Link to this page: https://secure.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/541/6266
From The Socialist newspaper, 9 July 2008
MP backs student fees campaign
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John McDonnell MP speaking at a CNWP meeting in 2006, photo Paul Mattsson |
THE GOVERNMENT is currently scheduled to 'review' the cap on university fees, with the prospect of the maximum chargeable amount being lifted from £3,000 a year to £5,000 or maybe more. It is urgent that a campaign is built based around mass action, clearly against university fees and against charging students any more for their education.
Ben Robinson
John McDonnell, a Labour MP and socialist campaigner, has sent his wholehearted support to the Campaign to Defeat Fees (CDF) and asks to be listed as a public supporter of the campaign.
John McDonnell's support will help us build the campaign and give an extra boost to those involved in it and those who support it.
We want to mobilise all opposition to university fees and make it clear that fees and the two-tier education system they usher in are not acceptable.
In building the Campaign to Defeat Fees, Socialist Students have organised three days of action, with hundreds of students participating on university and college campuses throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The CDF has collected over 5,000 signatures during these and other activities.
Socialist Students and other supporters of the CDF currently plan to make fees a major campaigning issue in the autumn freshers fairs, and are calling another national day of action in mid-October.
Our support is growing and we intend to give Gordon Brown (or whoever is PM then...) another thing to keep him awake at night!
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
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In The Socialist 9 July 2008:
Campaign for a New Workers Party
The working class needs its own party
CNWP conference: Wanted - a new mass workers' party
Socialist Party news and analysis
UK economy sliding into recession
Rich get richer: Why should we pay the price!
MP backs student fees campaign
Bonuses for chiefs, pay restraint for civil service workers
Government lies on public-sector pay
G8 leaders' 'world hunger' banquet
On the other side of the financial divide...
Socialist Party NHS campaign
Property deals threaten private nursing homes
Marxist analysis: history
Terry Fields: A socialist voice that rocked Whitehall
Socialist Party LGBT
Marching against homophobia & racism
Socialist Party workplace news
Argos warehouse workers vote to strike
National Shop Stewards Network Conference: Organising migrant workers
A day in the life of a call centre worker
Call centre charter: A framework for workers' rights
RMT conference discusses crisis of political representation
Shop Workers' Union Usdaw
Socialist stands for Usdaw general secretary
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