In a speech in Washington at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Sir Stephen Lovegrove, the UK’s national security adviser warned, the West risks the initiation of nuclear conflict with China or Russia because of a “breakdown of communication” with the two countries.

He believed the deterioration of communication with China and Russia had created a higher risk of “rapid escalation to strategic conflict”.

“The cold war’s two monolithic blocks of the USSR and Nato – though not without alarming bumps – were able to reach a shared understanding of doctrine that is today absent,” he said. “Doctrine is opaque in Moscow and Beijing, let alone Pyongyang or Tehran.”

Lovegrove, who was appointed to Whitehall’s most senior defence role in March 2021, added: “During the cold war, we benefited from a series of negotiations and dialogues that improved our understanding of Soviet doctrine and capabilities and vice versa. This gave us both a higher level of confidence that we would not miscalculate our way into nuclear war. Today, we do not have the same foundations with others who may threaten us in the future – particularly with China…”

Poor communication ‘raises risk of nuclear war with China or Russia’ | Nuclear weapons | The Guardian

Although our attitude towards nationalism has been stated many times, there are still those who do not understand it or cannot reconcile it with what they are supposed to be the socialist point of view. It is not easy to oppose the emotionalism of powerful patriotic movements but that difficulty is not removed by being acquiescent and avoiding adopting the Marxist analysis

Let us set out the Socialist Party’s answer to the appeals of the patriot that all citizens ought to defend the independence of the country in which they live. Our answer is plain and definite. Under capitalism all the workers in every land are wage slaves. In wars between capitalist nations, victory or defeat,  leaves their position in society unchanged. Even the standard of living of the workers in both the “victorious” and “defeated” countries alters little. The abolition of capitalism and the establishment of socialism is the sole issue for the Socialist Party.

Should workers support wars waged by capitalist States? Should workers support nationalist movements? The Socialist Party’s reply to both questions is an unambiguous no! We support no capitalist war and we support no nationalist movement. Wars waged by capitalist State involves no working-class issues, and on no account would socialists support them. The Socialist Party alone in this country consistently opposed every capitalist war. 

 The only enemy of the working class is the capitalist class. Therefore to urge the workers to fight for Britain, China, Russia or Ukraine is to ask them to neglect the problems and the interests of their class. Such propaganda under capitalism, on whatever pretext, is anti-socialist. In comparison with the loss of working class life and limb in war, the difference between exploitation by domestic capitalists and exploitation by foreign capitalists matters nothing at all to workers. We hold an attitude of unqualified hostility to capitalist wars. 

We are interested in one struggle only, class struggle the endeavour by wage earners to overthrow capitalist private property and all forms of the wages system. The national movements blazing away in different parts of the world are not working-class, but capitalist, in their aim. We, therefore, oppose them. Patriotism has the effect of binding together the classes in each geographical area. The Socialist Party desires that conflicting class interests shall be recognised, not obscured.

Socialism and patriotism are irreconcilably antagonistic. Patriotism is anti-working class and Russian nationalism is no less so than is British. The one encourages the other. We wish to stifle both so neither can thrive.  The assumption by some on the left-wing that the enemies of the Western powers are necessarily the friends of socialism is too shallow to need refutation.  It has been argued that  that the existence of foreign control enables capitalist politicians to blame the evils of their system on to the “foreigner.” Against this, however, must be placed the great harm wrought by the exaggeration of national feeling, and hatred of foreigners. This breeds a state of mind quite unsuited to working-class organisations: and saps the solidarity of members of the working-class with each other.

Consequently, the Socialist Party is frequently branded as a“puppet” of imperialism because we tell the workers that rule by one section of the capitalist class does not differ in essentials from rule by another section. Instead, we tell the truth, which is that another nation’s “independence” should concern no more the workers there than does British “independence” matter to us. Their governments are all operating on behalf of the capitalist class. Just as we told fellow workers in past wars not to support the wars of the ruling class, so we tell the Russian and Ukrainian workers now.  Does any objective observer believe for one moment that Ukrainian capitalists are one whit less brutal in their exploitation of their workers than  the Russia, or for that matter are UK, EU, US, or any other Imperialist capitalist class?  The Ukrainian workers will be no better off when they have had a change of masters imposed.

Capitalism as a world system is not weakened by the victory or defeat of our respective nation-states. The lives of workers are needlessly sacrificed to satisfy the interests of the ruling class. The Socialist Party can proudly boast that it has never urged the workers to fight in or prepare for capitalist wars, and has never, directly or indirectly, aided any political party doing so.

Our advice to both Ukraine’s and Russia’s workers is to build up organisations to fight their own capitalist class—they will need them soon enough. Our advice to all workers is to acquaint themselves with their own class interests and get rid of the illusion that they can dictate foreign policy to their masters.

 Shell reports record profit of $11.5 billion

Oil giant Shell has doubled its profits in the last quarter, thanks to the surge in energy prices since the Ukraine war began which are hammering households and businesses.

Shell has reported record adjusted earnings of $11.47bn (£9.4bn) for the last quarter, up from $5.5bn in April-June 2021, as it benefitted from higher realised prices, higher refining margins, and stronger gas and power trading. That smashes Shell’s record quarterly profit of $9.1bn racked up in January-March, and above analyst forecasts.

The company will funnel more cash to investors, announcing a share buyback programme of $6bn in the third quarter.

  Meanwhile, the UK’s energy price cap could hit £3,850 per year in January. BFY Group, a utilities consultancy, warns that more vulnerable households, on prepayment meters, could see energy bills of £500 for the month of January alone. Consumers were also warned that annual charges of more than £3,500 a year, or £300 a month, could become the norm “well into 2024”.

(1) Shell’s profits hit record $11.5bn, as UK households face winter energy bill pain – business live (theguardian.com)

 According to Save the Children, families in Myanmar have lost on average more than half of their income since the political crisis and escalation of conflict in February 2021. The economic crisis drove an increase in the share of households experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity between August and October 2020. Since February last year, the country has suffered further economic decline, with mass job losses, business closures and a weakening of the Myanmar currency (kyat), which has affected households across the country.

Shaheen Chughtai, Regional Advocacy Director for Save the Children in Asia, said: “More than a year on from the coup, millions of children do not have enough to eat and families are having to beg or borrow to survive. These new figures are especially sobering at a time where humanitarian response is severely underfunded. At a time when children in Myanmar need us most, they are being let down by the international community…”

The economic impact of the political crisis, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, has left families struggling to feed themselves and their children.

Some 80% of families said food was their primary concern, with adults in one in five households cutting back on meals in order to feed their children. 

A third of households are borrowing food or relying on help from others to feed their families.

Families are reporting an average price increase of between 30% and 70% for basic foods.

Even middle-income households are now being pushed below the poverty line.

Earlier this year, Save the Children reported that at least 150,000 children had been forced to flee their homes due to violence, and last month reports showed that the number of children out of school had doubled over the past two years.

https://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/families-myanmar-lose-more-half-their-income-year-conflict-says-save-children

 Families are spending an average of £89 more a month on energy, food and fuel than they were before the pandemic, Lloyds Banking Group said.

Lloyds’ chief executive, Charlie Nunn, said about 20% of the bank’s customers had had to adapt their spending “significantly” to rising prices, forcing them to refrain from purchases such as white goods and computers. He added that customers had cancelled or blocked 2.2m subscriptions services such as Netflix since the summer of 2021.

 UK banks have largely benefited from nine consecutive months of interest rate rises by the Bank of England, where policymakers have been trying to get soaring inflation under control. Rising rates are usually good news for bank finances, since banks are able to charge borrowers more for loans and mortgages, which in turn increases their net interest margin – a key measure of profitability and growth. Lloyds pre-tax profits for the three months to the end of June were in line with the same period last year at just over £2bn, exceeding analyst estimates of £1.6bn.

Lloyds’ net interest margin – the difference between what it earns from loans and pays for deposits – rose to 2.87% in the second quarter compared with 2.5% last year.

Lloyds lays bare impact of soaring inflation on everyday customers | Lloyds Banking Group | The Guardian

 Yemen is facing unprecedented rises in the price of food putting millions more people in danger of catastrophic hunger, Oxfam warned. 

Ferran Puig, Oxfam in Yemen Country Director, said: “This unprecedented rise in food prices threatens the lives of millions of people who are now in real danger of starvation. Families who have been pushed to the brink by seven years of conflict are being tipped over the edge as the prices of basic food rises beyond their reach. World leaders must act immediately to prevent catastrophic hunger and a worsening humanitarian crisis.”

Yemen has been hit hard by the worsening global food crises. The prices of wheat, flour, cooking oil, eggs and sugar have all increased by more than a third since March. Such price hikes haven’t been seen since the country was subject to a blockade and never for such a prolonged period. 

Around 56 per cent of the four million internally displaced people have no source of income at all. Women and children who make up around 77 per cent of the displaced population are at greatest risk of starvation.

Between March and June this year, the price of basic foods increased by up to 45 per cent.

Flour increased by 38 per centCooking oil increased by 45 per centSugar increased by 36 per centRice increased by 30 per centCanned beans increased by 38 per centPowder milk increased by 36 per centEggs increased by 35 per centPetrol and diesel prices also increased by 43 per cent in the first quarter of the year.

The average national price of the Minimum Food Basket (MFB) has increased by 48 per cent since December 2021 and 25 per cent since the start of the year, with the increasing costs of food imports further exacerbated by exchange rate fluctuations. Yemen’s national currency, the rial, has lost its value by 28 per cent since the beginning of the year.

Yemen imports 90 per cent of its food, including 42 per cent of its wheat from Ukraine. Importers have warned that stocks may run out in the coming months and that global increase in costs will challenge their ability to secure wheat imports into Yemen.  In a country where many people depend on bread for most of their daily food to survive, this could push millions towards starvation. Any drop in global prices could well be short-lived and may not translate into a reduction in cost for ordinary Yemenis. 

 An unseasonable drought caused by rising temperatures globally have caused more suffering, especially for farmers. Many Yemenis depend on agriculture and livestock as a main source of income but have seen their crops damaged or delayed and livestock dying during the current drought.

The lack of resources and funding has come with devastating consequences. The World Food Program has been forced to reduce the amount of aid it provides, with five million recipients of food aid now set to receive less than half of their daily calorie requirement. Eight million will receive just 25 per cent.

Unprecedented spike in food prices puts Yemenis at risk of extreme hunger – Yemen | ReliefWeb

 About 2.4 million households – nearly half of all claimants on universal credit – have on average £62 docked each month to repay benefit advances, tax credit overpayments and debts owed to landlords and utility companies.

With energy and food prices soaring and benefit levels pegged way below inflation, the deductions often leave struggling households without enough money to afford food or pay their bills, forcing some claimants to turn to food banks to survive.

The Commons cross-party work and pensions select committee urged ministers to give households extra “breathing space” by suspending all benefit deductions until inflation dropped to a manageable level or benefits were increased to accurately reflect living costs.

The committee noted that while the government has urged creditors to accept reduced monthly repayments from households battling the cost of living crisis, it “isn’t following its own advice” when it comes to deductions levied as a result of government policy rather than individuals’ behaviour. The bulk of benefit deductions are for advance payments made to new universal credit claimants, introduced to help tide them over the built-in five-week wait for a first payment. They are interest-free but must be repaid from future benefit payments.

The benefits uprating mechanism, which set benefit increases in April using inflation estimates from the previous September, had effectively caused a real-terms fall in income for low-income families and was “not fit for purpose”, the MPs’ report said.

Stephen Timms, Labour chair of the committee, said: “Deductions by [the] DWP from benefits are contributing to the hardship, and the government should give those struggling some much-needed breathing space by following its own advice to other creditors and pausing repayments until the threat of inflation recedes.” He continued, “A properly functioning social security safety net should be agile enough to respond to worsening economic conditions, but the high levels of inflation have laid bare the dysfunctional nature of parts of the system – not least that any increase in benefits is already seven months out of date when it takes effect.”

The report called for an urgent review of the benefit cap, which has been frozen at the same level since 2016, despite a statutory requirement to do so every five years. The committee noted that capped families did not even receive the 3.1% below-inflation benefits increase.

 Cuts introduced from 2010 meant that UK social security spending would be about £34bn lower next year than it was in 2010, the committee noted.

Benefit deductions should be stopped until inflation falls, say MPs | UK cost of living crisis | The Guardian

 The German economy is facing a shortage of workers. Immigration reform may be on the table to attract more foreign labour. Germany loses around 350,000 working-age people every year as the Baby Boomer generation, those born in the years immediately following World War Two, retires, and not enough younger people are available to fill their positions. The labor market will have seven million fewer workers by 2035, according to labor experts.

Around 56% of companies report being short-staffed, according to a survey from the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Those polled said they considered the shortage one of the biggest risks they face.

Germany’s Federal Employment Agency has noted bottlenecks in 148 job areas, with another 122 at risk. It can take eight months for an elderly care home to fill a position. For construction companies, the wait is six months. Nationwide, there are more than 1.7 million open jobs.

“This is no longer just a problem in specialist fields, but a general staffing problem,” Markus Winter, the director of the temp agency, IDS,  said. Unskilled labor also has openings, he added, “areas that are really essential for industry, which without them nothing happens…Companies are already hiring untrained workers and then helping them learn on the job…”

Germany on the hunt for labor | Germany | News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 26.07.2022

Whereas Germany could once rely on workers from other countries in the European Union to compensate for domestic shortages,  said Herbert Brücker, a professor at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg, said that source is starting to dry up.

“Incomes in other EU countries are starting to pick up, and they are also seeing demographic changes,” he said. “Basically, the party is over.” 

A law passed in 2020 was supposed to encourage the 400,000 foreign workers Germany needs every year to come and stay in Germany. In its first year, it only attracted 30,000, which Brücker called a “disappointment.”

Palestinian authorities are systematically mistreating and torturing Palestinians in detention, including critics and opponents, Human Rights Watch said today in a parallel report submitted jointly to the United Nations Committee Against Torture with the Palestinian rights group Lawyers for Justice. 

More than a year after the PA beat to death prominent activist and critic Nizar Banat while he was in custody and violently dispersed people demanding justice for his death, including rounding up scores for peaceful protesting, no one has been held to account. Prosecutors brought charges against 14 accused security officers, but critics say the authorities are moving too slowly and are biased, including in a June 21 decision by military prosecutors to release the accused for 12 days.

“More than a year after beating to death Nizar Banat, the Palestinian Authority continues to arrest and torture critics and opponents,” said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch. “Systematic abuse by the PA and Hamas forms a critical part of the repression of the Palestinian people.”

In the months that followed Banat’s death, PA police forces violently dispersed popular protests demanding justice and rounded up scores of people for peacefully protesting.

The death in custody of Banat and rounding up of demonstrators in the weeks that followed reflects the Palestinian authorities’ systematic practice of arbitrary arrest and torture with impunity, Human Rights Watch said. PA and Hamas security forces routinely taunt and threaten detainees, use solitary confinement and beatings, including whipping their feet, and force detainees into painful stress positions for prolonged periods, including hoisting their arms behind their backs with cables or rope, to punish and intimidate critics and opponents and elicit confessions, as Human Rights Watch and Lawyers for Justice lay out in their parallel report.  

Palestinian authorities have consistently failed to hold security forces accountable, as documented in the parallel report.

In 2021, the ICHR received 252 complaints of torture and ill-treatment and 279 of arbitrary arrest against PA authorities in the West Bank and 193 complaints of torture and ill-treatment and 97 of arbitrary arrest against Hamas authorities in Gaza. Hamas authorities have also executed 28 people in Gaza since seizing political control in June 2007, in a context in which  due process violations, coercion, and torture are prevalent, and have summarily executed scores of other people without any judicial process, often on accusations of collaboration with Israel.

Palestinian authorities should abide by the international human rights treaties they have acceded to and end grave abuses and endemic impunity by holding those responsible to account.

The parallel Human Rights Watch and Lawyers for Justice report also covers mistreatment and torture by Israeli authorities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and impunity for these abuses. Despite more than 1,300 complaints of torture filed with Israel’s Justice Ministry since 2001 stemming from acts allegedly carried out by Israeli authorities in Israel or the West Bank, including painful shackling, sleep deprivation, and exposure to extreme temperatures, these complaints have only resulted in two criminal investigations and no indictments over the past 20 years, according to the Israeli rights group Public Committee Against Torture in Israel. As part of its duties under the Convention Against Torture to “prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction,” the State of Palestine should cease all security coordination with the Israeli army that contributes to facilitating torture and other grave abuses, and stop handing over Palestinians, as long as there remains a real risk of torture and other prohibited ill-treatment for those handed over, Human Rights Watch said.

“Many governments say they want to support the rule of law in Palestine and yet year after year continue to fund police forces that actively undermine it,” Shakir said. “Purported concerns over the fragility of Palestinian institutions and other tired excuses should no longer stand in the way. Donor governments should cut ties to abusive Palestinian police and security forces and center their Palestine and Israel policies on human rights.”

Palestine: Impunity for Arbitrary Arrests, Torture | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)

 Two new talks have been uploaded to the Party website:

The Ideas of Rutger Bregman

Paul Bennett, 15th July 2022

Human Nature

Richard Field, 22nd July 2022