Archive for October 2017
2 October 2017
On 1st October anti-austerity campaigners and trade unionists marched through Manchester
2 October 2017
Exemplary resistance by the people of Catalonia
Catalonia on 1st October saw scenes of a territory under military occupation. Thousands of police and civil guards - sent by the PP government - used savage repression
2 October 2017
Hugh Hefner's exploitation of women
In the film Men in Black the eponymous characters press a button and erase your memory. Reading the obituaries about the death of Playboy founder and multi-millionaire Hugh Hefner certainly felt like such a button had been pressed
4 October 2017
Che Guevara 50 years on - revolutionary socialist and fighter
Many people identify with the legacy left by Che as a symbol of struggle, defiance, internationalism and a socialist world.
4 October 2017
Eyewitness: Irish socialist MP participates in events
Mick Barry, a member of the Socialist Party's Irish sister party and of the Irish parliament, has been in Catalonia as an international observer to the struggle and the repression
4 October 2017
Surveying Labour councillors - will they fight cuts?
Jeremy Corbyn's Labour conference speech was greeted with predictable hostility by big business representatives like the CBI
4 October 2017
Leeds Socialist Students marks 'International Safe Abortion Day'
Leeds Socialist Students and affiliated groups came together to mark International Safe Abortion Day on 28 September
4 October 2017
Chatsworth ward campaign replies to Tory MP's intervention
Mansfield was one of the few places the Tories gained from Labour in the general election. The new MP, Ben Bradley, had an article in the local paper recently about Chatsworth ward. The campaign sent in a reply
4 October 2017
Protest outside Ukip conference against German far-right speaker
Socialist Party members from Torbay and south Devon stood alongside Labour and Momentum members to protest outside the Ukip annual conference in Torbay, south Devon
4 October 2017
RMT strikes against removal of train guards spreads
Further rail strikes took place against driver-only operation across the country on 3 October. RMT members once again walked out on Southern, Merseyrail and Arriva Rail North plus on Greater Anglia for the first time
4 October 2017
"Why would anybody, let alone a normal person, want to become a member of the Conservative Party?"
4 October 2017
Having alienated most of the US population (and the world) with his vile, bigoted and threatening comments, US billionaire president Donald Trump has now railed against North American football players
4 October 2017
University of Leeds workers walk out
Staff at the University of Leeds are taking industrial action in a dispute the University and College Union (UCU) has declared to be of national importance
4 October 2017
Why I joined: I wanted to change things
It was Donald Trump who, indirectly, prompted me to join the Socialist Party
4 October 2017
Solidarity with Catalonia - the people have the right to decide
Shocking scenes of brutal police repression in Catalonia reverberated around the world on 1 October
4 October 2017
Unison attacks Barts deal after failing to ballot their members for strike action
Unison unelected officials, not even employed by Barts Health Trust or Serco, have put out a leaflet that attacks Unite the Union and the Socialist Party following the deal that concluded the recent Barts dispute
4 October 2017
How appropriate that Theresa May's speech insisting our interests were best served by free market capitalism - "the greatest agent of collective human progress ever created" - came in the same week as budget airline Ryanair cancelled over 700,000 passenger flights
4 October 2017
Monarch abdicates responsibility to workers
On its 50th anniversary, UK-based Monarch airline has nosedived into administration leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stuck abroad and many more losing future flights without compensation
4 October 2017
The NHS crisis is escalating as the Tories continue their mission to 'slash, trash and privatise' our health service
4 October 2017
£11,000 raised in three weeks for fighting fund
Socialist Party members made a herculean effort to reach the target for the summer July to September quarter, raising over £11,000 in the final three weeks of the campaign
5 October 2017
TUSC members and supporters in the borough of Halton in Cheshire are campaigning against the payment of tolls on the soon to be opened Mersey Gateway crossings
6 October 2017
Boeing bust-up threatens thousands of skilled jobs
A trade dispute is threatening thousands of Bombardier jobs in Northern Ireland.
11 October 2017
IMF helps cause inequality it slams
The International Monetary Fund's warnings about inequality have had no effect on its efforts to worsen inequality
11 October 2017
NHS meltdown - fight the Tory cuts
There's more evidence that the National Health Service (NHS) is in meltdown. This time it comes from the Care Quality Commission inspectorate
11 October 2017
Salford Unison condemns pay cuts
Within one week, Labour controlled Salford city council announced an increase in wages for some of the lowest paid care workers and also made a decision to cut the pay and some jobs of those working in Regulatory Services
11 October 2017
It's one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us including Lords' expenses and young workers' debt.
11 October 2017
TV drama: The State: The brutal finale of the Channel 4 drama about Isis, 'The State', came as no surprise
11 October 2017
Who's watching who?: The fight for justice, trade union and democratic rights
For almost 100 years a secret ban was operated to deny jobs to thousands of workers involved in trade union activity
11 October 2017
Short reports on some of the latest trade union struggles including BAE job cuts, PCS action and cinema strikes.
11 October 2017
Letters to the Socialist's editors including NHS conferences, Procter and Gamble problems and Ryanair.
11 October 2017
Join the Orgreave Halloween rally
The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign has called for our supporters to gather in their hundreds this Halloween night (31 October) in Sheffield.
11 October 2017
Manchester rally discussed unionisation and nationalisation
Crowds poured into Manchester Cathedral on 2 October to see the shadow chancellor John McDonnell at a free event.
11 October 2017
Cardiff Socialist Students confront 'Parasite' Jacob Rees-Mogg
Jacob Rees-Mogg, aristocratic, misogynistic, homophobic, billionaire landlord and current pin-up boy of the Tory right, was invited to speak at a venue in Cardiff on 29 September.
11 October 2017
Major attacks 'Universal Credit', half a million more face poverty
Even John Major, the Tory former prime minister, thinks his party's 'Universal Credit' welfare system is wrong
11 October 2017
Housing crisis: Corbyn's positive measures blanked by Labour's right
A standing ovation greeted Jeremy Corbin's pledges on housing at Labour's conference: to stop 'social cleansing' regeneration schemes and give residents a vote on regeneration proposals; to build more council homes and to control rents.
11 October 2017
No more fire deaths - ensure safety now!
In the early hours of Sunday 1 October a fire broke out on the ground floor of a three storey block of flats in Ringland Close, Hanley. A mother and two daughters were rescued from their flat above and rushed to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation
11 October 2017
Don't wreck our rec! Campaigning to save green space in Standish
On the morning of 10 October the Tory government announced it was launching a website to show the widespread racial inequality in Britain. To many this will seem like a sick Black History Month joke.
11 October 2017
Carlisle NHS campaigners hand in petition to MP
Since the early part of the year, members of Carlisle Socialist Party and the Cumbria branch of Unite Community union have been active in the campaign to 'Save our NHS', organising support firstly for the national demonstration in London on 4 March, and subsequently for the two rallies in Carlisle on 8 April and 4 June.
11 October 2017
Poverty, repression and fightback on the docks
Biography: Harry Constable in his own words: This book is about Harry Constable, a leading activist in the struggle of the dock workers from before the war until the end of the 1950s
11 October 2017
Theresa May, Frida Kahlo and turning women into wares
Reader's Comment: Theresa May's Frida Kahlo bracelet at Tory conference caused a lot of reactions for a lot of people, but it left me feeling cold, and a little anxious
11 October 2017
Catalonia: Workers can finish what Puigdemont won't
While thousands amassed outside, Puigdemont was asking the Catalan parliament to agree to 'suspend' a declaration of independence
11 October 2017
The fight against racial discrimination is tied to fighting against capitalist austerity
When the government announced a new website to show the widespread racial inequality in Britain, many will have viewed it as a sick Black History Month joke
11 October 2017
CWU fights court attempt to stop national strike
Royal Mail has desperately tried to stop the strike planned for 19 October.
11 October 2017
Nasty party imploding...drive out the Tories
The prime minister has gone from "strong and stable" to spluttering and stuttering in the space of a few short months.
12 October 2017
Justice for Tube cleaners demo
Joseph Mambuliya, London underground cleaner, Socialist Party member and chair of the RMT London Underground cleaners grade committee, explains why the cleaners are demonstrating today, writes The demands are:.
13 October 2017
The Tories were humiliated at their conference, hold power only precariously, are split over Europe and on May's leadership. Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn furthers his position and policies in Labour. Peter Taaffe looks at the significance of their contrasting fortunes.
18 October 2017
Russia, October 1917: When workers took power
The centenary of the Russian revolution has led to an outpouring of bile - not mainly aimed at the February revolution, but at October
18 October 2017
Unite local government sector plans strike ballot
A Unite national meeting for delegates representing workers in local government unanimously voted for a motion proposed by Socialist Party member Danny Hoggan from Greenwich calling on the union to ballot all members in local government on taking industrial action to achieve a 5% pay claim
18 October 2017
Socialist Students 'welcome' Hillary Clinton to Swansea
Socialist Students from across south Wales gathered in Swansea to protest the visit of former American presidential candidate Hillary Clinton
18 October 2017
Schools "can't go any further" - stop the cuts: set deficit budgets now
'Southampton Fair Funding for All Schools' brought teachers, students, TAs, heads and parents onto the streets on 14 October to protest against the growing crisis in Southampton schools. The action took place ahead of the national lobby of MPs at Westminster on 24 October, which the campaign has built for.
18 October 2017
Young people being strangled by debts
Take the wealth off the super-rich - no to the Tories' scapegoating of pensioners!: Over a third of young people are in debt - on average by £2,989 - says the Money Advice Trust
18 October 2017
Tories scrap the NHS pay cap: now fight for real-terms pay rises!
Public sector workers have scored another victory against the Tories: the NHS pay cap will be scrapped
18 October 2017
Obesity epidemic: end food market anarchy
At any given time nearly a billion people on the planet are hungry, and a third are malnourished. And yet a new report says the growing obesity crisis is set to cost $1.2 trillion a year worldwide from 2025.
18 October 2017
Depressing yearly student loan statement - paid off £106 this year, but after interest total amount owed only gone down by £25.
18 October 2017
Nationalise to save jobs at BAE Systems
Arms manufacturer BAE Systems has announced that up to 2,000 jobs will be cut in locations across the UK. These job cuts will have a devastating effect on the lives of workers losing their livelihood but will also have a wider impact on the local economy.
18 October 2017
North London hospital workers fight cuts and job losses
Porters and domestics - members of the GMB union - at the North Middlesex hospital, facing the threat of redundancies and pay cuts, organised a spirited protest with a barbecue outside the hospital on 12 October.
18 October 2017
October 1917 reviews: 'More bright than any heaven'
The October revolution showed countless millions that workers have the power to stop exploitation and oppression. It's no surprise these events inspired marvellous documentary and artistic works. The Socialist revisits some of the classic accounts of 1917 - and comments on some more recent efforts to smear it...
18 October 2017
No cuts - hands off King George A&E!
People queued up outside Ilford town hall to sign the Socialist Party's petition to save King George A&E in east London on 14 October as campaigners marched to voice opposition to its closure.
18 October 2017
Can you donate to the Socialism 2017 appeal?
We are calling on all members and supporters of the Socialist Party to donate to the Socialism 2017 appeal. We have set an ambitious target to raise £30,000 at the Saturday night rally on 11 November because that is what we need to ensure that we can go into 2018 with our finances strengthened.
18 October 2017
An NHS 'uprising' took place in Grantham, Lincolnshire, on Saturday 14 October! A determined 800-strong demonstration wound its way through the town. People are fighting against the night time closure of Grantham A&E and the systematic downgrading of services in their local hospital.
18 October 2017
Hundreds turn out for rally aimed at removing west Wales Tory MP
Haverfordwest is a small market town in south west Wales and in the marginal Preseli Pembrokeshire constituency of Tory MP and former secretary of state for Wales Stephen Crabb. On 14 October, the town centre was packed with around 300 people attending an anti-austerity rally
18 October 2017
Sheffield Labour council threatens peaceful protesters with prison
Two months have passed since Sheffield's Labour council won a High Court injunction against peaceful protesters fighting the felling of thousands of street trees in the city.
18 October 2017
Campaign against political repression in Hong Kong
Protesters gathered outside China's embassies and consulates, as well as the Hong Kong government's economic and trade offices, in 22 cities across 20 countries on 12-13 October. The protests were part of a newly launched international campaign, 'Global Solidarity - Stop Repression in Hong Kong'.
18 October 2017
Powerful picture of the Port Talbot steel workers' struggle
Theatre: We're Still Here: Under the threat of closure, the steel workers - but not the pensioners - were forced to vote for one of two options, either of which meant a cut in pensions. 'We're Still Here' dramatises the effect of this threat on the workers.
18 October 2017
'Dazzling' Bad Art show points to socialist future
Skipton is a quiet market town better known as the 'Gateway to the Yorkshire Dales' than it is for revolution. But on 6 October, socialist artists and activists, as well as the general public, from Manchester, Lancashire and Yorkshire gathered to view a dazzling selection of work by artists loosely grouped around the 'Bad Art' project.
18 October 2017
Balloting members on the pay cap
The civil servants' union PCS is stepping up its pay campaign by holding a consultative ballot
18 October 2017
Royal Mail bosses block strike - back postal workers
72,877 CWU members had voted to strike over pensions, pay and other issues
18 October 2017
This brutal, broken Tory government is limping. May's premiership hangs by a thread
18 October 2017
Striking back against sackers' charter at Leeds Uni
Across 16 separate picket lines with over 100 strikers and supporters attending a rally, University and College Union members gave their response to management's provocative attempts to amend Leeds University's charter to remove protections from dismissal.
18 October 2017
Conference on state spies: who's watching who?
It is clear undercover surveillance of trade unionists and left activists has taken place - contrary to the myth that it couldn't happen in Britain.
19 October 2017
Arriva North West bus drivers strike over pay
Bus drivers across 11 depots took a day of strike action, with two more planned
24 October 2017
Editorial of the Socialist, issue 968
The dramatic events that have shaken Catalonia and the Spanish state have national and international implications, writes Socialists must back Catalan struggle for self-determination.
24 October 2017
Socialists must back Catalan struggle for self-determination
The dramatic events that have shaken Catalonia and the Spanish state have national and international implications.
25 October 2017
May gave an interview about Brexit and the EU and on Facebook it was just angry reacts the whole time, writes Find out more and book tickets at socialism2017.net.
25 October 2017
Fearful Tories mull borrowing to build
For a mass programme of council house building! The Tories are considering borrowing to build homes- their umpteenth muddlement in a post-election retreat on all fronts
25 October 2017
Kids wait 18 months for mental healthcare
Kick out cutters and profiteers: Children suffering from mental health problems have to wait up to 18 months to access care
25 October 2017
Profit-driven pesticide use now threatens life
Since 1989, three-quarters of the flying insect population might have disappeared
25 October 2017
Profiteering NHS counter-fraud firm in alleged case of... fraud
Fight for a publicly owned NHS: PwC, a privatisation and consultancy firm paid to run NHS counter-fraud services, has escaped prosecution for alleged fraud
25 October 2017
Universal Credit chaos: Tories punish the poor
The government seems hell-bent on rolling out Universal Credit, but even many of their own MPs don't agree - another fracture in this divided minority government
25 October 2017
Anti-Brexit hedge fund manager lauded while quarter of EU population at risk of poverty. Meditating MP charges us for his baths while voting to fine council tenants for spare rooms.
25 October 2017
Supporters of a socialist Catalan republic speaking in London
The events that have shaken Catalonia and the Spanish state have national and international implications
25 October 2017
Aslef members must reject poor Southern Rail offer
Despite Aslef's policy being against DOO, Southern management have talked the leadership into accepting trains running without them
25 October 2017
With this year marking the 100th anniversary of the Russian revolution, reflections upon the relationship between art and emancipation are once again at the forefront of our minds
25 October 2017
NSSN meeting brings together workers in struggle
TUC should be encouraging and coordinating disputes. But if they won't, the NSSN will.
25 October 2017
1967 Abortion Act reflected social changes
Fight for the right to choose when and whether to have children: Fifty years ago the 1967 Abortion Act was signed into law - where are women's rights today?
25 October 2017
Kurdish referendum declared illegal
For a united socialist struggle for self-determination: In just a few weeks the situation for Kurdish people in Iraqi Kurdistan has gone from euphoria to anger and fear
25 October 2017
Lecturers at the University of Manchester held a successful rally, supported by students, on the first day of their strike action on 23 October
25 October 2017
Hear from socialists involved in struggles the world over at the Socialism 2017 Saturday rally
There have been few times in history when socialist ideas have held such immediate relevance and international potential - Socialism 2017 will see key figures from these struggles gathered under one roof
25 October 2017
Angry east London residents organise against threat to leisure centre
An angry meeting in Hoxton, east London, organised against the threatened closure of the area's leisure centre
25 October 2017
Trade unionists march to defend 650 local jobs
The government's proposes to strip 650 civil service jobs out of the heart of Teesside
25 October 2017
Well-deserved ridicule of Stalinism is impressive, funny but flawed
Film - The Death of Stalin: Fans of The Thick of It's lampooning of New Labour will notice parallels. The Stalinists, like the Blairites, are egotistical buffoons, completely isolated from the working class
25 October 2017
Film - Dennis Skinner: Nature of the Beast
He maintained his radical statements even when considered 'unpopular'. But even some good class fighters can lose their socialist compass
25 October 2017
The new musical 'Fidel' about the life of Cuban leader Castro will premiere in Covent Garden on 16 November
25 October 2017
Do you have something to say? Letters to the Socialist's editors
25 October 2017
Storm Brian cannot withstand working-class anger
Cardiff Socialist Party held three stalls in the city, defying Storm Brian which brought intense winds of more than 50mph
26 October 2017
New play celebrates Grunwick strike
'We Are the Lions, Mr Manager' celebrates the first major strike by Asian women in this country
31 October 2017
Catalonia: Rajoy's furious response to proclamation of Republic
The proclamation of the Catalan Republic provoked an immediate, furious response from Spain's right-wing PP government as well as the ex-social democratic Psoe
31 October 2017
Westminster sexual harassment scandal: symptom of a rotten system
Eight years after Westminster was engulfed by the expenses scandal a new outrage is threatening to swamp parliament
31 October 2017
Arriva bus workers' dispute continues
The bus drivers' strike at Arriva remained completely solid on the third day of action
22 Aug Cardiff East Socialist Party: Hong Kong - the struggle for democratic workers' rights
22 Aug Caerphilly Socialist Party: The case for socialist nationalisation
22 Aug Waltham Forest Socialist Party: Why do socialists still talk about the working class?
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