The recent local elections provide important lessons for the labour movement as a whole. Instead of helping to implement and administer Tory austerity locally, Labour councillors need to be mobilising the entire labour movement and leading a mass campaign to fight against the cuts.
Labour’s campaign to boot out the Tories is gathering momentum. Despite a concerted effort by the Tories, the right-wing press, and the Blairites to discredit Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader and his campaign are cutting through the web of lies and slanders by appealing directly to workers and youth with a bold and radical programme.
Every day, a new scandal emerges about the state of Britain’s rental market, with rip-off landlords charging eye-watering levels for shoddy accommodation. We publish here three short pieces that give an insight into the horrific conditions and parasitic behaviour promoted by rentier capitalists and speculators.
The crisis of social care in Tory Britain has hit the headlines recently, with a lack of funding and an exodus of care workers leaving the system on the point of collapse. We provide here the story of care worker and Socialist Appeal reader, who outlines in moving detail the horrific conditions facing care workers and the people they support.
An anonymous source last night leaked the Labour Party’s draft manifesto for the upcoming general election. It is without doubt the boldest and most left-wing manifesto that Labour has stood on in decades. This manifesto must now be a platform for Corbyn and Labour to take the fight to the Tories.
May and the Tories are seeking a bigger parliamentary majority – “a strong and stable government” – to take on the EU leaders abroad and the working class at home. Corbyn has correctly responded by promising to fight against the “broken Westminster system” and “rigged economy”. Labour must go on the offensive with a bold socialist programme.
The annual analysis of the wealth of the richest 1,000 people in Britain by the Sunday Times has been completed once again. The results are shocking, but unsurprising. It is clear – as Jeremy Corbyn has stated – that the Tories are presiding over a “rigged system” and are in the pockets of the rich.
In the build up to next month’s general election, the establishment has been wondering what to do about the Liberal Democrats. Traditionally promoted as a so-called “progressive” alternative to syphon votes away from Labour, the Tories are now worried by the threat posed by the Lib Dems in Remain-voting areas.
Last week’s local election results have important lessons for Labour. It was not the meltdown that some were predicting, but it was nevertheless a poor result. Corbyn must now throw caution to the wind and go on the offensive. This is the only way to defeat the Tories and “overturn their rigged system”.
In a confident anti-establishment speech last Saturday, Corbyn launched the Labour Party’s slogan for the upcoming general election. With promises to build more housing, tax the rich, and provide more funding for public services, Corbyn’s more militant tone over the last couple of weeks has tapped into the seething hatred that exists towards the Tories.
With the upcoming general election to be fought primarily over the issue of Brexit, Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary yesterday outlined Labour’s confused position on this key question. The only way forward for Corbyn and Labour is to draw a clear line in the sand and fight this election on the basis of a bold alternative of socialist policies.
The crisis in adult social care is deepening. A recent report found that 338,520 care workers left their jobs in the industry last year – an average of over 900 a day. As a result of austerity and privatisation, the social care system is on the verge of collapse. A socialist programme of public ownership and control is needed to save this vital service.