The Socialist 6 January 2016

Fight the flood of cuts

2016: Crisis-ridden capitalism will meet with bitter mood of resistance

No retreat on resisting council cuts!

Fight the flood of cuts

Support junior doctors' and student nurses' action

Another black man shot dead by the police

UK's private rail fares six times public rates

Birmingham Labour to axe at least 1,200 jobs in £165m cuts onslaught

UK wage growth will be lowest since 1920s

NHS England chiefs block hospitals from publicising emergencies

What we saw: Sadiq Khan's promises on London transport

Them & Us

Floods, climate change and capitalism

Carlisle Socialist Party's action plan on floods

Profit system exacerbates flooding

Tories' hypocritical green policies pledge

Renationalise the water industry

No government majority as Podemos partially recovers

Union action needed to defeat attack on student nurses

Nationalise rail now! Rail workers strike around the country

Steel: public ownership needed as private buyers threaten pay and pensions

Condescending Tories savage Yorkshire fire service

Workplace news in brief

Dark comic book fantasy throws light on abusive relationships

"I chose to be involved in politics, Michael Crick"

Letters

A 'People's Budget' to defeat cruel cuts

Stop the closure of Calderstones hospital!

2015 marks best fighting fund total this century!

Eleanor Marx: celebrate a life of struggle for socialism

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Them & Us

Gravy for MPs...

MPs have awarded themselves even cheaper posh meals.

A three-course meal at the Commons' subsidised restaurant used to set members back £15. The average cost of serving each MP was £78.07.

Last year, the parliamentary expenses watchdog stopped MPs' dinner allowance for when debates run late - also £15. Clearly it considered the subsidy excessive.

In response, MPs on the Commons Administration Committee have lowered the price for three courses to £11.50.

Smoked halibut with slow-poached duck egg. Gressingham duck with sweet potato fondant and crisoy kale. Salt-baked celeriac with pea velouté. All for less than the price of a medium ham and pineapple from Domino's - if you're an MP, of course.

...peanuts for us

No such luck for workers.

According to the Office for National Statistics, basic foodstuffs may have actually risen in price last year.

A new method of measuring food price changes found the cost of 500g of dry spaghetti had leapt up by nearly a fifth. And forget grating any cheddar on top - one kilo added 15% in price.

The agency measured the average cost increase for goods monitored in the trial system as 8%. That's some way above official inflation figures, hovering around zero.

If MPs can vote on what their food costs, why shouldn't the rest of us?

In this issue

What we think

2016: Crisis-ridden capitalism will meet with bitter mood of resistance