"The revolutionary Bolivarian alliance headed by President Hugo Chavez is therefore looking for new ways to combine direct, participative democracy with the more orthodox forms of representative democracy."

Dr Wimmer explained that his country enjoys annual economic growth of between 6 and 8 per cent, but he outlined the severe problems of poverty, poor housing and underemployment which still exist, despite policies to redistribute income.

In response to questions from the audience, he conceded that the defeat of the new draft constitution in December's referendum had been a setback.

"We did not have the time or strong enough political organisation to win enough people to what was a complex and profound programme to help prepare the way to socialism," he replied.

But the directly elected vice-president of the Latin American Parliament took heart from the progressive developments in many more countries across the continent.

He also outlined the "special responsibility" taken on by the growing Communist Party of Venezuela.

"We have to strengthen the trade union movement organisationally and politically so that it can play a major role in the revolutionary process," he said, as well as extending international solidarity.

(This article first appeared in the Morning Star 15.5.08)

Latin America legacy

CAROLUS WIMMER marks the 190th anniversary year of Marx's birth.

It is a pleasure for me to share with you some thoughts on the 160th anniversary year of the Manifesto of the Communist Party and its importance in the ongoing struggles in Latin America.

The revolt against US hegemony in Latin America in the opening years of the 21st century constitutes a defining historical moment. Latin America is reasserting its independence in an attempt to free itself from centuries of imperialist domination.

The seriousness of this threat to US power is increasingly drawing the attention of Washington.

The 21st century is likely to be known as the anti-imperialist century, marking a growing intolerance of the waning US empire.

Outweighing even the resistance to the US war machine in Iraq in this respect is the political shift to the left in Latin America, which is destabilising US rule in the Americas and offers a prophetic microcosm of what can be expected worldwide.

Latin America and, especially, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela are taking the heritage of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, along with their own political revolutionary leaders such as Simon Bolivar and Francisco Miranda, in order to fight for a new society with social justice, with peace and for socialism.

I have no doubt that the experiences of Latin America will be fruitful and their outcomes will help all peoples, all workers by hand and brain, to do everything in their power to intensify the struggle against capitalism in its old and new forms.

Latin America proves that the unforgettable work of Karl Marx has not lost its importance and contemporary urgency.

Although, after 1989, the end of history was announced, recent history in Venezuela and other Latin American countries such as Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Argentina and, finally, Paraguay demonstrates that dialectical and historical materialism is real and scientific in all countries and at all times.

On the other hand, socialism in Korea, Cuba, China, Laos and Vietnam continues. Its development under the inspiration of Karl Marx takes different forms but is a real demonstration that the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist revolution also continues with great vitality in the 21st century.

Indeed, after 1989, not only were many parts of the world denied socialism but the overwhelming majority of human beings did not enjoy peace and security either.

Naturally, in these conditions, the presence of Communist and workers parties, besides other revolutionary and progressive organisations, is as necessary as before. On the other hand, the unity of all revolutionary forces is decisive for our anti-capitalist struggle.

And Latin America provides an important and successful example.

In Venezuela, we have begun the construction of an anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist alliance - namely, the new United Socialist Party, the Communist Party of Venezuela and other political organisations.

In Latin America as a whole, unity is also progressing. More and more countries are participating in the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America (ALBA). Cuba and Venezuela were followed by Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua and, in the near future, they will be joined by Paraguay.

Historical reality tells us that the principles of Marxism are an essential requirement if humankind is to win the struggle against poverty and attain the goal of a better life for all, which can only be achieved in a socialist society free from the mistakes of the 20th century but drawing on its rich vein of experience.

As Latin Americans, we are happy that you have decided to focus on our region this year.

Capitalism denies the very essence of humanity and can drag many people who subsist in poor conditions down into hopelessness and despair.

Prior experiences tells us that revolutionary transformation will not happen mechanically.

It can only take place on the basis of conscious decisions sharing the Marxist understanding that capitalism constitutes a structural fault in human society. No society anywhere in the world can isolate itself from the negative consequences of capitalism without applying the theory and practice of Marx's teaching.

I am convinced that our contemporary working class, organised in Marxist parties, the historical indigenous movements and the new social movements, now has the potential to occupy the front ranks in the struggle to push back the frontiers of exploitation and social injustice, recognising the fact that capitalism constitutes a serious threat to the cohesion of human society.

Accordingly, in order to successfully push back the frontiers of capitalism, all of us need to implement the many lessons that we have received through the struggles of the peoples and working class of our countries and from revolutionaries such as Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Simon Bolivar from Venezuela, Marti from Cuba, Mariategui from Peru, Sandino from Nicaragua and many others.

"So comrades, come rally

"And the last fight let us face

"The Internationale,

"Unites the human race."

Carolus Wimmer is international secretary of the Communist Party of Venezuela. This is an edited version of the Marx Memorial Lecture that he delivered on Sunday at Highgate Cemetery.

(This article first appeared in the Morning Star 14.05.08)

According to Bill Murray, the BNP's Welsh Regional Secretary; 'After the hard work of all our activists we will be taking a week break then it will be back to business as usual.'

Indeed it is because three of the new intake have resigned from the BNP. Colwyn Bay town councillors Paul Harley, Sue Harley and John Oddy formally resigned as BNP councillors yesterday at their very first council meeting, where all three were represented by Oddy who stated in a post on the icWales forum; 'I attended the meeting to inform the Council that yesterday afternoon all three Councillors had resigned from the BNP and that we were prepared to remain on the Council as Independents, if the Council required it all three of us were prepared to also resign from theCouncil and allow our seats to be put forward to a by-election that we would not contest.'

When asked why they'd left the BNP, he responded thus; 'My reason for leaving the BNP was my own personal choice, the other two Councillors choose to leave with me. I have always been regarded as a moderate within the party and, as I've always maintained, I have never been a racist...'

Quite apart from the question of why the Harleys left when Oddy had resigned for 'personal' reasons, there is a question mark over the latter's statement that he has never been a racist.

According to Pat Pattison, who resigned from the party after discovering its 'intolerable' racism, Oddy verbally attacked him for having the temerity to help an Asian family as part of his own duties as a town councillor, stating that the party wasn't happy with him because he'd been 'helping fucking Pakis' and that 'they're Muslim scum anyway'.

Oddy might not think those remarks are racist but they definitely look like they are from where I'm sitting.

Just a few days ago, I wrote; 'Given the usual disasters the BNP is prone to, we should lose half of the new input of BNP councillors within a year or so.'

At this rate, they won't last the month.

This article first appeared on http://lancasteruaf.blogspot.com/

He suggests that world market forces cannot be controlled, that somehow politicians have no business interfering with the world markets.

I seem to remember that a certain Mr Brown was taking the credit when those same market forces were in a period of ascendancy. The truth is that it is the politicians of Brussels, Westminster and Cardiff that have chosen to allow big business and the banks complete control over our economies.

They have sat back while the rich have profited at the expense of the poor, and in a final act of cowardice they pretend that it is nothing to do with them.

It is quite clear now that unless Labour starts to challenge the tyranny of the market they will be swept from office.

RICK NEWNHAM

Welsh Communist Party

And the winning by the BNP of a seat in the London Assembly has not made the atmosphere any more conducive to optimism among Britain's progressives.

But the doom and gloom should be tempered by a little more common sense than is immediately evident.

Did anyone ever expect City Hall to raise the red flag of revolution over London? Or the local councils to immediately announce the formation of communes and collectives to run local enterprises?

No, of course not. Nobody on the left would, one hopes, be so naive or blindly optimistic.

And does anyone expect the revolution to be called from the Speaker's chair in Parliament? Again, No.

Parliament is occupied by, in the main, two bourgeois-democratic parties vying to run capitalism better than the other and, since the new Labour coup, these two parties have no differences in principle, although a small, if reducing, number in practise.

Those small differences, however, are enormously significant to the poor and the elderly, the unemployed and the disadvantaged, which makes the fight for a Labour government still important.

But that government is never going to produce the qualitative change to socialism all on its lonesome.

So what difference have the elections made for us?

Well they have made the fight against fascism that much harder, because of the election of Richard Barnbrook to the London Assembly.

And they have made the defence of the poor and the fight for workers' rights that much more arduous.

But have they really been the dramatic setback that we are all tempted to see them as?

The priorities remain the same. The fight in the trade union movement for progressive policies will continue and will sharpen.

The battle to commit trade unions to enforcing their will on an intransigent and treacherous new Labour leadership will not reduce in importance but will grow in its obvious significance.

The struggle for social housing remains high on the agenda and the opposition to it will still be the government and the local authorities, as it has been throughout the life of this government.

The lessons of the election debacle, however, are there to be drawn and, as the newly resurgent Tories get into their stride, will be easier to explain and to organise against.

And, particularly in London, we should all learn from the unprincipled and professionally disgraceful gutter-press campaign waged by the Evening Standard against Ken Livingstone, that the power of the media may not alter the realities, but it can warp the perception of them by insinuation, half-truth and simple gutter journalism.

To counter it, we must renew our work at the grass roots, among working people who, while they may be temporarily deceived by weasel words, will experience day by day the problems caused by the election of Tories and the vacillation of right-wing Labour and will, if we are coherent - and voluble enough - in our explanations and analysis, learn to turn a deaf ear to the lies and lead the fight for their own and their class's interests.

And, while Mr Livingstone may be magnanimous enough not to blame new Labour for his defeat, we are not bound by such electoral niceties.

Many comrades have worked hard during the campaign and a particular mention should be made of those younger comrades who ran their campaigns with such dedication and initiative.

The votes provide a platform for us to consolidate our position - providing campaigning work is continued throughout the year.

It is vital that all branches in Wales endeavour to heighten the public’s awareness of our existence and our key policies.

We are facing a situation where the Labour party is becoming less and less relevant to working people due to its outright abandonment of socialist principles, although in Wales this feature is not as pronounced as in England.

The Labour party continued its electoral decline even though the ‘Iraq’ factor was probably less influential. Labour’s propaganda was trivial, banal and was devoid of any political analysis.

It is no surprise that all the other parties see the de-politicisation of the population as a primary goal, because any analysis increasingly opens up questions on and demands political action about inequality, environmental devastation and military madness. Such action is against the subservient role adopted by ‘our’ political parties.

It therefore becomes even more important that we increase our level of propaganda to raise the level of political analysis in the general population and the Labour movement in particular.

It is too early yet to determine whether the Labour Party will continue to be the key vehicle for working class political expression.

What is clear however is that without a strong communist party providing the analysis necessary to challenge and overcome capitalism any reincarnation, reformation or reinvigorated Labour Party is a pipe dream. Our relative weakness over the last 30 years has been disastrous for the British working class movement.

We must prioritise our own growth and heighten people’s awareness of our existence, analysis and policies.

We are on the move in Wales but there is much more to do.

Rick Newnham
Secretary
Welsh Communist Party

Welsh Communist Party results:

Unitary Authority / Ward / Candidate / Votes/% of General Vote

Cardiff County Council / Adamsdown/ Fran Fawlings 66 (4.2%)
Cardiff County Council / Splott /Rob Griffiths 127 (3.9%)
Cardiff County Council / Grangetown/ Rick Newnham 117 (2.9%)
Caerphilly C B Council / Morgan Jones /Dan Cole 123 (8.9%)
Merthyr Tydfil CB Council / Vaynor /Roy Evans 65 (8%)
Rhondda Cynon Taf CBC / Graig/ Niclas Powell 24 (3.6%)
Rhondda Cynon Taf CBC / Hirwaun /Clive Griffiths 40 (3%)
Swansea City Council / Castle/ Mick Carty 112 (4.3%)

Town & Community / Ward /Candidate

Hirwaun & Penderyn CC / Hirwaun /Clive Griffiths (Elected Unopposed)
Pontypridd Town Council / Graig /Niclas Powell 72 (12.6%)
Caerphilly Town Council / Parcyfelin /Dan Cole 71 (9%)

TOTAL 817 (Av. 5.5%)

In one of the most predicted and negative campaigns ever seen by a political party in Wales in living memory, not one BNP County Council candidate has got even close to winning a seat. In their target of Wrexham, 7 out of 7 sank without trace.

In Conwy, with 7 out of 9 BNP results confirmed, all 7 had lost with 6 coming last in the poll. In Denbighshire and Flintshire all 3 candidates, including BNP Treasurer John Walker lost.

In South Wales, the elections were a predicted disaster for the BNP. Paper candidates in Bridgend, Tredegar and Cwmbran bit the dust without much of a fight. However, in Swansea, a target of the BNP all 4 candidates were beaten comprehensively.

At this early stage, there will be relief amongst Councillors and staff at County Councils across Wales that BNP Councillors will not have to be served. However, Searchlight Cymru will not lose sight of the fact that a number of Community Councillors will now be serving throughout Wales. And we will be following their performance with interest. And when the full election count is produced we will provide a fuller briefing.

Searchlight Cymru will be looking at the bigger picture with a full scale de-brief of the elections in 2008. Part of that discussion will look at turnouts, percentage density of the BNP vote and how that will shape our work upto and including the 2011 National Assembly elections.

Finally, thank you very much to all of our supporters and friends from all across Wales. You and Searchlight Cymru has helped create a BNP-lite Cymru.

Roundabout way to get party noticed

Apr 27 2008 Wales On Sunday

The Spin Doctor
CAN one of the subtitle writers for S4C’s cheap-as-chips political offering CF99 please get in touch and confirm that they are now being deliberately mischievous in the knowledge that Spin Doctor is the sole person reading them?

It’s just that – and we’ve checked this – we don’t think the Liberal Democrats do have a North Wales-based peer called Lord Roundabout, as the subtitles claimed last week. Please drop us an e-mail and solve this conundrum once and for all.

- LAST week we reported how, following his decisive victory over Britain’s only openly gay boxer Charles ‘The Pink Pounder’ Jones, Monmouth MP and amateur pugilist David ‘The Tory Tornado’ Davies had been offered a new challenge.

Newport Communist Chris ‘Castro’ Leaman got in touch and offered to be Mr Davies’ next opponent in the ring, saying: “I think a match between my red and his blue, left and right would generate a lot of interest.”

Alas! Mr Davies has now finally responded to the challenge – and we’re unlikely to see a battle of the two Gwent titans.

“I have had loads of offers but I am not taking any at the moment,” he says. “Who knows – the Tory Tornado might lace up the gloves again but I am not going to do so in a hurry.

“Mind you,” he adds, “if he can get Frank Warren to put up £5m, the answer might be different.”

- THE inaugural winner of the Ringing Endorsement of the Week Award goes to Merthyr MP Dai Havard for this forceful defence of PM Gordon Brown: “Er, I have confidence in him in the sense that, you know, if he called a vote of confidence about the issue then the Labour Party would support him.” Take that, naysayers!

- WE’VE not quite heard or seen enough about Gavin and Stacey over the past week – the wall-to-wall coverage of their Bafta win along with friends and colleagues hilariously repeating the ‘What’s occurring?’ catchphrase constantly not satisfying our thirst for more – so we’re delighted to see the show’s plotline directly influencing Welsh Conservative policy.

Last Sunday Gavin and Smithy were forced to take drastic action and force open the barrier on the Severn Bridge as they were 10p short of the toll price and you can’t pay by card.

Then, on Thursday, Shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan tabled a Commons motion calling for motorists to be allowed to pay for the tolls by credit or debit card.

“The Severn crossings are icons of modern Wales,” she said, “but are let down by the archaic way people are forced to pay to use them.”

We’re all for legislation informed by comedy shows. What about crash mats in pubs in case people fall through bars?

- SPEAKING of TV comedy, Spin Doctor fears for the mind of First Minister Rhodri Morgan.

Loathe as we are to reveal details of an informal lunch for members of the Assembly’s Lobby last week, we don’t think the First Minister will mind us reporting that he spent much of his time ruminating on the differences between the British and American sense of humour.

This led to one shocking revelation. While an MP at Westminster in the 1990s, Mr Morgan would stay up until late in the evening to watch cult comedy The Larry Sanders Show on BBC2. But to do this, he had to sit through Seinfeld, which ran directly before it.

“And I just couldn’t see what was supposed to be funny about it,” he fulminated. “Just another bunch of self-obsessed young people.”

We’ve put up with the gaffes before. We’ll turn a blind eye to the freebie policies. But seriously – what kind of person doesn’t like Seinfeld?

Welsh activists protest against war college plan

PEACE campaigners from all over Wales took part in a demonstration in Cardiff at the weekend against plans to build a privatised military academy near the capital.

Saturday's well-attended protest was organised by the Stop the St Athan's Military Academy campaign and local anti-war and trade union activists.

Campaigners attacked new Labour's plans to spend £14 billion on building a privatised military base to train the latest recruits to the "war on terror," while inviting privateers to profit from "bullying, war and violence."

If final contracts are all signed as expected, the PFI-funded St Athan Defence Academy will open fully in 2013 as a mega-training "university" for all three services of the British armed forces.

Courses are being designed to train any soldiers, sailor, air force or private "security service" personnel who are willing to pay.

CND Cymru chairwoman Jill Evans MEP expressed particular concern that those preparing to initiate and participate in nuclear warfare would be trained to do so in "our nuclear-free Wales."

South Wales Young Communist League chairman Matt Brierley, who took part in Saturday's demo, added: "To spend £14 billion, only to hand the facility over to a private consortium to train mercenaries is a flagrant misuse of taxpayers' money, which would be better spent on public services."

The academy will be operated by the private Metrix Consortium in partnership with other subcontractors.

First published in the Morning Star (28.04.08)

BBC report 26th April 2008

Protests against military academy

Campaigners have been voicing their opposition to a new £11bn military training facility in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Building on the centre at St Athan is due to get under way in 2009, under a public-private finance deal.

The academy will provide a central training base for the RAF, Army and Navy bringing thousands of jobs.

However, peace campaigners have called the centre a "school of death", and have been marching through Cardiff.

Plaid Cymru Euro MP, Jill Evans, said she was concerned that the development was being placed in the hands of a private consortium.

""We are opposed to the privatisation of military training and to making Wales the base for that training for Britain and other countries," she said ahead of the demonstration.

"We have the skills and the potential to be a real driving force for peace in the world. Instead the British government is making us the centre of training for war, putting that training in the hands of multinational arms companies."

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed in January that the training centre would be based at St Athan, led by the Metrix group.

We have worked very hard to win this project for Wales against severe competition from the West Midlands and elsewhere

First Minister Rhodri Morgan

Under the deal, training for 6,500 personnel will be transferred to the Vale of Glamorgan and HMS Sultan, Gosport over five years.

It has been estimated by assembly government ministers that the development will bring 5,000 jobs to the area.

However that figure has been disputed by campaigners, who argue that these will not be new jobs - rather posts transferred to St Athan from other parts of Britain.

But First Minister Rhodri Morgan has strongly defended the project.

"We have worked very hard to win this project for Wales against severe competition from the West Midlands and elsewhere," he insisted.

"The Defence Training Academy will involve activities which are far less military in character, since the academy will involve teaching skills such as engineering, electronics, and IT - all equally as valuable in civilian life after they have left the armed forces as they will be for maintaining military equipment."

Strategic

Conservative AM Alun Cairns, also backed the centre, saying: "Plaid Cymru have shown their true colours today.

"As part of the ruling administration in the Vale and the Welsh Assembly Government they are supposed to be giving this initiative important strategic support.

"Instead, comments by some of their party's senior figures are undermining that vital work," added Mr Cairns.

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader, Mike German added: "These are highly-skilled jobs being moved into Wales in the face of strong competition from other parts of the UK.

"The real message is that Plaid Cymru want to reduce our armed forces and the valuable role they play in peacekeeping around the world."

* Searchlight Cymru media blitz in final days
* Anti-BNP activities across Wales

Searchlight Cymru media blitz in final days

In recent days, Searchlight Cymru has been asking serious questions of the Carmarthenshire Council BNP hopeful, Kevin Edwards.

We are very deliberately not attacking him for his political views, which are obnoxious, but asking him to fully back up claims in his election leaflets.

This has recieved coverage in today's Western Mail (25.04.08).

What we now want to do over the weekend is to present the same questions to every other BNP candidate in Wales via the media.

And that is where we need your help. It is our view that the media are not overly interested, at this stage, in what Searchlight Cymru thinks of the BNP. It is a matter of record. But they could well be interested if a local elector asks the media (via our press release) to ask local BNP candidates to back up their claims.

We believe that this would be a good story because it is not political, but about jproving their claims such as asylum seekers getting free TVs and Cars.

Searchlight Cymru will do all the work, identify the appropriate outlet and deliver the release where it needs to go, but we need your help to identify one or two ordinary people in each County Council area that the BNP are standing to be the people to ask the questions on our press release.

We will supply the quotes so there is no need to worry about that and the quotes will not be offensive in any way. Something like Mrs Jones, a nurse from ‘Ward’ in ‘Town’ said ‘I read their glossy leaflet and I just can’t believe these claims can be true etc etc. What I would like to know is when xxx happened’.

Can you give us the name, ward, town, County Council, age, occupation of someone who would like to help us ? If you can, please e-mail me on this address. I will be on annual leave working on this before the election and will pick up the message.

Anti-BNP activities across Wales

· Bridgend Day of Action against the BNP Sunday 27th April.

Unite Against Fascism in Bridgend are organising a day of action as a result of the BNP standing a candidate (Adam Lloyd) in the Cefn Glas ward of Bridgend. It is crucial that the BNP do not get a toe hold in Bridgend. Searchlight Cymru will be supporting this event and would encourage supporters and friends to join campaigners in Bridgend.

The BNP tried ( but failed) to use intimidating actions to stop us leafleting in the area last Sunday. UaF are determined that we will not be intimidated by the BNP and really hope that you can show your support by helping to deliver leaflets Sunday morning.

* Main Meeting point: Spar, Cefn Glas, 44-48, Llangewydd Rd, Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan CF31 4JR

· Time, 10am start-until finish or as long as you can stay

(cut and paste the link below into your web address bar to get directions)
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=48+Llangewydd+Rd,+Bridgend,+Mid+Glamorgan+CF31,+UK&ie=UTF8&ll=51.512428,-3.593087&spn=0.011511,0.029011&z=15&iwloc=addr

Please can you let Lydia, the Chair of Bridgend Unite Against Fascism (email: lbowser@ucu.org.uk) know asap if you can meet. The UAF would be happy to pick people up from the Bridgend area if you do not have transport. If you can't make it until later phone 07704 356894 to see where we have gone to !!

· Tredegar Day of Action against the BNP Sunday 27th April.

Friends of Searchlight Cymru will be joining local campaigners to leaflet homes and talk to electors in Tredegar on Sunday 27th April where the BNP are standing a candidate.

Meet at Tredegar Snooker Club, Park Place, Tredegar NP44 4LD at 11am.

· Unite Against Racism Gig, at Conti’s, Mill Lane, Cardiff. Saturday 26 April 10pm – 6am.

Unite Against Racism Cardiff, who organised the Unity Festival in the city in 2007, are very pleased to work with Tantrum Promotions to get people along to the Dreadzone Soundsystem gig at Conti’s, Mill Lane this Saturday, 26th April. It’s 10am – 6pm and only £5 in. Come along and show your support ! Please see the attach flyer.

Finally, now that I will be working pretty much fulltime (note to electoral commission – its my leave !!) on Searchlight Cymru work before the election, there may or may not be a bulletin before polling day.

However any new and updated information, activities and events will go onto our website at www.searchlightcymru.org.uk

All the best, and thank you so much for your continuing support

Darron

Darron Dupre
Secretary
Searchlight Cymru

The leaflet also stated that homosexuality was being taught to schoolchildren as young as four.

Anti-fascist campaign Searchlight Cymru secretary Darron Dupre said: "We were a bit bemused by such claims, but were happy to give Mr Edwards the benefit of the doubt, so we checked.

"We can find no evidence of his claims anywhere. We know of an unsubstantiated newspaper report on Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham, but that was disproved some time ago.

"We also asked the NUT about the subjects taught to four-year-olds. They were most bemused about Mr Edwards's claims."

Mr Edwards's leaflet argued that British people should get priority in housing over asylum-seekers, even though - as Mr Dupre pointed out - asylum-seekers are not entitled to council housing.

"He further states that asylum-seekers get free cars and TVs," said Mr Dupre.

"Everyone at Searchlight Cymru is intrigued to learn exactly where this is happening.

"As Mr Edwards obviously knows something that no-one else knows, then we ask that he backs up claims with some facts.

"If he cannot substantiate such inflammatory claims, then we would expect him to do the honourable thing and resign his candidacy."

This article was first published in the Morning Star (24.04.08)