The Socialist 22 May 2019

Birmingham home carers’ victory - Strikers push back cuts council

What lies behind the US-China trade war?

Sri Lanka - Ten years after the brutal end of the war

Reject Alabama abortion ban

Labour's nationalisation plan: What policies are needed to avert climate catastrophe?

British Steel threatened closure

European elections expose deepening political crisis: Workers need a party of our own

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

Workplace news in brief

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

Lifting the mood

Socialist sales boost

Pouring cold water on the Riverside estate

Worcester Tories stonewall action on climate change

Day of action against cuts to special needs education

Opinion: socialists must link climate struggle to power of organised workers

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Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/1043/29141

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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.