Archive for July 2016

1 July 2016

Meeting discusses how to get rid of 'blue or red' Tories

An excellent public meeting hosted by Stoke Socialist Party took place last night in the Village Tavern, Stoke-on-Trent. Socialist Party, Green Party and Labour Party members attended along with union reps from CWU, Unison and other trade unionists from Unite, NUT and Usdaw.

1 July 2016

Letter to organisers of 16th July demo

The People's Assembly and Stand Up to Racism have organised a demo on 16th July

4 July 2016

Demo says: Keep Corbyn, sack the Blairites

In response to the Blairites' vicious campaign, a mood of mass support for Jeremy Corbyn's embattled leadership is developing on Merseyside. 4,000 people marched through Liverpool on Saturday 2 July under the slogan "Keep Corbyn, Build our movement".

4 July 2016

July-August meetings on Britain after the EU referendum

A list of some of the Socialist Party and TUSC meetings in July and August. All welcome!

5 July 2016

Teachers' strike: Angry and defiant

Teachers are striking today against continued attacks on teachers and education as a whole.

6 July 2016

After Chilcot: put Blair in the dock

After seven and a half years, and costing millions of pounds, the Chilcot inquiry into the Blair government's pre-invasion, invasion and occupation of Iraq is due to be published as the Socialist goes to press.

6 July 2016

Keep Corbyn demonstrations in Leeds

Around 250 people gathered at short notice to demonstrate their support for Jeremy Corbyn in Leeds. The demonstration was called by Momentum after discussion with the Socialist Party and others from trade unions and campaigning groups around Leeds. It showed the clear popularity of Corbyn and indeed his electability, despite what those on the right of the Parliamentary Labour Party have argued.

6 July 2016

Stevenage supports Corbyn

Stevenage Momentum called a meeting to support Jeremy and over 30 people turned up. For many it was their first meeting since joining the Labour Party to vote for Corbyn last year.

6 July 2016

The Socialist inbox

Letters to the Socialist's editors including Jeremy Corbyn, Muhammad Ali, Tory racism and refugees.

6 July 2016

Hundreds protest to demand votes at 16

A demonstration on 3 July started in Trafalgar Square with a gathering of around 70 marching towards Parliament to demand votes for 16 and 17 year olds. As we marched, the crowd increased and by the time we reached Parliament Square there were hundreds chanting and marching.

6 July 2016

Defiant Butterfields tenants visit landlord's house

In these times of big profits for landlords in the rental sector, it's not uncommon for landlords to harass tenants. A letter demanding increased rent is usually enough to send the tenants packing. But not Butterfields tenants!

6 July 2016

Southampton Rallies to counter fascist threat

In response to a threat from fascist group South Coast Resistance to march under the slogan 'Refugees not Welcome Here', over a thousand counter demonstrators arrived at the assembly point by the Bargate in Southampton on 2 July, without a fascist in sight.

6 July 2016

Turkey: Deadly terrorist attack at Istanbul airport

A terrorist attack, presumed to have been carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis), killed at least 43 people and injured 239 others at the Istanbul Atatürk airport on 28 June.

6 July 2016

Mexico: Teachers continue strike despite extreme repression

Mexican police shot dead ten people, mostly striking teachers, in the southern state of Oaxaca. In response to this brutal repression teachers have blocked highways leading to fuel and other shortages.

6 July 2016

Rough sleeper death sparks calls for action

The death of a homeless man, sleeping rough in the centre of Chatham for over a year, has brought calls for action over the spiralling housing crisis in Kent's Medway towns.

6 July 2016

Osborne plans to cut corporation tax again

George Osborne announced on 4 July that he would cut corporation tax by a quarter, bringing it from 20% down to just 15%. This new rate will be among the lowest in Europe, pushing forward Osborne's plan to make the UK a global tax haven.

6 July 2016

Them & Us

It's one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us. We look at the super-rich and their supercars while cycle couriers suffer.

6 July 2016

Junior doctors renew battle over contracts

Concerned about their future and that of the National Health Service (NHS), junior doctors in England have voted by 58% to 42% to reject the terms of their proposed new working contract.

6 July 2016

Unite policy conference 2016: Union could place itself at the centre of anti-austerity fight

The biennial policy conference of Unite the Union in Brighton 11-15 July takes place against the backdrop of a political crisis unprecedented since 1945.

6 July 2016

Bus drivers' strikes continue for fair pay

Weymouth and Bridport bus drivers are going into their fourth week of strikes as bosses remain "stuck in a groove" and demonstrate no intention of changing their position in this pay dispute.

6 July 2016

Manchester firefighters fight cuts

Greater Manchester Fire Authority is planning to cut 280 firefighter jobs and 26 fire engines. Fire Brigades Union (FBU) members have been protesting these plans, including a huge lobby of the fire authority meeting which approved the cuts. To make up for the loss in staff, the firefighters that remain will be forced to work longer hours.

6 July 2016

Why I joined: My real education started when I joined

Only the Militant could explain to me why the Soviet Union had degenerated from its ideals of 1917. It had a programme to fight poverty around the world. Under the leadership of Militant supporters, the LPYS brought out a 'Charter for Young Workers' - a brilliant tool to fight for proper apprenticeships and better wages. I became a Militant supporter and a member of the Socialist Party when it was formed.

6 July 2016

NSSN conference: Implacable opposition to austerity

This conference marked over a decade of the National Shop Stewards Network supporting workers' struggle and organising among rank and file trade unionists.

6 July 2016

Stand firm and organise against the Blairite coup

4,000 in Liverpool, 1,000 in Manchester, 800 in Leeds, thousands in London ... People have taken to the streets to support Jeremy Corbyn and express anger towards the MPs who are trying to force him to resign

6 July 2016

Why I joined: I want a future for my generation

I am from Portugal and started university in 2008, the year of the big financial crisis. Me, my friends and our entire generation felt the effects and implications of the capitalist system we live in and the failed promises it made us.

6 July 2016

Conference takes fighting position on urgent political questions

The 2016 AGM of the RMT took place against a backdrop of heightened conflict in both the industrial and political arenas

6 July 2016

Join the Socialist Party to fight for socialist change

Everywhere you look there is proof that our world is afflicted by enormous inequality - on our side there is austerity, poverty and war and on the other side for the super-rich 1% there is enormous wealth.

6 July 2016

#KeepCorbyn solidarity from Irish TDs

Videos of Socialist Party - Ireland members (in the CWI) and Anti Austerity Alliance TDs (Irish MPs), Paul Murphy and Ruth Coppinger, speaking out against the Blairite coup to remove Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader in Britain, and on the impact of Brexit

8 July 2016

Chilcot Iraq report: More piles of evidence against the blood-soaked war for oil

The 2.6 million-word Chilcot report in essence acknowledges that the devastating war on Iraq and occupation was completely unjustifiable

12 July 2016

Step up the campaign to back Corbyn's fight

It's a victory - reflecting enormous pressure from Labour members and trade unionists - that the attempt to stop Jeremy contesting a new Labour leadership election has been defeated.

13 July 2016

HSBC jailbreak

George Osborne successfully pressured US prosecutors not to press criminal charges against London-based bank HSBC in 2012. A US Congress committee report on 11 July made the revelation

13 July 2016

Rail fail

Commuters with banners and megaphones protested against privatised rail operator Southern's appalling service in London's Victoria station on 11 July

13 July 2016

Tory coronation is attempt at stability that can't work

The new Tory PM, Theresa May, was hastily chosen by only 0.0004% of the electorate on Monday 11 July.

13 July 2016

Why I joined: "I no longer felt isolated from politics"

Being a member of the Socialist Party has not only enabled me to find my political voice but also to understand politics on a class basis, giving me confidence to fight for issues I believe in and I feel more empowered than I did before.

13 July 2016

Fight back is on to save NHS heart services

A massive attack has been launched on NHS congenital heart services in England. Patients, families and health workers will not accept it and we will fight back. As a parent whose 15-year old son had open heart surgery only seven months ago at one of the threatened units, Leicester Glenfield Hospital, I am furious.

13 July 2016

Sales of the Socialist through the roof since the referendum

Since the EU referendum sellers of the Socialist have been hitting the streets providing analysis of the rash of resignations and political crisis hitting the establishment parties, with hundreds snapping up copies. The Socialist spoke to Martin Reynolds in Waltham Forest

13 July 2016

New threat to impose junior doctors contract must be met with strike action

Following news that junior doctors in England voted by 58% to 42% to reject the terms of their proposed new working contract, health minister Jeremy Hunt is again threatening to impose the contract on them.

13 July 2016

Vote Chas Berry for Napo national chair

Socialist Party member Chas Berry, currently vice-chair of the National Association of Probation Officers (Napo), is a candidate in the union's election for national chair. Ballot papers go out on 15 July and voting closes on 25 August. Chas outlines his election programme

13 July 2016

Unite policy conference 2016: Blairite coup, Trident and cuts dominate opening days

The first two days of Unite the Union's biennial policy conference was dominated by the attempted Blairite coup in the Labour Party. General Secretary Len McCluskey in opening the conference attacked the Blairites and made it clear it was a political attack on Jeremy Corbyn.

13 July 2016

Workplace news in brief

Short reports on some of the latest trade union struggles including a roofing workers' strike in Wigan and supermarkets in crisis.

13 July 2016

Child poverty rises by 200,000 in a year

In the space of just one year, 2014 to 2015, the number of children living in poverty in the UK has risen by a staggering 200,000. This brings the total number to 3.9 million, according to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

13 July 2016

Nine-month prison sentence for fleeing ethnic cleansing

Abdul Rahman Haroun, a 40-year-old Sudanese refugee, was sentenced to nine months in prison for trying to reach the UK by walking the Channel Tunnel.

13 July 2016

Welsh Assembly to scrap 'right to buy'

The Welsh Assembly has announced it plans to scrap Thatcher's ruinous 'right to buy' policy in Wales. The Socialist Party welcomes this move - but this alone will not be enough to solve the housing crisis.

13 July 2016

What we saw: Angela Eagle Facebook meme

Labour right winger Angela Eagle's bid to topple Jeremy Corbyn did not start well. Press walked out of her launch conference halfway through due to developments in the Tory leadership race. Meanwhile, her Alan Partridge-esque "I'm with Angela" Facebook meme has attracted thousands of comments. Almost every one is some variation of "#ImWithCorbyn". At time of writing, there's over 44,000 of them.

13 July 2016

Them & Us

It's one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us including facts and figures about new PM Theresa May and the M&S pay cut.

13 July 2016

Spain: Disappointment for left in re-run general election

The results of the 26 June re-run general elections in Spain were without doubt very disappointing for many activists, and for broad layers of workers and youth. All opinion polls pointed to the much-coveted 'sorpasso' - ie the alternative left overtaking the ex-social democratic PSOE as the main opposition to the right-wing PP (People's Party).

13 July 2016

CWI in brief

Short stories on workers' struggles around the world including the fight for abortion rights in Ireland, solidarity with striking Walmart workers in China and a CWI member contesting a council seat in Brazil.

13 July 2016

Fight racism: for jobs, homes and services for all

Solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter: Eljeer Hawkins of the Socialist Party's US co-thinkers reports on the anti-racist struggle there.

13 July 2016

Majority support migrants staying - fight hate crime

Reader's comment: Online reports of hate crime were five times higher than an average week in the seven days from the EU referendum polling day. The media and establishment want to suggest that anti-migrant abuse surged overnight purely because of the result.

13 July 2016

Police racism still lethal in Britain

A storm of proud fury swept through Brixton, south London on 9 and 10 July as hundreds marched against police racism. 3,000 followed in Manchester on 11 July. Other cities plan to join them.

13 July 2016

Labour right's undemocratic rulings must be fought

The Labour right have repeatedly shown that they are prepared to dispense with democracy and the wishes of Labour Party members in order to get rid of Jeremy Corbyn. Now they have drastically changed who will be eligible to vote for him.

13 July 2016

Angry walk out over reforms

Prison officers in England and Wales staged unofficial walkouts on 8 July

13 July 2016

Thousands mobilising to #KeepCorbyn

Reports of some of the rallies and meetings in support of Jeremy Corbyn.

14 July 2016

Reports and comments on the campaigning to defend Jeremy Corbyn

Reports and comments from Grimsby, Manchester, Liverpool and London

15 July 2016

Black Lives Matter demo shakes Leeds

The Black Lives Matter movement shook Leeds on Wednesday 14th July when over 1,000 people gathered in the city centre before marching through the central shopping district.

18 July 2016

Brookes workers continue the fight against 2Sisters

Production slowed to a virtual standstill on the second day of the second strike

18 July 2016

Turkey: Attempted coup failed

18 July 2016

France: Nice terror attack

18 July 2016

Fawley refinery strike against 'race to bottom'

On 14 July workers from contractors NICO at the Fawley refinery, members of Unite, took strike action against the super-exploitation of migrant workers from Italy and Bulgaria, being paid £48 for a 10 hour shift, instead of £125.

19 July 2016

Trident debate shows again, Labour is two parties

Monday's parliamentary debate on the replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons system was another illustration of the fact that the Labour Party is two irreconcilable parties in one, heading for an inevitable split

21 July 2016

Wallasey Labour Party suspension

Wirral Socialist Party condemns the suspension of Wallasey Constituency Labour Party.

21 July 2016

Mood to defeat the Blairites

This was the largest Tolpuddle Martyrs rally since 1984 when Tony Benn and Arthur Scargill led the march

21 July 2016

The SDP split from Labour

Socialist Party executive committee member Ken Douglas sent the following letter to the Guardian on 20th July 2016 in response to an article by Andy Beckett on the 1981 split from the Labour Party

22 July 2016

Petition - For a labour movement conference to defend Corbyn

A petition online calling for an urgent labour movement conference to be convened, involving all those who support Corbyn: the trade unions, Labour Party branches and including all left and socialist organisations inside and outside the Labour Party

25 July 2016

Anger against Blairite 'traitors' sweeps Portsmouth Momentum

"Let us be honest", said Sean Hoyle, president of transport union RMT. "Why should we fear a split? I'd rather have a party with half a million members and 40 MPs who are loyal to those members, than a party led by 172 traitors. It's time for the tail to stop wagging the dog."

25 July 2016

Food waste - the logic of capitalism

New figures that half of all food produced in the US is thrown away brings the question of the wastefulness of capitalism into sharp relief.

25 July 2016

Sanctioned - a victim of government callousness

A job seeker sent the following account to the Socialist of his recent experience of having his benefits withdrawn.

25 July 2016

Nuneaton rally in support of Corbyn

Supporters of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn rallied in Nuneaton town centre on Saturday morning to show support for his campaign to retain the leadership of the Labour Party

26 July 2016

Letter to an anti-Corbyn Labour MP

Following an email sent to Coventry North East Constituency Labour Party (CLP) members by their MP, Colleen Fletcher, a member of that constituency posted a response on Facebook

26 July 2016

'Defend Corbyn' rally

'North East Lincs Unite 4 Corbyn' held a successful rally attended by 140 people

26 July 2016

No compromise with Labour right wing

The next few months will decide the fate of the Labour Party. Although he claims to be 'as radical as Jeremy', leadership challenger Owen Smith is in reality the candidate of those with a vested interest in keeping Labour as a New Labour-style version of the Tories

26 July 2016

West London Momentum rally faced cancelled venue

A 'Rally for Corbyn' in Ealing was severely disrupted by attempts to prevent the meeting taking place

27 July 2016

Corbyn's 'rock-star welcome' in North West

Jeremy Corbyn's Live Launch for the North West filled the 1,800 seat Lowry Theatre in Salford. He received a rock star welcome and standing ovation

27 July 2016

Reverse Derby council cuts

Well over a hundred attended an enthusiastic rally for Jeremy Corbyn in Derby. But it was noticeable that one or two people were having a go, saying they would never support Labour. They were not Blairite or right wing, but were teaching assistants employed by the Labour controlled Derby council.

27 July 2016

End Victorian working conditions

Trade union fightback needed: The report into Sports Direct's working practices by a House of Commons select committee shows the much acclaimed protection of workers' employment rights by the EU is worthless without the traditional workers' organisations - the trade unions - being strong enough to enforce legislation.

27 July 2016

Workplace news in brief

Short reports on some of the latest trade union struggles. Honda workers walk out; JCB staff strike ballot.

27 July 2016

Huntingdon anti-racist rally

Crowds took to the streets of Huntingdon on 16 July to march in solidarity with the Polish community and embrace the diverse culture of the town.

27 July 2016

An explosion in sales of the Socialist

I've seen an explosion in sales of the Socialist since the EU referendum, I have sold 135 copies! Key to this has been getting out on the streets to talk to people, whether street campaign stalls, at demonstrations or doing our now regular paper sale at the city centre train station before our branch meeting.

27 July 2016

Sharrow success

For several years Sheffield South branch of the Socialist Party has held campaign stalls at two community festivals. We extended into a third this year in Sharrow which was a great success.

27 July 2016

Tories plan further fee hikes for uni students

The Tories want universities that meet their backbreaking 'teaching excellence framework' targets to be allowed to increase the cost of their courses with inflation. Universities including Manchester have already announced their fees will rise to £9,250 in 2017, before parliament has even considered the measure.

27 July 2016

Them & Us

It's one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us. Philip Green's BHS scandal; academy bosses' expenses rip-off.

27 July 2016

What we saw: UB40 backs Corbyn

Birmingham reggae group UB40 came out in support of Jeremy Corbyn on Facebook on 12 July.

27 July 2016

Barcelona 1936: the people's Olympics

For a brief moment 80 years ago, in a hint of what Spain as a whole would become, Barcelona became the focus of opposition to fascism. In July 1936, 6,000 athletes arrived in the city, greeted by banners and bunting welcoming them. They were no ordinary athletes; the socialist hurdlers and the anarchist shot putters were there for the Olimpiada Popular, the People's Olympiad.

27 July 2016

Turkey: no to military rule, no to Erdoğan's rule

The recent failed military coup d'état in Turkey has been followed by a massive purge of the state machinery and assault on democratic rights by right-wing president Recep Erdoğan. By arresting thousands of people, sacking thousands of state employees, imposing a three month 'state of emergency' and mobilising his AKP members, Erdoğan is ruthlessly accelerating his drive towards an authoritarian regime. Workers' and left organisations must mobilise to resist these draconian moves and fight for democratic rights.

27 July 2016

Why the Socialist Party opposed the EU

The Socialist Party campaigned in the June referendum against the bosses' EU on a principled socialist and internationalist basis.

27 July 2016

Pent Valley school closure judicial review blocked

The campaign to save Pent Valley School in Kent has had its application for a Judicial Review refused.

27 July 2016

Policy conference backs reselection of Labour MPs

The Unite policy conference took place in the midst of the crisis in the Labour Party

27 July 2016

Europe and the workers' movement after Brexit

Europe - Britain in particular - is now at the forefront of political developments. Because of the 'weight' of British capitalism, Brexit represents a giant boulder dropped into a lake.

27 July 2016

Solidarity with Black Lives Matter

On 22 July Sheffield's first Black Lives Matter demo took place

28 July 2016

Great reception in Hackney for Chicago 'Black Lives Matter' socialist

Over 60 people, mostly from the local black community, squeezed into a public meeting on 27 July to support and discuss the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. The leading guest speaker was Ryan Watson, an activist in Black Lives Matter in Chicago, who is also a member of Socialist Alternative - co-thinkers of the England and Wales Socialist Party.