Four thousand in Liverpool, 1,000 in Manchester, 800 in Leeds, thousands in London. Across the country people have taken to the streets to show their support for Jeremy Corbyn and their anger with the 172 traitor MPs who are waging a war to try to force Jeremy Corbyn to resign. No matter to them that he was democratically elected leader by a landslide just nine months ago; they are determined to get rid of him by any means necessary. The vote of no confidence has been followed by Chuka Ummuna MP and others using a parliamentary select committee to smear Corbyn with false charges of anti-Semitism.
There have been open calls by several Blairites, including by author Robert Harris in the Tory Times, to "join Labour now to topple Corbyn". Despite their efforts, however, the majority of the 60,000 who are reported to have joined the Labour Party in just one week have done so in order to try and stop the coup, not to back it. As we have commented previously, the problem for the Labour right is their lack of a social base - what is their rallying cry, 'say no to free education, don't build council housing, bomb more countries'?
Instead they are reduced to claiming, with no evidence, that a more right-wing leader would be more likely to win a general election. In reality, however, it is not because Jeremy Corbyn is unelectable but because they fear he could win a general election. Blair himself said that Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister would "be a very dangerous experiment"; an experiment his acolytes are determined to prevent.
Jeremy Corbyn was thrust into power by an uprising against austerity. If he was to win a general election the 1% are terrified that the hopes of millions of working class people would be raised and, as a result, that government would be pressurised to take radical measures which would threaten their system and gargantuan profits. That is the fundamental reason why the Blairites, the representatives of the 1% in the Labour Party, are determined to remove Corbyn no matter what the costs. In addition they hoped to get him out the way before the publication of the long-delayed Chilcot Report, which will further damage not only Blair, but all those Labour MPs - including leadership contender Angela Eagle - who backed the war in Iraq.
Now that war has been declared by the Parliamentary Labour Party, the worst possible response would be to capitulate. It is much to Jeremy Corbyn's credit that he has so far stood firm. Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, the biggest affiliated union, has made welcome clear statements of support for Corbyn. But he has then gone on to suggest that the trade unions could broker a deal that breaches the chasm between Corbyn and his supporters and the 172 MPs trying to knife him. However, there is no principled compromise possible with MPs that shown they are prepared to split the Labour Party in order to oust Corbyn.
Over the last nine months attempts to compromise with the right have resulted in a number of retreats, including not calling for deselection of Blairite MPs and refusing to make a clear call for Labour councils to stop carrying out cuts in public services. The attempt to compromise with the right also led to Momentum - the organisation set up to support Corbyn - excluding the Socialist Party and others.
But it is now clear that the strategy of compromise cannot work. Instead it is necessary to stand firm and to build on the popular movement which thrust Jeremy Corbyn into the Labour leadership and is now coming out on the streets to defend him. What is needed is an urgent labour movement conference, which should be convened now, involving all those who support Corbyn: the trade unions (affiliated and unaffiliated), Labour Party branches and all left and socialist organisations inside and outside the Labour Party.
The right have already made clear that if they cannot defeat Jeremy Corbyn they are considering splitting away. They have been weighing up this option from the day Jeremy Corbyn was elected. In September it was already reported in the Sunday Times that: "Backers were prepared to put up millions of pounds for the new party, provisionally called the Progressive Democrats, which would have left the Labour Party behind with its debts." For the Blairites' big business backers such a right-wing split, like the SDP in the early 1980s, is another cynical attempt to try and prevent a left Labour government being elected.
Many Labour supporters will fear that such a scenario would weaken the Labour Party. In fact the opposite would be the case. True a Blairite split away would - at least initially - dramatically decrease the number of Labour MPs in Westminster, but a group of 40, or even 20 or 30, MPs who consistently campaigned against austerity and defended workers in struggle, would do far more to strengthen the fightback against the Tories than 232 'Labour' MPs, a majority who vote for austerity, privatisation and war. A re-founded anti-austerity Labour Party could quickly make electoral gains, as has demonstrated by the 2015 election of Syriza in Greece, initially on an anti-austerity platform, and the growth in support for the left in Spain.
Such a refounded Labour Party would need an open, democratic federal structure, along the lines of the Labour Party's structure in its earliest days, allowing the participation of all anti-austerity forces, including the Socialist Party, anti-austerity Greens and others. It would need to launch a fight against austerity, with the programme which Jeremy Corbyn stood for Labour leader on as its starting point. This should include making clear that he opposes austerity whoever it is implemented by: Brussels, Westminster or local councils.
Such a stand - including a £10 an hour minimum wage, nationalisation or the rail and energy companies, and mass council housebuilding - would be able to enthuse millions, including many of those who showed their anger at the existing order by voting for exit in the EU referendum. In essence it would mean the formation of a new radical workers' party, able to attract all those workers and youth wanting to fight back against capitalism.
In response to the Blairites' vicious campaign, a mood of mass support for Jeremy Corbyn's embattled leadership is developing on Merseyside. 4,000 people marched through Liverpool on Saturday 2 July under the slogan "Keep Corbyn, Build our movement". This is just 24 hours after over 1,000 rallied under the same slogan in Manchester despite the downpours.
Twelve months since Corbyn came to Merseyside during his leadership election campaign, moods have hardened against the Blairite Red Tories. The idea now of building a mass movement to keep Jeremy Corbyn and drive out the Blairites as part of preparing to fight and win a general election is widely accepted among rank and file Corbyn supporters.
Despite our exclusion from Momentum and the Labour Party, Socialist Party members and supporters have been steadfast in arguing for a non-sectarian way forward: for Jeremy Corbyn to lead a mass struggle on a clear anti-austerity basis, cease any attempts to appease the Blairites, drive out the Red Tories and democratise the Labour Party.
These are the conclusions already drawn by thousands upon thousands, who have been following our campaign for these policies and agree with it completely. They have no time for half-measures or retreats or bureaucratic manoeuvres; but want Jeremy Corbyn to go on the bold socialist offensive that we advocate.
Over 100 copies of the Socialist were bought, with hundreds of leaflets taken and a number of 'join the Socialist Party' cards completed.
The demonstration follows a meeting held earlier in the week by Liverpool Socialist Party - attended by 40 people, a majority of them at their first Socialist Party meeting - that discussed the post-referendum situation and the way forward for a socialist struggle. The meeting resolved to take the fight to the Blairites, build a campaign of mass mobilisation to 'keep Corbyn', and link it with a thorough-going anti-austerity socialist programme that can win mass support.
Elsewhere on the same night, Liverpool Momentum also met with a significantly increased turnout, which led to Saturday's demonstration.
A mass national conference followed by more and bigger local demonstrations are the next steps to turn this mood of resistance into the necessary mass movement.
This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 4 July 2016 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.
Around 250 people gathered at short notice to demonstrate their support for Jeremy Corbyn in Leeds. The demonstration was called by Momentum after discussion with the Socialist Party and others from trade unions and campaigning groups around Leeds. It showed the clear popularity of Corbyn and indeed his electability, despite what those on the right of the Parliamentary Labour Party have argued.
The demonstration listened to speakers from Momentum, youth campaigners and trade unionists. It is regrettable that the Socialist Party was not permitted a speaker at the demonstration despite our support and help initiating it.
People packed a meeting room in the council chambers - not everyone could fit in. So a second meeting was called at a nearby pub. Many also stayed for some time after the demonstration to talk to Socialist Party members about the situation.
The meeting was opened by Councillor Kevin Ritchie, one of a few councillors on Leeds City Council who support Corbyn. Unfortunately Kevin felt that it was not appropriate for members of other organisations to be present or directly involved in the campaign.
But it is only with the broadest and strongest movement from all sections of the labour and trade union movement that we will be able to fully defend Corbyn. For instance, the RMT and the PCS have pledged their full support despite not being officially affiliated to the Labour Party.
A further demo was later called in the heart of Hilary Benn's constituency. 800 people turned out in a determined stand to defend Corbyn and his policies.
Disappointingly, Momentum once again refused to allow Socialist Party members to speak, including one of our members speaking on behalf of Leeds TUC who had recently passed a motion in support of Corbyn.
Immediately afterwards was a demonstration in support of migrants, which was even larger than the pro-Corbyn demo. People who had voted both Leave and Remain in the EU referendum gathered to say refugees are welcome in Leeds and to condemn the racist scapegoating that many politicians are guilty of.
An excellent public meeting hosted by Stoke Socialist Party took place last night in the Village Tavern, Stoke-on-Trent. Socialist Party, Green Party and Labour Party members attended along with union reps from CWU, Unison and other trade unionists from Unite, NUT and Usdaw.
The main speaker was Socialist Party West Midlands regional secretary Dave Griffiths who explained how the vote to leave the EU had sent shock waves through the capitalist establishment and the political parties that represent it.
Dave pointed out: "What big business and the establishment parties fear above all is a Corbyn-led government committed to an anti-austerity programme and supported by millions of workers. This is why they are prepared to discredit Jeremy Corbyn in any way they can. And we will fight to defend Corbyn in any way we can".
The likely developments after the vote to leave the EU were discussed and in particular what needs to be done to get rid of this weak, divided Tory government and to get rid of the Blairite 'red Tories' from the Labour Party who are trying to remove Jeremy Corbyn.
Many other important points were raised including:
This was a meeting not to let off steam or pontificate about how terrible things will be now that the great unwashed have had the temerity to vote Leave as a way of striking back at the capitalist establishment. It was more a call to action to fight to get rid of all the establishment politicians whether they are blue or red Tories and replace them with an independent mass political party with a socialist programme to represent the working class millions.
Dave summed up the meeting by reiterating the Socialist Party's call for the need for a 'conference of war' to be organised as soon as possible, including trade unions, anti-cuts campaigners and others from both inside and outside the Labour Party, and regardless of how people voted in the EU referendum, to discuss what needs to be done.
At the end of the meeting a union rep and a young socialist woman signed up to join the Socialist Party.
This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 1 July 2016 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.
Stevenage Momentum called a meeting to support Jeremy and over 30 people turned up. For many it was their first meeting since joining the Labour Party to vote for Corbyn last year.
I spoke as a Socialist Party member and called for the convening of a conference of the movement both nationally and locally, which received big support. I explained that I was expelled from Labour in 1987 for being a socialist and am therefore unable to be a member. It is important that any such conference be open to all the left who want to support Jeremy, not just Labour Party members.
Everywhere you look there is proof that our world is afflicted by enormous inequality - on our side there is austerity, poverty and war and on the other side for the super-rich 1% there is enormous wealth. Watching TV last night provided ample evidence of the need for change, socialist change.
On the eve of the publication of the Chilcot Inquiry which investigated Britain's involvement in the 2003 Iraq War a documentary called the 'Blair Rich project' caught my eye.
During the Iraq war former Prime Minister Tony Blair was known as George Bush's poodle for his obedience to the warmongering demands of the US president to invade and bomb Iraq. The Socialist Party, which played a leading role in the anti-war movement, explained that Blair was also a poodle to big business, which gained from his Thatcherite policies of privatisation and cuts.
Since leaving office Blair has revealed more fully that he was always more of a running dog of capitalism. He is paid millions to 'advise' dictators. The documentary showed footage of striking oil workers being shot down and massacred by state forces under the Nazarbayev regime in Kazakhstan, one of Blair's clients.
Blair has seized every bit of media coverage he can to attack Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party - it is a threat to his transformation of Labour into a second Tory Party. The Socialist Party is calling for the active defence of Corbyn by the working class and labour movement and a fight against austerity.
Later a Channel 4 Dispatches programme investigated the impact of the Tories' so-called National Living Wage (NLW) on low-paid workers. It revealed that some of Britain's biggest companies, including Tesco and B&Q, make stealth attacks when they switch to the NLW.
Café Nero said that the cost of the NLW, still lower than the actual living wage, demanded "operational changes" and they withdrew the sandwich staff had been receiving at lunch time.
The documentary also showed the scam of 'self-employment' with workers classed as 'independent contractors' so companies can avoid paying even the NLW and the benefits that come with proper employment.
We need a £10 an hour minimum wage for all with no exemptions. This would start to address these scandals of poverty pay and gross inequality. The Socialist Party along with others, including the bakers' union, have popularised this demand which has now been adopted by the TUC.
In the US city of Seattle the election of socialist Kshama Sawant in 2013 to the city council was crucial to the victory of the campaign for a $15 an hour minimum wage which shows what's possible when we have a determined movement and a political voice for the working class.
Jeremy Corbyn's call last summer for £10 an hour inspired thousands to vote for him. But most Labour MPs and councillors oppose him. While the right wing has controlled Labour, working class people have had no political voice.
It is vital for Jeremy Corbyn to mobilise his anti-austerity supporters both in the Labour Party and outside to fight the Tories and kick out the traitors. This means building a party that fights in the interests of workers and young people - not the bosses. That means a socialist programme.
Seattle is rich in lessons. For a start, it represents a $3 billion transfer of wealth from the bosses to the poorest workers. It shows that when workers organise and fight back, we can win. It shows that only parties that are unapologetically committed to fighting for the working class can be relied on to defend workers. And it shows that, as Kshama explains: "you don't have to be a socialist to fight back - but it helps!"
The working class is the majority in society, with enormous potential power, capable not only of defending our pay and fighting austerity, but also of changing the world.
Socialists fight for a dignified life for all - and that means building a mass struggle for wages we can live on. Capitalism, a short-sighted and crisis-ridden system, only offers us crumbs off the plates of the super-rich 1%.
Socialism would be completely different - it would mean using the vast resources in society to meet the needs of all. A socialist government would take into public ownership the top 150 companies and banks that dominate the economy and run them under democratic working class control and management. Compensation would be paid only on the basis of proven need.
Democratic planning of production would allow humanity to build a world without exploitation, inequality and hunger - while also protecting the environment.
If you think this is the kind of change you want to see, then join us today!
I joined the Socialist Party because I could no longer stand on the side-lines.
I am from Portugal and started university in 2008, the year of the big financial crisis. Me, my friends and our entire generation felt the effects and implications of the capitalist system we live in and the failed promises it made us.
We started to see tuition prices rising, friends dropping out of university, colleagues graduating and spending years looking for a job, whole families losing their salaries and being deprived of a living. It only got worse in 2011, when Portugal got a so-called 'bailout' from the Troika (European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank) with even more brutal austerity measures that drove hundreds of thousands to poverty.
The only chance I saw of getting a better education and decent job prospects was to migrate, so I decided to come to Britain to do a masters degree and find work. Shortly after I arrived in Portsmouth, I met Socialist Party members at the fresher's fair and joined, taking a much more active role since moving to Cardiff.
I became a member of the Socialist Party because I want my generation and others to have a better future. That is only achieved by being active and organised, with a clear programme based on the international experience of the working class.
For me, the Socialist Party puts forward the clearest analysis and methods to achieve a fair and equal society, that provides for the needs and aspirations of the many and not the whims of the few. Not just in words, but in deeds, with members constantly amazing me with all the hard work and tirelessness they show in the daily struggle.
The Socialist Party is internationalist, affiliated to the Committee for a Workers International (CWI), present and active in more than 40 countries. For me, as socialist but also as a migrant, that is especially important.
I want to be part of the struggle for a better world and the Socialist Party is the organisation with the best programme to stand against austerity and to build a socialist future, with a close sense of comraderie and friendship. But don't take it from me, come to a meeting or say hello at a stall and find out what we stand for!
Rebellion was in the air in the 1960s. Aged 12 and a pacifist, I joined the Youth Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament after the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of Pigs invasion. But when my sister just hit me more and harder when I refused to fight back, I had to admit that pacifism probably wasn't going to work!
The Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia with tanks to put down a revolt in 1968 and I had a picture of Alexander Dubcek, Czech leader of the Prague Spring on my bedroom wall next to the Beatles.
I watched Ken Loach's powerful TV drama, Cathy Come Home about homelessness and wept. The hopelessness of a young family, destroyed by the system, burned into my soul. This was in the post war boom years. Maybe we needed something different. My parents were socialists, militants, but I didn't understand what that meant yet.
Wallsend on Tyneside, my home town, knew unemployment and deprivation. Shipbuilding dominated. Launches were bitter sweet celebrations. The workers were proud of the ocean liners and oil tankers towering over the terraced streets where they lived. But layoffs would follow the day after until the next shipbuilding order. More orders were going to South East Asia where labour was cheap. Shipbuilding on the Tyne went into decline.
My dad's cafe depended on shipyard workers for its trade. He often had to get a second job to supplement our income.
I tried volunteering and realised it wouldn't solve anything. So I joined the Labour Party Young Socialists (LPYS), aged 17. I was one of the first 18 year olds to have the vote and voted Labour. But Ted Heath and the Tories got in so I started reading the Militant.
Only the Militant could explain to me why the Soviet Union had degenerated from its ideals of 1917. It had a programme to fight poverty around the world. Under the leadership of Militant supporters, the LPYS brought out a 'Charter for Young Workers' - a brilliant tool to fight for proper apprenticeships and better wages. I became a Militant supporter and a member of the Socialist Party when it was formed.
I left the Labour Party when my dad was threatened with expulsion for donating £5 at a Militant Readers Meeting.
History at school didn't make much sense to me. My real history lessons began with Marxist discussion groups organised by Militant supporters on the Russian, Chinese and Spanish Revolutions.
I am now rereading Trotsky›s brilliant History of the Russian Revolution and marvelling at the courage and audacity of the Russian working class who took centre stage. I have learnt though, that the workers' movement will test many leaders and many will not live up to their historical task.
The working class around the world are once again stepping onto the stage of history and I'm confident that the Socialist Party and Committee for a Workers International will win workers to its banner and together we will overthrow the system that has caused so much poverty, misery and wars.
I want to finish the job my parents started.
One year ago in the self-same hall, at the 9th annual conference of the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN), the burning question was also of a referendum. It was ahead of the referendum on EU austerity in Greece, to which the Greek working class voted a resounding 'Oxi!' - 'No!' The mood was jubilant and defiant.
This year, set amid the tumultuous events following our own EU referendum, the mood was determined and serious.
The urgent discussion needed across the trade union movement - how we defend Jeremy Corbyn, how we cut across growth of the right wing and defeat austerity - came out in the many contributions from the floor and top table.
This conference marked over a decade of the NSSN supporting workers' struggle and organising among the rank and file. Suzanne Muna from the Unite LE1111 housing branch thanked the NSSN for its backing in their recent dispute. As an organised branch with wider support they won after just one day of action.
Dave Smith from the Blacklist Support Group also wrote to praise the NSSN. He said blacklisted workers could not have won their victories without the whole movement.
The morning session was titled 'Organise to take on the Tories - link the strikes'. Fighting general secretaries Matt Wrack of the Fire Brigades Union, Steve Gillan of the Prison Officers Association and Ronnie Draper of the bakers' union BFAWU spoke alongside Janice Godrich, president of the civil servants' union PCS, of the desperate need for a general strike against austerity.
Matt Wrack reflected the fear that Brexit will lead to a strengthening of the right wing and criticised the Socialist Party's anti-austerity Leave position. Speaking later, former Unison NEC member Glenn Kelly took him up for departing the conference as soon as he'd spoken without listening to the debate. He said: "It is the tradition of our movement to have fraternal, at times sharp, debate. It has never been a tradition to walk out before any opposition has chance to comment".
Glenn went on to explain that racism had been stoked not by anti-EU workers but by both Tory-led official campaigns. The Leave vote has in fact undermined the Tory Party, unleashing the demand for a general election and posing a Corbyn-led government - a real prospect to take on the Tories!
NSSN chair Rob Williams urged the trade union movement to rally behind Corbyn in the face of the Blairite attacks, as did Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition chair and former Labour MP Dave Nellist. They called on Corbyn to open up Labour Party structures to anti-austerity forces outside the party to defend his leadership.
Chris Baugh, PCS deputy general secretary, reaffirmed his union's support for Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell and pressed the need for a mass conference of the left to discuss a way forward.
There were contributions from sacked activists, including two migrant cleaners from United Voices of the World and CWU rep Clive Walder. Samworth Brothers worker and BFAWU activist Kumaran Bose spoke about his victimisation for standing up against attacks on terms and wages.
Addressing the multi-millionaire owners he said: "You don't work on Christmas day; you enjoy nice food and wine with your families. Why should we be forced to work?" Despite his dismissal, Kumaran is refusing to give up, and was met with a standing ovation when he said: "You can take everything from me - my wages, my job, my house, but you cannot take away the self-confidence I have. I will continue to fight because I know it is wrong."
Welsh Museums PCS striker Geraint Parfitt announced the significant victory of their three year dispute with the Welsh Assembly. They have secured permanent bank holiday payments and massively reduced weekend working. Geraint said he had not come to brag about their victory but said: "If we can do this in a branch with just over 200 members, imagine what we could accomplish all together. It's time for a general strike!"
Speaking on the EU referendum, Oktay Sahbaz, an activist from Turkish and Kurdish community group Day-Mer, said: "I don't believe 17 million people in this country are racist. I do believe 17 million people are fed up with austerity and expressed that anger." Both he and Unite member Nancy Taaffe spoke about the politicisation of migrant workers through the referendum campaign and the massive opportunities and need to unionise.
Many others shared their experiences in the workshops on housing, education, organising migrant and young workers. Important contributions came from the Butterfields housing campaign and Angelika Teweleit, a German shop steward who described the backlash against EU austerity in her country.
In the final session, French striker Yann Vernier of the CGT union spoke of the massive ongoing social upheavals in France [click here for video of Yann's speech]. A year ago he couldn't have predicted this movement but since the start of the year strikes have doubled with each passing month! He explained the intense anger that has been building against the attacks of the Hollande government but that while struggles remained isolated this found no unified expression.
Now, in response to the proposed imposition of a super-exploitative labour law, a united mass movement has been unleashed. Struggle has been raging on a continuous basis for over four months with workers rediscovering the old methods of road blocks and occupation of the bosses' organisations. Yann even described how workers had stormed Hollande's Parti Socialiste headquarters and given it a paint job!
The conference was closed by RMT president Sean Hoyle, who railed against the anti-trade union act and threw down the gauntlet in opposing its attacks on democratic trade union rights, saying "When freedom is outlawed, only outlaws will be free".
That summed up the gritty determination of the conference; to face the many challenges that lie ahead, united and implacable in our opposition to austerity and the ravages of the capitalist system.
Jane Nellist, a teacher and member of the executive council of teaching union the NUT, addressed the conference days before their day of action to "demonstrate anger at the attacks on terms and conditions and the consequences for children".
Jane pointed out that "The attacks are the worst cuts for a generation and are hitting schools in deprived areas the worst, leading to misery. In a survey in Coventry, 81% of teachers said their workload wasn't manageable and 97% said the workload was having consequences on their personal life.
But the junior doctors who we have marched alongside have set a great example and teachers have confidence in fighting these attacks."
Sacked Samworth Brothers worker and bakers' union activist Kumaran Bose addressed the conference. Samworth Brothers cut bank holiday, overtime and Sunday premiums for its 9,500 workers following the introduction of the National Living Wage. Kumaran said: "Why have I been dismissed? For fighting for the rights of people on the shop floor. I didn't accept the cuts to premiums, my colleagues were angry, crying and someone needed to stand up. I recruited people to the union and now nearly 50% of workers there are in a union. But the company refused to recognise the union and sacked me. I will fight until the end."
Welsh strikers have been making headlines this summer and Geraint Parfitt, PCS rep at National Museum Wales site St Fagans, addressed the conference saying: "Wales have won in the football and we've also won our dispute at National Museum Wales".
Clog maker and strike leader Geraint rousingly explained: "Our dispute was the longest running one since the formation of the Welsh Assembly government. We raised tens of thousands of pounds, took indefinite strike action and secured bank holiday payments and other important terms and conditions.
There is one word we can use - no. We said no, you are not taking our pay off us." The NSSN played its part in the dispute, including raising £420 along with Socialist Party members in just three collections outside Cardiff stations.
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, used his platform speech at the NSSN conference to raise a number of differences with the Socialist Party. He has every right to do so; comradely discussion and debate on the way forward is to be welcomed.
Regrettably, however, he also made unfounded criticisms of the Socialist Party and the Socialist newspaper. As the main report of the conference explains, he unfortunately did not stay to hear our response.
Matt said that the Socialist published an article by Unison NEC member Roger Bannister (writing in a personal capacity) saying that Matt "had not lifted a little finger to fight the trade union bill". This is completely untrue.
On the contrary, while we have had differences with Matt, we have always recognised his role as one of the minority of trade union general secretaries that have trenchantly defended workers' interests. This was even indicated by the way the chair of the conference, Socialist Party member and NSSN secretary Linda Taaffe, introduced Matt by praising his role in campaigning to demand the TUC take action in support of the junior doctors' dispute and on other issues.
The article in question, published on 9 June, originally contained the sentence, "The trade union leaders' support for the EU on the spurious grounds of defending workers' rights ironically comes soon after they failed to lift a finger to stop the Tory government ripping up the right to strike of millions of British workers with the Trade Union Act." This reference was not intended to include left union leaders such as Matt Wrack.
Nonetheless, when Matt complained about it to Socialist Party members via Twitter, we immediately changed the online version so that it read: "the TUC and most trade union leaders failed to lift a finger to stop the Tory government ripping up the right to strike of millions of British workers with the Trade Union Act."
We wrote to Matt on 10 June to clarify and to explain how the article had been reworded. Given this, it was highly misleading of Matt to tell the NSSN conference that we had attacked him for not lifting a finger on the anti-trade union bill.
After seven and a half years, and costing millions of pounds, the Chilcot inquiry into the Blair government's pre-invasion, invasion and occupation of Iraq is due to be published as the Socialist goes to press.
Most pundits are expecting only mild criticism of Tony Blair, if not a political whitewash - especially as he and others were shown the findings for comment prior to publication. Certainly there won't be an invitation to prosecute the warmonger.
Much of the war correspondence between former US president George W Bush and Tony Blair has been redacted. During the inquiry proceedings it was pointed out that one panel member, the late Sir John Gilbert, had publicly supported the Iraq war!
Blair and his inner Labour acolytes, including Gordon Brown and former foreign secretary Jack Straw, should be in the dock for war crimes.
Their legacy is a bloody, sectarian Iraq, weakly governed by a corrupt clique, while much of the country today is ruled by the brutal jihadists of Isis. The recent suicide bombings in Baghdad in which hundreds died are a bloody and timely reminder of the consequences of Blair's imperialist ambitions.
This is not some unfortunate consequence of 'liberating' Iraq as Blair continues to bleat. It was something clearly predictable at the time of the invasion in 2003, as the Socialist repeatedly warned.
By toppling the dictator Saddam Hussain - who the West had supported and bankrolled during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war - in the absence of a mass, united, working class Iraqi opposition, the inevitable result was a sectarian bloodbath, mass unemployment and crippling poverty.
This lesson was not learnt by Western governments. Instead they repeated it in Libya and Syria. These military interventions in turn contributed to the current refugee crisis, and exacerbated the capitalist political crisis in Europe.
And much of the billions of dollars of post-invasion investment to rebuild the country was siphoned off by profit-hungry Western contractors and corrupt Iraqi officials.
Millions of poor Iraqis have died, been injured and driven into exile as a result of the Iraq war. Blair and his cohorts have blood on their hands. Let's put them on trial for their crimes.
George Osborne announced on 4 July that he would cut corporation tax by a quarter, bringing it from 20% down to just 15%. This new rate will be among the lowest in Europe, pushing forward Osborne's plan to make the UK a global tax haven.
This shocking move contradicts Osborne's pre-Brexit threats of tax hikes. Once again, it shows the Tories' true objectives: to hand money to the rich at the expense of the poor.
Tax cuts for big businesses will result in further cuts in public spending, hitting the poorest hardest. Meanwhile, CEOs will award themselves fatter pay packets from their increased profits. The trade union leaders must respond to any attempt by the government to make workers pay for the bosses' crisis with coordinated strikes.
Tax breaks for the rich and big businesses are exactly the type of elite handout that both Leavers and many Remainers voted against in the EU referendum last month. Brexit was an enormous protest against the handing of money and power over to big business, and yet the Tories continue to do it.
Some of the largest corporations avoid paying most or all of their taxes anyway. The Socialist Party calls for the nationalisation of the top 150 corporations, and all corporate tax avoiders, under democratic working class control. Then workers could run the economy for the benefit of all, not the 1%.
The Brexit vote has left the Tories in chaos. Cuts to corporation tax will further alienate the public that voted decisively against big business. We must fight for a general election now, to oust this weak and divided government.
The death of a homeless man, sleeping rough in the centre of Chatham for over a year, has brought calls for action over the spiralling housing crisis in Kent's Medway towns.
Samson Paine's body was discovered in a tent very near council offices where over 1,000 homeless applications have been received in the last year alone. Many people are asking why nothing more is being done to support some of the most vulnerable in our society, and how such tragedies can be prevented in future.
A new campaign, 'Medway Justice for Homeless People', is drawing together many who are angry and want change. At a meeting called by local activist Guy Jordan there was unanimous support for an enquiry into Samson's death - but also recognition that this single tragedy highlights a bigger problem.
"Being homeless is a situation any of us could be just two steps away from," said Guy, "and cuts to local authorities have exacerbated the situation. The people we elected have got to carry the can collectively."
Guy's comments go to the heart of the problem. Over many years, Medway's Tory council has outsourced its homeless accommodation provision to private landlords and ignored its responsibilities to those most in need. Labour in opposition has been tame in holding it to account for its wilful neglect. Now the chickens are coming home to roost.
Continued austerity is literally killing people. The campaign already has the support of Medway Trade Union Council, and general union Unite's Kent 'community' branch. Reverse all cuts - for mass building of council homes. No more deaths on our streets.
The property developer son of a Tory MP has finally received justice for an accidental scratch to one of his many luxury cars. A tractor driver bumped him after hitting a pothole. The driver's insurer has had to pay out almost £46,000 in repair and legal costs.
Charles Gow's McLaren 12C supercar received cosmetic damage in the accident. The poor soul was reduced to hiring a Mercedes coupé because a temporary Ferrari was not available.
Apparently the Aston Martin Vanquish, Aston Martin DB7 and BMW M5 he also owns are all too 'common' to actually be seen out in.
Meanwhile, cycle couriers have a fight on their hands just to receive basic employment rights.
Delivery cyclists are not entitled to the minimum wage, sick pay or annual leave. This is because - like Uber drivers - their bosses consider them 'self-employed' contractors rather than employees. The result is that bosses take all of the profits, but none of the risk.
Four couriers in trade union IWGB - which also organises some London cleaners and security guards - are pursuing an employment tribunal.
The Socialist offers their campaign full support. No to casualisation and the 'gig' economy. For flexible working on our terms, not the bosses'. For a real living wage and full employment rights for all from day one of employment.
London's Blairite mayor Sadiq Khan gets his priorities straight following the Brexit vote (Evening Standard, 4 July)
Spoof news reporter Jonathan Pie (actor and comedian Tom Walker) shows more insight than many politicians on the Brexit vote
24 June 2016
30 June 2016
4 July 2016
84% - Majority of the public which wants EU migrants to be allowed to stay, according to a new ICM poll
77% - Majority of Leave voters who want EU migrants to be allowed to stay (same poll) - hardly a victory for the far right
Right-wing bosses' mag the Spectator catches up with what the Socialist has been saying for months
Last issue of the Socialist, 'United working class resistance can cut across racism'
Concerned about their future and that of the National Health Service (NHS), junior doctors in England have voted by 58% to 42% to reject the terms of their proposed new working contract.
With teachers, college lecturers and many other groups of workers having to take strike action against this austerity-driven Tory government and greedy employers, junior doctors should now approach the TUC and coordinate further industrial action.
The only reason health minister Jeremy Hunt backed down from imposing an earlier rotten contract and reopened negotiations was a series of determined strikes of the junior doctors, with overwhelming public support.
Any new threat by Hunt to impose this contract again must be met by strike action.
Junior doctors felt that negotiators had conceded too much and the compromise deal has now been thrown out. Clearly a majority of junior doctors believe that their loss of earnings and a lack of proper oversight on working excessive hours in an increasingly fragmented NHS were unacceptable.
In the wake of the vote Johann Malawana immediately resigned as chair of the BMA union's junior doctor committee. He accused the Tories of undermining the NHS and driving it "headlong into a wider crisis".
Yannis Gourtsoyannis of the BMA junior doctors' committee spoke at the recent National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) conference. To rousing applause he said: "Building links between our unions is vital as we fight for a society in which workers can determine their rights and flourish inside and outside of the workplace."
Anticipating the vote Yannis continued: "I think a 'no' vote is likely and necessary as the contract is not good enough. If we vote no we then need to escalate the action as the government is on its knees."
The Socialist Party has mobilised public support for the junior doctors' previous pickets and demonstrations. Once again we will be on the streets drumming up support for any further action to secure a just deal and workable contract.
But we will also be demanding that the trade union movement concretely acts to coordinate industrial action and put into effect the demand for a 24-hour general strike against the austerity agenda of this weakened Tory government. We also demand that Labour MPs stop attacking Jeremy Corbyn and start supporting the junior doctors and other workers.
Enough is enough: that was the message from National Union of Teachers (NUT) members in the recent strike ballot, with an emphatic 91.7% Yes vote. Today's strike represents a backlash against continued attacks on teachers and education as a whole. Workload, micro management and performance related pay are forcing record numbers out of the profession and fuelling a teacher shortage crisis. The bruising testing regime in all key stages has led to extreme stress and anxiety amongst students. But the tide can be turned.
The Tories are in complete disarray after the EU referendum but were a weak government already; Nicky Morgan has u-turned on baseline testing and zig-zagged on forcing all schools to become academies. And now, post referendum, Policy Exchange, the Tories' favourite think-thank, predicts the White Paper is 'a goner'. We need to make that happen and get back onto the front foot.
We know that if we are to beat the Tories, one strike day will not be enough. It is imperative that NUT members and the government know that we're fighting to win this time. That means we must go into the summer holidays with more dates for strike action announced for the autumn term, as agreed by NUT conference. This will give confidence to Unison and GMB members to turn their conferences' decisions to take industrial action into a reality.
The NUT should convene a meeting between the leaderships of all the education unions, to discuss how to link up the disputes in the autumn term. This should be organised as a matter of urgency. A joint negotiating strategy could be developed to ensure that all education workers can get behind a programme of action. The call should go out for members' meetings at local and workplace level between the unions to prepare for coordinated action.
The scale of cuts to education proposed by this government is unprecedented. Schools across the country, especially in the cities, face massive cuts. Some London secondary schools are reporting cuts of up to £2-3 million in the next few years and that will damage students' education. That means we must build campaigns in the communities to fight these cuts. These campaigns would also be able to take up the issue of testing, particularly SATs, and lay the ground for a boycott next year. Parents, students and education workers have the potential to create a mighty social movement in defence of education with industrial action at its core.
Leicester teachers were emotional, angry and defiant. Emotional because teachers know that children are being hurt by the cuts and you can't do your job properly because of the work load. Angry because speakers explained how money was going; and defiant because they can't take any more.
The NUT was supported by the UCU lecturers' union who chose to strike on same day. Unison and bakers' union members also joined the march, and the Trades Council.
There was great applause when Tony Church, secretary of Leicester and District trade union council, called for all unions to unite and strike together. The biggest cheer of the rally was when Tony defended Jeremy Corbyn against Labour's right wing .
A pupil at Connaught school in Leytonstone, east London pointed at the badge in support of the strike and said "well done". NUT members here were part of the national action today; there is also an ongoing local strike at the school against increased workload.
I visited the picket to support the strikers, and I took along a Socialist Party petition to build support for the calling of a labour movement conference in defence of Jeremy Corbyn.
The Socialist Party brought support and solidarity to teachers striking at Holy Family Catholic School in Walthamstow, east London and was warmly received, including with offers of biscuits and balloon games! New NUT rep Sara spoke to the Socialist from the picket line. She said:
"We're striking because of the cuts to education and the threatened forced academisation which is pretty much still on the Tories' agenda. Other issues include class sizes, the marginalisation of arts subjects. I've got Teddy, my five year old, here with me and I worry about what it's going to be like for him in school."
She and Erich had recently taken on a job share for the rep's role and are rebuilding a strong trade union tradition at the school.
Significantly Unison members all took stickers and leaflets and were supportive. The Socialist Party calls for the next strike to be coordinated across all school workers to defend education.
The picket got supportive honks from cars and buses and fist pumps, cycle bells and whoops from passers' by. We all need a fightback!
All the teachers on the picket line wanted to see trade union action to defend Jeremy Corbyn and signed the call for trade union leaders to initiate a labour movement conference to build active defence.
Southampton NUT organised an energetic rally addressed by new and experienced activists. The biggest round of applause came in response to a Socialist Party teacher's call for coordination with all education unions and an escalation of action in the autumn term.
The Southampton rally laid the foundations for this with a delegation from Unison representing school support staff and UCU on strike at both of the city's universities.
Striking teachers from around West Yorkshire gathered in central Leeds today to protest against the Tory's draconian education reforms. Faced with real term budget cuts of 9-14% over the next three years, the destruction of national terms and conditions, and forced academisation, those present were in a militant mood.
Around 500-600 people gathered in Victoria gardens including teachers, lecturers, support staff, parents and students. The demonstration marched through central Leeds to a rally point and heard from a variety of speakers.
Highlights included an impassioned defence of creative subjects in schools, solidarity from the UCU, and a classroom teacher declaring: "We are teachers, trade unionists, and we simply must win this". The last speaker, one of the region's NUT NEC members, confirmed that future action was being planned, but there were no specific points made about strategy going forward.
The NUT nationally must come up with a clear timeline of escalating strike action, coordinated with other unions including the junior doctors who today rejected the government's contract offer, with a view to defeating the already weakened Tory government.
A Socialist Party initiated petition calling for the labour movement to organise a conference in defence of Jeremy Corbyn gathered over 100 signatures in an hour - an important sign of the mood on a day when Labour deputy leader, Tom Watson, is meeting with union leaders to try to persuade them to withdraw their thus far solid backing for Corbyn.
Hundreds of striking teachers converged in Durham for a march to the city's centre and a rally. This is a young workforce who feel they have no option but to take on a government attacking both themselves and children who are being “tested to death”. Teachers at the rally spoke of their love of teaching, but also how they constantly felt “knackered” at the long hours they work.
One art teacher from Gateshead talked about the impact of cuts in art and drama within the school curriculum. She also spoke about the growing number of kids coming to school without breakfast and those facing problems such as depression and self-harm. For them, art and drama classes can be a “safe haven” where they have a chance of flowering - but Tories are denying children this opportunity.
One parent commented that Tory education minister Nicky Morgan accuses teachers of jeopardising children's education, when the reality is that Morgan's department of education is playing “political ping pong” with children's education.
Teachers expressed solidarity with Durham's teaching assistants who are facing being sacked by Durham's Labour controlled county council, then being reinstated on worse terms and conditions.
This article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 5 July 2016 and varies from the version printed in the Socialist.
The biennial policy conference of Unite the Union in Brighton 11-15 July takes place against the backdrop of a political crisis unprecedented since 1945.
Despite Unite having called for a Remain vote in the referendum, it could place itself at the centre of political developments and bolster Jeremy Corbyn and the anti-austerity left by backing and putting into effect campaigning resolutions at this conference.
Key votes at the conference should help to decide the future direction of Labour as Jeremy Corbyn faces down an attempted Blairite coup.
Unite supported Jeremy when he first stood for the leadership and has continued to back him against the attacks of the right-wing Parliamentary Labour Party. They should use their resources to ensure his re-election in any leadership contest.
General Secretary Len McCluskey has been quoted as saying that a 'peace deal' can be brokered by the union leaders over Corbyn, while saying that Jeremy will not be forced out.
But there must be no confusion - the only deal that the tens of thousands who have demonstrated over the last two weeks want is the one that maintains Jeremy as an anti-austerity Labour leader.
It would be mistake to try and conciliate with the Blairites. But maintaining him as leader is only the start. There must be a reconstituted Labour Party open to all socialists and anti-cuts campaigners. To ensure democratic accountability to Labour's membership, delegates should back the resolution from LE1228 Branch asking Unite to support mandatory reselection of Labour MPs.
Conference will also debate the question of Trident. The union says it is opposed to nuclear weapons but has always put a multilateral position because of the threat to jobs. This time, there are resolutions calling for alternative employment and retraining.
In this, we see a return to the spirit of the Lucas Aerospace Alternative Plan of the 1970s, when union-backed studies showed what could be produced that people needed rather than military weaponry.
We understand that Unite's executive council may produce a statement along the lines of current policy, which if passed would prevent votes on composites for scrapping Trident. But the Socialist Party would back such composites if put to the vote and, if passed, this too would strengthen Corbyn's hand.
There is also a motion from the Greenwich council workers' branch calling on conference to back the decision of the Local Authorities National Industrial Sector Committee. It calls for a fight against the cuts and for Labour councillors to propose legal, no-cuts budgets by using reserves and other measures as a stop gap while a campaign against this weak and split Tory government is built.
A composite from LE1111, the London Housing Branch, in composite with the London Print Branch, should be backed as a way forward to build a campaign against the recently passed Housing and Planning Act and deal with the chronic housing crisis facing working class people.
There will also be a composite backed by the Bart's Health and Nottinghamshire NHS branches which calls for action to defend the NHS against cuts and privatisation. It also supports the junior doctors, who have recently been in action and have rejected the government's latest offer.
If these and other campaigning and left motions are passed, Unite will be able to go forward by strengthening the fight against austerity, which will hopefully see this hated Tory government thrown out of office early.
The 2016 annual general meeting (conference) of the Rail Maritime and Transport Workers Union (RMT) took place 26-30 June against a backdrop of heightened conflict in both the industrial and political arenas.
RMT's battle against down-skilling and the removal of safety critical guards on Southern rail services threatens to become the most bitter dispute the union has fought for some time.
With the new anti-union bill about to take force RMT, like other trade unions, has to consider how to combat the anti-democratic demands of new ballot procedures and further restrictions of picketing.
The conference took a clear position on the anti-union legislation. It repeated RMT's call to the TUC for general strike action should the new act be used to prosecute any TUC affiliated union and further agreed that RMT will seek agreements with other trade unions to support each other should the new powers be used against us.
Two of the most hotly debated decisions related to the new political situation after the EU referendum. The conference called on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to campaign for an early general election to dump the Tory government. RMT has issued a statement of support for Corbyn's leadership and delegates wanted to see Labour setting the agenda for exit from the EU on the basis of a fight against austerity and privatisation.
Related to this was a further debate on the union's political strategy. The conference overwhelmingly agreed to continue participating in the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC). A TUSC fringe meeting attracted half of the delegates.
They committed to support Corbyn but felt that, at this time, it was essential to maintain an electoral alternative to Labour that was 100% anti-austerity.
Delegates, a number who have stood as TUSC candidates, were clear that we will not give blanket support to Labour councillors who cut jobs and services or MPs who vote for austerity and war.
RMT members and activists are rightly proud of the militant industrial and political stance of our union. The 2016 conference shows that those traditions are continuing to shape our union's policies and actions.
The boss of Govia Thameslink Railway, who operate Southern Trains, insists he will force through plans to get rid of conductors from services despite a summer of strike action by the RMT. The union said chief executive Charles Horton declared "war on the workforce, jobs and passengers." The RMT has also accused the government of supporting the company in the dispute with Peter Wilkinson, a senior Department for Transport official, reportedly saying "we have got to break them" referring to Southern Rail workers. The dispute is still live with further strike action possible.
Weymouth and Bridport bus drivers are going into their fourth week of strikes as bosses remain "stuck in a groove" and demonstrate no intention of changing their position in this pay dispute. With more than 110 drivers of First Hampshire & Dorset Ltd joining the strike, and with nearly 90% of drivers having voted in favour of strike action, it is clear important issues are on the line.
Unite the Union has been negotiating with First since December 2015 about trying to improve pay and conditions for the drivers in Weymouth and Bridport. Unite regional officer Bob Lanning has explained how the drivers have become fed up with the 'unfair and unequal treatment being meted out by the bosses, year in, year out.'
With the managers not appearing to acknowledge the rights and needs of their workers during this period of negotiations, the workers feel that striking is one of the last ways they can get their message across.
First Group is an extremely profitable UK company which boasted a profit of £52 million in its bus division. The company can afford to give its Bristol drivers a 13% pay increase, but for its employees in Weymouth and Bridport the deal on the table is only 2.3% over two years from August 2015.
Weymouth and Bridport drivers earn around £8.80 an hour while First Group drivers in Yeovil are on £9.50 an hour. Drivers working for rival firms in Bournemouth and Poole earn nearly £2 an hour more. This is clearly not a fair system - First drivers in Weymouth and Bridport are being discriminated against.
The strike has arisen out of frustration the drivers are feeling due to how they have been pushed against the wall as a result of years of insulting pay increases, which do not match the responsibility of their job.
They feel angry and let down and are now in revolt against what can only be described as 'poverty wages'. Unite has made clear its door is always open for talks, but in order to rectify this situation management will have to come to the table with a constructive offer which matches that of other drivers in the First Group domain.
The disruption to the travelling public should not be put on the drivers themselves but on the management who for seven months have refused to acknowledge the standing of their employees and appear to just be dismissing the legitimacy of their claims for a decent living wage.
Eager to get a better understanding of their cause I attended a picket line at the bus depot on Edward Street in Weymouth. Peter Hughes, regional secretary of Unite South West, explained what the drivers are going through and the causes of the strike:
"This is about the way the bus drivers are being detrimentally paid across the whole south west of the country and the poor conditions they are subjected to. First Bus are making a £58 million profit but the wages they are paying here are probably below the living wage.
This is ridiculous for highly trained and skilled people whose livelihood depends on a decent wage. These bus drivers are responsible for transferring millions of people every year. The holiday season is coming up in Weymouth and what they're trying to do now is ship in managers from around the country to take work off of our membership here, to make sure the buses still run.
This is a terrible injustice and it's putting people's livelihood at risk. Obviously we care about the health and safety of our passengers. If people don't know the routes then there are going to be problems."
He added: "As a fighting-back union we make sure to provide strike pay for all our members who take on industrial action. The last thing we want is to see our members out of pocket for taking companies on for injustices against them. We will back our members 100%."
The measures these drivers have been forced to take demonstrates a major problem throughout the whole of Britain. The wages and conditions of a lot of major professions are causing real issues for the livelihood of a lot of people. The crippling austerity we are living under has meant many people feel they are left with no other choice but to protest and strike.
This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 6 July 2016 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.
Greater Manchester Fire Authority is planning to cut 280 firefighter jobs and 26 fire engines. Fire Brigades Union (FBU) members have been protesting these plans, including a huge lobby of the fire authority meeting which approved the cuts. To make up for the loss in staff, the firefighters that remain will be forced to work longer hours. An FBU member in Greater Manchester told the Socialist: "The current situation is the authority is imposing a 12-hour shift with a start and finish time of 10.30. This will not only have huge ramifications for the quality of life for firefighters, but also the quality of life for their families. Not only are public service workers being asked to pay for governmental failings with their terms and conditions, but our families are being asked to pay also. Industrial relations, morale, staffing and safety of both the public and firefighters are at an all-time low. Our members will stand shoulder to shoulder to fight for the protection of the public, protection of our family lives and protection of our terms and conditions that have been hard won and fought for by our comrades throughout the years."
A demonstration on 3 July started in Trafalgar Square with a gathering of around 70 marching towards Parliament to demand votes for 16 and 17 year olds. As we marched, the crowd increased and by the time we reached Parliament Square there were hundreds chanting and marching.
At the rally many of these stood up and gave their thoughts on not only how 16 and 17 year olds should have been able to vote in the EU referendum but also the fact that vicious Tory cuts are deeply affecting the young, with libraries and youth centres up and down the country being forced to shut down.
Some people brought pro-EU signs and placards. But the event was neutral on the referendum outcome. The Socialist Party discussed with protesters the anti-austerity and anti-racist case for leaving the EU.
The demonstration was small but effective and many people (including myself) were able to speak their mind on why the voting age should be reduced to 16.
50 people signed up to find out more about joining the Socialist Party.
In these times of big profits for landlords in the rental sector, it's not uncommon for landlords to harass tenants. A letter demanding increased rent is usually enough to send the tenants packing. But not Butterfields tenants!
Tenants and supporters of the Butterfields Won't Budge campaign from a small estate in Walthamstow, east London, turned the tables on 3 July.
One family in particular has been harassed by their new landlords who want them out so they can sell the flat, along with others, and make an instant profit. The harassment of the tenants took place on a Sunday, in fact on Fathers' Day!
So a number of tenants facing eviction decided to pay the landlord a visit on a Sunday to see how they like it. They were supported by socialists and trade unionists from Waltham Forest Trades Council.
The landlords' family were at home in their huge house in upmarket Chigwell. They listened incredulously to the tenants' complaints. In the end they accepted two letters of protest from the Tenants and Residents' Association.
The tenants are determined to resist harassment and eviction. They intend to resist at every stage, even if the landlords decide to use the courts.
In response to a threat from fascist group South Coast Resistance to march under the slogan 'Refugees not Welcome Here', over a thousand counter demonstrators arrived at the assembly point by the Bargate in Southampton on 2 July, without a fascist in sight. Mobilised at short notice by a coalition of Southampton trade unions, anti-fascists, anti-austerity and refugee organisations, it was an excellent demonstration of the general mood to oppose the racism whipped up by the right-wing Remain and Leave EU referendum campaigns.
As protesters assembled, speakers opposed the threat of racism and fascists in the city and called for a united campaign to end austerity and to kick out the Tories.
Southampton has seen growing poverty from austerity policies with over 25% of children in poverty and 10,000 people on the council housing waiting list. It is these conditions which are the dangerous breeding ground for racist division.
It makes it more important than ever for Labour councils like Southampton to stand up to the Tory cuts and join the anti-austerity battle that Southampton anti-cuts councillors Keith Morrell and Don Thomas have built support for in the city. Both joined the rally at the Bargate.
Having seen off the fascists from their assembly point, we marched through the city to celebrate and promote our message - racists not welcome here!
The turnout is a reflection of the political turmoil post EU referendum, our stall was inundated with interest and discussion and many expressed an interest in attending our 'Tories Out' public meeting.
A terrorist attack, presumed to have been carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis), killed at least 43 people and injured 239 others at the Istanbul Atatürk airport on 28 June.
Three suicide bombers opened fire at passengers and security personnel before blowing themselves up at the security control at the airport building entrance.
The modus operandi and the time of the attack, taking place when Isis is facing important military setbacks in the region, suggests that the infamous jihadist organisation is seeking to display its continuing operational destructive capacity.
The Istanbul Atatürk Airport has relatively high security standards when compared with other European airports, and also has security checks at the entrance of the airport building. Yet these measures did not provide for a 'security island' or 'terrorist-free zone'.
It shows the limits of an approach based exclusively on reinforcing an ever-increasing security apparatus while not dealing with the underlying causes of terrorism.
How to fight against terror has become a question of the utmost importance in a country shaken by ten terror bombings against civilians in the last eleven months, in which more than 250 civilians died.
Sosyalist Alternatif completely opposes terror attacks, whatever the ideology of the organisation carrying them out. Every one of the recent terrorist attacks has been used to clamp down on democratic rights and to reinforce the powers of President Erdogan and the state machine.
Following the attack, the government temporarily blocked social media, as it did after every such incident, and any investigative media reporting has been prevented or censored.
Importantly, we need to examine and fight the political atmosphere which has created the ground for such terror attacks. The AKP government in Turkey declared a day of national mourning after the Istanbul airport attack, but this is outright hypocrisy. Indeed, Isis attacking Turkish targets is like the dog biting the hand that fed it in the first place.
The AKP (Justice and Development Party) government supported supposedly 'moderate' armed opposition rebels in Syria for years. In practice, Turkey has become a 'jihadist highway' and a support area for Isis behind the frontlines.
Ironically, the Istanbul Atatürk Airport is an airport through which a considerable number of jihadist fighters and Isis foreign recruits have transited through in their journey to the so-called Isis Caliphate.
It is only recently that measures have been tightened to prevent this flow of jihadists, probably one of the reasons Isis has started to turn against the Turkish state. But it is overwhelmingly ordinary people who are paying the price for this cynical game.
In the last couple of years, radical Islamist terror groups developed a network of terror cells throughout Turkey. The instability caused by the Iraq and Syrian wars and the imperialist and regional powers' supply of weaponry into these countries, increased accessibility to heavy and automatic guns and explosives all over the region.
The AKP government's repression against political opponents, including against the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP), along with the destruction of Kurdish cities and the massacre of civilians in the name of "military operations against the PKK", nourished political instability and growing polarisation in society, creating a more fertile ground for terrorism.
The growth of terrorism in Turkey is in large part a blowback of the Turkish government's policy. It is obvious that a government responsible for unleashing state terror cannot be trusted to address our security concerns.
To begin with, an independent investigation should be conducted into the 28 June events, engaging the trade unions and representatives of the workers of the airport, many of whom perished in the attack.
But more fundamentally, there is a need for radical political and economic change in Turkey, which will not come from above. The trade union movement, the HDP and the left need to come together and mobilise for a mass united struggle of workers and young people against terror, for social justice and political rights and against the state-sponsored military devastation which is taking place against the Kurds in south east Turkey.
Out of such a struggle an independent, socialist political alternative for the working class can be forged, linked to an agenda of socialist transformation across the Middle East.
Tens of thousands of teachers in Mexico have been on strike since 16 May, led by the National Education Workers Coordinating Committee (CNTE), in opposition to an education reform law that would open the door to mass firings of teachers, weaken public sector unions, and pave the way for the privatisation of public education.
The neoliberal government of president Enrique Peña Nieto took a hardline approach towards the teachers' strike from the start, refusing to negotiate with the CNTE, firing more than 4,000 teachers for striking, and arresting key CNTE leaders on trumped up charges.
The repression took a violent turn on 19 June when at least ten people were killed, most from the Oaxacan town of Nochixtlan.
In the wake of these killings, the CNTE has vowed to continue its opposition to the education reforms, receiving considerable community support. In Mexico City, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and the National Revolutionary Movement (Morena) party held an enormous rally with as many as 250,000 people by some estimates in support of the teachers.
There has also been a tremendous amount of international support. Seattle City councillor Kshama Sawant expressed solidarity with the striking CNTE teachers on behalf of Socialist Alternative and the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI), in a letter and video.
The Peña Nieto government, for its part, has refused to back down and Education Minister Aurelio Nuño reiterated plans to implement the counter-reforms.
The CNTE opposes the 'reform' law because it would allow the government to administer standardised tests and use them to evaluate teachers, opening them up to arbitrary attacks. It would also reduce unions' control over the hiring of teachers and limit the number of unionised workers that the state can employ. Overall, the law would be a step towards privatising public education in Mexico.
But this struggle is about more than the education reforms. Teachers and public sector unions have been at the forefront of the opposition to the neoliberal agenda of the Mexican ruling class, and the Peña Nieto government hopes to weaken that opposition. The government's inability to achieve this goal, in spite of how severely it has repressed the CNTE and teachers, reveals the fundamental weakness of the Mexican ruling class.
Capitalism has been an utter failure for ordinary people in Mexico. It cannot guarantee jobs with decent wages and living standards to most people, nor ensure basic safety.
Nearly 50% of the Mexican population lives in poverty, including 40 million children, while super-wealthy individuals like Carlos Slim, whose personal wealth is more than $75 billion, accumulate tremendous fortunes.
Capitalism in Mexico, however, will not fall on its own. More working people will need to follow the lead of the CNTE teachers and wage an organised struggle against the education reform law as well as other attempts by the government to impose its neoliberal agenda. Workers also urgently need a political force capable of providing an alternative vision to the bankrupt system of capitalism.
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A discussion with my work colleagues on a tea break demonstrated an emerging class unity that I have not witnessed before.
We all agreed that out was the correct referendum vote for vastly different reasons. We now find ourselves in agreement again as it is clear to all of us that the political class has no respect for the judgement of our class.
This has been nakedly and grotesquely displayed by the Parliamentary Labour Party's attacks on Corbyn who has done nothing more than be unenthusiastic in delivering working class votes to the Remain campaign. They must blame someone for the fact they could not collectively convince us to give them the result they wanted.
Corbyn now stands taller in the eyes of people who would not have dreamed of voting Labour before. We want him to stay.
There is an old saying: the last capitalist on earth will sell you the rope to hang the second-to-last.
Food banks are a stark indictment of capitalism. Yet Tesco makes a good profit out of the local food bank. People give out lists outside the store and shoppers buy their donations instore.
"Every little helps," as they say.
I was a member of the Labour Party for 30 years who left because Tony Blair was turning it into another Tory party. The NHS is facing bankruptcy as a result of former Labour governments' imposition of 'PFI' sell-offs.
The EU referendum showed a deeply divided nation. Only a Labour Party with anti-Tory, anti-austerity policies can heal these wounds. It's counter-productive calling the 52% who decided that leaving the EU would be better than staying 'racists'. It only strengthens the far right.
The Labour Party needs to convince those who voted Leave, as well as those who voted Remain. I believe that Jeremy Corbyn is saying the right things to achieve this.
Politicians have got the reputation of being compulsive liars. Jeremy Corbyn has a reputation for telling the truth and he has tremendous support for that.
What I think his opponents are saying is that he should have lied, saying there are no problems with the EU. If he had done that, he would have not only damaged his own reputation, but that of the Labour Party.
It's no use trying to get the support of the Sun and the Mail. It's the people that count.
"Peterborough to resettle 100 Syrian refugees" was the headline on the city's newspaper, the Peterborough Telegraph. This is an uncompassionate response by the Tory-led Peterborough Council which ultimately amounts to a tokenistic gesture - grudgingly given.
Seven months ago the Tories decided not to support the resettlement scheme at all. The council leader, John Holdich, claimed their opposition to resettling these desperate refugees was because there were "already pressures on services". This is fundamentally hypocritical given the years of eagerly and ruthlessly imposed cuts to those very services in the city by his party! It should also raise concerns for the people of the city that the Tories were claiming that they cannot deal with just five families resettling here each year until 2020.
However, after the deal was 'agreed' Holdich had an audacious change in rhetoric, stating that: "This city has a long and proud history of welcoming those that need our help and we will be working with groups from across our community that have already offered their assistance." He was forced to admit "I have been speaking with government and we have now come to an agreement. The government has confirmed that we will receive appropriate levels of funding for these families... to cover all the health, social and educational costs... in addition to them being able to access all benefits such as housing."
This development should give confidence to those fighting for international working class solidarity, and acts as proof that the government can be forced to make financial concessions under pressure from councils.
Let's exert that pressure on the government and fight for funds to protect all jobs and services!
Muhammad Ali, RIP. What many, including me, most associate with him was his outspoken and courageous stand against racism and injustice.
This was exemplified by his very public refusal to fight in Vietnam. For this action he was vilified, persecuted, stripped of his world title and banned from the ring. This was at a time when he was at the height of his boxing skills.
It took a number of years for this to be overturned. When he returned to the ring arguably he was a different boxer- he was older and slower. He adapted his original style - based on movement and hand speed, "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" - to one more reliant on his ability to soak up punishment.
His trainer Angelo Dundee commented on this "Due to his beliefs, he was robbed of the best years of his life - that's a subject that we must not forget, ever." The cumulative damage he sustained then has been linked to the Parkinson's syndrome condition which he developed, and which he lived with for the rest of his days.
As any human being he had flaws. For example, some of his 'trash talk' - of which he was a pioneer - was funny; some crossed the line and left a bad taste. Nevertheless, he will be most known for his charisma, his courage, his spirit, and his humanity.
'Legend' is an often over-used epitaph but in his case it seems apt.
The Tories have been stoking the flames of racial hatred for too long. David Cameron slashes spending on public services, attacks our NHS and schools, refuses to build cheap affordable housing, and then gives tax breaks to his millionaire chums.
Cameron and his Tory buddies then lay the blame for all of society's ills upon benefit claimants and immigrants, when the real problems are the corporate scroungers who refuse to pay their way, who have their tax-free riches migrate overseas at our expense.
With Cameron's divisive so-called 'counterterrorism' strategies like 'Prevent' clearly working to demonise Muslims, it is little wonder that 2015 saw a reported 326% increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes over those committed in 2014.
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What the Socialist Party stands for
The Socialist Party fights for socialism – a democratic society run for the needs of all and not the profits of a few. We also oppose every cut, fighting in our day-to-day campaigning for every possible improvement for working class people.
The organised working class has the potential power to stop the cuts and transform society.
As capitalism dominates the globe, the struggle for genuine socialism must be international.
The Socialist Party is part of the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI), a socialist international that organises in many countries.
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http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/23183