London and Oxford Catholic Workers. Protesters will also highlight the May 4 massacre, in which as many as 120 civilians, including 93 children, were killed by occupation forces in the Farah province.
Funeral: 2pm, West Chapel, Golders Green Crematorium, Hoop Lane, NW11
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WIN LANGTON 1909—2003 This month she would have reached her century Sadly missed by family and friends Always in our thoughts and conversations DAWN and FAY
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NEWS
6 MORNING STAR Wednesday May 27 2009
Fighting Fund with MAC O’CONNELL
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We’ve got 8 days DOTTED here and there throughout the Star this week you’ll find the odd page that looks a bit different to what you’re used to. That’s because we’re testing out ideas for the new bigger and brighter Star which will be coming your way next week. Hopefully you’ll like what you see — but if not, bear in mind it’s still a work in progress and there’s bound to be the odd gaffe along the way. When the new Star hits the newsstands, I hope it inspires a bit more support for the Fund too. Yesterday’s £484 — the bulk of it through standing orders — means we need over £1,500 a day when you remember that there’ll be no post over the weekend. That’s a huge task at the best of times, but even worse now everyone’s feeling the economic crunch. Still, I have faith you can pull this one out of the fire. We desperately need a decent Fund total this month to make sure the big relaunch isn’t put at risk by lack of cash. So, whether you’re a regular supporter or you’ve never given to the Fund before — now’s the time to rally round the people’s paper.
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Liberalisation ‘has hurt postal service’
EU-DRIVEN postalmarket liberalisation has led to unemployment, attacks on working conditions and a poorer service for customers, a comprehensive study warned yesterday. by PADDY McGUFFIN The UNI Global Union, which published the findings yesterday, called for an urgent moratorium on the implementation of the third postal directive. The global study was carried out in 13 countries and showed that full liberalisation of the post-
Fishing industry’s catastrophes ‘down to EU Commission’ THE European Commission is directly to blame for the catastrophic impact on the fishing industry, anti-EU campaigners charged yesterday as the European body announced a consultation on reforming the ailing Common Fisheries Policy. The report says that 80 per cent of fish stocks in EU waters are still overfished and about 30 per cent of stocks are “outside safe biological limits, meaning that there is a real risk of collapse of these stocks.” Acceptance that the Common Fisheries Policy has effectively failed revived calls for the industry to be restored to the hands of national and regional electoral coalition authorities. Brian Denny of No2EU said: “Stocks are being depleted because Brussels sees fishing grounds as common resources to be exploited by any number of states. “It is the failed fisheries policy which has created this position. “Fishing grounds need to be brought back under democratic control. The problem is not overfishing — it is overexploitation of the fishing grounds.”
2 £+£1 p p 2 & ken gill
hung drawn and quartered Caricatures from the left Feel like a laugh in these trying times and a reminder of more militant ones? Why not buy this book of over 70 caricatures drawn with acerbic wit and verve by a hidden talent of the labour movement. Available from the Morning Star, Cheques payable to: PPPS, William Rust House, 52 Beachy Road, London E3 2NS Phone: (020) 8510-0815 for credit/debit cards
Global study proves union fears al market simply does not work. Head of UNI post and logistics Neil Anderson said: “What we have been seeing in Germany and the Netherlands recently — postal companies demanding lower wages and announcing big job cuts — is the inevitable disastrous conclusion of a failed liberalisation policy. “Our research shows the economic crisis is a catalyst for liberalisation and for social dumping that companies like TNT and
Deutsche Post are proposing.” The Communication Workers Union (CWU) welcomed the report but said that its findings were already well known within the workforce. General secretary Billy Hayes said: “We’ve said for a long while that liberalisation doesn’t benefit the market. The UNI report shows that postal services are public services and don’t sit well in the private sector.” The CWU has expressed con-
cern that the Postal Services Bill, which aims to part-privatise Royal Mail, has received its first reading in Parliament, raising suspicions that it was pushed through to coincide with the bank holiday. A spokesman said: “This was not expected and raises a number of questions and issues. While politics is and always will be full of games, the future of Royal Mail is too important to gamble away. “It is a huge public asset, not just a political football.”
Former Labour MP declares her backing for No2EU campaign Former Labour MP Alice Mahon (inset) has joined the No2EU campaign. pic: Andrew Wiard
FORMER Labour MP Alice Mahon declared her full support for No2EU — Yes to Democracy last night as the anti-EU political alliance kicked off its election broadcast programme. Ms Mahon, who resigned from the Labour Party last month after 50 years of membership, announced her support for the group at a No2EU public meeting in Birmingham. In her resignation letter, the former Halifax MP said that she could no longer be a member of a party “that at leadership level has betrayed many of the principles that inspired me as a teenager to join.” Her letter, sent to former colleagues in her Halifax constituency,
was sharply critical of Labour’s failure to deliver a promised referendum on the EU Lisbon Treaty. She wrote: “If that treaty is ratified, we can say goodbye to any publicly owned services — we will be handing over to private 25pm S4C, Tonight,gh7.t 10.35pm corporations soni To BBC 1, cial services, edut, 11.20pm m BBC 2, Toni,gh cation, transport night, 10.35p To BBC Wales , Tonight, 10.35pm and postal services. BBC Scotland, Tonight, 10.30pm Even the NHS will ITV ScotlandMay 29 10.30pm be up for grabs.” ITV, Friday Friday May 29 10.30pm No2EU convenITV Wales, er Bob Crow welcomed Ms Mahon’s support.
party Watch No2EU’s cast : election broad
Brian Denny of No2EU — Yes to Democracy said that the postal directive was “symptomatic” of the EU’s neoliberal approach. “Nobody supports the introduction of the directive. We have seen the imposition of the internal market mechanism into rail services with disastrous effects. Now they are attempting to introduce the same flawed economic design to postal and health services.” In the study, UNI examined the effects of liberalisation on workers and the union response. It revealed the tremendous job losses caused by liberalisation, deterioration of working conditions in competing postal operators, increasing precarious working conditions through the increase in atypical work, cuts in wages and wage dumping.
Teenagers turn to face cream to avoid ageing ONE in three women under the age of 25 is already using antiageing products, while 12 per cent started applying anti-ageing creams before their 16th birthday. The shocking poll of 2,000 women between the ages of 18 and 25 also revealed yesterday that 47 per cent would even be prepared to have cosmetic surgery to shave some years off their appearance, despite the obvious health risks. A Feminist Fightback spokesperson said: “It’s completely understandable that young women feel such pressures. It is beauty as defined by the free market and just another way for capitalism to control women.” Nearly 70 per cent of respondents said that they dreaded signs of ageing and over half felt pressured to stay looking young. A significant proportion felt that the most pressure came from exposure to celebrities. But Simple Health Beauty, which carried out the research, warned that “the majority of these products are not designed for women under the age of 40. “Some are formulated with harsh ingredients, such as retinol derivatives which are not suitable for sensitive skin. These ingredients may cause skin damage when used prematurely, which can lead to photosensitivity in later life.”
Magazine highlights force-feeding of suffragettes A “HARROWING” account of hunger-striking suffragettes being force-fed was revisited yesterday. Imprisoned women who were refusing to eat were subjected to “brutal, life-threatening and degrading procedures,” according to BBC History Magazine. Author Jane Purvis described how many members of the Women’s Social and Political Union were held down and forced to take a concoction of milk, bread and brandy. Political campaigners were restrained by female warders while two male doctors put a rubber tube, “which was not always new,” either up a nostril or down the throat and into the stomach to administer the mixture. Ms Purvis reported that sometimes the procedure would go wrong and the tube would accidentally enter the windpipe, causing the food to enter the lungs and endanger the lives of the women. She wrote: “Although the word ‘rape’ was
not used by the prisoners to describe their experiences, the instrumental invasion of the body, accompanied by the overpowering physical force, suffering and humiliation, was akin to it and commonly described as an ‘outrage’.” The Suffragettes’ association with hungerstriking began in July 1909 when Marion Wallace Dunlop fasted for 91 hours after being sent to Holloway prison for printing an extract from the Bill of Rights on a wall inside the House of Commons. Following her protest, she was released from captivity. The government responded by force-feeding prisoners who refused food, arguing that it was “ordinary hospital treatment to preserve women’s lives.” The article about the “most shameful episode in the history of the British women’s suffrage campaign” can be read in BBC History Magazine, which went on sale yesterday, priced £3.60.
BRAVE: A suffragette campaigning.
FEATURES
MORNING STAR Wednesday May 27 2009
Uni in funding crisis L
ONDON Metropolitan University, with its sprawling buildings on the Holloway Road and around Whitechapel, is a world away from the trimmed lawns and boat houses of Oxbridge. Its student body is almost as big a contrast too. It has an enormous number of students who are adults who underachieved at school. Many are from non-university educated families and ethnic minorities. The London Met has given university opportunities to thousands who would otherwise be denied them. It boasts an impressive array of courses, from silversmithing to Cuban studies and from working life to Irish history, as well as cutting-edge research in aerospace and technology. It is not elitist, just effective. But it is in the depths of a funding crisis which is being anxiously observed by all such similar institutions, as job losses and course closures loom ever closer. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) audited the university’s student numbers and module completions and decided that it had been overpaid by more than £30 million. Its annual allocation is now to be reduced by about £10 million. In effect, the university will have about a third fewer headline student places and 550 jobs will be lost. In response to the crisis and staff calls for an inquiry into how it came
about, university vice-chancellor Brian Roper has resigned. His full pay on “gardening leave” for another six months contrasts sharply with the students who are desperate to know if they will have a course to go back to in September or the hundreds of staff who fear that redundancy is around the corner. A debate in Parliament last week saw MPs from all parties call for an independent investigation, plus funding to maintain student places and protect employment. Universities Minister David Lammy stuck to the mantra that the government cannot interfere with HEFCE decision-making but that there should be an independent inquiry. Subsequent noises from the oddly named Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills seemed to suggest the inquiry would be conducted by the National Audit Office as part of a wider probe and that the HEFCE would report on the university. A magnificent march of university workers, civil servants and post office workers along the Holloway Road last Saturday showed how much they all value education and opportunities. The murky world of university finance and property dealing must not override the need to protect the newer universities from funding cuts, which would destroy the opportunities of a whole generation of would-be students.
Political games D
AVID Cameron has climbed aboard a bandwagon of amazing size and speed, which sadly lacks any sense of direction. The fact that taxpayers paid for trimming his wisteria seems to have been forgotten by the media, which now routinely denounces all elected politicians as being self-serving greedy crooks and is promoting a programme of anti-politics as the way forward.
DISINGENUOUS: David Cameron.
UN secretary general visits war-ravaged Sri Lanka T
O his credit, United Nations secretary general Ban Ki Moon went to Sri Lanka and saw for himself the devastation and misery of the refugee camps. At the end of his visit there was a carefully worded joint statement with President Mahinda Rajapaksa. They acknowledged the need for relief, an end to the camps and
reconstruction and made noises about reintegration and human rights law. They deftly skirted around the issue of potential war crimes and use of illegal weapons. No sooner was the secretary general on his way back to New York than the president rejected the political path adopted by the the Lib-
eration Tigers of Tamil Eelam following Velupillai Prabhakaran’s death and went on to say that the army’s work was not finished. The war has cost tens of thousands of lives over the past 25 years. Without respecting Tamil identity and rights or addressing their grievances, the horrors could return. Having rejected all calls for cease-
fire and now, apparently, for dialogue, the case for international humanitarian law becomes stronger. Outside Parliament, the Tamil protests continue. Quite rightly they are demanding that international monitors observe and report back from Sri Lanka, that aid is delivered and that those detained in the “camps” be released.
Gurkhas and empire The British used Nepalese soldiers to fulfil their imperialist designs for domination. JOHN WIGHT examines this murky historical episode.
T
HE Gurkhas have traditionally enjoyed a venerated place in British society, viewed as brave warriors who’ve fought and died in wars involving this country around the world. It was largely as a result of this esteem that the campaign to win settlement rights for retired Gurkhas, spearheaded by popular British actor Joanna Lumley, gained so much support in the mainstream press and ultimately succeeded. Despite the fanfare of publicity and renewed goodwill towards these Nepalese soldiers as a result of the campaign to reward them for their devoted service, the truth is more complicated than Lumley and the mainstream press describe. In reality, the Gurkhas were used by the British as a regiment of mercenaries to suppress resistance to British colonialism and militarism around the world. Gurkhas have fought in the British army for 200 years and are renowned for their courage in battle, stamina and all-round toughness. They first came to the attention of Britain as a result of their determined resistance to the invasion of Nepal by the British East India Company at the start of the 19th century. As part of the peace deal that was drawn up
7
to end the conflict, the British East India Company negotiated a clause allowing it to recruit from the ranks of its former enemy. Throughout the rest of the 19th century, these Nepalese soldiers fought in some of the most brutal and savage wars of aggression in service to British mercantile and colonial interests. In particular they fought on the side of the British during the 1857 Indian uprising, a revolt which spread throughout India and which was brutally suppressed and ended a year later in 1858. Thereafter, the Gurkhas were incorporated as separate regiments within the British officered Indian army. It was as part of the Indian army that a Gurkha regiment helped to carry out the infamous 1919 Amritsar massacre, when British troops opened fire on a rally of unarmed civilians who were protesting against the arrest of Gandhi during a wave of strikes over the unremitting poverty suffered by exploited Indian workers that succeeded in uniting Hindus and Muslims. Some 200,000 Gurkhas fought for the British in the two world wars. When India won its independence in 1947, four Gurkha regiments were transferred from the Indian army to the British army, where they have remained ever since, serving in Hong Kong, Borneo, Malaysia, Cyprus, the Falklands, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lumley has revealed that her attachment to the Gurkhas is a result of her childhood growing up in India, where her father served as a major with a Gurkha regiment. During the second world war, her father fought against the Japanese in Burma, where his life was saved by one of the Gurkhas under his command. But, as in neighbouring Malaya, India or indeed any other outpost of the empire, British troops were not fighting to liberate the Burmese people from Japanese occupation. Instead, they were fighting to preserve a colonial possession which the British government had ruthlessly exploited since first arriving in the country in the early 19th century. The future for the Gurkhas remains uncertain despite the success of the campaign to win them settlement rights. Back in Nepal, Communists have succeeded in banning the monarchy and will play a major role in the government of the republic that has been formed in its place. It has already made clear its disapproval of the recruitment of Gurkhas into the British army. In fact, it has stated that the recruitment of Nepalese into the British armed forces as mercenaries is degrading and will be banned. Hopefully such a ban will come sooner rather than later.
Indeed, the whole of the BBC Panorama programme on Monday night was devoted to the fictitious fiddling of a fictitious MP — at no time did it attempt to discuss our Parliament’s lack of power or the need for a stronger democracy. In large measure, Parliament has brought this ridicule upon itself. Changes are happening very fast, and not before time. But on the back of the outrage there is a new agenda creeping in. This agenda is essentially very right-wing, seeking to reduce the power of elections and therefore of councillors, MPs and MEPs. It is beginning to sound like Newt Gingrich, who pushed for the end of “big government” in the US. That process brought us bank deregulation, record levels of poverty and an enormous gap between the rich and the poor both within the US and between the richest and poorest nations. Cameron proposes much the same. In effect, he is advocating a return to the inglorious Thatcher and Major years, when local government in the poorest areas was starved of central funds and was forced into cuts and redundancies. In raising the issue of prime ministerial power and the effectiveness of Parliament, Cameron did a hit a vital nerve. I doubt that if he ever became prime minister he would really relinquish the enormous power of personal patronage that goes with the office or that his government would really want to lose control of the parliamentary process. The issue is not the number of MPs but what powers they have and how they behave politically. From its foundation, the Labour Party had a tense relationship between the democracy and accountability of the labour movement and the behaviour of the parliamentary party, which adopted its own rules and programme. Tony Blair and new Labour solved this conundrum by handing control over the whole party to the leadership and parliamentary party. This was an act of centralisation that parallels the centralised state that we live in. As the expenses debate begins to move beyond personalities and headlines, the left must be more engaged. We need Parliament to be accountable and that comes from ending the prime minister’s power to use the royal prerogative, with MPs deciding on the legislative programme and being able to represent and communicate with their constituencies. Any process of electoral reform must retain the MP-constituency link. It would also be therapeutic for MPs to leave the gold chandeliers behind and meet people who are facing the loss of their jobs and homes.
Gill was an inspiration EN Gill was a great K man in every way. He was not just a huge influence in the engineering unions in the 1970s and right up to his retirement but afterwards as well. Gill was always there at demonstrations, rallies and meetings for Cuba, Venezuela or anyone trying to make life better for the majority. I don’t suppose he was ever offered a peerage, but he used his retirement even better to support left causes and inspire others. My sympathies are with his family. Gill offered for all of us a lesson on how to keep faith.
8
FEATURES
MORNING STAR Wednesday May 27 2009
Cutbacks on the sly A
GROWING array of British unions are reporting that a number of unscrupulous employers are using the recession as a cover to make cutbacks on workers’ terms and conditions in order to further boost their profit levels. Many unions have been prepared to work with employers, believing that cutting operating costs will protect jobs. Some bosses have genuinely been able to prove that their firms are in dire financial straits. But more and more employers and are using the opportunity of economic difficulties to enhance their profitability at the ex-
VOCAL: An activist rallying the workers at Lindsey refinery.
pense of workers. This is taking a number of forms. The sacking of Unite convener Rob Williams at Linamar in Swansea is an example of employers using the recession to attack union organisation as a prelude to attacking workers’ terms and conditions. Williams’s “crime” was to keep on saying No to his employer’s demands for flexibility. Another car parts manufacturer Autologic tried but failed to derecognise Unite so that its members would no longer have the collective protection of their union on pay and conditions. Then there are those employers, like Visteon, mobile phone manufacturer AVX and United Biscuits, that have taken the opportunity afforded by the recession to suppress opposition to offshoring of work to locations where labour costs are far cheaper. None of these operations is lossmaking. They have been profitable, but, according to their owners, not nearly profitable enough. By contrast, Hewlett Packard has been accused of using the cloak of economic contraction to justify job cuts — plain and simple. The same has been the case with Aviva and National Express. Again, there was no danger of the companies being anywhere near making losses to justify these cuts. Another emerging theme is employers
Employers are using the recession as a pretext to undermine pay and conditions. GREGOR GALL looks at how workers are now fighting back.
STRENGTH: Protesting laggers at Milford Haven.
dismissing workers for various reasons like “misconduct” to try to escape their redundancy pay-out responsibilities. For example, the drugs charity Release reported recently that employers are increasingly using drug testing to do just this. Here, programmes of voluntary redundancies are announced, quickly followed by workplace medicals for the remaining staff, including drug tests for cannabis and the like. To put a cap on all this, the TUC has
noted that disabled workers are disproportionately likely to be made redundant as employers use them as an easy target to reduce headcounts. But employers are not having it all their own way. The National Union of Journalists, RMT and others have been at the forefront of taking industrial action to reduce job cuts, stop wage freezes and attacks on conditions. These cases may have got less publicity than the Visteon struggle, but
LETTERS
Mandel is worth a read JOHN Moore concludes his review of the biography of Ernest Mandel by Jan Willem Stutje (M Star May 25) with a criticism of Mandel that, while he wrote some “interesting material,” his blind spots were substantial and well demonstrated by the failure in his book Marxist Economic Theory to refer to Lenin’s treatment of imperialism. Marxist Economic Theory, first published in 1962, is a masterwork which I would commend to Marxists of every persuasion. Mandel came from a different tradition to my own and that of many readers of the Morning Star, but, as he explained in the introduction, his aim in writing the book was “to start from the empirical data of the science of today in order to examine whether or not the essence of Marx’s economic propositions remain valid.”
What would Marx say? I AGREE with Craig Johnston (M Star May 26) that Marx would not have supported the EU, it being a capitalist intergovernmental and trading arrangement. However, I don’t think he would have opposed it with a demand to go back to politically independent nation states. I think he would rather have seen it as an inevitable development of globalised capitalism, with the alternative being a global socialist society where the resources of the world would have become the common heritage of all humanity. ADAM BUICK London SW4
He achieved this significant aim brilliantly and it is to be regretted that, nearly 50 years later, there have been so few, if any, attempts to emulate his achievement — surely much-needed in the light of so much new “empirical data” since 1962. The downside of Mandel’s approach was that, as he warned readers in the introduction, those looking for the numerous references to Marx, Engels and Lenin would be disappointed. That wasn’t the purpose of the book. It’s difficult to judge from John Moore’s review whether Stutje’s biography of Mandel is worth reading. If you can find a copy, Mandel’s Marxist Economic Theory most definitely is. MARTIN GRAHAM South Croydon
We need right of recall MAY I make a suggestion regarding the present voting system in place for our representatives in elected office around the country? There should be no general election as such. It should be replaced with an annual right of recall, whereby the incumbent MP, councillor, etc would be able to be examined by the constituency electorate once a year and, if it is deemed that he or she is
not fulfilling their elected mandate, 51 per cent — this figure to be determined by general consensus — would be needed to request a by-election. Following this, the individual would stand down and an election of various prospective candidates follow. This procedure would be available nationwide, in every constituency in the country, every year and at a time decided by
popular consensus. The beauty of this system is that, should the constituency electorate be happy with their sitting candidate, no by-election would be needed. The electors, however, would be positively involved in the well-being of their country every year and our elected representatives, through this system, would be kept to better account. EDWARD MURPHY London N5
Some might say politics gets forgotten THE XFM radio survey of the top 10 British songs which you report (M Star May 26) may just have suffered from a large number of Oasis fans casting their votes. On the other hand, it may be a reflection of the limitations of popular memory and the age of the XFM audience. If, for example, you are aged 30, born in 1979, Oasis will seem like a classic band of a distant era. While this can be argued about, the wider lessons for socialists are important. We can’t rely on people to remember events like the 1984-5 miners’ strike or the Pentonville dockers but need to make sure that the details of such key points in recent British history are regularly in the public eye. KEITH FLETT London N17
The Morning Star welcomes readers’ letters. No more than 300 words please to: The Letters Editor, Morning Star, William Rust House, 52 Beachy Road, Bow, London E3 2NS. Fax: (020) 8986-5694. Email lettersed@peoples-press.com
they are no less important for that. Then there are the increasing numbers of cases where workers who have lost their jobs in the recession are bringing legal actions against former employers. It has been reported that employers are noticing a change in strategy as sacked staff opt for an “everythingand-the-kitchen-sink” approach by bringing multiple claims in the hopes of maximising pay-outs. Meanwhile, other workers are trying to circumvent statutory financial limits on compensation by raising discrimination, whistleblowing and other nonstandard complaints because, while there is a cap on the compensation for unfair dismissal, there is no cap on compensation for whistleblowing. So either way, there is some evidence of workers not taking the bosses’ actions lying down. But what would really give a lift-off to these instances and turn them into a growing trend would be some clear-cut, high-profile victories. The case of the laggers at the Milford Haven liquefied natural gas plant last week taking just two days action, with support from thousands of fellow workers on other construction sites, is one such example. They won what they wanted — existing workers in the local labour market, British or not, to be eligible for vacancies and the work not to be given to Polish nationals specially brought in from overseas to do the job. They clearly benefited from the investment that their fellow engineering construction workers made at the beginning of this year when they undertook a week-long unofficial strike in support of workers at the Lindsey oil refinery. In other words, this earlier strike made the construction employers less likely to try to sit out such a strike because of the prospect of rapid, largescale and determined escalation. We have to hope that the many other workers begin to see that resistance at the right time and in the right circumstances is not only possible but can be effective. Otherwise, many employers will see that there is a silver lining there to be had when a dirty great big cloud hangs over all of us.
FEATURES
MORNING STAR Wednesday May 27 2009
Pine honours a giant of New Orleans
9
ARTS
Rekindling memories Chris Searle of mining on JAZZ lives past
Courtney Pine Transition In Tradition (Destin-E) PLAYING Courtney Pine’s 1990 reggae-based album Closer To Home recently reminded me how much the saxophonist’s jazz was plunged in the Caribbean and how his family’s Jamaican provenances were central to his music’s bloodstream. Unlike any US jazz musician — with the possible exception of Sonny Rollins — Pine’s proud Caribbean heart beats in his every note. Two decades later, Pine’s new album Transition In Tradition celebrates the achievement in jazz of one of the music’s first great soprano saxophonists — Sidney Bechet, who was born in New Orleans in 1897. New Orleans is really a Caribbean city and its people, who invented jazz, had countless bonds with the necklace of islands to its south. So here is a contemporary Caribbean reedman blowing his tribute to a great Caribbean jazz pioneer in a unique album, invoking places and people that express one unified Caribbean nation and a musical culture of huge diversity. Pine has been around a long time now. His first album Journey To The Urge Within goes back to 1986 and his last two decades have been a relentless process of imbibing absorbing and expressing diverse musical influences — Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Charlie Parker within the jazz canon and reggae, funk, ska and hip hop elsewhere. Pine’s sumptuously deep bass clarinet begins the album’s opener Haiti, with some stirring ensemble work from his band, a pan-Caribbean assembly including Dominican guitarist Cameron Pierre and Cuban violinist
Omar Puente. But also present are Ghanaian drummer Robert Fordjour and Stefon Harris, the renowned vibist from Albany, New York, who follows Pine’s lung-bursting chorus with a sparkling marimba solo while the band riffs on behind him. Pine’s vaunting theme New Orleans follows, his soprano marching down Bechet’s streets and Pierre’s fleeting guitar matching every step until pianist Alex Wilson takes the lead, joined by the irrepressible Puente. Le Matin Est Noire, taken from an Archie Shepp song, has more superb Pierre, this time on mandolin, and a solo from Puente that begins with echoes of Grieg’s Peer Gynt suite. The tailgate-sounding slides of trombonist Harry Brown begin the title tune with Darren Taylor’s bass also dominant. Pine’s swirling soprano comes in, meshing cultures in its wake and manifesting his sleeve dictum, “When cultures meet there is either conflict or positive union, what’s for sure is that both cultures will never stay the same” — a commentary on the astonishing hybridity of New Orleans. Toussaint L’Ouverture is a tribute to a powerful Caribbean hero with, as Wordsworth put it, an “unconquerable mind.” The Haitian revolutionary is given a noble melodic theme by Pine, embellished by the vibrato of his bass clarinet and a stomping piano chorus by Wilson. A tribute to a Jamaican jazz eminence, The Tale of Joe Harriott, follows, a moving solo outing for Harris and more eloquent Wilson, with Pine’s tender notes on alto flute. Throughout The Sound of Jazz? Pine’s soprano gyrates as if he were a part of the second line of a New Orleans funeral parade, with echoes of Flee As A Bird, delta rhythms and Puente’s reso-
Bring Out The Banners Conisbrough, South Yorkshire
nating violin. In Creole Swing, Harris dazzles a chorus and Pine’s bass clarinet bubbles and gurgles, while Afropean remembers the generation of exiled South African free jazz musicians who arrived in Britain in the ’60s, including, as Pine reminds us in his sleeve notes, bassist Johnny Dyani and drummer Louis Moholo. Their imprint is all through this music. The album’s final track Au Revoir is a bold, assured performance to conclude Pine’s most accomplished album, an expression of what he notes is the “boundaryless imagination” of fused cultures — African, European, Caribbean — which once became one in New Orleans and, through the century-long journey of jazz, have never stopped harmonising.
CARIBBEAN ROOTS: Courtney Pine
THE South Yorkshire Miners Gala is being revived on Saturday in honour of a very special anniversary — 25 years since the 1984-5 miners’ strike. And a lot of work and passion has gone into Bring Out The Banners, as the event has been dubbed. Its declared intention to make “working-class people, especially kids, proud again” is in large part down to artist and strike baby Rachel Horne. Ex-miners from Cortonwood, the colliery where the great strike started, approached Horne last November to start organising the gala. Along with the campaign to get ex-colliery sites marked on British maps, it’s Horne’s art in practice — making new ways for human beings to connect. Horne was born in the pit village of Conisbrough during the 1984-5 strike. Now living in London, her last three or so years’ films, collages, installations and events have all focused on keeping alive the mining tradition she comes from. Her father and generations further back were NUM men — militants proud to march behind NUM banners. Her mother comes from a mining family as well. Bring Out The Banners will feature a fairground, live music from brass bands and folk groups, a miners’ memorabilia exhibition and a DJ workshop, while Anne Scargill, miners’ leader Arthur Scargill’s ex-wife and heroine of the miners’ wives groups, will be speaking. But it’s the NUM banner display and the march at the start of the day that will be the hub of the celebration. South Yorkshire, Scargill’s heartland and badly hit by the great strike, is now desperately deprived. While Horne feels the world is her oyster, for many of her friends, unemployment, drugs, the British army and the ever-hovering British National Party are theirs. So it’s these kids’ sense of what’s possible that the indefatigable Horne aims to expand. The event takes place on May 31 from 11am at Conisbrough and Denaby Miners Welfare, Doncaster. Ring 07728 684-616 or email Pinthepits@ gmail.com for more details. JUDITH AMANTHIS
In memory of our shadow laureate C
AROL Ann Duffy is one of the most talented and popular poets writing in Britain at the moment. If we must have a poet laureate, she is undoubtedly a good choice.
But does British cultural life in the 20th century really need a position tainted by government appointment and royal patronage? The late Adrian Mitchell, who called himself the shadow poet laureate, thought not. He once said he would only consider the job only if he was allowed to “tap-dance on the coffin at every royal funeral.” Tell Me Lies: Poems 2005-8 (Bloodaxe, £10.95) is the sixth in Bloodaxe’s splendid series pulling together the best of Mitchell’s poetry over the last half-century, following Greatest Hits, Blue Coffee: Poems 1986-l995, Heart On The Left: Poems 1953-85, All Shook Up: Poems 1996-2000 and The Shadow Knows: Poems 2000-2004. Tell Me Lies shows Mitchell at the height of his powers, employing the full range of his characteristic imagination, wit and rage. The book’s
Andy Croft 21st Century Verse
disclaimer, “Anything that may cause offence/ Put it down to my youth and ignorance,” is part William Blake and part William Brown, the mischievous and “innocent” voice of the boy who is not afraid to laugh at the naked emperor. There are some delightfully meandering jazzpoems here — West End Blues, Five Walks and An Eric Satie Breeze Blows Through Honfleur. And there are some beautiful hymns to the small pleasures of everyday living — The Milk Float, Air Traveller, Live It Like Your Last Day, Peace And Pancakes and two lovely poems about travelling on the Piccadilly Line. As usual there are poems to friends and heroes, such as Friends And Apples, Death Is Smaller
Than I Thought, Sheepishly and a series of praisepoems for people like Edward Lear, Ivor Cutler, Ralph Steadman and Mike Westbrook. And there are plenty of nonsense poems, such as Ban The Banjo, Wongo The Wonder Dog and The Plays What I Wrote By Shakespeare, with some outrageously bad comic rhymes (blesseder/Cressida, amulet/Hamulet, etcetera/Cleopetera, ritual/Adrian Mitual). But Mitchell could also write with a terrible, unsmiling seriousness. The book contains a stunning version of Brecht’s Von Der Kindesmoerderin Marie Farrar. And there are the painful, pained poems of the book’s title sequence, Tell Me Lies: Or Truth-Ache In The Anglo-American Empire, like Dust and Ashes, The Question and The Doorbell. In Grendel’s Groove, Mitchell takes the side of the creatures in the swamp against the real monsters, the “pinkrat” human invaders with their “warrior monkeytricks” and destructive ways. Blair makes an appearance in At The Crossroads
as Mephistopheles “in a silver business suit.” And there is a new, expanded, updated version of To Whom It May Concern, addressed to the “billionaire beauticians/fishing for positions/from poisoned politicians/with obliterating missions.” “We’re going to have another Old Etonian/as her majesty’s PM/while New Labour melts into a pool/of ineffectual, intellectual phlegm.” Best of all are a series of wonderful parables, cautionary tales like The Meaning Of My Life, The Baby on the Pavement, Tigers and Monkeys and The Five Doors, playful and apparently childish little fables that pack a big punch at the end. The book is worth buying for the slow, killing, parable logic of The Boy-Sty, Is It All Right To Kill People? and Who Cut It? “After the kindly surgeon/amputated all its limbs/Blinded it, pierced its eardrums/and removed its brain and heart/Who cut the throat of the Labour Party?/It cut its own stupid throat.” We may not need a poet laureate, but we are badly going to miss the shadow poet laureate.
TODAY’S TV
10 MORNING STAR Wednesday May 27 2009 IF you are still a neutral when it comes to the UEFA Champions League Final (ITV1, 7pm) — and I am not — it is only unfair to share some information which may help you decide which team, Barca or United, to plump for. The Catalan club, owned by their supporters, pay UNICEF to wear its name on their shirts. The Old Traffordians, owned by the Glazers, are shirt-sponsored by insurance giant AIG who had to be bailed out to the tune of $85 billion after they went belly-up recently. Hope this dispassionate scene-setting helps make up your mind. Poet, polemicist and civil servant in the radical era of Oliver Cromwell, John Milton (pictured) is best known for his poem Paradise Lost.
BBC 1 6.0 Breakfast. 9.15 Real Rescues. 10.0 Homes under the Hammer. 11.0 The Unsellables. 11.30 Cash in the Attic. 12.15 Bargain Hunt. 1.0 News. 1.30 Regional News and Weather. 1.45 Doctors. 2.15 Diagnosis Murder. 3.0 BBC News. 3.05 Big and Small. 3.15 Grandpa In My Pocket. 3.25 Tronji. 3.50 Funky Fables. 4.0 Thumb Wrestling Federation. 4.05 Paradise Cafe. 4.35 Blue Peter. 5.0 MyWish. 5.05 Newsround. 5.15 The Weakest Link.
TV Previews WITH LEN PHELAN In Armando Iannucci: Milton’s Heaven and Hell (BBC2, 9pm) the satirist and writer celebrates this masterpiece with a guided tour through the epic which questioned conceptions of good and evil, freedom and even the existence of God himself. The radical animus of the poem still resonates today and, for that reason alone, this should be well worth a watch. Not to be missed either is the No2EU — Yes to Democracy broadcast for the European parliamentary elections (BBC1, 10.35pm).
6.0 BBC NEWS AT SIX. (T) 6.30 REGIONAL NEWS AND WEATHER. (T) (Stereo) 6.55 GREEN PARTY ELECTION BROADCAST. (T) 7.0 THE ONE SHOW. (T) 7.30 ANIMAL 24:7. (T) (Stereo) 8.0 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LOSING WEIGHT. (T) (Stereo) 9.0 THE APPRENTICE. (T) 10.0 BBC NEWS AT TEN. (T) 10.25 REGIONAL NEWS AND WEATHER. (T) (Stereo) 10.35 NO2EU — YES TO DEMOCRACY ELECTION BROADCAST FOR THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT. 10.40 THE NATIONAL LOTTERY DRAWS. (T) 10.50 THE STREET. (T)
BBC 2
London ITV
Channel 4
6.0 Tikkabilla. 6.30 Teletubbies. 7.0 Jakers: The Adventures of Piggley Winks. 7.25 Space Pirates. 7.55 Poetry Pie. 8.0 Bear Behaving Badly. 8.20 Basil’s Game Show. 8.50 Wolverine and the X-Men. 9.10 Pinky and Perky. 9.25 Thumb Wrestling Federation. 9.30 Beat the Boss USA. 10.0 Little Howard’s Big Question. 10.30 SMart. 11.0 Dangermouse. 11.15 Return to Oz. 1985 Film. 1.0 See Hear. 1.30 Working Lunch. 2.0 Escape to the Country. 3.0 Murder, She Wrote. 3.45 Flog It! 4.30 Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is. 5.15 Cash in the Celebrity Attic. 5.55 Party Election Broadcast for the European Parliament by the Green Party.
6.0 GMTV. 9.25 The Jeremy Kyle Show. 10.30 This Morning. 11.25 ITV News and Weather. 11.30 This Morning. 12.30 Loose Women. 1.30 News and Weather. 2.0 60 Minute Makeover. 3.0 Dickinson’s Real Deal. 4.0 The Biggest Loser. 5.0 Divided.
6.15 The Hoobs. 6.40 Planet Cook. 7.0 Freshly Squeezed. 7.30 Everybody Loves Raymond. 8.0 Everybody Loves Raymond. 8.30 Frasier. 9.0 Will and Grace. 9.25 The Class. 9.55 Fat March USA. 10.55 Alexa’s Top 20 Headline Grabbers. 12.0 News at Noon. 12.30 The City Gardener. 1.05 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. 1962 Film. 3.25 Countdown. 4.15 Deal or No Deal. 5.0 The Coach Trip. 5.30 Come Dine with Me.
11.50 IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY 2003 Film. Drama tracking a wealthy, but dysfunctional, family.
6.0 GREAT BRITISH MENU. Finals Main. 7.0 KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY. Forest Farm. 8.0 SPRINGWATCH. With Simon King (pictured). (T)
1.35 WEATHERVIEW. (T) 1.40 SIGN ZONE: THE INCREDIBLE HUMAN JOURNEY. Asia. (T) 2.40 SIGN ZONE: PROFESSOR REGAN’S... Medicine Cabinet. (T) (Stereo) 3.40 SIGN ZONE: REAL RESCUES. (T) (Stereo) 4.25 BBC NEWS. (T) (Stereo) BBC1 Scotland: 6.0 Breakfast. 9.15 As BBC1. 1.30 Reporting Scotland. 1.45 As BBC1. 3.0 BBC News. 3.05 As BBC1. 6.30 Reporting Scotland. 6.55 Election Broadcast. 7.0 As BBC1. 7.30 Animal 24:7. 8.0 As BBC1. 10.25 Reporting Scotland. 10.35 As BBC1. BBC1 Wales: 6.0 Breakfast. 9.15 As BBC1. 1.30 BBC Wales Today. 1.45 As BBC1. 3.0 BBC News. 3.05 As BBC1. 6.30 BBC Wales Today. 7.0 As BBC1. 7.30 X-Ray. 8.0 As BBC1. 10.25 BBC Wales Today. 10.35 As BBC1. 10.50 The Ninian Park Story. 11.20 The Street. 12.20 It Runs in the Family. 2003 Film. 2.05 Weatherview. 2.10 See Hear. 2.40 As BBC1. (T) Teletext subtitles (HD) High-definition
9.0 ARMANDO IANNUCCI IN MILTON’S HEAVEN AND HELL. See TV Previews. (T) (Stereo) 10.0 THE APPRENTICE: YOU’RE FIRED. (T) (Stereo) 10.30 NEWSNIGHT. (T) (Stereo) 11.20 NO2EU ELECTION BROADCAST. 11.25 THE WIRE. Port in a Storm. (T) 12.25 BBC NEWS. 4.0 SHORT CIRCUIT. Pressure. (T) 4.20 SHORT CIRCUIT. Radioactivity. (T) 4.40 SHORT CIRCUIT. Space. (T) (Stereo) 5.0 SHORT CIRCUIT. Shock Tactics. (T) 5.15 SHORT CIRCUIT. Earthquakes and Seismic Waves. (T) (Stereo) 5.35 SHORT CIRCUIT. Electromagnetic Waves. (T) (Stereo)
6.0 LONDON TONIGHT. 6.10 ELECTION BROADCAST BY THE GREEN PARTY. (Stereo) 6.15 ITV EVENING NEWS AND WEATHER. 6.30 EMMERDALE. Will Faye (pictured centre) spill the beans on Natasha’s wedding day? (Stereo)
7.0 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL: BARCELONA V MANCHESTER UNITED. See TV Previews. 10.10 NEWS AT TEN AND WEATHER. 10.45 BENIDORM. (Stereo) 11.15 DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE 2002 Film. A doctor believes he can purge his own dark impulses by drinking a mind-altering potion. But he actually creates an alternate personality — Mr Hyde. 1.05 NIGHTWATCH WITH STEVE SCOTT: EMERGENCY. (Stereo) 2.0 LOOSE WOMEN. (Stereo) 2.45 THE JEREMY KYLE SHOW. (Stereo) 3.40 ITV NIGHTSCREEN. (Stereo) 5.30 ITV EARLY MORNING NEWS.
REGIONAL ITV ITV1 Anglia: 6.0 Anglia Tonight. ITV1 Border (England): 6.0 Lookaround. ITV1 Central: 6.0 Central Tonight. ITV1 Granada: 6.0 Granada Reports. ITV1 Meridian: 6.0 Meridian Tonight. ITV1 Tyne Tees: 6.0 North East Tonight. ITV1 Wales: 6.0 Wales Tonight. 6.10 Election Broadcast. ITV1 Westcountry: 6.0 The West Country Tonight.
ITV1 West Of England: 6.0 The West Country Tonight. ITV1 Yorkshire: 6.0 Calendar. STV (Grampian): 3.0 A Touch of Frost. 5.0 The Hour. 6.0 STV News at Six. 6.10 Election Broadcast by the UK Independence Party. STV (Scottish and Grampian): 3.0 A Touch of Frost. 5.0 The Hour. 6.0 STV News at Six. 6.10 Election Broadcast. UTV: 6.0 UTV Live. 6.10 Party Election Broadcast by the Alliance Party. 10.40 UTV Live Tonight.
6.0 THE SIMPSONS. My Big Fat Geek Wedding. (T) 6.30 HOLLYOAKS. (T) (HD) 7.0 CHANNEL 4 NEWS. (T) 7.55 3 MINUTE WONDER: IF NOT SCHOOL, THEN WHAT? Josh. (T) 8.0 EMBARRASSING BODIES. (T) 9.0 GRAND DESIGNS. (T) 10.0 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES. Everybody Says Don’t. (T) (Audio Described) (HD) 11.05 THE OPERATION: SURGERY LIVE. (T) 12.05 DIRTY SEXY MONEY. Pilot. (T) (Audio Described) (HD) 1.05 AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 TRADES. (T) 2.05 MISSING: RACE AGAINST TIME. (T) 3.05 FULL METAL CHALLENGE. (T) 4.05 SCRAPHEAP CHALLENGE. Transportable Bridge. (T) 4.55 COUNTDOWN. (T) 5.40 THE CUBEEZ. Sight and Sound. (T) 5.50 THE HOOBS. Sheep. (T) (Audio Described)
SIANEL 4 CYMRU 6.15 The Hoobs. 6.40 Planet Cook. 7.0 Freshly Squeezed. 7.30 Everybody Loves Raymond. 8.0 Everybody Loves Raymond. 8.30 Frasier. 9.0 Life Begins Again. 10.0 Bore’r Urdd. 11.0 Eisteddfod Yr Urdd 2009. 2.15 Eisteddfod Yr Urdd 2009. 5.30 Planed Plant: Campyfan. 6.0 Planed Plant: Hotel Eddie. 6.30 Planed Plant: Mari Ar Y Carped Coch. 7.0 Wedi 7. 7.25 Darllediad Etholiad Ewropeaidd Gan Na I’r UE, Ie I Ddemocratiaeth. 7.30 Newyddion a’r Tywydd. 8.0 Pobol y Cwm. 8.25 Eisteddfod Yr Urdd 2009. 9.30 Sioe Gelf. 10.0 Rygbi: Twickenham 7. 11.10 European Election Broadcast by No2Eu, Yes to Democracy. 11.15 Embarrassing Bodies. 12.15 Desperate Housewives. 1.15 The Operation: Surgery Live. 2.10 Bullitt. 1968 Film. 4.10 Close.
Five 6.0 Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends. 6.10 The Adventures of Bottle Top Bill and His Best Friend Corky. 6.25 Fireman Sam. 6.35 Roary the Racing Car. 6.45 Peppa Pig. 6.50 Roobarb and Custard Too. 7.0 Olivia. 7.15 Little Princess. 7.27 Little Lodgers. 7.30 The Mr. Men Show. 7.45 Noddy in Toyland. 8.0 Fifi and the Flowertots. 8.10 Peppa Pig. 8.20 Peppa Pig. 8.25 Thomas & Friends. 8.40 Pocoyo. 8.47 The Milky and Shake Show. 8.50 Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures. 8.55 Chiro. 9.0 Hana’s Helpline. 9.15 The Wright Stuff. 10.45 Trisha Goddard. 11.45 I Own Britain’s Best Home 2009. 12.45 Five News. 12.55 Wordplay. 1.45 Neighbours. 2.15 Home and Away. 2.50 Wordplay Plus. 3.05 The Family Recipe. 3.15 Murder 101: If Wishes Were Horses. 2007 Film. 5.0 Five News with Natasha Kaplinsky. 5.30 Neighbours. 6.0 HOME AND AWAY. (T) 6.30 ANIMAL RESCUE SQUAD. (T) 6.55 ELECTION BROADCAST; THE GREEN PARTY. (T) 7.0 FIVE NEWS AT 7. (T) 7.25 ELECTION BROADCAST. 7.30 HIGHLAND EMERGENCY. Another daring rescue (pictured). (T)
8.0 CSI: CRIME SCENE INV E S T I G AT I O N . Rashomama. The team are called to a wedding reception after the bridegroom’s mother is found dead. (T) 9.0 PRESUMED INNOCENT (T) (Audio Described) 1990 Film. Tense courtroom thriller centred on the rape and murder of a district attorney’s legal colleague and onetime lover. 11.30 TRUE CSI. Disturbed. (T) 12.30 PARTYPOKER.COM EUROPEAN OPEN V. Heat Four 2.05 V8 SUPERCARS. Hamilton 400 2.40 RACE AND RALLY UK. 3.30 NHL ICE HOCKEY. 5.10 NEIGHBOURS. (T) 5.35 HOME AND AWAY. (T)
TODAY’S RADIO BBC RADIO 1: 6.30 The Chris Moyles Show. 10.0 Jo Whiley. 12.45 Newsbeat. 1.0 Fearne Cotton. 4.0 Scott Mills. 5.45 Newsbeat. 6.0 Scott Mills. 7.0 Zane Lowe. 9.0 Huw Stephens’ In New Music We Trust. 10.0 Colin Murray. 12.0 BBC Introducing... 2.0 Gilles Peterson. 4.0 Greg James.
noon on 3. 4.0 Choral Evensong. 5.0 In Tune. 7.0 Performance on 3. 9.15 Night Waves. Matthew Sweet and Claire Tomalin discuss the genius of John Evelyn, diarist, gossip and horticulturalist. 10.0 Composer of the Week: John McCabe. 11.0 The Essay. 11.15 Late Junction.
★✩★
★✩★
BBC RADIO 2: 6.0 Sarah Kennedy. 7.30 Wake Up To Wogan. 9.30 Zoe Ball. 12.0 Jeremy Vine. 2.0 Steve Wright in the Afternoon. 5.05 Simon Mayo. 7.0 Mike Harding. 8.0 Stuart Maconie. 10.0 Trevor Nelson’s Soul Show. 11.0 Steve Lamacq. 12.0 Janice Long. 3.0 Alex Lester.
BBC RADIO 4 FM: 6.0 Today. 9.0 News; Midweek. 9.45 Book of the Week: Radio Head. 10.0 News; Woman’s Hour. 11.0 News; The Conchies of Holton-Cum-Beckering. 11.30 Spread A Little Happiness. See radio preview. 12.0 News; You and Yours. 12.57 Weather. 1.0 The World at One. 1.30 The Media Show. 2.0 News; The Archers. 2.15 Afternoon Play: A Warning to the Furious by Robin Brooks. A feminist film-maker and her crew visit the Suffolk coast. 3.0 News; Money Box Live. 3.30 Winnie the Pooh. 3.45 Hidden Henry. 4.0 News; Thinking Allowed. 4.30 All in the Mind. 5.0
★✩★ BBC RADIO 3: 7.0 Breakfast. 10.0 Classical Collection. 12.0 Composer of the Week: John McCabe. 1.0 Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert. 2.0 After-
PM. 6.0 Six O’Clock News. 6.30 Elvenquest. 7.0 News; The Archers. 7.15 Front Row. 7.45 Falco: Poseidon’s Gold. 8.0 News; Unreliable Evidence. 8.45 Letters to Mary. 9.0 News; Nature. 9.30 Midweek. 9.58 Weather. 10.0 The World Tonight. 10.45 Book at Bedtime: The Outlander. 11.0 SelfStorage. 11.15 Peacefully in their Sleeps. 11.30 Reasons to be Cheerful. 12.0 News and Weather. 12.30 Book of the Week: Radio Head. 12.48 Shipping Forecast. 1.0 As BBC World Service. 5.20 Shipping Forecast. 5.30 News Briefing. 5.43 Prayer for the Day. 5.45 Farming Today.
★✩★ BBC RADIO 5: 6.0 5 live Breakfast. 9.0 5 live Breakfast: Phone-in. 10.0 Victoria Derbyshire. 1.0 Richard Bacon. 4.0 5 live Drive. 7.0 5 live Sport. 10.0 606. 11.0 Rachel Burden. 1.0 Up All Night. 5.0 Morning Reports. 5.30 Wake Up to Money.
SPREAD A Little Happiness (Radio 4, 11.30am) is a new comedy series, written by John Godber and Jane Thornton, which follows the fortunes of Hope and Jodie as they open a new bread shop in Beverley, East Yorkshire. Their mission is to spread a little joy to their customers. But, as the opening episode gets under way and the comparative worth of the bap, the stottie cake
Radio WITH LEN PHELAN and the bread bun are debated by the “Thelma and Louise” of the sandwich world, it seems it’s not going to be easy. Jodie’s a workaholic and Hope is an alcoholic plain and simple — and it seems as if both of them could do with a bit of happiness in their own lives.
SPORT
MORNING STAR Wednesday May 27 2009
FOOTBALL: HOOPS RUMOURS FLY IN WAKE OF STRACHAN DEPARTURE
West Brom silent on Mowbray Celtic link ON THE MOVE? Tony Mowbray
WEST Brom are remaining tightlipped over speculation linking manager Tony Mowbray with a move to Celtic. Mowbray has been installed as favourite with some bookmakers to replace Gordon Strachan, who resigned on Monday. The former Bhoys player and exHibernian boss has two years remaining of his current contract at The Hawthorns. If a move back to Parkhead does materialise, it will cost Celtic considerably more than the £500,000 figure mentioned in reports. Mowbray led the Baggies to promotion from the Championship 12 months ago during his first full season in charge. But West Brom were relegated from the top flight for the third time in seven years at the end of this season. Mowbray has retained the support of most Baggies supporters as he refused to compromise his beliefs and continued to play a passing game despite poor results. But the ex-Middlesbrough and Ipswich central defender discovered last week that he must trim his senior squad from 31 to 20 players for next season.
And he has been told by chairman Jeremy Peace that there will be no new funds available for transfers. Mowbray has publicly insisted he is happy with the parameters he has to work within at Albion. But he has to decide whether the chance to return to Scotland with one of the Old Firm is an attractive proposition should Celtic act on their reported interest. Motherwell boss Mark McGhee is another to be linked with the Celtic job — and he admits he is flattered by the rumours. But McGhee refused to reveal if he would be willing to follow in the footsteps of close friend Strachan. He told a Scottish paper: “I have no view on my immediate future but it’s flattering to be talked of in these terms. “When I was younger I used to jump at jobs when they came up. I thought it was too early for me to leave Fir Park when the vacancy arose at Tynecastle. “It would have been the easy option to go but it would also have been letting Motherwell down. “Now I have an understanding with my chairman John Boyle concerning my future.”
FOOTBALL: CLARETS DENY MANAGER EXIT TALK
Coyle will stay, says Burnley chairman BURNLEY chairman Barry Kilby is confident of hanging on to manager Owen Coyle after he led the Clarets back to the top flight following a 33-year absence. Former St Johnstone boss Coyle (right) has distanced himself from reports linking him with the Celtic job. And Kilby is equally unconcerned by talk of Coyle’s exit in the wake of Monday’s 1-0 play-off final win over Sheffield United. He said yesterday: “As far as I am concerned, Owen is contracted to us. He has another two years to run and we are going to talk about an extension to that. “I think Burnley will want to stay with
FOOTBALL
Owen Coyle and Owen Coyle will want to stay with Burnley and pit his wits against the best of the Premier League. “I’m not that concerned — it has not been on the agenda. Owen is our manager and that is the end of it as far as I am concerned.” Burnley clinched their return to the top flight with a cracking goal from Wade Elliott against the Blades at Wembley. The club were immediately installed as favourites for relegation, but Kilby is confident they can hold their own. The Burnley chairman said: “I think we can get a formula together and we will compete as hard as we can.
“We will be sitting down and getting our plans together, looking at clubs like Stoke and Hull to see how they’ve performed. I think we’ll give a good account of ourselves.” Promotion means a £60m windfall will be winging its way to Turf Moor. Given that Coyle’s squad cost just £2.5m, he may need to spend a substantial portion of it if Burnley are to survive. But he is looking forward to the challenge, saying: “The Premier League is full of the best players in the world and some of the top managers.” Of the exit rumours, Coyle said: “It’s flattering that people mention your name, but I’m with Burnley. I’ll concentrate my job on what I am doing here and long may that continue.”
CRICKET: AUSSIE CAPTAIN EYES 2009 ASHES
Milan boss to Ponting monitors Flintoff’s fitness learn his fate AC MILAN coach Carlo Ancelotti is to meet club administrator Adriano Galliani on Monday to discuss his future. Ancelotti, who has been strongly linked with the Chelsea job, is under contract with Milan for another season but they have yet to confirm he will be back. Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho has signed a new deal with city rivals Inter which extends his managerial reign until 2012.
Farringdon’s Daily Double JEUNOPSE Beverley 8:50 (nap) COLD HARBOUR Southwell 7:30
Houseman’s Choice KALAM DALEEL Brighton 2:10
AUSTRALIA captain Ricky Ponting will be keeping a close eye on Andrew Flintoff’s progress in the build-up to the Ashes. Flintoff played a starring role as England beat Australia in 2005 but the all-rounder has failed to hit those heights since, mainly due to a cata-
logue of niggling injuries. Flintoff is rehabilitating from keyhole surgery to a knee injury sustained playing for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. He has been named in the England squad for the World Twenty20 but his participation remains in doubt.
Ponting is aware of how dangerous a fully fit Flintoff can be. “He’ll be important for them if he is 100 per cent. I think we saw the difference between him being 100 per cent fit and probably 90 per cent fit between 2005 and 2007,” Ponting said yesterday.
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Sport in Brief Beckford put on Leeds transfer list FOOTBALL: Jermaine Beckford was transferlisted by Leeds yesterday after rejecting a new three-year contract. The 25-year-old striker (above) has 12 months left on his current deal but has turned down the chance to extend his stay at Elland Road. Beckford bagged 34 goals in all competitions for Simon Grayson’s play-off semi-finalists t h i s ter m a nd h a s notched 54 times in 98 appearances since his
arrival from non-league Wealdstone in 2006. Leeds chief executive Shaun Harvey told the club’s official website: “The offer we have made to Jermaine is what we believe to be a very good offer but he has exercised the right to turn it down. “On the basis that he has 12 months remaining on his current contract and could leave on a free transfer next summer, we feel we must consider any offers that are forthcoming for him.”
Villa owner hopes to hang on to Barry FOOTBALL: Randy Lerner is optimistic Gareth Barry will remain at Aston Villa after revealing a new contract has been discussed with the England midfielder. But Villa’s US owner is also prepared to let Barry stay for a year then leave on a free transfer, such is his importance to the club. Lerner said that “we have discussed a new contract with Gareth,” adding: “Am I optimistic Gareth will stay? Yes, I am optimistic. It is my nature.” Villa could miss out £12 million if Barry left on a free, but Lerner said: “It is not like you forego the proceeds and you are getting nothing back. “You are keeping him on the team, the team continues to compete and you are rewarded with successful results. There is more to it than foregoing money.”
Castleford star to miss Cup quarters RUGBY LEAGUE: Castleford will be without Australian scrum-half Brent Sherwin for Sunday’s Challenge Cup quarter-final at Huddersfield but are confident his ankle injury is not season-ending. The former Canterbury Bulldogs playmaker missed the end of last season and the start of this campaign with ankle trouble and is still waiting to discover the extent of his latest injury, sustained in Friday’s 16-6 Super League defeat at Hull KR. “We’re still waiting for the results of the scans,” said Tigers coach Terry Matterson. “He had an operation in the close season and we’re hoping the pin is still in place. “The worst-case scenario is that he’ll be out for the season but we’re hoping it will be just a month.”
FOOTBALL: NEWCASTLE BEGIN EFFORTS TO BOUNCE BACK FROM A SEASON OF CHAOS
Shearer starts talks over Magpies job ALAN SHEARER opened talks yesterday about launching his career as Newcastle manager in earnest. Having dispatched his players on their summer break with fitness plans after a short meeting on Monday, the 38-year-old (right) was ready to hear what owner Mike Ashley and managing director Derek Llambias have to say about the future. But much of the talking will come from the former Magpies skipper, who will demand things are done his way if he is to attempt to drag the club back into the Premier League. It is understood that Shearer will be of-
fered up to four years but will seek assurances he will be in complete control of transfers if he is to rebuild a hugely expensive but drastically substandard squad. Ashley, who knows relegation could cost the club around £50 million in lost revenue, is aware that Shearer’s appointment could help fill St James’ Park and boost the club’s finances. But there will still be a significant number of redundancies off the field. Around 150 club employees’ jobs are on the line as Newcastle look to cut costs. And there must be a total overhaul of a squad with a wage bill of over £70 million.
Skipper Michael Owen’s £103,000a-week deal finishes at the end of next month, while an option on Mark Viduka’s contract is unlikely to be taken up. Alan Smith, Joey Barton, Obafemi Martins, Geremi, Claudio Cacapa and other high earners could be offloaded. Shearer has also been saddled with costly flops inherited from Dennis Wise, with Fabricio Coloccini, Jonas Gutierrez and Xisco among those with a sell-on value significantly less than
what was paid for them. Newcastle’s serial transfer failures led former owner John Hall to launch a savage attack on the relegated squad yesterday. “I’m not going to pull any punches. This current side is rubbish, useless,” Hall, who sold the club to Ashley in 2007, told a tabloid. The former Magpies owner said: “The lesson here is obvious — you can’t take on yesterday’s men and hope to survive.”
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Morning Star
Wednesday May 27 2009
West Brom silent on Mowbray Celtic link FOOTBALL: p11
Sport FOOTBALL
FOOTBALL: MAN UTD LOCK HORNS WITH CATALAN GIANTS
Adebayor: I want to stay a Gunner
Barcelona eye historic treble BARCELONA technical secretary Txiki Begiristain has urged the team to make the most of their “unique opportunity” to seal a place in the history books. The Catalan giants take on Manchester United in tonight’s Champions League final looking to complete an unprecedented treble. And Begiristain knows that adding Europe’s premier club trophy to their Primera Division and Copa del Rey titles will cap an incredible year for them. “We have done very well until now to reach here and now is the time to finish off the work of the whole season,” he said. “It’s a unique opportunity in the club’s history and the team have to enjoy it and be aware of it to achieve it. “The team feels that there is a lot to lose in this game. You don’t play finals each year and it costs a lot to get to one. “The team feels they have to make the most of this opportunity and they have to win the Champions League.” Begiristain thinks United will approach the game defensively and has warned his players to be wary of their counter-attacking skills. He said: “I imagine we will be faced with a team who are tight at the back and I see a Barcelona who will definitely put pressure up front. “Their great danger is that playing with a defensive style they can count on an exceptional counter-attack.” Just as in last year’s semi-finals, much has been made of the battle between World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo and Barca star Lionel Messi. However, Begiristain has no doubt over who he believes will be more decisive and hopes the pre-match build-up will spur the Barca star on. “Messi is better than Cristiano Ronaldo,” he said. “In the last match between the two teams, he was better. “I hope Messi gets het up. If he is annoyed by something he is very dangerous. “And I believe he is het up by the comparisons they are making. It annoys him.” Veteran Manchester United keeper Edwin van der Sar is doing his best to treat Barca’s attacking threat like any other team. The 38-year-old said: “As a
EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR insists he is happy to stay at Arsenal despite alleged interest from AC Milan and Chelsea. The striker (below) has repeatedly been linked with a move away from north London this summer. But, while Adebayor admits he is flattered by interest from Italy, he wants to stay with Arsenal. “If a club like Milan are interested in me then I cannot lie to you, I am happy, because it is Milan,” Adebayor said yesterday. “But the thing is that it stops there. I am very happy playing for Arsenal,” he insisted. “People read these things and then the fans will boo you for what you never said, but again I repeat that I am very happy here. “I have got nothing to say to anybody. People are always there to judge, but they are not on the pitch, they are writing what they want to. “I cannot explain myself to those people. They think what they are saying is right. “I cannot do a better job than a journalist. I cannot do a better job than politicians — what I can do is play my football.”
goalkeeper you always expect every team to give you nightmares. “Every flaw you have or lapse of concentration can cost you a goal, so you have to be on your toes every minute of the game.” Van der Sar has one year left on his United contract and he knows he must savour every moment as he will not have many more occasions like this. “It is coming closer and closer,” the Dutch stopper said of his looming retirement.
Rome security under control, says Platini UEFA president Michel Platini has reassured Manchester United and Barcelona fans that security arrangements for tonight’s Champions League final in Rome are under control, paving the way for a “beautiful game.” More than 67,000 fans are expected today in the Italian capital, while 5,000 police officers will be on hand to help things run smoothly in the Eternal City. Rome has a dreadful reputation for football violence, with frequent knife attacks on English fans by Roma and Lazio supporters. But Platini said yesterday: “All is under control — we don’t have any security concerns.”
MORE PLEASE: Barca keeper Victor Valdes lifts the league trophy
TENNIS: ITALIAN PLOTS TOP BRIT’S DOWNFALL AT FRENCH OPEN
Murray rival touts Scot to be No 1 ANDY MURRAY has been talked up as a potential world number one by the player who is plotting his downfall at the French Open today. Murray (below) rose above Novak Djokovic into a career-high third place in the world rankings a fortnight ago and he had number two Roger Federer in his sights as he launched
his Roland Garros campaign on Sunday. Rafael Nadal, the reigning Wimbledon and French Open champion, is way clear at the top of the rankings — almost 6,000 points above Murray. But Potito Starace, who is looking to end the Briton’s run in the French capital, can see Murray rising all the way to the summit. The Italian said yesterday: “He has beaten Federer three or four times and beaten Nadal too. So he has a big, big chance of try-
ing to get to number two or number one. “It won’t be easy because Rafa has won four or five tournaments and he is not easy to beat on clay. But I think he has a good chance.” Starace should not pose Murray too many problems in today’s round-two match. He has not progressed past the third round at a grand-slam event — he has reached that stage twice at Roland Garros — and has dropped out of the world’s top 100.
A baseliner with a decent serve and raking forehand, he reckons playing on clay could be a leveller when it comes to causing a shock against the Scot. But he does recognise Murray’s improvement on the dirt in 2009, which was clearly in evidence in his 6-2 6-2 6-1 firstround thrashing of Juan Ignacio Chela. “He is very good on clay,” said Starace. “I’ve seen he has improved a lot on this surface so it will be a tough match for me.”
TENNIS: SEVENTH SEED TOO GOOD FOR NOVICE FEUERSTEIN
Kuznetsova cruises through SEVENTH seed Svetlana Kuznetsova made short work of French Open debutant Claire Feuerstein to seal her place in round two at Roland Garros yesterday. Russia’s Kuznetsova, the only woman to beat world number one and tournament favourite Dinara Safina on clay this season, eased through 6-1
6-4 against her French opponent on Suzanne Lenglen court. Kuznetsova, who was a semi-finalist here last year and runner-up in 2006, was 5-1 ahead when play was suspended because of rain at 11.30am local time. Returning more than two hours later, she only needed another 35 minutes to wrap up
victory and a meeting with Galina Voskoboeva. Two-time Roland Garros semi-finalist Jelena Jankovic, the fifth seed, joined Kuznetsova in the hat for the second round. The Serbian’s match with Petra Cetkovska was also affected by the rain — they scurried off when Jankovic was 4-1 ahead — but she finished the
job when they resumed, needing a second match point to prevail 6-2 6-3. Another seed to go through was Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak (24), thanks to her victory over Monica Niculescu. Other winners on day three were Petra Martic, Melinda Czink, Sybille Bammer and Magdalena Rybarikova.