As people in Gaza starve to death, and thousands are massacred just queuing for food, Donald Trump will be visiting the UK, invited by Keir Starmer, to feast on a luxury banquet with the King.
The day he lands for his official state visit – 17 September – Socialist Students is helping to organise walkouts at schools, colleges and universities.
We are sending a message to Trump and Starmer: We won’t stand for your capitalist system which awards privileges to the warmongers and profits to the super-rich while creating wars, climate catastrophe, racism and poverty for the rest of us.
Wednesday 17 September is our chance to fight back. Let’s get organised for a real future. For a socialist world free from war, poverty and oppression.
Organise to walk out!
There is loads that can be done between now and when Trump lands on 17 September to build the walkouts and protests
- Collect names
Who do you know who also wants to walk out and protest, make a list. Use a sign-up sheet to collect the names of classmates who want to take part. You could organise a meet-up beforehand to make plans - Get leafleting
Socialist Students has printed thousands of leaflets to help build for the day. Get in touch with an organiser in your area for leaflets, they can be overprinted with details of when and where to meet on the day - Plaster with posters
What can you do to make sure that no-one makes it to their lessons without knowing about the walkout? Inside, outside, around town, at bus stops… Get the word out! Get in touch with an organiser in your area for posters - Prepare to protest!
What slogans will you use? What chants will you shout? Is someone prepared to do a short speech to explain why you are there? Can you borrow or buy a megaphone? Why not arrange a meet up to discuss these things? It could be combined with a banner-making session
Click here to sign up and help organise a protest in your area
Youth walkout…
… against war
Lottie Young, Waltham Forest Socialist Party
While the genocide and famine in Gaza continues, Keir Starmer is rewarding Trump with the never-before-seen privilege of a second state visit. Trump acts in the interests of US capitalism, prioritising profit and power. By inviting Trump to Britain, Starmer shows us that he stands with Trump’s disgusting economic policies and stance on Gaza, and that he represents the interests of British bosses and the rotten capitalist system.
Trump has consistently backed the Israeli state’s genocidal onslaught on Gaza and Palestinians, which has killed at least 62,000 Palestinians since October 2023. Trump has raised turning Gaza into a ‘Riviera’ – a playground for the super-rich. Trump’s riviera plan, which would involve the forced displacement of Gaza’s entire population of two million people, is a horrific example of how far he, as a dangerous representative of capitalism, is willing to go to exploit working-class people and back violence in order to pander to the profits of the ruling class.
War and conflict are inherent to capitalism because it is a system based on exploitation, competition between capitalist states, and the constant need to expand and defend interests. Profit and power are placed above peace and welfare. War is also big business, with arms sales producing eye-watering profits, meaning the proliferation of war makes a section of the capitalist class very rich. In 2024, Lockheed Martin and RTX, two of the largest weapon manufacturers, made an annual gross profit of $6.93 billion and $15.41 billion respectively.
We are in solidarity with Palestinians fighting for liberation and call for the end of the siege of Gaza, ending the occupation of all the Palestinian territories, and the permanent withdrawal of the Israeli military from those areas. By walking out of school, college, and university, young people can show the ruling class of both Britain and the US that we are horrified by Trump’s disgusting support for the Israeli state and its plans for the intensification of violence in Palestine. And we are opposed to Starmer’s slavish embrace of it. We are prepared to fight for a world free from wars and destruction, and that means fighting for an end to the capitalist system and for a socialist alternative.
Oppose Palestine Action repression
Almost 900 peaceful protesters were arrested as ‘terrorists’ in Parliament Square at the most recent Gaza demo on 6 September, for expressing support for Palestine Action – a protest group proscribed as a ‘terrorist organisation’ by the government. It comes on top of around 523 arrested for the same reason a month before. But, Trump, one of the most powerful supporters of the state terror being inflicted on Palestinians, gets a slap-up meal!
Remember that when previous Tory Home Secretary Suella Braverman branded anti-war protesters “hate marchers” in October 2023, she was out of a job a few weeks later. Her comments spurred on the biggest of all the hundreds of thousands-strong Gaza protests in defiance.
Starmer’s government is cracking down on peaceful protesters because it fears the huge anger it faces, and the fact that increasing numbers are getting organised to fight back!
…against racist division
Mila, Coventry Socialist Party
Thousands of young people in Los Angeles and across the US have walked out of school and protested this summer, showing their anger at Trump’s racist attacks on migrants and the brutal raids carried out by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement department (ICE).
One of these brutal cases was a raid at a Georgia Hyundai car factory, where dozens of workers – many of them long-time employees – were rounded up and detained simply for being migrant workers. A union organiser was among those targeted by the raids, showing clearly how ICE is used to intimidate and weaken workers who dare to speak out.
Trump and the billionaires whose interests he represents hope that by blaming migrants for low wages, poverty, and failing schools, they can deflect anger away from the real culprits: the bosses and politicians who preside over a system of inequality.
These attacks are not accidents or ‘unfortunate mistakes’. They are part of a deliberate strategy to divide and weaken the working class by the bosses and the state.
But migrant workers are not the cause of decades of declining standards for the working class. It’s the billionaires who profit from our labour while leaving millions of young people facing an insecure future.
And not just in the US! Here, we see the same tactics of whipping up divisive anti-migrant rhetoric in the media. But we’ve also seen the other side with workers, young people, and trade unionists standing side by side against these ideas!
Young people here are angry about these attempts to divide us and we are fighting back. That is why we’re walking out against Trump. When school students leave their classrooms to protest against racism, oppression and exploitation they are taking a stand and fighting for a better society.
But walkouts are only the start of it. To really fight against this system, we need to link up the struggles of school students with workers and trade unionists. Imagine the power of a united movement of young people and workers, all fighting together against racist division and for decent jobs, decent homes and services for all.
That kind of unity could not only stop Trump and Starmer’s attacks, but also go further to challenge the entire system of capitalism which breeds racism, poverty, and division.
Capitalism has no future to offer young people. For our generation, the future promised by the billionaires is debt, low wages, climate catastrophe, and no end to wars. Vulnerable people in society are made scapegoats to distract us from that reality. But the real fight is not between workers born in different countries – it is between the working class and the ruling class.
That’s why our walkouts should be a step towards building a mass movement of working-class young people. We need to demand decent schools, jobs, homes, and healthcare for all. And we need to fight for a socialist alternative, where society is run democratically by working people, not for profit but for need.
…against sexism
Sofia, South London Socialist Students
The first six months of Trump’s second presidency has increased the threats to women’s rights and led to a rise in misogynistic ideas and gender-based discrimination, both in the US and across the world. Bodily autonomy has been endangered, abortion rights have been attacked and reproductive health services have been restricted.
As the economic crisis continues to rumble, worsened living standards for working-class people in the US have a particularly devastating impact on women. Similarly, the UK government does not prioritise the protection of women’s rights and lives. On average, a woman is killed by their partner in the UK every three days. Instead, Starmer’s Labour has relied on scapegoating tactics – blaming trans women for the dangers women face as a result of decades of cuts to services. The April Supreme Court ruling on the legal definition of a woman in the Equality Act has been used to amplify transphobia.
The US and the UK governments’ politics of hate and discrimination have had international consequences. This must be combated with an organised response to show that we do not stand with Trump or Starmer. By walking out during Trump’s state visit to the UK, young people can protest against these attacks on women and all other forms of oppression.
A walkout against Trump is also a walkout against the system of exploitation and inequality he presents. Under capitalism, women’s rights are not indispensable and we must fight for a future where women’s hard-won rights are not under threat of being removed. This can only happen through a system that does not prioritise profit at the expense of women, and working class people as a whole.
… for socialist change not climate change
“Drill baby, drill” is Trump’s message to oil bosses in the US. He might as well be saying “burn baby, burn!” With him at the helm of the world’s biggest economy, the world continues to heat up, accelerating towards climate catastrophe.
It’s our futures at stake, and capitalist leaders are concerned above all about the profits of big business. The global climate strikes in 2019 had an estimated 7 million people taking part, showing the huge urge to force change. Many were young people walking out of school and college to protest.
To solve climate change requires massive investment in developing clean energy and transforming production to make it more environmentally sustainable. There can be no trust put in profit-seeking bosses to do anything other than what they think is profitable. That’s why we fight for nationalisation under workers’ democratic control and management, so we can collectively decide how to invest the vast wealth that the super-rich bosses currently hoard.
Solving global climate change requires collaboration internationally. The opposite of what is on offer from competing capitalist nation states, not trying to make a safe environment for us to live in, but the most profitable economic climate for their own capitalist classes! We need socialist change worldwide. Join us in fighting for socialist change not climate change!
…to fight for a new party
Hannah, Liverpool Socialist Students
Over 800,000 people have now registered interest in Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s new party, with opinion polls even predicting a Corbyn-led party would win the most votes amongst young people!
All of this enthusiasm has arrived before the party has been officially launched or even has a name, showing how needed a workers’ alternative to the establishment parties which have failed to address working-class concerns is.
Many of the policies from Corbyn’s 2017 manifesto found massive popularity amongst young people. Policies such as scrapping tuition fees, an end to zero-hour contracts, and nationalisation of energy, rail and water brought hope to many people. This even resulted in up to one million people who had voted for UKIP in 2015 changing to vote for Corbyn’s Labour in 2017.
In this era of ever-growing resentment towards both the Conservatives and Starmer’s Labour, and the rise of Reform UK sowing division in communities across the country, the need for a workers’ alternative which unites people around a programme that takes on the bosses and improves the lives of us all is vital.
A new party, based on the working class and its organisations, such as the 6.5 million-strong trade union movement, would play a significant part in strengthening the battles that students and young people are involved in, such as the fight against rising tuition fees, our own cost-of-living crisis and the effects of Labour’s austerity on our education.
Walking out against Trump’s visit gives us an opportunity to organise and protest against the capitalist system which Donald Trump represents. These walkouts also serve as a way to concretely demonstrate that young people are capable of organising politically and that young people fighting back should be given a voice within a new party.
Socialist Students will be fighting for a socialist programme within the a new party, not just to patch up problems faced by young people under capitalism, but for it to fight for the socialist transformation of society. Democratic planning, with the corporations that currently dominate the economy placed into public ownership, could provide young people with a real future, free from poverty, climate destruction, war and oppression. A real socialist alternative could rally together the thousands of young people fed up with the capitalist system.
…for our education system
Usra, Waltham Forest Socialist Party
The prevailing myth that hard work guarantees success in education is a dangerous distortion. In truth, it is class, not effort, that ultimately determines opportunity for the privileged.
Private schools, exclusive networks, and well-funded universities provide a clear path to success. For the working class, state schools are overcrowded, under-resourced, and undervalued, leaving students to struggle without the support they need to thrive.
In the last year, the Labour Party has consistently failed to address these deep structural inequalities, despite being a party that, when founded over 100 years ago, was based on principles of social justice. The Labour government’s policies have increased the divide between the wealthy and the working class. The education system is increasingly market-driven, with private institutions receiving preferential treatment while state schools are left to collapse with less and less to deliver a decent education. Teachers are underpaid and overworked, and any small increases to their pay are expected to come from the already overstretched education budgets.
At the heart of the crisis is the escalating cost of higher education. University tuition fees leave students burdened with crippling debt, while extracurriculars, networking opportunities, and access to career advancement are reserved for those who can afford them. Even if you get the full maintenance loan, this is not enough to cover the basic costs of living – a roof over your head and enough food to eat – let alone to go out and live a normal life. Students are forced into working exploitative jobs instead of being able to focus on their studies
Education should not be commodified; it should be free for all. Yet, under the current system, only those with financial means have a real shot at success. This entrenched inequality is not accidental it is the result of a system that serve the interests of the rich while sidelining the needs of the majority.
The time for change is now. The Labour government must shift from supporting a system that entrenches class divisions to one that guarantees free, fully funded education for all from primary school through to university. As we plan to walk out against Trump and all the excesses of the capitalist system he represents, we also demand an education system that empowers every student, not just the privileged few.
Join the fight for socialist change
TJ Diniz Mota, Leeds Socialist Students
Donald Trump’s return to Britain is a reminder that the system works for one class – the billionaire bosses – for one purpose: profit.
Trump, as US president, is the face of global capitalism, a system that puts corporate interest before people. While he tours red carpets and eats dinner with the king, wages are driven down, racism and division are stirred up, and genocide continues. But Trump is only the loudest voice of a system that also dominates our lives here in Britain.
Keir Starmer’s Labour government has left working-class young people behind; sky-high rents, poverty wages, collapsing mental health services, and privatised education are an everyday reality. The launch of Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s new party has shown how many young people are hungry for change as nearly a million have signed up for more information. But history teaches us that unless a new party is rooted in fighting for socialism, with workers in the driving seat, it will be pulled back into the same old compromises with the bosses’ system that have failed before.
So, what do we mean by socialism? Today, a tiny rich elite own and control almost everything from the banks to companies and land. They decide how society runs, and their priority is always self-preservation. The capitalists produce what will make a profit for them, and politicians represent their interests. That’s why billions can be spent on endless wars and genocides while students can’t afford rent, and why fossil fuel giants rake in record profits while the planet burns. Socialism flips this on its head. With democratic public ownership of the economy, run by and for ordinary people, we could use society’s resources to meet human need. That means: good homes for all, fully funded education and healthcare, green jobs that protect the planet, and a future free from poverty and oppression.
But ideas alone don’t change the world. Organisation does. Young people have always been at the forefront of movements that shook society, from the fight against apartheid in South Africa, to walkouts against war and injustice.
That’s what Socialist Students and the Socialist Party fights for young people to get organised, to fight for a socialist programme and link up with workers in struggle. We organise in schools, colleges and universities to give young people a real voice and connect our struggles internationally. We fight for any improvements to the lives of workers and young people but don’t just settle for reforms. We fight for a world where we take control of our future. Joining us means joining thousands of young people and workers who know that change doesn’t come from the top, but from the masses when we stand together.
After Trump’s visit… Let’s get organised!
Students’ unions can give us a voice
A students’ union means young people coming together, sharing our ideas for how to fight back, and then all pulling together with a plan to win.
The first step is holding a meeting of everyone who is interested in campaigning in your school or college. You could start by inviting anyone who protested against Trump. But to get even more people involved, you could put up posters and give out leaflets to other students, advertising the date and time for your meeting.
In the meeting, everyone can have a chance to share their thoughts on what the main issues are facing students in your school/college, and what students should do about it. There might be anger at war, racism or the climate crisis. Or maybe students have had enough of high cafeteria prices, or the expensive cost of school trips. Students have the right to protest on all of this and more!
There are lots of ways to campaign on the issues students face. You could hold a protest at lunchtime. You could write a protest letter to your headteacher, explaining the issues you face and the changes you want to see, and get as many students as possible to sign it. You could all organise to attend an upcoming protest in your town or city, and make posters to bring with you.
The key thing is getting people to discuss and agree on an issue, make a plan to protest, and then do it – as a team! That’s the power of a students’ union.
Online meeting after the walkout: discuss the next steps
- Sunday 21 September 12pm
- Zoom meeting ID: 859 2586 9207
