Archive for May 2007
2 May 2007
Nigeria: The Nigerian government, fearing mass protests against its blatant rigging of the April 14 state and April 21 national elections, attempted to clamp down on any sign of active opposition at the May 1 rallies
3 May 2007
Russia April 1917: Lenin returns from exile
2007 is the ninetieth anniversary of the 1917 Russian revolution. To mark this, the socialist is running a series of articles looking at the events of...
3 May 2007
If you believe New Labour propaganda - which most workers saw through years ago - you would think that everything is great for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community....
3 May 2007
Yorkshire ISR and Socialist Students day of action
ISR and Socialist Students campaigners from Huddersfield, Wakefield, Leeds and Sheffield took part in a Huddersfield day of action to support Socialist Students and Socialist Party member Ian Slattery....
3 May 2007
NHS: A matter of life and death in Swansea
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Marching through Swansea to save NHS services, photo M Kamish |
3 May 2007
WHOEVER TAKES over as commercial director at the Department of Health will oversee the purchase of care for NHS patients...
3 May 2007
PCS: Fighting for jobs, pay and services
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PCS on strike 1 May 2007, photo Paul Mattsson |
3 May 2007
At the Tate Modern art gallery on London's Thames south bank, visitors from abroad viewed not modern art but a PCS union picket line instead...
3 May 2007
Widening wealth gap needs working-class response
Editorial: What is Tony Blair's legacy? The Sunday Times has no doubts. Its latest 'Rich List' revealed that the wealth of the richest 1,000 people in Britain.
Analysis of the local election results will be posted from Friday onwards
3 May 2007
Packed election rally for Scotland's Solidarity
OVER 500 people crowded into Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall for a Solidarity - Scotland's Socialist Movement election rally on 25 April...
3 May 2007
New Labour panics and resorts to lies
EVEN LABOUR'S newest recruits lie and cheat to secure their seats and that is not just in Whitehall but in Crosland Moor and Netherton ward, where Socialist Party member Ian Slattery is standing for the Save Huddersfield NHS...
3 May 2007
Alternative energy: Winds of change?
MOST SCIENTISTS agree that climate change caused by centuries of burning fossil fuel is a serious threat to the future of the planet...
3 May 2007
Seattle students walkout against the Iraq war
OVER 800 students walked out of schools throughout Seattle, USA, on 18 April to demand an immediate end to the Iraq war. ...
3 May 2007
Pressure mounts for troops withdrawal
REFLECTING THE over-whelming public mood in the US to end involvement in Iraq, the Democrat-controlled Congress delivered a rebuke to president George Bush...
3 May 2007
Irish election - Socialist Party takes on the establishment
HUNDREDS OF people languishing on trolleys in A&E departments, tens of thousands on hospital waiting lists, Û415,000 for an average house in Dublin, commuters wasting hundreds of hours a year stuck in traffic jams, the second...
3 May 2007
Women must have the right to choose!
Abortion rights under threat: It has been revealed by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists that a woman's right to choose to terminate a pregnancy is under threat, due to a lack of medical staff willing to be involved in the procedure...
3 May 2007
Oppose legal aid contracts tooth and nail
As a retired legal aid solicitor I would like to welcome John Greene's article [in issue 482] on the effect of the proposals contained in the Carter Review of Procurement of Legal Services...
3 May 2007
STRIKING WORKERS from the Sunvic Controls factory in Uddingston, Scotland attended a Solidarity election rally in the Glasgow Concert Hall on 25 April....
3 May 2007
THE CAMPAIGN by Greenwich council workers to stop a package of cuts to pay and conditions is still going from strength to strength...
3 May 2007
Remember the dead but fight for the living
Workers' Memorial Day: WORKERS' MEMORIAL Day on Saturday 28 April was commemorated in London with an emotional 200-strong march and rally....
3 May 2007
THE NUMBER of workers killed in construction accidents last year rose by 25%, but the number of companies convicted of offences following the deaths of construction workers has fallen by nearly three quarters, a report by bui...
3 May 2007
What 'public-private partnerships really mean
Tales from the council chamber: SOCIALIST PARTY councillors, Ian Page and Chris Flood have won another victory on Lewisham council...
3 May 2007
ESOL: ON 28 April, Hackney Socialist Party members joined a union-organised east London demonstration against cuts to ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) courses in further and adult education...
3 May 2007
THE CAMPAIGN to Defeat Fees (CDF) day of action on 27 April involved students in schools, colleges and universities nationwide...
3 May 2007
NHS cuts... privatisation... widening wealth gap
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Jackie Grunsell, Save Huddersfield NHS campaign councillor, photo Alison Hill |
6 May 2007
Scottish Elections: Labour rocked as SNP wins
ON 3 May, Labour lost their first election in Scotland since 1955 as the Scottish National Party (SNP) made history by becoming the largest party in the Scottish parliament...
6 May 2007
2007 election analysis: Time for a new workers' party
Belligerent to the end, Blair described Labour's election results as a "perfectly good springboard to win the next election"...
10 May 2007
Musharraf hangs on in Pakistan while poverty and oppression multiplies
Thousands of police and military throughout Pakistan were mobilised during March and April to brutally repress and beat lawyers and judges who had taken to the streets to protest against the suspension of Iftikhar Mohammad Ch...
10 May 2007
France: preparing for a "third round" on the streets
French presidential election: THE PRESIDENTIAL victory of France's right wing Nicholas Sarkozy - with 53% in the second round - raises the question of why this result happened in a country renowned for regular working-class struggles and anti-market cons...
10 May 2007
How we can fight to build a new workers' party
"ABANDONED BY New Labour, working people need a political voice," said Chris Baugh, assistant general secretary of the PCS union...
10 May 2007
Turkey: "No to coups, no to sharia"
TURKEY IS engulfed in political and constitutional crisis, with huge street protests in Ankara and Istanbul...
10 May 2007
Strong support for the Socialist Party in Coventry
After another hard fought battle in Coventry's St Michael's ward, Socialists narrowly lost and now hold two seats on Coventry Council...
10 May 2007
Huddersfield: Support for NHS campaign cuts across Labour lies
Despite failing to win a second councillor in Huddersfield's Crossland Moor and Netherton ward this year, Save Huddersfield NHS can feel proud of its efforts and the total of almost 1,200 votes we received....
10 May 2007
THE WELSH Assembly election on 3 May produced Labour's worst-ever result in Wales...
10 May 2007
Escaping Maggie Thatcher's glare
Why I joined: I joined the Socialist Party as a result of my own experiences in the last year which made me realise we have to stand together if we are ever to change the world...
10 May 2007
A member of the train drivers union, ASLEF, argues the case for one single union in the rail industry....
10 May 2007
Salford: Tenants oppose stock transfer
LOCAL TENANTS recently called a Defend Council Housing (DCH) meeting in central Salford after Labour controlled Salford city council announced the next step in privatising the city's housing stock ...
10 May 2007
PCS conference: PCS Annual Delegate Conference meets this week at a critical time. On the back of another successful one-day strike on 1 May, delegates will no doubt welcome...
10 May 2007
Save Maudsley emergency clinic now!
STOP NHS CUTS: "WE WILL fight tooth and nail. We have been out on the streets, we have had four demonstrations, we will not allow this clinic to close. We will do anything...
10 May 2007
Workers need a political voice
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PCS on strike 1 May 2007, photo Paul Mattsson |
14 May 2007
Conference for a working class alternative
A highly successful second conference of the Campaign for a New Workers' Party (CNWP) took place on Saturday 12 May...
15 May 2007
Blair's departure: Curtain falls on disastrous reign
Editorial: Ten years of 'unremitting' attacks on the working class and poor for the benefit of the rich, blatant corruption – symbolised by the Ecclestone affair at the beginning of his reign and 'cash for honours' at the end – the ...
17 May 2007
7.30, Tuesday 22 May, Kings Cross, London
Socialist Party Black and Asian members' meeting
7.30, Tuesday 22 May, Kings Cross, London
What life in Britain means for Black and Asian people today and how we can fight back. Email [email protected] or phone 020 8988 8777 for venue information
17 May 2007
Israel: Students battle against fees and cutbacks
ISRAELI STUDENTS have taken to the streets in a battle against the government over rises in tuition fees, education cuts of up to NIS 1.2 billion (Û215 million), and the privatisation of education...
17 May 2007
What we really think "Tony Blair's legacy is Iraq which was implemented on a lie. He's still lying and he doesn't regret anything that he's done which is quite sad...
17 May 2007
DAY TWO of Gordon Brown's campaign to convince a doubting public that he is different from Blair finds him in Gillingham where he famously shared an ice cream with the outgoing PM during the last general election...
17 May 2007
Northern Ireland Executive: IT WAS all photo opportunities at Stormont on 8 May when the new Northern Ireland Executive was set up, with Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Ian Paisley installed as First Minister and Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness as...
17 May 2007
Who pays to stop climate change?
GLOBAL WARMING and consequent climate change 'can be solved' according to the third part of the major 2007 study from the UN-sponsored committee of scientists (IPCC), issued in Bangkok early in May...
17 May 2007
Partial climbdown encourages Maudsley fight back
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Picture: Lois Austin, secretary Southwark and Lambeth Keep Our NHS Public, speaking at the Campaign for a new workers' party conference 2007. Photo Paul Mattsson
17 May 2007
Postal workers: Vote 'yes' for strike action
POSTAL WORKERS are being balloted for industrial action for the first time since a ballot defeat 31Ú2 years ago....
17 May 2007
Irish election: An above average Joe
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Joe Higgins and the victorious Gama workers |
17 May 2007
Conference for a working class political alternative
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Campaign for a New Workers Party (CNWP) conference 2007, photo Paul Mattsson |
17 May 2007
Join ISR in a summer of protest!
International Socialist Resistance (ISR) have planned a summer of campaigning and activity. Do you want to be a part of it? ...
17 May 2007
Protest against the G8 Rostock 2007
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ISR demonstrating at the G8 in Edinburgh 2005 |
17 May 2007
No gains for the BNP in Lincoln
Boasting they could double their representation on local councils, the far-right British National Party (BNP) made a net gain of only two nationally in the 3 May council elections...
17 May 2007
Socialists take on the hospital crisis in Bristol
'Don't become old and infirm - there might not be a bed for you!': ARMED WITH petitions opposing hospital closures and confidence in socialist ideas we began canvassing seriously in Windmill Hill on 31 March...
17 May 2007
Baguley: Socialists are left opposition to New Labour
BEATING THE Liberals and the Greens in the 3 May elections shows support for the Socialist Party is growing in Baguley ward, Wythenshawe...
17 May 2007
FBU conference: Preparing for future battles
"THE LAST three years have been very hard for all of us. It's time to put our heads up. We're not going backwards, we ain't running anymore, come July...
17 May 2007
THE ELECTIONS for the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) demonstrate the support of the membership for our strategy to defend jobs and pay...
24 May 2007
Belfast 1907 - a city in revolt
WHEN CAPITALIST politicians Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness, with a vested interest in keeping the working class divided by fostering sectarian strife, came together recently in the Northern Ireland assembly, the media in B...
24 May 2007
Can solar power solve our energy needs?
Australia is feeling the power of the sun. The state of New South Wales is suffering an unprecedented five years of drought, probably caused by global...
24 May 2007
Freedom of Information Act: IN A sickening display of self-serving hypocrisy, MPs voted in parliament to exempt themselves from the provisions of the Freedom of Information (FOI) act...
24 May 2007
Academies: No to these divisive schools
As Brown and Cameron back academies...: ANYBODY WHO thought that Gordon Brown would halt the government's relentless drive to create 400 divisive Academy schools, over 200 of them by 2010, will be sorely disappointed...
24 May 2007
Gordon Brown crowned leader with no contest
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New face, same pedigree, Cartoon by Alan Hardman |
24 May 2007
John McDonnell speaks to the socialist
As Mark Serwotka has talked about, there's the bringing together of the spirit of the pensions struggle in 2005. ...
24 May 2007
National Shop Stewards Network
founding conference - Saturday 7 July: Further info: www.shopstewards.net or email [email protected]
24 May 2007
SNP in power - populism and cuts
SCOTTISH NATIONAL Party leader Alex Salmond has been elected as the new First Minister of the Scottish parliament...
24 May 2007
Lewisham council attacks education
IN LEWISHAM in south London, the Defend Education in Lewisham campaign, set up after a packed public meeting in January, is holding a march and lobby of the council on 23 May....
24 May 2007
School campaigners shake Wokingham
THE FIGHTBACK against cuts and privatisation is gathering pace in Berkshire...
24 May 2007
Greenwich workers shame councillors
OVER 100 Greenwich council workers fighting against proposed cuts to pay and conditions shouted "shame on you" as councillors entered the town hall on the evening of 16 May...
24 May 2007
Postal workers' strike ballot: Vote 'yes' for a future
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Postal workers on strike in 2007, photo Paul Mattsson |
24 May 2007
Canteen workers oppose school meals cuts
Waltham Forest: ON 18 May, Waltham Forest school 'dinner ladies', kitchen staff, parents and teachers organised a leafleting of Jamie Oliver's restaurant in North London...
24 May 2007
Nursing staff strike shows way forward
OPERATING THEATRE nurses at Barnsley Hospital staged a 24-hour strike on 21 May over threats to their jobs and a real wage cut...
24 May 2007
GOVERNMENT MINISTER Alistair Darling confirmed the closure, last week, of a further 2,500 post offices out of the current network of 14,000...
24 May 2007
PCS: Public-sector unity to defend jobs and services
PCS conference: THIS YEAR'S PCS conference came on the back of a stunning fifth victory in a row for the left in the national executive (NEC) elections....
24 May 2007
Public-sector workers say...Fight Brown's pay freeze
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Unison Lobby of Parliament in 2006, photo Paul Mattsson |
26 May 2007
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Pot and Pans demonstration in Waltham Forest against cuts tro school meals, photo Paul Mattsson |
29 May 2007
This year sees the fortieth anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of gay sex between men in England and Wales...
31 May 2007
TWO ANTI-WAR protestors, who broke into RAF Fairford just before the bombing of Iraq in March 2003, have been cleared of all charges...
31 May 2007
Protest against the G8 leaders
Opposition to war, poverty, climate change and a hatred of the system that puts profit before people will bring an estimated one hundred thousand people out in protest against the leaders of the G8 when they meet in Rostock o...
31 May 2007
Defend and expand public housing
Housing crisis deepens: Government minister Margaret Hodge created a furore in the press when she stated that 'indigenous families' should be given priority for social housing above 'new migrants'...
31 May 2007
Local campaign successes show effective leadership in action
LOCAL TRADE unionists and other campaigners in Waltham Forest in north east London have achieved a victory...
31 May 2007
Campaign brings victory against cuts
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Pot and Pans demonstration in Waltham Forest against cuts to school meals, photo Paul Mattsson |
31 May 2007
National Shop Stewards Network founding conference
Shop Stewards Network Founding conference: Hundreds of shop stewards from across Britain gathered in London last October to found a grass roots network capable of mobilising trade unionists to fight for workers' rights...
31 May 2007
Southern Ireland general election: Smaller parties squeezed
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Joe Higgins and Clare Daly |
31 May 2007
Wales - Labour rule under threat
Horse-trading shows the need for a new workers' party: AFTER A series of failed attempts to cobble together coalitions and pacts, Labour's Welsh leader, Rhodri Morgan, was elected First Minister and will form a Labour government but the other three parties are preparing to remov...
31 May 2007
Talking about the 'real world' at Wales TUC
AT THE Wales TUC, the challenge facing rank and file members, with Socialist Party members to the fore, was to inject the everyday struggles of workers into the conference...
31 May 2007
A double bonanza for big businesss
Private Finance Initiative: A NEW industry buying and selling refinanced Private Finance Initiative (PFI) assets is proving to be enormously profitable for companies wanting to make a quick almost risk-free buck...
31 May 2007
Fight against destructive school policies
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Lewisham demonstration against destructive school policies, photo Paul Mattsson |
31 May 2007
Stop and question: A dangerous kite to fly
Stop and question: NEW LABOUR'S departing Home Secretary John Reid has flagged up the possibility of introducing a new law giving the police unprecedented powers to 'stop and question' anyone in Britain...
31 May 2007
Unhealthy surpluses on NHS underspend
THE NHS underspent by a massive £500 million in the last financial year as a result of New Labour's health cuts policies...
31 May 2007
TWO ANTI-WAR protestors, who broke into RAF Fairford just before the bombing of Iraq in March 2003, have been cleared of all charges...
31 May 2007
Hull UNISON takes historic step
"NEVER AGAIN will social-worker UNISON members in Hull be run by the council's personnel department." As I said these words, spontaneous applause broke out as a 100-strong meeting of childcare workers realised they had mad...
31 May 2007
Remploy try to close factories
REMPLOY HAS announced that it is to shut more than half of its manufacturing sites...
31 May 2007
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The Merthyr Ruising of 1831 |
31 May 2007
Socialist Party LGBT meeting: This year sees the fortieth anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of gay sex between men in England and Wales...
28 Feb Socialist Students conference
2 Mar Bristol North Socialist Party: The National Question - Scotland, Wales & N Ireland
2 Mar Caerphilly & RCT Socialist Party: How can peace be achieved in Israel/Palestine?
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