red pepper issue138 february 2006

contents

features education special

The end of an ideal? iA commitment to education for all has long been central to all shades of left thinking. But the government’s plans for schools mark a decisive break with past egalitarian principles

Quality through equality iiComprehensive education is under serious threat from the government’s education plans. But it remains the best way of raising standards for the many, writes Melissa Benn

Articles of faith ivThe marketisation of education is central to New Labour’s plans for its third term in office. Dexter Whitfield examines the beliefs that underpin it and what the new role of the private market will mean in practice

Mind the gap viThe education white paper is opposed by a large proportion of Labour Party members and MPs. Here one of them, Angela Eagle MP , sets out what would be needed to win back their support

Performance pantomime vii Across the country, teachers tell a similar story of dispiriting test regimes, endless form-filling and pointless bureaucracy. This is one teacher’s view from the classroom

Campaigning priorities viii Kenny Bell describes the campaign against Labour’s education plans in north east England and makes some suggestions on how it might be developed nationally

eurotopiaissue 2

27 Introducing Eurotopia 28 Bayonets bared for Europe’s military future Enzo Mangini 31 A Europe of peace is possible Hilary Wainwright 34 Strong roots for a better future Kate Hudson 37 Plane thinking Gemma Galdon and Wilbert van der Zeijden 39 Women in black Cynthia Cockburn

Cover image by Luke Knight

regulars 04Letters& Agony Subcommandauntie

06Activision Around the left in 30 days: UK Natural born rebel: Martin Schweiger Guerrilla guides: Because you’re worth it Red Hot: Fish in troubled waters Know your enemy: Graduates and gun-runners & The real education secretary Temperate Gauge: From dissent to descent Asylum Watch: Against ‘God’s law’

16World Around the left in 30 days: World Pakistan:Beating for Britain

22Infrared David Osler

47Rear view David Spero: Settlements

review 40Marxism and monsters China Miéville is a fantasy fiction writer, aMarxist and member of the SWP. He has also written a major book on international law, Between Equal Rights. In aninterview with Jane Shallice , China talked of his writing and his engagement with politics

43Arts reviews Book reviews

features

The WTOafter Hong Kong 18Sol Picciotto unpicks the WTO agreements made in Hong Kong, and asks what should come next in the battle for global justice

Raising the ghosts of Bloody Sunday 20With Sinn Fein belatedly declaring itself against the proposed amnesty bill for offences committed during the conflict, the withdrawal of the bill became a formality. The government now faces the prospect of former soldiers facing murder charges for the killings back in 1972. Eamonn McCann reports

coming soon Special focus on health Labour’s consultancy scandal The strange new shape of British politics Faith and the left on the web The latest from Chile, Bolivia and the World Social Forum Alternatives to Labour’s new education policies

february 2006 red pepper

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