The August issue of The Commune is now available. Click the image below to see PDF or use the list of individual articles as they are posted online.
Contact us at uncaptiveminds@gmail.com if you would like to buy a printed copy (£1 + 50p postage) or set up a subscription. (£12 a year UK/£16 EU/£20 international.
local reports and anti-cuts campaigns
fighting the cuts: the task ahead – by Kojo Kyerewaa
‘the resurgence of unions in the strangest of places’ – Angela Gorrie reports on Dundee
a ripple in the coming storm – Joe Thorne reports on Hackney
harsh cuts in north wales – Steve Ryan reports on Wrexham
education
hackney community college needs a community fight – by an hourly-paid ESOL teacher
‘unviable’ courses after man met uni cuts – by Mark Harrison
news
an olive branch to the taliban? – by the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan
the EDL and the islamist far-right – interview with Ansar Ahmed Ullah
the day the EDL didn’t show up – by Richard Price
public sector
the cuts agenda and ‘social capital’ – by Dave Spencer
the NHS: a tarnished jewel – by Terry Liddle
industrial
some past rank and file movements… and the future – by Sheila Cohen
facing different ways? – Gregor Gall on the prospects of a generalised fightback
feminism
review of sheila rowbotham’s dreamers of a new day – by David Broder
our network
reflections on beyond resistance day school – by Sharon Borthwick
from meltdown to upheaval? – proposal for a conference in September
the commune 
r/e Terry Liddle, the NHS a Tarnished Jewel. Claiming GPs have a ‘near incestuous relationship with drug companies’ needs justification. To claim that some GPs accept some gifts from drug company representatives is true, but many do not, and in my experience in City and Hackney and Tower Hamlets where I’ve worked as a locum and a partner for 10 years, the majority refuse to have anything to do with them as a point of principle. There is clear guidance from the General Medical Council: “75. If you have financial or commercial interests in organisations providing healthcare or in pharmaceutical or other biomedical companies, these interests must not affect the way you prescribe for, treat or refer patients.”
GPs are regularly audited on the proportion of prescriptions that are for generic (unbranded) drugs and are expected to reach maximum targets (around 90%) The remaining 10% are for certain drugs for epilepsy etc. where the bioavailability varies betweens brands.
On a more enlightening note your readers may be interested in (or familiar with) the great communist doctor and writer (still writing) Julian Tudor Hart, whose book, the Political Economy of Heathcare second edition is due very soon and whose website has a lot of free articles. A great historical communist doctor/ writer I’ve enjoyed recently is Henry Sigerist.
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