The Socialist 29 October 2014

Millions robbed by greedy bosses

Millions robbed by greedy bosses

Capitalism - 'the new mediocre'

Record numbers of workers suffering poverty pay

NHS: More cuts planned

Our health is not a game!

Scottish Labour in crisis

Them & Us

Lessons from history: 1917 Revolution in Russia

Australia: The sacking of a government

Building a political alternative in Seattle

Support FBU pension strikes: Save our fire service

St Mungo's Broadway workers discuss next action

Sheffield recycling workers to start indefinite action

Ritzy workers threatened with redundancy

Fighting for better pay for workers

Wales colleges: Vote 'yes' in pay strike consultation

NASUWT members strike at Swinton High School

Workplace news in brief

Leicester holds historic People's Budget talks

Southwark Labour demolishes homes

Donate for socialism!

Film review: On the streets of Belfast in 1971

Red Dylan Thomas

Bill Webster 1941-2014

Ronnie Sookhdeo 1946-2014

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Them & Us

Unsocial media

Chancellor George Osborne told a bemused Tory audience at their recent conference that the government is cracking down on aggressive corporate tax avoidance. Odd then that Facebook's UK corporation tax bill was only £3,169 compared to its net profit last year of $1.5 billion.

It seems that Facebook simply funnelled its UK sales through its European HQ located in the Republic of Ireland.

Second jobs

Times must be hard when MPs have to moonlight. In the case of 20 MPs their second job, with earnings of over £100,000 a year, will certainly help pay the household bills. These include ex-ministers in the current coalition government.

Raking it in are former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown, who scooped £492,331; Respect MP George Galloway with £265,350; and Tory MP Sir Nicholas Soames on £253,598, to name three.

According to the Guardian, 26 MPs "earned more from directorships, paid employment or shareholdings than they did from their parliamentary salary".

In total, MPs trousered £7.1 million from their outside earnings.

Deeper in debt

Health care was the most common cause of debt collections in the USA last year - accounting for 38% of the total. It underlines the nightmare situation of millions of workers and their families faced with a prohibitively expensive, privately run health care system.

Income drop

Sticking with the US, as the wealth of the super-rich has rocketed the median household (which lies statistically at the middle of the income scale), has become $50,000 poorer since 2007.

Gender relegation

One reason for PM David Cameron refusing to wear a pro-feminist t-shirt could be because the UK has dropped out of the top 20 most gender-equal countries in the world for the first time. This relegation comes after women's average wages fell by £2,700 in one year.

According to the World Economic Forum the UK was behind 25 countries when it came to men and women having the most equitable life chances in health, work and education.

Child poverty

Since the onset of the world capitalist recession in 2008 the number of children falling into poverty is 2.6 million greater than the number who have been lifted out of it according to a new report by Unicef. The child poverty rate in the UK has risen from 24% to 25.6% in this period.