Archive for April 2019
3 April 2019
The largest branch of transport union RMT - London Underground Engineering, this year named the Bob Crow branch to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the death of the union's towering general secretary - hosted the launch of the latest edition of Reclaim the Game
3 April 2019
End Tory cold cruelty: life under austerity in Merthyr
Scrap Universal Credit now: Merthyr has received a bad press as the "benefit capital of Britain". The Mirror newspaper pointed out the average male life expectancy on one of the estates is lower than Haiti's. But it's a friendly town.
3 April 2019
Chesterfield hospital privatisation plans
Chesterfield Royal Hospital is going ahead with plans to introduce a wholly owned subsidiary company - Derbyshire Support and Facilitates Services.
3 April 2019
Short reports of trade union struggles including strikes by government workers and train cleaners in London.
3 April 2019
Socialist change not climate change
Young people are taking up mass protest action as a means of defending our planet from the ravages of environmental destruction.
3 April 2019
Vote for socialist mayor and council candidates
Devastating 62% cuts in Leicester: In Leicester, spending on all council services, excluding social care, has been slashed by no less than 62% in ten years. This has had a devastating effect.
3 April 2019
NHS marches in Yorkshire and London
Campaigners and trade unionists came together to march through Leeds city centre and say that, despite the government's chronic paralysis over Brexit, the Tory plans to destroy our health service are still ongoing.
3 April 2019
The Socialist Party stands for workers. Unlike the capitalist political parties, we don't take any big corporate donations, meaning that we aren't financially accountable to the bosses and they can't control us.
3 April 2019
Discussion and debate at Leeds Trans Pride
Transphobic hate crimes are going up. Trans people have gained some legal protections but still face high levels of unemployment and around a two-year wait for NHS services.
3 April 2019
Socialists say we need a workers' Brexit at Young Labour debate
Leicester Socialist Party member Tom Barker put the case for a socialist Brexit at an EU debate, organised by Leicester Young Labour, on 21 March. Blairite MP Liz Kendall and MEP Rory Palmer were due to speak, but unfortunately both backed out at the last minute.
3 April 2019
Mueller report underlines Democrats' weakness
The long-awaited key findings of Robert Mueller's investigation into Trump's ties to Russia have been made public.
3 April 2019
40 years after Three Mile Island disaster
On the morning of 28 March 1979, pumps feeding water into the steam generator at Three Mile Island's No.2 (TMI-2) nuclear reactor near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA, failed. Emergency shutdown systems appeared to have worked correctly - but they hadn't.
3 April 2019
Corporate capitalism jeopardises air safety
On 10 March, shortly after take-off, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max passenger jet slammed into the ground, killing all 157 on board. Months earlier another 737 Max, operated by Lion Air, crashed in similar circumstances, killing 189 passengers and crew.
3 April 2019
Letters to the Socialist's editors including racism in football, cuts in Liverpool and imperialism at Oxford uni.
3 April 2019
Cuts and chaos. Enough. General election now!
Pro-capitalist politicians are united in wanting to keep Corbyn out. They are afraid of the millions of working-class people who could be mobilised if they see the opportunity to fight for socialist change.
3 April 2019
Parliamentary 'Brexishambles' continues: Yet again, the immediate future of the plans for Britain leaving the EU remains unclear.
3 April 2019
Probation privatisation failure
"Irredeemably flawed" is the verdict of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Probation, five years on from the break-up and part-privatisation of the service.
3 April 2019
Greenwich Unite demands workers brought in-house
Unite the Union has blasted Greenwich council for the continuing uncertainty being suffered by over 700 staff at GSPlus/GSS - the company set up by the council to compete for contracts.
3 April 2019
Working families in poverty: fund homes and childcare
In the UK, 2.9 million children from working families are now living in poverty, reports the Department for Work and Pensions. And more than a third of babies are living below the poverty line, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
3 April 2019
Toxic Grenfell fire residue threatens survivors
Cancer-causing chemicals and other potentially harmful toxins have been found close to Grenfell Tower in fire debris and soil samples, according to the University of Central Lancashire.
3 April 2019
Poor doors, segregated playgrounds
Haven't the Tories and Blairites got enough to answer for without barring poor children from playgrounds? An investigation by the Guardian has showed yet another side of life under the 'Nasty Party' and its shadows on the right of Labour.
3 April 2019
PCS elections: Support socialist candidates
National elections in the PCS civil servants' union start on 16 April and finish 9 May. They are for the national executive committee (NEC), which is elected annually, and the assistant general secretary (AGS) position - elected for a five-year term
10 April 2019
London Overground cleaners strike for better pay
Socialist Party members supported low-paid workers employed by private company Vinci on the London Overground
10 April 2019
Local government in crisis: councillors can fight cuts!
By cutting, Labour councils deliver a double whammy for the Tories, who get what they want and get Labour to share the blame too
10 April 2019
Only socialism can stop capitalism's plastic problem
A democratic, socialist planned economy could produce sustainable and environmentally safe materials
10 April 2019
Boot out the Tories - end austerity
Theresa May's 'Brexishambles' keeps rolling on. And we're sick of it!
10 April 2019
Budget deficits, cancer service privatisation, vacant posts, 100,000 outsourced - and campaign victories!
10 April 2019
It's one world for the super-rich, and enotehr for the rest of us. Socialism worries, bills, uni art splurge, agency austerity
10 April 2019
NEU conference: organise for the key battles to come
National Education Union: The 2019 conference will provide opportunities for action on pay, and discussions on workload, testing, curriculum and more
10 April 2019
Support the Glasgow Airport pay and pensions strike
Unite the Union should coordinate for action with workers at Aberdeen and Southampton airports
10 April 2019
Algeria: Bouteflika is finished but the Algerian revolution is not!
The force of the revolutionary movement in Algeria is similar to that of the first weeks of the Arab Spring
10 April 2019
China: police state in Xinjiang under global spotlight
After decades of silence, world governments have woken up to the brutal repression against China's ten million Uighur Muslims
10 April 2019
Leicester NHS Trust and the brutal reality of cuts
For about an hour, the audience bombarded the Trust's representative with story after emotional story about the devastating effects of NHS cuts
10 April 2019
Social cleansing continues in Southwark
Divine Rescue, a homelessness charity, is being evicted from its council-owned premises on the Aylesbury estate in Southwark
10 April 2019
The trade union movement must start to take the threat of the far right seriously and organise accordingly
10 April 2019
South Yorkshire Freedom Riders - still battling on
South Yorkshire Freedom Riders held rallies on 1 April marking five years of our struggle for the full restoration of travel pass rights
10 April 2019
Gateshead FC crisis: save our Heed!
Socialist Party members have suggested Gateshead Soul organise a protest in the town centre and have also raised the possibility of fans' ownership of the club
10 April 2019
Low pay, long hours, isolation - a taxi driver speaks out
"An Uber driver has to work 35 hours a week just to break even... Then to make any money you just keep racking up the hours"
10 April 2019
'Traitors': Cold War cloak and daggers as capitalist powers spy on allies
TV review: At the end of World War Two, US imperialism calculated the British Empire was a spent force and the US could take on the mantle of world power
10 April 2019
Corbyn must demand election, defend workers' interests and fight for a socialist Brexit
May has been trying to get an extension to Article 50 until the end of June
10 April 2019
A meeting was instigated because of threatened redundancies at Henry Maynard School
10 April 2019
Health Campaigns Together AGM success
It is clear that, in the event of a Jeremy Corbyn government, the workers' movement will have to pressure the front bench to stick to its manifesto commitments
10 April 2019
Reject the rotten NUS 'reforms'
The National Union of Students is on the brink of bankruptcy thanks to successive right-wing leaderships
10 April 2019
The Socialist Party demands that trade unions take a lead in fighting for public investment in well-paid jobs for all
10 April 2019
Southampton Hospital security workers strike
The workers lack sufficient 'personal protective equipment' - for months they have sustained serious injuries, and found no support from bosses
10 April 2019
Leicester Socialist Party letter for no-cuts budget
Socialist Party mayoral candidate in Leicester, Steve Score, has written to candidates in the local elections to ask if they would support a no-cuts budget
10 April 2019
PCS: vote Yes for action, back socialists in the elections!
A leadership prepared to stand up to the many challenges is crucial
10 April 2019
Workers discuss action to save Honda jobs
A meeting was called by the NSSN following the demo to save Honda jobs in Swindon
12 April 2019
Thousands of people took part in the bridge-blocking protests called by Extinction Rebellion over a series of weekends in November 2018
16 April 2019
Vital local strikes and a national pay ballot - vote for a fighting leadership
Huge attacks face workers represented by union PCS
17 April 2019
Assange arrest: US and allied governments seeking revenge for exposing dirty wars
After seven years of self-imposed exile in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was dragged from his place of asylum and arrested by the Metropolitan police.
17 April 2019
Engels' classic essential for understanding socialist ideas old and 'new'
As Tony Saunois points out in his foreword to the new Socialist Books reprint, 'Socialism: Utopian and Scientific' remains one of the best introductions to Marxist ideas.
17 April 2019
Real life on Universal Credit: "As soon as I get billed for my electric, I'm finished"
Hi. I'm Luke. I live alone and I'm on Universal Credit.
17 April 2019
Sudan: No to rule of the generals!
After 30 years of dictatorship in Sudan, historic mass protests have achieved the fall of President Omar Al-Bashir in a forced 'palace coup' by the generals. Following this, a 'transitional military council' was established, with defence minister Amhed Awad Ibn Auf sworn in as president.
17 April 2019
Labour councils must act now to save our schools!
A new Ofsted report shows that educational support for vulnerable children is failing. The report outlines how thousands of children are being taught in alternative provision, often in very poor conditions with no qualified teachers.
17 April 2019
Council elections - an opportunity to present a socialist alternative to cuts
On 2 May council elections are taking place in England, along with six directly elected mayors. The Socialist Party is contesting around 40 seats across the country, as well as the mayoral election in Leicester.
17 April 2019
Activists rally in fight for more council housing and against high rents
At a well-attended public meeting in Bracknell on 8 April local activists, including Socialist Party members, met to discuss building a campaign against homelessness, high rents and the lack of council housing in the area.
17 April 2019
Recently, the UK Housing Awards website said its annual event at the plush Grosvenor Hotel, Park Lane, London on 1 May would be hosted by comedian Romesh Ranganathan.
17 April 2019
National Union of Socialists (NUS) conference met this year in Glasgow to decide the future of the union. The so-called 'turnaround motion', drawn up by the leadership in response to a financial black hole in NUS accounts, was passed.
17 April 2019
No-fault evictions ban, but cuts leave tenants vulnerable
You know that things have got bad for private renters when even the Tories realise they need to look like they're doing something to stop the chronic exploitation of tenants.
17 April 2019
During the campaign against the Poll Tax, we used to say that the tax was unfair because a lord in his manor was expected to pay the same as a dustman down the road.
17 April 2019
Labour needs socialist policies to solve "climate emergency"
October's UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report said there is only 12 years for global warming to be kept to a maximum of 1.5C to avoid devastating effects.
17 April 2019
Arriva Rail North cleaners fight bosses' punitive pay arrears
Cleaning staff on Arriva Rail North have been told by their employer, outsourcer ISS, that they will be forced to work eleven days with pay owed in arrears. Members of transport union RMT protested outside Manchester Victoria station on 10 April.
17 April 2019
Deliveroo workers protest at firm's Nottingham roadshow
Deliveroo riders and supporters protested in Nottingham on 13 April at the company's 'roadshow' in the city centre.
17 April 2019
Right wing tries to block campaigning
1.3mn ballot papers are going out to members of Unison to elect their national leadership.
17 April 2019
Letters to the Socialist including National Action, socialists miners and the army.
17 April 2019
Tories facing electoral meltdown
But only a socialist alternative to austerity can finish them off!
With two weeks to go before local elections in 271 councils in England, the Tories are facing the loss of many council seats.
17 April 2019
20 years of the minimum wage: Fight for a real living wage for every worker
The minimum wage was one of the very few pro-worker steps taken by a right-wing Labour government
17 April 2019
£100 billion for bosses - cuts for us.
MPs get extension after extension on their Brexit crisis. But there are no extensions for workers and young people on our suffocating rent and bills.
17 April 2019
Labour looks to Bank of England to stall house prices
£400 billion worth of land - about 10% of the land mass - has been privatised since 1979, making it the biggest single privatisation, according to economist Brett Christophers.
17 April 2019
Newham bin workers ballot for strikes
Refuse workers employed by Newham Council in east London could have lost more than £20,000 each in the last decade in a dispute over grading.
17 April 2019
School staff demand action on pay and testing at NEU conference
School workers' anger has been expressed at the 2019 conference of the National Education Union (NEU).
17 April 2019
22 April 2019
Sri Lanka: No to terrorist bombing
United workers' struggle can cut off growth of racism and division
Victims of this attack were from all Sri Lanka's main ethnic and religious groups
24 April 2019
Housing associations - stop the segregation
The Guardian recently reported that a 'social landlord' threatened a tenant for speaking to the press about segregated facilities for social tenants and private tenants in the same housing block
24 April 2019
Northern Ireland: killing of Lyra McKee
Trade union movement must act: A mass, trade union-led campaign must oppose both the repression and the dire social conditions which drive young people into armed groups
24 April 2019
The striking relevance of Leon Trotsky's Theory of Permanent Revolution
A study of this outstanding theoretical contribution by Leon Trotsky is a great assistance in helping the working class and a new generation of revolutionary socialists
24 April 2019
Doncaster NHS strike to stop terms and conditions attack
When Sodexo refused to match the latest NHS pay rise, staff voted to strike
24 April 2019
Austerity must go! Kick out the Tories - we need a Socialist Alternative
On the doorstep we've had a warm response
24 April 2019
Leicester mayoral husting: only two choices - stop the cuts or make the cuts
Only the Socialist Party stands clearly against the cuts. No other Leicester candidate has a programme to deliver on their promises.
24 April 2019
Shac to name and shame housing bosses
The Unite union housing workers' branch and Social Housing Action Campaign are holding their annual name-and-shame 'Alternative Housing Awards' on 1 May
24 April 2019
Socialist red lines needed for Brexit talks
Now '29 March' is to be "no later than 31 October", although a further extension at that point has not been ruled out. Absolutely nothing has been resolved.
24 April 2019
How to save the planet? End capitalism; Socialist change
Editorial of the Socialist, issue 1039: Capitalism is a blind, unplanned system where the only driving force is the need to maximise profits. The change that is needed is socialist.
24 April 2019
Strikes against poverty pay and job losses - vote Yes in pay ballot
There are just a few more days until the PCS pay ballot closes
30 April 2019
May Day greetings to workers worldwide
Capitalism means no stability for anyone and a life of toil and deprivation for the overwhelming majority. But around the world the existing order is being challenged.
30 April 2019
Strike ballot: huge result must launch fightback
The PCS union must now urgently launch pay claims in every group with a basis for industrial action - despite the legal barrier to national action
19 Nov Socialism 2022
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