The Socialist 23 January 2019

Corbyn: stand firm for a general election

Corbyn: stand firm for a general election

Nationalise big pharma: end this profit-driven NHS crisis

Duke's car crash: one law for them and another for us

Racist jobs discrimination same for 50 years - unions must fight for jobs for all

Wales is Europe's prisoner capital: capitalist cutters' crimes to blame

Them & Us

Cuban revolution at 60: defend the gains and fight for workers' democracy

Birmingham: hostile Labour council attacks striking workers

Mass strike wins historic step towards victory in Glasgow equal pay battle

John Lewis workers count the cost of the retail crisis

Unison union higher education conference: a missed opportunity to develop a fighting strategy

Bristol Deliveroo workers walk out

PCS union: re-elect Chris Baugh for assistant general secretary

Enfield North CLP backs no-cuts budget - now councillors must act

We need May Day greetings!

Leeds: don't let the far right divide us

Europe: school students strike against climate change

Poland: thousands mourn death of murdered mayor

International round-up

Theatre: Rouse, Ye Women to tell story of 1910 chainmakers' strike

Non-fiction: The Murder of Rosa Luxemburg "reveals the brutal lengths capitalists will go to protect their system"

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Them & Us

Them and us fishes, image Suzanne Beishon (Click to enlarge)

Davos special!

Yes, it's that time of year again! The annual World Economic Forum will see the planet's billionaire bosses and political lackeys gather to hobnob at the Swiss ski resort that sounds like a Doctor Who villain. So what's the state of play in 2019?

Them

The world's 26 richest billionaires own as much as the poorest half of humanity, says Oxfam. The earlier figure of eight billionaires was revised up last year, following new data from Credit Suisse. But the preposterous concentration of wealth is still ever greater - in 2017 it was 43 billionaires; in 2016, 61. And you could now fit them all in a stretch hummer
Wall Street has posted over $100 billion in profits for the first time. The US's six biggest banks netted $111 billion in 2018, says Bloomberg - even before reporting their fourth-quarter results
But the chief execs are worried! 30% expect slower economic growth this year, six times more than in 2018, says a PwC survey
And house prices in the wealthiest areas have fallen by up to 25% in the last 12 months, caused by (the working-class revolt which was) the Leave vote, says Your Move. It couldn't happen to nicer people

Take the wealth off the 1%, photo Paul Mattsson (Click to enlarge)

Us

Meanwhile, the planet's 3.8 billion poorest actually suffered an 11% wealth reduction last year - compared to the billionaires' 12% increase, or $2.5 billion a day, says Oxfam
175,000 retail workers in Britain could lose their jobs this year if unions don't combat the closure of 23,000 shops predicted by Altus Group
Surprise, surprise. Two-fifths of ex-council homes bought under Thatcher's flagship housing policy, 'right to buy', are no longer the dwellings of owner-occupiers. They are cash-cow rentals for private landlords, according to FoI data
The Spice Girls' gender justice t-shirts are produced in a Bangladesh factory where abused and harassed women workers earn just 35p an hour. Tory-turned-Blairite Ginger Spice has a net worth of $40 million, says Time. Union organising and socialist change, not super-rich celebs, are the path to women's liberation

In this issue

What we think

Corbyn: stand firm for a general election