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From The Socialist newspaper, 31 March 2021
Nationalise Liberty Steel to save jobs
Port Talbot steelworks, photo Grubb (Creative Commons) (Click to enlarge)
Liberty Steel, employing 5,000 workers, mainly located in Rotherham, has gone bust. The government has rejected a £170 million bailout demand from its tycoon boss Sanjeev Gupta.
The demise of the steelmaking company follows the collapse of its principal backer Greensill Capital. It's reported that former Tory PM David Cameron acted as a paid adviser to Greensill and had lobbied the chancellor Rishi Sunak for coronavirus support loans.
This mix of big business and leading Tories gets murkier. According to the Times: "Lex Greensill, the owner of the finance firm, enriched himself through a government backed loan scheme he designed after Cameron gave him access to eleven departments and agencies".
As the recent scandal of government-backed secretive PPE contracts has revealed, handing over government keys to big business is no historic anachronism but a commonplace.
The trade unions should demand nationalisation of the ailing steel company to save jobs and working-class communities, along with a public, independent workers' inquiry into the Greensill/government funding arrangements.
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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.
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In The Socialist 31 March 2021:
Elections
Mobilise Liverpool workers to defy Tory commissioners and austerity
London - We need socialists into City Hall
Warning: Labour Party cutters - careful who you phone!
News
Domestic Abuse Bill: So much still to fight for
We will not be the lost generation
Shrewsbury pickets exonerated after almost 50 years
'Chingford skinhead' spills the beans over government surveillance of union activists
Freeports spell deregulation, low pay and a new race to the bottom
Right to protest
Unite and fight - For the right to protest
Defending the right to protest
Socialist analysis
Preparing for the revolts to come
NHS
Cumberland hospital workers fight for stolen pay
Workplace news
Trade union fighters rally to support victimised workers
BT Openreach engineers step up the pressure with five-day strike action
Asda equal pay ruling victory - now fight for equal pay for all
SPS Technologies workers strike against potential pay loss of £3,000 a year
Deskilling protests by sparks electricians continue
Beal academy strikers demand equal sick pay
Goodlord strike starts to bite
Nationalise Liberty Steel to save jobs
British Gas workers strike ahead of 'fire and rehire' deadline
Reports & campaigns
Online rally - 150 years since the Paris Commune
Donate now to fuel our election campaigns
Readers' opinion
Football abuse scandal: Reclaim the game for justice and democracy
Socialist Liverpool City Council inspired me
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