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The Socialist issue 1016

31 October 2018

Only a socialist alternative can end austerity

PDF | Audio | 2018 Back issues


The Socialist issue 1016

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What we think

spotCrisis Tory Budget brings no relief from austerity

Philip Hammond attempted to give the impression that his budget represented a major turning point for the economy and for Tory policy


News

spotSave Our Schools

Build for national strike action: An insultingly low figure: that’s the reality of Phillip Hammond’s budget announcement of £400 million in capital spending for schools.

spotOnly a socialist alternative can end austerity

This week’s budget shows again the urgent need to kick out the Tories. The Chancellor Philip Hammond says “the era of austerity is finally coming to an end.”

spotHomelessness, Universal Credit misery, high rents, cramped flats, isolated estates…end the housing crisis!

Housing in Britain is in crisis. Bailiffs were called to a house in Hove on 26 October after the tenant – struggling to get by on Universal Credit – fell into rent arrears.

spotPhilip Green scandal – bring him down like BHS

Billionaire boss Philip Green has spent millions of pounds attempting to hide multiple allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and racism towards his employees.

spot60% of wildlife wiped out – urgent action needed to save planet

Since 1970, 60% of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles have been wiped out due to deforestation, farming techniques and other human activity.

Workplace news

spotGlasgow’s equal pay uprising shows power of working class

Around 8,500 working class women in Glasgow made history on 23-24 October when they took industrial action. As BBC news commented, it was “one of the biggest ever strikes in the UK on the issue of equal pay”.

spotCWU conference: Sharpen up our act? Yes. But weaken our democracy? No

On 3 November a special conference of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) will take place to debate proposals for a redesign of the structure and finances of the union.

spotWelsh college staff set to strike on pay and workload

College lecturers in Wales have voted by an overwhelming majority to strike, busting the undemocratic Tory strike threshold.

spotUCU: General secretary censured but anti-union laws frustrate strike ballot

June’s University and College Union (UCU) congress was shut down when staff walked out in response to motions criticising the general secretary Sally Hunt. The annual democratic congress reconvened on 18 October.

spotDriving London’s buses – a laser in the eye and a boot up the bum!

Why are drivers involved in road traffic incidents often tired? Transport for London (TfL) could ask the real bus experts – the drivers!

spotPCS Left Unity election: ballot opens

PCS civil service union Assistant General Secretary (AGS) Chris Baugh, elected three times since 2004, has won at least eight nomination meetings in his campaign to be the Left Unity AGS candidate for a fourth term.

spotNational Gallery reps endorse Chris Baugh

We are PCS union reps at the National Gallery. We include our branch executive positions but are writing in a personal capacity. Chris Baugh has been an outstanding source of support to the branch for many years.

spotPrecarious workers march against gig economy

Peterloo massacre

spotPeterloo: “If the people were to rise and smite their enemies, was not this the time?” Samuel Bamford, demonstrator

The huge demonstration in St Peters Field on 16 August 1819 was the high point of the working-class part of the radical reform movement, which was demanding democratic rights.

International socialist news and analysis

spotBolsonaro – a threat to workers and all oppressed people

Left must build a powerful socialist alternative: The victory of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s second round presidential election by a 10% margin over the Workers’ Party (PT) candidate Fernando Haddad, represents a setback for the Brazilian working class and opens a new chapter in Brazil.

spotParliamentary coup in Sri Lanka

Workers and oppressed must fight both rotten capitalist camps: Sri Lanka is experiencing a dramatic constitutional crisis – an unprecedented parliamentary coup.

Socialist Party reports and campaigns

spotCall to arms by Southampton council unions

Unite and Unison unions representing Southampton City Council staff have declared that they will oppose and campaign against budget cuts announced by the Labour administration.

spotCampaign building to save Scarborough and district hospitals

The campaign against York NHS Trust transferring non-medical staff into a ‘wholly owned subsidiary’ – a step towards privatisation – has exploded into a mass campaign to save the Scarborough and district hospitals from cuts.

spotThe Socialist sales successes in Leeds

Starting with issue 1000 of the Socialist, Socialist Party members in Leeds have been selling the newspaper every week outside the new Leeds City Council building in the city centre.

Opinion

spot‘Lucas Plan’ film tells story of workers who set out alternative to job losses

Film review: The plan that came from the bottom up: ‘The plan that came from the bottom up’ is a new film about the ‘Lucas Plan’, developed by shop stewards at Lucas Aerospace in the Midlands in 1976, to make socially useful products rather than armaments used to kill people.

spotThe Socialist inbox

Letters to the Socialist’s editors including Labour Party double standards, Universal Credit, The Apprentice and Brexit.

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