We publish here two recent articles by Fightback – the Marxist tendency in Ireland – about the latest developments in the Croke Park 2 deal, which has now been rejected by several unions. An escalation of the struggle is now on the horizon.
On a warm Saturday lunchtime on 20th April, around 1000 people marched through Leeds City Centre to protest against the coalition government’s hated Bedroom Tax. Residents were not only showing their anger at the national government for their particularly cruel and inhumane welfare “reform” but also calling on their Labour run council to take a stand against the government. Callum Stanland from the Grimsby Unite Community group reports on the latest protest against the welfare attacks.
While Thatcher is laid to rest, the heirs of Thatcher continue to haunt us. This Tory-led “we are all Thatcherites now” Coalition is presiding over the biggest assault on working people for more than 80 years. They admit that the austerity will last for years; many think that this on-going austerity will last for decades. It is time for the leaders of the Labour movement to bury the Tories and carry out a socialist programme.
Over two weeks after the death of Thatcher, and over one week since her funeral, letters are still coming in describing the celebrations that took place in former mining areas in response to the death of the “Iron Lady”. We publish here two letters from Bob Stothard regarding the mood and feeling amongst working families in Easington, an ex-mining town in Co Durham.
Since the start of 2013, Sussex University students have been at the forefront of the British student movement. Whereas the occupations, sit-ins and protests of 2010 and 2011 were a direct response to the trebling of tuition fees to £9,000 per year, the privatisation of on-campus services has been the motivation behind recent events at Sussex. Jo Pickard of the Sussex Marxist Society provides a Marxist perspective on the campaign against privatisation at Sussex.
What is moral and what is amoral in the struggle for the transformation of society? 75 years ago Leon Trotsky wrote his masterpiece Their Morals and Ours, in which he explained that morality is one of the key ideological components in the class struggle. Marie Frederiksen explores the question of Marxism and morality.
As part of the Ted Grant centenary celebrations, we publish here a video of Ted’s speech at the 1984 Militant rally, in which he explains the contradictions of the capitalism, and the failures of the Thatcher government, as well as the Keynesian and reformist leaders of the labour movement.
As part of the Tory-led government’s attack on the welfare state, those on Incapacity Benefit are being forced to undergo assessement to see whether they are “For for Work”. We publish here a letter from Alun Morgan in Wales, who describes the harsh reality and insecurity facing those with serious illnesses and disabilities due to the Coalition’s cuts.
The Anti-Poll Tax campaign was a mass movement which brought down the Thatcher government, providing a wealth of lessons for the fight against Tory attacks today. We republish here a pamphlet written by Rob Sewell at the time.
Labour Party members and those in the movement fighting the brutal attacks of this Tory-led coalition government on jobs, benefits and services will be furious at the clearly co-ordinated efforts of the right in the party to push Labour back towards the so-called “centre ground” of the New Labour era. A selection of failed relics from the Tony Blair era have risen from the political grave to attack Labour’s “leftward” shift and to call for a return to the old “Tory-lite” approach.
Since the death of Margaret Thatcher last week the British Establishment have been revelling in their past. In a similar manner to the death of Princess Diana, the Royal Wedding and the Olympics, they believe that this event could serve as another circus to distract working class people from their problems. We would all come together as one nation and forget our class differences. This has been a serious miscalculation.
Momentum is building on the second day of strike action in the Home Office. Members in different areas of the Home Office are taking part in four days of strike action this week. As part of a rolling programme of action across the civil service, and in pursuit of national demands, PCS are escalating action to a week of strikes across the Home Office, involving different areas taking action on consecutive days. PCS Socialist Appeal supporters report on the ongoing action.