Approximately 200 protestors, including students and trade unionists, gathered outside the Cambridge Union on Tuesday 19th February to protest against Marine Le Pen’s invite to speak. The leaders of the Union – an old debate society – have gained a reputation in recent times for courting controversy, inviting various dubious political characters under the guise of “freedom of speech”.
On Thursday 14th February, around 80 UCU members and other trade unionists turned out to support a one-day strike called by UCU members at Halesowen College in support of four teachers who have been sacked by the Principal. Darrall Cozens reports on the latest developments in the case of the Halesowen Four, which is likely to be pivotal in the question of the victimisation of trade unionists.
Around 1000 people joined the Newcastle Stop the Cuts “Save our Services” march and rally on Saturday 16th February. The demonstration was the latest stage of the campaign to fight Newcastle City Council’s budget plans, which will mean the closure of several libraries, the extinction of Play and Youth Services and cuts of 48% to Arts funding, as well as a long list of other service cuts.
Trade unions representing Coventry City Council workers launched a campaign on Saturday 16th February against proposed cuts in council spending. The highlight of the launch was a mock auction of the Council House itself, which faces the threat of closure due to the cuts and privatisation of local services.
At its recent meeting in January the International Executive Committee of the IMT discussed the situation in Europe, highlighting the growing level of class struggle on the continent as the effects of the austerity measures being applied everywhere begin to be felt by the workers and youth. We are publishing a slightly edited version of the points raised in the discussion.
The Bank of England, via its Monetary Policy Committee, has issued its latest report. Like every other report from the Bank for the last few years, this most recent document has sought to revise all previous estimates for the economy downwards. Once again, the representatives of capital are feeling pessimistic.
On Tuesday 8th February, an event hosted by the Cambridge Marxist Discussion Group and the Cambridge Universities Labour Club attracted around 150 people for an evening of debate and discussion on alternatives to austerity, with a panel of speakers including Owen Jones, columnist at the Independent, George Owers, a Cambridge Labour Councillor, and Adam Booth, writer for Socialist Appeal.
The Coalition has suffered a defeat in its war against benefit claimants at the hands of a recent university graduate and an unemployed HGV driver, after the Court of Appeal declared the ‘workfare’ schemes currently being enforced by the government to be illegal. This ruling by the Court has exposed the desperation and instability of this Tory-led government, and highlighted the brutal policies that they are attempting to carry out. Ben Gliniecki reports.
Within the next few months local councils will be voting through budgets for the coming financial year and are under extreme pressure from the government to make yet more serious cuts in jobs and services. Labour councils in particular are being asked to act as agents for the Tory-led Coalition at Westminster in the interests of big business. Socialist Appeal supporters interviewed several Labour Party councillors in Hull who are preparing to defy the cuts.
In September 2012, the British Trade Union Congress (TUC), at it’s annual meeting of delegates from the whole trade union movement, passed Resolution 27. For the first time in its history the TUC voted a resolution which called for the full public ownership of the banks and financial institutions. Darrall Cozens takes an in-depth look at the question of the nationalising the banks.
The recent news that the UK economy shrank by 0.3% in the last quarter of 2012 will come as no surprise to working people. Four of the last five quarters have seen the UK economy contracting in what has been described as a “flat 2012.” The reality is that a triple-dip recession is now very much on the cards. But the most visible sign of the continuing economic decline in the UK has come in the British retail market. Ben Peck reports on the recent closure of many famous high street chains.
On the morning of February 6th, the prominent left wing leader Chokri Belaïd was assassinated in front of his house in Tunis. Thousands have taken to the streets, attacked offices of the ruling Ennahda party, which they consider responsible for the assassination, and a general strike has been called for tomorrow, February 8th. This could be the incident that sparks a much needed second revolution, two years after the overthrow the hated Ben Alí regime.