2 May 2007

Free Arrested activists now

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

Campaigning for LGBT rights

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

Marching through Swansea to save NHS services, photo M Kamish

NHS: AROUND 600 health campaigners and health workers held a march and rally in Swansea on 28 April to protest at the threat to services in the area...

3 May 2007

Fat cats eye the cream

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

PCS on strike 1 May 2007, photo Paul Mattsson

May Day Strike: OVER 200,000 civil servants in the PCS took strike action on May Day, in defence of jobs, pay and services...

3 May 2007

Picketing the Tate Modern

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

Support the Sunvic strikers

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

Greenwich workers fight on

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 scandal of HSE cuts

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

Stop these education cuts

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

Campaign to Defeat Fees

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

Jackie Grunsell, Save Huddersfield NHS campaign councillor, photo Alison Hill

THE GOVERNMENT'S relentless attacks on the NHS show that health workers and NHS users need a new political party, as well as fighting trade unions...

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

Wales: Labour's worst result

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

One big rail union?

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: Unity against low pay

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

PCS on strike 1 May 2007, photo Paul Mattsson

After the no-choice elections: THE 3 MAY council elections for most workers were a choice between New Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems...

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 senan@talktalk.net 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

Good riddance to Blair!

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

Gillingham greets Gordon

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

The 'politics of smiles'

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

Save our NHS: EXECUTIVES AT Maudsley Mental Health Hospital Trust have been forced into a partial climb-down over their plans to close the hospital's emergency clinic (EC)

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

Joe Higgins and the victorious Gama workers

SOUTHERN IRELAND'S general election for the Dail, Ireland's Parliament, on 24 May gives working-class people a chance to say what they think of the 'Celtic Tiger' economic boom that has made huge profits for big business ...

17 May 2007

Conference for a working class political alternative

Campaign for a New Workers Party (CNWP) conference 2007, photo Paul Mattsson

Campaign for a New Workers' Party: A highly successful second conference of the Campaign for a New Workers' Party (CNWP) took place on Saturday 12 May...

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

ISR demonstrating at the G8 in Edinburgh 2005

One hypocrite will now replace another! Blair has been recounting his so-called achievements and includes among them his so-called triumph at the July...

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

Left victory in PCS elections

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

MPs say stop looking at us!

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

New face, same pedigree, Cartoon by Alan Hardman

WITH ALMOST the entire parliamentary Labour Party backing him, Gordon Brown was anointed as successor to Tony Blair without a contest...

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

The alternative to Labour

This letter was published in the Guardian on 18 May....

24 May 2007

National Shop Stewards Network

founding conference - Saturday 7 July: Further info: www.shopstewards.net or email info@shopstewards.net...

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

Postal workers on strike in 2007, photo Paul Mattsson

POSTAL WORKERS up and down the country are voting in the most important industrial action ballot in the history of Royal Mail....

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

Darling attacks Post Offices

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

Unison Lobby of Parliament in 2006, photo Paul Mattsson

While Tony Blair prepares for his retirement celebration there will be very few tears shed by UNISON members or by any public sector workers...

26 May 2007

School meals - Victory!

Pot and Pans demonstration in Waltham Forest against cuts tro school meals, photo Paul Mattsson

After three short weeks of campaigning that seriously rattled councillors, the Leader Clyde Loakes yesterday offered to extend the school meals subsidy at least until 2009. In our books that is an unequivocal victory.

29 May 2007

Homophobia: it's not over

This year sees the fortieth anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of gay sex between men in England and Wales...

31 May 2007

Protesters cleared

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

Pot and Pans demonstration in Waltham Forest against cuts to school meals, photo Paul Mattsson

WALTHAM FOREST council announced their decision in March to remove the subsidy to school meals and get rid of the borough's catering service, that not only finances and organises school meals but also provides 'meals on whe...

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

Joe Higgins and Clare Daly

Southern Ireland general election: The outcome of the general election in Ireland was fundamentally affected by the economic boom, with people opting for the main incumbent party, Fianna Fail, over the official opposition of Fine Gael (the second traditional c...

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

Lewisham demonstration against destructive school policies, photo Paul Mattsson

Lewisham demo: AROUND 300 parents, pupils and teachers marched on the Civic Suite on 23 May where Lewisham council was meeting...

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

Protesters cleared

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

The Merthyr Rising 1831

The Merthyr Ruising of 1831

Pages from working-class history: Insurrection of the men of iron A PROTEST march attacked by the military turns into a generalised insurrection. Armed workers take over the town, and besiege the authorities in their headquarters. Barricades are set up on the roads into town and a military 'relief force' is surrounded and disarmed.

31 May 2007

Homophobia: it's not over

Socialist Party LGBT meeting: This year sees the fortieth anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of gay sex between men in England and Wales...

31 May 2007

No to McJobs

On the picket line at the Ritzy

WORKERS AT Brixton's famous Ritzy cinema in south London were on strike on 26 May, aiming to secure themselves a living wage.

1 June 2007

Protest at arrest and prosecution in Bolivia

Dear Sir,...