Join us today!
Printable version
Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/910/23220
From The Socialist newspaper, 13 July 2016
Them & Us
Them and us fishes, photo Suzanne Beishon (Click to enlarge)
Theresa May
War in Iraq
- Voted for
- 1,033,000 - Estimated casualties between 2003 and 2007 as a result of the conflict (ORB, 2007)
Benefit cap
- Voted for
- 64% - Of people affected by the benefit cap are single parents (Mirror, 2015). This autumn it will lower even further, while the cost of living continues to rise
Income
- Theresa May: £117,350 (declared taxable pay, 2014-15) plus MP's expenses
- UK median disposable income: £25,600 (ONS estimate, October 2015)
Bedroom tax
- Voted for
- Three in four benefit claimants hit by the bedroom tax had to cut back on food to pay it; 46% had to cut back on heating (CCHPR/Ipsos Mori, 2015)
Tax dodging
- Voted against measures to reduce it
- £122 billion a year - Estimated combined cost of illegal tax evasion - £85 billion, legal avoidance - £19 billion, and non-payment - £18 billion (PCS, 2014)
Net worth
- Theresa May: £1.6 million (estimated value of property portfolio, 2010) - over ten times the national average
- UK average: £147,134 (Irwin Mitchell solicitors, 2014)
This isn't just any pay cut...
This is an M&S pay cut. The retailer has announced plans to slash premiums for Sundays, bank holidays and unsocial hours, affecting 7,000 workers. It will also cut pensions contributions for 11,000.
This is an attempt to pass a dip in sales profits onto hard-pressed staff.
Management is trying to hide the cut by also introducing a basic rate increase of 15%.
The Socialist says: make the bosses pay! Take the loss from their profits, not our wages.
Donate to the Socialist Party
Finance appeal
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.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
In The Socialist 13 July 2016:
Socialist Party news and analysis
Child poverty rises by 200,000 in a year
Welsh Assembly to scrap 'right to buy'
Nine-month prison sentence for fleeing ethnic cleansing
What we saw: Angela Eagle Facebook meme
Fighting racism
Fight racism: for jobs, homes and services for all
Police racism still lethal in Britain
Majority support migrants staying - fight hate crime
What we think
Step up the campaign to back Corbyn's fight
Tory coronation is attempt at stability that can't work
Chilcot report
Chilcot Iraq report: More piles of evidence against the blood-soaked war for oil
Socialist Party workplace news
Angry prison officers walk out over reforms
New threat to impose junior doctors contract must be met with strike action
Vote Chas Berry for Napo national chair
Unite policy conference 2016: Blairite coup, Trident and cuts dominate opening days
International socialist news and analysis
Spain: Disappointment for left in re-run general election
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Thousands mobilising to #KeepCorbyn
Why I joined: "I no longer felt isolated from politics"
Fight back is on to save NHS heart services
Sales of the Socialist through the roof since the referendum
Home | The Socialist 13 July 2016 | Join the Socialist Party
Subscribe | Donate | Audio | PDF | ebook
2020