Archive for September 2012
2 September 2012
EDL rally stopped by anti-racists in Walthamstow
The racist, hooligan EDL were blocked in Walthamstow today by a great show of strength from local young people, workers and anti-racist campaigners
3 September 2012
Dundee says No Pasaran to Scottish Defence League
The far right racist Scottish Defence League were sent packing from Dundee on 1st September.
3 September 2012
Sheffield recycling workers strike again
Despite last minute attempts by Sova management to bully Sheffield's recycling workers into calling off their industrial action, the weekend's strike went ahead
3 September 2012
Four-day strike at Remploy Springburn, Glasgow
The first of a four day strike at Remploy Springburn in Glasgow was absolutely solid. Only one staff member crossed the picket line, a HR manager who sneaked in early.
3 September 2012
Clare Daly resignation from Socialist Party Ireland
On Friday 31 August Clare Daly TD handed in a letter of resignation to the Socialist Party (Ireland)...
3 September 2012
Brighton Pride: Anti-cuts bloc threatened and kettled
As the Brighton Pride parade was setting off, a steward told the anti-cuts bloc to move to the back, despite being scheduled to march behind the National Union of Teachers
4 September 2012
Bradford demo against Galloway's rape comments
On Saturday 1st September around 100 men and women gathered in Bradford city centre to protest against MP for Bradford West, George Galloway's, recent ridiculous and offensive comments about rape...
4 September 2012
Stopping the far-right - The need for democratic debate
Following the blocking of the racist, hooligan EDL in Walthamstow on Saturday 1st September by anti-racist campaigners, Paula Mitchell reports on the debates that took place in Waltham Forest prior to the day
4 September 2012
A parliamentary byelection in Manchester Central is expected in November when Tony Lloyd, the sitting Labour MP, resigns his seat to fight for the £90,000-£100,000 a year police commissioner post
4 September 2012
Osborne's cuts plans aren't working
The school and college students have returned but it was the angry and loud booing of Cuts-Chancellor George Osborne at the Paralympics that really signals we are in a new season
4 September 2012
Week-long Remploy strike in Chesterfield and Springburn
Workers at Remploy's two healthcare factories - Chesterfield and Springburn, Glasgow - started a week's strike on Monday 3rd September
4 September 2012
Cardiff Mardi Gras protests against homophobia
In a sign of the changing mood and outlook of many LGBT workers and young people, this year's Mardi Gras in Cardiff on Saturday featured a protest march for the first time (in addition to the festival itself, held in Bute Park), writes Sarah Mayo
4 September 2012
YFJE hits back at Boris Johnson and DWP workfare scheme
Paul Callanan, YFJE (Youth Fight for Jobs and Education) national organiser said: "Having faced the wrath of young people over the work experience scheme, the government and the bosses are coming back for another crack at the whip...
4 September 2012
Unison Higher Education Service Group
In this year's Unison SGE elections, the left made gains due to anger over a number of issues
4 September 2012
Protest against £35 million of cuts in Bolton
More than 150 trade unionists, service users and members of the public protested on Monday at Bolton council's plans to implement £35.6 million of cuts over the next two years.
5 September 2012
PCS president urges support for TUC demos and NSSN lobby
I'd like to congratulate the 80,000 who booed George Osborne in the Paralympics on Monday. They were speaking for the vast majority of ordinary people in this country who are sickened by this cabinet of millionnaires
5 September 2012
Hospitals lacking services? Save our NHS!
Save the NHS! London protest 7 Sep 2011, photo by Dave Carr
It's Saturday morning in Caerphilly and again Socialist Party campaigners calling for a proper Accident and Emergency department at the newly opened Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr (hospital) are surrounded by an angry crowd, writes Dave Reid.
5 September 2012
Fight for real job creation: London Tory mayor Boris Johnson recently announced a new workfare scheme for young people in the capital. Here is a letter sent by Youth Fight for Jobs to the Guardian newspaper in response:...
5 September 2012
Underemployment: It's well known that the official unemployment figures hide the true extent of the jobs crisis in many ways...
5 September 2012
Can you give an extra 10%?: There has been a brilliant response to the Socialist Party's campaign to increase the membership subs, with hundreds of members increasing the regular payments they make to fund the party's work, writes Naomi Byron, Socialist Party finance department.
5 September 2012
Who, outside the super-rich 1%, is not suffering the impact of austerity - through job cuts, reduced pensions, cuts to benefits, and in a myriad other ways...
5 September 2012
UCU members on strike at London Met university in 2009 say No Job Cuts, Save our staff, and Education not for sale , photo Paul Mattsson
Staff and students unite to fight government's enforced deportations: The UK Border Agency's decision to revoke London Metropolitan's licence to teach international students was cruel and calculated
5 September 2012
Con-Dems criminalise homeless people
A new criminal offence of 'squatting in a residential building', came into force on 1 September 2012, writes Paul Heron
5 September 2012
South Africa: Marikana massacre ignites a political volcano
Mine workers hits the ground as firing starts - Russia Today video still
In the face of widespread anger, the National Prosecuting Authority has been forced to provisionally withdraw the murder charges against the 270 Lonmin platinum miners arrested after the 16 August Marikana massacre and to release them
5 September 2012
Campaign Kazakhstan: Solidarity concert for those facing oppression
Cellorhythmics, the forerunner of the non-classical cello movement, was founded by renowned Kazakh cellist Alfia Nakipbekova and award winning composer James Hesford...
5 September 2012
London Paralympics; protests against disability cuts: "Atos kills, kill Atos!"
Disabled people, family members and anti-cuts campaigners took a protest to the Atos assessment centre in Swansea, photo by Swansea Socialist Party
London: "Atos kills, kill Atos" could be heard up and down Victoria Street outside the Department for Works and Pensions as campaigners occupied the building as part of a week of protest against cuts to disabled people's benefits...
5 September 2012
Standing waiting for the first tube train at 6.30am on a Sunday morning I was surrounded by low-paid workers, writes a Paralympic volunteer.
5 September 2012
Brighton Pride 2012: anti-cuts group blocked
Having been a commercial and increasingly de-politicised event for years, Brighton Pride 2012 was run privately after the Pride south east charity faced mounting debts
5 September 2012
Southampton: Save Oaklands Pool
Coxteth councillors Keith and Don campaigning with others to save Oaklands pool, Southampton, photo Southampton SP
Almost everyone comments on the irony that the government bathes in the glow of the Games while carrying out cuts to the very facilities athletes use and need
5 September 2012
HMRC jobs deal: In the current climate of cuts and attacks on working and living conditions, PCS members in HMRC have been able to secure significant agreement from their employer on jobs, privatisation and sickness absence policy
5 September 2012
Southampton council pay dispute
Important lessons for the battles ahead: Southampton council workers, in dispute for over 18 months, are close to ending their fight against the previous Tory council's pay cuts
5 September 2012
On 20 Oct, march together; then strike together to end austerity
"Why did 80,000 people boo Osborne? Because that's the maximum capacity of the Olympic stadium!" Tweets like this reflect the colossal and rising anger
5 September 2012
Campaign to save Kirkby hospital
A fight is on to save a small community hospital in the ex-mining town of Kirkby-in-Ashfield
6 September 2012
Construction workers protest at Meadowhall
About 30 engineering construction workers held an early morning protest today (Thursday 6 September) at Meadowhall, near Sheffield, writes Alistair Tice.
7 September 2012
Tied vote at TUC General Council on general strike motion
At Thursday’s TUC General Council meeting there was a 16-16 tied vote on whether to support a motion that calls for consideration of a general strike. Join the NSSN lobby of the TUC conference on Sunday!
7 September 2012
NUT votes YES YES! - action starts on 26/9
The NUT National Executive meeting this afternoon welcomed the overwhelming results of our national ballots to seek to persuade the Secretary of State for Education to protect teachers' pay and working conditions, writes Martin Powell Davies
10 September 2012
NSSN lobby demands a 24-hour general strike
Given the weather forecast, Brighton was the obvious destination on Sunday 9 September. But for up to 1,000 trade unionists and anti-cuts activists, the appeal wasn’t just a day in the sun.
10 September 2012
Young tenants to lobby Leeds council over housing crisis
Leeds Youth Fight for Jobs will be lobbying Leeds City Council this Wednesday, 12th September over housing issues as part of its 'Young Tenants Fightback' campaign...
10 September 2012
Sheffield Socialist Party pickets strike-breaking facility
So Mr Scott, councillor responsible for waste (mis) management, how much council taxpayers' money did you waste this weekend on your strike breaking operation?
10 September 2012
Demo against heart unit closure in Leicester
About 150 people gathered at short notice on Saturday to oppose the proposed closure of the children's heart unit at Glenfield hospital
10 September 2012
RMT assistant secretary arrested on picket line
Steve Hedley, the newly elected assistant general secretary of the RMT was arrested on a picket line at Kings Cross station today and held for five hours
10 September 2012
East Coast train cleaners on strike
Low paid cleaners from the East Coast train line working for cleaning contractor ISS were on strike today
11 September 2012
PCS leaders condemn Ed Balls' silence on the pay freeze
Responding to shadow chancellor Ed Balls' speech to the TUC annual congress Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) general secretary Mark Serwotka said:...
11 September 2012
TUC passes general strike motion
Following what was described by one observer as the best debate she had ever witnessed at a TUC congress, 'motion 5', in favour of a general strike was passed, against Con-Dem austerity
12 September 2012
Honduras: Privatised cities in the global economy
The Honduran government has agreed to hand over land to international finance to build three new privately run cities from scratch, writes John Sharpe.
12 September 2012
Con-Dem housing measures - in 'the thick of it'?
The government has announced a package to revive house building, including 'guarantees' for new homes said to be worth £10 billion, writes Paul Kershaw.
12 September 2012
'Red tape' bonfire puts workers at more risk
Ten years' ago the likelihood of a workplace inspection by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) watchdog was calculated at once every 8.4 years...
12 September 2012
More bad news from media mogul Murdoch
Not to be distracted by the ongoing phone-hacking scandals emanating from his now defunct News of the World tabloid, Rupert Murdoch has praised the appointment of former Colombian president (2002-10) Alvaro Uribe to the board of his News Corporation...
12 September 2012
Global youth unemployment rises
Since the end of the Youth Fight for Jobs 2011 Jarrow March, youth unemployment figures have continued to rise internationally, currently standing at 13% overall; the highest rate in Europe is Spain at 52%, writes Lizi Gray, 2011 Jarrow marcher.
12 September 2012
We need a political voice to fight austerity
TUSC on the 28 March 2012 NUT London strike and demonstration, photo Socialist Party
Next steps in filling the vacuum: A conference of Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) supporters meets in London on 22 September...
12 September 2012
Bromsgrove meeting opposes A&E closure
On Friday 7 September, 150 people attended a meeting in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, organised by the 'Save the Alex' campaign which is defending the Alexandra hospital in nearby Redditch, writes Pete McNally, Worcester Socialist Party.
12 September 2012
Cable attacks health and safety
Con-Dem economic wizard Vince Cable has outlined his plans to ditch health and safety checks. We all know tabloid jokes about health and safety regulations. However, we expect to buy food that won't make us ill, and to work in a safe environment
12 September 2012
DWP group president Fran Heathcote (with flag) at Leeds Remploy picket line, 26.7.12, photo by K Williams
This is an extract of the speech at the TUC congress given by Fran Heathcote, group president of PCS in the Department for Work and Pensions, in support of a motion from the Fire Brigades Union on nationalising the banks
12 September 2012
On 1 September the far-right, racist and hooligan English Defence League's (EDL) attempt to march though the streets of Waltham Forest, north east London, was blocked by a counter-demonstration of over 3,000 people
12 September 2012
Brent Labour: Making families homeless
Anthony Counihan and Isabel Counihan-Sanchez moved with their five children from Kilburn, London, to Ireland in 2007, to look after Anthony's dad who was sick
12 September 2012
Quebec Solidaire's electoral gains show potential for left
On 4 September, Quebec voters elected the Parti Québecois (PQ) to lead a minority government, with Pauline Marois as the first female prime minister in Quebec's history
12 September 2012
Jeremy Hunt and demo rhyming chants: You might know Jeremy Hunt as just another Tory minister to get booed at the Paralympics. But this son of an admiral, Oxford educated and related to both the Queen and fascist Oswald Mosley, is now secretary of state for health
12 September 2012
Teachers must unite against Tories
Teachers have voted overwhelmingly for action against attacks on their pay and conditions.
12 September 2012
Socialist students: Fighting for education
Student protest 29 January 2011, photo Senan
Fees tripled, EMA scrapped, youth unemployment skyrocketing. This government will leave behind a brutal legacy
12 September 2012
Bristol YFJ: "We're not lazy - we're fighting back"
Outraged by news of the book Britannia Unchained, which brands working class people as lazy, activists from Bristol Youth Fight for Jobs picketed the surgery of Chris Skidmore, Tory MP for Kingswood and one of the right-wing authors of the book, writes Patrick McInally.
12 September 2012
Youth Fight for Jobs in action! Coming events
March for a future!: In October 1932, thousands of outdoor relief workers in Belfast went on strike to fight for their dignity
12 September 2012
The 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games showed women's sport at its best. For Britain, there were stunning performances from Jess Ennis, Eleanor Summers and many others...
12 September 2012
Build a 24-hour general strike
We can stop this austerity: What a fantastic moment. Chants for a 24-hour general strike rang out along the Brighton seafront, as sun-seeking families lined the route of the National Shop Stewards Network march and applauded, writes Paula Mitchell
12 September 2012
The Reunion rewrites history: the Poll Tax
Militant: Scrap the Poll Tax, photo Dave Sinclair
BBC radio review BBC Radio 4's The Reunion recently had a programme on the anti-poll tax movement of the late-1980s and early 1990s, Britain's biggest mass movement of civil disobedience for centuries...
12 September 2012
NHS under attack - Stop the closures, stop the cuts
Two Bristol health trusts are pursuing a 'money-saving' merger, threatening the central A&E unit in the Bristol Royal Infirmary
12 September 2012
Workers' unity against brutal bosses at Cranswick Foods
Striking workers at the Cranswick Foods meat processing factory at Preston near Hull have won a temporary reprieve from brutal new working conditions
13 September 2012
Hillsborough - eventually, the truth
The report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel has ripped aside the tangled web of lies and cover-up woven by the South Yorkshire police, the government and the army of lickspittles in the press who denigrated Liverpool and the victims of the man-made catastrophe in 1989 that was Hillsborough, writes Tony Mulhearn
14 September 2012
Save Oaklands Pool - "This is what we pay our council tax for!"
Trade unionists, Oaklands Pool campaigners and Socialist Party members gathered to oppose cuts being made by Southampton Labour council
17 September 2012
Construction workers protesting at Crossrail site
Over 40 sparks and their supporters assembled outside the Crossrail site opposite Westbourne Park tube station in London this morning...
17 September 2012
Argos distribution workers taking action
Workers at five Argos distribution centres around the country (Magna Park, Bridgewater, Heywood, Castleford and Basildon) will start a four-day national strike this Wednesday (19th September)...
17 September 2012
Sparks' picket blockades Crossrail site
The epic battle between electricians and the electrical contracting companies has been running on construction sites for the past 18 months
18 September 2012
Cardiff protest at HMRC nursery closure
Close to a hundred children, parents and workers protested against the closure of the First Friends nursery at HMRC Llanishen in Cardiff, in front of a colourful display which included the well-used Cardiff Trades Council banner and many home-made placards
18 September 2012
Stop the deportation of London Met students
Students protesting in Nottinham against being treated as chas cows, 5.7.12 , photo by Becci Heagney
Students demonstrated outside London Met University on Friday against the threatened deportation of international students
19 September 2012
Slutwalk: there's NO excuse for rape
London slutwalk June 2011, photo Sarah Wrack
On Saturday 22 September thousands of women and men will participate in this year's London Slutwalk. The Socialist spoke to Anastasia Richardson, one of the organisers of the event...
19 September 2012
Cable launches new attack on workers' rights
The attack on workers' rights outlined by Lib Dem business secretary Vince Cable is one more confirmation of the government's absolute determination to drag us back to the pre-World War Two years, writes Alex Davidson.
19 September 2012
Protest against Ofqual in Coventry by NUT members and fellow trade unionists, photo D Nellist
On the same day as education secretary Michael Gove announced his education counter-reforms, Coventry National Union of Teachers (NUT) members and fellow trade unionists protested against the rigging of GCSE exams by Ofqual due to government pressure...
19 September 2012
Taxing issue: 'Only the little people pay taxes' appears to be chancellor George Osborne's mantra after allowing, from 2013, UK-based multinational corporations to avoid paying taxes on profits from offshore operations...
19 September 2012
HMRC seeks to axe workers' childcare
Close to 100 children, parents and workers protested against the closure of the First Friends nursery at HMRC Llanishen in Cardiff, writes Ross Saunders.
19 September 2012
Stop the fire service cuts in West Yorkshire
Over the last year, over 1,000 fire fighter jobs have been lost nationally, a number equivalent to an entire brigade, writes Mikey Divers, Leeds Socialist Party.
19 September 2012
Interview with NUS vice-president for union development
Building the fight against fees, cuts and privatisation: In 2010, tens of thousands of students took to the streets against the tripling of tuition fees in England...
19 September 2012
NSSN supporter invited to address RMT
Building solidarity across the trade unions: On 14 September I turned up at a meeting of the transport union RMT in Plymouth, hoping to give out a few leaflets for the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN), writes Alex Moore.
19 September 2012
Workers die on tower cranes - Con-Dems cut safety regulations
There have been several recent protests about the number of workers who have died or been injured while working on tower cranes, writes Jane James.
19 September 2012
NUT action: On 26 September teachers' union NUT members will be starting a programme of industrial action in defence of their pay and conditions...
19 September 2012
Global warming: Capitalists skating on thin ice
National Snow and Ice Data Centre graph of arctic ice extent, 17 September 2012, photo by NSIDC
The National Snow and Ice Data Centre is expected to announce a new low in the extent of the arctic sea ice, writes Pete Mason.
19 September 2012
Marikana miners remain defiant
After six weeks of defiant strike action in the teeth of violent attacks by police acting on behalf of the mining bosses, when over 40 miners were killed, the Marikana platinum miners have been offered a significant 11-22% pay increase by mine owners, Lonmin
19 September 2012
Marching through Woolwich against PFI cuts to the Queen Elizabeth hospital, part of the South London Health Trust which has gone into administration, photo R Shrives
Fightback needed to save public health service: As the government-led health cuts go deeper and as privatisation measures expand, a new report by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has warned that the National Health Service is "on the brink of collapse".
19 September 2012
Hillsborough disaster: Truth is out, now justice
Militant newspaper 21 April 1989 issue 941, on the Hillsborough disaster
The Hillsborough Independent Panel report has ripped aside the tangled web of lies and cover-up woven by the South Yorkshire Police, the government and the lickspittles in the press who denigrated Liverpool and the victims of the man-made catastrophe in 1989 that was Hillsborough.
writes Tony Mulhearn, former socialist councillor, Liverpool.
19 September 2012
Salford: Uniting to save mental health services
Following the success of the campaign to save day centres for the elderly and those with learning disabilities earlier this year, Salford council will again be challenged on cuts plans that threaten the most vulnerable
19 September 2012
Councils across the country are obediently forcing working class communities to suffer Con-Dem cuts; the Labour-controlled council in Tameside, Greater Manchester, is no exception to this, writes Jamie Godding
19 September 2012
Save Hampshire residential care homes
The Socialist Party has put its full support behind the campaign of Hampshire Unison to prevent the closure of three elderly residential care homes
19 September 2012
Sexism - a product of capitalism
A National Union of Students (NUS) 'Hidden Marks' survey showed that one in seven female students had been the victim of serious sexual assault or serious physical violence while at university or college
19 September 2012
Review: "From dole queue to corner and back again"
Dylan Thomas was a poet, a writer, a husband, a father, a Welshman, a drinker and a socialist. Born in Swansea in 1914, he died in New York in 1953, overwhelmed by debt and drink
19 September 2012
Like most young women I was shocked by reports of misogyny and rape jokes at the Edinburgh festival. That some comedians laugh about sexual violence is utterly disgraceful.
19 September 2012
We can beat Con-Dems' austerity
John McInally
March on 20 October, then for a 24-hr strike: John McInally, the national vice-president of the PCS union spoke in favour of the resolution at the TUC Congress that called for general strike action against austerity
19 September 2012
Campaign to save eight HMRC nurseries
The campaign is being stepped up against HM Revenue and Customs' decision to close eight workplace nurseries...
19 September 2012
All forces to the point of attack against austerity
Editorial of the Socialist A rage is building up. How can it be any other way? Every aspect of our lives is under threat - and the people attacking us, the pro-big business politicians, the bosses and the right-wing media, are sitting pretty
19 September 2012
Workers strike as Argos tightens the screws
Unite members at Argos are striking against the ending of their final salary pension scheme
20 September 2012
For an article on Mario Draghi's announcement that the European Central Bank will embark on the unlimited buying of eurozone bonds to support debtor governments like Spain and Italy, and other recent developments
20 September 2012
12,000 PCS transport and environment workers striking tomorrow
Twelve thousand Public and Commercial Services union members from the transport and environment departments will hold a joint strike tomorrow (21st) over cuts and closures that threaten vital services...
24 September 2012
Opportunistic speeches at Hull march against NHS cuts
On Saturday 22 September over 300 trade unionists and service users marched through Hull to protest against £99 million worth of cuts to the Hull and East Riding NHS trust
24 September 2012
Knowsley council fears anti-privatisation campaign
As recently reported in the Socialist, Knowsley's 100% Labour-run council plans to become a "commissioning council". Commissioning is privatisation!
24 September 2012
Thousands on Saturday's Slutwalk demo
Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday 22 September protesting against 'victim blaming' - rape victims being blamed for their attacks because of what they were wearing or how they were behaving...
24 September 2012
Tameside library closures - "Get used to it" says councillor
Tameside's Labour council plans to close and severely cut the budgets of libraries. [Also read on for comments by a Tameside resident following the killings of two policewomen locally]
26 September 2012
Teachers: march together, then strike together against austerity
Martin Powell-Davies, a member of the National Union of Teachers' (NUT) national executive and secretary of Lewisham NUT, writes on the developing action in schools and how this can be linked to national action
26 September 2012
Model resolution for a 24-hour general strike
This [body] welcomes the overwhelming vote at this year's TUC Congress in support of the POA motion. It called for the unions to take "coordinated action where possible with far-reaching campaigns...
26 September 2012
General strike, the biggest weapon
I have worked for 50 years in the construction industry and I'm a member of the Ucatt union. In 2011 I went on the 26 March anti-cuts protest in London where I met many Socialist Party members...
26 September 2012
Reasons to join the 20 October demo, reasons to build for a 24-hour strike
Workers in Jobcentres around the country will be trained up in the government's new sanctions regime over the next few months, ahead of their implementation on 22 October
26 September 2012
Solidarity with workers sacked from Crossrail
Twenty eight workers including a Unite steward and safety rep have been dismissed from the Crossrail project in central London...
26 September 2012
Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) working in the transport and environment departments were on strike on 21 September
26 September 2012
Opencast mining: "Protect us from Provectus"
"Protect us from Provectus!" chanted a 200-strong march in North Derbyshire on Saturday 22 September...
26 September 2012
TUSC conference: A step forward for working class political representation
TUSC on the 28 March 2012 NUT London strike and demonstration , photo by Socialist Party
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition conference on 22 September was a forum for real debate about political representation for working class people, writes Paula Mitchell
26 September 2012
South Africa: 'Lonmin settlement a victory - struggle pays!'
After six weeks of defiant strike action in the teeth of violent attacks by police acting on behalf of the mining bosses, when over 40 miners were killed, the Marikana platinum miners have won a significant 22% pay increase and a R2,000 payment for loss of earnings from mine owners, Lonmin...
26 September 2012
Why Hull council should defy the government's cuts to services
'Because you have all done so well, we are going to give you some more cuts to carry out'. This was the message from Local Government Minister Eric Pickles to a recent meeting of the Local Government Association...
26 September 2012
Belfast Outdoor Relief Strike 1932
Unemployment in the UK in the 1930s, photo Wikimedia Commons.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the heroic Outdoor Relief Strike in Belfast. This battle is an important example of workers' unity that has vital lessons on how sectarianism can be overcome
26 September 2012
Action needed to save NHS from privatisation
Jeremy Hunt, the new Tory health secretary, has been ridiculed for his belief in homeopathy. But when it comes to the NHS, the Tories are doing exactly the opposite. Privatisation is a cancer eating away at our health service
26 September 2012
Murdoch empire: a whole barrel of bad apples
The media regulator Ofcom have bizarrely concluded that BSkyB is a "fit and proper" company to hold a broadcasting licence, writes Jim McFarlane, Socialist Party Scotland.
26 September 2012
Andrew Mitchell, the government chief whip who ranted at the police officer outside Downing Street has so far resisted calls to resign, but his lack of punishment puts into stark contrast the very different treatment the rich receive from the police compared to the rest of us...
26 September 2012
Enthusiastic start to the year for Socialist Students
20 Sociaist students activists marched round Sheffield city centre against tuition fees and to restore EMA, joined by NUT rep, photo by Sheffield Socialist Students
As students, we are facing one of the toughest periods in living memory, with fresh assaults on higher education announced almost every day
26 September 2012
Cellist Alfia Nakipbekova speaks out about Kazakhstan
Alfia, from Kazakhstan, has become widely known as a cellist who plays both classical and innovative new
26 September 2012
Spain: March on Madrid kicks off a hot autumn of struggle
On Saturday 15 September, workers from all over the Spanish state marched on Madrid to protest against the massive cuts to public services by the right-wing People's Party (PP) government
26 September 2012
Can Labour give a lead in fight against austerity?
Waltham Forest protest, one of many protests outside Labour-run councils who pass Con-Dem austerity measures. , photo Senan
The Labour Party conference takes place at a crucial time. Working people are crying out for a lead in a mass movement which can force elections and topple the hated Con-Dem government, writes Peter Taaffe
26 September 2012
NSSN lobby of the TUC Congress 2012 in Brighton, photo Socialist Party
A job that pays a living wage, pleasant and affordable housing, a comfortable retirement, a secure future for our children: none of that is on offer for the majority in Austerity Britain, writes Hannah Sell, Socialist Party deputy general secretary...
26 September 2012
Afghanistan war: end this 'pointless waste of life'
The Afghanistan war has been a "pointless waste of lives and not worth the billions of pounds it has cost since it started eleven years ago" think 78% of the people in a new poll by the Mirror
26 September 2012
There's a part of me that almost feels sorry for Nick Clegg - trapped between dissatisfied grassroots Lib Dem members and rabid Tory back-benchers, writes Chaz Lockett
26 September 2012
No excuse! Thousands protest against victim blaming on London Slutwalk
"No sexual abuse! No excuse! No domestic abuse! No excuse!" was one of the chants on the lively and colourful Slutwalk London demo on Saturday
27 September 2012
Thousands march for an independent Scotland
Over 10,000 people took part in the March and Rally for Scottish Independence in Edinburgh on the 22 September, writes For full report, see:.
27 September 2012
Sparks' flashmob at Crossrail site, Oxford St
Sacked electricians and supporters stage a flashmob at the Crossrail site on Oxford Street on 26th September in protest at the sacking of 30 union members for raising health and safety concerns...
27 September 2012
Day of Action to save HMRC nurseries
Around 30 parents and children who use the HMRC nursery in Nottingham protested this morning against its proposed closure
28 September 2012
Video: The fight of all our lives - For a 24-hour general strike
Socialist Party general secretary Peter Taaffe, speaking at a joint London Socialist Party and Socialist Students meeting
28 September 2012
Bin workers calling indefinite strike brought results
Mass meeting of Sita UK bin workers in Doncaster discussing pay offer, photo Alistair Tice
This morning, Doncaster bin-workers, employed by Sita UK, voted 70-50 to accept a revised pay offer and return to work
19 Nov Socialism 2022
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