Archive for January 2021

1 January 2021

Donate to the Socialist Party

2 January 2021

Organise a mass refusal to attend unsafe schools on Monday

There should be no return to work until safety can be assured.

5 January 2021

3 lockdowns, 20+ U-turns ... We can't trust the Tories

We can't believe a word this government says or does. Going into lockdown 3, working-class people can only rely on our own strength and organisation.

6 January 2021

Protect lives and livelihoods, fight to defend the NHS

A recent report 'Exposed, Silenced, Attacked', commissioned by Amnesty International, highlights the global failure of governments and employers to protect health and essential workers during the Covid pandemic

6 January 2021

UNICEF feeds children in the UK for the first time

"It is a real scandal that UNICEF should be playing politics this way" was the response of millionaire and Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg to the announcement that UNICEF will be responsible for feeding children in the UK for the first time in its history

6 January 2021

News in brief

Why is the Covid vaccine roll out so slow? Government bureaucracy delaying the recruitment of vaccinators, and foul-ups in the private manufacturing and supply are to blame.

6 January 2021

University teaching moves online in England

Like in the rest of education, university staff and students are left in disarray by this consistently inconsistent and incompetent Tory government.

6 January 2021

Hospital security staff on strike for £12 an hour

Security staff at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading are continuing strike action, the next action taking place over 20 days throughout January and February.

6 January 2021

British Gas workers on strike against fire and re-hire pay cut

British Gas workers begin five days of strike action on Thursday 7 January, with potentially more to follow

6 January 2021

Nottingham City Council: Major battles against cuts ahead

Nottingham's Labour Council faces a decisive choice: whether it defends services, jobs and terms and conditions, or implements major cuts.

6 January 2021

Technology and AI response: Capitalists only invest for profit

Mark Best's article 'Can green technology and AI save capitalism?' was excellent, and many readers could use personal experiences to develop the points he made.

6 January 2021

Engels on the origins of women's oppression

In the final article in our series to commemorate 200 years since the birth of Friedrich Engels, Christine Thomas looks at the relevance of his important work 'The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State' for the struggle today to end women's inequality and oppression.

6 January 2021

Books that inspired me: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Millions of workers in the US and globally find themselves out of work, unable to afford the basics, and at the mercy of capitalist crisis

6 January 2021

Protect the NHS - Funding, Pay, PPE, Public ownership

The Tory government's plea to "protect the NHS" is rank hypocrisy.

6 January 2021

Refund the rent, cancel the fees, for fully funded, publicly owned education

With the new lockdowns, what can students expect for the rest of the academic year?

6 January 2021

Workers' action wins Tory U-turn on school safety

A monumental battle has taken place between NEU members and the government

8 January 2021

Judge rules against Julian Assange's extradition but refuses bail

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange won a partial victory in his long battle to avoid extradition

8 January 2021

US in crisis - need for a mass workers' party and socialist programme

In unprecedented scenes, US capitalism plunged into a deeper crisis on Wednesday as thousands of Trump supporters stormed the congress on Capitol Hill, urged on by Trump.

11 January 2021

Unison get sec election shows left can win NEC

The result of the Unison GS election shows the mood for change in the biggest public sector union

13 January 2021

Exams scrapped again - young people need a future with jobs and free education

In another Tory U-turn, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has told the second class of Covid that A-level and GCSE exams will not be taking place at the end of the 2020-21 academic year

13 January 2021

Bosses earn workers' annual wage in three days

Within the first three days of 2021, the already super-rich bosses of the 'FTSE 100' companies earned more than an average worker's annual salary.

13 January 2021

Our health and livelihoods before their profits

100% pay now!: The health crisis is now worse than at any time since the start of the pandemic. More people are in hospital and more are dying daily.

13 January 2021

Fully resource the vaccination programme now

The Covid death toll is over 80,000 and rapidly rising. A successful vaccination programme couldn't be more urgent. Over two million people, in four priority categories, have received a first dose of

13 January 2021

Covid vaccine nationalism threatens pandemic response

Without a global vaccination programme, the Covid-19 virus will continue to circulate among the world's poorest countries, and possibly mutate into a new strain requiring a new vaccine

13 January 2021

Royal mail management forced to make concessions

CWU to ballot on national agreement: The Communication Workers Union (CWU) postal executive has unanimously agreed to propose to the membership a national agreement that, if agreed, would end the two-year dispute between the CWU and Royal Mail

13 January 2021

Lockdown 3.0 - fight to make our shops safe!

Over the last few months, retail has been vying with schools for the top spot for Covid-19 outbreaks

13 January 2021

Book Review: Humankind - Dispelling the myth that humans are too selfish for socialism

Historian Rutger Bregman's book 'Humankind' tackles a subject matter that socialists know about only too well - 'human nature'

13 January 2021

Get stuck in to build a fighting, democratic PCS union

PCS Broad Left Network conference: The PCS Broad Left Network (BLN) conference takes place on Saturday 16 January.

13 January 2021

Help us fund the fight for Socialism

The Socialist Party stands for the rights of workers. We fight for an alternative to capitalism, to the misery faced by workers, students and young people. Every quarter, we set a fighting fund target

13 January 2021

TUSC to hold local elections conference in February

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) national steering committee has agreed the agenda and timetable for a local elections conference to be held on Zoom on Sunday 7 February.

13 January 2021

NHS Emergency - Fight for a fully funded, publicly owned, socialist NHS

The NHS is under more pressure than ever. Ambulances are queueing outside A&E and hospital resources running low. Millions of people are living in mortal fear of falling ill.

13 January 2021

How should socialists respond to the 6 January attacks on Capitol Hill?

Police in DC showed some sympathy to the pro-Trump protesters and refused to seriously restrain the partially armed crowd

13 January 2021

Londoners suffer and Khan piles on pressure

One in 30 of us in London now have the virus. In Barking and Dagenham, it's one in 15

13 January 2021

Dispatches from the front - health workers speak out

"Cases are rising and we are struggling to cope"

13 January 2021

Refund student rent and fees - fight for free education and make the 1% pay

A statement from the Swansea University rent strike

13 January 2021

NHS pandemic warnings ignored - renationalise our NHS

It wasn't the case that "nobody could have seen this coming".

13 January 2021

Global capitalism at most dangerous conjuncture since the 1930s

The pandemic has wreaked havoc across the globe, causing over two million deaths and unleashing enormous economic and social crises

13 January 2021

British Gas workers strike against 'fire and rehire' plans

Protesting in Cardiff following the death of Mohamud Mohammed Hassan, photo by Cardiff SP

The gas engineers received tremendous support at a Leicester picket

13 January 2021

Act together to oppose unsafe numbers and rising workload

The mass refusal to accept unsafe conditions forced a U-turn

13 January 2021

Ryan Aldred: Why I'm standing for Usdaw's EC

With Covid decimating the retail sector, it is vital that Usdaw takes a lead in organising retail and distribution workers in supermarkets, high street chains and smaller, independent businesses.

18 January 2021

Socialism podcast: The outlook for class struggle in 2021

The pandemic was a world-shattering turning point. All the weaknesses of capitalism were laid bare in 2020. But in few countries more so than Britain.

18 January 2021

Socialism the podcast: 2019 episodes

2019 began with crisis and collapse for the May Tory government. The battle to oust the Tories and our socialist analysis of Corbyn's defeat marked the end. Highlights included the school student climate strikes, and uprisings around the world, including Hong Kong and Chile.

18 January 2021

Socialism the podcast: 2018 episodes

In 2018, the year we launched our podcast, the mass rising of the 'gilets jaunes' swept France. The Tory divisions over Brexit raged on, as did the civil war in Labour.

18 January 2021

Socialism the podcast: 2021 episodes

2021 kicked off with the unions forcing school closures in Britain and Trump supporters storming the Capitol in the US. See all the latest episodes here!

20 January 2021

Make the super-rich pay, not the poorest

In the last week the real number of deaths from Covid has gone over 100,000, and the UK has recorded the highest per capita death toll in the world

20 January 2021

Bosses profit out of 'starvation' food parcels

Private companies were exposed earning £30 for 'starvation' food parcels - for families entitled to free school meals - that contained just north of a fiver's worth of ingredients

20 January 2021

The Tory blame game: scapegoating the working class - 100% pay for all now

As the Covid-19 pandemic hits tragic, record-breaking numbers in the UK, the Tory narrative of blaming the public for the crisis is in full swing

20 January 2021

Covid: Bosses chase profit and put workers in danger

Any lingering illusion that the government's strategy for handling the Covid pandemic was aimed at protecting the entire population, without fear or favour, has been well and truly shattered.

20 January 2021

Life in lockdown - being home from school when you're poor is hard

At the beginning of the first lockdown, in my house, we had one computer for three students and a parent working from home. Myself and my siblings receive pupil premium and free school meals.

20 January 2021

Teachers: On the front line, in their own words

I've been working from home this lockdown, looking after the virtual classrooms. Some of our pupils struggle to access the work from home, as their parents need to work too. And some have a lot of illness

20 January 2021

Scrap fees, refund rents and pay a living grant

Right up until the last minute, the university seemed to be endlessly optimistic about how we could return this term for in-person teaching

20 January 2021

A day in the life of an agency worker

Following a six-month period on furlough, I took voluntary redundancy from the factory I'd worked at since leaving school

20 January 2021

British Gas strike continues

British Gas engineers in the GMB union have announced seven new strike dates, for 24 hours each day, on 20, 22, 25, 29, 30, 31 January and 1 February

20 January 2021

Obituary - Jeff Edwards

Jeff Edwards sadly passed away at Whipps Cross hospital on 3 January, having contracted Covid-19.

20 January 2021

Millionaire tendency regains control of Scottish Labour

The resignation of the nominally left Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard will, in all likelihood, result in the Blairites winning back the leadership of the party in Scotland.

20 January 2021

Vaccine confidence - a worker's response

A successful vaccination programme, if effectively delivered, gives millions of people hope of an easing of Covid-19 restrictions over the course of 2021.

20 January 2021

Trump Twitter ban: only independent workers' voice can defeat right

First the election, now his Twitter account - it's bad news all round for bigot-in-chief Donald Trump

20 January 2021

Books that inspired me: The Road to Wigan Pier

In early 1936, a then unknown George Orwell was commissioned by the publisher Victor Gollancz to travel to the north of England to research 'the conditions of the working class'

20 January 2021

Christmas Crossword Competition

Thank you to everyone who entered the Socialist's Christmas Crossword Competition in issue 1114. We are pleased to announce the answers and the winners, and what they have won.

20 January 2021

New Cross Gate fire 40 years ago

Forty years ago, on 18 January, a fire started deliberately by suspected racists swept through a house where a 16th birthday party was being celebrated by young black people in New Cross Gate, south east London

20 January 2021

Justice for Mohamud Hassan!

Black lives matter: Hundreds of people have marched and rallied at Cardiff Bay police station to protest the death of Mohamud Mohammed Hassan shortly after being released from custody at the police station

20 January 2021

News in Brief

At the same time as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation published its 2020 report showing that Britain's poor got poorer due to furloughing and job losses, etc, while the rich prospered - Boris Johnson reshuffled his government and appointed Kwasi Kwarteng as the new business secretary.

20 January 2021

Refund student rent and fees

Socialist Students has launched a petition to build support for its demands on the way forward for the student movement and to solve the crisis in higher education.

20 January 2021

Why I joined the Socialist Party

Before I started educating myself, I'm sorry to say that, in part, I fell for the media coverage of 'scrounging benefit cheats'. Documentary footage of someone saying they couldn't afford to buy food, before showing their large expensive-looking TV and other gadgets, did wind me up, as someone who has a disability and has had to rely on charity to fill in the gaps in state provision.

20 January 2021

Plymouth rent strike continues

We have now surpassed 400 signatures for our rent strike, with over £710,000 pledged to be withheld. For students there is no equivalent to the furlough scheme, and we're expected to hand over the majority

20 January 2021

Police use Covid laws to intimidate BLM protesters

On Saturday 16 January, around 15 Black Lives Matter activists gathered by Parliament Square, in London, to protest the tragic death of Mohamud Mohammed Hassan after being released from police custody in Cardiff

20 January 2021

PCS Broad Left Network conference

PCS Broad Left Network (BLN) joint equality officer and PCS NEC candidate

20 January 2021

Morrisons - £10/hr headline hides divisive pay offer

Almost five years since the £10 an hour minimum wage demand was adopted by Usdaw, Morrisons has become the first major company in which Usdaw represents workers, to accept the demand.

20 January 2021

USA in crisis - the need for a socialist alternative

The period running up to Joe Biden's inauguration was marked by unparalleled turmoil and crisis.

20 January 2021

Peace and Justice Project - no way forward for socialism

Corbyn raised that he wants to build on ideas in Labour's 2019 manifesto.

20 January 2021

Socialist Party national women's meeting

Enthusiasm, experience and ideas

20 January 2021

May elections: Tories and Labour's Khan both vying to slash public services

Transport investment has been on the basis of vanity projects and expensive outsourcing

20 January 2021

On the NHS front line

It's so busy. There are so many patients. For weeks now there have been more Covid patients than there were in the first wave. Almost every ward has been given over to treating Covid now.

20 January 2021

Rolls-Royce Barnoldswick factory future secured following strike action

The future of the Rolls-Royce factory in Barnoldswick, Lancashire, and its 350 jobs has been secured after a deal was agreed between the workers' union Unite and the company

21 January 2021

Socialism the podcast: 2020 episodes

2020 began with strike waves in France and Northern Ireland. Highlights were our socialist responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, Black Lives Matter, US-China relations and the world economic crisis. Plus two mini-series, on the life and ideas of Leon Trotsky and Friedrich Engels.

26 January 2021

Steel site scaffolders strike for the 'rate of the job'

Scaffolders at the British Steel site in Scunthorpe are in a dispute over pay.

26 January 2021

Come to the 7 February TUSC local elections conference

Fight back against Starmer's new, 'New Labour' - including at the ballot box!

27 January 2021

Covid spreading, poverty rising, rich get richer, fight for socialism!

There are many crises facing workers and young people. The health crisis, with our NHS stretched to breaking point, pay cuts, job losses, and poverty.

27 January 2021

Health, Covid and the vaccine: It's a class issue

It turns out that having a National Health Service comes in useful during a major pandemic.

27 January 2021

Poverty wages: When workers can't afford to self-isolate

The Tories are now floating the idea that maybe if they paid £500 to desperate workers in the gig economy, they might be inclined to self-isolate for two weeks if they contract Covid

27 January 2021

Fees frozen at £9,250 a year, fight for free education

The Conservative government has announced that it will freeze tuition fees for another year at the current £9,250 per annum level, stating it delivers "better value for students"

27 January 2021

DVLA Covid outbreak: They only care about output and productivity

As a former worker at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), I have not been surprised by reports of hundreds of Covid cases among staff

27 January 2021

Save Our Square from New Labour gentrification

Community campaign Save Our Square E17 has successfully resisted Waltham Forest Labour council's plans to build a monster block in Walthamstow town square for six years

27 January 2021

Health worker cooperation in the face of the pandemic

It was with mixed feelings that I read my thank you letter from the hospital trust this week. Inside was a badge of honour, a lunch break voucher and a one-off extra day's leave.

27 January 2021

Martin Powell-Davies for NEU DGS: "We need to use our collective strength"

I am standing to be National Education Union (NEU) deputy general secretary because our union needs clear and determined leadership if we are going to withstand the serious challenges ahead of us

27 January 2021

Unison NEC elections: United left challenge needed to fight slaughter of jobs and services

Just weeks after the general secretary election, Unison members are beginning the process of electing the union's national executive council (NEC), the lay members' leadership of the union

27 January 2021

Merseyside: DHL workers at Burton's Biscuits strike against half-baked pay deal and bullying bosses

DHL workers on the Burton's Biscuits contract on Merseyside are in dispute with their employer over pay, but also because of bullying behaviour by management

27 January 2021

Help fund a challenge to austerity at the ballot box - donate today!

With the fourth highest death rate in the world, and the worst in Europe, it is no secret that the Tory government's handling of the pandemic has been terrible

27 January 2021

TV review: The Hidden Story of Disabled Britain

Cerrie Burnell and her team have produced a landmark documentary on the subject of disability.

27 January 2021

Why I'm leaving Labour and campaigning for TUSC

From the start of his leadership, Starmer appointed MPs to his shadow cabinet who voted for benefit cuts and war

27 January 2021

Councillors in Surrey resign from Labour and look to stand independently

Two Spelthorne Borough councillors; Veena Siva, Jenny Vinson, and CLP chair Sue Bryer, have resigned from the Labour party ahead of May's local council elections

27 January 2021

Sage care workers strike again: Billionaires refuse to pay up

Care workers in a London nursing home are striking from 4 Feb

27 January 2021

British Gas engineers on strike in Liverpool, photo by Neill Dunne

Grenfell fire demonstrators, 17.6.17; Are we any closer to justice? photo Mary Finch

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is 'up and running' for the May 2021 elections

27 January 2021

Jaguar Land Rover: West Midlands superspreader

Despite Covid infections rising, many workers in non-essential jobs are being forced to work

27 January 2021

Mass protests in Russia against Putin regime

Mass anti-government demonstrations took place throughout Russia on 23 January

27 January 2021

Ten years since the 'Arab Spring'

The year 2011 began with mass protests spreading across the Middle East and North Africa which shook the ground beneath the region's many autocratic regimes

27 January 2021

Biden, Labour, and the need for a new mass workers' party

There is undoubtedly widespread relief among workers and young people that Trump has gone. However, the lavish praise Starmer and co. are heaping on Biden is yet another indication of their desperation to show they can be relied on to defend the interests of the elite.

27 January 2021

Solidarity meeting with Mohamud Hassan

On Thursday 21 January, nearly 70 people attended an online meeting hosted by Socialist Party Wales in solidarity with Mohamud Mohammed Hassan, who died shortly after leaving police custody in Cardiff

27 January 2021

British Gas engineers continue strike against fire-and-rehire plans

"You need to support this because you could be next"

27 January 2021

TV Review: It's a Sin

I remember the first time I heard about being gay outside of jokes in the playground. It was looking at pictures of Kaposi's sarcoma patients in a science textbook page on HIV/Aids.

27 January 2021

Overwhelmed, underfunded, underpaid, and still fighting for safe PPE

On the front line we're seeing whole wards being wiped out with staff sickness. In my own trust, at the start of January, there was approximately 9% staff absence.

27 January 2021

Low-paid hospital workers strike

Two disputes by low-paid hospital workers in Birmingham and Reading are taking place. Heartlands hospital workers in Birmingham work directly for the NHS, and those at the Royal Berkshire are contracted

27 January 2021

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is 'up and running' for the May 2021 elections

British Gas engineers on strike in Liverpool, photo by Neill Dunne

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is 'up and running' for the May 2021 elections

27 January 2021

Schools: 'We have to fight for everything'

Two teachers explain the ongoing struggles.

27 January 2021

Grenfell fire demonstrators, 17.6.17; Are we any closer to justice? photo Mary Finch

Grenfell fire demonstrators, 17.6.17; Are we any closer to justice? photo Mary Finch

Grenfell fire demonstrators, 17.6.17; Are we any closer to justice? photo Mary Finch

28 January 2021

Usdaw conference stripped of democracy by leadership

Usdaw's executive decided to strip back the 2021 conference