Archive for November 2020
3 November 2020
Corbyn suspended - Time to fight for a new mass workers' party
Keir Starmer is determined to annihilate the last vestiges of 'Corbynism'- as the Socialist Party warned would be the case
4 November 2020
4 November 2020
Testing is failing - it's a privatised mess
Covid-19 infections are spreading fast because England's 'test and trace' reached only 60% of the contacts of confirmed Covid cases in recent weeks
4 November 2020
Furloughed worker speaks out: Let down by insecure contracts
I was working when lockdown was announced. We turned up the volume on the telly, put the subtitles on and everyone went quiet.
4 November 2020
Birmingham NHS porters' 48-hour strike against shift changes
Porters at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham struck for 48 hours on 30-31 October, in opposition to enforced shift changes where trust bosses want 'flexible working' at the expense of workers' pay, health and work/life balance.
4 November 2020
Optare strikers escalate their action
At a meeting held on the picket line on 30 October, workers at bus manufacturer Optare in Sherburn in Elmet, Leeds voted to escalate their ongoing strike action in their long-running pay dispute from two days a week, to four days a week, starting from 16 November.
4 November 2020
Save St Andrews mental health ward
The last 14 beds for inpatients at St Andrews mental health ward in Wells, Somerset are set to be moved
4 November 2020
Leeds protesters demand "Buhari must go!"
For the second weekend in a row, protesters gathered in Leeds in solidarity with the #EndSARS protests in Nigeria
4 November 2020
Maybe now they will listen - Refund the fees!
Another great Socialist Students society stall and 'refund the fees' campaigning in Birmingham, with support and sign-ups coming from students across all departments.
4 November 2020
Donate now to the Socialism 2020 appeal
We are urging all our members and supporters to donate and pledge to the Socialism 2020 appeal.
4 November 2020
Chile: A defeat for the right!
Mass protests, including a general strike, in 2019 - triggered by a movement of young people in Santiago, Chile's capital city, over a metro fares hike - forced the right-wing Piñera government, despite vicious state repression, to make political and economic concessions
4 November 2020
Poland: Mass protests against abortion ban
Tens of thousands of women have taken to the streets of Poland in an uprising against living in a "female hell"
4 November 2020
Socialism 2020: Mass workers' voice needed
How did your living standards fair between April and July this year? Chances are you didn't see your wealth increase to over ten trillion dollars. But the world's billionaires did.
4 November 2020
Corbyn suspended: Join the fightback, join the socialists
Since Keir Starmer's suspension of Jeremy Corbyn, we have had a big influx of interest in joining the Socialist Party
4 November 2020
Why the Socialist Party is backing Hugo Pierre for Unison general secretary
On the 28 October, 1.4 million ballot papers will go out to Unison public sector union members to decide who should be the new general secretary and lead the union.
4 November 2020
Transport for London given funding stop gap
The mayor of London and the Department for Transport (DfT) have come to an agreement on a six-month funding deal for Transport for London (TfL), that will keep public transport running in London until April 2021.
4 November 2020
The result of the US presidential election, held on Tuesday 3 November, will not be known until after this issue of the Socialist has been printed
4 November 2020
Building Bangor Socialist Students
Since arriving at Bangor University in September I have been busy setting up a Socialist Students society. We now have ten other students in our society and three locals who are interested too.
4 November 2020
Our lives, our jobs - not safe in Tory hands
The Tories did a massive U-turn, but are too split and rotten to make it effective in protecting our health and livelihoods.
4 November 2020
A lockdown that doesn't include education?
Since schools re-opened, virus levels are nine times higher among primary pupils and 50 times higher among secondary pupils
4 November 2020
Usdaw needs a fighting leadership
It is vital now more than ever that a fighting programme be put forward in the shopworkers' union
5 November 2020
Independent Socialist Group interim statement on 2020 US election
Vote counts are too close to call for the Presidential election. Anti-Trump protests began overnight.
6 November 2020
Socialists, including Labour MP, spied on by police and security services
Nearly six years after it was set up the Undercover Policing Inquiry has finally begun, albeit in an extremely limited and inadequate way
11 November 2020
11 November 2020
Tory U-turn: Free school meals
Less starvation for us, more humiliation for the government: In its latest U-turn, the government finally agreed a £170 million package to support children - children largely made vulnerable as a result of the Tories' capitalist system.
11 November 2020
Tory U-turn: Furlough extended - not enough to save jobs
Boris Johnson's recent U-turn, to extend furlough, will give a glimmer of hope to some workers, but will come too late for many already dumped by their employers.
11 November 2020
Covid law used against striking workers - for workers' control of safety measures
On the very first day of the new national lockdown, police issued dispersal orders to a picket line of striking workers, on the grounds of breaching the new rules.
11 November 2020
Covid and poverty rising - Welsh lockdown ends with little progress
Wales emerged from a two-week lockdown on 9 November. There is little evidence that the 'firebreak' introduced by the Welsh government had much impact on the spread of the virus.
11 November 2020
Solidarity with Manchester students - fight for democratic control of campus safety
Socialist Students sends solidarity to students at the University of Manchester (UoM), who through their protests, have ensured the removal of two-metre high security fences designed to pen them in
11 November 2020
Southampton trade unionists demand: "We won't pay for Covid"
Southampton Trades Council held a protest rally on Saturday 7 November, which in the circumstances of lockdown was small, but with a bold, positive spirit.
11 November 2020
After some discussion, we decided to do a normal campaign stall at our usual time, despite lockdown and uncertainty of how police, and more importantly the public would react.
11 November 2020
Trump is out - our readers react
I teach US History for GCSE. I spent a chunk of the lesson yesterday trying to explain why the federal constitution uses an electoral college and not a popular vote to choose a president (because the founding
11 November 2020
Send your news, views and criticism, in not more than 150 words, to [email protected] - or if you're not online, PO Box 1398, Enfield EN1 9GT
11 November 2020
Trotsky's ideas live on in the CWI
Book Review: A revolutionary whose ideas couldn't be killed: Eighty years after his assassination, the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) has published a collection of ten essays on the life and ideas of Leon Trotsky
11 November 2020
Readers of the Socialist react to effects of lockdown
"My hopes of secure employment killed": I was left stunned, shocked and bewildered when, on 9 October, Cineworld temporarily closed all 127 of its sites across the UK, putting 5,500 jobs at risk
11 November 2020
Schools need union action for safety
Socialist Party members in schools speak out: While we welcome the NEU taking the stance that schools and colleges should be part of the lockdown, what's become clear to members is that it lacked teeth
11 November 2020
Capitalists vs working class - not in it together
"We are really not all in this together. It is far worse for some than for others." It could be a quote from any of the millions of working-class people whose living standards have plummeted
11 November 2020
Spycops inquiry : why the capitalist state feared and continues to fear socialism
Of 1,000 organisations the SDS infiltrated, only three are thought to be right wing.
11 November 2020
Labour movement conference to defend Corbyn and discuss new party
A motion to take to your trade union meeting
11 November 2020
Lancashire workers' strike shows the way to fight aerospace cuts and job losses
Rolls-Royce workers in Barnoldswick launched strike action to save jobs and stop closure
11 November 2020
Sainsbury's and Argos: Closures, cuts and soaring sales
The news of over 3,000 job cuts will have been a bombshell to many Sainsbury's and Argos workers
11 November 2020
Unison general secretary candidate and Socialist Party member Hugo Pierre speaking during an anti-racism demo in 2017. Click here for the latest article in the Socialist on the general secretary contest
11 November 2020
The struggle for a new mass workers' party
Socialist Party Wales moved quickly to respond to news of Corbyn's suspension, with all branches calling meetings to discuss what the working class must do next, now that it's clear that the road to transforming Labour is blocked.
11 November 2020
RMT union AGM votes to defend union democracy
This year's RMT transport union's annual general meeting (AGM) was like no other I have ever attended.
11 November 2020
After the polarised elections - what way forward?
In the US, and around the world, millions greeted Trump's defeat in the US elections. His probable removal from office, notwithstanding his legal claims, will be widely welcomed.
11 November 2020
Trump out! But mass workers' struggle needed
The nightmare of Trump's presidency and the chaos of the US presidential election represent, at root, the crisis of US capitalism - which is in decline as a world superpower - and of the capitalist system itself which cannot escape its crisis since the 2007-8 crash
12 November 2020
Donate to the Socialism 2020 appeal now!
All who support the Socialist Party can help make sure the best possible amount is raised
12 November 2020
Ex-MP Chris Williamson joins TUSC
TUSC's steering committee welcomed five new members who are on the NECs of trade unions, and former Labour MP Chris Williamson.
14 November 2020
Fight Tata Steel jobs threat - nationalise now!
Once again the jobs of thousands of Tata UK steelworkers are threatened
18 November 2020
Tories student 'evacuation' plan won't work
The government plans to allow students in England to travel for Christmas
18 November 2020
Croydon Council declares bankruptcy - no cuts in Croydon or any other council
With a £66 million gap between income and expenditure, Labour-controlled Croydon Council is effectively bankrupt - politically and financially
18 November 2020
Wales exams scrapped: What's behind the headline?
The decision by the Welsh Government to scrap 2021 end-of-year exams for A-level and GCSE students is a step in the right direction
18 November 2020
Overcrowded Little Ilford School strikes against more expansion
A huge picket line, 50 strong, launched the strike against forced expansion of Little Ilford School on Thursday 12 November.
18 November 2020
Strike action ballot at UEL over job cuts
The University and College Union (UCU) has warned the University of East London (UEL) of potential industrial action over the university's decision to push ahead with compulsory job cuts.
18 November 2020
Hackney council parking services brought in-house
Hackney Council has been forced to bring its parking wardens in-house, ending a 16-year arrangement with private company APCOA, following a campaign and strike action by the workers, members' of union Unite.
18 November 2020
Send your news, views and criticism, in not more than 150 words, to [email protected] - or if you're not online, PO Box 1398, Enfield EN1 9GT
18 November 2020
Eastern Region Socialist Party members are mourning the loss of longstanding Cambridgeshire Socialist Party member Paul Chettle, after a long and recurrent illness
18 November 2020
After Corbyn: TUSC and the fight for working-class political representation
TUSC national chairperson Dave Nellist, also a parliamentary colleague of Jeremy Corbyn when he was an MP from 1983-1992, said: "The ruthless decision to suspend Jeremy Corbyn is the clearest signal yet that under Keir Starmer's Labour, the interests of Britain's capitalist establishment will be
18 November 2020
Manchester student occupation - end rip-off rent, free education now
Socialist Party members in Manchester visited the 25 students occupying 'The Tower' at Manchester University to show our solidarity on 15 November
18 November 2020
Stop Leicester hospital closure
Leicester's NHS bosses seem scared about the 'Save Our NHS Leicestershire' campaign's attempts to put forward alternative views on their proposals to reorganise our hospitals, including the closure of the Leicester General Hospital.
18 November 2020
#SpyCops inquiry - Revealing police violence against Socialists
Six years since it was first announced, the Undercover Policing inquiry finally started taking evidence from witnesses last week
18 November 2020
Young Socialists organising for our future
Young Socialists fighting for jobs: As capitalism plunges into a new period of crisis, young people face a potential future of unemployment and hardship
18 November 2020
System failing thousands of children in care
The children's commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, has described the residential care home system as broken, and accused the Tory government of a "deep-rooted institutional ambivalence" to the plight of vulnerable children in care
18 November 2020
Race disparity gets worse - fight to improve living standards for all
Disparities in racial progress are getting worse, according to a recent report 'Black people, racism and human rights', by a committee of mainly Tory MPs and unelected Lords.
18 November 2020
Tory crisis cannot be 'reset' - workers need a new mass party
Relations at the top of the government are both putrid and precarious
18 November 2020
Tories in turmoil... 'Reset' the whole system! Fight for socialism
Who needs Game of Thrones when you have the unfolding events in Johnson's government?
Don't just get angry, get organised!
Join the socialists
18 November 2020
Campaign for school Covid safety must continue
The National Education Union demands for Covid safety have again been ignored by the government
18 November 2020
Covid, vaccines, 'big pharma' - and the need for socialism
News that early results from a vaccine showed 90% effectiveness was greeted with relief
18 November 2020
The Socialist Party has been out in Cardiff continuing the campaign for a 15% pay rise for NHS workers
18 November 2020
Optare: Right to strike defended
Unite members at Optare in Yorkshire returned to the picket lines on 16 November for the first day of their now escalated four-days-a-week strike at the bus manufacturers.
18 November 2020
Socialism 2020, from Friday 20 to Monday 23 November, will be like no other event you will attend this year
18 November 2020
Women workers need strong trade unions to defend their jobs, pay and services
Why I am backing Hugo Pierre for Unison general secretary: "It's bedlam at the care home", said one care worker, my neighbour and Unison member. She went on to say: "They admitted three more patients at the weekend. We have never been so full. Some residents
22 November 2020
Hugo Pierre, speaking at Socialism 2020, 21st November 2020
25 November 2020
Little Ilford school strike stands firm - council must use reserves!
"I am the least rebellious person I know. I get to school at 6.30! But I have participated in this strike, and I will continue to participate in this strike... The kids will miss out on a whole lot more
25 November 2020
Heathrow workers to strike against 'fire and rehire' plans
Workers at Heathrow Airport are to take strike action for four days in December against the bosses' "fire and rehire" plans, cutting pay in the process.
25 November 2020
Stop the Tories putting profit before health
Covid, vaccines and the NHS: Millions will be breathing a huge sigh of relief at the news of several Covid-19 vaccines successfully passing through their development stages
25 November 2020
Mangrove: When the black community made a stand against state racism
The inspirational film about Britain's most influential black power trial, 'Mangrove', was recently aired on the BBC
25 November 2020
CripTales: A painful reflection of a system that pits us against each other
To mark the 25th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act, the BBC has produced a series of short films called 'CripTales'
25 November 2020
TUSC sets out core policies for May 2021 local elections
The core policies are the minimum basis on which someone can stand as a TUSC candidate
25 November 2020
Covid crisis: "We won't pay the price"
After giving Covid contracts worth billions to their cronies, the Tories announced yet another pay freeze for millions of public sector workers, and the scrapping of the planned increase in the minimum wage
25 November 2020
Friedrich Engels: A revolutionary who played a pivotal role in the development of socialism
28th November 2020, is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Friedrich Engels (1820-1895). Alongside Karl Marx, Engels was one of the greatest thinkers
26 November 2020
PPE contracts: It pays to have friends in high places
Huge sums of money were thrown at dubious businesses
9 Mar Bristol North Socialist Party: Socialist feminism
9 Mar Caerphilly & RCT Socialist Party: A socialist charter for women in the pandemic
10 Mar Hackney & Islington Socialist Party: Women and revolutionary struggle
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