23 articles from the Socialist, issue 458

12 October 2006

Health workers beat the privateers

WORKERS AT Whipps Cross hospital in east London have won an important battle. They have scored a victory against the privatisers and the service-cutters and shown that organisation and struggle can win.

Get organised! Join the march on parliament!

THE ANGER at the cuts, privatisation and closures threatened in the National Health Service shows no sign of slowdown. Last weekend, there were huge demonstrations in Huddersfield, Worthing, Huntingdon and a number of other…

NHS – not safe in their hands

DAVID CAMERON’S claim at the Tory Party conference to be ‘the protector of the NHS’ is a sign of how far politics in Britain has been ‘Americanised’ – where two capitalist parties compete to sell their particular brand of pro-market policies, but where there is no party that represents working-class interests…

Protests at health cuts

Huntingdon: OVER 1,000 people marched in Huntingdon on 7 October to protest against the closure of Hinchinbrooke Hospital which provides a service for 150,000 in the area…

Angry marchers keep up the fight

ABOUT 250 angry protesters hit Huddersfield’s streets on 7 October, dismayed by the sham consultation that has taken place over local NHS cuts, writes Iain Dalton.

Fees can damage your education

Demonstrate for free education on 29 October: THERE’S one issue that weighed heavily on every fresher’s mind this year – not their course, not their social life, and not even whether or not to join Socialist Students! That issue is fees, writes Sarah Sachs-Eldridge.

Student fees can be defeated

The media tend to depict students as lazy but, with the TUC reporting that 630,718 full-time students work in part-time jobs, the stereotype is a bit out of date, writes Sarah Sachs-Eldridge.

Campaigning in the schools and colleges

“Can I get other people I know involved too?” asked one of the college students who we met at Southwark college. At other colleges where International Socialist Resistance (ISR) and Socialist Students have been meeting, writes Ben Robinson ISR national co-ordimator…

Chile: solidarity appeal

More than 600,000 school students and students have been involved in a protest movement. Led by secondary school students (the "penguins" as they have become known for their school uniforms) they occupied more than…

All views welcome at Socialism 2006

WE PRINT below a letter from a Russian living in Britain who isn’t sure about what the Socialist Party says about the ex-Soviet Union but who still wants to come to Socialism 2006 to participate in the discussions there…

Huge meeting greets socialist movement

Dundee: TOMMY SHERIDAN’S whirlwind tour of Dundee on 3 October was a good day for ‘Solidarity – Scotland’s Socialist Movement’. He spoke to 50 students at Dundee University, where 13 showed interest in joining Solidarity writes Harvey Duke, International Socialists (CWI Scotland).

Cable Street 1936: When workers drove back the fascists

THE SUCCESS of the British National Party (BNP) in winning seats in May’s local council elections in Barking and Dagenham in East London and elsewhere poses the question of how the menace of the far-right can be defeated…

A ‘race to the bottom’ for workers’ rights and a disaster for the
environment

BY THE year 2050 there will be another one billion cars in the world, on the on top of the one billion here today…

Dave Nellist’s global warning

IN 1972, David Bowie sang: “News had just come over… Earth was really dying”. He was wrong, we’re still here. But for how long? NASA scientists now say the Earth is warmer than at any time for the last 10,000 years. Dave Nellist writes.

Kazakhstan – appeal for support

25,000 coal miners on strike: MINERS EMPLOYED by the ‘Mittal Steel Temirtau’ company in Kazakhstan (a branch of the international corporation ‘Arcelor Mittal’) went on strike on 25 September, Members of Socialist Resistance (CWI Kazakhstan) write.

Brazilian elections: Lula fails to win in first round

THE FIRST round of the Brazilian elections was an upset for the current president and candidate for re-election – Luis Inácio Lula da Silva – of the Workers’ Party (PT), writes André Ferrari, Socialismo Revolucionário (CWI, Brazil).

"Bertiegate" scandal rocks Ahern coalition

A FINANCIAL scandal involving Ireland’s Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern – "Bertiegate" – dominates Irish politics and threatens to bring down the rightwing coalition government, writes Niall Mulholland.

Blood service faces cuts

AMICUS MEMBERS in the laboratories of the National Blood Service are considering strike action after management announced a far-reaching restructuring plan which would see at least 50% of the scientific staff made redundant over the next five years…

Trade unions must organise casual workers

Gangmaster Licensing Act: THE GANGMASTER Licensing Act (GLA) came into force on 1 October. This regulation of the ‘gangmasters’ who supply workers to industries like agriculture, food and packing is long overdue, writes Teresa MacKay, RAAW- TGWU.