The Socialist 31 October 2018
Only a socialist alternative can end austerity

Crisis Tory Budget brings no relief from austerity
Only a socialist alternative can end austerity
Philip Green scandal - bring him down like BHS
60% of wildlife wiped out - urgent action needed to save planet
Glasgow's equal pay uprising shows power of working class
CWU conference: Sharpen up our act? Yes. But weaken our democracy? No
Welsh college staff set to strike on pay and workload
UCU: General secretary censured but anti-union laws frustrate strike ballot
Driving London's buses - a laser in the eye and a boot up the bum!
PCS Left Unity election: ballot opens
National Gallery reps endorse Chris Baugh
Precarious workers march against gig economy
Bolsonaro - a threat to workers and all oppressed people
Parliamentary coup in Sri Lanka
Call to arms by Southampton council unions
Campaign building to save Scarborough and district hospitals
The Socialist sales successes in Leeds
'Lucas Plan' film tells story of workers who set out alternative to job losses
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Only a socialist alternative can end austerity
Mark Best, East London Socialist Party
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." But for people having to rely on food banks, young people working multiple jobs with low to zero hours, and those pushed into homelessness by cuts and the chaos of Universal Credit, the age of austerity goes on.
Even the leader of a Tory council in Walsall said "never, ever believe what you hear from central government. Austerity is not over."
As he, like Tory and Labour councillors across the country, is preparing to pass on the government's cuts at a local level, it's clear: austerity isn't over.
The Tories represent Britain's capitalist class. Low wages, unaffordably high rents and cuts to public services are all that capitalism has to offer for workers and young people. It's no wonder that people across the world are looking for an alternative.
A 72-page report recently produced by Trump's White House admitted that "socialism is making a comeback in American political discourse."
In the last couple of years we've seen the mass rallies held by Bernie Sanders and the historic election of Socialist Alternative member Kshama Sawant to Seattle City Council. We've seen the successful campaigns of self-proclaimed socialists Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Julia Salazar.
American capitalists are fearful that the 'pitchforks' are coming for them.
Capitalism is killing us and it's no wonder people are hungry for ideas on how to fight back. People are increasingly being drawn to socialism like a beacon.
If you want to discuss what is necessary to kick the Tories out, to debate how we can run society democratically for public need not private profit, and to find out what you can do to join the fight for a socialist world, then come to Socialism 2018 - a weekend of debate and discussion in central London on 10 and 11 November.
In this issue
What we think
Crisis Tory Budget brings no relief from austerity
News
Only a socialist alternative can end austerity
Philip Green scandal - bring him down like BHS
60% of wildlife wiped out - urgent action needed to save planet
Workplace news
Glasgow's equal pay uprising shows power of working class
CWU conference: Sharpen up our act? Yes. But weaken our democracy? No
Welsh college staff set to strike on pay and workload
UCU: General secretary censured but anti-union laws frustrate strike ballot
Driving London's buses - a laser in the eye and a boot up the bum!
PCS Left Unity election: ballot opens
National Gallery reps endorse Chris Baugh
Precarious workers march against gig economy
Peterloo massacre
International socialist news and analysis
Bolsonaro - a threat to workers and all oppressed people
Parliamentary coup in Sri Lanka
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Call to arms by Southampton council unions
Campaign building to save Scarborough and district hospitals
The Socialist sales successes in Leeds
Opinion
'Lucas Plan' film tells story of workers who set out alternative to job losses
Home | The Socialist 31 October 2018 | Join the Socialist Party
Related links:
Socialist Party national meeting: Perspectives for socialism after the elections
Socialist Party Wales: Fight for socialism after the elections
North London Socialist Party: After the elections - the fight for socialism
Hull Socialist Party: After the elections - the fight for socialism
Grimsby Socialist Party: The elections; and the fight for socialism
Fight the rotten establishment
Greensill scandal, Corruption ... Build a socialist alternative
Bristol North Socialist Party: Education under capitalism
Our lives, our jobs - not safe in Tory hands
Right-wing Partido Popular wins Madrid elections - a warning to the working class
Can the 'Preston model' beat the cuts?
For a fighting, democratic, member-led union to stop the austerity attacks
Hartlepool sums up Labour crisis
RMT: Militant industrial and political strategy must be fought for
Covid, capitalism and mental health
National Education Union needs a socialist, fighting deputy general secretary
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