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What we think
The process to elect a new leader of the Labour Party is underway and poses an essential question. What will happen to the potential, opened up by Jeremy Corbyn’s unexpected leadership victory in 2015, to win a mass party in the interests of the working class?
Labour leadership race: Reverse Unison’s undemocratic nomination of Blairite Starmer
Public service union Unison, the largest trade union in the UK, announced it was nominating Keir Starmer for Labour leader on 8 January. There is widespread outrage in the union’s ranks.
News
Low Pay, Long Hours. Bosses rip us off. Organise the fightback now!
Boris Johnson has announced the minimum wage is going up. It’s not by nearly enough. And at the same time, the Tories let bosses get away with paying hundreds of thousands of workers below the legal minimum!
It’s an emergency! In November, none of England’s 118 major accident and emergency departments met their targets – the first time ever. In December the situation got worse.
No free ride for the airline bosses – nationalise Flybe now!
Airline Flybe – which provides domestic flights in the UK – is in trouble.
It’s one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us.
Workplace news
Hackney school bus workers win pay increase following strikes
Northern Ireland: Thousands of nurses continue to strike for better pay
Westex Carpet strike reaches two month mark
Members of Unite the Union at the Westex Carpets factory in Cleckheaton, west Yorkshire, are about to reach the two month mark in their ongoing dispute over pay.
London bus drivers ballot to strike
Union lawyer arrested on security guards’ picket line
Campaigns
We need socialists in London’s City Hall
Who will fight for anti-austerity policies in May’s London elections if Sadiq Khan goes unchallenged by socialists and trade unionists?
Stop gentrification in Newham: “We are here, you have consulted us and we’re not going anywhere!”
Over 100 Newham, east London residents and market traders crowded into a church hall on Green Street to hear Labour Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz explain plans to ‘regenerate’ Queen’s Market.
Massive Scottish independence demo marks new stage in struggle
At least 80,000 marchers packed the rain-soaked streets of Glasgow in a mass Scottish independence demo on Saturday 11 January. The date was set hours after Johnson’s victory in December.
Young people who voted for Corbyn’s manifesto will now ask… How can we win those ideas?
It’s no surprise whatsoever that millions of young people voted for Jeremy Corbyn in the December general election.
London: Protesters return to oppose Middle East war
On 11 January, Stop the War called a second demonstration in central London after the recent attacks in Iraq and Iran.
Cladding scandal: Government steps up defence of landlords
The government stands accused of “systemic failure” to uphold building regulations and keep residents safe from fire.
Nottingham: Youth protest against Barclays £64 million fossil-fuel investments
20 young people protested outside Barclays bank in Nottingham on 11 January.
Socialist Party national committee meeting
International socialist news and analysis
Renewed protests shake Iranian leaders
A wave of anger over what is seen as the regime’s lying and incompetence – after the tragic downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet – has sparked off a third round of mass protests in Iran in just over three years.
France: Strike wave over pensions – Macron government in retreat
After the biggest and most widespread strikes and demonstrations last week in the current fight over pension rights in France, Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe, announced the suspension of the government’s proposal to increase the pension age from 62 to 64.
Readers’ opinion
Sustainable food production and the need for socialism
Millions of predominately young people around the world protested in 2019 at the lack of governmental action to halt global warming which is leading to catastrophic climate change.
Environmental journalist and campaigner George Monbiot recently narrated a thought-provoking documentary on Channel 4 – Apocalypse Cow.
Letters to the Socialist’s editors.
