On the eve of the 2014 Durham Miners’ Gala, we publish here a review by John Dunn – from the Justice for Mineworkers campaign – of a new documentary, Still the Enemy Within, which demonstrates the emotions and events involved during the Great Miners’ Strike of 1984/85.
Socialist Appeal interviewed Davey Hopper, General Secretary of the Durham Miners Association, about the significance of this years’ gala, taking place tomorrow on 12th July, marking the 30th Anniversary of the Great Strike, and about the need to carry the struggle forward so the lessons of that fight are not lost. We publish here his message to those attending the 2014 Miners’ Gala.
In advance of the Durham Miners’ Gala, taking place this weekend, we publish here two short pieces in which those involved in the Great Miners’ Strike of 1984/85 discuss their memories of the struggle. In the first, Paul Winter recalls the Battle of Orgreave. In the second, Sharon Gaunt and David Martin discuss their experience of growing up in a mining community during the strike.
This weekend sees the 2014 Miners’ Gala take place in Durham – a spectalur festival celebrating the struggles of the miners and the labour movement. To mark the occasion, which this year will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 1984 Miners’ Strike, we publish a poem by Guy Howie entitled The Year the Miners Fought.
Tomorrow, 10th July, will see up to two million public sector workers taking strike action defend their wages, pensions and working conditions. Members of NUT, Unite, Unison, GMB, FBU and PCS are all involved in campaigns. This co-ordinated action must be used as a platform for the labour movement to call a one-day general strike and fight for socialist policies.
The July 10th public sector strike will be a significant step forward for the labour movement in Britain, with possibly up to two million workers participating. It has been dubbed by the press as a “mini general strike”. The task for the labour movement now is to ensure that the continued fight back against the hated coalition government is united throughout Britain.
Teresa May, the Tory Home Secretary, has announced that there will be a government inquiry into the possible political cover-up of child abuse in the 1980s. But no amount of inquiries or investigations will be able to repair the public’s trust in the Establishment, which has reached rock-bottom levels after years of seemingly endless scandals amongst those at the top of society.
Guy Howie reviews Beyond Caring, a new play by Alexander Zeldin, which portrays the conditions of workers in modern day, zero-hour Britain – a new normality where millions live a precarious existence, cut off from stable or even regular employment, a living wage and a union that can fight for them.
In this article, first published in 2004, Rob Sewell deals with the important contribution Lenin made on the national question and how such a correct stand on this issue guaranteed the success of the Bolshevik Party in October 1917. The national question remains a key issue for Marxists in the current epoch of capitalist crisis.
Recently a young worker and member of the Leeds Marxist Society, Ben Curry, travelled to Cuba as an international delegate to the May Day celebrations. We publish here his thoughts and analysis on what is happening in Cuba now and where it is going in the future.
In the second part of our series on the First World War, Alan Woods looks at the causes behind the war and examines the role of the individual in history. In particular, Alan analyses the interests that led German imperialism to push for war.
In this video, recorded at the recent International Marxist School in London, Alan Woods – editor of www.marxist.com – speaks about the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War One, discussing the causes behind the Great War, the interests of the different imperialist powers involved, and the role of imperialism in world geo-political relations today.