Archive for September 2016

5 September 2016

Corbyn's Brexit opportunity

Socialism Today issue 201

The EU referendum Leave vote was a massive rejection of the capitalist establishment but not a vote for a governmental alternative. Now Jeremy Corbyn has the opportunity to use his re-election campaign to rally both Leave and Remain voters behind a programme for a socialist and internationalist break with the EU bosses' club

6 September 2016

John McDonnell pledges to help Butterfields tenants

Butterfields tenants joined a packed Momentum rally on Friday 3rd September at St Barnabas church in support of Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour leadership election

7 September 2016

#KeepCorbyn: build the movement against austerity

Only semi-behind the scenes the Blairites are scrambling around making contingency plans for if Corbyn wins - as they realise is increasingly likely.

7 September 2016

Women lose out in the workplace

Pregnant women and mums are "losing out" in the workplace, according to Citizens Advice. Working in the care sector, you might think women have it better. But further studies show women are still at a disadvantage in female-dominated workplaces.

7 September 2016

London bailiff use soars by half

Bailiffs collected council tax debts from 19,212 London homes in 2015-16. This is 51% up on the year before, according to the Child Poverty Action Group and Z2K charities.

7 September 2016

Letter: back the docs!

The BBC declared that public support for the junior doctors was 'crumbling' ahead of their now-suspended five-day strike. But at Salford Shopping Centre on 3 September, there was precisely no evidence of a decline in public support. Quite the reverse, in fact.

7 September 2016

What We Saw

The junior doctors received a steadfast defence on Sky News on 1 September from the Socialist Party's Rob Williams. And it seems you can vote for whoever you want in the Labour leadership election - as long as it's Owen Smith!

7 September 2016

Them & Us

It's one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us. Super-rich pensioners will soon be able to move into a retirement home with a tunnel direct to Harrods. Meanwhile, two fifths of care homes are substandard due to cuts.

7 September 2016

Huge turnout in support of Huddersfield NHS campaign

Over 7,000 people turned out for the 'Hands Off HRI' (Huddersfield Royal Infirmary) fun day and festival. It was impossible to take in the whole event as it took up the entire park.

7 September 2016

#KeepCorbyn: reports from the campaign

Reports from Stoke, east London, Ramsgate and Burston.

7 September 2016

London fighting fund BBQ success

For the second year running, London Socialist Party held a successful BBQ social raising over £150 for the fighting fund - partly through the 'Great Socialist Bake-off'. The South London Reds won the five-a-side tournament.

7 September 2016

Brazil: impeachment farce only serves big business

Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff was removed from office on 31 August, having been found guilty of manipulating government accounts. The impeachment amounts to a constitutional coup by the capitalist class gathered around Michel Temer - whose party PMDB, like Rousseff's PT, is also mired in corruption.

7 September 2016

International news in brief

Short stories from other sections and co-thinkers of the Committee for a Workers' International, the global socialist organisation which the Socialist Party is affiliated to. General strike in India, teachers' action in Pakistan, housing protest in Sweden.

7 September 2016

The Socialist inbox

Letters to the Socialist's editors. Long waits and service cuts at merged GP surgeries

7 September 2016

Socialism, black liberation and cricket - the life of CLR James

Film review - Every Cook Can Govern: This new documentary takes us on the journey of a fighter who became a black liberation icon. But ultimately it is an incomplete look at the life and impact of socialist revolutionary CLR James.

7 September 2016

Junior doctors plan to continue contract struggle

In another historic move, junior doctors have announced a new rolling programme of industrial action in their struggle against a dangerous new contract. Though an initial five-day strike has been called off, further five-day strikes in October, November and December are still set to take place.

7 September 2016

Premium pay cuts are not just any cuts, they are M&S cuts

Marks & Spencer likes to claim that it's 'Your M&S' but since it only made a paltry £660 million profit in 2015, the company doesn't seem to have enough money to pay its staff a living wage.

7 September 2016

Royal Mail wildcat strike against bullying bosses

The burden of creating profits to pay faceless shareholders of a privatised Royal Mail continues to be laid at the feet of the workers. Under pressure managers regularly resort to bullying and harassment in order to achieve the savings.

7 September 2016

Workplace news in brief

Short reports on some of the latest trade union struggles. London bus stoppage, Scotland FE strike.

7 September 2016

Should socialists give electoral support to Labour right?

Is backing Blairites at elections necessary to defeat the right's lie that Corbyn's Labour is 'unelectable'? A reader wrote a letter to the Socialist's editors raising this important question. The editors respond.

7 September 2016

Apple told to pay £11bn: nationalise all the tax dodgers!

Tech giant Apple will have to pay back £11 billion it avoided in tax. The Irish government had made a 'sweetheart deal' which the EU has now instructed it to overturn.

7 September 2016

Refugee crisis: for homes, jobs and services for all

The plight of refugees trying to enter Europe is still a humanitarian disaster. Around 3,000 have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. The Italian coastguard rescued over 1,000 people from the sea in just a single day last month.

7 September 2016

On the march against 'life and death' NHS cuts

The sudden closure of Grantham Hospital's night time A&E service has sparked a wave of anger and rebellion

7 September 2016

Break with Blairites essential to defeat split Tories

The outcome of the civil war over the future of the Labour Party is a major factor in determining the Tories' fortunes. A victory for Owen Smith would represent the re-taking of Labour by capitalism as its 'second eleven'. But this is not the most likely outcome.

7 September 2016

Organise mass working class resistance to austerity

TUC congress 2016 is taking place at the end of what has seemed like a hot summer, industrially at least. The potential exists to bring all the struggles together.

7 September 2016

Montreal port struggle for a $15 minimum

280 workers at the Old Port of Montréal have been on strike since 27th May. Their main demand is a $15 minimum wage for all Old Port workers

7 September 2016

Rail workers fighting back!

The disputes the RMT has been involved in this summer are all tied to the bosses' drive to implement cutbacks

8 September 2016

Cheering from thousands at open air Corbyn rally

Jeremy Corbyn received a fantastic reception from 2,500 people at an open air rally in Nottingham.

13 September 2016

Butterfields financial appeal

Butterfields tenants have been fighting eviction since January 2016. They have put up spirited resistance. But now the new landlords are bringing possession summonses. The courts are stacked against tenants

13 September 2016

Protest against closure of vital heart unit

Over 100 people marched in Leicester to keep our city’s heart unit at Glenfield hospital open

13 September 2016

Labour loses byelection but Corbyn isn't the problem

Labour suffered a shock council byelection defeat that was seized upon by Labour's right to say Jeremy Corbyn is unelectable.

14 September 2016

Labour party needs democratic structures and socialist policies

Jeremy Corbyn has regularly said that he wants to see democratisation of Labour's policy-making process. For the right wing it's another story

14 September 2016

#KeepCorbyn: Fight workhouse conditions

"We have record employment, but also record levels of poverty among those in work... We have to change that" said Jeremy Corbyn

14 September 2016

#KeepCorbyn

Thousands of people have attended rallies and meetings in support of Jeremy.

14 September 2016

Thousands of Post Office workers to strike against job losses

Thousands of Communication Workers Union members working in the Post Office strike on 15 September

14 September 2016

NSSN lobby of the TUC: an urgent time for our movement

"As a junior doctor, I am asking the TUC to call a day of action to support us" said a doctor in summing up a major theme of the NSSN rally

14 September 2016

Southern Rail dispute update

The dispute on Southern Rail continued with a 48-hour strike on 7-8 September. The action by Southern RMT guards was solid and determined once again.

14 September 2016

The Socialist inbox

Letters to the Socialist's editors. Marathon for the fighting fund; Sarah Picton obituary.

14 September 2016

NHS chiefs warn cuts mean rationing or charges

NHS bosses have said that the Tory government's 'seven-day NHS' plan is "impossible" under current funding and staffing levels. Cuts, charges or "draconian rationing" are the only possible outcomes.

14 September 2016

Fund smaller classes - not new grammars

Theresa May's vow to foster 'social mobility' through the creation of new grammar schools will have made the heads of teachers up and down the country spin. If you want to improve children's life chances, it's simple. Fund reduction in class sizes, and create an exciting and varied educational environment.

14 September 2016

Benefit cap could shut 67% of women's refuges

The new Tory benefit cap could force two thirds of refuges to close, leaving women fleeing violence with nowhere to go.

14 September 2016

Library workers defeat Tory cuts

Library workers in Bromley, south London, have defeated their Tory council's plans to turn eight libraries into volunteer services.

14 September 2016

What We Saw

The Fabian Society is an antiquated think-tank whose founding purpose was to achieve socialism by, er, slowing down class struggle. So perhaps it's no surprise their Labour conference fringe meeting 'For the Many' is 'invitation only'.

14 September 2016

Them & Us

It's one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us. The richest 1% in the UK own over 28 times as much as the poorest 20%. And official numbers on zero-hour contracts have risen 20% in a year.

14 September 2016

New 'strongman' president threatens martial law - while leaning on left parties for support

The coming to power of populist president Rodrigo Duterte on 9 May marked a sharp turn in Philippines politics. He has a reputation as a 'strongman' who as Mayor of Davao city ruled with an iron fist.

14 September 2016

Westbourne Park bus dispute continues

Tower Transit bus workers took further strike action on 12 September over the imposition of new rotas that will see them lose all their previous pay rise.

14 September 2016

International news in brief

Short stories from other sections and co-thinkers of the Committee for a Workers' International, the global socialist organisation which the Socialist Party is affiliated to. Jobstown protesters in Ireland, port strikers in Quebec, and a Hong Kong socialist's role in hiding in Edward Snowden.

14 September 2016

Workplace news in brief

Short reports on some of the latest trade union struggles. TUC Congress has unanimously passed a motion calling for an emergency conference to discuss resistance to the government's Trade Union Act. Met Police security guards strike.

14 September 2016

Fighting fascism with motorbike stunts

Theatre - 'Dare Devil Rides to Jarama': The 1930s was a decade sharply divided between left and right. It was also a time when intrepid motorcycle racers stunned spectators with 'speedway' stunts. Socialist theatre company Townsend Productions combines the two in its upcoming show.

14 September 2016

Students and workers unite to cut rents

Student housing crisis: It's no secret that house prices and living costs are unaffordable for most working class people. It's also no secret that students have been hammered by successive governments, which have increased tuition fees and axed maintenance grants.

14 September 2016

Why I joined the Socialist Party

Ending inequality - bringing about lasting change: My mum is an NHS nurse and she would tell me about how understaffed they were and how private companies were buying it, not to help people but to make money.

14 September 2016

Join the Socialist Party - join the fightback

Growing up in Coventry I'd often see the Socialist Party campaigning in the town centre. No other group is so dedicated to fighting back and demanding better for people.

14 September 2016

Socialist Party members join disability rights week of action

Disabled People Against the Cuts (DPAC) called a week of action, 4-10 of September to coincide with the beginning of the Paralympic Games.

14 September 2016

Obesity crisis: government strategy offers no solution

The scale of the obesity crisis in the UK is vast. The 2014 official Health Survey for England showed that 61.7% of adults were overweight or obese. 31.2% of children aged two to 15 were also either overweight or obese.

16 September 2016

Liverpool: Democratic accountability a crime?

A 'dossier' has been submitted to the media by a right-wing clique which claims, in the words of Ms Ellman [MP for Liverpool Riverside], that "the Momentum group have been working to subvert not only the local Labour Party but also to undermine the admirable work of Labour-led Liverpool City Council, who have been doing an outstanding job in the face of savage Tory cuts."

19 September 2016

After TUC congress 2016: Mobilise the anger!

This year's TUC Congress came only months after the forced resignation of Cameron after the Brexit vote, the introduction of new oppressive anti-trade union laws and the continuation of austerity.

21 September 2016

Zero-hour zealots: Guardian and Center Parcs

The Guardian, which has led mainstream media campaigning against zero-hour contracts, employs over 100 journalists on zero-hour contracts

21 September 2016

Tube strike over management bullying

Strike action on Hammersmith & City and Circle tube lines over heavy handed and aggressive management - including putting staff toilet breaks on a stop watch, and a disregard for agreed terms and conditions - was rock solid on 16 September

21 September 2016

Tamil Solidarity demands refugee rights

Refugee rights campaigners took part in a 'Refugees Welcome' demonstration on 17 September which demanded many democratic rights for refugees

21 September 2016

#KeepCorbyn campaign reports

Some of the mass rallies and meetings backing Jeremy Corbyn for Labour leader.

21 September 2016

Provocateur accusation against Met police spy

New allegations claim an undercover cop who infiltrated the Socialist Party may have tried to provoke a dangerous criminal act.

21 September 2016

NHS care rationing already rife

Rationing in the NHS is already widespread and dangerous. A recent Guardian survey found three in four doctors said they had seen care rationed.

21 September 2016

Bosses' bonus billions bonanza

Between April 2015 and March 2016, bonuses in the UK climbed 4.4% to £44.3 billion. This enormous wealth was enjoyed almost solely by financial sector bosses - the very same group that triggered the disastrous economic crash in 2008.

21 September 2016

School sexism

Three in five young women aged 13 to 21 have faced some kind of sexual harassment at school or college in the last year. Tokenism at the top has gone together with retaining practices like sexist school and workplace dress codes.

21 September 2016

Uncovering the class struggle behind the Rebecca Riots

Non-fiction - 'Petticoat Heroes': This is not only a modern, class analysis of the 19th century 'Rebecca riots' - but also looks at the subjects of gender and culture in relation to the riots for the first time, providing fascinating interpretations alongside meticulous research.

21 September 2016

The Socialist inbox

Letters to the Socialist's editors. Refugee rescue, Meadow Well riots, voter preventer, boot out Blairites, greedy grammars, Usdaw Activist.

21 September 2016

Iconic nightclub Fabric closes doors - another victim of austerity?

Comment - nightlife: London's most iconic night club, Fabric, has had its licence revoked. The council claims to be taking the decision with the safety of clubbers in mind. However, just eight months ago, a judge called Fabric a "beacon of best practice".

21 September 2016

Thousands of Post Office workers strike

Thousands of Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Unite members working in the Post Office took strike action on 15 September against attacks on their job security and pensions.

21 September 2016

Film review - 'Blacklisted'

"No justice! No Peace!" rings out from a megaphone. New documentary 'Blacklisted' is a film about power, the organisations that wield it and the people who fought back.

21 September 2016

Workplace news in brief

Short reports on some of the latest trade union struggles. Junior doctors go to court, Ritzy Picturehouse strike announced.

21 September 2016

Fightback is on to save NHS heart services

Children's heart surgery is to end at three hospitals around the country if NHS England gets its way.

21 September 2016

"I've had enough - it's time to fight back"

Why I joined the Socialist Party: As a public sector worker, a social housing tenant and someone looking towards the last ten years of their working life, I fear this Tory government and what plans they have. It's time to fight back.

21 September 2016

Sheffield mental health services to lose council funding

Mental Health Action Group Sheffield faces its £10,500 a year funding from the Labour council ending in 2017. The day centre is used by 20 to 30 people every weekday, providing meals, activities and trips.

21 September 2016

Disgraceful decision to close vital Bradford day centre

Edmund Street day centre in Bradford is due to close. This is a disgraceful situation. The probation service, social services and the NHS have often made referrals there - it is literally keeping people alive at times.

21 September 2016

Libya: imperialist intervention helped wreck country and revolution

There was nothing for the Libyan people to celebrate in the damning report by a Commons parliamentary committee into the British government's role in the West's contribution to overthrowing the brutal Gaddafi regime in 2011. This was an intervention which helped lead to the almost complete collapse of the country.

21 September 2016

#JobstownNotGuilty trials begin

Irish state criminalises right to protest: Anti-water charges demonstrators were arrested following a peaceful sit-down protest against water charges against Irish Labour deputy premier Joan Burton. They are now facing ludicrous charges of "false imprisonment".

21 September 2016

Socialist Students: setting out our stall...

Reports from Socialist Students activities as schools and colleges go back.

21 September 2016

Battle lines drawn: build a real mass party of the 99%

Polls are closing in the Labour leadership election. It is no exaggeration to say that this is a pivotal moment for the Labour, trade union and anti-austerity movements.

21 September 2016

New Tory attacks on Higher Education - a programme to fight back

Raising tuition fees, creation of for-profit universities, as well as the widely criticised teaching excellence framework, are all part of making higher education part of the marketplace.

21 September 2016

All Greater Manchester firefighters face sack

The employment practises of Mike Ashley's Sports Direct are being brought to Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.

22 September 2016

Why you should become a socialist student!

After years of crippling Tory austerity, students face being worse off than previous generations

22 September 2016

Hinkley Point C: wasteful, dangerous and polluting

Theresa May has given the go-ahead to the £18 billion 'Hinkley Point C' in Somerset

24 September 2016

The Corbynomics challenge

The IMF now calls for state intervention to stimulate the ailing global economy. And many on the left also propose Keynesian-style policies. So, would the IMF welcome a Corbyn-led government in Britain?

24 September 2016

Corbyn victory another step to transforming Labour

Jeremy has been re-elected by a huge margin, 61.8% of the vote, even wider than in his initial victory. Turnout was high - more than half a million people voted, and Jeremy won clear majorities in every category

26 September 2016

Dave Nellist welcomes Corbyn's re-election

"It's an excellent result. Jeremy's decisive victory over a concerted effort to take Labour back to the Blair days will give heart to socialists outside the Labour Party, too"

27 September 2016

Leon Trotsky's living legacy

Review by Socialist Party general secretary Peter Taaffe of "The Life and Death of Leon Trotsky", published in the latest issue of Socialism Today.

28 September 2016

Socialist speaks at UN

A member of the Socialist Party's sister party in Sweden spoke at the United Nations about the Pakistani regime's brutal repression of Balochistan

28 September 2016

Pedal power pounds

A sponsored bike ride from London to Cambridge by Chris Newby and Naomi Byron has raised well over £340 so far, with more donations expected

28 September 2016

Them & Us

It's one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us including pension plunderers and coaster crimes.

28 September 2016

What We Saw

Socialist Liverpool FC supporters' group Spirit of Shankly recently unveiled its new banner. As well as combining Liverpool and Everton colours, the banner prominently features Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell. It also backs foodbanks and carries union endorsements.

28 September 2016

Socialism 2016: Get face to face with the socialists!

A weekend of discussion and debate 12 & 13 November - Central London: You should come to Socialism 2016 because it will be an event crammed with discussion and debate on all this and on the most important question in the world - how we can change it.

28 September 2016

Washdyke v Shoreline: the housing battle in Immingham

More than 60 residents from the Washdyke flats estate made the short journey to the Immingham resource centre to voice their objection to the demolition of their homes by Shoreline, the housing association that North-East Lincolnshire Labour council has outsourced social housing to.

28 September 2016

Knowsley: No A-level education on offer

In an area with such poverty and neglect as Knowsley, Merseyside, its shocking that no A-levels course will be on offer anymore.

28 September 2016

Setting out our stall... reports of campus campaigning

Reports from Socialist Students activities at freshers fairs as universities go back.

28 September 2016

Victory for firefighters facing dismissal in Manchester

Over 50 Fire Brigades Union (FBU) reps from around Greater Manchester met, along with FBU General Secretary Matt Wrack and President Alan McLean, to discuss their response to the outrageous move by Greater Manchester Fire Authority to sack its entire workforce. Now the fire authority has backed down and withdrawn the threat of mass dismissal and agreed to re-enter negotiations.

28 September 2016

The Ritzy strikes back

Buoyed by Jeremy Corbyn's crushing victory over the Blairites, striking Ritzy cinema workers walked out and created a loud, bustling picket lines that shut down the Brixton cinema at midday on 24 September mirroring their previous strike two years ago.

28 September 2016

Junior doctors' strikes off - coordinated action needed

Left isolated by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) after almost a year of struggle, battered by a wave of vicious media bile, added to by threats from the General Medical Council and sections of the medical establishment, the BMA Junior Doctors Committee has called off the proposed five-day strikes by junior doctors set for October, November and December.

28 September 2016

Napo conference 2016: Bloodied but unbowed!

It is two years since Chris Grayling smashed up and sold off over half the probation service. While this act of vandalism has left many feeling bloodied we remain unbowed.

28 September 2016

Unison Broad Left meeting

On 23 and 24 September Unison's South East region held their 'strategy weekend' for 2016 in Woking, Surrey, involving around 70 activists.

28 September 2016

NHS heart centre campaign intensifies

The fight to stop the closure of the East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, stepped up a gear following a hugely successful public meeting on 24 September.

28 September 2016

Newcastle: Socialist Party defies ban to counter the far-right

Socialist Party members from Tyneside defied an outrageous ban imposed by Newcastle Unites (NU) to join a counter-demo against the far-right English Defence league on 24 September. With our Socialist Party banner and placards held high we were the most distinct group on the march.

28 September 2016

Labour Party conference: campaigning to reinstate socialist ideas

#CorbynWins: When Jeremy Corbyn's Labour leadership re-election victory was announced, members of the Socialist Party were on the streets of Liverpool engaging with Labour Party conference delegates, visitors and the public.

28 September 2016

Socialist Students launched in USA

Student members of Socialist Alternative, the Socialist Party's co-thinkers in the United States, have officially launched Socialist Students, a nationwide initiative to help build a socialist movement in schools and on campuses across the country. Elan Axelbank, a student in New Jersey and member of Socialist Alternative, explains why.

28 September 2016

Theresa May attacks migrants and refugees

Theresa May's speech at the United Nations, trying to blame destitute migrants for eroding support for refugees, is part of a cynical attack on the right to asylum.

28 September 2016

One million victims of 'rogue' landlords

A million renters are suffering at the hands of 'rogue landlords', finds a report for housing charity Shelter.

28 September 2016

Butterfields campaign: 'We're not for sale'!

ITV London announced that estate agents are turning down business! - The result of pressure from tenants campaigning against eviction

28 September 2016

Cable Street: When workers united and fought the fascist threat at Cable Street

This month marks the 80th anniversary of what has gone down in history as the Battle of Cable Street. On 4 October 1936 thousands of workers across the East End of London rose up to prevent a march through their areas by the uniformed thugs of Oswald Mosley's fascists.

28 September 2016

#CorbynWins: New tasks for TUSC

With Jeremy Corbyn re-elected as Labour leader, what role should the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition play in the next period?

28 September 2016

Black history month and its relevance today

While the media hails the 'successes' of black politicians and celebrities, the reality facing the majority of black people is very different.

28 September 2016

RMT defeats ScotRail bosses: The guard stays on the train

ScotRail guards have won a big victory, proving that determined strike action works.

28 September 2016

Consolidate the Corbyn victory

Many Corbyn supporters hope Labour can unify around an anti-austerity programme to defeat the Tories. It was soon clear, however, that the right won't accept the democratic will of Labour Party members.

28 September 2016

"Suspended adulthood" the norm for young people

A damning study by the Young Women's Trust has found that 18 to 30 year olds are living in a "suspended adulthood" due to a combination of lack of work and low pay.

28 September 2016

Students late and hungry due to privatised trains

Just weeks after Jeremy Corbyn was taken to task by the media for highlighting overcrowding on trains under privatisation, more evidence has emerged of its effects.

28 September 2016

£46m spent on suspending public sector workers

Bosses in the public sector have spent £46 million suspending workers over the past three years.