Archive for December 2017

5 December 2017

Glenfield victory shows people power can save our NHS

Celebrations were taking place in Leicester city centre following an outstanding victory for the campaign to save congenital heart surgery at Glenfield Hospital

5 December 2017

Labour council Blairites deselected

Representatives of Labour's right wing have been fulminating about Haringey deselections

6 December 2017

Teachers strike in Sheffield

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) went on strike today (6.12.17) at Westways primary school in Sheffield

6 December 2017

Nationalise rail now

East Coast line rescued from private failure AGAIN - biggest hike in fares for five years- transport workers under attack

6 December 2017

End Tory war on poor

14 million people in the UK - over 20% of the population - are living below the poverty line

6 December 2017

Tyneside walk-in closures postponed after rally

Following the protest a clinical commissioning group meeting postponed the closure of the walk-in centres

6 December 2017

Rough sleeping crisis: make homes, not arrests

The shocking death of a 32-year-old rough sleeper in Cardiff should have spurred emergency housing action - instead authorities are cracking down on homeless people themselves

6 December 2017

RBS to sack 1,000: nationalise the banks

The Royal Bank of Scotland wants to cut 259 branches and 1,000 jobs - while the Tories plan to sell it at a £26 billion loss

6 December 2017

Royal wedding exposes them-and-us visa system

If you're very wealthy you can buy your way in - but for ordinary people, visa applications don't have many fairy-tale endings

6 December 2017

Branson sues NHS: kick out the profiteers

The NHS has paid an unknown amount to Virgin after Richard Branson lost a bid to outsource Surrey health services

6 December 2017

Fighting sexism, violence and capitalism - an international struggle

Interviews with socialist women from Mexico, Belgium, Ireland and Brazil

6 December 2017

Demonstrations by uni students and staff greet Bath vice-chancellor resignation

Glynis Breakwell had also claimed £20,000 in expenses, including £2 for a packet of biscuits, leading to chants of "books not biscuits"

6 December 2017

Strikers rally in Liverpool

Workers on strike in three separate disputes held a joint rally in Liverpool city centre on Monday

6 December 2017

Plans to launch no-cuts campaign at Kirklees College

A 'financial notice to improve' was issued to the college for "inadequate financial health"

6 December 2017

Liverpool John Moores Uni landslide for Socialist Students

Liverpool John Moores University Socialist Students member David Hitchmough topped the poll for National Union of Students conference delegates

6 December 2017

TUSC conference to debate 2018 elections

TUSC has been prepared to contest local elections against right-wing Labour councillors carrying out Tory cuts - but should that be reviewed for next year's poll?

6 December 2017

Coventry Socialist sales hit 1,000

On 1 December our weekly Socialist paper sale in Coventry managed to pass 1,000 sales since we started in May 2016

6 December 2017

Waltham Forest Universal Credit protest

Local MP Iain Duncan Smith devised the spiteful system, which has already left families in rent arrears and without benefits at Christmas time

6 December 2017

Court maintains injunction against fracking protesters

Anti-fracking protesters received a blow recently when Mr Justice Morgan ruled that an injunction obtained against protesters by Ineos Shale should continue

6 December 2017

Blairite horror and Labour's divisions graphically exposed

Documentary: Labour - the Summer that Changed Everything: Blairite Stephen Kinnock's eyes are frozen in horror and amazement as the implications of the huge moral victory for Corbyn sink in

6 December 2017

Comment: Socialism and truth about Zane

"We have endured the most astounding catalogue of abuse from authorities, but still we fight for justice"

6 December 2017

The Socialist Inbox

Do you have something to say? Letters to the Socialist editors - tower fire shows need for sprinklers; GPs devastated by cuts; tax dodgers

6 December 2017

PCS Left Unity celebrates 40th anniversary at annual conference

Socialist Party members continue to play a key role: The conference agreed the need to apply pressure on other unions to meet with each other to coordinate campaigns and action

6 December 2017

Brutal rail privateer Abellio takes over Midlands rail services

Abellio has gained a brutal reputation from its stewardship of Scotrail, Merseyrail and Greater Anglia

6 December 2017

School staff strike against privatisation

Outside Avenue Primary School parents and the community stood with school staff striking against becoming an academy on 29 November

6 December 2017

Driving examiners walkout hits first day of new test

PCS members at Wakefield Driving Test Centre began two days of strike action on 4 December against attacks on their terms and conditions of work as part of a national dispute

6 December 2017

BT pensions review - oppose the attacks on the pension schemes

A 60-day consultation is taking place to make changes to several BT pension schemes

6 December 2017

Arriva bus strikers stand firm

Drivers and engineers in Rucorn continue to stand firmly together in support of their claim for a fair pay deal from employer Arriva

6 December 2017

Irish capitalist state: rotten to the core

Build a powerful socialist challenge: Irish deputy prime minister Frances Fitzgerald has resigned over her role in the police whistleblower scandal, thereby preventing the collapse of the Fine Gael minority government

6 December 2017

Mobilise to stop bigoted billionaire Donald Trump's state visit to Britain

US president Donald Trump shared three tweets posted by far-right racist group Britain First

6 December 2017

Trump's tax plan: Robin Hood in reverse

Donald Trump's tax plans mean he's doing what he does best - making a stack of cash for himself

6 December 2017

Corbyn's Labour can defeat Tories with socialist programme

Editorial of the Socialist: Labour's poll lead is narrow as Corbyn attacks the banks and a national demo is called for May - what now?

7 December 2017

Anti-DOO lobby of Liverpool's transport committee

A lobby gathered at the Cunard Buildings, Mann Island, ahead of a meeting of Liverpool's Transport Committee

7 December 2017

Unite protest against blacklisting

Unite the Union held protests across the country on Wednesday against the "sinister practice" of blacklisting workers

8 December 2017

Local government pay: fight for the 5% claim, fully funded

Over a million council and school workers have been waiting to see if there would be any relief from their constant falling living standards as they have watched their pay fall by 21% in real terms since 2010.

12 December 2017

Support the Crossrail Woolwich walkout

54 electricians were locked out by Balfour Beatty

13 December 2017

Brighton victory

Academic staff at the University of Brighton who walked out to defend two members of staff threatened with redundancy on 23 and 24 November have won

13 December 2017

Newham anti-academies strikes

Strike action at Outside Avenue primary school in Newham, east London, against turning the school into an academy continues on 14 December following a mass picket of 80 teachers, parents and children during the previous strike on 29 November

13 December 2017

Tamil Solidarity and Refugee Rights activists meeting

Tamil Solidarity's annual general meeting took place in London on 9 December followed by a public meeting titled 'South Asia and Britain - lessons to learn from struggles'

13 December 2017

Retail sector crunch: nationalise to save jobs

Toys R Us plans to close a third of its stores. Asda wants to downgrade hundreds of shopfloor supervisors. Britain's largest tobacco distributor Palmer & Harvey has gone into administration.

13 December 2017

Uni market 'failure', two-year degrees - end cuts, scrap fees!

Less than a third of higher education students think their course offers value for money according to the National Audit Office. Its chief says universities would be accused of "mis-selling" if they were banks. This comes as no surprise!

13 December 2017

Them & Us

It's one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us including live reindeer and lumps of coal.

13 December 2017

110 years ago: massacre at Santa Maria school in Chile - commemorate 21 December 1907

This year marks the centenary of the Russian revolution when the working class took power in October. It is also the 110-year anniversary of a historical and bloody struggle of workers that is less well-known.

13 December 2017

Unite day of action against blacklisting

Hundreds of construction workers took part in the national day of action against blacklisting on 6 December called by Unite the Union

13 December 2017

South London health bosses' cover-up

The six south west London CCGs - statutory NHS bodies responsible for the planning and paying for healthcare services for their local area - recently held a joint meeting.

13 December 2017

Bradford campaign to save children's services launched

A good start was made to the campaign to save council-run children's services in Bradford at a public meeting on 5 December, with representation from service users, trade unionists and community campaigners

13 December 2017

Two in five 'right to buy' homes now for let

Scrap Thatcher's right to buy: Over 40% of ex-council houses sold under Thatcher's 'right to buy' scheme are now part of the private rental sector, according to Inside Housing.

13 December 2017

A world in crisis, ripe for revolution

Committee for a Workers' International document: The world crisis of capitalism - despite the surface impression of 'recovery' - has only got worse since the meeting of last year's IEC.

13 December 2017

Tory plan to hold dinner at coal mining museum defeated

Local residents and ex-mining families were outraged when news came through that Dewsbury Conservative Association was intending to have their annual dinner at the National Coal Mining Museum at the former Caphouse colliery in Overton near Wakefield.

13 December 2017

The Socialist's 2017 quiz

How attentive to the news have readers of the Socialist been in 2017? Here's the test as drawn up by the paper's editors in this year's quiz

13 December 2017

Brexit deal no solution to Tory rifts

For a while Theresa May's divided government seemed unable even to obtain a deal on the 'first stage' of Brexit negotiations

13 December 2017

Labour 'purge' furore really just democracy

Labour's "moderates" are being forced out. "An atmosphere of intimidation" has been created. "Bullying campaigns" are being organised. These are just a few examples of the capitalist media's recent 'reporting'

13 December 2017

Trump's incendiary Jerusalem statement reignites Israeli-Palestinian conflict

There was a wave of protest around the world following Trump's declaration of recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital

13 December 2017

Totnes MP uses coffin controversy to distract from brutal NHS cuts

A march took place against cuts and privatisation

13 December 2017

Movement growing against fracking giant Ineos

Ineos has been allowed to bypass planning procedures with elected councillors

13 December 2017

Six months on - still no justice for Grenfell

Dozens of families that survived the fire at Grenfell Tower face Christmas in hotels

13 December 2017

Save our NHS

Underfunded, understaffed, under attack:
It's the NHS workers and patients who bear the brunt of the inevitable winter pressures - combined with underfunding, understaffing, low pay and low morale.

14 December 2017

Stop the rotten redevelopment plan, demand residents

What was the point? That's what the hundreds who attended the council's planning committee will have been thinking

16 December 2017

Blairite council 'all ears' to rich property developers

Haringey council wants to turn a historic town hall into mainly 'luxury' flats.

16 December 2017

Arriva bus drivers' action wins pay rise

Arriva backed down and offered a two-year deal, accepted by Unite members this week

21 December 2017

Newham: school strike solid against academy

Avenue School was in near-total shutdown on 14 December, its second strike day in opposition to becoming a quasi-privatised 'academy'

21 December 2017

Housing victory for Sussex students

Success has been achieved with regard to the Sussex university student accommodation dispute at high rent Kings Road Hall near Brighton seafront

21 December 2017

Leeds: temporary reprieve for playing fields

Community opposition, mobilised through the Save Fearnville Fields campaign, has forced a reprieve. The council has suspended until the New Year the seeking of permission to build a new 'free school' academy on the King George V playing fields.