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From The Socialist newspaper, 22 May 2019
Lifting the mood
Socialist Party campaigning in Newcastle (Click to enlarge)
After a week of sunshine on Tyneside it was grizzly rain on Saturday 18 May. It was tempting to just call off our regular public sale of the Socialist and go for a coffee. Fortunately we didn't... and what a response we got!
For the Socialist Party, alongside all our other activities, paper sales are a way of gauging the public mood and testing our ideas.
For a short while in Newcastle we've struggled against an 'anti-politics' mood as working-class anger has festered over the Brexit shenanigans in parliament.
But on Saturday we saw that mood beginning to break, and people are again starting to look for answers to the problems they face.
Loads of people came to speak to us, agreeing with our campaign to scrap Universal Credit and to get rid of this rotten Tory government.
Many of those who came to our stall were themselves on benefits and had suffered sanctions and a feeling of hopelessness at living in grinding poverty.
Our leaflets calling for the scrapping of Universal Credit were snatched up. We sold 17 papers and collected over £10 for the fighting fund and, most importantly, raised the prospect of a socialist alternative.
Elaine Brunskill, Tyne and Wear Socialist Party
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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 22 May 2019:
International socialist news and analysis
What lies behind the US-China trade war?
Sri Lanka - Ten years after the brutal end of the war
News
Labour's nationalisation plan: What policies are needed to avert climate catastrophe?
British Steel threatened closure
What we think
European elections expose deepening political crisis: Workers need a party of our own
Workplace news
Birmingham home carers victory
Probation workers celebrate case management renationalisation
Fantastic RMT London Underground victory
Woolwich ferry workers begin ten days of strike action
Morrisons workers reject pay offer
Unite young members' conference
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
4 June - Walk out against Trump! Climate criminal not welcome
Domestic abuse accommodation: Tories shift - but safety is more than a bed
Haringey: Socialists' stance fully vindicated
Anger and frustration at the establishment
Pouring cold water on the Riverside estate
Worcester Tories stonewall action on climate change
Day of action against cuts to special needs education
Opinion
Opinion: socialists must link climate struggle to power of organised workers
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