In April, the new National Living Wage came into force. But this “Living Wage” is nothing of the sort. Instead, many employees are seeing very little increase, if any – losing with one hand what they gain with the other – as big business seeks to claw back profits at the expense of workers.
To the disappointment of Corbyn’s opponents both outside and inside the Labour Party, the recent election results in Wales – as in England – did not live up to their catastrophic forecasts. Nevertheless, as Sam Pritchard (Young Labour elected representative for Wales) notes, both Plaid Cymru and UKIP benefitted from the anti-establishment mood.
Ever since winning the election for the Labour leadership last September, Jeremy Corbyn has faced an onslaught of attacks by the mainstream media. This vitriolic coverage intensified in the run up to the recent elections. As a result, even the BBC is now rightly seen for being a tool and voice of the Establishment, as their mask of “neutrality” and “impartiality” rapidly slips.
Last week’s Scottish parliamentary election results demonstrated the continuing dominance of the SNP over Scottish politics. Labour, meanwhile, were pushed into a humiliating third place – squeezed out by the left-wing, pro-independence stance of the SNP on one side, and by the right-wing, Unionist position of the Tories on the other.
The upcoming referendum on the European Union has generated much debate amongst the British Left. Over the decades of evolution of the EU institutions, the majority opinion among left-wingers has shifted from opposition to support. We must clarify our understanding of the EU and the related issues ahead of this referendum to provide a clear perspective.
Representatives of the British Army have now written young people off as apathetic time wasters, simply because they are not joining the Territorial Army and the Reserves and are instead surfing the internet. Vic Dale looks at conditions for the rank-and-file in the army, and highlights the demand for unionisation in the armed forces.
The election results were a shock – a shock for Labour’s right wing, who had been prophesying of electoral Armageddon. Events did not follow the script for the Blairites, who hoped for a Labour defeat as an excuse to move against the Labour leader. The prospect of a leadership challenge has now been pushed into the background…for the time being.
The last week has seen a deluge of mud-slinging by the Blairites, Tories and right-wing press, who are intent on using allegations of “anti-Semitism” on the Left as a tool to undermine Corbyn. As Ben Gliniecki discusses, this latest concerted effort by Corbyn’s opponents was preceded by a similarly intense smear campaign against the NUS president-elect, Malia Bouattia.
On 23rd June, voters in Britain will go to the polls to decide whether the UK remains part of the EU. Most people, however, are completely turned off by the hollow rhetoric emanating from both sides of the so-called debate, with both the Leave and Remain camps dominated and led by reactionaries. We say: a plague on both your houses! Fight for a genuine alternative for working people! Fight for socialism!
Just a few days before the May elections, the Blairites in the Labour Party have stepped up their war against Jeremy Corbyn, using the slur of “anti-Semitism” to further their aims. By doing so, they are hell-bent on creating a “crisis” within the Party.
The verdict by the jury into the deaths of 96 people at a football match on 15th April 1989 now stands as a damming indictment of the police and the whole establishment, including the then Tory government. The struggle continues now to bring down this whole rotten system!
We publish here an extended letter from a Socialist Appeal supporter and nurse within the NHS, who describes the shambolic conditions that have developed within the National Health Service as a result of years of underfunding and mismanagement by the Tories. As the junior doctors continue with all-out strike action, the letter is a poignant reminder of the need to fight to defend the NHS.