Archive for November 2016
1 November 2016
1 November 2016
Teaching assistants stage vigil and rally
Around 400 TAs protested outside Durham County Hall. Across the north east there is growing anger against Durham's Labour-controlled council, which is planning to sack 2,700 TAs, then rehire them on 23% less pay.
1 November 2016
Massive demo against A&E closure
Around 6,000 people marched through the centre of Grantham, east Midlands, in defence of their A&E unit on 29 October. The "temporary" night time closure has people rightly up in arms as it has been extended already.
1 November 2016
Glenfield heart unit closure: Over 1,000 march
"The unit didn't save our hearts just so NHS England could break them", said one patient. Over 1,000 people marched through Leicester on 29 October.
1 November 2016
2 November 2016
Will workers on company boards make bosses accountable?
Claiming the Tories to be the "party of workers", Theresa May has said there will be consumers and workers represented on company boards, while employment rights will be protected and enhanced. But will this work?
2 November 2016
Battle of Orgreave: Establishment cover up continues
Tory Home Secretary Amber Rudd has ruled out an inquiry into the violent police assault on striking miners picketing Orgreave coking plant, South Yorkshire, in June 1984. She justified blocking an inquiry on the grounds that "ultimately there were no deaths or wrongful convictions"
2 November 2016
One third of 2010's new teachers have already quit
Cut workload and class sizes, not pay and conditions: Nearly a third of newly qualified teachers who started work in 2010 have already left the profession. Teachers are entering a job that is more pressured than ever. As a newly qualified teacher, I work at least ten hours a day, and often take work home at weekends.
2 November 2016
LGBT people need militancy, not false 'allies' like David Cameron
David Cameron has won an award for being this year's best "ally" of the LGBT rights movement from website PinkNews. An 'ally'. Because during his time as prime minister, marriage equality became a thing. Never mind the real impact of his party.
2 November 2016
Billionaires' club extends to UK; students refuse to award best digs prize; Plaid Cymru councillor loses rag when accused of cuts profits.
2 November 2016
Newsquest strike: "It's impossible to do our jobs"
NUJ members working for Newsquest in South London were out on strike again on 25 October after voting to extend their strike by another five days. It is over a newsroom restructure that will result in 12 reporters covering news, sport and leisure across eleven newspapers and eight websites under a single content editor.
2 November 2016
Solid Southern strike continues against Britain's 'worst' train company
Workers have turned out in large numbers at the Southern Rail offices in Barnham, West Sussex, determined to win their dispute. "The result at ScotRail [where workers won a victory to keep conductors on every train] is a boost to our campaign and gives us confidence we can get a result," was the view of an RMT member on the recent strike.
2 November 2016
Heathrow expansion exposes Tory divisions
For an integrated, environmentally sound, socialist transport system: The recent decision by the cabinet to go ahead with building a third runway at Heathrow has enormous implications for workers at Heathrow and for the local communities. What view should socialists take?
2 November 2016
Outsourced ambulance workers strike in Tooting
There was a lively picket line of ambulance workers outside St George's hospital in Tooting, south London on 1 November. The GMB members are in dispute with their employer G4S (who run the outsourced service) because their pay and conditions are now inferior to other NHS workers.
2 November 2016
Campaigners call on Greenwich council to oppose the Housing Act
We Won't Move campaigners, along with Socialist Party and local Unite activists, lobbied Greenwich council on 27 October against the tenant tax 'pay to stay' and the council's lack of action in opposing the Housing Act. Council residents in the borough had received notices from Savills.
2 November 2016
Glasgow School of Arts students "let us learn" revolt
Several hundred students boycotted classes and organised a mass picket right in the middle of an open day at the Glasgow School of Art on 27 October. They were motivated by anger against cuts and demanding more facilities to "let us learn".
2 November 2016
Haringey care services face ruthless cuts and privatisation
Campaigners are demanding that Haringey's Labour council halts its programme of privatisation and cuts. After the cuts, the Ermine Road day centre will be the only council-run day centre for adults with learning disabilities left in the borough and the council plans to privatise it.
2 November 2016
"Our problems cannot be solved by capitalist politics"
Why I joined the Socialist Party: We ought to be actively campaigning against the latest actions of the capitalist state, regardless of whether or not there are Tories or Blairites in government. That is why I have joined the Socialist Party.
2 November 2016
Demolition of Calais 'Jungle' camp - eyewitness report
What is going on in Calais right now should be regarded as one of the darkest moments in the European Union's history.
2 November 2016
"I was encouraged to work - for £1 an hour" Tamil Solidarity activist Nandan, who recently spent several weeks in a Home Office detention centre, spoke to the Socialist about his experience of organising against the exploitation of inmates and the campaign to fight for refugee rights.
2 November 2016
Those working in the 'gig economy' will be over the moon at the recent legal victory of Uber drivers.
2 November 2016
Mass student strike rocks Spanish state
A tidal wave of protest swept through the streets and squares of Spain on 26 October
2 November 2016
EU-Canada trade deal battle points to Corbyn's Brexit opportunity
The saga of the on-off-and-on again EU-Canada trade agreement holds important lessons for how Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters could use the Brexit negotiations to build European-wide workers' opposition to the EU bosses' club.
2 November 2016
The refugee crisis in Europe is one of many examples of the brutal, cruel character of Theresa May's Tory government and the profit-driven capitalist system
2 November 2016
Corbyn movement must seize initiative
An opportunity now exists to build a mass party that offers an alternative to endless austerity, on the basis of socialist policies. This would be a major step forward
2 November 2016
Fight the 'burning' of our museums and libraries!
On 5 November trade unions and community campaigns will march together
2 November 2016
The Guardian, house newsletter of the Labour right and hypocritical zero-hour-contract employer, has been trying to attract 'members' again
2 November 2016
We are all Daniel Blake: no more deaths from benefit cuts
Thousands of people have died since the implementation of 'work capability assessments'. This is what the new Ken Loach film 'I, Daniel Blake' is all about. Enough is enough with this inhumane system!
9 November 2016
The GMB has announced four days of strike action at the York sweet factory, Tangerine.
9 November 2016
Bosses' government, bosses' EU...fight for socialism
An existential crisis threatens the Tories after the High Court ruling on Brexit. The Corbyn movement must now press the advantage.
9 November 2016
Over a thousand march to fight museums and libraries cuts
"Don't make a bonfire of our culture", read the PCS banner that led the 5 November demonstration against cuts and privatisation in museums and libraries. Over a thousand people marched through central London, including culture sector workers and library campaigners and a contingent of French workers organised in the CGT trade union federation.
9 November 2016
Momentum left meeting excludes socialists
Momentum national committee (NC) members and reps from local groups met in Birmingham on 5 November to "discuss recent events and, most importantly, consider ways to overcome the resulting differences and move forward together".
9 November 2016
New Socialist Party pamphlet: Fight racism, fight for socialism
The Socialist Party's Black and Asian Group has produced a new pamphlet called 'Fight racism, fight for socialism'. It is a collection of articles from the Socialist and looks at some of these key questions of why racism exists and how to fight it.
9 November 2016
Library cuts: working class kids suffer most
Walsall council, in one of the poorest areas of the west Midlands, is closing 15 of its 16 libraries. Sadly, this is just one of many examples of ruthless cuts which will deny young people a future.
9 November 2016
Far-right given short shrift in Darlington
A handful of fascists from nearby Bishop Auckland had invited Nazi groups from across the UK to march in Darlington on 5 November. They were confronted by 200 local people.
9 November 2016
Obituary: Hilary Mooney 1945-2016
Hilary Mooney, for over 50 years first a supporter of Militant and then a member of the Socialist Party on Merseyside, has sadly passed away at the age of 71 after a lengthy period of illness that she bore with great fortitude.
9 November 2016
Action needed to defend workers at the sharp end of prisons crisis
The latest national statistics on safety in our prison system were released recently. These quarterly figures have been breaking records and setting new "unprecedented highs" systematically since 2010 - a year which 'coincidentally' ties in with the culling of 7,000 prison officers' jobs.
9 November 2016
Birmingham's Labour council freezes workers' pay
Trade unions representing Birmingham council workers have reached an "historic agreement" with the council which will mean a three-year pay freeze, instead of reduced sick pay, increased hours, a 1.35% pay cut and other cuts.
9 November 2016
Courts and tribunal services face huge cuts
Huge changes are afoot in the civil service that will leave jobs slashed and public services a husk of their former selves. Given that 86,000 jobs have already been axed from the civil service over the past five years, this may seem like old news but the scale and scope of the Tories' austerity-driven changes are only now being revealed.
9 November 2016
Newcastle council cuts: opportunity for trade union fightback
Newcastle residents and council staff have borne the brunt of Tory austerity. £200 million of central government funding has been stripped from the cash-starved council since 2010. An important refuge for women and children fleeing domestic crises is slated for closure.
9 November 2016
Strikers at Hackney Picturehouse picketed the launch of a new film on 4 November, A Bectu rep spoke to Clare Doyle.
9 November 2016
Horror of health-wrecking toil for Polish migrants
I am working as an interpreter for the NHS. I see Poles in hospitals and clinics who have problems with health. There are thousands of cases and there is no way to describe everything that I see every day.
9 November 2016
Letters to the Socialist's editors including Suez strife, Blake benefits and tax trouble.
9 November 2016
HyperNormalisation: Arbitrary selection of ideas to confirm feelings of powerlessness
The most recent creation of documentary-maker Adam Curtis revolves around the idea of "hypernormalisation", which he applies to recent history.
9 November 2016
Turkey: Erdogan tightens repressive screw
During the night of 3 November the homes of several leaders and members of parliament of the left-wing and pro-Kurdish party, HDP (People's Democratic Party), were raided by Turkish police. The two co-chairs of the party, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, along with at least nine members of parliament, were arrested and taken into custody.
9 November 2016
South Africa: State victimises #OutsourcingMustFall activists
Two leading activists of the #OutsourcingMustFall movement, both members of the Workers and Socialist Party (WASP, CWI South Africa), are facing legal harassment for their role in supporting the struggle for free education.
9 November 2016
Planned for Friday 4 November, the first of three days of open strike action by Gardai (police) in the history of the Irish state was only averted at the last minute following concessions from the government. But in making such concessions other workers are now determined to win back pay that was cut following the 2008 capitalist crisis. Conor Payne from the Socialist Party (CWI Ireland) reports on the gathering political storm.
9 November 2016
Join the #Nov19 national student march: Students have suffered greatly under brutal privatisation and austerity measures.
9 November 2016
Stop the 54,000 yearly maternity sackings
About 54,000 women a year are pushed out of their jobs within 12 months of returning from maternity leave - that's 11% - according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
9 November 2016
Court slams Tory air quality plans
Only socialist planning can stop toxic air: It's supposed to be safe but it kills more people than obesity or alcohol - the air we breathe.
9 November 2016
Reading the Socialist can boost our confidence to fight back. Cover to cover, you can hear working class people in their own words. It's an antidote to the pro-austerity ideas festering in the mainstream media and among establishment politicians.
9 November 2016
Strike action and a 'work to rule' forced an increased pay offer
9 November 2016
High Court bombshell on Brexit decision
The decision of the High Court that the government must allow Parliament a say in the issue of Brexit is a bombshell with wide, and perhaps even unforeseen, effects. It could lead to a general election next year which in turn will widen even further the endemic splits within the Tory Party. As shown by the resignation of Tory MP Stephen Phillips over the government's handling of Brexit and of Zac Goldsmith over the third runway at Heathrow, these splits are already of Grand Canyon proportions!
9 November 2016
Unions must act on pay restraint!
Low earners have had the "biggest pay rise in 20 years" according to Office for National Statistics figures. At least that's the Financial Times's take on it.
9 November 2016
Build housing for the kids without homes this Xmas
That any children are homeless in Britain, a rich country, is a crime - yet housing charity Shelter predicts there will be 120,000 children homeless this Christmas!
9 November 2016
Build a movement to stop Trump's agenda
Polls showed that Donald Trump was the most hated Presidential candidate in the history of this country. Yet the Wall Street, Wal-Mart, warmonger Clinton couldn't defeat him, writes Bryan Koulouris, Socialist Alternative (CWI USA).
10 November 2016
USA: We need mass resistance to Trump and a new party of the 99%
Trump will bring chaos and provocations which will impel millions into defensive actions. Only socialist policies can ensure their victory.
14 November 2016
Socialism 2016: Photo gallery of Saturday rally
Hosted by the Socialist Party, a very successful Socialism 2016 took place over the weekend 12-13 November
14 November 2016
A Socialist Party NUT bulletin on the proposed NUT merger with the ATL, and also an article on workload
15 November 2016
Mass prison officer walkout over health and safety
The last issue of the Socialist published an article by a prison officer detailing the reasons for the crisis in the prisons and calling for action. On 15 November action was taken.
16 November 2016
Lessons for Britain: Trump victory shows the right can't beat the right
Urgent need to transform Labour into a party of the working class: Trump's election as US president contains lessons for the left internationally.
16 November 2016
Support the campaign to readmit expelled socialists
75 socialists, with more than a thousand years' membership of the Labour Party between them, have collectively applied to the Labour Party's national executive committee (NEC) to be readmitted.
16 November 2016
Southampton Labour must bin Tory cuts!
Southampton Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) campaigners, including Socialist Party members, staged a protest on 15 November outside the city's civic centre against cuts to the weekly bin collection service.
16 November 2016
Cumbria: Stop axing care home places
Carlisle Socialist Party members handed in a 1,500-signature petition on 9 November demanding that Cumbria County Council scrap its plan to halve the number of care home places.
16 November 2016
TUSC vindicated in censorship protest
As the democratic credentials of 'official politics' are being increasingly questioned, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) recently chalked up a modest victory against establishment efforts to prevent alternative voices from being heard.
16 November 2016
Bristol campaigners demand anti-austerity alternative
A letter has been sent to Bristol's Labour Mayor Marvin Rees from Socialist Party member and former TUSC mayoral candidate Tom Baldwin on behalf of the Bristol and District Anti-Cuts Alliance (BADACA).
16 November 2016
Privatisation and the 'race to the bottom'
Feature about privatisation including: Casualisation in education, health service workers - a history of struggle and fighting trade unions - key to defending conditions.
16 November 2016
Trump victory: Failure of the Democrat establishment
Working people, minorities and women must fight back: Following Donald Trump's presidential victory we publish an analysis by Socialist Alternative (SA), our co-thinkers in the US, written by Philip Locker and Tom Crean.
16 November 2016
Deliveroo couriers get organised
The Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) union has launched a recruitment drive among Deliveroo couriers as part of its campaign to secure real employment rights for the food delivery drivers.
16 November 2016
Short reports on some of the latest trade union struggles including a bus drivers' dispute, sweet factory walkout and the latest from Sheffield bin workers dispute.
16 November 2016
Steel workers' pensions under threat again
Once again steel workers have been left reeling, bitterly disappointed and suffering from a deep sense of betrayal, since it was announced that Tata Steel will be closing the British Steel pension scheme in January.
16 November 2016
Secret hospital closures: bosses must come clean
NHS England has secret plans for closing A&Es and even a whole hospital, according to an investigation by the King's Fund think-tank.
16 November 2016
£1.5trn household debt - nationalise the banks!
The average adult in the UK is now a whopping £30,000 in debt. This is 113% of the average annual income. The total household debt in the UK has rocketed to over £1.5 trillion.
16 November 2016
Court win against bedroom tax not enough
Top judges have ruled against part of the Tories' hated 'bedroom tax' benefit cap.
16 November 2016
Letters to the Socialist's editors including the real cost of NHS cuts, one member one vote, reformism and Tory hypocrisy.
16 November 2016
One third of 'high net worth individuals' are under investigation by HM Revenue and Customs, says the National Audit Office.
16 November 2016
London Underground: RMT wins victory
Tube workers' union RMT has secured a victory for London Underground maintenance staff on pensions, pay and night tube working.
16 November 2016
A Street Cat Named Bob: tale of neglect by capitalism
Film review: 'A Street Cat Named Bob' is the heart-warming story of a man trying to beat addiction and homelessness with the support of his pet cat.
16 November 2016
Students and workers unite and fight!
The march on 19 November is the first joint national demo by the NUS and UCU since 2010
16 November 2016
Socialism 2016: Putting socialism on the agenda
Struggle, internationalism and socialism, these ideas - and how powerful they can be in action - electrified the magnificent rallies and workshops at Socialism 2016
16 November 2016
Durham teaching assistants strike: 2,000 walk out
Almost 2,000 teaching assistants (TAs), Unison and ATL members, in County Durham struck on 8 and 9 November against the Labour council that is proposing to cut their wages.
16 November 2016
17 November 2016
Peter Taaffe debates with Michael Crick
At the Socialism 2016 event on Sunday 13th November in London, Socialist Party general secretary Peter Taaffe debated with Michael Crick - author of the book 'Militant'
17 November 2016
Police infiltration of the Socialist Party
Today the Metropolitan Police have confirmed to the Pitchford Inquiry into undercover policing that 'Carlo Neri', as we knew him, was an undercover police officer
22 November 2016
Up to 15,000 students, education workers and trade unionists marched in London on 19 November
23 November 2016
Reselection motion passed at Labour Party branch
What we heard: Chingford Labour Party has passed a motion supporting mandatory reselection of Labour Party parliamentary candidates.
23 November 2016
Do you have something to say? Letters to the Socialist's editors. Poetry, Bill Graham obituary, queen, Trump and Hunt.
23 November 2016
USA: mass protests break out to #ResistTrump
Donald Trump's shocking victory was met with a mixture of anger, confusion, and very real fear among ordinary people in the US and around the world. But the election of one of the most right-wing presidents in US history was also met immediately by determined mass protests.
23 November 2016
Ireland: repeal the 8th Amendment - fight for abortion rights
The Irish government has refused to give a second reading to a bill for a repeal referendum on restrictions to women's abortion rights. There has been a clear development of a pro-choice sentiment within society. This shows the need to develop the struggle outside parliament.
23 November 2016
UN climate change summit: more hot air from Marrakech
Trump's opposition to the already-insufficient Paris Agreement will allow other major polluters like China even more room to ignore it.
23 November 2016
£3.5bn on temporary housing for councils
Councils have spent a disgraceful £3.5 billion in the last five years keeping homeless vulnerable families in temporary accommodation. They should spend the cash building homes!
23 November 2016
Job figures mask casualisation
For real jobs, not 'gig economy': Unemployment levels are at their lowest for eleven years. However, when you scrape below the surface of the headlines, then for ordinary people there is little to celebrate.
23 November 2016
Socialists in the media! Discussing internships, Trump and the campaign to readmit expelled socialists to Labour - on Sky News, RT, the Sunday Politics and LBC radio.
23 November 2016
Hundreds rally to celebrate anniversary of Students' Union and Izquierda Revolucionaria
A joint recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of Spain's Students' Union, and the 40th anniversary of Izquierda Revolucionaria, the revolutionary Marxist organisation which formed the union and continues to lead it.
23 November 2016
In a humiliating and massive u-turn, the Tory government has dropped plans to introduce 'pay to stay' as part of its Housing Act.
23 November 2016
"I don't always feel that I'm a carer anymore" - a day in the life
I love my job, but things have changed. The home where I am now employed is run by a private company which appears to put profit before the safety and well-being of both staff and residents.
23 November 2016
RMT members who are conductors on Southern Rail have taken part in the 16th and 17th day of strike action to defend the safety-critical role of the conductor.
23 November 2016
"I can't stop thinking about Socialism 2016 - it was truly brilliant"
Why I joined the Socialist Party: I can't stop thinking about Socialism 2016. It was the first time I attended and I was so impressed with the passion, strategy, knowledge and awareness of people's situations which was expressed by all the speakers and the response from members.
23 November 2016
Socialism 2016: what you thought
Attendees comment on the weekend's highlights, and on why they joined the Socialist Party.
23 November 2016
Packed-out Socialist Party meetings hear American socialist and Black Lives Matter activist
"Within hours of Donald Trump winning the US election we were able to get 40,000 people on the streets and put socialist ideas out there, at the time when we had the biggest audience", said Darletta Scruggs when talking to over 60 people, mostly from the local black community.
23 November 2016
School talk on the struggle for the vote and its importance today
"I would like to vote, because I want a say in how my life is run and I know more than many who do!" This was one of the responses when I asked a room of 12-year-olds if they would like the right to vote.
23 November 2016
Campaigning Socialist Students groups needed to hold student unions to account
Local student unions failed to properly organise and mobilise for the national education demonstration on 19 November.
23 November 2016
Tories plan pain with Brexit Autumn Statement
Fight the cuts, fight for a socialist Brexit: The Tories have used fears around Brexit to lower expectations for Chancellor Philip Hammond's Autumn Statement.
23 November 2016
Students' Union surges forward in historic congress
300 young revolutionaries from 26 cities - along with dozens of trade unionists and working class militants - met in Madrid.
23 November 2016
The Socialist Party and support for the Corbyn movement
The Socialist Party receives widespread support from Corbyn supporters for our calls for democratising Labour. But here we take up six distortions that come from Labour's right
23 November 2016
Lessons of the 'N30' 2011 pension strike
The fifth anniversary of the public sector pension strike allows an opportunity to reflect on the most significant and defining trade union struggle of the recent period.
23 November 2016
Cash for rich and royals, cuts for the 99%
The Tories' Autumn Statement can find money to give tax breaks to corporations, while ensuring our billionaire queen retains a life of extreme luxury. So why can't it find money to invest in secure jobs, our chronically underfunded NHS, or the desperate housing situation?
23 November 2016
'Just about managing': £2,500 worse off by 2020
As profits for Tory toffs steadily climb, low-income working families will be left £2,543 worse off by 2020. Lift the benefit cap!
24 November 2016
Autumn Statement: No reprieve for the 'just-about managing' - or the 'not managing'
The Chancellor claimed the Tories are building an "economy that works for everyone"
25 November 2016
Unite construction rank and file workers are demanding a 2nd tier productivity bonus payment
25 November 2016
Dave Nellist on Sunday Politics show
Readmit expelled socialists: Dave Nellist on the Sunday Politics West Midlands show
26 November 2016
Hands off HRI charts way forward
Over 120 people turned out to our latest Hands off Huddersfield Royal Infirmary meeting
26 November 2016
Sheffield is the city region with the highest proportion of people on low incomes.
26 November 2016
Fight for workers' democracy in Cuba
With the news of the death of Cuban 1959 revolutionary Castro, we post here two articles from the archives of the Socialist Party and CWI
30 November 2016
Brexit spin: demand a real workers' exit
Editorial of the Socialist: Tory Chancellor Phillip Hammond's Autumn Statement estimated the cost of the Brexit vote at £59 billion - to come out of the pockets of working-class people.
30 November 2016
Worst decade for living standards since 1920s: Years of pay freezes, rises in living costs and benefit changes mean family incomes are growing more slowly now than during the immediate post-2008 crash.
30 November 2016
The housing crisis - a toxic issue for the Tories
Almost everyone acknowledges there is a major housing crisis in the UK. As Paul Kershaw (Unite housing branch LE1111) explains, a chronic lack of affordable housing has been made worse by the government's
30 November 2016
Leicester's adventure playgrounds are used by over 10,000 children citywide. The city's Labour council plans to close them. Parents and campaigners lobbied the council in protest.
30 November 2016
Reclaim the Night solidarity march
Fifty determined women and men marched through Leicester on 24 November as part of international action in support of the 'Reclaim the Night' campaign.
30 November 2016
Conference to debate TUSC's role now and the 2017 elections
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) national steering committee has agreed the agenda for the TUSC conference in London on 28 January. The main session will be a forum about TUSC's role now and the 2017 elections, in the welcome new political situation opened by Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party.
30 November 2016
Them & Us: Autumn Statement special!
Hammond's first Autumn Statement in numbers. It's one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us.
30 November 2016
Support the campaign to readmit expelled trade union militants
In order to consolidate Corbyn's leadership victory it is urgent that action is taken to democratise the Labour Party and end the Blairites' control of the party machine. An essential part of this is campaigning for the readmittance to the Labour Party of all expelled or excluded socialists.
30 November 2016
Southampton Labour councillors vote through more cuts
Southampton Labour Party recently held their AGM as the councillors in the cabinet voted through a further round of budget cuts.
30 November 2016
Labour Party branch votes for reselection
What We Heard: At a meeting on 25 November the Leyton and Wanstead Labour constituency general committee voted to endorse mandatory reselection, this time proposed by the Wanstead ward branch.
30 November 2016
Stop the Tory cuts: Exeter will be the scene of a major county-wide demonstration by campaign groups against the huge government cuts to the National Health Service on 3 December.
30 November 2016
Homelessness - capitalism is destroying people's lives
My partner and I are living in what's known as emergency accommodation. It's a small room which costs the council £150 a week. The building is old and falling apart. It's dusty and often we have to wipe the walls with bleach to get rid of black mould.
30 November 2016
Fight the cuts - victims of domestic abuse depend on it
After my mum's first abusive partner, we had to move. But before you are eligible for council housing you have to be living within the region of a local authority for some time. For domestic violence victims this is a dangerous rule.
30 November 2016
Spain: militant struggle by Students Union succeeds
The government of conservative prime minister Mariano Rajoy - under pressure from mass student strikes organised by the Sindicato de Estudiantes - has withdrawn its reactionary attacks on public education that include big cuts.
30 November 2016
Hunger strikes, suicides - end detention now
Hunger strikes and suicides have increased dramatically in British detention centres. A Freedom of Information request showed that out of an estimated 7,500 detainees over three months, 218 were on hunger strike. 109 had attempted suicide, with 649 on suicide watch.
30 November 2016
Fight to make letting agent fee ban reality
The Tories' 2016 Autumn Statement announced plans to ban letting agent fees - a move which young people and workers everywhere will surely welcome. But no date has been set.
30 November 2016
Women bear 85% of benefit cuts
Lift the benefit cap, end austerity: By 2020 women will have shouldered 85% of the burden of changes to the tax and benefits system, claims a new report. This highlights the disproportionate effect of austerity.
30 November 2016
Labour MEP tweets support for US socialist; bedroom-rich royal appeals for donations to homelessness helpline.
30 November 2016
Readmit expelled socialists: a proven record of fighting back
I've been asked why socialists like me should be readmitted to the Labour Party. This is not the time for compromise and 'partnership', but for bold, clearly defined socialist policies, carried out by determined representatives of our class.
30 November 2016
Do you have something to say? Letters to the Socialist's editors. Croydon tram tragedy; bully bailiff gets wrong house; waiters' wages; stop Lord Sainsbury; 'I, Daniel Blake'; super seventies?
30 November 2016
London Crossrail workers walk out
Hundreds of electricians walked off construction sites on the massive Crossrail job in London on 25 November demanding that management adhere to the Joint Industry Board (JIB) agreement on the payment of a second-tier productivity bonus.
30 November 2016
Durham teaching assistants determined to win
Durham teaching assistants took another two days of strike action on 23 and 24 November. A hundred schools were picketed. On 23 November over 1,000 teaching assistants descended on Durham with public street protests and a march.
30 November 2016
Strike action across London and South East rail network
Combined strike action by up to 400 train drivers and other rail workers is set to bring Southern and London Underground to a standstill.
30 November 2016
Protest to demand pay rise for Sheffield
Sheffield is the city region with the highest proportion of people on low incomes. That's why Sheffield Trades Council has launched its Sheffield Needs A Pay-rise (Snap) campaign.
30 November 2016
Young workers in Leeds socialise and mobilise at Unison young workers gig
Around 50 people turned up to enjoy a Unison-sponsored gig for young and potential members at the Fenton pub in Leeds on 25 November, an event which was about more than just music and comedy.
30 November 2016
Residents of Rustlings Road in Sheffield were awoken by the chainsaws of Amey contractors at 5am on 17 November, protected by police. They were cutting down eight trees as part of a £2.2 billion PFI contract. Residents were told to move their cars or have them towed away.
30 November 2016
Repeal the 8th protest for abortion rights
The Socialist Party in London organised a demonstration outside the Irish embassy on 26 November in solidarity with a protest in Dublin to 'Repeal the 8th' amendment to the Irish constitution restricting abortion rights.
30 November 2016
Hospital admissions for malnutrition rise threefold
Resist Victorian living standards!: Hospitals have come under a new wave of pressure as the number of patients admitted with malnutrition has drastically increased.
18 Feb Bristol North Socialist Party: Question & Answers
18 Feb London NSSN meeting: Fight the anti-trade union laws, support the strikes!
18 Feb Birmingham SE Socialist Party: The history of immigration
19 Feb Hackney Socialist Party: Scottish independence - Will it happen?
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Communism, grotesque caricature: see Soviet Union. See also What About Russia?
How would a socialist economy work?
Lenin:
On Marxism
Terrorism: Marxism Opposes Terrorism
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