The Socialist 1 July 2020

Tories put profit before lives

A socialist NHS fit for heroes

PCS: Change in leadership needed to secure union's future

Come to the NSSN conference

Sunday trading: Government blinks first

Trade unionists stand in solidarity with Maxine Peake

Equity union president elections

Tower Hamlets council strike

MoJ cleaners' covid outbreak

Workers need a new mass party to defend their interests

Tories put profit before lives

Boris's new big deal

Tory full return to school plans gamble with lives

Yes to self-identity: Fight for trans rights

Benefits system being used to force return to unsafe workplaces

Leeds City Council in danger of bankruptcy

Capitalism and corruption go hand in hand

Plastic waste ignored

News in brief

I left Labour and want to end capitalism - join us in Socialist Party

Cardiff community fights nursery closure: Council must step in

Fighting Fund: Target smashed by half time

Black Lives Matter has not stopped - protesters flock to Socialists

Selling the Socialist

Red flags line road for Ken Douglas

75th anniversary of the Attlee Labour government

From slavery to Black Lives Matter - racism and capitalist injustice exposed

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News in brief

Billionaire paradise

Are you considering taking a long-delayed holiday? Try the pacific islands of Fiji. In an enticing tweet, the country's prime minister says: "Say you're a billionaire looking to fly your own jet, rent your own island, and invest millions of dollars in Fiji in the process... you may have a new home to escape the pandemic in paradise." Can't wait!

Deeper in debt

photo Creative Commons Zero - CC0 (Click to enlarge)

Unsurprisingly, given the rise in unemployment and the effects of pay cuts through furloughing, etc, the number of people unable to pay their bills continues to increase.

Last month, mortgage repayments were down 14%; rents by 11%, and council tax by 9%, compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Food insecurity

Latest government figures from the Food Standards Agency show that declining incomes during the pandemic have forced millions to go without food or rely on food banks. The FSA reckons up to 7.7 million cash-strapped adults reduced meal portion sizes or skipped meals. And up to 3.7 million adults had to use a food bank.

Councils' crisis

A £6 billion shortfall in council funding in England during this financial year by the Tory government will mean more savage cuts to local services and council tax/service charges increases. Extra financial pressures and revenue falls because of the pandemic mean that an estimated eight out of ten councils face bankruptcy. Trade unions and the wider working class communities must get organised to stop jobs and services being slashed.

In this issue

No going back

A socialist NHS fit for heroes