The death agony of the Fourth International

 I have recently read 'The death agony of the Fourth International - and the tasks of Trotskyists today' A wordy title for a book to say the least. For those familiar it is an obvious play on the full title of the transitional program by Leon Trotsky - The death agony of capitalism and the tasks of the Fourth International.

Written by Workers Power - now known as Red Flag in 1983 it is a very good explanation of the demise of the Fourth Internationals origins and its ultimate demise. I do not agree with their conclusions in the book which led of course to them renaming their international the League for a Fifth International, however their insights into the Fourth International itself are illuminating and something that all Trotskyists need to back to and tackle today as the issues have not been resolved.

They start quite correctly by looking at how the Fourth International came to exist in the first place. initially a tendency within the Communist International and therefore the mass communist parties that had developed after the Russian revolution of 1917, arguing correctly at the time to reform the International and only after the huge betrayals of Stalin and by extension the International is the rise of Hitler and the Nazis in Germany was a break and a new international required.

This historical juncture though was marked by both mass social democratic parties and mass or semi mass communist parties throughout the world and with a few notable exceptions, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Bolivia which much smaller agitational groups around the new international, struggling with perspectives and orientation, with groups of varying characteristics involved initially, including many centrist groups which later parted ways.

 This was a necessary break and with a figure like Trotsky to coalesce around able to give it a theoretical backbone the international was able to develop its own identity, but with both the assisation of Trotsky and a changed world post war in which his perspectives were not borne out. The post war boom of capitalism in the west and the expansion of Stalinism, meant that the fourth international began very quickly to loose its way. in essence, it forgot why it existed!

It became a power struggle of various factions, no figure had the political authority to carry it, so organisational maneuvers became the order of the day, from the antics of Cannon and his interference in the British section, even before the founding congress in 1938 to the split and subsequent reunification of the International secretariat and the International committee. 

This has been the legacy of not just those organisations directly descended from the fourth international but has been inbedded in the trotskyist movement throughout its history. Most recently seen in the most obvious way by the moves of the refounded CWI.

 A movement specifically set up to inject democracy back into the workers movement has been severely lacking in democracy from the offset. The Bolsheviks of which all Trotskyists would agree is the basis for their organisation, prior to the rise of Stalinism  was an open and democratic organisation with a thriving and living internal life with open disucssion and differences, which helped the organisation truly become the revolutionary and democratic force it was, a lesson that the Trotskyist movement is sorely lacking and strongly needs to relearn in order to build a dynamic international capable of the task of transforming society.

Thoughts on AEW Full Gear

This review is a bit late, better late than never. But AEW recently held its Full Gear event, which was a fantastic show.

The buy in match was an unusual one. Simply because the window to the show proper was an NWA women's title match with Serena Deeb defending against Alison Kay, it was a decent opener with Deeb coming out on top only to be confronted by Thunder Rosa at the end who recently lost the title to Deeb. Whilst this all centred on the NWA Women's championship it does suggest that all three of them are not done with AEW yet, and perhaps a deepening of a working relationship between AEW and NWA.

Those show proper opened with a bang. The tournament final for the #1 contednership of the AEW World championship. Kenny Omega vs. Adam Page.

This match could have easily main evented the card and did not fail to deliver. A real back and forth of equals with a fantastic ending. Both were still in the fight Page was desperately attempting to counter Omega's One Winged Angel, however as soon as it was hit, the match was over. Great in so many ways. Omega, was the right person to win, Page was kept strong and needs to be, he is positioned as the future of AEW and also the One Winged Angel is still that most rare thing in wrestling. A protected finisher.

Next up we saw the Dark Order's John Silver taking on Orange Cassidy. Silver is absolutely gold as a personality, this his by far his biggest singles match to date so it is interesting to see what he can do. This was the match i didn't realise I wanted. The match started off playing on the comedy strength of both competitors and was brilliant but when the match got going, it got going and both could really go, a fantastic match over all with Cassidy coming out with the win. 

Next up Cody Rhodes defended the TNT championship against Darby Allin. It was a fantastic match with an old school mentality to the match, Cody just keeps getting better an better as a character and in ring worker. In a very solid match up a very surprising victory for Darby Allin and  Cody graciously handed over the title to a very emotional Allin. 

This led to Taz coming out to cut a promo on both before Brian Cage and Ricky Starks attacked both from behind. A great use of two top performers who did not feature on the card. Setting up a future angle.

Next up was the AEW World women's championship match with Hikaru Shida defending against Nyla Rose. A solid match with Shida coming out victorious, disappointing simply because I believe that Nyla Rose should completely dominate the division for a long time.

The tag team championship match was up next with FTR defending against the Young Bucks with the stipulation that if the Young Bucks do not win they will never challenge for the tag titles again. This is not the same as when Cody won did the same, there is no likely to be a secondary tag title so I cannot see them loosing, likely to be a count out of disqualification win as I don't see them picking up the titles either. 

This was a great show case of tag team wrestling throughout. A great match with the urgency of the stakes showing through. Battling through injury the Young Bucks picked up the victory in dramatic fashion, there will clearly be a further match between the bucks and FTR and this is not a bad thing at all.

Next up was a cinematic match involving the originator of the cinematic match. Matt Hardy vs Sammy Guevara in an Elite Deletion match. Cinematic matches are obviously very different. This one did not fail to deliver, with cameos from Private Party, Santana and Ortiz, Hurricane Helms and Gangrel. The closing moments had references to recent botches, Sammy went through a table and cut the back off his head, then Hardy to him in the face with a chair a reverse of what had happened recently. A great addition to the cinematic match catalogue.

Next up was Jericho vs MJF for the rights to join the Inner Circle. This had to end in a win for MJF it is the only logical ending with MJF joining the Inner Circle to see what happens next. There was an ingenious finish, Jericho caught using a baseball bat, though he didn't and actually was setup by MJF who then used the distraction to role Jericho up for the win, which was the perfect finish for this match.

Jericho then announced that both MJF and Wardlow had joined the Inner Circle. It was disappointing to see Wardlow join as well, I thought it would have been better for MJF TO Beat him down along with Jericho and Hager and for him to subsequently break out on his own, maybe they are playing to long game with this one though.

Now it was time for the main event. Jon Moxley defending the AEW World championship against Eddie Kingston. Kingston is a veteran who up until now has not had a run in a major promotion befitting his talents. With this taking place as as no dq submission match and knowing the history of both in such stipulations I was looking forward to this match. Brutal is the only word you could use to describe this hard-core affair. It ended when Kingston quit whilst in a choke hold utilising barbed wired. This raised both competitors, Morley has not been top dog as champion and Kingston relatively new to the promotion  both had their stocks raised by the end of the night.

Overall a fantastic show, I think it really is a question of quality over quantity. AEW only have 4 ppvs per year and as a result they can build storyline and put everything into them. A great show for sure.

Old Tin Works Road

 I had planned to publish the essays I had written here, however the first piece of work I have submitted would not make any sense to a reader without the background information and reading materials so there is little point. However one part of the work. A description of a street I am familiar with can stand on its own.

Old Tin Works Road, connecting Treforest to Rhydyfelin in South Wales,  also connects people. As the name suggests it is the site of a former tin works long since gone representing the industrial decline. It has no houses or shops simply an allotment and a noticeably quiet scrap yard. The street runs parallel with the main road, it is predominantly pedestrianised, the people found here are generally either dog walkers, older people or families out for a walk or younger individuals traveling between the connected areas avoiding the busy main road. What connects everyone is the isolation and quiet they have sought, they have this in common.

Thoughts on NJPW Power Struggle

Recently NJPW held its Power Struggle event on the 7th November.

The first match up saw 'provisional champion' for the KOPW 2020 Toru Yank defend against Zack Sabre Jr. The KOPW is an interesting concept as it features non-standard matches which generally do not feature in NJPW, however rather than it being a division where we would see things like ladder matches, table matches or cage matches, we instead get some weird and minor stipulations. This match bring no exception, being contested as a 'no corner pads' match. This could have been a very interesting stipulation, though it did not really come into play.

The match itself highlighted the technical style of Zack and the comedy styling of Yano equally and was a very decent opener match, in the end Toru Yano picked up the victory after tying ZSJ's shoe laces together around the guide rail after he had Yano in a leg lock around the rail.

The second match up was Shingo Takagi challenging Minoru Suzuki for the NEVER openweight championship. We have seen this particular match up several times recently. A hard hitting strong style affair, this time with Takagi coming out on top as the new NEVER openweight champion.

The third match up on the card saw Obama take in the Great O Khan, a match really as a placeholder toward Obama vs Osprey. Which was set up for Wrestle Kingdom after the match. The match itself was OK, there is not a lot more to say about it other than that. Okada took the victory.

Next up was Kenta defending his briefcase for a shot at the IWGP United States championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi. A solid match with Kenya coming out of top retaining the title shot. The only question really is when will the title shot be? John Morley is unlikely to travel to Japan anytime soon to defend the title, hopefully at Wrestle Kingdom, but with travel restrictions still likely to be in effect it is unlikely.

In the semi main event, in another defence of a briefcase, Kota Ibushi defended his shot at the IWGP heavyweight championship. For the first time in history the briefcase changed hands. A completely unexpected twist i was absolutely convinced that this would have been an Ibushi retention!

In the main event Tetsyu Naito defended both IWGP heavyweight and intercontinental championship against Evil, to determine who the other participant would be in the Wrestle Kingdom 15 main event.

Transport for Wales nationalised - Kick privateers out of the rail industry!

 

This article was originally published on the website of Socialist Alternative. Transport for Wales is to be nationalised as of February. This unfortunately was not a deliberate act by the Senydd (Welsh parliament) but rather was a result of the break down of bailout talks with Keolis Amey who have decided to walk away despite having received £267m in subsidies from the Senydd in just 2 years in which they held the franchise.

The Welsh government does not have the power to nationalise industries and rail unions have also stated that under current UK law it is not possible for governments to step in permanently. What we have instead is that the Welsh government will only take control for the remainder of the current franchise term,still a significant 13 years to go. 

The crisis erupted during the covid-19 pandemic, with falling passenger numbers the logic of capitalism began to unravel the franchise as it became unprofitable and the bailouts offered were not enough to satisfy Keolis Amey as they decided to walk away.  Scandalously though, they have not walked away completely, they have walked away only from passenger services which have become loss making. However, as part of the original franchise deal which began in 2018, the ownership of the tracks and infrastructure of the valley lines (the main commuter lines into Cardiff from surrounding towns,) previously owned by the Welsh government,  was handed over to Keolis Amey. They have decided and been allowed to retain ownership of the valley lines tracks as they still see a profit to be made. With big infrastructure projects still to be completed as part of the ‘South Wales Metro’ this side of the business will certainly remain a profitable asset for them.

This is a continuation of the neoliberal ‘privatise the profits, nationalise the losses’ policy that bailed the bankers out while the rest of us were made to live with austerity.  The scraps are handed back to governments to pick up the bill and provide the necessary investment.

Keolis Amey took over the franchise with huge fanfare  The previous franchise holders Arriva had become hated due to poor services, late running trains and cancellations with rising fares. However Keolis Amey were able to achieve what many people had thought impossible: more late trains and cancellations than had happened previously, in some cases several trains in the same route concurrently meaning half hourly services became 2 hourly services! As a regular passenger myself I witnessed chaotic scenes of rail staff themselves unable to find out if services were running or not!

As things stand nationalisation was only able to take place under the creations of ‘operators of last resort’.  This means that with no provider company willing to run a loss making service, the Welsh government was able to step in. The implication of this is that as soon as passenger numbers begin to rise back to previous levels, the service will once again be privatised to be run by a parasitic multinational once again.

The time is now for the Labour government in Cardiff Bay to carry out permanent nationalisation of the rail franchise along with all other public services – but it shouldn’t be the current ineffective management which are left in charge. It should be under the control of workers in the rail industry, and people who use the service, who make decisions. If the Westminster government tries to block this, there should be a campaign linking both unions like the RMT, ASLEF AND TSSA in the rail industry service users in the wider community to demand not only nationalisation on a permanent basis but a service which can allow for increased wages, lower fares and better investment in trains and infrastructure. Wales is in desperate need of this, it has 10% of all rail lines in the UK, but currently only 3% of investment. If you remove the need to pay out dividends and profits to shareholders, then It is perfectly possible to do all of this and highlights why private companies have no place in public services. 

Thoughts of WWE Hell in a Cell

Recently WWE Hell in a Cell took place, with several high profile cell matches in the card it was
definitely one to watch.

The pre-show match up saw R-Truth take on Drew Gulak, R-Truth's gimmick and possession of the 24/7 championship has become very stale, though in ring he can still go and the match itself was decent. The only downside to it was the R-Truth retained the title and then fled the ring as everyone chased him down for the 24/7 championship.

The first match on the main card was a surprising match up. I had assumed that Roman Reigns vs Jay USA would have been the main event. The first ever Hell in a Cell I quit match. For the Universal Championship and the rights to be the 'tribal chief'. Annoyingly it was the red version of the cell in use tonight.

A hard hitting brutal match, this time around Us got a lot more offense in that their last encounter whilst still dominated by Reigns. There was an interested finish where Jimmy Uso came to the bring to plead for mercy and when Reigns turned on him, this is where Jay Uso quit, to save his twin brother not himself. It seems like as they have to follow Reigns as the tribal chief we are now set for a new Heel faction.

Next up was Elias vs Jeff Hardy in a regular match. A  nonsensical story line if ever there was one. Ella's blames Hardy for running him over, but in his absence it had been proved that Hardy had been setup by Sheamus, so why isn't Ella's going after Sheamus?

A short match  which ended with Hardy being disqualified after a guitar shot to Elias revenge for the guitar shot from Elias on the previous Raw. This story line is obviously to be continued.

Next up we saw Otis defend his Money in the Bank contract against The Miz. I never thought that Otis should have one the MITB ladder match to begin with, so was hoping to The Mix, who is under utilised in the main event would pick up the victory. 

 

Next up was the Smackdown women's title with Bayley defending against Sasha Banks. This was easily the best match on the card. A hard  hitting cell match with the inclusion of kendo sticks. Sasha came out on top which was the right way to go with this, a lot to be made out of this story line going forward. Sasha has never successfully defended a title and this is perfect fodder for Bayley to use.

Next was an impromptu match after a challenge was laid down on the preshow for a member of the Hurt Business to face a member of retribution which saw Bobby Lashley taking on slapjack. There is not a lot to say about this, so I won't.

 

This took us to the main event, Randy Orton took on Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship. Another great match between the two which saw Orton come out as a 14 champion at the end of the night. I would have preferred for Drew to retain cementing his position in the main event and moving on to other challenges. Drew vs AJ Styles would be a fantastic feud. With Orton taking the title it looks as if the feud is due to continue this time with McIntyre chasing.

Wales in further lockdown

This article was originally published on the website of Socialist Alternative 

Wales is about to go into its second national lockdown known as a ‘firebreak lockdown’ which has come after local lockdowns throughout large parts of both North and South Wales.

The intention is to ensure that we stem the tide now, and ensure that Christmas is ‘saved for everyone’. Immediately the actions of the Welsh government fail at this on the first hurdle as workers who are unable to work in areas of the economy who face temporary closure will potentially only receive a percentage of their pay, perfect timing to ensure a bleak financial Christmas!

The new lockdown measures are nonsensical and ineffective by the very nature of the exemptions. Mark Drakeford, Labour First Minister of Wales announced As of Friday 23^rd at 6pm the following rules will be in force until Monday until Monday 9^th November.

• All non-essential shops, café’s pubs’ restaurants, gyms, community centres, libraries and places of worship along with other similar venues must close.
• Everyone must work from home if they can
• All indoor and outdoor gatherings with people you do not live with are banned
• You can only leave your house for a limited number of reasons such as for exercise, for essential shopping or to provide care or support for someone.
• You cannot enter or leave Wales during this time without a reasonable excuse

Fixed penalty fines of £60 rising to £120 will also be in force for anyone caught breaching the rules.

Covid cases on the rise

However despite these tighter restrictions, schools will reopen after the half-term break from the 2^nd of November, though only those in year 8 and under, who otherwise would need child care. Universities will also remain open continuing to offer a mix of online and in-person education. A bizarre situation as these are the two areas in which the virus has been spreading the most.

Wales currently has 1,091.1 cases per 100,000 of the population with Merthyr and Rhondda Cynon Taf local authorities rising to 2,120.1 and 1,822.5, respectively. Both these local authorities combined make up much of the Cwm Taf health board. Comparing to Manchester, which has been at the height of the tensions across England with a rate of 424/100,000 shows the dire need to get a grip on the virus. Cases are on the rise, on October the 20^th Wales recorded more than 1,000 new cases on a single day.

There is no clear reporting on cases within schools in Wales, which begs the question, without adequate reporting, how can you determine it is ok for schools to stay open? Some local authorities have not been willing to comment on cases within schools (Merthyr, for example, has not) but those that have beenshow a dire picture. Rhondda Cynon Taf local authority revealed that there were confirmed cases in 53 schools, but this was announced on the 5^th October with no update to this since.

Outbreaks of the virus within hospitals have severely impacted the ability to function. Royal Glamorgan  saw an outbreak with 127 cases recorded within the hospital itself. The firebreak lockdown is being implemented partly  because the NHS can no longer cope with the strain. The ability to handle the pandemic has been exacerbated by decades of underfunding and cuts from the Labour-led Welsh government –  just prior to the outbreak they had attempted to close the A&E department at the Royal Glamorgan hospital!

Lessons not learned

Lessons have not been learnt from the first national lockdown down or the localised lockdowns which followed. This will only  temporarily alleviate the virus. Just like previous lockdowns, no measures have been put in place to care for the vulnerable suffering from isolation either due to mental or physical health. Workers will suffer further through loss of pay. The instruction of “work from home if you can”, is not a decision that workers can make for themselves, but a decision left with employers without any oversight, and there are already cases of workers forced to work in unsafe conditions. Even though the majority of parents will want their children in school, of course with the proper safety measures in place, it’s significant that it is only children in Year 8 and below who will remain in school. This is done with the economy in mind – so that parents of younger children can go to work – instead of what is most safe. Meanwhile, those who are facing GCSE exams next year will suffer by not being in school. 

What is the answer?

Despite all the announcements by Mark Drakeford, the one thing that was noticeable by its absence was any reference to track and trace. This temporary lockdown should be used as an opportunity to bring track and trace up to scratch to avoid further cycles of lockdowns by effectively tracking the spread of the virus so that outbreaks can be isolated.

The labour movement must develop a programme which will genuinely find a route out of the current pandemic as it is clear that politicians, whose main aim is to keep the economy open as much as possible, are incapable of doing so. This must include democratic workers’ control over what measures are taken, including at a local level. This must include demands for real and meaningful track and trace, not farmed off to private companies more interested in making a profit, but dealt with directly by the NHS, given all the resources needed to develop this as quickly and as extensively as necessary. Unions within schools should have oversight on the  safety measures in place to ensure that schools are organised in a safe way  without putting students and staff at risk.

It should be workers themselves who decide what work is essential and what work is not, who can work from home and who cannot, rather than employers without any democratic accountability. Where it is deemed that a section of workers are not essential, they should be guaranteed their full wages and should not be forced to pay the cost of the mishandling of the pandemic by politicians. 

The pandemic, it is clear, may be with us for some time. It is equally clear that it can be handled very differently, in the interests of ordinary people and not the interests of the bank balances of the rich. The above steps, not only would ensure that we deal with the ongoing pandemic in a more effective way, but also pose the question of how society could actually be run in the future, who actually keeps the world running, the employers or the essential workers, and do we actually need the employers at the top or could ordinary people run society in our own interest and the interest of the planet?

Thoughts on Impact Wrestling Bound for Glory

Impact Wrestling Bound for Glory took place recently, the biggest event of the year for Impact.  The card was as follows.

 Rohit Raju vs Chris Bey vs Jordaynne Grace vs TJP vs Trey vs Willie Mack

20 man Gauntlet match

Moose vs. EC3 in a cinematic match

Ken Shamrock vs Eddie Edwards

The North vs Motor City Machine Guns vs The Good Brothers vs Ace Austin & Madman Fulton

Su Yung vs. Deonna Purrazzo

Eric Young vs Rich Swann

 

First up was the X Division match, with 6 competitors this was perfect for an Ultimate X match which unfortunately it was not so immediately I was disappointed before the match even took place. This was a missed opportunity for Impact to return to their unique selling points.

As a result I struggled to even be interested in the match, there was nothing special to it, no particularly big spots that you would expect from the X division, the only thing of note was the cowardly heel antics of Rohit Raju who left the ring for the others to fight it out and eventually stole a win after TJP hit his finisher to retain the title.

Next up was the gauntlet match, this one I was interested in. The winner getting a title match of their choosing and with the added stakes that if Heath or Rhino win Heath gets a contract but if they don't Rhino is fired. Only half of the 20 participants were announced beforehand so surprise appearances to be expected. The biggest of which was a returning James Storm.

You had some bizarre spots like the farcical self elimination of Hernandez who went after Fallah Bah, who could just as easily gone under the ropes. The final came down to Rhino and Sami Callihan, with Rhino picking up the win which secured both his job and a contract for Heath and earning a title shot, you would imagine you would see the duo challenge for the tag titles.

The third match was a cinematic match, Impact Wrestling being the originator of the cinematic match, but of course the brains behind it, Matt Hardy and Jeremy Borash are no longer with the company so it would be interesting to see what they could produce. Moose took on EC3.

This story line did seem suited to a cinematic match l, with flashbacks to EC3's past which he is trying to escape preventing him from picking up the win and Moose leaving victorious.

Ken Shamrock took on Eddie Edwards next. The match was a hard hitting affair which saw Shamrock pick up a submission win after interference from Sami Callihan, overall a decent match.

Next was the match which I was most interested in a fatal four way for the tag team titles. However before the match started Alex Shelley of the Motor City Machine Guns was taken out meaning Chris Sabin had to go solo. The match was good with a good back and forth pace with all teams. However I kept waiting for Shelley to return to the ring  which did not happen and The North picked up the victory at a surprise moment to regain the titles.

In the semi main event we saw Donna Parazzo defend the knockouts championship against Su Young  this match definitely exceeded my expectations it was a good match which ultimately saw Yung becoming the new knockouts champion.

The main event saw world champion Eric Young defending against Rich Swann. Young was criminally under utilised or should I say not utilised during his run in WWE. His character work is second to none and could easily had a great run in some mid card feuds and him now being a main event in Impact Wrestling is certainly not out of place, particularly with him being a TNA original.

The match itself was good and certainly played to the in ring strengths of Young as opposed to Swann which better suits a main event spot anyway.

Rich Swann came out on top becoming the new Impact Wrestling world champion with a Phoenix splash. A good match overall with the exception of the ending. I don't think Eric Young should have lost the title any time soon.

Overall a good show from Impact, but generally I have a disconnect with what they are putting out, something I feel that slot of people suffer with, I think it is a combination of a variety of factors, the lack of invested fans, which although as a result of the Covid19 pandemic is certainly not new. The loss of known stars, which is beginning to change with returns, debuts and building up the wrestlers they do have, but I think the biggest issue is the commentary. Without commentators like Mike Tenay and Jeremy Borash or even Don West and Tazz there is a problem, even fresh faces might brighten things up but I struggle with Don Callis and Josh Matthews, I just find they miss the mark.

Thoughts of NJPW G1 Climax Final

 

This years G1 Climax tournament from New Japan Pro Wrestling has just concluded. The round robin tournament split into two blocks, with the winner of each block meeting in the final.

The tournament itself was adapted from recent due directly as a result of covid29 restrictions and was better as a result! With Less matches taking place each night, with only one preliminary match prior to the tournament matches, considering that there are 19 nights of the tournament, this slimming down of the tournament and eliminating the multi-man prelimiary matches was a welcome change.

The tournament has some great matches, it also had some not so great matches as well, it struggled as it has in recent years with too many entrants who you know have no chance of winning or even coming close to winning being involved.  

The final night, prelimary matches and the final itself set up future story lines, interestingly the prelimary matches, in my view were more interesting than the final. The card was as follows

1. Chaos (Toru Yano, Yoshi-Hashi, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto) vs. Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., Douki & El Desperado)

2. LIJ (Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi) vs. Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Sukuki)

3. Taguchi Japan (Master Wato, Jeff Cobb, Juice Robinson & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bullet Club (Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, Kenta & Jay White)

4. Chaos (Sho and Kazuchika Okada) vs. Great-O-Khan and Will Ospreay

5. LIJ (Bushi and Tetsuya Naito) vs. Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi and Evil)

6. G1 Climax Final Sanada vs. Kota Ibushi

This was a standard multi-man match under card from New Japan. The first match up pitting Chaos up against Suzuki-gun epitomised this, but it did also include some story line development, Suzuki-gun picked up the win but at the end Douki held up the 6-man tag titles indicated that there will be a challenge from him and Suzuki-gun against Chaos for the titles, a much needed focus on the 6-man titles which have completed dropped off the radar.

The second match was a hard hitting brawl, although a tag team match it centred around the rivalry between Shingo and Suzuki and seemingly set up a future match the Suzuki's Never Open weight Championship. The third match was just a classic multi-man match from New Japan and there is very little to say about it, other than it did seem to show case Master Wato a little, which seems to be perfectly timed for the upcoming Best of the Super Juniors.

The next match was the most interesting, not the match itself, but what it represented With a The Great-O-Khan returning from excursion in the UK and teaming with Ospreay who had turned on Okada, in process looking to setup a new faction. Hopefully something more comes from this. The Chaos stable has been around for years and is completely stale and something new needs to arise in its place.

Next up was a tag team match the Bullet Club up against LIJ, continuing the feud between Naito and Evil, this was run of the mill, but Evil stood tall and the end, likely to be setting up a title match between the two at Power Struggle.

The final was a break back and forth match between Ibushi and Sanada, the only thing that it suffered from was that it was completely predictable. It was obvious that Ibushi was always going to be the winner as as good as Sanada is, he has not been positioned to main event Wrestle Kingdom and that did take away from the match, knowing who the winner would be.

The rise of Welsh nationalism

 This article was original written in October 2019 but has been unpublished until now.

In the last 6 months there has now been three sizeable demonstrations calling for an independent Wales, first in Cardiff, then Caernarfon and most recently we saw over 5,000 march through Merthyr. The motivations of those involved are quite mixed, this of course though is happening with the backdrop of a crisis in British politics after years of seemingly endless austerity.

Large areas of Wales had not managed yet to recover from large scale deindustrialisation and privatisation from the 1980’s and early 1990’s leading to the loss of many large industrial and manufacturing work places. This even before the austerity measures of the financial crisis starting in 2008 has led to a feeling that Wales is getting a raw deal, as with many other working class areas throughout the UK this is very true.

The crisis in Westminster politics, the austerity measures and the prospect of a No deal Brexit which will hit working class people particularly hard. There is also a disconnect between Corbyn and Welsh Labour with many Labour politicians distancing themselves in words and actions from the policies of Corbyn. Corbyn’s main challenger who failed to topple in him Owen Smith is of course the MP for the Pontypridd constituency in Wales and the led Labour led Welsh Assembly and Labour controlled Welsh councils have been more than happy unfortunately to pass on austerity measures.

These factors combined has brought about a huge rise in the idea on an independent Wales. Previously support for independence has typically hovered around the 10%, recent opinion polls have shown that 41% either support Welsh independence or to some extent further autonomy for Wales.  Since then three sizeable demonstrations have taken place and recent reports from the Office of National Statistics show that the Welsh economy is growing 0.1% faster that the UK economy as a whole. Albeit starting from a lower base rate.

The question that we must ask as socialists is what type of Wales do we want. The demonstrations for example have been called under the name ‘All under one banner’ which has taken its name from the organisation in Scotland. This is a mistaken road that many will be taken down. If we talk about independence for Wales in and of itself in isolation of politics then it will mean more of the same.

The Welsh Assembly has now existed for 20 years throughout that time Labour has been in power including one term in coalition with Plaid Cymru. In many respects though this has not helped improve the lives of ordinary Welsh people as the assembly have presided over hospital closures and funding cuts to education, as well as mergers in further and higher education resulting in job cuts and lowering educational standards.

This is symptomatic of the problems of the movement and the official wing in the form of Yes Cymru, the would-be leaders of an independent Wales would be those either from Labour or Plaid Cymru who cannot not see past the capitalist system and therefore will offer little in the way of real change for ordinary people. whilst it is clear that many involved in the movement are actively looking for a working class alternative for Wales. Former Wales rugby International Eddie Butler said at the demonstration in Merthyr “This today is not entirely political – not yet” indicating the need to go further than a simple call for independence Neville Southall the famous ex-footballer for Wales went a lot further when he said:

“There is no point having a dragon if you cannot roar, and at the moment we cannot roar because we do not have the money. We need to build up a country that looks after the lowest of the low We need to treat them the same. There should be o class system in Wales. Everyone should be the same.”

Essentially Eddie Butler asks the question what next and Neville Southall provides the answer, whilst not explicitly saying as such Southall, in reality, is calling for a Socialist Wales.

Welsh people have a proud working class tradition, it should not be lost on anyone that the march in Merthyr started in Penderyn Sqaure, named of Dic Penderyn one of the Martyrs of Welsh working class history, executed for his role in the Merthyr rising which also saw the birth of the red flag.

Questions need to be asked within the independence movement, what type of independence should we have? Independence based on the capitalist economic system will not give us any freedom! A decisive break needs to come within the independence movement amongst those who both want an independent Wales and who oppose the ongoing austerity blighting all our lives.

This needs to be put into practice. Socialist Alternative calls on the Welsh Assembly to stop all cuts to devolved public services in Wales. All cuts already made with the NHS and education must be reversed. The Welsh assembly are also known for using zero hour contract themselves, we call for an immediate end to this and for decent employment with guaranteed hours available for all those currently on zero hour contracts. All public services such as utilities and public transport should be brought back into public ownership and run democratically buy those working in the industries and the communities which rely on them.

This measures would be a prerequisite for a Wales in which as Southall described, there would be no class system.

Socialist Alternative calls for a Socialist Wales, linking up on a voluntary basis in a Socialist confederation of England, Scotland and Ireland as part of a wider Socialist Europe in the interests of ordinary working class people unlike the bosses European Union