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From The Socialist newspaper, 9 August 2017
Support for Socialist Party campaigns at biggest ever Leeds Pride
Leeds Pride 2017 was the youngest and most militant in some time, photo by Mary Finch (Click to enlarge)
Mary Finch
Socialist Party members joined an excellent Leeds Pride on 5 August. It was the biggest ever Pride parade in Leeds, with over 40,000 attending.
There was a keenness among many to organise to reclaim Pride from its corporate sponsors.
Instead of being led by Sainsbury's supermarket, as the organisers planned, the parade was headed by local campaigners who cut in with a 'Pride is political' banner.
And there was overwhelming support for Socialist Party campaigns. We raised £50 fighting fund, and our stall was mobbed by overwhelmingly young, working class LGBT+ people.
We petitioned for LGBT+ rights in Northern Ireland, the only country in the UK without marriage equality, and against the deportation of Ali Feruz.
Ali is a gay journalist seeking asylum in Russia, after fleeing persecution and violence in Uzbekistan. He works for the newspaper that broke the story about the gay 'concentration camps' in Chechnya. In a blatantly political attack the Russian state plans to deport him back to Uzbekistan.
There was an instinctive understanding of the need for international solidarity. One person commented: 'If that was me, I'd need people to help me'. She was one of many who signed the petition and took a photo with our solidarity posters to send to Ali.
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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 9 August 2017:
What we think
Venezuela shows battle Corbyn would face
Socialist Party news and analysis
Striking back against poverty pay
Rashan Charles death: End police racism and austerity
Coventry: march following racist police killing
Government's tribunal fees defeat
40% of England's psychiatric wards are 'unsafe'
Marx's Capital at 150
Marx's Capital at 150: an unequalled analysis
Socialist Party workplace news
Angry Birmingham bin workers enter fifth week of strike action
Barts strike: Keep up the pressure on Serco and the trust!
Steel workers at Rom Ltd strike for a pay rise
Coordinated action needed to break pay restraint
End poverty pay for sleep-in care workers
RMT condemns Welsh government rail privatisation
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Young, angry and fighting back
Young Socialists off to a flying start in Cardiff
Campaign fights closure of Chatsworth rehab ward
Support for Socialist Party campaigns at biggest ever Leeds Pride
Housing safety campaign kicks off in Coventry
Far-right thrown out of Newcastle
International socialist news and analysis
Venezuela: Capitalist offensive sharpens after assembly elections
Workers' struggles in Peru: eyewitness report
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
How much reserves have councils got?
Global finance
Global finance: Are those storm clouds ahead?
Music review
Crunchy guitar and poignant dialogue in alt-rock homage to south Wales miners
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