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#KeepCorbyn
#KeepCorbyn: stand firm for socialism
Attempting to defeat the movement behind Jeremy Corbyn are all the forces of the capitalist establishment. It would be wrong to be complacent about Labour’s leadership election. Nonetheless, so far each attempt by the right at gerrymandering has been thwarted.
Liverpool: Corbyn slams “politics of the elite”
Up to 10,000 people flooded onto Liverpool’s St George’s Plateau and into the surrounding roads to greet Jeremy Corbyn on the Merseyside leg of his leadership tour. What a contrast with Owen Smith’s event a few days earlier, where the ‘crowd’ was easily confused with the queue for a nearby ice-cream van!
Wallasey Labour meet in resistance to the Blairites
Hundreds of local Jeremy Corbyn supporters met on 2nd August to oppose the suspension of Wallasey Constituency Labour Party (CLP) on the Wirral, Merseyside. Wirral Socialist Party welcomed and attended the meeting, which should be the start of a mass fightback to deselect Angela Eagle MP and the other Blairites.
Mood for unity but not with right-wing Labour infiltrators
Over 70 predominately working class people attended a packed and determined meeting in South Shields on Wednesday 4th August to defend socialism and democracy in the Labour Party. The meeting, held at Harton and Westoe Miners Welfare, was called by the Harton and Westoe Banner Group, an organisation determined to keep alive the traditions of not just the miners’ banners but also the ideas they represent.
Thousands attend Corbyn rally in Cornwall
On Saturday 6th August around 2,000 people gathered at Heartlands in Pool for a rally at which Jeremy Corbyn was the main speaker. People travelled from all over Devon and Cornwall for an opportunity to hear from the embattled Labour leader.
Bristol: Jeremy Corbyn wins support from young people
Corbyn’s tour of the UK continued in Bristol on 8 August. Around 2,000 supporters of the Labour leader packed out College Green in the centre of the city. Leila Ward, a young activist, spoke passionately about the struggles faced by young people. This included attempts to block under 18s from participating in the upcoming leadership election.
Hull: Jeremy Corbyn rally the biggest for 20 years
The largest political rally Hull has seen in the last 20 years was held on 30 July, with over 3,000 people attending to show their support for Jeremy Corbyn.
Jeremy Corbyn attracts 1,000 in York
There was a large rally in St Helen’s Square, York on Friday evening, 29th July. Jeremy Corbyn was greeted by the crowd of about 1,000 people with enthusiasm and spoke confidently and fluently for about 45 minutes.
Socialist Party news and analysis
The banksters are at it again. Despite huge public anger at their role in the financial crisis of 2007-8 it seems no lessons have been learned. A new report warns that “we’re sailing blindly into a second global financial crisis.”
Theresa May has announced she wants to lift the ban on selective secondary schools, a measure she states will increase social mobility. This claim could not be further from the truth.
Fight to defend HIV drug victory
The recent High Court ruling that the NHS should fund anti-HIV ‘pre-exposure prophylaxis’ (PrEP) drugs (pictured) has been widely celebrated. However, NHS bosses have vowed to appeal.
Workers in the UK have suffered the biggest fall in real wages among advanced capitalist countries, according to new analysis published by the Trade Union Congress (TUC). Meanwhile, bosses are cutting more jobs.
Privatised medical record chaos
Dozens of GP surgeries in England have had thousands of medical records appear late or not at all thanks to outsourcing giant Capita.
It’s one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us including a massive boost for bosses pay and unclaimed benefits.
Grunwick strike
Grunwick strike 40 years on – lessons of an epic battle
This month marks the 40th anniversary of the start of the two-year strike for union recognition and reinstatement at Grunwick’s film processing factory in North London – which became a struggle of national importance.
Socialist Party workplace news
Fawley strike defeats ‘race to bottom’ exploitation of migrant workers
Striking Unite members working for contractors NICO at the massive Fawley refinery in Hampshire have won an important victory for trade unionists against the bosses’ race to the bottom.
Low paid cleaners declare victory after 58 days on strike
The Socialist Party and the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) salute the victory of members of the United Voices of the World union after 58 days of indefinite strike action at 100 Wood Street in the City of London.
Samworth Brothers step up bullying and intimidation of workers
Trade unions like the bakers’ union (BFAWU) exist to defend and extend the rights of workers This is why Samworth Brothers, one of Leicestershire’s biggest food manufacturing companies, is trying to bully their employees at Kettleby Foods into backing-down from their perfectly reasonable demands for collective bargaining rights.
Communication Workers Union backs Jeremy Corbyn
A special press conference organised by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) alongside Jeremy Corbyn himself, saw the union announce its official support for Corbyn in the Labour leadership election.
HMY Radford shopfitters strike against penny-pinching company
Shopfitters from HMY Radford in Burnopfield (Tyneside) are on a three-day strike, starting Wednesday 3rd August. This strike, alongside a 24-hour stoppage in July, is the first strike action at this factory for 33 years.
South Wales NUM supports Jeremy Corbyn
We are very pleased to learn that the South Wales NUM (National Union of Mineworkers) has come out in support of Jeremy Corbyn in the current Labour leadership contest. The NUM has a long history of working class struggle, with the South Wales NUM an example of combativity before, during and after, the 1980s miners’ strike.
2011 Riots
2011 riots: An outpouring of anger at the system
Five years on from the wave of riots that swept across cities in England, many of the underlying social problems are still there or have got worse. There is a real possibility of new upheavals breaking out today.
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Axe the Housing Act: ‘We can’t pay, we’ll organise and we’ll stay’
The housing crisis continues to deepen under this rotten Tory government. Many renters are now shelling out over half their net income to private landlords. But despite the acute shortage of affordable housing, Teresa May’s ministers are pursuing a vicious campaign against social housing tenants. This is on top of the Tories’ vindictive ‘bedroom tax’.
Great reception in Hackney for Chicago ‘Black Lives Matter’ socialist
Over 60 people, mostly from the local black community, squeezed into a public meeting on 27 July to support and discuss the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. The leading guest speaker was Ryan Watson, an activist in Black Lives Matter in Chicago, who is also a member of Socialist Alternative – co-thinkers of the England and Wales Socialist Party.
South London #BlackLivesMatter protest marches on Downing Street
“I shouldn’t have to justify why my life is worth the same as that of my white neighbour,” summed up a speaker to applause from the crowd of around 100 protesters. We were gathered for one of three concurrent Black Lives Matter demonstrations taking place across London on 6 August.
Leeds Pride 2016: Pride must be political!
Leeds Pride is the biggest free Pride event outside London and is an important place for the Socialist Party to show our support to the LGBTQ community. Our petitions called on the NHS to fund HIV preventative drug PrEP and were met with enthusiasm, particularly from people who currently take the drug but have to pay £400 for it.
Socialist Party comments and reviews
Sanctioned – a victim of government callousness
A job seeker sent the following account to the Socialist of his recent experience of having his benefits withdrawn.
Food waste – the logic of capitalism
New figures that half of all food produced in the US is thrown away brings the question of the wastefulness of capitalism into sharp relief.
Letters to the Socialist’s editors including Blairite bullies, Owen Jones and Owen Smith, fighting racism and more.