Archive for October 2020
6 October 2020
Student protest demands: 'refund our fees!'
Students in Cardiff demanded refunds and an end to fees
7 October 2020
Southampton students oppose unjust collective punishment
The University of Southampton had planned to "hold all students equally responsible" for a party that took place in Chamberlain Halls on 29 September
7 October 2020
Wealthy areas and Tory seats are avoiding local lockdown, according to health officials' emails leaked to the Times
7 October 2020
Contact tracer speaks out: privatised system 'in chaos'
On Saturday 3 October, at 2pm, I got a text from NHS Professionals: "CALL TO ACTION we have an urgent requirement to fill additional shifts this weekend. Please log on to book into shifts."
7 October 2020
Spooks step up surveillance of left
"MI5 confronts terror threat from left-wing extremists," screamed a headline in the Times on 3 October
7 October 2020
Film: 'Sick' - 'They've got people looking in the wrong direction'
'Sick' is a heart-wrenching drama/documentary that uses the real stories of benefit claimants battling, and sometimes losing to, the system to claim Personal Independence Payment, and also work capability assessments for Employment Support Allowance.
7 October 2020
Probation Service: 'angry, frustrated' staff need fighting lead
The criminal justice system was already stretched to breaking point before Covid. Massive redundancies have left prisons understaffed, with inexperienced officers dealing with prisoners with complex needs.
7 October 2020
Equity 'Panto Parade' demands more support for arts workers
A parade of pantomime dames and theatre workers marched through London on 30 September to demand emergency funding for the arts
7 October 2020
Say no to finance capital-backed luxury tower block in Enfield
A 29-storey residential skyscraper which fails to meet 'affordable housing' targets has been approved in the outer London borough of Enfield, in the teeth of protests from housing campaigners and resident groups
7 October 2020
After 42 days of industrial action by members of the PCS union against redundancies at the Tate gallery in London, the strike has been suspended.
7 October 2020
Protests were held at six Ikea stores on 3 October, demanding the reinstatement of sacked shop steward Richie Venton, and full average wages for all sick workers.
7 October 2020
Deliveroo riders in York have demonstrated outside restaurants to protest pay rates.
7 October 2020
Leicester: Don't let them close our hospital
When Boris Johnson falsely announced his government would build "40 new hospitals" at Tory conference a year ago, it turned out that in fact only six trusts were to get much delayed routine investment.
7 October 2020
Socialist Party: Campaigning for the NHS
The Socialist Party received a warm response from the public when out campaigning on the NHS on 3 October. Five of those who came up to the campaign stall donated £5 each to our Fighting Fund.
7 October 2020
£9,000 for education by Netflix
Now is the time to join Socialist Students: After two days of leafleting on a path towards a local supermarket, Warwick Socialist Students lead a successful introductory open-air meeting
7 October 2020
Defend Bracknell Community Services
Cooper's Hill Centre is a well-used and loved community asset - the Socialist Party says no to bulldozing it
7 October 2020
Final total: £73,586 raised - now let's do it again
The final figure for the total raised in our Fighting Fund campaign April-September was £73,586, 107% of our target.
7 October 2020
Non-fiction: 'Why I no longer talk to white people about race'
'Why I no longer talk to white people about race' by Reni Eddo-Lodge, written in 2014, is a personalised, honest and thought-provoking read about racism in Britain
7 October 2020
Siyanda Mngaza is currently serving a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for defending herself against a racially motivated hate crime.
7 October 2020
Send your news, views and criticism, in not more than 150 words, to [email protected] - or if you're not online, PO Box 1398, Enfield EN1 9GT
7 October 2020
'Frozen conflict' reignites in Nagorno-Karabakh enclave
The latest flare-up in the long-running dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh started on 27 September
7 October 2020
Germany: "Heroes" strike to demand a pay rise
Public sector workers in Germany's hospitals, kindergartens, civil service, refuse operations, as well as public transport workers, have started 'warning strikes' in support of their wage demands.
7 October 2020
Tories put profit first: Gambling with our jobs and lives
Roll up, roll up, and place your bets - at the great pandemic wheel of fortune! Red, you win the virus; black, you lose your job. Don't fancy the odds? Too late!
7 October 2020
Fight for jobs and homes for all - defend the right to asylum
The Tory government has discussed measures to transfer asylum seekers to processing centres in various offshore destinations - including Moldova, Morocco, or even as far as Papua New Guinea or Ascension Island in the South Atlantic, press leaks have shown.
7 October 2020
Hugo Pierre's fighting programme to transform the union
Socialist Party member Hugo Pierre is a candidate in Unison's general secretary election
7 October 2020
Massive testing 'glitch' caused by privatised fragmentation
15,841 positive Covid-19 results were mislaid
7 October 2020
Worldwide capitalist crisis deepens
A decade ago, following the financial crash, the Financial Times congratulated capitalism for luck that "the left" was "missing in action"
14 October 2020
National Education Union must launch action now
With growing case numbers in schools for both staff and students, which in turn leads to high numbers isolating, the National Education Union (NEU) urgently needs to make a stand.
14 October 2020
Students not to blame for unsafe uni conditions
Over the last few weeks, the capitalist media has expressed outrage at students and young people holding parties, socialising, or even just queueing in large numbers.
14 October 2020
Students speak out: isolation and uncertainty reign
'Hollow and empty' higher education: Hollow and empty is how I would describe the first week of my higher education.
14 October 2020
NEU Special Conference: A fight for safety in schools is urgently needed
A National Education Union (NEU) special conference of over 550 delegates, representing nearly half a million educators, took place on Zoom on 3 October.
14 October 2020
University workers ballot for action against in-person teaching
University workers are escalating disputes over unsafe campus reopening plans as cases soar in university cities.
14 October 2020
As school cases soar - is contact tracing 'near breaking point'?
Contact tracer speaks out: reduced follow-up and emergency hiring
14 October 2020
Napo AGM 2020: Celebrating probation victory and preparing for challenges ahead
Napo, the union of probation workers and Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service staff), held its first online annual general meeting (AGM), and the first since the 'reunification' of the probation service after a costly and devastating part-privatisation
14 October 2020
Stop Royal Mail's profit-driven plans to force postal workers to share vans
As we are entering a second wave of Covid-19, senior Royal Mail managers have taken a reckless decision to reintroduce shared vans, on a so-called voluntary basis
14 October 2020
Oliver Campbell - Still fighting for justice
30 years since the unjust conviction of Oliver Campbell, campaigners are still fighting for justice. Nearly 85,000 people have signed a petition calling for a fresh appeal into Oliver Campbell's conviction
14 October 2020
Fighting Fund - we're off to a good start
A special thanks this week goes to Morris in South West London who has donated £400 to our Coronavirus appeal, and has started off our October to December Fighting fund campaign with a real bang.
14 October 2020
Obituary: Raph Parkinson 1958-2020
Socialist Party members in Liverpool and elsewhere, and Unison activists, members and staff, are shocked and saddened by the death, as a result of coronavirus, of our comrade Raph Parkinson.
14 October 2020
Hannah Sell's article ' Worldwide Capitalist Crisis Deepens' (socialistparty.org.uk) exemplified the Tories' 'magic money tree', "EasyJet was given access to more than $750 million in government money in April"
14 October 2020
Non-fiction: This Land - the story of a movement
The 2017 general election surge for Corbyn's anti-austerity manifesto was a high point for many workers and youth desperate for an alternative to Tory cuts
14 October 2020
Greek workers and socialists celebrate convictions of Golden Dawn fascists
On 7 October, after a trial lasting five-and-a-half years, the neo-Nazi organisation Golden Dawn was found guilty of being 'a criminal organisation'.
14 October 2020
Nigeria: Mass protests force government to disband killer cop unit
The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM - CWI in Nigeria) welcomes the news of the dissolution of the infamous and loathed Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) by the Inspector General of Police (IGP)
14 October 2020
The Tory government's failed response to the Covid-19 pandemic means that the NHS is facing a major capacity crisis - that's before the pressure of the 'winter flu season' kicks in.
14 October 2020
Nottingham Covid surge caused by Tory mismanagement
Nottingham was the area with the highest number of Covid-19 cases per 100,000 as of 10 October. The government has put the city under the 'high' (tier-two) restrictions.
14 October 2020
"It's not fair" - lockdown students demand free education
A Cardiff member of Socialist Students wrote to the Welsh first minister.
14 October 2020
Beware the billionaires bearing gifts
'Project Big Picture' is a plan put forward to offer the football industry stability
14 October 2020
Unite votes to cut affiliation fee to Labour
An important step following the defeat of Corbynism in Labour - It should also be the starting point of a broader debate
14 October 2020
Locked down, hard up - Fight back!
* Work or full pay
* Health before profit
As areas across the country face further lockdown measures there is growing frustration, anger and anxiety.
14 October 2020
Transport for London funding crunch
The TUSC steering committee has called on London's mayor to refuse to carry out more cuts
14 October 2020
Even more delay in stopping school transmission?
School staff and parents fear the worst. Public Health England figures show that the highest test-positivity rates are now in the 10-19 age group, but schools are still expected to remain open
14 October 2020
Usdaw elections: the battle for a fighting union
At the behest of General Secretary Paddy Lillis, the national executive committee of Usdaw, the retail and distribution union, has overturned its previous decision to delay the elections (see 'Usdaw elections: Defend members' right to participate' at socialistparty.org.uk)
14 October 2020
Unison: The Socialist is backing Hugo Pierre - for a fighting socialist general secretary!
Hugo Pierre, a Socialist Party member, is standing as a candidate for Unison general secretary. The Socialist will be running a series of articles over the coming weeks
14 October 2020
Are cooperatives the answer to a failing capitalist system?
It seems all wings of the labour and trade union movement have renewed interest in cooperatives. During Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party, cooperatives were given considerable emphasis
21 October 2020
Test and Trace U-turn on stopping local case reporting
NHS Test and Trace instructed its clinical caseworkers, who phone people with positive Covid results, to stop 'escalating' single cases in schools to the local ('tier one') health protection teams on 6 October
21 October 2020
Oxbridge gets private Covid tests: pool resources to test us all!
All Cambridge student households have been receiving random testing from the university, while the NHS is only testing individuals showing symptoms
21 October 2020
Millennials disillusioned with 'democracy'
Millennials across the globe are more discontented and more disillusioned with how democracy works than any generation in living memory
21 October 2020
>Test and trace couldn't reach over a third of close contacts earlier this month, according to DHSC figures
21 October 2020
Tories reduce winter homeless funding: reverse the cuts,use the empty homes!
The government announced £12 million of additional cold winter funding to support rough sleepers on 13 October. This will be nowhere near enough.
21 October 2020
World capitalism's terrified strategists abandon austerity - for now
The International Monetary Fund, evangel of austerity, has come out against austerity to pay for Covid-19!
21 October 2020
FCC dismiss Unison activist Tony Smith
Trade unionists and activists will be outraged to hear that Unison activist Tony Smith's dismissal has been upheld by FCC
21 October 2020
Solidarity with Deliveroo Couriers in York
As members of the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), Deliveroo couriers in York are the latest to join the ongoing struggle in the gig economy to be classed as workers and receive workers' benefits, such as holiday pay, sick pay and their rights to a living wage.
21 October 2020
Action on Covid transmission in schools now
Some of the highest incidences of Covid outbreaks are being recorded in schools.
21 October 2020
'Firebreak' lockdown fails to protect workers
The Welsh government is imposing a national lockdown
21 October 2020
RMT: Programme to fight redundancies and cuts
The RMT transport union's national executive committee (NEC) has agreed a policy on fighting redundancies, pay cuts and attacks on conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
21 October 2020
Southampton: Coxford community condemns racist attack
On 8 October, two people walking in the residential area of Coxford, Southampton, were surrounded by six people on mopeds who taunted them with racist abuse, stole the woman's phone and injured her, and then stabbed the man
21 October 2020
Kent: Chaotic privatised asylum process
Local Folkestone residents and the South East Kent Trade Union Council rallied in solidarity with 400 asylum seekers housed at Napier old army barracks
21 October 2020
Truth about Zane: Cover-up Tories crack
Cracks are beginning to appear in the state's cover-up of the death of seven-year-old Zane Gbangbola
21 October 2020
Students: Give us our money back
Students are dissatisfied, frustrated and angry. Socialist Students decided to make a stand.
21 October 2020
Socialism 2020: Will you help our finance appeal?
We are asking you to make a financial donation to our Socialism 2020 Fighting Fund appeal.
21 October 2020
Criminal Police: Just 35 Labour MPs opposed the 'Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) bill' - legalising normally illegal activity by police informants
21 October 2020
Horrific murder in Paris: fight intolerance and racism!
Gauche Révolutionnaire (GR - CWI in France) issued the following statement on 17 October (extracts reproduced here) after the beheading of a teacher outside his school in the Paris region
21 October 2020
South Africa: Mass day of action for permanent jobs and a living wage
Hundreds of workers on the ANC government's 'slave-labour' Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) took part in a day of action in their struggle for permanent jobs and a living wage
21 October 2020
Health before profit - Work or full pay
Fear about catching coronavirus, being thrown out of work, being forced to stay at home without enough money ... Yet again it's working-class people who are paying the price.
21 October 2020
Selling the Socialist: increase in NHS anger
On 17 October, the Socialist Party brought two campaign stalls to campaign to end hospital parking charges
21 October 2020
Optare workers strike over pay broken 'promise'
Unite members at bus manufacturer Optare, in Sherburn in Elmet, on the outskirts of Leeds, took the first strike in a series of discontinuous 48-hour strikes starting on 15 October, alongside a continuous overtime ban.
21 October 2020
Newcastle lockdown: stress and breakdowns
After the initial shock wore off, my family settled into a routine. We argued a lot. There was a cycle of us taking turns having mental breakdowns.
21 October 2020
Leicester lockdown: disillusionment and anger
Leicester has been under some form of lockdown since March. We were the first city to go into local lockdown
21 October 2020
For a 15% pay rise - For a fully funded NHS: Failed by a Covid testing catastrophe. Left to face the pandemic in underfunded, understaffed hospitals. NHS staff have been handed a real-terms pay cut
21 October 2020
Disabled students let down by "rotten education system"
The UK's capitalist university system is rotten to the core. Universities' prime aim is not to provide education for students - but to generate income for their vice chancellors and management
21 October 2020
Fight for your future at the online rally
Youth unemployment has reached 13%. On 25 October, students and young workers will be come together from across the country in an online rally hosted by Young Socialists and Socialist Students
21 October 2020
Books that inspired me: For Whom the Bell Tolls
"I have fought for what I believe in for a year now. If we win here we will win everywhere. The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for and I hate very much to leave it."
21 October 2020
Teignmouth hospital closure threat ... again!
Teignmouth Hospital was the first hospital to be rebuilt by the NHS, in 1954. Over the years, local residents have raised millions to buy equipment and beds, and refurbish large parts of it.
27 October 2020
Working-class based campaign needed
The defiance of Tier 3 proposals by Andy Burnham took the Tory government by surprise
28 October 2020
Why I am backing Hugo Pierre for Unison general secretary
'Members need a leader who will back them and fight alongside them.'
28 October 2020
Don't let Tories starve our kids
Big business got billions - Fight for what we need:
28 October 2020
Tory 'Starve a Kid to Save a Quid' scheme
The 322 Tory MPs who voted against extending free school meals are on base salaries of £81,932 a year - before ministerial bonuses, expenses, and other income.
28 October 2020
Boots launches £120, 12-minute Covid test
One hundred and twenty pounds for a test with Boots. Boots, which is still avoiding millions in tax every year. Boots, which charged the NHS £2,000 per pot of hand cream.
28 October 2020
28 October 2020
Grenfell watch: landlord's £800,000 saving
A director of Grenfell Tower's landlord company told the public inquiry he "had forgotten" about a secret meeting with builders discussing how to shave £800,000 off refurb costs
28 October 2020
Mayor and government compete to attack London transport: fight for no cuts!
At the time of writing, Transport for London (TfL) workers - and London passengers and car users - are caught in a war of words between London's Labour mayor and the Tory central government.
28 October 2020
UCU members vote to strike to defend jobs: University and College Union (UCU) members at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh have voted in favour of strike action to protect 130 jobs currently under threat
28 October 2020
Food and a capitalist Brexit: No trust in Tory Deals!
No Tory-negotiated trade deals will defend the interests of the working class. However, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson plays hard ball in the eleventh-hour negotiations on what will replace Britain's
28 October 2020
Solidarity with the movement in Nigeria
The organisers of the Birmingham protest against Nigeria's notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars) police units emphasised that the event was peaceful, with no "attacks on anybody's character"
28 October 2020
Birmingham: 'Refund our fees' protests
Locked out, but we still marched to campus: After growing discontent among students and staff, Birmingham Socialist Students called a march on 21 October
28 October 2020
Waltham Forest Save Our Square:
Mass outside meeting draws up battle plan: A breath of fresh air. After being huddled over a computer in endless Zoom discussions for nine months, it was great to be outside again in the town square, doing what the Socialist Party has been doing
28 October 2020
Bristol jobs protest: We want 100% pay
Bristol and Gloucester Unite Community held a rally for jobs in the centre of Bristol to protest against mass unemployment on 24 October
28 October 2020
The coronavirus crisis is raging on. Thousands of children are suffering. And Boris Johnson and Co repulsively chose to snub the meals campaign led by Marcus Rashford.
28 October 2020
One rule for them, and another for us
A Tory election agent Diana Dianescu, has been found guilty of 16 offenses of deliberately misleading voters
28 October 2020
Evicted students can fight back and win
On Monday 19 October, students in Paragon accommodation, west London, checked their emails and got a huge shock
28 October 2020
Books that inspired me: Germinal
I sold the Militant newspaper at the entrance to Snowdown pit in Kent throughout the 1984-85 miners' strike, and until the pit's closure in 1987.
28 October 2020
Bolivia elections: Crushing defeat for the right as MAS secures landslide victory
On 18 October, delayed elections in Bolivia brought a stunning victory for the left-populist Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS)
28 October 2020
"We need a leadership that comes from the movement"
Socialist Party organiser Tessa Warrington discussed the anti-SARS protests with a Nigerian student at De Montfort University, Leicester, who is co-organiser of the #EndSARS solidarity protest.
28 October 2020
The result of the US presidential election, to be held on Tuesday 3 November, will not be known until sometime on Wednesday 4 November here in the UK at the earliest, and after issue 1108 of the Socialist has been printed
28 October 2020
BAME Covid deaths due to capitalist inequality, confirms government
Death rates are up to three times as high for BAME people.
28 October 2020
We need union action, not platitudes!
There's a shortfall of over £1 billion in funding for the NHS in England, say officials
28 October 2020
Callous and cruel Tories
Matt Hancock, with his sickly insincere smile, retorted that £63 million had been given to local councils, which could be used to help children over the holidays who get free school meals.
28 October 2020
Why I joined the Socialist Party - "I'm 15, and already I've lived through two global recessions and a pandemic"
28 October 2020
Fight Leeds Labour council's massive cuts
Leeds Labour-run council has announced plans for massive cuts in services and jobs across the city in the coming months and year, on the basis of pressures on the council due to Covid-19.
28 October 2020
Frustration, disappointment, poverty, and anger exploded into a mighty mass movement
28 October 2020
Royal Mail: No more behind closed doors talks
The Communication Workers' Union (CWU) are in vital talks with senior Royal Mail management which could decide the future of the 500-year-old institution of Royal Mail and what type of company it will be post-Covid.
28 October 2020
Why I am backing Hugo Pierre for Unison general secretary
It was two years ago that Northamptonshire Tory council invoked a Section 114 notice. Under this measure, it indicated it could only afford to spend money on essential services - in other words, it had run out of money and was, in effect, declaring itself bankrupt.
29 October 2020
Corbyn suspended:Workers' movement needs a fighting political voice
photo Chatham House/CC
To win the Labour leadership Keir Starmer tried to dress up in some of Corbyn’s clothes, claiming to want ‘unity’ with all wings of the party. Six months later he's suspended his predecessor from party membership.
29 October 2020
Tree-cutting council must admit it was wrong
Thousands of trees were felled under the privatised Streets Ahead programme
29 October 2020
Over 80 students and young workers attended a Socialist Students and Young Socialists online rally
30 October 2020
Starmer's 'Militant moment' - labour movement fightback needed
A Socialist Party press release, 30th October 2020
19 Nov Socialism 2022
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