Ahead of the May Holyrood elections, the ruling Scottish National Party is trying to make overtures to the Palestine movement. But for all the gestures of solidarity, the SNP will not be taking any action against the war machine or the capitalists complicit in genocide.
Last Saturday in Manchester, Britain First’s fascist knuckle-draggers were sent packing by over a thousand anti-fascists, including a sizeable Communist bloc. This is a welcome victory for the left, but far from a resounding one. The movement must draw the lessons.
Labour touts the Employment Rights Act as “the biggest upgrade in workers’ rights in a generation”. In reality, the new law is full of holes. Trade unions should seize what advantages it has given them, and go on the offensive against Starmer!
The importance of ‘Prince’ Andrew’s arrest cannot be understated. This latest episode in the Epstein scandal reveals the unbearable pressure of public opinion, and the weakness of the entire establishment. We say: one prince isn’t enough! Put the whole system on trial!
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar recently made headlines with his calls for Keir Starmer to step down over the Mandelson affair. But it’s not just the Westminster parties mired in scandal. Both Scottish Labour and the SNP are part of the sleazy establishment.
The Epstein scandal has set off a stack of dynamite at the heart of British politics, exposing the rot throughout the entire capitalist establishment. Workers and youth must mobilise to kick out Starmer and overthrow the decrepit system he represents.
Reform is raising a hue and cry over their supposed ‘right’ to speak at universities. But if students decide they don’t want pro-austerity, pro-genocide politicians on their campus, they have the right to mobilise in protest. That is the free speech we’re interested in.
In yet another setback for Starmer’s beleaguered government, the High Court has ruled that Labour’s proscription of Palestine Action is “disproportionate” and “unlawful”. This is a victory for the Palestine movement, and exposes the crisis of the ruling regime.
Westminster’s politicians have yet another ‘tough decision’ to make: except this time it’s not about how cruelly to attack the working class, or which minorities to scapegoat, but how to save the crumbling Houses of Parliament. Perhaps Guy Fawkes had a cheap solution.
“I will frame my arrest papers alongside my university degree, as one of my life achievements. No cause could be greater than fighting this corrupt establishment and their system.” Read the latest updates on Jamie’s arrest and the RCP’s response.
Desperate to wrap up the heroic eleven-month bin strikes, believing it will save councillors’ skins at May’s local elections, Birmingham City Council are now going for an injunction against megapickets. Defend the right to protest with militant union action!
Green Party meetings in the working-class cities of Bradford and Wakefield attracted crowds of hundreds last month. Elsewhere, Green support has surged in places like Teesside and Lewisham. Polanski’s anti-establishment politics are clearly gaining attention.
Yesterday, six of the ‘Filton 24’ political prisoners were found ‘not guilty’ by a jury at Woolwich Crown Court. The British state has once again failed to crush the Palestine movement. We also report from last Saturday’s 100,000-strong national Palestine demo.
Starmer’s future lies in the balance following sordid revelations about his Blairite ally, Peter Mandelson. The fallout from the Epstein scandal could drag down this crisis-ridden government, opening up a new chapter of instability in British politics.
The mass, collective action of the Minnesotan masses against ICE shows the way forward in the fightback against Starmer ramping up state repression. The lesson is clear: the way to fight back against state terror is with class struggle!
George Finch – Reform’s 19-year-old Warwickshire Council leader – provoked protest after attending a talk at Warwick University. While students grilled him on the inside, activists outside picketed the venue. RCP comrades intervened on the ground.
A UNISON-led campaign against Reform’s austerity cuts in Lancashire has forced a partial U-turn on the closure of care homes. But this victory came despite the soft, reformist politics of the organisers. RCP comrades intervened with clear class demands.
In the latest tranche of Epstein files, former-prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been accused of involvement in the torture and murder of trafficked girls. Prison bars aren’t punishment enough for these brutes and wretches.
RCP members hit the streets of Manchester last weekend to get a sense of the mood around the Gorton & Denton by-election. It’s clear that ordinary Mancunians are fed up with establishment politics, and despise Starmer’s Labour Party.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced a raft of ‘law-and-order’ reforms to British policing. But beneath the blustering bravado about forces being made ‘match fit’, these measures are pathetically inadequate to solve the establishment’s problems.
Despite leaving tens of thousands without water, South East Water’s boss David Hinton is in line for a £400,000 bonus. We say: privatisation has failed. Expropriate the parasitic water monopolies!
Keir Starmer is looking weak, paranoid, and isolated, after facing off Andy Burnham’s bid to return to Westminster. The Gorton & Denton by-election, meanwhile, is set to be a referendum on Starmer’s government, and could spell the beginning of the end for the Prime Minister.
With an unusually contentious Scottish Parliament election in May, the ruling Scottish National Party has thrown a few crumbs to working people in their latest budget. But these superficial ‘progressive’ measures won’t reverse the SNP’s declining support.
Left-wing MP Zarah Sultana recently spoke in favour of “nationalising the entire economy”. Unlike the cynical ‘left’ naysayers who pour scorn on the idea, Communists welcome Sultana’s bold calls for nationalisation. But how can we achieve it?
Universities stand at a crossroads. Course closures and job cuts are the order of the day. This is the endpoint of the process of marketisation, compounded by the crisis of capitalism. For free, high-quality higher education, we say: kick out capitalism!
Former Tory minister Robert Jenrick made a very public exit from the Conservative party last week, joining the ranks of Nigel Farage’s insurgent Reform UK. Daniel Morley outlines what this means for the right wing of British politics.
Venezuela is being plundered by Donald Trump. President Nicolás Maduro is held prisoner in New York. Venezuelan oil and wealth is draining out of the country. Our government is cheerleading this process. We urgently need your help to say: Hands off Venezuela!
Global turmoil. Economic weakness. A crumbling establishment. Widespread radicalisation. As 2026 gets underway, Britain is hurtling towards further decline and disarray. RCP general secretary Ben Gliniecki sets out the Marxist perspective for the coming year.
Prisons are overcrowded, probation services are chronically understaffed, and crimes from burglary to violent offences are on the rise. Despite successive governments’ promises to be ‘tough on crime’, Britain’s repressive institutions are falling apart.
Known as “Bastard Dave” by his Met Police colleagues, David Carrick, a serial rapist and child sex offender, recently received his 37th life sentence. Far from one “bad apple”, Carrick is illustrative of the rot at the heart of our capital’s police.
Labour, Reform, and the Tories are all singing from the same ‘law and order’ hymn sheet in Westminster: upholding the ‘rule of law’ and being ‘tough on crime’. This is complete hypocrisy. The real criminals are in Westminster!
The ‘liberal’ British media, from the BBC to the Guardian, have spent over two decades slandering Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution, and backing regime change in Venezuela. These lackeys of western imperialism must be exposed!
Heba Muraisi, Kamran Ahmed, and Lewie Chiaramello – jailed for taking direct action in support of Palestine – are on the verge of dying after going on hunger strike for weeks. If they starve to death, Starmer and his government will be to blame.
Last month, resident doctors took to the picket line again in their fight for pay restoration, better staffing and decent conditions. Revolutionary Communists in Bristol report on the mood on the ground.
Emergency protests were organised in Britain following Donald Trump’s invasion of Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro. Our correspondents across the country share reports from the ground.
Starmer’s government has given its tacit support to the criminal kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. This follows a long history on the part of British imperialism of pushing for regime change. We must fight to overthrow imperialism.
A popular myth is that the British working class is too weak to carry out a revolution. Yet by examining the concrete facts, we find working class Britons are highly proletarianised and have taken the path of struggle many times in the past years. Will Collins examines this question further.
A mega merger is under way in Hollywood over the historic WarnerBros Discovery corporation. The merger has potentially profound implications in how we consume media, the future of cinema, and the whole of artistic culture for an entire generation.
A recent poll found 80 percent of British adults feel the UK is divided. Two thirds blame ‘culture wars’ for this division – and point the finger at the media and the politicians for their part in exaggerating, or outright inventing, them!
Eight political prisoners locked up for the ‘crime’ of fighting the genocide in Gaza have been starved and left to languish by the British state. If they die, the blame will lie with Starmer’s government and the system it upholds. Free the Filton 24! Lock up the real terrorists!
With the prospect of a Reform victory looming, the ruling class will undoubtedly be mulling over the question: can we trust Reform? Farage, meanwhile, is making overtures towards the establishment, hoping to present himself as a ‘safe pair of hands’ for British capitalism.
Labour’s plan to scrap juries in criminal court cases has been scaled back amidst widespread backlash. But the state remains an apparatus made by the ruling class, for the ruling class. We can only defend our democratic rights through struggle.
The SNP government is proposing to issue its own debt bonds in the near future, in the hope of funding public spending through extra borrowing. Far from providing sovereignty and independence, this will put Scotland more at the mercy of the markets.
Labour’s Home Secretary has unveiled shocking plans to send asylum seekers to military barracks and subject them to dehumanising measures. But these plans are expensive, unworkable, and will fail to put the brakes on the government’s plummeting support.
A survey of 11,000 Reform supporters has revealed the shaky social coalition that Farage rests upon. With many respondents feeling economically insecure and valuing public services, a future Reform government would face the exact same conundrum as Labour.
Britain’s world reputation used to be one of a perfect gentleman. Then, in the 1990s, ‘Cool Britannia’ swept the world. But now, ‘Weird Britannia’ has taken its place: a crazed island full of phone thieves, drunken race rioters, and protesting grannies getting arrested.
Labour’s Blairite health secretary Wes Streeting is cynically using the cover of “slashing bureaucracy” to sack thousands of NHS admin staff. We can’t leave it to Westminster penpushers like Streeting to fix the health service. We need workers’ control!
On the eve of the Autumn Budget, the bond markets – the investors who bankroll the British state – are getting jittery. The capitalists are losing faith in Labour’s ability to carry out the necessary cuts to ‘balance the books’. But what alternatives do they have?
This weekend, Your Party’s founding conference will take place. Unfortunately, the potential to forge a radical, working-class mass movement has been driven into a ditch by the reformist leaders and their petty squabbling, at least for now. What’s the communist stance?
Britain is plunging ever-deeper into one of the worst housing crises in generations. Yet, over a year into Starmer’s promise to build 1.5 million homes by 2029, the chance of coming anywhere near this target is looking increasingly unlikely.
The BBC is a key component of the ruling class’ carefully-built state machinery. So, when two of its leading figures are forced to resign, this suggests that a hidden war is going on in the murky depths of the state, and paints a picture of an establishment in crisis.
Today, it was announced that unemployment has jumped to five percent, the highest level since the pandemic. This is the result of several converging factors, which the capitalists are powerless to fix. Meanwhile, workers and youth face increased exploitation and burnout.
Zarah Sultana has come out forcefully against the institutions and allies of western imperialism, denouncing NATO and Zelensky. Such welcome words must be given flesh and blood, by mobilising workers against the warmongers in London and Washington.
Standing starkly at odds with the success of the Greens in England and Wales, several Scottish Green Party councillors and MSP candidates recently defected to Your Party – and urged others to follow suit. How do we make sense of this development?
With Chancellor Rachel Reeves sharpening her knives for the coming Autumn Budget, many will be left thinking “what is there left to cut?”. Everywhere you look – from classroom to NHS waiting rooms – Britain being ripped apart by the billionaire class.
This week, the warmongers in Starmer’s Westminster cabinet have been hysterically accusing the SNP-led government in Scotland of being a “threat to national security”. But are the SNP’s anti-imperialist credentials really what they are made out to be?
At ‘Surviving Spycops’, a recent exhibition organised by women activists who were deceived into long-term relationships by undercover police officers, we caught up with communist artist and RCP activist Nicholas Baldion about his latest piece, ‘Police Spies Ruin Lives’.
Since the collapse of Corbynism round one, there has been a notable vacuum on the British left. Now, like London buses, two left-wing electoral alternatives have arrived at once. What attitude should revolutionaries have towards this new left revival?
Mr. Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has been stripped of all of his titles and privileges, reminding us that royalty isn’t a divine force bestowed by God; nor does the right to rule run like blue blood through the veins of noble families. If a prince can be deposed, then why not a king?
Last Saturday’s knife attack has exposed the compounding crises which produce violence and social decay in Britain. The mental health epidemic, cuts to care services, and rail profiteering all make crimes like this inevitable. Capitalism is a danger to public safety.
Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir Nobody’s Girl has dragged into the light the crimes of Prince Andrew and the rest of the rotten establishment. Her account illustrates the lengths that the ruling class are willing to go to to defend their crimes.
Last week, the Welsh town of Caerphilly delivered a shock to Starmer’s Labour, with voters unseating the party from one of its former strongholds. As Britain’s political landscape fractures, we can expect many more such earthquakes in the years ahead.
A recent Guardian report has exposed how several UK universities are spying and surveilling students to protect arms companies on campus! Whilst in financial stress, it seems universities have plenty of resources to keep students in check to protect the interests of war.
Announced in Washington at the end of September, it is becoming clear to everyone what this ‘peace’ deal in the Middle East really amounts to. The continued bombardment of Palestinians, corporations encircling Gaza for cheap real-estate, all potentially led by Tony Blair!
The world is ablaze with revolt, workers and youth are rising. Yet an enormous vacuum exists on the left. Only revolutionary communism offers a real way forward: bold ideas and militant action, with the goal of overthrowing capitalism entirely.
While Britain’s children go hungry, and pensioners fear freezing to death, Starmer’s Labour decided to set aside time in parliament to overturn a ban on violent Zionist hooligans from attending a football game in Birmingham. What a sick joke!
A trial against two British citizens accused of spying for China recently collapsed, following a change in the government’s policy towards Beijing. Starmer will tolerate Chinese spying in return for trade and investment – yet another reminder of Britain’s drastic decline.
Fuelled by bold politics and anti-establishment audacity, Zack Polanski’s Green Party is surging ahead, with membership breaking 100,000 and double digits in the polls. The Greens are now a force to be reckoned with. What does this mean for British politics?
Not content with supporting arch-bureaucrat Christina McAnea in Unison’s elections, the misnamed ‘Communist Party’ of Britain have backed Starmer’s favourite Bridget Phillipson in Labour’s deputy leader challenge.
Half a million – including a 400-strong Communist bloc – took to the streets for Palestine on Saturday, showing the lack of trust in Trump’s imperialist ‘peace’. But the movement’s leaders lack answers. We must draw the lessons of the explosive European movement.
BBC Panorama’s undercover footage exposes deep-rooted racism, misogyny, and violence in the Met Police. While scandalous, this footage comes as a surprise to exactly no one – and hardly scratches the surface of this unsalvageable institution’s rot.
This year’s Tory party conference left many asking “what’s the point?” The lacklustre affair was plagued by empty seats, misspelt novelty chocolate bars, and a stream of Tory MPs defecting to Farage’s Reform like rats from a sinking ship.
Today marks two years of Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza. In this time, millions have taken to the streets of Britain to protest for Palestine. The movement is now at a crossroads. To advance, organised workers need to enter the scene en masse.
The British establishment has leapt at the opportunity to exploit last week’s synagogue attack to further their own interests, and demonise the Palestine movement. Their hypocrisy and cynicism knows no bounds. Now is not the time to back down, but to fight back.
The latest Labour conference, taking place in Liverpool this week, marked another milestone in the terminal crisis facing Starmer and his government. These cretins have nothing to offer workers and youth. It’s time to get organised as communists.
Anti-racist protestors massively outnumbered the far right in Newcastle over the weekend. But this victory came in spite of the political and tactical mistakes of the movement’s liberal leaders. The RCP had great success putting forward a communist alternative.
Universities are back for a new academic year, and so returns to the fore the crisis facing higher education. Across the country, students and workers are threatened with cuts, cuts, and more cuts. We need to kick capitalism off campus!
Since ‘working-class warrior’ Angela Rayner was ditched from Starmer’s cabinet, the union leaders have been inconsolable. Their ‘woman on the inside’ is gone, their Employment Rights Bill is being butchered, and their strategy of cosying up to Labour is bankrupt.
Last week, King Charles threw a grand party to please President Donald J. Trump. For all the pageantry and pomp, this was a rather pointless affair, with little of substance gained for the ruling class. The event could best be summarised as a circus with no bread.
Global turmoil. A rotten, crisis-ridden establishment. Reaction on the streets. This is the barbarism that capitalism has in store for us. But there is an alternative, revealed by the worldwide ‘Gen-Z Revolutions’, and the growing support for communism.
Yesterday, social media was abuzz with accusations and counter-statements between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, in an argument over the founding of a new left party. This is no time for squabbles. It is vital that we return to debating politics.
The monster ‘Unite the Kingdom’ demonstration on Saturday 13 September marks a turning point. This was an embarrassing defeat for the left. The blame lies at the feet of the reformist left leaders, and the so-called ‘Marxist’ Socialist Workers Party.
Fiona Lali and Khaled Malachi discuss the deepening crisis in Britain — from the failure of Starmer’s government to growing political disillusionment across the country. Why is public trust collapsing? Why does everyone seem to hate Starmer? And what does the future hold as the UK becomes increasingly polarised between left and right?
Last Saturday’s mobilisation against Tommy Robinson’s ‘Unite The Kingdom’ demonstration was a clear defeat for the outnumbered left. While the official leaders of the counter-demo offered moral platitudes, the RCP bloc called for class war to fight the culture war.
Ten years ago today, Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party, transforming the landscape of British politics forever. To make sense of developments today, we must study this important chapter from Britain’s not-so-distant past.
Days after brutal mass arrests of Palestine protesters, a Banksy mural appeared on the Royal Courts of Justice depicting a judge beating a defenceless, bloodied protester. This powerful artwork has now been removed, further exposing the establishment’s moral bankruptcy.
Anger over the migration crisis has sparked protests this summer. Real concerns over housing, services, and social decay are being exploited by the likes of Farage and Tommy Robinson. But the real blame lies with the billionaires and their representatives.
Last Saturday saw police officers arrest, intimidate, and brutalise hundreds more peaceful pro-Palestine protestors, at Starmer’s request. Fiona Lali and Khaled Malachi give an eye-witness report, explaining how this has only served to expose the government’s weakness.
“A house, a house, my kingdom for a house!” The tragedy of Sir Keir Starmer is reaching new pathetic lows, after his “working-class foil” Angela Rayner fell from grace. Nothing Starmer can do will save him. British capitalism is tobogganing towards disaster.
From deficits, funding cuts, and bankruptcies, to complicity in Israeli genocide, this week Scottish students will be turning up to a higher education system in turmoil. Strikes and struggle are on the agenda. Fight for your future! Join the Communists on campus!
With the SNP in permanent crisis, Corbyn and Sultana’s new party could fill the political vacuum among Scottish youth. This requires learning the lessons of Corbynism round one – which never planted its flag in Scotland – and offering a bold programme against austerity.
Palestine solidarity and calling out the genocide in Gaza has been criminalised by the British state. From Arsenal FC to housing officers, our readers show how this is the real two-tier justice system that exists in Britain today!
Tomorrow, thousands of workers and youth will take to the streets of central London in protest against the genocide in Gaza, and in solidarity with repressed pro-Palestine activists. This question has become a mighty headache for Starmer’s government.
Explosive pressures are building across Britain. Tensions over migration are increasing. State repression has failed to quell the Palestine movement. And strike action is on the agenda. At the same time, a growing layer is looking towards communism.
Zack Polanski has just been elected Green Party leader, winning a whopping 85 percent of the vote! He has done so on a programme of taking on the billionaires, redistributing wealth, and calling out the genocide in Gaza. But this “hostile takeover” will face turbulence ahead.
Today, Liam Óg’s trial hearing for trumped-up terrorism charges turned into a thousands-strong protest against the British government’s rank hypocrisy. If Starmer thought he could get an easy win, he was wrong. Hands off Kneecap! Lock up the real terrorists!
This month, the British establishment has ramped up its hysterical baiting of the pro-Palestine movement. From mass arrests on Parliament Square to odious media hypocrisy – the cynicism is off the scale. We say: hands off the Palestine movement!
While claiming to be a party for workers, Starmer’s Labour has become a home for profiteers and parasites. While former homelessness minister (!) Rushanara Ali turfed out her tenants, Tulip Siddiq denies profiting from her auntie’s corrupt, murderous regime in Bangladesh.
Several unions representing NHS workers have come out emphatically against Labour’s poor pay offer. The next step is to unite strike action across the unions, with a mass campaign against austerity and privatisation, and for bold socialist policies.
Right-wing SNP Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes has announced she will stand down in next year’s Holyrood election. Meanwhile, left-wing former MP Mhairi Black has left the party altogether. This paints a picture of a crisis-ridden party, stumbling into a blind alley.
Plans for a new left-wing party by Corbyn and Sultana have drawn enthusiasm and curiosity amongst young people – many of whom will now be able to vote in the next election. But will the ‘kinder, gentler politics’ of reformism cut it for ‘Generation Revolution’?
Britain’s MPs are enjoying the last weeks of their summer recess. But with the UK falling apart, many will be hoping these crooks don’t return. Corbyn and Sultana have taken a positive step forward. Now we need a revolutionary programme to burn down the system!
“Just like last summer’s riots, the police have proven useless in fighting off the far right. More often than not, they have protected these thugs from counter-protests. Clearly they have better things to be doing – such as locking up hundreds of peaceful Palestine protesters.”
All websites operating in the UK must now verify their users’ age if they host content deemed potentially ‘harmful’ for children. But we can have no trust in Starmer’s big business government to put young people’s welfare first. We need a revolution!
Visiting Scotland to open a new golf resort, President Trump was lavished with praise and gifts by grovelling world leaders. Topping this list is Starmer himself, whose emasculation served as a sharp reminder of the real nature of the so-called ‘special relationship’.
After 15 years of austerity, cuts and declining living standards, Nigel Farage would have you believe ‘broken Britain’ is because of immigrants and refugees. But the real culprits are Starmer and the capitalist establishment!
The Edinburgh Fringe festival begins today, but as tens of thousands pour into venues, restaurants, and hotels, many have simply been priced out or face extortionate costs to attend. In response, the Scottish comrades of the RCP will be calling out to reclaim the Fringe!
The billionaire press has shared no shortage of lies and distortions this week. From blaming the doctors who look after us for the NHS crisis, to yet more BBC hypocrisy in their coverage on Gaza, here our readers ‘read between the lines’.
The BBC has been rocked by scandal after scandal. Journalists are in revolt over the beeb’s censorship and bias towards Israel. License fee payers are falling by the hundreds of thousands annually. This pillar of the British establishment has been badly blunted.
On Tuesday, Keir Starmer dangled the prospect of recognising Palestinian statehood out as a diplomatic bargaining chip. Starmer’s crocodile tears have fooled nobody. It is actions, not words, that matter in politics.
A recent report by Reunite Families has outlined the devastating impact of the government’s immigration policies which has torn families apart. Under the glory of capitalism, you can fall in love with anyone you want, but only if you are rich.
Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s announcement of a new party has been met with a strong wave of support and enthusiasm. In this article, Alan Woods analyses these events, and what attitude communists should take towards it.
Almost one year after last summer’s far-right riots, protestors have targeted hotels housing asylum seekers, egged on by Reform. With anger and polarisation set to increase, the left needs a clear socialist answer to Farage, and a physical answer to far-right violence.
Today, Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana announced the launch of a new left party, aimed at taking on the “corporations and billionaires” and their “rigged system”. The RCP is getting on board. Fight for real change! Fight for revolution!
Yesterday, the racist Home Office worked hand-in-hand with the police to arrest migrant delivery workers in Birmingham. An outraged crowd gathered, and RCP members gave speeches exposing the real criminals: Starmer, Labour, and the capitalist class.
The hypocrisy of the British state, from the BBC blocking their own commissioned documentaries about Gaza, to the Met police arresting elderly people for their opposition to genocide, is Orwellian. Their dishonesty stinks!
Starmer recently met with the French President in yet another choreographed (and irrelevant) display of statesmanship. One product of these talks is another hare-brained scheme to appear ‘tough’ on immigration. These reactionary attacks on migrants are a divisive distraction.
British weather is known to be volatile, and the political climate is beginning to match this. With financial worries, imperialist tensions, and political instability to contend with, Starmer is feeling the heat. The communists, meanwhile, are making hay while the sun shines!
With Starmer’s government presiding over chaos, this year’s ‘Big Meeting’ came at a turning point for the labour movement. Trade union and left leaders must now turn their radical words into action, and build genuine opposition to Labour’s austerity and militarism.
As Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza escalates, the British establishment is clamping down ever-harder on Palestine activists. The labour movement must mobilise against imperialism and repression, and organise to overthrow the war criminals.
Eight years have passed since the Grenfell Tower tragedy, one of the most horrific acts of social murder in living memory. Meanwhile, flats in Merseyside are being evacuated due to safety concerns, and Labour’s housing ‘plan’ is putting profit before people and planet.
In this episode of Communist Radio, Ben Gliniecki and Daniel Morley discuss the prospect of a new left party and the role of the communists.
Last Saturday, Communists from all over Scotland gathered for the second Scottish Conference of the RCP, to discuss the world crisis of capitalism, the life and ideas of James Connolly, and the perspectives and tasks for Communists in Scotland.
The SNP has faced another embarrassing setback following their defeat to Labour in a recent by-election. With nothing on offer to fight Starmer’s austerity or secure Scottish independence, the party is in a vulnerable position. One wrong move could easily upend the status quo.
Reform has set its sights on winning over working-class voters in Wales, by tapping into anger at Welsh Labour and the establishment, and promising to bring back jobs and industry. But can Farage’s party deliver on these plans? And can we trust the liberals to fight Reform?
Last month, our so-called ‘free’ and ‘impartial’ press went gung-ho for war – manufacturing consent for Israel and the US’s bombing campaign. As bombs rained down over densely populated areas in Tehran, media moguls were salivating this wanton death and destruction.
Left MP Zarah Sultana has publicly announced her resignation from the Labour Party and called for the formation of a new left party, co-led by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Fiona Lali of the RCP discusses the bold revolutionary programme needed to build a political movement for genuine change.
Today’s anniversary of a year in office offers no cause for celebration for Keir Starmer and his ministers. His Labour government is on the ropes. It is only a matter of time before the Prime Minister goes the way of his hapless Tory predecessors.
As the global crisis of capitalism deepens, political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic are finding themselves to be a hostage to events: pulled and pressured by powerful forces beyond their control, as the status quo crumbles around them.
Keir Starmer was given a bloody nose in Parliament yesterday, as Labour MPs forced the government to retreat on its Dickensian welfare cuts. This opens up a Pandora’s Box for the Labour leaders, who are caught between a rock and a hard place.
Despite attempted censorship, multiple artists at this year’s Glastonbury Festival exposed British establishment’s despicable role in supporting Israel’s genocide. This reflects the burning rage against capitalism and imperialism, desperately seeking an outlet.
Palestine Action activists, ‘The Filton 18’, have been held under anti-terrorism legislation for months on end without a trial. Yesterday, our comrades in Woolwich joined those protesting their detention, and explained how this reflects the British state’s growing weakness.
‘Vassal State: How America Runs Britain’ uncovers the real content of Britain’s so-called ‘special relationship’ with the USA: one of vassalage and subservience. But the author’s liberal calls for the British capitalists to “take back control” offers no solution.
Thousands protested against Britain’s role in the criminal actions of the Israeli state on Saturday. Public anger around what’s happening in the Middle East has only grown, but to turn this into a successful struggle, the movement needs direction.
This afternoon, the government confirmed its intention to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group. This is nothing short of an attempt to criminalise the Palestine movement. In response, we joined an emergency protest at Trafalgar Square to say: Hands off Palestine Action!
In the run-up to next week’s NATO summit, Starmer’s Labour has announced more new plans to ramp up military spending, using the threat of a ‘Russian invasion’ to carry out attacks on workers at home. Down with militarism! For welfare, not warfare!
Israel’s latest act of aggression against Iran has once again stirred the hypocritical chorus of warmongers in Westminster. The task of Communists is to expose the crimes of Netanyahu, Starmer, and British imperialism; and to fight for international socialism, starting at home.
In its first year of power, Starmer’s ‘electoral fortress’ has suffered the same sorry fate as the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic. With stormier waters ahead, Reeves’ Spending Review is merely rearranging the deckchairs on a sinking ship. Time to throw these capitalist shills overboard!
Capitalism is destroying the beauty of the Scottish Highlands, where residents live in poverty amongst an obscene amount of wealth. In recent years, there have been strikes and even land seizures which show the way forward.
At last Saturday’s national anti-austerity demonstration, 400 Revolutionary Communist Party activists hit the streets of London in possibly the biggest communist mobilisation in decades. We say: Revolution against the billionaires! Expropriate the rich! Join the Communists!
From rail to healthcare, vital services are being suffocated by the parasitic ruling class. Starmer’s Labour offer no solutions. To overturn decades of capitalist decline, we say: expropriate the billionaires!
Beneath the surface, anger is rising within the labour movement. From teachers to doctors to bin workers, the industrial struggle will likely sharpen in the coming months. Workers need a political struggle against Starmer and the entire billionaires’ system, writes Ben Gliniecki.
This Saturday, tens of thousands – including hundreds of RCP comrades – will march in London against austerity. Starmer and Reeves are facing growing opposition to their programme of cuts. The communists call for revolution against the billionaires!
A recent poll has predicted that Reform could soon become the main opposition in Scotland, despite never having won a Scottish Parliament seat before. This reflects the deep anti-establishment mood in Scotland, and disillusionment with the ruling SNP.
A new book by a Belfast-based investigative journalist exposes a covered-up child sexual abuse scandal – involving the monarchy, MI5, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, and the Loyalist establishment. The British state is rotten, depraved, and abusive – right to the very top.
The British establishment has ramped up its witch hunt against Kneecap, with band member Mo Chara charged with a terror offence. The RCI opposes this blatant political attack, which is nothing but a distraction from the ruling class’s crimes in Palestine and at home.
A report from the Royal College of Midwives has exposed the conditions of Scottish student midwives. Holyrood politicians promise meetings, talks, and discussions; but nothing short of militant action will force these career politicians to remember their promises.
Starmer is boasting about the UK’s recent trade deals with the EU, USA, and India. But will these deals “deliver for working people”, as Labour promises? And has the Prime Minister delivered the Brexiteers’ dream of ‘Global Britain’? Don’t hold your breath.
The RCP’s 2025 British Perspectives document was passed unanimously at the Party’s recent Second Congress. This rich work of Marxist analysis outlines the key processes taking place in society, and will act as a guide to action for the Communists in the coming year.
The Sunday Times ‘Rich List’ has once again provided us with a rogue’s gallery of Britain’s biggest parasites, profiteers, and perverts, who have grown rich off the back of the working class. This is why we are fighting for a revolution against the billionaires!
Half a million people took to London’s streets last weekend on the 77th anniversary of the Nakba. While the Palestine movement has subsided in previous months, the anger in society has continued to pile up – and is desperately looking for an outlet.
On 7 June, tens of thousands will mobilise for the first national anti-austerity demonstration Starmer was elected. The RCP is organising a 400-strong communist bloc, so we can send a clear message: We want a revolution against the billionaires!
Starmer has announced a new set of anti-immigrant policies, prompting unrest within the Labour backbenches. This desperate attempt to outflank Reform from the right is a divisive distraction from Labour’s own failures. Our enemies are not immigrants, but the bosses and billionaires that Starmer represents.
Reform wasn’t the only party to make gains in the recent local elections, with the Green Party picking up support amongst those opposed to climate change, austerity, and war. However, the Greens’ confused reformist programme offers no way forward.
Labour has dominated Welsh politics for over a century. But after decades of austerity and decline, Welsh Labour’s support is collapsing. Meanwhile, Reform UK and Welsh nationalist Plaid Cymru are surging in the polls . Volatility and radicalisation lie ahead.
From exporting arms to the genocidal Israeli regime, to murdering civilians and children in Afghanistan – British imperialism and its agents are responsible for a multitude of crimes. We say: Down with all the warmongers! Down with capitalism!
The recent local elections revealed that Nigel Farage’s party is gaining support amongst workers in traditional Labour heartlands, including trade unionists. This must be a wake-up call for the labour movement: to fight for bold socialist policies.
Electoral success for Nigel Farage’s Reform in yesterday’s local and regional contests has provoked panic in Labour and Tory HQs alike. Britain’s political landscape is fracturing, as the centre ground collapses. Revolutionary upheavals impend.
In the latest issue of The Communist, our readers expose how the NHS is falling apart, the elderly are left destitute, students are extorted to live in pest-ridden flats, and workers are facing the sack because their employers can’t afford the minimum wage increase.
Irish rap group Kneecap have been victims of a vicious smear campaign for supporting Palestine. This reeks of imperialist hypocrisy. It is the capitalist system and its politicians that have blood on their hands. Kneecap have nothing to apologise for.
Last weekend in Leeds, a man shot two women in a self-proclaimed misogynistic terror attack. Horrors like this are becoming all the more common in Britain. They are products of a rotten, declining system, and the reactionary ideas of the ruling class.
The emergency takeover to prevent the collapse of British Steel has raised the question of ‘who owns Britain?’. This is also the case in Scotland, whose economy has been carved up by international capital. The SNP leaders’ empty talk about ‘national sovereignty’ is a farce.
Around a third of voters in England will go to the polls this Thursday, in council and mayoral elections that are likely to be a humiliation for both the Labour and the Tories. We say: Kick out all the Westminster warmongers, liars, and racists!
Some anti-racist activists suggest that Labour is a ‘lesser evil’ in upcoming elections, compared to the likes of Reform UK and the Tories. But Labour’s track record on attacking migrants – both in words and deeds – is giving both parties a run for their money.
As Birmingham gets buried in bins, refuse workers continue their all-out battle against Labour council leaders, Starmer’s government, and both’s austerity programme. Their fight forebodes the titanic struggles to come for Britain’s workers. Victory to the strike!
RCP members protesting against King Charles’ Durham visit were intimidated and harassed by the Durham Police last week, partly for the ‘crime’ of carrying communist literature. This is a flagrant violation of our hard-won rights to free speech and assembly.
Anger has erupted following the Supreme Court’s vicious attack on trans people last week, with large protests across Britain. RCP members found that attendees are fed up with the entire system, and are open to a revolutionary, class-based approach to fighting oppression.
The crisis-ridden establishment has cynically leapt on yesterday’s UK Supreme Court ruling regarding the definition of a woman to whip up a divisive culture war. Workers and youth must unite and fight for revolution against the billionaire class.
Just Stop Oil are ditching direct action. Youth Demand are ‘shutting down London’ in protest over Gaza and the climate. The RCP would like to open up a dialogue with activists about the programme, strategies, and tactics needed to overthrow the billionaire’s system.
Over the weekend, the Labour government passed emergency legislation to take control of steel – in particular Scunthorpe’s steelworks. While the union leaders breathe a sigh of relief, we say: No trust in Starmer! Expropriate all the parasites!
While workers and the poor face ever-greater hardships, the super-rich are making a killing. In response to this gaping wealth divide, left wingers like Jeremy Corbyn and Gary Stevenson are saying we should ‘tax the rich’. But does this offer a real solution?
Last month, Labour announced the biggest cuts to disability benefits in a generation. This will have a brutal, devastating effect upon hundreds of thousands of people. One reader told us that Starmer and Reeves “should be put on trial” – we couldn’t agree more!
In an embarrassing diplomatic snub for Labour, the Israeli state has deported two British MPs on a trip to the West Bank. The entire rotten establishment has been more animated over this row than Israel’s genocidal actions over the last eighteen months.
The Scottish government has axed rent controls, leaving workers and families at the mercy of greedy landlords. Meanwhile, waiting lists for social housing balloon, and leaseholders are being duped by dodgy developers. Here, our readers expose Britain’s housing horrors.
Protectionist trade wars. Jingoism and rearmament. Austerity and attacks on the working class… Did someone set the clock back to the 1930s? To combat the coming catastrophe, we need a global revolution against the billionaire class.
The British Steel bosses have announced the potential closure of the remaining furnaces in Scunthorpe, after over a century of operation. This jobs massacre will throw the entire town onto the scrapheap. Workers must take matters into their own hands: Occupy the steelworks!
Last week, a pro-Palestine student was violently attacked at Edinburgh University while security stood idle. Both the university and the capitalist press have been silent about this. Solidarity with the attacked students! For organised self-defence to counter these attacks!
Clad in Trumpian pomp, Farage launched his party’s May local election pitch in Birmingham, taking aim at the establishment who he blames for the state of broken Britain. Without a viable alternative from the left, this demagogy has won the ear of a layer of workers.
In response to a Reform UK rally in Birmingham, hundreds of workers and youth turned out in protest. Their anger isn’t just directed at Farage, but at Starmer and the rest of the establishment. A radical, left alternative is needed to fight them both.
This week on Communist Radio, Jack and Tom discuss Labour’s war on the poor, the state’s clampdown on Youth Demand, the rise of Reform, “tax the rich”, and the RCP’s upcoming recruitment drive.
This weekend, the British state carried out a coordinated series of raids and arrests against a radical, anti-imperialist youth organisation. We stand in complete solidarity with Youth Demand. For a mass mobilisation against Starmer’s repressive regime!
Reform UK’s nationwide tour culminates in Birmingham tomorrow. The counter-demonstration should be the starting shot for a mass campaign to unite workers and youth against ALL of the liars, warmongers, and racists in Westminster.
Rachel Reeves has just announced that the government will slash billions from the benefits bill. While the rich feast themselves, Labour are feeding workers and the poor into the meat-grinder. Make the billionaires pay for this crisis! For welfare, not warfare!
The first by-election of the current parliament is coming up, with Reform predicted to win despite a massive Labour majority last year. Unfortunately, Stand Up To Racism’s campaign against Reform leaves Starmer off the hook, and will only bolster Farage’s party.
In the latest issue of The Communist, our readers wrote to us about their disappointment with the capitalist media, factional strife within Farage’s Reform UK, Starmer’s plans to carve up the NHS, and the tribulations of trying to find employment in Britain today.
The prospects for British capitalism are dire. The stage is being set for economic catastrophe, with a stagflationary crisis of low growth coupled with rising prices looming. Reeves and co. offer no solutions – only a revolutionary alternative will end this misery.
In a declaration of war, Labour have announced they will be cutting £5 billion from the welfare benefits budget by 2030. This will leave the most vulnerable in society at breaking point. Calls to ‘tax the rich’ are not enough.
For all their progressive posturing, the leaders of the Scottish National Party are subservient to Washington. The independence movement can only retain its progressive character on an anti-imperialist and working-class basis.
With soaring costs, welfare cuts, and people struggling to make ends meet, the cost of living crisis is hitting harder than ever—if it ever truly left. It’s time for workers to take action, fight back, and make the parasites pay.
Keir Starmer has hatched a ‘Trumpian’ plan to balance the state’s books: slash the civil service; and abolish NHS England in the name of “democratic control”. But behind this bold scheme lies one small detail: workers are getting the short end of the stick.
The crisis of capitalism has brought attacks on the rights of women. Capitalism has failed women through austerity and imperialist warmongering. This episode of Communist Radio is about the real heritage of International Working Women’s Day.
This May, Marxists from across Britain will convene for the Second Congress of the Revolutionary Communist Party, to discuss the turbulent crisis of British capitalism, and the tasks of class fighters. Here, Adam Booth introduces the ‘British perspectives’ document.
In its latest bid to boost Britain’s economy, the government has announced plans to expand Heathrow airport. But this has caused turbulence within Labour, and concern amongst locals. To improve our transportation, the working class must be in the flight deck!
SNP leader John Swinney has called for a liberal cross-class alliance of political parties and trade unions to stem the rise of Farage’s Reform in Scotland. But the liberals and right-wing populists are both reactionaries. Workers must sweep aside all of these liars and crooks.
Starmer and the establishment are on a crusade of flag-waving jingoism: puffing out their chests on the world stage, and using the cover of militarism to prepare for attacks on workers at home. We say: down with these deluded warmongers!
Labour has just announced billions in cuts to benefits, in an effort to drive the sick and ailing back to work, get the economy growing, and redirect money to ‘defence’. But the capitalist class are powerless to tackle Britain’s unemployment dilemma.
Starmer’s cuts to foreign aid have caused backlash among his ranks and within the liberal establishment. But both sides of this furore are merely trying to salvage Britain’s declining power. We say: No to militarism! Down with liberal hypocrisy!
Labour is under pressure from populists on either side of the Atlantic, with the capricious chaos of Donald Trump and the rising support for Farage’s Reform. We say: No to Starmer’s militarism and austerity! Overthrow this rotten system!
With Reform rising in the polls, Starmer’s Labour are desperately trying to win back their dwindling voter base. Their ‘new strategy’, however, is nothing but more culture war and migrant-bashing. We need a real, class alternative.
Keir Starmer wants to put thousands of British “boots on the ground” to ‘keep the peace’ in Ukraine, while pledging to spend billions more on ‘defence’. We say: no to Starmer’s militarism and austerity! For healthcare, not warfare! Books not bombs!
Farage’s Reform UK recently overtook Labour and the Tories in the polls. Some on the left claim that Reform’s rising popularity is down to British workers becoming racist and far-right. But what is really behind the rise of right-wing populism?
Ideas form the basis of any revolutionary party. Understanding the processes are key to how we orientate ourselves in the class struggle.
In this episode of Communist Radio, Ben and Nelson talk about what will discussed at the RCP Congress in 2025.
The incoming ‘Chief Executive’ of the Lancashire County Council is set to be paid an eye-watering £236,960 salary – a handsome reward for attacking social care workers and imposing austerity. Down with these thieving bureaucrats!
The Labour-run Bradford Council is hiking council tax by 9.9 percent, while making cuts to vital local services. Workers and young people are being made to foot the bill for the crisis in local government. No to austerity! Make the billionaires pay!
Youth services have been gutted by a decade of capitalist austerity and decline. Centres are now forced to go cap-in-hand to private companies and philanthropists for funding. Here, we publish a first-hand account from a youth worker in Manchester.
The government has been embroiled in shady dealings with CIA-funded intelligence company Palantir, which has been awarded a £330m NHS contract and access to sensitive healthcare data. Corruption and bribery are built into the capitalist state.
A storm is gathering on UK campuses, with cuts, course closures and redundancies ahead. In this podcast, Ben Gliniecki and Lubna Badi discuss why marketisation led to this crisis, and how students and workers can prepare for battle.
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca recently abandoned their plans to build a £450m vaccine factory in Merseyside, despite the government bending over backwards to keep investors happy. Things are looking desperate for Labour’s plans to get British capitalism growing.
Tenants in Glasgow are campaigning for the council to curb the housing crisis, by building more affordable homes. A recent demonstration exposed the sleazy lobbying and behind-the-scenes graft that takes place between big landlords and the council.
The Labour Party was originally formed as a working class party. But since it first came to power over a century ago, its leaders have ruled on behalf of the capitalists. In this article, James Kilby explains how this happened, and the lessons for today.
Establishment politicians have been whipping up a culture war over immigration, in order to divide and distract the working class. In this podcast, Ben and Khaled sit down to outline how Marxists approach to the question of immigration from an internationalist class perspective.
The Met Police is mired in more scandal, following a sexual misconduct case in which an officer admitted that “coming onto victims is positively encouraged”. Meanwhile, the Met has been taken out of ‘special measures’. The police is rotten to the core!
Recent storms have laid waste to large areas of Britain, exposing how utterly inadequate the country’s infrastructure is in the face of climate-related disasters. Only socialist planning can ensure that society adapts and averts a catastrophe.
Starmer’s government is desperate to “kickstart” the flailing UK economy, with a flurry of recent announcements designed to boost growth. But it is clear that any uplift will come at workers’ expense. The stage is set for explosive class battles.
Axel Rudakubana, the teenager who carried out the Southport stabbings last year, has been sentenced to 52 years in prison. Self-serving politicians have exploited this tragedy for their own ends: to beef up state powers, and to divide the working class.
This winter has seen the return of pitched battles in the poor neighborhoods of Edinburgh, between working-class kids and the Police. The state and the media offer nothing but demonisation. But the blame lies squarely with austerity and social decline.
A recent Channel 4 poll has found that nearly half of young people in Britain think that society “must be radically changed through revolution”. While the media outlets scratch their heads, the RCP is setting out to organise ‘Generation Revolution’.
After decades of decline, British capitalism is particularly vulnerable to the instability that Trump and his ‘America First’ programme bring. The new president will inflame the political turmoil, radicalisation, and polarisation taking place in Britain.
Earlier this month, Keir Starmer announced his vision for a “decade of national renewal” powered by artificial intelligence. But can Britain become an “AI powerhouse” as Starmer hopes, or is this just austerity with a shiny new label?
The RCN’s recent report on “corridor care”, which exposes the depth of the NHS crisis, has shocked Britain’s workers and youth. Labour health secretary Wes Streeting’s pathetic response shows Labour has no solutions. Only bold measures can save our NHS.
Just like Lilliput in ‘Gulliver’s Travels’, Britain increasingly resembles a small and trivial Kingdom, led by quarrelsome, puffed-up rulers. And with Trump now in the White House, Starmer’s diplomatic blunders and contortions are set to become even more sorry-looking.
On Saturday, the Metropolitan Police launched a massive crackdown on the national Palestine demonstration, with 77 arrested. These measures are a sign of weakness, not strength. The burning anger against western imperialism has not gone away.
Last weekend, thousands gathered across Britain to express anger at the rise of sexism, fuelled by figures like Andrew Tate and Donald Trump. RCP comrades found an appetite for revolutionary ideas on how to fight women’s oppression.
The assassination of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO has tapped into a raw class anger in the USA, Britain, and beyond. But we need more than one modern-day Robin Hood. We need an army of workers and youth, mobilised in the fight for communist revolution.
Not impressed with Reeves’ autumn budget, and concerned about the long-term health of British capitalism, leading investors are ramping up the pressure on Labour to get the economy back on track. It is high time we expropriated these parasites.
Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, who is tasked with investigating corruption for the government, has been engulfed in corruption scandals of her own! Her ties to the deposed tyrant Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh have come to the surface. Tulip, you’re in a blooming mess – time for you to go!
Trump’s impending inauguration has him already wreaking havoc. Starmer is hated and oversees a government of crisis, leaving opportunities for ‘anti-establishment’ Reform to gain ground. We are entering a new disturbed era of world politics – buckle up!
Elon Musk, Nigel Farage, and other reactionaries have been stirring up a storm over child-sexual abuse cases in Britain. But these hypocrites are responsible for breeding misogyny, rape-culture, and grooming. Abuse and oppression are a product of class society – and will only end with its abolition.
Only a few days into the working year, FTSE 100 CEOs have already raked in a year’s worth of wages while workers face a January of debt and decline. This new year, make your resolution to fight for an overthrow of this parasitic system!
The monarchy is once again mired in scandal, following an investigation which uncovered the dark underbelly of the Crown’s property empire. Instead of royals evicting workers from their homes, we should be evicting the royals from their (multiple) palaces!
With the NHS on the brink, pensioners’ winter fuel payments being cut, and the Labour leaders vowing to slash Britain’s benefits bill, it’s going to be a cold, harsh winter for the working class. Kick out capitalism’s Scrooges this Christmas!
Employees at Vauxhall’s Luton factory are the latest victims of the global crisis hitting the automotive industry. With sales slowing down, jobs are being axed across the sector. Workers must demand nationalisation without compensation.
Yesterday, ‘counter-terrorism’ police raided a Kurdish community centre and arrested several people. This follows Starmer and Lammy’s recent cosying-up to Erdoğan’s bloodstained regime. Down with Labour’s hypocrisy! Solidarity with the Kurds!
With the cost of living soaring, a decent social life or a carefree existence have become a pipedream for many young people. As a result, the hospitality sector is being hit hard, and the ‘loneliness epidemic’ is intensifying.
Former Labour deputy prime minister John Prescott died yesterday. The ex-union official played a key role in Blair’s government, serving as a left cover for New Labour’s big business agenda. The lesson for the left is clear: beware of false friends.
Britain’s farmers are taking to the streets in protest against the government’s proposed tax changes, which threaten to be the final straw for squeezed rural communities. We say: make the billionaires and bankers pay for capitalism’s crisis!
The head of the Church of England has resigned after a report implicated him in a sexual abuse cover-up. From the monarchy to the police, every pillar of the British establishment is crumbling to pieces. The system is rotten to the core.
Britain faces an impending water crisis. Decades of privatisation have saddled water companies with debt, and have left infrastructure crumbling into disrepair. We say: expropriate the parasitic owners! Take the water industry back under public ownership!
Starmer’s Labour have promised to tackle Britain’s housing crisis by delivering 1.5 million homes in five years. But relying on the crisis-ridden private construction sector offers no way forward. We need a socialist housing programme!
This Remembrance Day, the communists will honour those whose lives have been scandalously sacrificed in the interests of imperialism, by redoubling our efforts to end this capitalist nightmare once and for all. Workers of the world, unite!
This week on Communist Radio, Fiona Lali and Ben Gliniecki discuss Trump’s election victory, and the deep ramifications a Trump presidency will have for Starmer’s government, and for British capitalism as a whole.
Starmer and Lammy wasted no time in sending grovelling congratulations to the new President-elect. But from trade wars to geopolitical shifts, a Trump administration spells chaos for British capitalism, and more resentment towards Labour.
In his latest bid to become even more hated by young people, Starmer has hiked tuition fees to a record level. Labour is drowning students in debt to protect universities’ bottom-lines. We say: Down with this austerity government! Free education for all!
Kemi Badenoch has become the latest Tory leader, taking over a dysfunctional and degenerate Conservative Party that is lurching ever-further to the right. This is a recipe for intensifying political instability and sharpening class struggle.
This week on Communist Radio, Fiona Lali and Nelson Wan discuss why Labour’s recent budget won’t be able to paper over the cracks, and why world capitalism has been in crisis ever since the 2008 financial crash.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced her much-anticipated Budget today, promising to “restore economic stability” and “fix the foundations” of British capitalism. But with shocks raining down on the global economy, such hopes will soon turn to dust.
Starmer recently blamed Russia for disrupting food aid to Gaza, and having no respect for international law. Meanwhile, Britain’s allies in Israel starve, bomb, and massacre tens of thousands, with Labour’s full support. Down with imperialist hypocrisy!
In ‘fair’, ‘free’, ‘democratic’ Britain, journalists and activists are harassed by the state for standing with the oppressed, and exposing the crimes of imperialism. Workers and youth must organise to defend our democratic rights and freedoms.
As Halloween approaches, a spectre is haunting Westminster – the spectre of economic instability, political chaos, and class struggle. But all of these horrors are hammering consciousness into shape: capitalism is producing its own gravediggers.
With Labour’s health secretary proposing weight loss injections for the unemployed, and DWP coaches stalking mental health wards to get people back to work, there’s no need for scary movies this Halloween. As Lenin remarked, capitalism is horror without end.
Yesterday, the Met police officer who killed Chris Kaba, an unarmed black man, was acquitted. Once again, the state has closed ranks to protect its hired thugs. We can have no faith in this broken system – we must tear it down.
After months of dither and delay, Labour’s flagship workers’ rights policy has finally dropped. To no one’s surprise, it is a watered-down washout. A few crumbs from the bosses’ table won’t stem the class struggle. We need a militant programme of action.
As the murderous Israeli regime rains down hellfire upon Palestinian hospitals and Lebanese neighbourhoods, Labour have nothing to offer but empty words, sickening hypocrisy, and toothless measures. Starmer and Lammy are complicit in these crimes.
At the recent International Investment Summit, Starmer delivered a programme of deregulation and attacks on workers, in order to woo his paymasters. We say: down with this billionaires’ government! Expropriate the rich!
The number of drug-related deaths in Scotland – already the highest in Europe – rose sharply last year. Small tweaks and measures have failed to solve anything. The substance abuse crisis is the product of the poverty capitalism creates.
The death of Alex Salmond, a towering figure of the Scottish independence movement, has been met with glowing tributes from across the political spectrum. Salmond made the SNP what it is today: a party of big business, austerity, and decline.
Earlier this month, Starmer announced that the Chagos Islands, a British colony, will be handed over to the Mauritian government. But far from ‘righting injustice’, this backroom deal with the USA will only strengthen the grip of western imperialism.
This week on Communist Radio, Fiona and Ben discuss Israel’s killing of hundreds in Lebanon; the first one hundred days of Starmer’s anti-worker, imperialist Labour government; and how we can build a revolutionary party like Lenin and the Bolsheviks.
Things aren’t looking good for Scotland’s ruling party. Having suffered a humiliating loss of seats in the general election, the SNP is increasingly being discredited for pursuing an austerity agenda. Workers and youth must mobilise against the cuts.
Starmer’s government has been one of crisis since day one – rocked by riots, rebellions, and scandals. All of this overshadowed this year’s party conference, spoiling the celebrations that the Labour leaders were expecting. But worse is yet to come.
Nurses organised in the RCN have voted to reject the government’s pathetic pay offer, which does nothing to address the years of wage erosion that NHS workers have faced. The stage is set for a new wave of struggle across the public sector.
As delegates arrive in Liverpool this weekend for Labour’s annual conference, they will be met by a display of protest from Palestine solidarity activists. Starmer and his government are complicit in the Gazan genocide. Down with the warmongers!
This month sees a new year of freshers heading to UK campuses. This generation has known nothing but capitalist crisis, austerity, war, and environmental disaster. The system cannot be patched up. It must be overthrown. Join the communists today!
From Port Talbot steelworks, to Grangemouth refinery, to the Harland & Wolff shipyards: across the country, workers are set to be thrown on the scrapheap, as British industry goes to the wall. We need nationalisation, planning, and workers’ control.
Recent revelations have highlighted the pernicious role played by the Jewish Chronicle in spreading lies on behalf of the Zionist lobby – including the part this newspaper played, in league with the Blairites, in the anti-Corbyn smear campaign.
‘Sir’ Keir Starmer’s attempts to impress on the world stage have ended in embarrassment, revealing the real subservient nature of Britain’s so-called ‘special relationship’ with the USA. Kick out the warmongers in Westminster and Washington!
Keir Starmer is determined to demonstrate his loyalty to the capitalists, with attacks on pensioners and children, alongside promises of NHS “reform” (i.e. privatisation). This austerity agenda is preparing the way for further social explosions.
The Tory Party is in the midst of its latest contest to select a new leader. Four contenders remain in the race. The ruling class is worried about the potential outcome. Whatever the result, Britain’s political instability will intensify.
In the first instalment of her new column in The Communist, Fiona Lali recounts her summer of revolutionary organising. From supporting the struggle in Bangladesh, to mobilising against the far-right, she’s learned that there’s no shortage of appetite for united class struggle.
From Bangladesh to Britain, ‘Gen Z’ are turning their backs on capitalism, and are embracing revolution and communism. In this article, Fiona Lali explains what is behind ‘Generation Revolution’, and how young people can fight to change the world.
A Grenfell inquiry report has uncovered further details of the corruption and negligence that led to the loss of 72 lives. But seven years after this tragedy, there is still no justice. We must fight to do away with this murderous system.
At last weekend’s SNP conference, a closed meeting heard new leader John Swinney’s postmortem of the party’s recent devastating setbacks. Just like their Westminster counterpart, however, all that the Scottish government can offer is austerity, attacks, and decline.
Starmer’s Labour are trying to distance themselves from the genocide in Gaza, with a partial ban of arms exports to Israel. But the truth is that they, and the entire British establishment, have blood on their hands. Overthrow these war criminals!
The Edinburgh Fringe has wrapped up for another year. Despite being celebrated for its diversity, however, the festival encapsulates the economic disparities which plague the entertainment industry, and prevent comedy from reaching its full potential.
Discussing the parlous state of Britain’s public finances yesterday, Keir Starmer warned of “painful” times ahead for ordinary families. The working class is being asked to foot the bill for capitalism’s crisis. We say: make the billionaires pay!
Horrifying scenes of a blazing inferno engulfing an East London block of flats earlier this week have brought back bitter memories of the 2017 Grenfell fire. Seven years on, and those responsible for these crimes have never been brought to justice.
With GCSE and A-level results out, and young people preparing to head to college and university, readers of ‘The Communist’ share their experiences of studying and working in the crisis-ridden education sector. We need to kick capitalism out of education!
In a charged resignation letter, former Foreign Office civil servant Mark Smith has come forward accusing the UK government of aiding the Israeli regime’s war crimes in Palestine. We say: Down with the Westminster warmongers! Down with imperialism!
Cracks in the SNP and the Scottish establishment are showing once again after a secret meeting between an SNP minister and Israel’s deputy ambassador has come to light. We can have no trust in any of them in the struggle against imperialism.
The general election results, and the social turmoil since, highlight the complete vacuum on the left. Murmurings are growing about the need for a new political force in Britain. This must be based on clear class policies, methods, and perspectives.
In this podcast, Adam Booth explains the turbulent events that have unfolded since Starmer’s election, linking this to the global crisis of capitalism and the tasks of revolutionary communists today.
After a short hiatus during the pandemic, demand for travel and holidays continues to rise. Protests are breaking out in popular destinations, as residents get pushed out by sightseers. To make tourism sustainable, we need socialist planning.
This weekend saw another round of large-scale mobilisations against the far right across the country. This shows the way forward in the fight against the racists and fascists. Workers and youth must mobilise to overthrow this entire rotten system.
The far right were met with mass mobilisations of workers and youth last night. This is a great victory in the fight against racism and fascism. This energy must now be channelled into a struggle to overthrow the establishment and their rotten system.
Across the country, university jobs and courses are facing the chop, as education bosses look to balance their books at the expense of workers and students. Here, readers of The Communist explain why we need to kick capitalism out of education.
In this podcast, we sit down with Fiona Lali to discuss why far-right violence has swept Britain, the response from the labour movement, and the communist perspective on how we can smash the far right using class struggle methods.
Far-right rioting has spread across the country, with fascist gangs launching pogroms against Muslim and Asian communities. Appeals for ‘calm’ will not suffice. To eradicate this scourge, organised workers and youth must take militant mass action.
The menace of the far right has reared its ugly head in the past week, with more violence on the cards in the coming days. This should be a wake-up call to the ranks of the labour movement. Workers and youth must mobilise to smash the far right.
Earlier this week, rioting broke out in Merseyside, after far-right thugs hijacked a tragic stabbing to whip up Islamophobic hatred. The entire establishment is to blame. The movement must mobilise to drive this reactionary menace off our streets.
This year’s Edinburgh Fringe, the renowned annual arts festival, starts tomorrow, lasting from 2-26 August. The popular event is set to be plagued by problems, however, as workers and residents pay the price for the commercialisation of culture.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced that public sector workers will receive an above-inflation pay rise this year. Union leaders are relieved at the prospect of calm on the industrial front. Instead, they should be preparing members for battle.
The recently-released initial report from the COVID-19 inquiry found that the Tory government was ill-prepared for the outbreak, and directly responsible for needless death and suffering. We publish here our readers’ stories from the pandemic.
Earlier this month, an eruption of anger burst onto the streets of Leeds, with residents mobilising in response to a police provocation. Comrades visited the community in the subsequent days, reporting a widespread picture of burning indignation.
One key policy in Labour’s manifesto was a promise to establish a National Wealth Fund to stimulate investment in green industries. But far from addressing the climate crisis, this greenwashing proposal provides public subsidies to profiteers.
A viral video recording a vicious assault by Manchester police has sparked anger and protest, in the city and beyond. Workers and youth are disgusted by these endless incidents of state brutality and racism. End police violence! End capitalism!
A heroic mass movement of students has erupted in Bangladesh, against the hated Hasina regime and its policies. Protestors have faced severe repression and smears. We, the Revolutionary Communist International, are mobilising in solidarity.
Years of betrayals in power in Holyrood have taken their toll on the SNP, with the party haemorrhaging Westminster MPs, income, and activists. Now is the time to build a revolutionary alternative, and plant the red flag across Scotland.
Yesterday, Labour leader Keir Starmer scandalously suspended seven MPs for voting against his government’s austerity policies. This harsh move underlines the capitalist interests that Britain’s new PM represents. The left must prepare for battle.
Scandalously, five Just Stop Oil activists have been handed down record sentences for peaceful protest. The RCP stands with these activists, and against state repression. The workers’ movement must mobilise to defend our democratic rights.
This Saturday, after weeks of visits to new towns and cities, comrades across Scotland will gather in Edinburgh for a special RCP Scottish conference, as we look to build the forces of Marxism north of the border. Join the communists today!
Last night, rioting erupted in a deprived Leeds suburb, sparked by a disturbance involving the West Yorkshire Police. Social explosions like this are the direct product of a sick system, and offer a taste of what is to come under Starmer’s government.
Welsh Labour leader Vaughan Gething has resigned, following a chaotic and scandal-strewn few months as First Minister. His downfall is a harbinger of the troubles that await Starmer and his careerist clique, as the crisis of capitalism takes its toll.
Keir Starmer has lost no time in proving his loyalty to western imperialism: reaffirming the ‘special relationship’ with Washington; promising to increase military spending; and bolstering British support for Ukraine. We say: for books, not bombs!
Last weekend, the newly-elected national leadership of the Revolutionary Communist Party met to take stock of the recent election, including the campaign around Fiona Lali, and to discuss the tasks ahead. We publish here our agreed perspectives.
Those in Britain attempting to show solidarity with Palestine continue to face repression at the hands of the state. Students are being spied on by university authorities, and prominent activists are being arrested. But we will not be silenced!
Labour’s landslide election victory obscures the real picture in society – one of sharp political polarisation and fragmentation. This sets the stage for a period of explosive volatility, instability, and bitter class struggle in the years ahead.
Having suffered a wipeout in the recent election, the Tories are pondering their next steps. The contest to choose a new leader is set to begin. This could see the party lurch even further to the right, accelerating Britain’s political polarisation.
The establishment and its mouthpieces have praised Labour for winning a massive parliamentary majority at the recent elections. But the truth is that Starmer’s government has dynamite built into its foundations. Prepare for explosive events!
After six weeks of door-knocking, rallies, and marches, the RCP has succeeded in broadcasting a communist programme across Stratford & Bow. With the results in and counted, we sat down with Fiona Lali to discuss the many lessons of this campaign.
Having dominated Scottish politics for the past decade, the SNP suffered a painful defeat in the recent Westminster elections. None of the major parties offers a way forward for workers and youth. Join the RCP and help build the forces of communism.
From the outset, it is clear who this Labour government is intending to represent: Britain’s bosses and bankers. Starmer and Reeves are puppets for big business. But their economic agenda will set them on a collision course with the working class.
The RCP was only founded two months ago. Yet already, we have stood a candidate, Fiona Lali, in a general election. Gaining nearly two thousand votes for a real communist candidate is testimony to what our party can achieve.
The Tories have suffered a devastating defeat, allowing Starmer into Number 10 with a massive majority. But this new Labour government will be one of intense crises. Workers and youth must prepare for battle. Join the RCP!
The success of Fiona Lali’s election campaign demonstrates the widespread impact that revolutionary ideas can have, if raised boldly and skillfully. But it also raises questions about communist methods and tactics – an art that Marxists must master.
Billionaire-backed Manchester City are taking the Premier League to court in a bid to protect their profits. Top clubs have become mere investment schemes for the super-rich. To return football to its roots, we need to kick profit out of the game.
After 14 years of Tory rule in Westminster, and an even longer period of SNP domination in Holyrood, the class struggle in Scotland is set to intensify. Help build the forces of communism north of the border. Join the RCP today!
In an effort to outflank the Tories and whip up xenophobia, Starmer is threatening to continue the government’s deportation policies and anti-migrant attacks. This is only adding to the anger against Labour. We say: the real enemy is in Westminster!
In their campaigning, Starmer’s Labour are promoting themselves as being both “pro-worker” and “pro-business”. And unfortunately, many union leaders buy into this nonsense. Instead, the movement must militantly struggle for clear class demands.
Junior doctors in England will return to the picket lines again tomorrow, continuing their long-running struggle over pay. Starmer’s Labour will not save the NHS. Only militant action and socialist policies can win for health workers and patients.
With the Tories hated and Starmer’s Labour mistrusted, many on the left are considering voting for the Green Party in this election. But the Greens’ own programme and record are dubious. Workers and youth should fight for a communist alternative.
After weeks of energetic activity, involving the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, Fiona Lali’s election campaign in Stratford & Bow is heading into the final furlong. Help us provide one last big push! Get stuck in today! Join the RCP!
This election will close the chapter on years of Tory rule. But the coming Starmer government will be no less crisis-ridden. British capitalism and its institutions are rotten and decaying. Join the communists to help forge a revolutionary future.
Labour’s election manifesto delivers exactly what most workers have come to expect from the party: nothing. Aping the Tories on every major policy, this is a programme for the bosses and bankers, not the working class. We say: No trust in Starmer!
Revolutionary communist Fiona Lali is running as a candidate for Stratford & Bow in the upcoming election, standing on a programme to kick out the war criminals and spend money on books not bombs. Vote for Fiona! Join the campaign today!
Both Sunak and Starmer have nothing to offer but more austerity, crisis, and war. Rob Sewell explains why you should become a communist, get organised, and join us in the fight for a revolutionary transformation of society.
The Scottish National Party is set for a bruising at the general election, having been in power in Scotland for over a decade. With its independence strategy in tatters, record of austerity, and falling membership, the party is running out of road.
Surprising no one, the latest British Social Attitudes survey has found that trust in British politics has hit a record low. The entire establishment is discredited, as it attempts to manage a system in decline. This has revolutionary implications.
Revolutionary communist Fiona Lali is standing as a candidate in Stratford and Bow, supported by the RCP. Reports so far indicate an enormous enthusiasm for Fiona and her call to “kick out the war criminals”. Volunteer today and get stuck in!
The housing crisis in Britain gets worse every year. Whilst rents, evictions, and homelessness rise, the number of social housing units is falling. The market has failed: only a planned economy can put people before profit.
The Tories are facing electoral wipeout. Although the Labour Party is set to win big, there’s no love for Starmer and his blood-soaked leadership. Now is the time for a massive protest vote, to ensure a vocal opposition to the slaughter in Gaza.
The election on 4 July will almost certainly see the Tories given the boot. But Starmer’s Labour offers no real alternative to workers and youth. Instead, we must get organised and build the forces of communism. Vote for Fiona Lali! Join the RCP!
The Tories’ election campaign, like their whole time in power, has been an utter farce. But it is workers and youth who are made to suffer this sick joke. Instead of national service for young people, we demand votes at 16! Fight for your future!
Far-right demagogue Nigel Farage is standing in the general election for Reform UK, in a bid to “take over” the Tories and become the leader of the right-wing opposition to Labour. We must build a revolutionary alternative to the racist, reactionary establishment.
A number of Palestine solidarity encampments have been brutally attacked by the state. The only way to fight this repression is by broadening the movement as much as possible, with a militant class programme directed against the entire warmongering establishment.
Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething faces a vote of no confidence this week, following a series of embarrassing scandals in recent months. All the other major parties and politicians are just as crooked and corrupt. We say: kick them all out!
RCP comrade Fiona Lali is running in the constituency of Stratford & Bow in this general election, fighting to kick out the war criminals, and demanding healthcare instead of warfare. We publish here her 10-point programme to raise on the doorstep.
Keir Starmer has spent the first week of his election campaign blocking leftwingers from standing, on the one hand, whilst wooing big business, on the other. Workers and youth must have no trust in Labour. Help build the forces of communism!
In this episode of Marxist Voice, we sit down with Fiona Lali to discuss the general election, her campaign, and how you can get involved in the fight to bring down the war criminals in Westminster.
After decades of government cover-up, and a long public inquiry, UK victims of a contaminated blood scandal are set to see partial justice. But the capitalist criminals remain at large. We say: Make the billionaires pay! Nationalise Big Pharma!
Following her takedown of Suella Braverman, and with a surge of grassroots support, Fiona Lali is standing as a revolutionary communist candidate for Stratford and Bow in the upcoming general election. Vote for Fiona! Bring down the warmongers!
As the encampment movement spreads across the country, the police in Oxford arrested a number of activists. This must not be cause for surrender, but a further escalation of the movement.
With Labour preparing to enter government, its MPs are pitching their case for a ‘progressive realist’ foreign policy. In reality, this is nothing more than business as usual for British imperialism, as it continues its decline on the world stage.
By calling a general election, Rishi Sunak has signed the Tories’ political death warrant. We will be delighted to see the back of them! But Starmer’s government will be a faithful representative of the capitalists. We must build a revolutionary alternative.
In this episode Fiona Lali discusses Gove’s outrageous smear against the RCP, the ICC request for an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, and what lies ahead for the Palestine encampments.
Tory minister Michael Gove has accused the RCP of antisemitism on national television. Not only is this a blatant smear against the Palestine movement, but it is rank hypocrisy. In reality, it is the Tory Party which has a shocking history of antisemitism.
The RCP has been accused of antisemitism by Michael Gove in an attempt to cover up the crimes of British imperialism and its support of Israel’s genocide. Help us overthrow these hypocritical warmongers in Westminster!
Student encampments in support of Palestine have rapidly spread to universities across Britain. The RCP is organising an online national meeting on Thursday 23 May at 18:30 to discuss how to broaden, link together, and escalate this struggle.
Following a chaotic few weeks in Holyrood, Scotland has a new First Minister. But incoming SNP leader John Swinney represents more of the same. None of the contradictions have been resolved. A new chapter is opening up – one of sharp class struggles.
With Sunak and his party on the ropes, the government is manufacturing a distraction by targeting migrants and refugees. But working-class communities are fighting back, uniting and resisting the Tories’ racist policies with solidarity and struggle.
Last week saw the official foundation of the Revolutionary Communist Party in Britain, amidst one of the most turbulent periods in history. Explosive events show the need for bold Marxist leadership. Join the RCP and help us build such a force.
3-6 May saw the founding congress of the Revolutionary Communist Party. The central discussion on perspectives for the British revolution was introduced by Rob Sewell, editor of The Communist. We publish here an abridged version of his speech.
The results of yesterday’s elections do not bode well for Sunak and the Tories. But neither do they provide hope for councils ravaged by cuts. Britain is set for a summer of instability. Join the communists in the fight against this decrepit system.
On either side of the Atlantic, Palestine solidarity protests are erupting on university campuses. The British establishment and its institutions have blood on their hands. We must fight to kick out the warmongers in Westminster and Washington.
We are celebrating this year’s May Day, International Workers’ Day, by launching the Revolutionary Communist Party. Explosive events, upheavals, and class battles are coming in Britain. We must prepare by building the forces of genuine communism.
Scotland’s First Minister has stepped down, as the crisis that has engulfed the SNP and Holyrood erupts out into the open. The economic, social, and political instability that has rocked the rest of Britain is now hitting Scotland with full force.
This Thursday, voters in the capital will go to the polls for the London mayoral election. But none of the candidates for City Hall have any solutions to the problems facing workers and youth. We must fight to build a revolutionary alternative.
Last Friday, communists kicked Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg out of Cardiff University. Establishment politicians and the media have responded with a frenzy of condemnation. We will step up the struggle to bring down our imperialist ruling class!
Humza Yousaf’s government in Scotland is on the verge of collapse, with the First Minister and his Holyrood administration facing a vote of no confidence. The SNP have led Scottish workers down a dead end. It is time to take a revolutionary road.
As the conflict in the Middle East threatens to spiral out of control, the warmongers in Westminster and Washington are ramping up their militarism: finding money for bombs, but never for workers’ wages and public services. Overthrow their system!
In the new issue of The Communist, our comrades report on the latest developments taking place on the industrial front: from Unison service group elections, to train drivers’ strikes, to efforts by PCS members to stop UK arms exports.
With local elections approaching, things are not looking promising for Rishi Sunak and the Tories. Years of crises and scandals have left the party scarred and fractured. And no amount of manufactured distractions will provide any respite.
Across the country, arts funding and cultural institutions are under attack. In west London, the cherished Watermans Arts Centre is set to be closed, with fat-cat property developers likely to move in. Capitalism is killing culture.
From schools and hospitals, to railways and roads: the country’s public buildings, infrastructure, and utilities are falling to pieces, due to mismanagement, corruption, and profiteering by the capitalists. We say: make the billionaires pay!
The Scottish national movement, which once terrified the British ruling class, is at a crossroads. In this podcast, Shaun Morris discusses the crisis faced by Scottish nationalism, and why the class struggle is the only road towards independence.
From schools to the arts: the impact of the cuts can be felt across Scotland. The SNP points the finger at Westminster, but they have no solution for ending austerity. Join the communists in a revolutionary struggle for a Scottish Workers’ Republic.
Sunak’s government is stumbling from one calamity to the next, waiting to be put out of its misery. Workers will be glad to see the back of the Tories. But a Starmer Labour government offers no solution. We must build a communist alternative.
With debts and effluent piling up, the future of Thames Water hangs in the balance. And the working class is being asked to shoulder the costs: either through higher bills or a taxpayer-funded bailout. Fight for nationalisation without compensation!
The British establishment and its institutions are rotten to the core. Parliament is infested with rogues and reprobates. Capitalist politicians and their parties are hated. It is time to sweep out the lot, and build a communist alternative.
In the new issue of The Communist, our readers report on the latest developments taking place on the industrial front: from the fight for union recognition at the Coventry Amazon warehouse, to the renewed mandate for strike action by BMA members.
Tata bosses are deploying salami tactics against steelworkers in Port Talbot, taking advantage of union leaders’ foot-dragging to dismantle the plant. It is time to chuck out the rule book, and organise militant action to prevent a jobs massacre.
New Welsh Labour leader Vaughan Gething has assumed office as Welsh First Minister. But despite receiving the backing of the trade unions, he has done nothing to indicate that he will help the working class. Workers must rely on their own strength.
Outlining its plans for foreign policy under independence, the SNP has stated its ambitions for Scotland to be a member state of the UN, EU, and NATO – a trifecta of imperialist clubs. But these aims collide with commitments to nuclear disarmament.
Stalwart left-wing MP Diane Abbott has endured a lifetime of racist and sexist abuse. The latest sickening example of this, from a wealthy Conservative donor, has exposed both the hypocrisy of the Tories and the cynicism of Starmer’s Labour.
Across the country, public art funding is being slashed. Creatives attempting to produce political work are being blackmailed and censored. And jobs, pay, and conditions for performers are being eroded. Capitalism is killing culture
In an effort to distract from their own crises and crimes, and to demonise those protesting against genocide in Gaza, the Tories are promising to ramp up repression, in the name of ‘protecting democracy’. In truth, they are the real extremists.
This document, discussed and passed unanimously at the Revolutionary Communist Party’s founding congress in May, outlines the perspectives for the class struggle in Britain, and the tasks facing communists.
After years in power, the SNP is looking increasingly weathered and worn out. Humza Yousaf faces threats from within and without. Budget woes are causing political damage, while the Tartan Tories are lurking. Crises are mounting in Holyrood.
The struggles of steelworkers in Port Talbot and of council staff in Birmingham are at a crossroads. Civil servants in PCS are balloting for action. And UCU leader Jo Grady has been reelected. Read all our latest reports from the industrial front.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt went through the motions yesterday with his latest Budget announcement. But it is clear that the Tories have no solution for reversing the ailing fortunes of British capitalism, other than to prescribe more bitter medicine.
From the jobs massacre at Port Talbot, to the ongoing farmers’ movement, to last year’s riots in Ely: an explosive mood is building across Wales, following years of neglect. It is time for the Welsh working class to reclaim its militant traditions.
With demonstrations and public anger on the rise, Rishi Sunak has announced further clampdowns on the right to protest. The ruling class is sharpening its weapons in advance of future militant battles. But the working class will not be subdued.
In our latest issue of The Communist, comrades in Scotland report on the plethora of crises piling up for the SNP government – including holes in healthcare budgets, delays to CalMac ferries, and scandalous revelations about Police Scotland.
George Galloway’s victory in the Rochdale by-election is a painful shock for the political establishment. Starmer and the Labour right wing have been dealt a sharp blow – the first of many. Communists must organise to channel this mood of anger.
Farmers in Wales are protesting en masse against the Welsh government. Organised under the slogan ‘no farmers – no food’, thousands have been involved in meetings and direct action. Workers everywhere should take inspiration from their militancy.
The Tories are facing the prospect of another humiliating by-election, with MP Scott Benton suspended for his willingness to sway Parliament on behalf of betting firms. This reveals the pernicious influence of the gambling industry on politics.
While millions suffer in Gaza, establishment politicians in Britain are busy engaging in nauseating parliamentary games. These Westminster warmongers only care about their own narrow interests. We say: Sweep them out! Join the communists!
The struggle against the jobs massacre at Port Talbot steelworks is at a crossroads. After some delay, the unions have begun balloting members for action. This must be the start of a militant fightback to hit the Tata bosses where it hurts.
Yesterday’s by-election results are a blow to Sunak and the Tories. But it is clear that there is no real enthusiasm for Starmer’s Labour either. None of these gangsters represents us. We say: Kick them all out! Get organised! Join the communists!
On Valentine’s Day, thousands of delivery workers took part in wildcat strike action to demand higher pay. Reporters from The Communist spoke to strikers in London to find out about their struggle against ‘gig economy’ exploitation.
Thousands of jobs are on the line at the Tata steelworks in Port Talbot. Comrades across South Wales are mobilising and organising to fight this jobs massacre. We say: Strike and occupy! Nationalise the industry! Put the workers in control!
With a general election approaching this year, the Labour leaders are jettisoning any spending pledges, in an effort to reassure the ruling class. A Starmer government will be one of deep crisis. Workers must trust only in their own strength.
Councils are facing a wave of bankruptcies, which will devastate already threadbare services. Instead of Labour’s ‘dented shield’, we need a fighting approach to make the bosses pay for this crisis. It’s better to break the law than the poor!
Workers in Port Talbot are facing mass layoffs and the decimation of their town. Yet union leaders are sitting on their hands. The time for bold action is now! Join the communists in campaigning for workers to take control.
Last Saturday, police officers arrested an IMT member for raising the slogan of ‘Intifada ’til victory!’. But the communists won’t back down. We need your help to fight back against state repression, and to see an end to this brutal capitalist system.
Tata’s decision to close its Port Talbot steelworks will devastate the town. With no lead coming from the trade union tops, the communists have launched a campaign for workers to get organised, occupy the plant, and demand its full nationalisation.
From war games in the Baltics, to bombing impoverished Yemenis: the bellicose British imperialists have been puffing their chests out. But as The Communist readers note, the UK’s Armed Forces are at breaking point. Britain is a third-rate power.
The teams behind Revolution Scotland and Socialist Appeal have combined forces to launch The Communist – a new paper produced by the Marxists in Britain. In our first issue, editorial board member Shaun Morris looks at the crisis facing the SNP.
The new paper from the Marxists in Britain is out now! The Communist is a revolutionary weapon, wielded by a red army of comrades that is on the march. Join us today, and help build The Communist and the Revolutionary Communist Party!
Tata bosses have confirmed plans to cut thousands of jobs at the company’s steelworks in Port Talbot, south Wales. With the unions failing to put up a fight, workers must mobilise, organise, and occupy to protect their livelihoods and community.
This Sunday marks the 100th anniversary since the death of Lenin – the inspiring leader of the Russian Revolution. With capitalism in turmoil, in Britain and worldwide, now is the time to continue Lenin’s legacy, and build the forces of communism.
A new television series has helped to shine a light on the horrific torment faced by former managers of local Post Office branches. The response of the capitalist establishment, in turn, has laid bare the double-standards of them and their system.
Only two weeks into the new year, and crises are already mounting in Downing Street. The economy is slumping; scandals are mushrooming; and the Tory Party is undergoing a slow-motion implosion. It’s time to get organised and join the communists!
The Tories are intent on persecuting protestors, migrants, and homeless people. But the most blatant abuses and scandals are being perpetrated by senior figures in their own party. These reprobates must be swept into the dustbin of history.
2024 is set to be a dire year for workers in local government, and for residents reliant on council services, with a tsunami of bankruptcies predicted for local authorities across the country. We spoke to those bearing the brunt of Tory austerity.
British capitalism is utterly broken, reflected in sluggish growth, low productivity, stagnant wages, crumbling schools, and dilapidated infrastructure. Only socialist planning can push the economy out of its slump, and deliver for workers.
The imperialists are experts in manufacturing lies as a cover for their murderous crimes. And the Israeli regime’s latest war on the Palestinian people is no exception to this rule. The revolutionary task of the communists is to tell the truth.
Disgraced Tory MP Peter Bone has been kicked out of office by a recall petition. Whilst we’re glad to see him go, we should have no illusions that whoever replaces him will represent workers’ interests, so long as capitalism is left intact.
Our comrades at the University of Nottingham have come under attack for showing solidarity with the Palestinian people and calling for a struggle against imperialism. We will not be silenced!
Only a year after the establishment imposed Rishi Sunak, the Tory civil war has erupted once again over immigration. The PM may have won the battle over the ‘Rwanda bill’, but the conflict is far from over. The future is bleak for the Tories and their system.
The Tories and the police are continuing their clamp down against pro-Palestine supporters, harassing activists who attempt to show solidarity, in an attempt to intimidate others. The movement must not be cowed, but instead organise and mobilise.
The Westminster ethics chief recently stated that MPs do not deserve criticism for their perceived parasitism and corruption. But evidence of scandalous side-hustles and expense claims by these ‘representatives’ tells a very different story.
A recent investigation has revealed that the British crown is sucking up wealth from its subjects who pass away without any clear inheritors. It’s time to sweep away this feudal relic. We say: Abolish the monarchy! For a socialist republic!
With workers on the move, the Tories are tightening anti-union restrictions and curbing the right to strike with new minimum service laws. The TUC is meeting this weekend to discuss its response. The trade unions must mobilise to defy the bosses.
2023 is almost at an end. But the crisis of capitalism is far from over. And the coming year promises to provide even greater storm and stress. Neither the establishment nor the ‘lefts’ offer any real alternative. We say: join the communists!
A recent police raid against the London Kurdish community reveals the complicity of British imperialism in Erdoğan’s repression of the Kurds. We must fight to overthrow the real terrorists: the warmongers in Downing Street, Washington, and Ankara.
Today is the centenary anniversary of the death of John Maclean, a dedicated Marxist and class fighter, famous for playing a leading role in militant workers’ movements such as Red Clydeside in Glasgow. We pay tribute to his revolutionary legacy.
With news that their treasured and trusted mouthpiece might fall into foreign hands, hypocritical Tories have begun shouting about the threat to editorial ‘independence’ posed by a possible UAE-Telegraph sale. Help us build ‘The Communist’.
Diving into the BBC archives, one can find a revealing documentary that highlights the mass methods of struggle used during the Intifada, the intrigues of the imperialists, and the rotten role of the Palestinian ‘leaders’. We must tell the truth.
Tomorrow will see another mass national demonstration in solidarity with Palestine, calling for a permanent ceasefire. The imperialists are set on continuing their murder and destruction. How do we organise and mobilise to really stop the war?
In this episode of Marxist Voice, Rob Sewell outlines the perspectives for British capitalism and the tasks of communists, as well as announcing our campaign to found the Revolutionary Communist Party in May 2024.
Celtic FC supporters have hit the news in recent weeks, defying football’s authorities to show their solidarity for Palestine at the team’s matches. The establishment is attempting to whitewash sport. Fans must fight for community control of clubs.
Today’s latest fiscal announcement from the Tories is another giveaway for the bosses, with no lifeline for the working class. We should expect nothing more from Sunak or Starmer. Instead, workers must get organised and fight.
Judges have frustrated Tory plans to deport refugees to Rwanda. But Sunak’s government remains determined to pursue this reactionary strategy. We cannot rely on the courts to protect migrants. Instead, we need organisation and united action.
Home secretary Suella Braverman is out. David Cameron is back. The crisis of the Tory Party is deepening. The massive movement in solidarity with Palestine is revealing the capitalist establishment’s weakness. It is time to overthrow their system.
This weekend, one thousand attendees will gather for this year’s Revolution Festival – the school of communism. To commemorate this landmark event, Rob Sewell looks back at the communist history and traditions upon which we base ourselves today.
Horror stories emerge on a daily basis of the appalling conditions and eye-watering costs that millions of tenants face across the country, due to the anarchy of the market. Instead of government regulation or rent caps, we need workers’ control.
A recent documentary by Laura Kuenssberg, former political editor of BBC News, reveals the full extent of the pandemonium that has gripped Westminster during the last decade of Tory rule – a reflection of the deep crisis of British capitalism.
IMT comrades have been harassed by the police, as part of a wider Tory crackdown on the Palestine solidarity movement. One of our activists caught up in this repressive wave speaks out against this brazen political attack.
As part of their hostile environment strategy, the Tories have attempted to whip up anger against migrants, blaming asylum-seekers for the lack of housing and jobs. We must fight their cynical culture war with class war.
The opening of a new ‘safe consumption room’ for opioid addicts in Glasgow has opened up a debate about drug use and addiction. Neither criminalisation nor legalisation offer a real solution under capitalism. We must tackle the problem at its root.
Misogynistic attitudes are prevalent in capitalist society – drip fed by the ruling class, and regurgitated in their crudest form by reactionary demagogues like Andrew Tate. To tackle sexism in schools, students and staff must unite and fight
From the outset of the latest Israel-Palestine conflict, the capitalist media in Britain has acted as an obedient mouthpiece for the establishment, echoing their imperialist propaganda. We need to build a voice for the exploited and oppressed.
Recent years have seen demand for weight-loss medication soar, with Big Pharma firms making fat profits in the process. But expensive drugs are no alternative to genuine access to healthy diets and lifestyles. Capitalism is to blame.
With budgets already under attack, schools and colleges are being forced to step in to deal with the severe effects of austerity, child poverty, and the mental health crisis. Students and staff must organise to fight this rotten system.
Struggles are breaking out across the country, as the bosses and Tories go on the offensive against the working class. Socialist Appeal comrades are actively participating in these battles. We provide here the latest reports from the workplace.
This year’s party conferences have brought home the degeneration of the Tories and Labour’s big-business turn in equal measure. Back in the real world, British capitalism is crumbling. The ‘mole of revolution’ is preparing to burst to the surface.
As part of the Tories’ austerity agenda, provision of education for those with special needs and disabilities is coming under increasing pressure. This is yet another symptom of the dire crisis facing schools and public services under capitalism.
Dozens of Socialist Appeal comrades from across the north joined the protest outside the Tory conference last Sunday, forming a communist bloc with bold revolutionary slogans. Capitalism is crumbling. It’s time to overthrow their system.
A young girl was brutally stabbed to death this week by one of her male peers. The scourge of violence against women is clearly worsening, encouraged by reactionary demagogues like Andrew Tate. Only revolutionary class struggle can end this disease.
An explosive crisis is brewing on campuses across the country. Universities face a perfect storm. And staff and students are paying the price, with teaching and learning conditions under attack. We must fight to kick capitalism out of education.
Britain’s high-speed rail ambitions are rapidly being scaled back, with the Tories now hinting that the Birmingham-Manchester section of HS2 could be binned. This farce reveals what a joke promises of ‘levelling up’ are under capitalism.
With inequality widening and austerity sharpening, calls are growing for greater taxes on the wealth and profits of the elites. But demands to ‘tax the rich’ do not tackle the root of the problem. Instead, we must expropriate the billionaire class.
Across Britain, the institutions of the capitalist state are falling apart. There is no trust in the police. The army is plugging gaps everywhere. The courts are backed up, and the prisons are bursting. And all as the class struggle intensifies.
With his party sinking in the polls, Rishi Sunak is looking to whip up a climate culture war. Workers must have no trust in either the Tories and their cynical claims, nor the liberals and their impotent demands. We must fight for revolution.
At this year’s TUC Congress, a notable motion was passed committing the trade union movement to mobilise against the Tories’ latest anti-strike legislation – up-to-and-including non-compliance. We need militant action to smash the bosses’ laws.
As in previous years, the recent Edinburgh Fringe Festival highlighted the squeeze facing artists under capitalism, with performers facing an uphill struggle to make a breakthrough in the industry. For culture to blossom, we need a revolution.
A new generation of communists is being forged by capitalism’s crises and catastrophes. “He who has the youth, has the future,” Lenin famously proclaimed. We call on radical young people to get organised and join us in the fight for revolution.
The latest annual TUC congress meets in Liverpool next week, from 10-13 September. As the last year’s strike wave ebbs, the trade union movement is taking stock. A period of bitter struggles lies ahead. Militant workers must prepare for battle.
The Tory government is under intense scrutiny in the face of another huge scandal, with the lives of thousands of children and workers placed at risk due to cuts to school maintenance budgets. The whole system is broken. We need a revolution.
For their own cynical reasons, Tory ministers are promising to punish companies that employ illegal migrants. But government penalties cannot protect precarious workers. Only militancy and organisation can defend workers against the bosses’ system.
Capitalist politicians are increasing wrapping-up austerity measures in ‘green’ packaging – provoking a backlash amongst ordinary people, and polarising the working class. In place of this reactionary greenwashing, we need to fight for revolution.
An ongoing inquiry into accusations of extrajudicial murders by British Special Forces in Afghanistan shines a light on the crimes of western imperialism. The fight for justice must be a fight to overthrow this entire barbaric system.
Homeware chain Wilko is the latest high-street name facing ruin, as rising costs and interest rates squeeze retailers. A swathe of ‘zombie’ companies are set to be sent to their graves. We must make the bosses and bankers pay for this crisis.
While workers across the world suffer the impacts of war, arms manufacturers are making bumper profits. The imperialists don’t export weapons to ‘defend democracy’, but to protect their narrow interests. Fight for revolution against the warmongers!
Councils across the country are sounding the alarm, warning of a black hole in their budgets. Services are being cut to the bone. Some local authorities are declaring bankruptcy. The labour movement must organise a mass campaign against austerity.
The humble chippy is the latest victim of the crisis of capitalism, with the industry warning of mass closures of fish and chip shops due to rising costs. To save these seaside stalwarts, we need to plan the economy along socialist lines.
British capitalism is stumbling from one crisis to the next. In their effort to subdue stubbornly-high inflation, the ruling class is set to provoke a new slump. Enormous pressures are building in society. Revolutionary explosions impend.
On this day 50 years ago, an inferno at the Summerland leisure centre claimed dozens of lives, in a tragedy reminiscent of the Grenfell disaster. These were both cases of social murder. The capitalist criminals are to blame.
The 2023 Defence Command Paper promised a root-and-branch transformation of the British Armed Forces. Instead, it provides further proof that the British military is in a state of terminal decline, along with the rest of the crumbling establishment.
Thousands of school buildings across the country are in a state of disrepair, at serious risk of collapse. The Tories are cutting maintenance budgets, and construction firms are cutting corners. The capitalists are putting profits before lives.
As Starmer’s Labour gets closer to power, the harsh reality of its ‘tough decisions’ is becoming clearer. This is provoking murmurs of opposition in the party and the unions – a harbinger of future splits and turmoil under a government of crisis.
Britain’s pub industry is getting hammered by the crisis of capitalism, as costs soar and workers’ budgets are squeezed. These important places for socialising and community life are calling last orders. We need public ownership of public houses.
Recent surveys show that belief in conspiracy theories is widespread in the UK population. The liberal establishment patronisingly point the finger at all manner of scapegoats for this. But it is they who are to blame. We must fight for revolution.
Yesterday’s by-election defeats spell doom for the Tories. The government is desperately attempting to put out fires. Despite a temporary truce on the industrial front, conditions are being prepared for an explosion of the class struggle.
Birmingham City Council is facing a particularly acute crisis, with workers and residents being made to pay for Tory austerity, corporate plunder, and the employers’ crimes. The trade unions must organise a militant fightback against austerity.
While other unions sign up to subpar pay deals, BMA members are continuing to battle on. With the Tories digging in, and the movement divided, doctors must prepare for a bitter struggle. To save our NHS, militant health workers must get organised.
Starmer’s Labour recently announced its programme for education. But as with other questions, the party is promising little but Tory-lite policies. To save our schools, staff and students must fight for a clear socialist alternative.
Two mouthpieces of British capitalism – The Sun and the BBC – have been tearing chunks out of each other this week, over allegations against news presenter Huw Edwards. This spectacle shows why we need a real alternative: a workers’ media.
This year’s Miners’ Gala was marked by a palpable sense of anger at the crisis of capitalism. Armed with revolutionary ideas, members of the International Marxist Tendency planted the red flag of communism at the Gala, with a focus on recruiting for revolution.
With a new leader at the helm, the SNP has promised supporters a strategy for winning independence. But no clear proposal has emerged, leaving the movement at an impasse. Workers and youth must embark on a revolutionary road.
Riots in France, and previously in Ely, Wales, reveal the explosive situation building up internationally and in Britain. Society is a tinderbox, ready to go up in flames. Marxist leadership is needed to channel this anger towards revolution.
The NHS was established 75 years ago today. Decades on, however, it is creaking at the seams, due to austerity and privatisation. Junior doctor Will Collins looks at how the NHS was founded, and how the capitalists have pushed it to the brink.
To mark the 75th anniversary since the NHS was founded, Socialist Appeal comrades working in healthcare are calling on nurses, doctors, and hospital staff to join us in campaigning to kick out the profiteers and save our NHS with socialist policies.
The UK water industry is facing a deep crisis, with Thames Water at risk of bankruptcy. From the railways to the energy sector: privatisation has been a disaster for ordinary people. We say: Expropriate the monopolies! Make the billionaires pay!
Temperatures show no sign of dipping. And neither does the class struggle. Strikes are set to take place in schools, hospitals, train stations, and councils in the coming weeks. To win, we need mass coordinated action and bold socialist policies.
Junior doctors recently returned to picket lines at NHS hospitals across England and Wales, with a growing mood for escalation. Radical junior doctors must get organised to spread these demands and raise the need for revolutionary ideas.
The summer festival season is well underway. And with it comes the usual horror stories of dangerous safety issues, rip-off prices, and endless reappearances by ageing bands. Capitalism is suffocating the music industry. Only socialism can save it.
Junior doctors are back on strike this week, as the Tories refuse to yield to their demand for full pay restoration. With other struggles in healthcare continuing, it is vital that the unions coordinate action to kick capitalism out of our NHS.
Both the Tories and Starmer’s Labour are enjoying the unfolding drama in Scotland, as the plot thickens in the curious case of the SNP’s finances. Workers and youth must sweep away the entire rotten establishment and fight for revolution.
The Labour leaders have begun to outline their environmental agenda, promising state support for new British industries. In reality, this means more big business profiteering. Instead of green capitalism, the unions must fight for workers’ control.
Debates and protests have broken out amongst the Tories recently, over suggestions that supermarkets should sign up to price caps on essential goods. To genuinely fight the menace of inflation, however, we need a socialist plan of production.
Boris Johnson has lobbed a grenade into the Tory Party on his way out of Parliament, hoping to accelerate the demise of Sunak’s troubled government. This is the latest episode in the crisis of Britain’s regime. Revolutionary explosions lie ahead.
From the CBI bosses’ union to the Tory Party: the traditional representatives of the ruling class are in meltdown. At the same time, anger and radicalisation is brewing in society. These are symptoms of the revolutionary epoch we are entering.
Jamie Driscoll, the left-wing North of Tyne Mayor, is the latest victim of Starmer’s purge, having been blocked by the party from standing as a Labour candidate. This episode emphasises once again the need to build a revolutionary leadership.
Starmer and co. have recently set out their stall on migration, demanding skilled jobs for British workers. Instead of aping the Tories’ divisive policies and dog-whistle racism, the labour movement must fight the bosses with united class struggle.
The government recently put forward new legislation aimed at giving tenants more security. But this regulation is powerless to curb rising rents and evictions. To solve the housing crisis, we must expropriate the landlords and monopolies.
During a recent tour by Zelensky, Rishi Sunak pledged to continue supporting the Ukrainian war effort with millions more in military aid. But while the Tories prolong the conflict for their own cynical reasons, workers are footing the bill.
Unite members at homeless charity St Mungo’s have begun an unprecedented month-long strike over pay. The crisis in society, reflected across the charity sector, has pushed workers to the brink. Only a bold socialist solution will suffice.
The explosive events in Ely, Wales, over the past week have once again revealed the rotten role of the police, as well as the combustible mood in society. It is time to channel this anger by getting organised and fighting for revolution.
Starmer’s Labour have recently positioned themselves as the party of “builders, not blockers”, blaming planning regulations and resistance from affluent homeowners for the lack of new construction. The real problem, however, is the profit system.
Last night, MPs voted for new anti-union legislation, designed to restrict workers’ right to strike. This comes on top of other draconian laws brought in by the Tories recently, as the class struggle intensifies. We say: Defy this bosses’ bill!
With the party’s electoral prospects languishing, the Tories are once again tearing themselves to pieces. The headbangers are looking to ‘take back control’, just as the establishment is seeking stability. Explosive events are being prepared.
In an effort to distract from their crises at home, the Tories are ramping up their attacks on migrants once again, with further proposals to make the ‘hostile environment’ even more hostile. We say: Bring down the borders! Bring down capitalism!
In a recent speech, Keir Starmer outlined his plans for a future Labour government, promising to outflank the Tories to the right on the economy and jingoism. Workers and youth must have no trust in Starmer, but organise to fight for revolution.
Leaked correspondence relating to the buyout of Newcastle United FC has revealed the close links between the Tories and the rotten Saudi regime. The ruling class are mudding the ‘beautiful game’. We must fight to kick capitalism out of football.
In an effort to tame inflation, the Bank of England agreed to further raise interest rates today. Its chief economist, meanwhile, has arrogantly told workers that they must tighten their belts. We say: make the billionaires pay for this crisis!
The nauseating nationalism surrounding the coronation celebrations was accompanied by a swathe of anti-monarchy arrests. The ruling class are gearing up for the battles ahead. Workers and youth must fight back with militant class struggle.
With the working class facing an onslaught of attacks on pay, conditions, and services, the garish carnival of the coronation is being met with apathy and revulsion. Socialist Appeal stands for the total abolition of the monarchy, and for a socialist republic of Britain!
The Tories have received a trouncing at yesterday’s local elections. Yet there is no enthusiasm for Starmers’ Labour, which will be unable to solve any of the crises facing workers and youth. The ground is being prepared for a social explosion.
In this episode of Marxist Voice, Jack Tye Wilson explains the role of the monarchy from a Marxist perspective, pointing out its key role as a reserve weapon to be deployed in defence of capitalism.
‘Sir’ Keir Starmer has predictably thrown students under the bus by finally scrapping his pledge to abolish tuition fees. We demand free and high-quality education for all, by expropriating the wealth of the bosses.
The Tories are desperately looking for a distraction from their permacrisis. But workers have little interest or enthusiasm for the upcoming coronation or local elections. Instead, the class struggle is sharpening. Revolutionary explosions impend.
Yesterday saw International Workers Day demonstrations in towns and cities all over Britain. Socialist Appeal comrades joined these demonstrations, raising bold revolutionary slogans, and calling on workers and youth to join our ranks.
Left-wing MP Diane Abbott has been suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party, accused of racism by Starmer and the right wing. But this is stinking hypocrisy, coming from these agents of the ruling class. We say: Fight racism! Fight capitalism!
A string of scandals has hit the world of rugby union in recent months. The inequality and oppression seen in sport is a reflection of that which pervades capitalist society. We must fight to remove profit and put the working class in control.
A review into conditions at hospitals in Birmingham has revealed a toxic culture of intimidation and fear – adding to the stress on overworked staff, and undermining patient safety. Health workers must fight back with clear socialist policies.
A recent report from the government’s advisory body on climate change has revealed that Britain is totally ill-equipped for the impacts of warming temperatures. Only socialist planning can ensure that society adapts and averts a catastrophe.
Responding to reports of sexist practices and pay inequality in big business, liberal commentators have called for more women to be promoted to the top. But to end misogyny and discrimination, we need socialist revolution, not ‘girlboss feminism’.
In recent weeks, ‘Sir’ Keir Starmer has attempted to outflank the Tories on the question of policing and crime. The Labour leader is desperate to prove to the establishment that he will defend their system. Instead, we must fight to overthrow it.
Impasse for the independence movement, a messy leadership contest, and a string of scandals have caused the bubble to burst for the SNP. Holyrood’s ruling party is now mired in crisis. Workers and youth must fight for a Scottish Workers’ Republic.
Junior doctors have undertaken another round of strikes this week, while other health workers have voted on the Tories’ insulting pay offer. To advance, the struggle in the NHS requires militant coordinated action and bold socialist demands.
Britain is in the midst of a deep housing crisis. While millions of tenants struggle to pay their rent and face the threat of eviction, the bankers and landlords are laughing. Only bold socialist policies can ensure decent, affordable homes for all.
Every week brings new announcements of rising costs and delays for HS2. Many are calling for the entire project to be cancelled. But the Tories cannot fathom another U-turn. Only socialist planning can modernise Britain’s decrepit infrastructure.
Recent data shows that life expectancy in Britain has plateaued over the last decade, and has even fallen for the poorest. Hundreds of thousands are dying before their time, due to austerity, inequality, and overwork. Capitalism is killing us.
International students have been caught up in the Tories’ cynical culture war, as this myopic government looks to bring down immigration numbers. Only by kicking capitalism off our campuses can we provide free, high-quality education for all.
Last month, a fire broke out in an overcrowded flat in east London, revealing the scourge of slum housing in Britain. To solve the housing crisis, we need to expropriate the wealth and properties of the big banks, landlords, and developers.
This week, Labour’s ruling body voted to prevent Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a Labour MP. Subsequently, many on the left have raised the idea of a new workers’ party. The key unresolved question, however, is that of revolutionary leadership.
With the banks on the brink, a new global economic crisis looms. Workers are on the move, while young people are crying out for communism. But the left leaders are lagging behind. We must build the forces of Marxism and fight for revolution.
The Tories have recently announced plans to provide extra childcare for parents. But with nurseries squeezed by cuts and inflation, this will do little to alleviate the pressures on families and staff. We say: make the bosses pay for this crisis!
The SNP has a new leader, following the sudden resignation of Nicola Sturgeon. Her departure has revealed all the cracks within the party, which is increasingly falling apart. Workers and youth must fight for a Scottish Workers’ Republic.
Following a string of scandals at the Met, a new establishment inquiry has revealed the shocking depths of racism and sexism within the police. This tool of repression cannot be reformed. We must fight to overthrow the whole decrepit system.
Following backroom negotiations with Tory ministers, union leaders are recommending acceptance of a paltry pay offer for health workers. Grassroots members should mobilise to reject this deal – and demand fighting leadership and militant action.
Energy workers across Britain have been mobilising in recent weeks, in a struggle over pay. Their victories show where the real power in society lies – and why it is vital for the labour movement to lead the fight to transform the energy sector.
The Tories’ latest Budget was stuffed with treats for the bosses, with nothing for striking workers. Yesterday’s day of action shows the potential strength of our movement. To realise it, we need militant leadership and bold socialist demands.
Voting is underway amongst SNP members to see who will succeed Nicola Sturgeon. But none of the candidates have anything to offer workers and youth. The only way forward is through class struggle, in the fight for a Scottish Workers’ Republic.
Midway through their walkout, the mood amongst striking junior doctors is one of confidence and enthusiasm. Tomorrow they will be bolstered by action across the public sector. The trade unions must unite and escalate their struggles to win.
Karl Marx may have been lying in Highgate Cemetery for 140 years now. But his ideas are alive and kicking. With capitalism in crisis, the spectre of communism is once again haunting the ruling class. Join the Marxists! Join the revolution!
The establishment’s attempt to pick a fight with Gary Lineker over their anti-asylum agenda has spectacularly blown up in their faces, revealing the BBC’s inherent bias. We must fight their culture war with class war, and build a workers’ media.
Junior doctors organised in the BMA are striking this week, joining other public sector workers in the struggle for decent pay and conditions. Austerity and privatisation are killing our NHS. Only bold socialist policies can save it.
A trove of leaked messages between former health secretary Matt Hancock and other cabinet ministers reveals the callous and cynical attitudes held by the Tories. Our schools and services are not safe in their hands. We must kick them all out.
Establishment golden boy Rishi Sunak has been receiving praise in the press recently, having negotiated a deal for the North of Ireland. But any hopes of lasting peace between Britain and the EU – or within the Tory Party – will quickly fade.
As the UK economy slumps, and new infrastructure investment dries up, the construction industry is grinding to a halt. Accompanying this is a swathe of sackings amongst archaeology workers. Capitalism is destroying our history and heritage.
Driving has become the latest front in the ruling class’ culture war, pitting those who rely on their car against environmental campaigners. Instead, we need united class struggle to end travel chaos and congestion with clear socialist policies.
As British capitalism descends deeper into crisis, the bosses are turning the screws on workers across the board, in an effort to squeeze more profit from their staff. Many are being pushed to breaking point. But many others are fighting back.
With the class struggle sharpening, the Tories are reaching for every tool at their disposal to divide workers. To this end, the government is dusting-off its ‘Prevent’ programme once again. Workers and youth must fight their racist fear-mongering.
As the crisis of British capitalism deepens, drama at the top is playing out alongside a rising strike wave from below. North and south of the border, the political establishment is being shaken to its core. Revolutionary explosions impend.
Following disturbing scenes of racist violence in Merseyside recently, anti-fascist activists mobilised a strong counter-demo in Rotherham last Saturday, stopping the far right in their tracks. This shows the potential power of workers’ unity.
Nicola Sturgeon has resigned from Scottish politics, having led the independence movement to an impasse, and with nothing to offer workers and youth but austerity and attacks. Marxists must raise the slogan: For a Scottish Workers’ Republic!
The murder of trans teenager Brianna Ghey shows the tragic impact of the ruling class’ cynical attempts to divide workers through bigotry and discrimination. The Tories and their system are to blame. We must fight their culture war with class war.
The uncertainty and chaos of capitalism finds its reflection in the epidemic of mental health issues amongst young people. At the same time, austerity and inflation are restricting access to services and support. We must fight to transform society.
Following several rounds of walkouts, and with the Tories refusing to budge, nurses are set to step up their strike action over pay and conditions. To win, health workers must unite with other unions and fight for a clear socialist alternative.
Spurred on by the racist rhetoric of the Tories and their ‘hostile environment’, far-right activists are targeting asylum-seekers across the UK. The labour movement leaders must mobilise workers and youth to drive the fascists off our streets.
Recent research has revealed that increasing numbers of children are dying of trauma and sudden, unexpected causes. Poverty, malnutrition, and unhealthy living conditions are driving this surge in child mortality. Capitalism is the culprit.
Over five years on since the Grenfell tragedy, and thousands of families are still trapped in high-risk homes. Neither fat-cat developers nor the criminal Tory government are willing to cough up. We say: make the bosses pay for this crisis!
While Sunak’s government is thrown from pillar to post, and energy bosses rake in record profits, the working class is being attacked from all angles. British capitalism is in a dire state. Only a revolutionary programme can offer a way forward.
Sunak’s government has emphasised its continued support for the Ukrainian war effort. But its meagre offerings only underline the declining influence of British imperialism. Workers must organise to kick out these warmongers.
Despite repeated disasters, outsourcing is thriving in Britain’s public services. This is the logical outcome of capitalism in crisis, as parasitic bosses seek new sources of profit. The labour movement must fight for public ownership.
The Tories are once again whipping up another divisive culture war, blocking attempts to introduce gender recognition reforms in Scotland. But this cynical move will fail in its aims – to distract from the rising tide of class struggle.
The NHS faces an existential crisis, with the Tories promising further austerity and privatisation. Starmer’s Labour, meanwhile, is offering more of the same. To save our healthcare system, we need bold socialist policies.
‘Sir’ Keir Starmer is attending the “billionaires’ jamboree” in Davos this week – the latest episode in his bid to woo big business. The left must have no illusions about whose interests a Labour government under his leadership would serve.
The horrific case of serial sex offender and serving officer David Carrick is yet another reminder of how the institution of the police is rotten to the core. Workers and youth must fight to sweep the whole system into the dustbin of history.
With industrial militancy growing and spreading across Britain, the Tories and bosses are pushing for further restrictions on workers’ right to strike. The trade union leaders must organise a militant fightback to smash these laws to pieces.
Revelations from Prince Harry’s autobiography, ‘Spare’, have provided the public with a few laughs at the monarchy’s expense. But the ruling class is increasingly worried that the royal permacrisis is causing wider damage to their system.
The latest census figures have revealed a drop in support for Christianity, highlighting the diminishing influence of the Church. This has important implications for the class struggle, representing a blow to the capitalist establishment.
The NHS is in the midst of a deep crisis. Chaos is unfolding in A&Es, with record-breaking wait times. This catastrophe has been a long time coming – the result of years of austerity and privatisation. But health workers are fighting back.
Economists are predicting doom and gloom for British capitalism, with the working class paying the price. With the Tories in crisis, and Starmer’s Labour committed to austerity, workers must prepare for battle.
Striking ambulance workers are taking a stand against attacks on their pay and conditions. We spoke to workers at the picket lines, who are ready to fight tooth and nail for victory and the future of the NHS.
Students across the country are facing worsening living conditions, as revealed by the crisis of student housing. The only solution is the nationalisation of student housing, alongside democratic control of universities by students and staff.
Keir Starmer is trying to give his Labour Party a radical gloss by hinting at the abolition of the House of Lords and other possible reforms. But instead of constitutional tweaks, we need workers’ power to combat the crisis of capitalism.
The super-rich are set to enjoy a bumper lavish Christmas. Whilst they struggle to spend their vast fortunes, the rest of us are struggling with a cost-of-living catastrophe. After a year of growing class struggle, we look forward to a red 2023.
Britain’s supermarkets are rationing the sale of eggs, and farmers are warning of shortages of many fruit and vegetables to come. Empty shelves and rapidly rising prices are increasingly revealing the need for a National Food Service.
Promoted by some activists as a means of combating oppression, identity politics is increasingly being used by the establishment to attack the left and the labour movement. Workers and youth must fight back with revolutionary class struggle.
Britain’s class divide is palpable this Christmas. While the working class faces Dickensian conditions, the Tory Scrooges are presiding over a fresh wave of austerity. But workers are fighting back, with a winter of discontent already underway.
The run-up to Christmas will see mass action across Britain’s health service, with nurses, ambulance staff, and others set to strike. The NHS and its workforce are at breaking point. We need a united fightback for clear socialist policies.
Britain’s energy industry is the source of endless scandal. While suppliers plunge customers into debt and darkness, Tory incompetence is adding to rising bills for ordinary households. We need socialist planning, not parasitic profiteering.
Recent data has revealed the dire state of UK rail services, which suffer from chronic cancellations and delays. Meanwhile, rail workers are fighting for decent pay and conditions. To end the profiteering and chaos, we need nationalisation.
The UK’s highest court has blocked Scottish hopes for a second independence referendum. SNP leaders are now looking to the next general election. But only mass struggle by workers and youth can break the deadlock, one way or another.
The recent tragic death of toddler Awaab Ishak due to mould exposure has revealed how damp, dilapidated homes are harming our health. The Tories and landlords have scapegoated occupants. But it is they and their profit system that are to blame.
The working class in Britain faces a perfect storm of recession, inflation, and austerity. Every day, tragic stories emerge of the disaster facing ordinary people in their daily lives. This is social murder. Capitalism is killing us.
The Tories’ Autumn Statement has delivered a package of deep cuts and brutal austerity, as demanded by the bankers and billionaires. The working class is set for a lost decade under capitalism. Join us in the fight for revolution.
The latest series of ‘The Crown’ has provoked uproar amongst the establishment, for daring to depict the monarchy ‘warts and all’. By contrast, the Marxists welcome anything that exposes the reactionary reality of this decrepit institution.
UK care homes are facing a perfect storm of staffing shortages, soaring costs, and continued austerity. The industry is running on fumes, with workers and residents paying the price. We must fight for a clear socialist alternative.
Facing a permacrisis back home, Tory ministers are ratcheting up their racist rhetoric against migrants and refugees, with those fleeing war and repression suffering the consequences. We say: Bring down the borders! Bring down capitalism!
Despite the rain, thousands of activists marched in London on Saturday to protest against austerity and inflation, and to demand a general election. We need a mass campaign of action to boot out the Tories and their rotten system.
The Bank of England today announced another hike in interest rates. With households and businesses loaded up on debt, this threatens to push millions into bankruptcy and unemployment. We say: make the billionaires pay for this crisis!
So severe is the crisis of British capitalism, that even formerly comfortable layers, in relatively privileged positions, are facing immiseration. At the same time, the Tories are weaker than ever. We must fight to overthrow their system.
With Rishi Sunak becoming PM, the establishment media has made a song-and-a-dance about Britain seeing its first Asian premier. But the ‘diversity’ at the top is only skin deep. Regardless of colour, this is a government of the rich.
This year’s Halloween comes at a terrifying time for the ruling class, with the world economy descending deeper into crisis, and the masses on the march. Capitalism has only tricks, and no treats, to offer workers and youth. We need a revolution.
Rob Sewell outlines the Marxist perspective for the British revolution.
As the pandemic fades into the distance, recent statistics show that hundreds of thousands of workers have left the labour market, suffering from chronic pain and mental illness. Capitalist exploitation, austerity, and alienation are to blame.
After weeks of indefinite action, criminal barristers have voted to accept the government’s offer and suspend their strike. But with legal aid solicitors threatening to stop work, and court staff walking out, the fightback is far from over.
To the relief of the ruling class, Rishi Sunak has been anointed Britain’s latest prime minister. The new Tory leader has promised ‘stability’, on the basis of a programme of harsh austerity. Instead, revolutionary explosions lie ahead.
With both the UK economy and Conservative Party in meltdown, Liz Truss has been ousted from office – part of an establishment coup to regain control of the Tories. But further explosions lie ahead, as the crisis of British capitalism deepens.
After a month of market mayhem, the capitalist class has killed off Liz Truss’ reckless economic agenda and installed a new ‘responsible’ regime. But they and their system can only offer further attacks. We must fight for socialist revolution.
In a bid to outdo her predecessor and distract from the government’s deep crises, incoming home secretary Suella Braverman has doubled-down on promises to repress migrants and refugees. But the class war is cutting across the Tories’ culture war.
After the chaos of Boris’ premiership, the Tories have gone from the frying pan into the fire, with Liz Truss leading the party towards electoral disaster. We are seeing a crisis of the regime – a reflection of the crisis of British capitalism.
The last week has seen the UK economy go up in flames, sparked by the unhinged plans of the reckless Tory leaders. Just when the British ruling class thought things couldn’t get any worse, Liz Truss came along and proved otherwise.
The UK economy is crashing – the latest disaster in the long-running decline of British capitalism. At the same time, the class divide is widening, and industrial militancy is on the rise. We must prepare for revolutionary explosions.
The Labour right wing felt the wind in their sails at this year’s conference, having taken control of the party, and currently riding high in the polls. But workers should have no trust in the prospect of a capitalist Starmer government.
Panic has set in following last Friday’s mini-Budget announcement by the Tory chancellor, as the pound collapses and borrowing costs soar. But the UK’s economic problems run deep. British capitalism is in a state of terminal decline.
For months, far-right Hindu chauvinists have been attacking the Muslim community in Leicester, inspired by similar aggression in Modi’s India. Workers of all backgrounds must unite to defeat this menace, and drive the far right off our streets.
After a hiatus of royalist flag-waving, the Tories have resumed their class war on workers. The Chancellor is set to outline the government’s Thatcherite strategy for growth. But such plans will quickly crash up against capitalism’s deep crisis.
Britain has emerged from its enforced period of official national mourning. Despite a barrage of establishment propaganda, the real mood is not one of genuine grief, but of profound uncertainty and anger. The return to reality will be explosive.
As prices soar, more and more people are being forced into theft to put food on the table, or petrol in the tank. Tough Tory promises about ‘law and order’ are no solution. Instead, we must fight to make the bosses pay for this crisis.
The last week has seen a spate of arrests against anti-monarchy protestors, as the establishment cynically utilises the Queen’s death to silence the left. But no amount of repression can hold back the rising tide of class struggle.
A crisis is looming for charities in Britain. Austerity is forcing greater numbers to rely on aid and volunteer networks for vital services, whilst rising living costs bite into donations. Instead of these sticking plasters, we need a revolution.
Following the death of the Queen, trade union leaders have cancelled planned strike action ‘out of respect’ to the Royal Family. But the Tories and bosses have not paused their class war. The labour movement must mobilise to topple their system.
Chris Kaba is the latest victim of police racism and repression, shot to death by officers in London. Met chiefs have promised ‘change’. But this rotten institution cannot be reformed. We must fight to overthrow the system it exists to defend.
As the country’s longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II represented a bygone age of stability. Her passing marks the beginning of a new era of crisis; another crumbling pillar of the British establishment, heralding revolutionary upheavals.
Since its launch last month, the Enough is Enough campaign has gathered momentum, organising large rallies in London, Manchester, and Liverpool. To tackle the cost-of-living crisis, the movement must fight for a bold socialist alternative.
Liz Truss has won the Tory leadership race, becoming Britain’s latest prime minister. She will inherit an array of crises: from soaring energy prices and ‘stagflation’, to a rising tide of industrial action. Revolutionary explosions impend.
Every day brings ever-worsening forecasts of disaster for ordinary people, as bills rise and vulnerable families are pushed into fuel poverty. Whilst millions freeze, energy bosses are raking in mega-profits. We say: expropriate the billionaires!
Parasitic landlords are profiting from scarcity, as rents spiral out of control. Tenants are being pushed into a desperate situation – or even out onto the streets. To solve the housing crisis, we need expropriation and socialist planning.
Former ‘Newsnight’ host Emily Maitlis has rocked the boat by accusing the Tories of influencing political coverage at the BBC. In truth, however, the whole mainstream media acts as a mouthpiece for the ruling class. We need a workers’ media.
Following a summer of record temperatures and low rainfall, large parts of the country now officially face a drought. This crisis is years in the making – the product of privatisation and profiteering. We say: nationalise the water monopolies!
Journalists in the NUJ have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action at one of Britain’s biggest media outlets, Reach PLC. With the class struggle spreading to the media, the establishment is no doubt fearful of where this could lead.
A mass fightback against the ruling class’ attacks is beginning, with strikes and grassroots movements building. To win, workers and youth must be armed with a militant strategy, bold socialist policies, and a clear revolutionary perspective.
The latest economic predictions from the Bank of England provide a foreboding warning of the inflation and austerity that lies ahead for the working class in Britain. Only bold socialist policies can combat this capitalist catastrophe.
A recent report from the Low Pay Commission reveals how impotent watchdogs and regulators are when it comes to stopping criminal treatment of workers by the bosses. Instead, workers must trust only in their own strength.
With the Tories in turmoil, and the class struggle sharpening, the Labour leadership is straining to prove what a safe pair of hands it would be for the capitalists. It is clear whose side Keir Starmer is on: that of the bosses, not the workers.
With catastrophe looming for millions this winter, calls are growing for non-payment of energy bills. To succeed, such moves must be linked to mass action, and a bold programme of nationalisation and socialist planning.
The opening ceremony for the 2022 Commonwealth Games takes place tonight in Birmingham. Establishment politicians have raised expectations about what the Games will offer. But they and their bankrupt system cannot deliver on these promises.
In her bid to become the next Tory leader and PM, Liz Truss has pledged to bring in a host of new anti-union legislation. Trade union leaders have responded defiantly. This must be matched with militant struggle and bold united action.
The much-awaited Forde report has been released, revealing the sabotage undertaken by the Labour right wing against Corbyn and his supporters. The left must learn from this episode: there can be no compromise with these class enemies.
The Tory leadership contest has narrowed to two. The rabid ranks of the Conservative Party will now choose the country’s next PM. Whoever ends up in Number 10, turmoil and instability awaits. The crisis of British capitalism is set to deepen.
The recent UK heatwave has demonstrated how vulnerable society is to the impacts of climate change. Yet the ruling class and its representatives are in denial about this looming disaster. Capitalism is killing the planet. We need a revolution.
The resignation of Boris Johnson has opened up a new chapter in the crisis of British capitalism. The working class is reawakening. A new generation is moving into struggle. We must build the forces of Marxism to prepare for these titanic events.
Latest figures show that Britain is suffering from an epidemic of obesity, with millions unable to afford nutritious food or access decent fitness facilities. Capitalism is killing us. To protect our health, we need planning, not profit.
Adam Booth offers a Marxist perspective on the crisis within the ranks of the Tory party.
After months of crises and scandals, faced with a growing rebellion in his ranks, Boris Johnson has finally fallen on his sword. But the Tory leader’s departure will not solve any problems for the ruling class. Instead, explosive events impend.
Johnson’s government is imploding, with the resignation of two leading cabinet members last night. Whoever ends up in Number 10, however, faces a perfect storm of stagflation and struggle. We say: Throw them all out – and their rotten system!
The Met Police has been placed under special measures following a litany of high-profile scandals. But workers and youth should place no faith in these toothless tweaks and ‘reforms’. We must fight to throw out the entire rotten system.
The Tories have once again demonstrated their craven subservience to the interests of US imperialism, approving the extradition of WikiLeaks whistleblower Julian Assange. Only mass class struggle can defend our rights and freedoms.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has announced plans to push for a second Scottish independence referendum, setting Holyrood on a collision course with Westminster and the UK courts. Only mass struggle can secure Scotland’s right to self-determination.
The Tory civil war has erupted into the open once again, following yesterday’s pair of humiliating by-election defeats. At the same time, workers are growing in confidence and fighting back. The unions must deal Boris and the Tories a killer blow.
Feeling the wind in their sails, the Labour right wing is on the offensive. And now they are coming for left MPs such as Apsana Begum in Tower Hamlets. The lesson is clear: we need a bold socialist leadership in the labour movement.
Appealing to the rabid ranks of the Tory Party, cynical leadership hopefuls are threatening to dismantle the NI Protocol, setting Britain up for a trade war with the EU. The reckless opportunism of these careerists knows no bounds.
Strikes are on the rise. Even barristers are taking action. Police are warning of potential riots over food and fuel prices. Meanwhile, fractures are emerging across the apparatus of the state. Revolutionary explosions are being prepared.
In a desperate attempt to save themselves, Johnson and the Tories are waging war on anyone and everyone. Their reckless actions are damaging the interests of British capitalism – and preparing the ground for explosive class struggles.
Tomorrow, thousands of workers and youth are descending on the streets of London to protest against the Tories, and to demand real solutions to the cost-of-living crisis. We say: Fight inflation with socialist policies! Join the Marxists!
With crises mounting for the Tories, the government is looking to deflect anger by ramping up repression on migrants and refugees. But working-class communities are showing the way forward, uniting and fighting back with solidarity and struggle.
It has now been five years since the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire. The ongoing public inquiry has exposed how capitalism puts profits before lives. But only the organised working class can bring the criminals responsible to justice.
‘Left’ journalist Paul Mason used to consider himself a Marxist. Now he is actively siding with the British establishment, calling for state repression against those who oppose western imperialism. This is shameful class collaboration.
UK airports have witnessed scenes of pandemonium in recent weeks, with holidaymakers facing stressful delays and cancellations. The whole aviation industry has been stretched to breaking point by profit-thirsty bosses. Capitalism is to blame.
Boris Johnson made a narrow escape in last night’s vote of confidence. This sets the scene for a bitter civil war within the Tory Party, deepening the crisis for the establishment, and for British capitalism. Revolutionary explosions impend.
A long weekend of nauseating flag-waving and royal pomp has ended in embarrassment for the establishment, with Boris Johnson now facing a vote of confidence amongst Tory MPs. Every pillar of British capitalism is being rocked by scandal and crisis.
In this episode of Marxist Voice, Olivia Ruadh will explore how the state developed, how it is maintained, and how to fight against it.
As the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee approaches this weekend, the British establishment and its media mouthpieces are going into a flag-waving frenzy. We say: Abolish the monarchy! No to this rotten, reactionary relic! Fight for a socialist republic!
The Tories’ recent announcement of a windfall tax on the profits of the big energy producers will provide only a small respite for those struggling with rocketing bills. Only nationalisation and workers’ control can solve the energy crisis.
A public inquiry into undercover police operations has revealed scandalous examples of spying on anti-fascist school student activists. This shows the real purpose of the capitalist state: a tool of oppression for defending the status quo.
Despite all the damning evidence of his crimes and misdemeanours, Boris Johnson is refusing to go. Neither the Gray report nor Tory backbenchers will force him to step down. Instead, workers and youth must mobilise to kick out the whole lot.
Revelations about a government cover-up of domestic abuse by an MI5 agent have once again shone a light on the violence and sexism that thrives inside the institutions of the capitalist state. The whole system is rotten to the core.
As inflation soars, wages stagnate, and bills rise, millions are struggling to make ends meet. Callous Tory MPs blame workers themselves for going hungry. But the real culprit is capitalism. To end food poverty, we need socialist planning.
Instead of addressing the cost-of-living crisis facing the working class, this year’s Queen’s Speech, outlining the government’s legislative agenda, was packed with red meat for Tory backbenchers. We must fight their culture war with class war.
Whilst two of the world’s biggest clubs face off in this weekend’s FA Cup Final, smaller teams are in financial crisis. Corruption, inequality, and racism: These are the ugly sides of the ‘beautiful game’. We must kick capitalism out of football.
The Tory government recently announced plans to bring back Right to Buy – this time for residents of housing association properties. Such a move will do nothing to solve the housing crisis. Instead, we need nationalisation and socialist planning.
The whole of Westminster is drenched in sleaze and scandal. The entire establishment is being brought into disrepute. As the class divide grows, bourgeois ‘democracy’ itself is coming under question. We say: throw out this capitalist cesspit!
After presiding over years of cuts to services, attacks on workers, and rising inequality, the Tower Hamlets Labour council has been dealt a blow by local residents, who have voted out the incumbent Labour Mayor.
Yesterday’s local elections provide a snapshot of the mood in society: one of anger and distrust towards the entire political establishment. Belief in bourgeois democracy is rapidly being eroded, paving the way for revolutionary explosions.
Faced with mounting crises, the beleaguered Prime Minister is battling on, refusing to go. But it is only a matter of time before despairing Tory backbenchers make their move. This degenerate government is on its last legs. Kick them all out!
Tory plans to ship asylum seekers to Rwanda have provoked disgust across the board. Such barbaric treatment of refugees is the norm for the callous representatives of capitalism. It is their system that is responsible for this horror without end.
An official investigation into PPE procurement reveals the extent of the cronyism practised by the Tories and their capitalist chums during the pandemic. To end this scandalous waste and corruption, we must fight to end capitalism.
With Downing Street mired in scandals and crises, the Tories are once again attempting to divert attention by whipping up a culture war. But their reactionary attacks are repeatedly backfiring. We must fight back with united class struggle.
Tory Chancellor Rishi Sunak has become embroiled in scandal over revelations that he and his family have utilised shady legal loopholes to dodge UK taxes. The establishment is living on a different planet. Their system must be overthrown.
With COVID restrictions now fully removed, and free testing abolished, the Tory government is letting the virus rip unimpeded. For the disabled and most vulnerable, this poses a deadly threat. We need to fight for control over our lives.
Responding to tepid reforms promised by Labour leader Keir Starmer, thousands have taken to social media calling for revolution. This shows the real mood of anger that exists in society. Capitalism cannot be patched up. It must be overthrown.
This week, the Tory government announced that the UK is set to embrace the cryptocurrency craze, in a bid to entice investors from across the world. Instead of welcoming these spivs and speculators, we must expropriate the billionaire class.
With the British monarchy mired in crisis and scandal, calls for republicanism are growing across the Commonwealth. The struggle for genuine independence must be linked to the struggle against imperialism and capitalism – and for socialism.
Tory double standards over refugees seeking sanctuary in the UK has highlighted the hypocrisy of the establishment – particularly to British Muslims and Asians who have directly suffered the racism of the ruling class. Racism is a class question.
In the wake of the ‘jobs massacre’ at P&O Ferries, an Avengers-style collective of politicians and parliamentary committees have lept into action, promising to give the bosses a slap on the wrist. But only mass mobilisation can achieve justice.
Demonstrations are taking place this weekend over the cost-of-living crisis facing the working class, with household energy bills set to jump in April, and prices skyrocketing across the board. We say: Fight inflation with expropriation!
This weekend, hundreds of Socialist Appeal supporters met for this year’s national conference – not only to celebrate the organisation’s 30th birthday, but to prepare for the revolutionary events that lie ahead in Britain and beyond.
Protests have erupted across London in solidarity with Child Q – yet another victim of police racism, misogyny, and violence. It is clear that the Met Police are rotten to core. To end this oppression and repression, we need to end capitalism.
The recent ‘despot derby’ between Chelsea and Newcastle has brought to attention the capitalist takeover of the Premier League – now dominated by warmongers and crooks. We need to kick profit out of football, and fight for fan ownership.
Following a decade of austerity, the justice system is at breaking point. As a result, legal aid barristers – once a privileged profession – are moving into action. This struggle must be broadened into a united fightback against all the cuts.
Activists in the North East are campaigning for the closure of Hassockfield, a detention centre for migrants and vulnerable women. This ‘hostile environment’ is a breeding ground for abuse. The left must fight for a socialist alternative.
While workers struggle to maintain living standards in the face of rampant inflation, the bankers are awarding themselves record bonuses. As Marx stated, capitalism is misery for billions, and riches for billionaires. The real war is a class war.
Prince Andrew, recently embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal, has reached an out-of-court settlement with his accuser. Far from clearing his name, this development will only deepen the crisis rocking the monarchy. Abolish this rotten relic!
Due to years of privatisation, austerity, and attacks on workers, hospitals are struggling to keep up with the demand for treatment, with waiting lists swelling to record numbers during the pandemic. We need socialist policies to save our NHS.
‘Sir’ Keir Starmer has cynically used Russia’s attack on Ukraine as an excuse to attack the anti-imperialist left, and to prove his loyalty to the establishment. The labour movement must fight the enemy at home, not the ‘enemy within’.
Local communities have been devastated by recent storms, with thousands of homes submerged following a string of downpours. The only ‘levelling up’ taking place is rising water levels. The blame for this disaster lies squarely with the Tories.
With the Tories mired in crisis, the ruling class is increasingly building up ‘Sir’ Keir Starmer as a possible future occupant of Number 10. But the Labour right wing has nothing to offer workers and youth. We must build the forces of Marxism.
Starmer and the right wing are continuing their purge of left-wing activists from the Labour Party. Socialist Appeal supporters and grassroots members in the North East are the latest victims of this scandalous witch-hunt.
Whipping up jingoistic hysteria to distract from their own crimes, the UK government is threatening sanctions against Putin and his billionaire backers. Given the Tory Party’s own links to Russian money, however, this is nothing but hot air.
Recent events have once again shone a light on the endemic sexism and racism within the police. This rotten institution cannot be reformed. It must be overthrown, along with the capitalist system that it exists to protect.
Recently announced government proposals for ‘levelling up’ are another case of Tory bluff and bluster, with no genuine plan for tackling regional disparities. For real investment in deprived areas, we need public ownership and socialist planning.
The Labour right wing is continuing its clearout of socialists from the party. The left is demoralised and in disarray. Yet workers and youth are moving into action. We need to build the forces of Marxism – in the unions and on the streets.
Andy Southwark exposes the rotten institution of the monarchy and the role that it plays against socialism.
The much-awaited report into Downing Street’s illicit lockdown gatherings has been defanged by the intervention of the Met Police. The establishment will always protect their own. Only the working class can deliver real justice.
Despite mounting pressure on all sides, the Prime Minister is stubbornly clinging on. But it is clear that the ruling class is looking to replace him. This is opening up a crisis for the whole establishment, preparing an explosive situation.
Tory ministers have announced that all COVID restrictions will soon be removed, with the public told to ‘learn to live with the virus’. But it is the working class who will suffer the consequences. We say: fight to put health before profits!
Keir Starmer has offered a warm welcome to recent Tory defector Christian Wakeford. Meanwhile, socialists are being purged from the party, and Jeremy Corbyn has not had the whip restored. Labour should be appealing to workers, not Tories.
In order to distract from the political crisis engulfing Downing Street, the Tories have made a move to cut BBC funding. Liberal outrage will not protect media integrity or jobs. Instead, the labour movement must fight for workers’ control.
As household bills go through the roof, the bosses are showing how out of touch they are with the lives of ordinary people. Only nationalisation can solve Britain’s energy crisis.
Whilst Boris Johnson and the Tories are gripped by political crises, the working class is suffering from a huge squeeze in living standards, due to surging inflation and years of austerity. This is creating the conditions for explosive events.
Last weekend saw large protests across the country against the government’s latest repressive legislation – including new laws which seek to stir up racism and target refugees. We need a united fightback against the Tories and their system.
While reckless Tory ministers tell us to ‘live with the virus’, the country’s hospitals and healthcare workers are at breaking point. Years of privatisation and austerity have left the NHS on the brink. Only socialist policies can save it.
Former Labour leader Tony Blair was recently knighted for his services to the establishment. Amongst these were his refusal as prime minister to address institutional racism in the police. To end racism, we must fight to abolish capitalism.
The recent trial and sentencing of elite socialite and sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has opened the curtain on the disgusting den of sin that the capitalist class inhabit – with all eyes now on Prince Andrew and the crisis-ridden monarchy.
This year’s Honours List has provided another opportunity for the ruling class to reward its representatives for their loyal service – none more noticeably than war criminal ‘Sir’ Tony Blair. It is time to overthrow this whole rotten system.
The government is currently trying to sneak in amendments to reactionary legislation on policing and protests. The labour movement must fight to resist the bill, overturn all draconian and repressive laws, and overthrow this rotten system.
The Tory Party continues to be mired in scandal, with new revelations of sleaze coming to light by the day. Unlike in the past, the ruling class is increasingly unable to keep a lid on its dodgy dealings. We say: capitalism is corruption!
The Tories have suffered a humiliating defeat in their formerly safe seat of North Shropshire. Boris Johnson is running out of road as he lurches from one scandal to another. This opens up further instability and crisis for British capitalism.
Azeem Rafiq has lifted the lid on the pervasive racism that plagues English cricket. It is further evidence that the whole establishment is rotten to the core. To remove racism from sport, we need to remove capitalism from sport.
Shaun Morris discusses the crisis of the Union, in the midst of increased support for Scottish Independence and rise in class struggle.
A row over an alleged Downing Street Christmas party held during lockdown has added further fuel to the fire for Boris Johnson and his scandal-ridden government. The labour movement must mobilise to kick out these crooks and charlatans.
Brexiteer bluster and the UK’s humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan have exposed the deluded fantasies of jingoistic Tories and the weaknesses of British imperialism. The ruling class is increasingly impotent and losing control.
As crises mount, the government is increasingly leaning on the army in order to fill labour shortages and keep society running – from driving lorries to providing jabs. This is yet another reflection of the decrepit state of British capitalism.
As the crisis of capitalism deepens, Boris Johnson’s government is being thrown from pillar to post, with inflation rising, endless scandals emerging, and a new wave of the pandemic looming. Only the struggle for socialism can offer a way forward.
Private water companies are routinely dumping raw sewage into Britain’s waterways and coasts. But the Tories claim that fixing this would bankrupt these firms. Clearly the whole system is bankrupt. It’s time to re-nationalise the lot.
The tragic drowning of 27 migrants in the English Channel has brought home the misery and devastation facing refugees worldwide. Capitalism is horror without end. Only socialist revolution can bring down the borders and avert this catastrophe.
Boris Johnson’s car-crash speech in front of UK business leaders is a reflection of the bankruptcy of capitalism, which offers no future to the working class. To truly ‘level up’, we need public ownership, workers’ control, and socialist planning.
Across the world, the pandemic rages on. Vast swathes of the global population remain unvaccinated, yet imperialist nations are throwing doses away. Capitalism stands in the way of effectively fighting the virus. We need planning, not profit.
This year’s UN climate summit saw world ‘leaders’ dithering in the face of disaster. The Tories have hypocritically pointed the finger elsewhere, to distract from their own guilt. The real criminal is capitalism. We need a revolution.
A bleak winter lies ahead for working-class households, as energy bills rise, inflation increases, and austerity bites. Capitalism is chaos and misery for ordinary people. Workers and youth must fight for a clear socialist alternative.
The Paterson affair has set off a chain reaction of revelations surrounding Westminster sleaze and scandal – undermining the authority of the government and the whole British establishment. We say: Kick out the Tories! Kick out capitalism!
Recent surveys have revealed the appalling conditions and poor health that renters are forced to endure due to unscrupulous landlords and their shoddy properties. The labour movement must fight for a socialist solution to the housing crisis.
The recent expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone is yet another attempt to present workers with the bill for cleaning up the environment. Instead of greenwashed austerity, the labour movement must fight for bold socialist policies.
The internal struggle within Unison is intensifying by the day. The stakes are high. The future direction of the union hangs in the balance. Left activists must seize the moment, mobilise the membership, and fight to transform the union.
From trade wars, to economic chaos, to cronyism and corruption: Boris Johnson’s criminal government is fighting a losing battle on multiple fronts. These are all symptoms of a regime in crisis – and of a system that has reached a dead-end.
Downing Street’s botched response to the Owen Paterson affair has exploded in their face. The stench of sleaze and scandal emanating from the Tory Party is overwhelming. But reforms and reviews will do little good. Capitalism is corruption.
Having strengthened their grip at the recent party conference, the Labour right wing are undertaking a fresh wave of expulsions of Socialist Appeal activists. But Starmer’s purge cannot break the link between Marxism and the labour movement.
As Britain’s housing crisis goes from bad to worse, Labour councils are scandalously evicting their poorest residents and throwing them onto the streets. Only a clear socialist alternative can provide decent homes for all.
World leaders are gathering this weekend for the latest international climate summit. But these big business politicians have no solutions for tackling the environmental crisis. Capitalism is killing the planet. We need a revolution.
Environmental activist group Insulate Britain have hit the news recently with their disruptive protests, pressuring the government to take bold action to save the climate. To fight for real change, we need mass action and socialist policies.
With COVID cases rising, flu season approaching, and millions already on waiting lists, the NHS is facing another dire winter. The cavalier and callous Tories are to blame for this crisis. We say: Save our NHS with socialist policies!
Politicians and journalists have responded to the killing of Tory MP David Amess by calling for ‘civility in politics’. But this is pure hypocrisy, coming from the same people who have whipped up hatred for years. The real divide is a class divide.
The entire British establishment has once again closed ranks to protect the monarchy, with the police dropping any investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by Prince Andrew. We must fight to overthrow this whole rotten system.
Labour leader ‘Sir’ Keir Starmer has recently written for the Sun, rightfully causing disgust from across the labour movement, and particularly in Liverpool. As Starmer cosies up to the Murdoch press, we say: Starmer out!
While Boris Johnson waffles at Tory Party conference, the country is collapsing. Even Tory MPs are warning of a ‘winter of discontent’, as prices rise and austerity bites. Only the fight for socialism can end this capitalist chaos and crisis.
Revelations surrounding the brutal murder of Sarah Everard have highlighted the institutional sexism that runs deep in the police. Women will never be kept safe by the violent capitalist state. We must fight to overthrow this rotten system.
Left-wing director Ken Loach recently spoke with Socialist Appeal, discussing the civil war inside the Labour Party and the prospects for the left. As Ken emphasises, the ideas of Marxism will play a vital role in the struggles ahead.
Starmer and the right wing used the recent Labour conference to consolidate their grip over the party. As Rob Sewell discusses, an examination of their big business backers reveals clearly the capitalist interests that they represent and defend.
This year’s Labour conference has ended in a victory for the right wing. The left must learn the lessons from the rise and fall of the Corbyn movement. The only way forward is to build the forces of Marxism. Join us in this vital task.
As the crisis deepens, the working class is facing a tsunami of austerity and attacks – from cuts to Universal Credit, to rising energy bills, to the scourge of ‘fire and rehire’. The Tories are sitting atop a powder keg that is ready to explode.
With petrol pumps across Britain running dry, and gridlock on the roads, the Tories are lurching from one crisis to another. The anarchy of the market is causing chaos to workers’ lives. All the ingredients are being prepared for a social explosion.
The Labour right wing has won a series of important votes at this year’s party conference, provoking anger and outrage amongst left delegates through their bureaucratic antics. Amongst this mess, the ideas of Marxism have gained a strong echo.
After a year’s hiatus, Labour’s annual conference begins this weekend. The event is set to be a showdown between Starmer, on one side, and grassroots members and left unions, on the other. The left must boldly take the fight to the right.
Faced with mounting crises on all sides, the Tories are once again whipping up anti-migrant hysteria in an attempt to distract from their own crimes. The labour movement must fight for open borders and an international socialist alternative.
The Labour right wing have carried out a brazen attack on press freedoms, explicitly denying Socialist Appeal journalists entrance to the party’s upcoming Labour conference on political grounds. We urge readers to rally against this injustice.
With conference just over a week away, Starmer and the right wing are going into overdrive with their purge, threatening left delegates with expulsion. The stage is set for one of the most tense and explosive Labour conferences in decades.
Director Steve McQueen’s recent documentary into the 1981 New Cross fire shines a light on the racism inherent within the police force, whilst also pointing the way forward in the fight against racism today – through united class struggle.
Battles are breaking out across the labour movement, with Starmer purging socialists from the party, and the Unison bureaucracy sabotaging the union’s left-wing NEC. The left must make a stand and clear out these agents of the establishment.
New government plans to shake up social care do nothing to tackle the root of the problem: privatisation and profit. And it is workers who are being made to foot the bill. We say: expropriate the capitalists and fight for public ownership!
This Saturday, campaigners in Liverpool will be protesting against plans to host the Electronic Arms Fair in the city. The local council is complicit in this scandal. The labour movement must mobilise to stop this display of destruction.
British bosses are panicking in the face of sharp labour shortages, with some even begging the government to allow the use of prisoners to fill vacancies. Only socialist planning can put an end to this anarchy and exploitation.
For all the talk of economic recovery, the truth is that there has been no real recovery for the working class. A new wave of austerity and inflation is set to erode living standards for the majority. We say: expropriate the billionaires!
Revelations this week have shone a light on the appalling treatment of the Young Labour national committee by the Labour right wing. Grassroots members must mobilise to defend the YL leaders, and organise to defy David Evans’ diktats.
Capitalism’s apologists constantly assert the ‘efficiency’ of the market. Yet corporations like Amazon, driven solely by profit, are responsible for tonnes of waste each week. To end this chaos, we need a socialist plan of production.
The scandalous expulsion of left-wing film director Ken Loach has provoked widespread anger amongst Labour’s rank and file. The fight against the purge must be both a struggle to clear out the right and a struggle for bold socialist policies.
The expulsion of socialists from the Labour Party has spilt over onto university campuses, with Lancaster Uni Labour Club proposing to ban Marxist society members. Activists must defy the right wing, join the Marxists, and fight the purge.
The Western withdrawal from Afghanistan is not only a humiliation for US imperialism, but also for Brexiteer Tories, whose jingoistic delusions have been shattered. To help the Afghan masses, we must overthrow this rotten Tory government.
Ben Gliniecki recently received a letter of automatic exclusion from the Labour Party officialdom for the ‘crime’ of supporting Socialist Appeal. Here is his reply to the Labour bureaucracy.
It is now 10 years since riots swept across Britain in the wake of the police murder of Mark Duggan. A decade on, all the conditions are being prepared for a new wave of social unrest. The young generation are drawing revolutionary conclusions.
A new parliamentary investigation into racist policing finds that the situation facing black communities is worse today than at the time of the Macpherson report, 22 years ago. To end police violence and racism, we must end capitalism.
In response to the Labour right wing’s move to purge socialists from the party, solidarity motions and statements have come in from across the rank and file of the labour movement. Now the left must mobilise to drive out Starmer and the right.
As the eviction ban ends, renters everywhere are facing uncertainty. One mother’s determined resistance to her own removal shows the way forward. The labour movement must organise to fight against evictions, and for a socialist alternative.
The Tory government has provoked anger amongst police officers by freezing their pay. This reveals the depth of the crisis facing the ruling class, as explosive pressures accumulate within society, and as workers move into struggle.
After years of harassment from the Labour right wing, the local council, and the Tory press, left-wing MP Apsana Begum has been acquitted of all the trumped-up charges levelled at her. Now it is time for her opponents to face justice.
Labour is in a parlous financial state, due to the rightwards shift undertaken by Starmer, and the resultant exodus of members. The right wing are destroying the party, as they seek to appease the establishment. They must be shown the door.
For decades, militant trade union activists have been targeted by the bosses. Now Marxists in the Labour Party will face similar victimisation, as part of Starmer’s purge. The scourge of blacklisting must be fought across the labour movement.
Socialist Appeal, the Marxist voice of Labour and youth, has been expelled from the Labour Party, with the right wing saying we are ‘alien’ and ‘toxic’ to the party’s ‘aims and values’. Rob Sewell answers the lies, smears, and slanders.
Labour’s right-wing dominated NEC has ruled that all candidate selections in the city of Liverpool will come under the control of the national party. This attack on grassroots democracy must be resisted by the whole left of the party.
Join Rob Sewell and Adam Booth to hear about the Labour right’s plan to kick Socialist Appeal supporters out of the Labour party, and why the left must organise to fight back against this direct political attack.
Thousands of Labour members are set to be expelled, following a vote by the party’s ruling body today to permanently ban Socialist Appeal and other left groups. But we will not be cowed by this attack. Join us in the struggle for socialism.
Following confirmation that the Labour right wing are set to proscribe Socialist Appeal at tomorrow’s NEC meeting, solidarity has flooded in from across the labour movement. The left must fight back against this politically-motivated attack.
The Labour right wing are bureaucratically maneuvering to permanently ban Socialist Appeal from the party. This scandalous political attack is the latest attempt to crush the left. Activists across the left must mobilise and fight back.
The murder of Sarah Everard, and of sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, has shone a spotlight on the issue of violence against women. The capitalist system is responsible for this scourge. To fight oppression, we must fight for socialism.
With Labour’s annual conference approaching, the right wing have stepped up their attacks on party democracy and grassroots members. The left must organise to drive out Starmer and the right wing, and to transform Labour along socialist lines.
A huge backlash has occurred in response to the racist abuse suffered by England’s black players. Boris Johnson and Priti Patel have hypocritically offered their support. It is the capitalist establishment who are responsible for racism.
Labour’s civil war is currently playing out at a local level, with the right-wing maneuvering in order to seize control of CLPs. The scene is set for a sharp struggle at annual conference. The left must organise and go on the offensive.
The Tories have confirmed plans to lift all remaining COVID restrictions on 19 July. But society will not return to ‘normal’. The period ahead will be one of contagion, capitalist crisis, and class struggle. Workers must organise and fight back.
No industry exemplifies the horrors of capitalism more than that of food. Workers are exploited; our planet is destroyed; and we are fed junk – all so the giant monopolies can sate their appetite for profits. We need a socialist alternative.
Demonstrations are taking place outside hospitals across the country tomorrow, to celebrate the 73rd birthday of the NHS, and to demand safety, pay justice, and an end to privatisation. We need socialist policies to save our NHS.
Labour have scraped to victory in the Batley & Spen by-election. The right wing have spun this as a major win. In reality, it is a humiliating result. Under Starmer, the party is heading for disaster. We need a new leadership. Starmer out!
Despite promising a ‘media revolution’, the newly-launched GB News has offered more of the same reactionary bile as the rest of the capitalist press. We need a media that is owned and run by – and for – the working class.
Health secretary Matt Hancock has resigned after being embroiled in another government scandal. But his replacement, Sajid Javid, offers more of the same corruption and privatisation. We need to kick out all the Tories and fight for socialism.
Last Saturday, activists from across the country descended on the streets of London to protest against the crimes of this callous Tory government. To channel the anger in society, the left leaders must offer a bold socialist programme.
Having overseen the calamitous Test and Trace system, Tory Baroness Dido Harding is lining up to head the NHS – no doubt to open the door to further privatisation. The labour movement must fight to save the NHS with socialist policies.
Thousands of activists will be descending on London’s streets tomorrow, marching to demand: Tories out! This criminal government is responsible for social murder. The labour movement must mobilise and fight for a clear socialist alternative.
With another ominous by-election approaching, this time in Batley and Spen, Labour is losing support across the board. The right-wing leadership is driving the party over a cliff. The Left must mobilise to show Starmer the door.
Recent revelations surrounding the murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan have shone a spotlight on the sordid links between the police, media, and politicians. The whole capitalist establishment is in crisis. It must be overthrown.
Yesterday’s four-week lockdown extension came as no surprise, with a new wave of the virus surging across the UK. The Tories are pinning all their hopes on the vaccine. But to fight the pandemic, we need clear socialist policies.
It has been four years since the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire. The ongoing public inquiry has exposed how capitalism puts profits before lives. But only the organised working class can bring the criminals responsible to justice.
Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, Labour is heading for disaster. The party is in a deep crisis. Yet the right wing are attacking the left more than the Tories. But grassroots members are fighting back, saying: Starmer out! Fight for socialism!
The establishment’s response to Islamophobia within the Tory Party shows their cynical attitude towards racism. The ruling class has no interest in tackling discrimination. Only organised workers and youth have the power to end oppression.
Recent events have shone a spotlight on the murky institution of the Monarchy. This reactionary feudal relic is a key pillar of the British establishment; a reserve weapon for the ruling class. The labour movement must demand its abolition.
Tory plans to slash the UK’s contribution to women’s health programmes globally have provoked a backlash from the ‘sensible’ wing of the establishment. But their concern is pure hypocrisy. Only socialist policies can provide liberation for women.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Tories have shown their disdain for the arts, allowing the country’s culture sector to flounder whilst lavishing big business with generous handouts. Only a socialist alternative can save our arts.
Football fans are increasingly coming into conflict with the billionaire owners of the big clubs. Protests have taken place against the increasing commercialisation of the game and the dominance of vested interests. To save the game, we need fan-ownership and control of all clubs.
Labour’s right-wing leadership continues to give its support to the reactionary Israeli state. Genuine internationalists must take up the struggle of the Palestinians, which includes the struggle against British imperialism.
The Tories’ new plans for the railways are designed to give the illusion of a return to British Rail. But beneath this new veneer, the same old capitalists are still set to profit. The labour movement must fight for full renationalisation of the system.
Adam Booth discusses the direction of Labour, and why we need to remove Starmer and transform the party from top to bottom.
A leaked report shows how the Tories have attempted to hide alarming data about the spread of the so-called ‘Indian variant’ in Britain. In their rush to get profits flowing, the Tories are again gambling with our lives.
The Tories have adopted a “wait and see” attitude to the spread of the Indian variant. This is yet another case of the government placing the interests of big business before public health. Only socialist planning can put an end to the pandemic.
The recent fire at New Providence Wharf in east London is a stark reminder of the thousands of homes that remain unsafe across the country. As ever, the Tories have put profits ahead of lives. We say: make the rich pay for this crisis!
Having struggled through the COVID catastrophe, heroic NHS staff are now working flat out to treat the millions on waiting lists. At the same time, private health providers are looking to profit from this crisis. We say: Nationalise the lot!
The Tory government recently announced plans to bring in voter ID requirements for UK elections. This is yet another measure designed to curtail the democratic rights and participation of ordinary people. Labour must expose this sham.
Last week, local residents in Glasgow successfully resisted an attempted Home Office deportation. This inspiring example shows the way forward in the fight against the Tories’ hostile environment – through mass mobilisation and class solidarity.
Having won another term as London Mayor, Sadiq Khan now faces huge challenges. The Tories are intent on punishing working-class Londoners for their support for Labour. Austerity and attacks are on the agenda. A militant fightback is required.
Pro-independence parties have won an enlarged majority in the Scottish elections, placing Holyrood and Westminster on a collision course. The British ruling class are terrified of this constitutional crisis – yet another threat to their system.
The Tories are basking in the success of the UK’s vaccination programme, and the prospects of an economic rebound. But the coronavirus crisis will leave deep scars on working-class communities. Only bold socialist policies can offer a solution.
The murky connections between the government and the wealthy elites are in the spotlight once again. The revolving door; corporate lobbying; backscratching between donors and Downing Street: all of these are part and parcel of this rotten system.
Last weekend saw demonstrations across the country, celebrating May Day and protesting against the Tories’ latest repressive laws. The labour movement must throw their weight behind this struggle, and fight to bring down this criminal government.
Following Brexit, ruthless bosses are taking advantage of new immigration rules in order to exploit migrant labour even further. The labour movement must organise workers across the board and fight back against this race to the bottom.
Boris Johnson is in hot water over alleged remarks that he would rather see ‘bodies pile high’ than bring in lockdowns. Real or fabricated, it is clear that the Tories’ priority is profits over lives. Mobilise against this rotten government!
People with learning disabilities have been hit hard by COVID, with disproportionately high death rates. This is a graphic reminder that under capitalism, the needs of the most vulnerable will always be sacrificed for profit.
The newly-formed Northern Independence Party has recently attracted support, as a protest vote against both the criminal Tories and a complacent Labour Party. To fight the Westminster establishment, however, we need bold socialist policies.
Plans for an exclusive European Super League have been defeated thanks to mass protests by football fans across England. This is a major victory for supporters. But the fight to stop the profiteering and plunder of ‘the people’s game’ continues.
The scandalous announcement by football’s top clubs of a new elite breakaway ‘European Super League’ is the logical conclusion of profit penetrating the world of sport. To save the ‘beautiful game’, we must kick capitalism out of football.
Reports on whistleblowing website ‘Everyone’s Invited’ have revealed a toxic culture of sexism and misogyny in Britain’s schools, particularly prevalent in elite institutions – a reflection of the oppression intrinsic to capitalism.
Debates are taking place inside Black Lives Matter UK about how to take the movement forward. To advance the fight against racism, we need a united struggle based on class-based demands and a clear socialist programme.
Keir Starmer is rapidly losing support on both sides of the Labour Party. Nevertheless, pushed on by Blairites such as Peter Mandelson, he is ramping up the flag-waving and appeals to business. The left must mobilise to show Starmer the door.
Recent polling shows that Labour is heading for disaster in the upcoming May elections. At the same time, there is strong support for left-wing policies. It is time for the unions to flex their muscles and take the fight to the right.
Prince Philip has died. Unsurprisingly, the establishment has taken the opportunity to lavish praise upon this infamous bigot, and to promote patriotic flag-waving. We say: Abolish the Monarchy! Topple this rotten reactionary relic!
The government’s report into racism in Britain is a slap in the face to the BLM movement. The Tories are cynically attempting to play white and black workers off against one another. We need united class struggle to topple their racist system.
Recent comments by Tory Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab have let the mask slip, revealing the cynical attitude of the ruling class towards human rights. Only socialist internationalism can protect the working class – at home and abroad.
Over the weekend, demonstrations took place across the country in defence of the right to protest. The labour movement must channel this energy into a mass campaign – to smash these latest laws, and to bring down this whole rotten government.
Things are heating up in Scotland as elections approach. Former SNP leader Alex Salmond continues to clash with his successor, and has formed a new party. Holyrood and Westminster, meanwhile, are on a collision course over independence.
Boris Johnson has asserted that “greed” and “capitalism” are to thank for the UK vaccination programme’s success. This is a bad April Fool’s joke, however. In reality, capitalism’s greed has killed tens-of-thousands. We need socialist planning.
Following years of austerity and failed policies, commissioners are being sent in to run Liverpool City Council. Workers should have no trust in these Tory agents. The labour movement must fight back with a mass campaign against the cuts.
The right wing in the Labour Party is seeking to make support for proportional representation a key party policy. The left should steer clear of this establishment trap, which would only push Labour further down the path of class collaboration.
Labour Party officials have imposed a single parliamentary candidate for the upcoming by-election in Hartlepool. The left must organise to implement real party democracy, as part of a political struggle for a bold socialist programme.
Today marks the anniversary since Britain first entered into lockdown. One year on, and tens-of-thousands of lives have been lost because of the Tories’ crimes. To gain justice, workers must organise to kick out this rotten government.
The establishment have been quick to condemn protestors in Bristol as ‘thugs’ and ‘criminals’. But the real criminality rests with the capitalist system, and those who defend it. To defeat this system, we need organised class struggle.
From the murder of Sarah Everard, to the BLM protests: events over the past year have shone a spotlight on the role of the police under capitalism. This rotten institution cannot be reformed. It must be abolished, along with the system it protects.
Scared by the recent rise of militant protests, the Tory government has pushed through new powers to clampdown on demos. But activists will not be quashed so easily. The labour movement must mobilise to smash through these repressive laws.
In the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard, and the subsequent police suppression of a vigil in her memory, protestors have taken to the streets across Britain. We must mobilise to overthrow this entire oppressive, violent, and repressive system.
The horrific murder of Sarah Everard has led to an eruption of anger and protest. Thousands have come out onto the streets to denounce this whole rotten oppressive system. To end violence against women, we must fight to end capitalism.
Showing their contempt for democracy, Labour’s right-wing dominated NEC has rejected members’ call for a recall conference. The left must organise a conference of its own – to draw up a battle plan and mobilise to remove this disastrous leadership.
A pair of suspicious deaths of young black men in South Wales have provoked protests against police violence and institutional racism. We cannot trust the capitalist state to provide justice. The establishment will always protect their own.
The campaign for an emergency recall conference of the Labour Party has found a strong echo across the labour movement. In this online rally, prominent left-wing speakers explain why they are joining the fight to reclaim democracy.
Despite their delusions of grandeur, Tory nationalists are starting to experience a reality check when it comes to Brexit and Britain’s global standing. But it is the working class who will bear the costs as the UK and EU continue to clash.
Harry and Meghan’s shocking revelations about the inner-workings of the Royal Family have detonated dynamite in the foundations of the Monarchy – a key pillar of the British establishment. It is time to topple this rotten institution.
The campaign for a recall Labour conference has been gathering steam over the past week. This is the chance to begin a serious fightback against the right. Join us tomorrow for a rally to reclaim democracy and take back control!
With his incendiary defence against accusations of misconduct, former SNP leader Alex Salmond has lobbed a grenade into the heart of Holyrood. Nevertheless, support for independence remains solid. Explosive events lie ahead in Scotland.
With yesterday’s Budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak kicked the can down the road. But what the Tories give with one hand for now, they will take away with the other tomorrow. Only clear socialist policies can offer a way out of this crisis.
The revolving door between politics, big business, and the state is steadily turning under the Tories, with Conservative donors, peers, and former ministers landing top jobs within Whitehall, the City, and the BBC. Capitalism is corruption.
In his latest Budget, Rishi Sunak is set to announce a further ‘rescue package’ to save business. At the same time, the Chancellor has made it clear that austerity still lies ahead for workers. We say: make the bosses pay for this crisis!
The Labour right wing’s clampdown on democracy continues apace. At the same time, the campaign for an immediate recall conference is gaining momentum. It is time to ‘rise like lions’. Reclaim democracy! Recall conference now!
As part of the latest attack on party democracy, the Labour right wing have scrapped the shortlist to select the party’s candidate for Liverpool Mayor. Activists must fight back against this bureaucratic move. We say: Let the members decide!
Thousands of families will be left high and dry by inadequate Tory plans to address dangerous cladding on tower blocks. Profit-hungry property developers, meanwhile, are getting off scot free. We need a socialist solution to the housing crisis.
Coming on top of a decade of austerity and attacks, the pandemic is tearing communities apart and piling further pressures upon workers and youth. Society is ready to explode. We must channel this energy towards socialist struggle.
As part of their latest proposals for the NHS and social care, the government have emphasised the need for ‘integrated’ services. But these new Tory ‘reforms’ will do nothing to stop privatisation, profiteering, and cronyism.
Facing criticism that he lacks ‘vision’, Keir Starmer yesterday announced his Big Idea to the nation: the British Recovery Bond. But this attempt at Keynesianism-meets-patriotism will do nothing to solve the deep crisis of capitalism.
The Tories are cynically introducing new measures to ‘protect free speech’ on university campuses. Yet, hypocritically, they have banned anti-capitalist material in schools. The only thing they are protecting is their own interests.
The Tories are attempting to whip up hysteria around questions of identity and culture, in an effort to distract from their own failings and divide the working class. The left must fight a class war, not a culture war.
Following a fortnight of blunders, Keir Starmer and the Labour right wing are on the defensive. Bold calls for a recall conference are clearly making a mark. The left must press forward and take the fight to the right.
Millions have now been vaccinated across the UK. But evidence suggests that vaccine skepticism runs high amongst black people. This reflects strong feelings of social exclusion, and a lack of trust in the capitalist establishment.
The government has announced a series of draconian measures to try and prevent foreign COVID variants from entering the UK. But in Tory hands, such steps will not help. The left must fight to put workers in control.
Recent revelations have once more shone a light on the murky world of the Monarchy, highlighting the potential powers held by this key pillar of the British establishment. We say: abolish this reactionary relic!
The pandemic has starkly exposed the appalling numbers in Britain who are forced to sleep rough every night. To end homelessness and tackle the virus, the labour movement must fight for bold socialist policies.
Left-wing groups and trade unions have come together to launch a united campaign for an immediate recall Labour conference, to fight back against the right wing’s attacks on party democracy. We say: Put power in the membership’s hands!
With support for Scottish independence riding high, the establishment are panicking about the future of the Union. Boris’ recent visit to Scotland, however, has only made matters worse. Holyrood and Westminster are on a collision course.
Looking ahead to Labour conference 2021, Momentum are seeking policy proposals to campaign on. The crisis in the NHS must be urgently addressed. We call on activists to push this model motion and fight for a socialist solution.
Left-wing organisations are facing increasing censorship by the major social media platforms. The Silicon Valley giants don’t want radical ideas to be heard. We call on our readers to help us fight back and spread the ideas of Marxism.
Britain has officially passed the figure of 100,000 COVID deaths. Despite claims of inevitability and attempts to shift the blame onto ordinary people, this was never inevitable and it is the Tories – and the system they defend – that is to blame.
The UK’s national immunisation effort, so far, has been a rare success story in a pandemic otherwise characterised by chaos. This shows the superiority of planning and public ownership over the ‘invisible hand’ of the market.
In a recent revealing speech, the Labour leadership have outlined their economic strategy. Their message of ‘fiscal responsibility’ is aimed at appeasing big business. But only a bold socialist programme can offer a future to workers.
Recent research has found that the super-rich in Britain are sitting on an even greater pile of wealth than previously thought. The capitalist class have a million tricks to avoid taxes. Instead, we must demand the expropriation of their fortunes.
Only weeks after ‘Getting Brexit Done’, Boris Johnson has already pledged to use Britain’s newly gained ‘sovereignty’ to rip up workers’ rights. The stage is set for a showdown – both with Brussels and with the working class.
Under pressure from Keir Starmer and wealthy donors, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has stepped down. The right wing wants to expunge all remnants of Corbynism from the party. But this will only hasten its decline.
Images of the scraps provided to hungry children have shone a light on the rotten scam of outsourcing – a system designed to siphon public money into the pockets of Tory cronies. To end food poverty, we need socialist planning.
The Labour right wing are determined to drive left activists out of the party, in an attempt to appease the establishment. We spoke to comrades singled out in this witch-hunt, discussing the need to fight back and put members in control.
In our latest episode of Marxist Voice, we speak to Dr Raj Mistry – a junior doctor in a hard-hit hospital in South East England – about the COVID catastrophe that is currently pushing the NHS to breaking point.
Public outrage over the meagre rations offered to hungry children, along with the recent intervention by Unicef, have again brought the burning issue of UK food poverty to the fore. Capitalism cannot feed those in need.
The NHS is facing the worst crisis in its history. As COVID cases surge, the ravaged healthcare system is struggling to cope, due to years of Tory austerity and privatisation. We need socialist policies to save our NHS.
The situation inside Labour is at an impasse. The right wing are attacking grassroots members, carrying out suspensions and banning democratic discussion. Only an immediate national conference can resolve this crisis.
Londoners will go to the polls this May for the city’s mayoral elections. Sadiq Khan is the outright favourite. But reactionary charlatan Brian Rose has won support through demagogic appeals. Workers need a real, class-based solution.
Johnson and the Tories have attempted to blame a new variant of the virus for the catastrophe that is unfolding. But it is their recklessness that has landed us in this situation. We need a bold socialist response to the pandemic.
Boris Johnson has announced his Brexit deal to great fanfare, promising a bright future of prosperity and freedom. But dark clouds are gathering for British capitalism, which faces a perfect storm. This rotten Tory government must go.
Keir Starmer and the Labour right wing have stepped up their attacks against the left, with a spate of scandalous suspensions taking place recently. The left must go on the offensive, with the aim of driving out Starmer and the right.
Jeremy Corbyn has launched a new think tank type organisation aimed at promoting equality, peace, and democracy internationally. Despite its noble aims, this project falls short of what is needed: workers’ struggle for socialist demands.
Soft-left, Remain-supporting Labour MPs such as Clive Lewis and Nadia Whittome have recently relaunched themselves as the ‘Love Socialism’ group. But behind their ‘socialist’ rhetoric lies a programme of compromise and class collaboration.
Recent events have demonstrated that the Labour leadership has no genuine concern about tackling racism – in the party or in society. The left must expose this hypocrisy, and organise members to take the fight to the right.
Boris Johnson’s government has now been in power for one year. But it is already being engulfed by turmoil and splits, as the crisis of capitalism takes its toll. We need a militant opposition that will fight to kick the Tories out.
‘Independent’ regulators and watchdogs are typically painted as standing above politics, acting as neutral arbiters. But filled with establishment stooges, they instead play the role of propping up the status quo. The EHRC is no exception.
The economy is rapidly shifting online, with commodities distributed via large warehouses. But this thriving model is only possible due to the intense exploitation of precarious workers. The only solution is to organise, unionise, and fight back.
The Tory government has made a mess of the pandemic response from beginning to end. At the same time, their rich chums have been handed generous contracts. The chaos on the frontline shows why we need a socialist solution.
Labour’s right wing have torn up the rule book in their purge of the left. They will not stop until the left are broken and driven from the party. This is a war, and the left leadership must start acting as such.
Even the strategists of the ruling class are warning of an apocalyptic scenario for British capitalism, as the pandemic, Brexit, and economic chaos combine to create a perfect storm. We are entering a period of revolutionary convulsions.
Faced with bankruptcy, the Labour-controlled Croydon Council has announced that services will be slashed to the ‘bare minimum’. Instead of carrying out cuts, the leaders of the labour movement must launch a mass campaign against austerity.
With delusions of grandeur in relation to the strength of British imperialism, Johnson and the Tories have announced a massive increase in military spending. Starmer has scandously accepted this. Labour must call for welfare, not warfare.
As the economy plunges, Debenhams and Arcadia – the retail empire of tax-dodging fat cat ‘Sir’ Philip Green – have gone bust, putting 25,000 jobs at risk. But this is only the beginning. The labour movement must fight to make the bosses pay.
Provocations by the Labour right are hardening the mood amongst grassroots members. Activists are fighting back, passing motions in defiance of the party leadership and HQ, including votes of no confidence. We say: Starmer out! Corbyn in!
The inquiry into police infiltration of activist organisations and trade unions is finally underway. First up is the question of police involvement in blacklisting. The evidence is clear: the state exists to protect the bosses’ system.
From day one, the Tories have used the pandemic as an opportunity to line the pockets of their friends in big business. Capitalism is corruption. We need a workers’ government that puts lives before profits.
Boris Johnson has again managed to pour petrol on the flames with his loose-tonged approach – this time by revealing his real thoughts about devolution. Rising support for independence is yet another thorn in the PM’s side.
After bailing out big business with billions, the Tories are pledging to ‘balance the books’ by implementing a public sector pay freeze. The trade union leaders must respond with bold united action. For a one-day public sector strike!
Events in the Labour Party have demonstrated the ruthlessness of the right – as well as the timidity of the left. The problem boils down to a crisis of leadership. We call on readers to join us and help build the forces of Marxism.
News of potentially viable vaccines offers a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. But whilst workers will bear the brunt of the coronavirus crisis, the major pharmaceutical monopolies are laughing all the way to the bank.
Jeremy Corbyn is back in the Labour Party, after apologising for earlier remarks. But no amount of appeasement will satisfy the right wing. Starmer’s spiteful decision not to restore the whip shows that this war is far from over.
Victory in the Labour NEC elections shows the potential strength of the left. But this is currently being squandered by the left leaders. Instead of seeking compromise, we must mobilise members for an all-out struggle against the right.
Dominic Cummings and his clique are gone. An open power struggle is playing out in the Tory Party, as the ruling class looks to ‘take back control’. This is truly a government of crisis, revealing the dire situation facing British capitalism.
Tory cuts are killing the NHS. Yet the government is shifting the blame onto migrants, restricting access to healthcare as part of their ‘hostile environment’. The labour movement must fight back. An injury to one is an injury to all.
Negotiations between Britain and the EU are going down to the wire. With Boris Johnson in thrall to Tory Brexiteers, the UK could well crash out of Europe without a deal, creating a perfect storm for British capitalism.
Attempts to oppose Jeremy Corbyn’s suspension from the Labour Party have been blocked by the right-wing bureaucracy. But grassroots members in Bristol have shown that it is possible to smash through these barriers and fight back.
By prioritising profits over lives, the Tories have inflicted months of chaos on the country. But now the chickens are coming home to roost for Johnson, with his party split and his support falling. Labour must deliver a knockout blow.
The suspension of Jeremy Corbyn is a declaration of war. The Labour left is faced with a stark choice: either to capitulate, or to fight to the finish. There is no middle road. Appeasement will not work. Now more than ever, we need bold leadership.
Recent events have sent shockwaves across English football, with the top clubs looking to seize profits and power at the expense of fans and lower league clubs. We must fight to kick capitalism out of the beautiful game.
In a special broadcast of Marxist Voice, Rob Sewell discusses the incendiary events surrounding the release of the EHRC report into Labour and anti-semitism.
The Labour right wing have shown that they are ruthless in their aim of purging the left. The leaders of the Corbyn movement must show equal determination and resolve. We need a fighting leadership, armed with a bold socialist programme.
In voting against free school meals, the Tories have once again shown that they are the ‘Nasty Party’ – callously putting profits before people. To end child poverty, Labour must fight for socialist policies: for the many, not the few.
By suspending Jeremy Corbyn, the right wing has thrown down the gauntlet. A full on witch-hunt is underway – to purge the left and make Labour a reliable party for big business. The left must mobilise and boldly fight back.
Workers in the North West have been left high and dry, as new restrictions are imposed without the necessary financial support. Rather than negotiating with the Tories, Burnham and co. must mobilise workers in defiance against the government.
Elections for the leadership of Young Labour are in full swing. On the left, the ‘For a Socialist Future’ slate is looking to become a rallying point for radical youth. Candidate Lewis Griffiths reports on the campaign for a socialist YL.
Recent events surrounding elite horse racing association the Jockey Club have revealed the cosy relationship between the Tories, the establishment, and big business. As ever, it is workers who suffer the consequences of this corruption.
Voting begins today for the Young Labour elections. Now more than ever, we need a fighting socialist leadership. The militant stance taken by the Labour Party Young Socialists provides an inspiring reference point for activists today.
Attempting to distract from the COVID chaos his government has created, Boris Johnson recently outlined his post-pandemic vision to “build back better”. In reality, the Tories only offer a future of further austerity.
With Boris Johnson dragging his feet over the escalating epidemic, Keir Starmer has come out in support of a new temporary national lockdown. How can the labour movement ensure that workers do not foot the bill for this crisis?
The TUC leaders have scandalously linked up with the bosses to support the latest jobs plan from the Tories, which offers no security to workers. Instead of this class collaboration, the labour movement must provide socialist opposition.
Boris Johnson’s latest announcement to the nation shows that the Tories have no plan for tackling the escalating epidemic. The labour movement must mobilise to oust this government of chaos, and to put workers in control.
Next week, ballots open for elections to the Labour Party’s ruling body, the NEC. These elections mark a key battleground in the ongoing Labour civil war. It is vital that the left organises and mobilises to ensure victory.
The government recently announced plans to ban the teaching of anti-capitalist ideas in schools. But with capitalism in crisis, attempts to sweep socialism under the carpet will not work. You cannot stop an idea whose time has come.
In search of a magic formula to win over the working class, some ‘Marxist’ commentators have called for the left to pander to patriotism. The labour movement must ignore these siren calls and fight for socialist internationalism.
The new football season is underway in the middle of a second wave, lower league clubs are facing an existential threat, as revenue dries up. This will deal a blow to working-class communities. To save the sport, we need to kick profit out of football.
The disabled community has been hit hard by the pandemic – left behind by a Tory government that puts profits before lives. Workers and disability activists must unite and fight for a society in the interests of the many, not the few.
Under orders from Starmer, most Labour MPs this week abstained on a Tory bill that seeks to defend the crimes of British imperialism. Those opposing the bill were punished. Grassroots members must fight for socialist internationalism.
As the pandemic drags on, anger and distrust towards the government is growing. Many are understandably sceptical of what they hear in the media or from politicians. The labour movement must channel this mood along class lines.
Keir Starmer has gone to great effort this week to break with his predecessor and draw a line under the Corbyn era. Left-wing policies are to be ditched and replaced with appeals to ‘patriotism’. Grassroots activists must fight back.
The tragic death of Mercy Baguma has highlighted the cruelty facing asylum seekers under the Tories’ ‘hostile environment’. The labour movement must fight against this barbarism, and organise all workers against capitalist exploitation.
Boris Johnson’s announcement of new measures highlights the catastrophe that he and his cabinet have created. We must overthrow this government of chaos. We cannot trust the Tories with our lives.
Only a few weeks into the new school term, and it is clear that the Tories have no real plan of how to maintain the health and safety of students and staff. The labour movement must fight to put workers in control.
Boris Johnson and the Tories are on a collision course with Brussels. A no-deal Brexit is on the cards. Alongside a plummeting economy and a second wave of the pandemic, this is a perfect storm for British capitalism.
Lewis Griffiths, the official left candidate for Wales representative in the upcoming Young Labour elections, explains why Young Labour needs to become a rallying point for workers and students looking to fight the Tories and capitalism’s crises.
Right-wingers in Scottish Labour have tried to oust leader Richard Leonard. The establishment wants to bolster Labour in Scotland, so they can do the Tories’ dirty work in defending the Union. This is the path to self-destruction.
This weekend marks the fifth anniversary since Jeremy Corbyn was first elected Labour leader. This marked an enormous turning point for the Left in Britain. Now, at another crossroads, we must learn from the experience of the Corbyn era.
This week, the government reintroduced tighter lockdown measures in an attempt to control the virus. We must be clear: it is the Tories who have paved the way for a second wave, with their reckless attempts to reopen the economy.
Former Tory chancellor Sajid Javid has moved seamlessly from the Treasury to a plush job at JP Morgan, the global banking giant. To stop this revolving door between the state and business, we need a socialist economy with workers’ control.
Local Labour parties are meeting this month to decide who to back for the upcoming NEC elections. We call on readers to support left-wing candidates and nominate socialist comrades in your CLP. We must fight for a socialist Labour Party.
The Tory government is lurching from one disaster to another. The rate of infections is rising. And as the economy reopens and students return to school, a second wave is all but certain. We need a militant opposition to this government of chaos.
Results are in from the Momentum primaries to decide the left slate in the upcoming Young Labour elections. The ‘Marxist Voice’ platform saw strong support, standing on a bold socialist programme. Now fight for a militant Young Labour!
Desperate to avoid poverty and war, thousands of migrants are risking their lives attempting to reach Britain by boat. The Tories are cynically exploiting this crisis to distract from their own chaos at home. Capitalism is horror without end.
Left-wing MP Richard Burgon recently outlined a 10-point policy proposal to galvanise the left. But the Keynesian ideas put forward are not enough. We need to mobilise workers and youth around bold socialist demands.
Primary elections to choose Momentum’s slate for Young Labour open tomorrow. Socialist Appeal supporters are standing as the ‘Marxist Voice’ platform. We call on young activists to vote for these comrades and join the campaign.
A recent survey of Labour members shows a growing disillusionment with Starmer’s leadership, alongside strong support for left-wing policies. The ground is being prepared for a renewed outbreak of the Labour civil war.
We publish here a contribution by John McInally, an experienced trade union activist from the PCS, about the perspectives for the labour movement in Britain. We need to build a strong socialist opposition to the Tories and Labour right wing.
Elections are coming up for the Young Labour national committee, with primaries underway to decide which candidates are backed by Momentum. We urge readers to vote for the ‘Marxist Voice for Young Labour’ platform.
With their new ‘Better Health’ campaign, the Tories are once again looking to shift the blame for their callousness and incompetence onto the working class. But it is they who are responsible for the death of thousands.
Outrageous proposals to ‘reform’ the planning system will give a free reign to property developers, whilst removing any accountability to local communities. The housing crisis is not the fault of the planning system, but the profit system.
As the economy contracts, the availability of paid work is in decline. Yet workers today also have less leisure time. Under capitalism, all the gains of productivity fall to an elite few. We need a socialist plan to end unemployment and overwork.
The Prime Minister has continued with establishment tradition by appointing his chums and cronies to the House of Lords. At the same time, Blairite saboteurs have been rewarded for their services. We must abolish this feudal relic.
The mood amongst ordinary people is rapidly shifting as the Tory government lurches from scandal to crisis. The widening class divide in society is being exposed by events, preparing the way for revolutionary explosions.
Racist policing practices have been thrust into the spotlight by the Black Lives Matter movement. A spate of recent incidents indicate the scale of the problem. As Labour MP Dawn Butler has correctly stated, we need ‘system change’.
The Scottish government has provoked a furore amongst school students by deploying a “postcode lottery” exam results system that discriminates based on class backgrounds. Capitalism is institutionalised inequality.
Len McCluskey has fired a shot across the bows with threats to withdraw funds in response to Starmer’s rightward turn of the Labour Party. With NEC elections approaching, the left must mobilise around bold socialist policies.
The imposition of new local lockdowns in the north of England has once again revealed the utter incompetence of the Tory government. This chaos is no mere mistake, but a reflection of their attempt to put profits before lives.
Dominic Cummings, the Rasputin of Downing Street, has been on a crusade against the Whitehall establishment. Recently, he has turned his attention to the army. The British state is increasingly split and in disarray.
During the lockdown, in-person court hearings were suspended, leading to a quiet erosion of civil liberties. This has exacerbated a process already underway due to years of Tory austerity. Capitalism cannot provide justice.
The recent local lockdown in Leicester has shone a light on the barbaric working conditions experienced by garment workers in the city. Boycotts and policing are no solution. Instead, the labour movement must organise.
Conflict between the Tories and Holyrood has boosted support for independence. However, Yes supporters are growing critical of the SNP leadership. Boris Johnson may find himself presiding over Brexit, the pandemic, and a break-up of the Union.
The Tories are promising public sector workers a pay rise as thanks for their vital role during the pandemic. But this comes after a decade of austerity, and essential workers like carers and cleaners are not covered. We must fight for far more.
Labour has issued an apology to former employees who were involved in sabotage. Keir Starmer and the right wing are attempting to bury the story. Activists must organise to demand justice – and to fight the Blairite bureaucrats.
As the economic impact of the crisis start to hit home, workers are facing a tsunami of job cuts. Starmer’s Labour are standing idly by, not struggling for workers’ lives or livelihoods. Workers must organise and fight back. Workers in Britain are facing a jobs “bloodbath”, according to the manufacturing trade group, Make UK. The warning comes as unemployment is predicted to rocket, with millions losing their jobs. More than half of UK manufacturers are planning job cuts over the next six months, affecting automotive, aerospace and other core industries. This is a dramatic rise from just two months ago. […]
As of this week, UK shoppers will be required to cover their face. Meanwhile, people are being told to return to work, so that the bosses can continue their profit-making. The Tories have no concern for our lives.
Recent studies have shown that the idea of ‘herd immunity’ does not work. And yet the government is back pursuing this failed strategy, once again putting profits before lives. We must fight to prevent this blue murder.
Since splitting from Labour, former MPs Chuka Umunna and Angela Smith have gone on to take well-paid positions in the boardrooms of big business. These Blairites should have been booted out long ago. We say: clear out the careerists!
As the lockdown lifts, fears are mounting of a second wave. Despite the government’s announcement of economic stimulus, the working class faces a tsunami of austerity and attacks. The labour movement must fight back.
The arrest and trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, former girlfriend of billionaire sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein, threatens to shine a light on the sordid alleged antics of Prince Andrew. The whole establishment is rotten to the core.
Sitting in Limbo provides a detailed account of the real experiences of one of the Windrush scandals victims, Anthony Bryan. The labour movement must stand in solidarity with migrant workers against racism. An injury to one is an injury to all.
In our latest episode of Marxist Voice, Labour activist and Socialist Appeal writer Joe Attard discusses Keir Starmer’s dismissal of Rebecca Long-Bailey, and what this means for the fight inside the Labour Party.
As the rest of the UK opens up, Leicester remains in lockdown, due to a localised outbreak. A second wave is sure to hit, as ruthless bosses and incompetent Tories put profits before lives.
The Tories are once more mired in scandal, with revelations that the government’s housing minister has been doling out assistance to property developers who donate to the party. We see how capitalism and corruption go hand-in-hand.
Elections for Momentum’s leading body have produced a victory for the grassroots slate, winning on a promise of democratic change and socialist policies. This should empower activists to get organised and fight the right.
The Labour right wing have taken advantage of the lockdown to go on the offensive against the left. The sacking of RLB by Starmer is only the latest declaration of war. Grassroots activists must educate, agitate, and organise a fightback.
Keir Starmer has removed left-winger Rebecca Long-Bailey from the Shadow Cabinet, once again using anti-semitism smears to attack the left. The pretence of ‘unity’ has been shattered. Activists must prepare for battle.
We continue our series on the English Revolution by republishing Alan Woods’ response to a BBC documentary on the English Civil War. Subscribe to Marxist Voice to listen to Alan Woods’ podcast on this revolutionary episode.
Boris Johnson has announced that the UK will emerge from its “long national hibernation” on 4 July, as the economy reopens, against scientifc advice. The Tories are openly split, under the conflicting pressures of saving profits and lives.
A strong campaign by footballer Marcus Rashford has forced a U-turn from the Tory government, achieving more than Starmer’s sterile leadership has in months. Workers need a real opposition that will take the fight to the Tories.
The British establishment is attempting to divert the movement against racism down safe-channels – turning the struggle into a polarising ‘culture war’, and offering tokenistic gestures. Instead, we must fight for socialist change.
Britain’s care homes have become a killing field for coronavirus. Cuts to the NHS have pushed patients into social care, causing further contagion and fatalities. To fight the pandemic, the whole sector needs to be nationalised.
This weekend’s “counter protests” descended into farce as the far right defended the statue of Churchill by drinking, giving nazi salutes and assaulting innocent bystanders. The labour movement should meet these thugs with force and drive them off our streets.
Top-flight football is restarting this week in Britain. But this decision is motivated not out of concern for clubs’ fans, but for their owners’ profits. We need to kick profit out of the ‘beautiful game’.
Today is the three year anniversary of the Grenfell tragedy and we are still no closer to justice. Meanwhile, thousands of lives are still at risk from the same flammable cladding. We must organise and fight to ensure people’s safety.
The UK has the highest relative number of excess deaths due to COVID-19 in the world. This is down to the incompetence of the Tory government, who have put profits before lives.
Keir Starmer has given a tepid, equivocal response to the Black Lives Matter movement in Britain. What is needed from the Labour leaders is not hollow rhetoric or tokenistic kneeling, but firm and clear support to those fighting racism.
The Tories have downplayed the Black Lives Matter movement in Britain, saying that racism and policing are not an issue here. But this is far from the truth.
A social explosion is brewing in Britain. The pandemic, Brexit, and now the Black Lives Matter movement are throwing the Tory government from one crisis to another. The rottenness of the whole capitalist system is rapidly being revealed.
Weeks after the leaked report exposed the sabotage of the Labour bureaucracy, a purge has begun – of the left! The right wing wants to regain control of the party and stifle debate. Grassroots members must mobilise against these attacks.
Nicola Sturgeon and Boris Johnson have clashed over the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst support for the Tories is plummeting, the SNP’s popularity is rising. As a result, the national question is sharpening once again.
Amidst the COVID-19 chaos, the Tory government has been handing out juicy contracts to their friends in big business. Private firms are making millions, whilst ordinary people suffer.
Coronavirus has exposed all of society’s systemic inequalities. Most glaringly, black and Asian communities in Britain have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. The social conditions created by capitalism are to blame.
The tragic death of Belly Mujinga sends a clear message to workers everywhere: The bosses and the capitalist state do not care about your lives. Workers must trust only in themselves.
In this recent live broadcast statement by Antonio Balmer – of Socialist Revolution, US section of the IMT – looks at the recent police killing of George Floyd, discussion the question of racism and police violence, and explaining the need for revolution.
The Tories are cynically using the pandemic to wage war on Labour-controlled London, demanding cuts to the capital’s public transport network in exchange for funding. This is a warning of what workers everywhere can expect.
The pandemic has exposed the cynicism and incompetence of the tiny clique who run Britain. The mask has been torn away to expose the ugly face of class privilege. Johnson, Cummings and the rest are destined for the dustbin of history.
The right-wing press have unsurprisingly lined up behind the Tories against teachers. Once again, these reactionary rags are attempting to divide the working class. We must fight for a workers’ alternative to the billionaire press.
Dominic Cummings’ lockdown-breaking scandal has brought all the tensions within the ruling class bursting to the surface. These splits at the top represent a crisis of the regime. Cummings – and this whole rotten government – must go.
During Mental Health Awareness week, the media is churning out articles with suggestions on individual steps to improve people’s wellbeing. But it is capitalism that is killing our mental health.
Years of austerity and privatisation have left the NHS ill-prepared for this pandemic. The lives of workers and patients are being put on the line. We must provide proper PPE, kick out the profiteers, and fight to save our NHS.
Momentum chair Jon Lansman is stepping aside. And faced with a new right-wing leadership, the Labour left is being forced to reflect. It is vital that we learn the lessons of the last five years. There can be no more compromises.
Throughout the coronavirus crisis, Boris Johnson and his Etonian government have attempted to hide their fatal ineptitude through a barrage of bluster and bullshit. But it is increasingly clear that the Tories have blood on their hands.
The pandemic has triggered the deepest crisis in the history of capitalism. There will be no return to ‘normality’. Consciousness will be transformed forever. We must build the forces of Marxism with a sense of urgency.
Underfunding of the NHS has meant it is under enormous pressure during this pandemic. Charity organisations are desperately trying to fill the gap. But this is only papering over the cracks. We need a fully-funded and worker-run NHS.
Distrust towards the establishment is on the rise. This has opened up a space for conspiracy theories to take hold. But we don’t need such ideas to explain the chaos around us. The real culprit is clear: capitalism.
Local councils have been gutted by a decade of Tory austerity. Now, the crisis threats to drive these councils into financial ruin. Local councils must refuse to carry out cuts and link up in a struggle against the Tories and their rotten system.
Last night’s speech by the Prime Minister has left everyone confused. But the main message was loud and clear: workers are expected to put themselves on the line for the bosses’ profits. The unions must fight for workers’ control.
UK renters are facing an uncertain future, as landlords come hunting for arrears. Labour should be campaigning to cancel rents. But instead, Starmer and his team are cosying up to parasitic landlords and big business.
Labour leader Keir Starmer has buckled to reactionary Hindu nationalism, unilaterally overturning agreed party policy on Kashmir. The labour movement must fight to show solidarity, not bend the knee to imperialism.
Lauded by the establishment for his ‘credible opposition’, Keir Starmer is also under pressure from workers to oppose reckless Tory measures. Instead of compromising with the government, Labour should be taking them to task.
Whilst many businesses in the UK are facing ruin, supermarkets like Tesco are flourishing, taking tax-breaks and paying out enormous dividends to shareholders. Workers, meanwhile, are being put at risk on a daily basis.
The bosses are pushing ever harder for workers to return to work. And the Tory government is giving them free rein to restart the economy without the necessary safety measures. The labour movement must organise a fightback.
The contest to replace Labour’s general secretary will open up a battle at the top of the party. The recent leaked report has shattered any idea of ‘unity’. The left must fight for party democracy and socialism.
The Tory government is giving the police extra powers to enforce the lockdown. Yet profiteering bosses are getting away with murder. Workers should trust only themselves to maintain safety in workplaces and local communities.
Across the country today, a minute’s silence was held to remember those workers who have lost their lives to the coronavirus. It is the Tories and the bosses who are responsible for these deaths. The trade union leaders must organise a fightback.
Thousands are silently dying in UK care homes, ignored by this callous Tory government. And care workers are being put in the firing line, provided with no PPE. We need a social care system that is fully funded and publicly owned.
Having run his airline into the ground, Richard Branson is going cap-in-hand to the Tory government. Parasite bosses like Branson have already stolen too much from us, nationalise to protect workers.
Keir Starmer’s leadership victory was met with jubilation by the Blairites. These gangsters have actively conspired against the election of a Labour government. We must clear out these saboteurs and fight against any return to Blairism.
New Labour leader ‘Sir’ Keir Starmer has been notable by his absence in recent weeks. Yet he has earnt plaudits from establishment commentators for providing ‘credible opposition’. No wonder – he is bankrolled by big business.
Years of austerity, privatisation, and bureaucratic management have eroded the foundations of Britain’s public healthcare system. Patients, staff, and wider society have been left vulnerable in the face of the pandemic. Fight to save our NHS!
With families forced to skip meals, the coronavirus crisis has shone a spotlight on the question of food distribution. To end hunger and insecurity, we need public canteens and nationalised supermarkets, as part of a socialist economic plan.
Modern day slums have contributed to the rapid spread of the coronavirus in Britain. The scourge of low pay and eye-watering rents has forced working-class families into overcrowded housing. Capitalism is killing us.
A recent shocking report by the Sunday Times demonstrates the fatal errors made by the Tories, whose incompetence and inaction have led to thousands of avoidable deaths. Workers and youth must fight to overthrow this rotten regime.
Keir Starmer has made overtures about joining a government of national unity with the Conservatives. National unity is a reactionary fiction. What is needed is workers’ unity in the face of this crisis.
Tory ministers have been quick to blame ‘irresponsible’ people in parks for breaking social distancing rules. But their finger-wagging doesn’t seem to extend to shameless bosses who keep non-essential production open.
New studies estimate that Britain is set to see the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in Europe. This is entirely due to the complacency and incompetence of the Tory government. Their arrogance is responsible for this avoidable loss of lives.
The NHS desperately requires thousands of new ventilators to treat coronavirus patients. Without these, mortality rates will rise dramatically. But the Tories and their friends in industry have proved incapable of addressing the shortage.
A recently leaked report on the shenanigans of officials at Labour HQ reveals a cesspit of bullying and bureaucracy, designed explictly to undermine the Corbyn movement. Labour activists must organise and fight to sweep out the saboteurs.
An open split has emerged within the Tories, between those who are desperate for business to return to normal; and those who are terrified of the backlash if private wealth is put above public health. We must fight to put lives before profits.
Only two days into his leadership, and the establishment are already demanding that Keir Starmer prove his credentials by marching to their tune. But the Labour right wing will have a hard time reversing the gains of the Corbyn movement.
Keir Starmer has won the Labour leadership contest. His Blairite backers are already baying for blood, calling for the Corbyn movement to be purged from the party. The left must rally around socialist policies and prepare to fight back.
There has been a great deal of fanfare about the government’s pledges to protect workers and small businesses through this crisis. But, in reality, ordinary people have been left high-and-dry. We must make the bosses pay.
Faced with shortages of vital equipment and a lack of testing, heroic staff in the NHS are risking their lives in the battle against the covid-19 pandemic. To save our NHS, we must reverse the cuts and privatisation.
In an effort to save their system, the Tory government has pledged to throw hundreds of billions at the economy. But what they give with one hand today, they will attempt to take back through austerity tomorrow. We must make the bosses pay.
Construction bosses are attempting to get away with murder by keeping sites open, putting the lives of workers and their families at risk. Workers should take matters into their own hands and shut down construction.
Filling the vacuum created by the Tory government’s ineptitude, local community groups have sprung into life across the country, providing essential support to the most vulnerable. These could become a powerful tool in the fight against austerity.
Despite government decrees ordering social distancing measures and shutdowns, many businesses and companies are attempting to sidestep the rules, putting profits before people’s lives. Workers must organise against this recklessness.
The Chancellor’s recent pledge for the state to cover workers’ wages shows the desperate situation facing the ruling class. Instead, the labour movement leaders must demand nationalisation and democratic economic control.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, many governments are nationalising key industries and services. Boris Johnson, however, has relied solely on the market. Profit is standing in the way of an effective response to this crisis.
A decade of Tory cuts mean the NHS will be overwhelmed by the coronavirus epidemic. In Italy, doctors are being made to decide who lives and who dies. This will soon be the case in Britain as well. The poor face a lottery with their lives.
Faced with the prospect of overseeing a deadly disaster, the Prime Minister has changed track from his original laissez-faire covid-19 strategy. But Johnson’s government has no clue of where to go next. We are entering uncharted waters.
After much delay, the Prime Minister today announced the government’s lacklustre response to the covid-19 pandemic. The labour movement must fight to ensure that workers, the poor, and the vulnerable do not suffer as a result of the outbreak.
Bankrupt British Steel is to be bought up by new Chinese owners. But this latest takeover will solve none of the problems facing the UK steel industry – nor its workers. The labour movement must fight for nationalisation.
Today’s Budget announcement by Tory Chancellor Rishi Sunak attempted to calm the capitalists’ fears with promises of extra spending and stimulus. But British capitalism faces a perfect storm, and the Tories’ promises will soon turn to dust.
A series of powerful speeches by left-wing MPs in support of RLB’s Labour leadership bid emphasised the policies that activists must fight for: open selection, a new Clause IV, and socialist policies to fight austerity and the climate crisis.
After months of uncertainty, regional airline Flybe has been abandoned by the Tory government and gone bust. This is a symptom of the severe crisis facing the global aviation industry – and the entire capitalist system.
Voting has begun for the Labour leadership contest. With their champion Keir Starmer, the establishment hopes to regain control of the Labour Party. We must fight to continue the ‘Corbyn revolution’.
Richard Burgon’s campaign for the deputy Labour leader position has gained the backing of rank-and-file activists, thanks to the MP’s bold demands for open selection and a new socialist Clause IV. Support Burgon for deputy!
Recent in-depth polling by Lord Ashcroft hints at why Labour have lost support amongst working-class voters in former ‘heartlands’. To win back these workers, Labour must become the real anti-establishment party.
Tower Hamlets Labour-run council met with fierce resistance from constituents over plans to phase out the Community Language Service, a desperately needed service in the community. Labour councils must fight the cuts, not implement them.
The Tory Party and Westminster government are being transformed under Boris Johnson’s leadership and Dominic Cumming’s influence. And big business is increasingly alarmed by the direction in which things are headed.
Tory plans for new immigration controls are a racist attempt to blame migrant workers for unemployment and low pay. But it is capitalism that is responsible for the crisis of jobs and housing. We say: make the bosses pay!
The UK has recently been battered by two storms, Ciara and Dennis – both causing significant damage to people’s lives. The market system has proven incapable of providing effective flood defences. Only a publicly owned and planned economy can protect communities.
The ballot opens today for the Labour leadership contest. Keir Starmer is currently the favourite, based on an opportunistic campaign with hollow promises of ‘unity’ and ‘electability’. Members must not be fooled by this wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Richard Burgon is the left candidate in the current deputy Labour leadership contest. We support Richard because of his calls for open selection and a new Clause IV based on public ownership – which he recently discussed with us.
Football is increasingly dominated by profit, which is sucking the excitement and spectacle out of the sport. At the same time, large numbers of smaller clubs face an existential crisis. We need to kick capitalism out of football.
The ballot for the Labour leadership contest opens this week. Rebecca Long-Bailey and Richard Burgon are the clear candidates of the left. But to beat their right-wing rivals, RLB and Burgon must mobilise grassroots members around bold socialist demands.
The Home Office’s recent Jamaica deportation demonstrates that Johnson’s government is continuing the Tory ‘hostile environment’ policy in order to whip up xenophobia. The labour movement must fight back against racist Tory attacks.
The government recently revealed plans for a new wave of across-the-board cuts, exposing the lie that the Age of Austerity is over. Vital services are already at breaking point. Labour and the unions must take a militant stand against these attacks.
The result of the last general election was an expression of the deep anger in society. The Tories will quickly find themselves unable to quell this anger as they continue to carry out cuts, laying the basis for major upheavals.
The BBC is set to chop hundreds of jobs in response to decreased funding. Those at the top, however, will continue to enjoy their perks and bulging pay packets. The unions must take action against these attacks.
Boris Johnson is set to make a decision on the haphazard HS2 project in the coming days. Whatever the outcome, it will be a win for construction bosses, who have their snouts firmly in the trough.
The BBC is coming under fire from all angles: from the Tory government with its proposed funding shake-up; and from left-wingers angry at blatant bias. All of this highlights the need for a media that represents the voice of the working class.
Newcastle United may be bought by Mohammed Bin Salman, architect of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. As long as clubs remain a commodity for their owners to profit from, they will always be owned by these gangsters.
Only weeks into his new government, Boris Johnson’s plan to sail the seas forging deals and strengthening ties on the other side of the Atlantic has already come unstuck. Britain has been starkly revealed as the third-rate world power that it is.
The failing Northern Rail franchise has been taken into public ownership after years of poor service. This is a damning indictment of privatisation and the whole market system. We say: nationalise the lot!
Johnson’s hollow gesture to relocate the House of Lords to “reconnect politics with voters” highlights just how out of touch these institutions are to workers. Socialist should support Rebecca Long-Bailey’s call to abolish this feudal relic!
In a bold move, leadership candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey has called for open selection. This is a clear challenge to the Labour right wing – one that should inspire activists to secure a left victory and complete the Corbyn revolution.
Despite losing good left-wing MPs such as Laura Pidcock at the last election, a new generation of Labour lefts have entered into Parliament to carry the torch of the Corbyn movement. Their speeches and actions provide a bold example for others to follow.
After the election, with the uncertainty of Brexit still hovering, it is a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire for the British capitalists. Boris Johnson’s government will soon become one of crisis.
The Tories have recently stepped in to save Flybe. But nothing has been solved and the company still lingers on the edge of bankrupcy, with 2,400 jobs at risk. We say: nationalise the airlines under workers’ control!
Rather than stabilising the situation in Britain, Johnson’s election victory will create further turbulence. With a coming crisis, he will be unable to deliver on his promises. There will be a dramatic shift in consciousness in the next period.
In recent months the monarchy has been thrown into crisis, a symptom of the crisis of capitalism. First we had the proroguing of parliament, then Prince Andrew’s train crash interview and now the crisis of “Megxit.” Overthrow this feudal relic!
John Pilger’s new documentary details the process by which the NHS has been carved up and sold off to the private sector interspersed with personal accounts of the victims of this ‘dirty war’. Capitalism is the cause. Fight to save our NHS!
The first round of the leadership contest is over. The key battle will be fought between Rebecca Long-Bailey on the left and Keir Starmer on the right. We must go on the attack and drive out the remnants of Blairism. Complete the Corbyn revolution!
Brexit was central to Labour’s election defeat. Concessions to the Blairites alienated working-class voters in the north and Midlands. In order to move forwards and fight, it is vital to learn the lessons of where it went wrong for the left.
Last year’s election saw the SNP sweep the board north of the border. This provides a strong mandate for a second independence referendum. But Boris Johnson has refused to grant such a vote, creating a potentially explosive situation.
The contest to succeed Corbyn as Labour leader has begun, with six candidates already declaring their intention to run. The left must mobilise behind Rebecca Long-Bailey and fight a bold campaign based on clear socialist demands.
News of the recent Tory victory was met with an enormous sigh of relief by the capitalist class, who can now continue unabated with their attacks against the working class. The leaders of the labour movement must mobilise workers to fightback.
Under Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party has completed its transformation from reliable representative of British capitalism into a rabid reactionary outfit. This has explosive repercussions for the new ‘strong and stable’ Tory government.
Since last week’s election defeat, the right wing and media have launched a huge offensive against Corbyn and the left. But it is the Blairites and their sabotage that is to blame. We must fight to purge the party of these elements.
After the disappointment of the election result, Labour activists must gather their strength and regroup to choose a new left leader. Members must use this as an opportunity to call for mandatory reselection and bold socialist policies.
The shock election result has caused great confusion, demoralisation, and anger. It is vital to learn the lessons from this defeat, in order to regather our forces and go on the offensive against Boris Johnson and the Tories. We urge you to join us.
We have one last opportunity to mobilise our movement for a Labour win. The Tories are in a panic. The wind is in our sails. We have every chance of success. Let’s get out there and fight! All out for a Corbyn victory!
The time has almost arrived. Tomorrow voters go to the polls in a historic election. Let’s finish the job. Vote for Corbyn! Fight for socialism!
John McDonnell yesterday outlined the key tasks facing a Labour government in its opening weeks. But the response from big business highlights the threats facing such a government too. Labour must fight back with bold socialist measures.
Boris Johnson and the Tories have attempted to make this election one solely focussed on Brexit. But left-wing Labour candidates in Leave-voting areas are trying to win over workers and youth with class-based policies.
With just days until voters go to the polls, Corbyn is touring the country in one last push for a Labour victory. His visit to Wales last weekend highlights the enormous enthusiasm that exists amongst workers and youth everywhere.
Tory austerity has cut care services to the bone. Private companies have partially filled the gap. But these firms are only interested in profits. Care workers, the elderly, and the disabled, meanwhile, are faced with a living nightmare.
As we enter the final week of the election, activists are stepping up their efforts for a Corbyn victory. No matter what the outcome on 12 December, a mass political movement has been created. This genie cannot be put back in its bottle.
Election day is now just one week away. But a week is a long time in politics. Johnson and the Tories are terrified of slipping up. We must go up a gear and mobilise our full forces in the fight for a socialist Labour government.
Before the election campaign began, Jo Swinson believed her party would surge forward as representatives of the ‘centre-ground’. But this deluded fantasy has crashed amidst a political situation that is polarising along class lines.
Trump is visiting the UK this week for the latest NATO summit. He and Boris Johnson are cut from the same capitalist cloth, seeking to line the pockets of big business. We must mobilise and fight the Boris-Trump alliance.
Boris Johnson is far from the ideal representative of big business, with his threats to crash Britain out of the EU. But the bosses and bankers are even more afraid of the threat posed by a Corbyn Labour government.
India’s ruling party is allying with the Tories and running an anti-Corbyn campaign amongst Hindu voters, accusing Labour of being ‘anti-India’. Labour must stand firm against these unelected, reactionary ‘religious representatives’.
New documents revealed by Jeremy Corbyn yesterday show that Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are plotting to sell off our NHS to big business. This is why we need to intensify the fight for a socialist Labour government.
Due to the privatisation of the telecoms industry, internet infrastructure in Britain has been outdated for decades. Monopoly conditions allow company bosses to make a killing from poor quality infrastructure. Labour’s recent proposals are a good start.
The establishment is doing their best to dampen spirits surrounding Labour’s election campaign. But with with a radical manifesto in hand and a mass movement on the streets, we can still narrow the gap and put Corbyn in Number 10.
Jeremy Corbyn today launched Labour’s manifesto for this election. It contains a whole host of radical policies that will enthuse workers and youth. But will this programme be enough to provide the ‘real change’ that Labour is promising?
Prince Andrew’s interview has been criticised by the establishment for pulling back the curtain to reveal the corrupt and abusive behaviour of the rich and powerful. Until we overthrow this degenerate ruling class, such abuse will continue.
Last election Labour made significant gains in London. This time, there are a number of marginals that Labour can win. Labour activists, and Socialist Appeal supporters, have been mobilising to fight for a socialist Labour government.
Last week saw widespread flooding in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Johnson showed up late for a photo opportunity and was met with hostility. This event shows the contempt held by the Tories towards the working class.
In 2017, Boris Johnson’s majority in Uxbridge and South Ruislip was halved. In this election, he could become the first sitting PM to lose his seat. Labour activists and the Brunel Marxist society are fighting to make this happen.
The Tories have made a shambolic start to their election campaign. The contempt shown to the victims of Grenfell and of the recent floods, the widespread racism and the string of lies and fabrications have shown them for who they are.
In exactly one month’s time, voters will go to the polls. As Labour’s campaign grows and gains, the Tories are going into full panic mode. Keep up the pressure! Fight the Johnson-Farage alliance with bold socialist policies!
Over 87% of British rail trains are owned by just three companies – the ROSCOs – which operate as a cartel monopoly. Profits have risen in the last few years whilst costs are passed on to the state and passengers. We need workers’ ownership.
Labour’s campaign has focussed on attacking the billionaires. The Tories have leapt to the defence of the super-rich, comparing Corbyn to Stalin for his “vindicitiveness” against “wealth creators”. And big business are opening their pockets to fund their Tory chums.
Tom Watson’s resignation surprised many. As the focal point of right-wing sabotage in the party, he criticised the likes of Chuka Umunna for ‘prematurely’ jumping ship. His premature departure reflects the demoralisation of the Blairite faction.
Following an NEC decision to prevent Chris Williamson from standing, he has chosen to run as an independent. The left must not let frustrations get in the way of the fight against the Tories.
Streatham CLP was a stronghold for the right wing. Since the departure of local MP Chuka Umunna, there has been a significant shift to the left. Now there is a left-wing candidate and members are mobilising to fight for a socialist Labour government.
Labour activists came out in force in Uxbridge and South Ruislip yesterday in the latest push to unseat Boris Johnson. In 2017, Johnson’s majority was halved. His seat is winnable. This energy must be maintained to boot Boris out of Number 10.
Trump recognises that a Conservative victory is a victory for US business. In particular, Big Pharma are circling, looking for a way in to our NHS. We call for a publicly owned and worker run NHS, free from these vultures.
Phase one of the Grenfell inquiry has been released. It shifts blame from the council and private companies to the Fire Brigade. Thousands still live in houses with flammable cladding. Only a socialist Labour government will put people before profit.
The general election campaign has begun and Labour are already gaining ground. While the Tory campaign stalls, Corbyn is going on the attack against the billionaire elite. With a radical, class-based programme, we can win this election!
Labour activists have hit the ground running in the campaign to kick out Boris Johnson and his government of the rich. Across the country, supporters are getting organised and taking to the streets in the fight for a Corbyn government.
This general election will be the battle of a lifetime. Voters have never faced a starker choice: Boris and his billionaire friends; or Corbyn and the promise of radical change. We must mobilise the full forces of our movement to get Corbyn in.
December 12th will be the most important election in decades. Labour will put forward a radical programme, offering progressive change for workers and students. The Marxist Student Federation is organising to fight for a Corbyn government.
Parliament is once again paralysed, as MPs debate whether or not to go for an early election. Both major parties are split over the question. But Labour has nothing to fear and everything to gain. General election now!
Boris Johnson recently promised to fight knife crime by extending stop-and-search. The rise in crime is a consequence of a decade of austerity, which Johnson wholeheartedly supported, and will not be solved through band-aid solutions.
Streatham CLP is in the process of a shift to the left since the departure of Chuka Umunna, with an organised left pushing a motion to redraft a Socialist Clause IV and a selection contest that could lead to a pro-Corbyn parliamentary candidate.
Recent research has found that infant mortality rates and child poverty have started to increase in Britain. This is stark reminder of the real impact of the crisis of capitalism and the brutal austerity the system demands.
Homelessness continues to rise at a stagerring rate in the UK, a consequence of a decade of Tory austerity. Meanwhile, 220,000 houses are empty. The solution is clear – a Labour government must expropriate those houses, with no compensation.
Labour4Clause4 successfully brought the reintroduction of Clause IV to the centre of the debate at conference, with 62% of CLP delegates in support. The campaign will continue to fight to commit the party to the goal of socialism.
News has emerged of a stitch-up of the candidate selection process ahead of a coming election. To win, Labour must unify activists around genuine left-wing candidates, not careerists. We need a democratic process of mandatory reselection.
The abolition of Labour Students presents an opportunity to re-establish a new organisation on a healthy basis. Socialist Appeal activists call for Labour Students to be rebuilt around democratic methods and bold socialist policies.
A general election is on its way and the Tory Party is in turmoil. A Labour government provides the only route out of the current crisis. This can only be achieved if Labour fights the election on a class programme.
Events over the last week have underlined that we still have a long way to go in terms of fighting for democracy and justice within the Labour Party. Members must rally to defend Chris Williamson and demand mandatory reselection.
Thousands of elderly people in care homes pay extortionate fees for poor quality care, whilst the owners make millions in profits every year. Labour is promising free care at the point of use. We must expropriate negligent care providers to fund it.
In this Channel 5 documentary, former Tory MP Michael Portillo provides a glance behind the curtain of the party’s squabbles. With no clear explanation of the crisis, the programme speaks volumes about the Tories’ innability to understand it.
Boris Johnson is preparing to fight an election on the lines of “the People vs Parliament”. Labour must meet this demagoguery with mass mobilisation of workers and youth, organised around a bold class programme of socialist policies.
Carillion collapsed last January after years of mismanagement. There have been no repercussions for the senior managers, who benefited from huge pay rises in the company’s final years, the burden has fallen entirely on the workers. End outsourcing!
Three Blairite MPs have been triggered as Labour members look to democratically take control of the Parliamentary Labour Party. The Blairites are fighting back the only way they know how, through bureaucratic manouvres. Boot out the Blairites.
The Tory conference was dominated by reactionary elements and the issue of brexit. Johnson presents himself as the voice against the establishment, however, thousands turned up to protest Tory austerity and call for a Corbyn Labour government.
Margaret Hodge faces a reselection contest. Blairites defend her ‘anti-racist’ record, when her anti-immigrant housing policies were supported by the BNP. Her rhetoric against anti-semitism has been weaponised against Corbyn. Deselect now!
Paranoid about the ‘red’ threat, elements of the British security services and the CIA plotted against Harold Wilson. A Corbyn government would be subject to a similar threat, unless Labour purges the armed forces, civil service and the judiciary.
After an exhilarating five days in Brighton, Labour conference has come to a close. In effect, this was a pre-election rally, with a string of radical pledges to enthuse members and voters. Now to take the fight to the Tories!
The Supreme Court earlier ruled, without precedent, that the prorogation of parliament was unlawful, in an attempt to protect the interests of British capitalism. Labour must use the constitutional crisis as an opportunity to change society.
A packed room of grassroots Labour activists heard from John McDonnell and leading trade unionists at the Labour4Clause4 fringe meeting on Monday evening. All the speakers pledged their support for Clause 4.
News has emerged that Thomas Cook has entered liquidation, with 9,000 UK workers out of a job, further proof of the market’s failure to provide security to workers. Only nationalisation can ensure good services and stable, well-paid jobs.
Labour Party Conference 2019 is ongoing. So far the atmosphere has been radical, with the party rank and file supporting, amongst others, the motion to restore Clause IV. We post here four short articles on the events of the conference so far.
Britain is in a deep crisis, the ruling class has completely lost control and another election is fast approaching. Big business is threatening mass sabotage against a potential Labour government, Labour must respond with bold socialist policies.
This year’s Labour conference will be pivotal. Delegates will have the opportunity to define the direction of the party and sculpt the most radical manifesto ever. We call on delegates to fight for bold socialist policies.
Labour’s NEC recently voted to get rid of Labour Students. The organisation has shown disdain for democracy, rigging elections to ensure right-wingers remain in control. We need a Labour Students organisation that will fight for socialist policies.
The Prime Minister has suspended Parliament. The Queen gave permission. MPs objected. The decision is being challenged in the courts. All of this shambles reveals how rotten Britain’s state institutions really are.
MPs forced the government to publish the ‘Yellowhammer’ report, leaked last month. This fiasco reveals the crisis engulfing Downing Street. Inside or outside of the EU, it is the working class who will be made to pay under the Tories.
Manchester Socialist Appeal supporters were confronted by fascist thugs at a recent Labour rally. The labour movement must organise around clear socialist demands to fightback against the far right.
The expulsion of Bury F.C. by the EFL is part of a broader trend of financial insecurity as club owners gamble to maximise profits. Until they are taken under fans’ control, historic clubs and their fans will continue to suffer.
After losing her trigger ballot, Diana Johnson, MP for Hull North, faces the first selection process under new rules. If Blairite MPs genuinely represented their members, they would have nothing to fear. Their howls of ‘unfair’ show the truth.
With parliament shut for five weeks, the establishment is preparing a ‘unity government’ to undermine Corbyn. This cannot be allowed to succeed. Labour must force a general election when parliament returns. We must start campaigning now.
The Monarchy calls itself a neutral observer, but this illusion was shattered when Johnson used the Queen to force through his programme. This casts light on the real role of the Monarchy, a reserve of reaction. We say abolish this feudal relic!
Recent evidence shows why the Tories cannot be trusted to manage major infrastructure projects, with the HS2 project found to be running late and over budget. We need a socialist plan to meet society’s needs and provide decent jobs.
After two defeats in two days, Boris Johnson finds himself blocked in Parliament. A general election is on the cards. The campaign for a socialist Labour government starts today.
Thousands of protestors have taken to the streets in outrage over Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament. To defend democracy, we need mass working class action to bring this government down and a socialist Labour government to power.
The question of bringing back Clause 4 is on the agenda of this year’s Labour conference, thanks to motions passed by five different CLPs. We urge all delegates to support this rule change to restore Labour’s socialist clause!
Boris’ move to prorogue Parliament has created panic across the capitalist establishment. Labour must mobilise workers and youth in response, and organise on the streets to kick out the Tories and abolish Britain’s feudal relics.
Boris Johnson has sent shockwaves across Westminster with his decision to suspend Parliament. This explosive move has thwarted attempts to block Brexit, leaving the ruling class in a frenzy. Labour must mobilise workers to kick out the Tories.
Young Labour members in London met last Saturday for a day of political discussion and debate. Amongst the policies voted on, there was overwhelming support for a motion to restore Clause 4. This shows the thirst for socialist ideas.
Jeremy Corbyn has exposed the hypocrisy of the right-wing Remainers, revealing that they are more concerned about keeping him out of No.10 than stopping a no-deal Brexit. Labour must not collaborate with these establishment politicians, but mobilise workers for a general election.
Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have come under attack for correctly stating that they would back a call for a second independence referendum in Scotland. This is a basic democratic question that all socialists should support.
Defeatist and despairing commentators such as Paul Mason are advising Labour and the left to unite with Liberals in order to stop Brexit and fight the far right. But such a strategy is doomed to fail. Instead, we need class independence and socialist policies.
The health of residents in Southall, West London, is being steadily eroded as a result a scandal involving Boris Johnson, right-wing Labour councillors, and profiteering property developers. But these local residents are fighting back.
Labour has launched a call for a ‘Green Industrial Revolution’. But what does this environmental programme entail? What kind of ‘revolution’ do we need? And how do we achieve it?
The mother of parliaments faces the mother of crises. The establishment is scrambling around, desperate to find a way of preventing Boris from pushing through a no-deal Brexit. Westminster is heading for an almighty explosion.
A recent Labour report outlines plans to curb outsourcing and bring public services back in-house. Such a move could not come soon enough. The profiteers and parasites have been getting fat off of the public purse for far too long.
Having lost control of the Tory Party, the ruling class is piling pressure on all ‘sensible’ MPs to come together to stop a no-deal Brexit. But Labour must steer clear of any Blairite-Liberal pact and unite workers around class issues.
Alan Woods continues his critical review of the recent BBC documentary ‘Charles I – the Downfall of a King’, answering the distortions and lies, and uncovering the real revolutionary nature of the English Civil War.
Alan Woods responds to a recent documentary on the English Civil War by the biased BBC, which aims to discredit the idea of rebellion and revolution. It is clear that the establishment are worried about similar events occurring today.
Young Labour groups are being set up across the country, as young activists get organised to fight against Boris and the Tories, against climate change, and for a socialist Labour government.
Boris Johnson is the new Tory leader and Britain’s latest Prime Minister. Labour must mobilise workers and youth to force a general election and make sure Boris’ stay in Number 10 is short-lived.
The bigoted base of the Tory Party have chosen Boris Johnson to be the new Prime Minister. But Labour activists are organising to remove him from Parliament altogether.
It is clear that the police – and the elite that they exist to protect – act with impunity, carrying out violence and abuse without any reprecussions. This is the reality of the capitalist state: there is one law for those with power, and another for the rest.
The establishment and their representatives inside the Labour Party are getting increasingly desperate. Far from being ‘unelectable’, the Blairites and big business know that Corbyn could soon be in Number 10.
A recent parliamentary report reveals the depth of the crisis facing governmental departments, which have been cut to the bone by Tory austerity and paralysed by the Brexit crisis. This is why we need a socialist Labour government.
A huge criminal operation of modern-day slavery has been uncovered in Britain. Such trafficking and exploitation is rife across the world – another sickening symptom of the capitalist system.
A new report looks at measures that can be taken to address the enormous inequalities and social problems arising from the highly uneven distribution of land ownership in the UK. Nationalisation of all land must be the first step.
Last night’s Panorama ‘exposé’ about alleged anti-Semitism in the Labour Party was nothing but a right-wing hatchet job. It is yet another attempt to smear the Labour left and sabotage Corbyn. These slanders must stop.
The thought of Boris Johnson becoming the next prime minister and driving the country into a no-deal Brexit has struck fear into the hearts of the establishment, who are increasingly worried about the unity of the United Kingdom.
Tory austerity has created conditions of desperation in working-class communities. The rise of homelessness is a stark symptom of this, with the most vulnerable forced to find shelter in hostels. We must fight to end this scourge.
Yemen continues to be bombed into barbarism by the belligerent Saudi regime. The Tories are complicit in this imperialist bloodshed. Recent militant examples by French and Italian dock workers show the way forward.
Chris Williamson MP faces possible expulsion from the Labour Party, following a barrage of hysterical attacks from the right wing of the PLP. Grassroots Labour activists must support Chris and oppose this Blair smear campaign.
The Labour left Arise Festival provided a valuable opportunity to discuss how we fight for a Corbyn Labour government. With a general election on the horizon, Labour needs to inspire workers and youth with bold socialist ideas.
Local residents and activists recently marched in remembrance of the Grenfell tragedy that took place two years ago. We need to continue fighting together for justice.
A recent survey reveals that members of the ‘Conservative and Unionist’ Party would be willing to burn the country and their own party to the ground in order to see Brexit through. This shows how far the once-mighty Tory Party has fallen.
Jeremy Corbyn has recently faced a volley of attacks from establishment figures on either side of the Atlantic. These demonstrate the imperialist interests that really lie behind the so-called ‘special relationship’.
Capitalism’s rampant inequality pervades the whole of society – including the world of football. Whilst rich clubs like Man City rake in millions, outside of the Premier League, many clubs face the threat of bankruptcy.
Today is the second anniversary of the terrible catastrophe that was the Grenfell tower fire. But precious little has changed for the affected residents. The whole labour movement should support their struggle for justice.
The contest to become the next leader of the Conservative Party – and the next Prime Minister – is in full swing. The ruling class is dismayed by how things are panning out. We say: time to kick out all the Tories! General election now!
The Liberal Democrats are undergoing an apparent revival by sucking up support from Remainers. But for all their opposition to Tory Brexiteers, they happily sat with these monsters as part of Cameron’s coalition of austerity.
The results in Peterborough have defied the odds. Labour has shown that it can beat Farage and the Tories – provided it bridges across the Brexit divide, mobilises activists, and fights on class issues. Bring on a general election.
Motions to this year’s Labour Party conference will reflect the radicalisation and transformation taking place inside the party. But right-wingers, opposed to bold change, are putting up a resistance.
The Labour Party leadership is touring the country in order to build enthusiasm and mobilise activists in advance of a general election. Last weekend’s launch event highlights the potential for our movement.
The Tories have been forced into another embarrassing U-turn, with the government partially reversing the disastrous privatisation of probation services. Labour and the unions need to fight for full public ownership.
In the wake of the European election results, the Blairites are ramping up the pressure on Corbyn to back a second referendum. But only a general election and a socialist Labour government can solve the problems facing workers and youth.
Nobody will be sad to see Theresa May go. But ultimately she is just another Tory representative of the broken capitalist system. We need to kick out all the Tories and fight for a socialist Labour government.
We present here Socialist Appeal’s suggested motions for Labour members to raise in their local parties in advance of this year’s conference. If passed, these policies will be an important step forward in the fight for socialism.
Labour activists have called on shadow defence secretary Nia Griffiths to stand down after she endorsed a Tory pledge to defend army personnel against prosecution. Labour must fight against imperialism, its institutions, and its warmongers.
The recent scandal that has engulfed The Jeremy Kyle Show has lifted the lid on the worst practices of elitist TV producers, who exploit the poor and vulnerable for the sake of cheap entertainment. We need public television made by the working class, for the working class.
The ‘Preston Model’ is being pushed by some on the left as a way for local councils to manage in an age of austerity and build ‘municipal socialism’. But instead, Labour must fight the cuts and nationalise the monopolies.
Theresa May’s days as Prime Minister are numbered. Conservative MPs are plotting how to rid themselves of their lame duck leader. Whatever the outcome, the Tory meltdown is set to accelerate.
Farage’s new party have shot ahead in the polls, taking advantage of the Tory meltdown and the anger that exists towards the Westminster establishment. Labour must respond with bold socialist policies.
Events in recent months show that the far right is increasingly flexing its muscles, intimidating left-wing activists and migrants. The labour movement must organise to drive these reactionary thugs off our streets.
Tory cuts and hostile immigration policies mean that the NHS – once a non-discriminatory service – has now been forced into the role of a border control officer, quickly becoming a cog in the Conservative-capitalist machine.
Despite attempts to paint itself as an ‘impartial’ news provider, it is clear that the BBC is a mouthpiece of the British establishment, with a clear bias against Corbyn and the left. This is evident from those at the top.
The Conservative Party has experienced a massacre of Game of Thrones proportions in this year’s local elections. Labour must take advantage of this Tory meltdown and go on the offensive with bold socialist policies.
Chuka and his Change UK colleagues are failing to make the impact that they had hoped for. There is no appetite for their offering of reheated Blairism. Their right-wing friends who remain in the PLP must be deselected ASAP.
Earlier this week, Nigel Farage made a splash in Wales with the launch of the Brexit Party’s European election campaign. Labour needs to offer a bold socialist alternative in response.
Recent studies have shown that a tiny elite controls more than 50% of the land in England. These parasites are lining their pockets with rents from the rest of us.
As Brexit stalls, Tory MPs are openly plotting to remove their leader. Voters are deserting the party in favour of Nigel Farage’s new outfit. This Conservative collapse is setting the scene for Corbyn’s Labour to come to power.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested last week in London, with a warrant put out by the US for his extradition. Assange’s case has become yet another stick for the Labour right wing to cynically hit Corbyn with.
Another privatisation scandal in the NHS has demonstrated once again how the Tories and the bosses are determined to dismantle our healthcare system. The unions and Labour must organise a fightback.
The Prime Minister has bought herself some time with another Brexit deadline extension. But workers and youth cannot afford to suffer any more of this chaos. We need a general election and a socialist Labour government now!
Recent events have demonstrated that the Blairite smear campaign over anti-Semitism shows no signs of dying down. Socialists must stand firm against these McCarthyite attacks.
Despite tearing themselves to pieces over Brexit, the Tories are still attempting to push through new xenophobic laws on immigration in order to appease their base. Labour must counter this with a socialist and internationalist alternative.
We publish here two reports from local Labour activists, which give an indication of the growing strength of the left-wing within the Labour Party. Despite the attacks, the Corbyn movement marches on.
The recent AGM of London Young Labour was a missed opportunity to discuss the way forward in the fight to kick out the Tories and bring in a socialist Labour government.
Whilst Parliament is paralysed over Brexit, the Tories are continuing to push through their latest racist immigration policies, which attempt to profit off of the misery and misfortune of migrants.
Draconian measures to punish rough sleepers will only sweep the problem of homelessness under the carpet. Labour councils should instead be fighting for a socialist programme of mass social housing construction.
The massive delays on London’s Crossrail project are yet another example of the failures of outsourcing and the inefficiency of private enterprise. This once again proves why we must nationalise the big construction companies.
Brexit has created constitutional chaos. May and the Tories are now a government in name only. The ruling class has completely lost control. Only the election of a socialist Labour government can end the parliamentary paralysis.
Theresa May’s government is hanging by a thread. A general election is imminent. And despite the endless smears and slanders, a left-wing Labour government is on the cards.
Whilst workers suffer under Tory austerity, those in Parliament are being rewarded with a pay rise. Instead of careerists, we need elected representatives who will be determined fighters for the working class.
Recent revelations have shown the true extent of the blacklisting scandal, demonstrating clear collusion between the police and the bosses against trade unionists in the construction industry.
Things are heating up in the Labour Party, with the split away of the Independent Group and the continuing intrigues of the right wing in the PLP. Grassroots activists provide here a picture of the militant mood on the ground.
When not reporting on Brexit, the attention of the media has been focussed almost exclusively on Labour’s “institutional anti-semitism”. But it is the Tories who have a real racism problem.
After facing another humiliating defeat in Parliament, time is running out for Theresa May. Leadership contenders are already lining up within the Tory party. And a general election is once again on the cards.
May’s government is under pressure to increase spending on police in response to Britain’s knife crime epidemic. But more police on the streets won’t help. Instead, we need socialist change to provide young people with a future.
According to official statistics, employment levels in the UK are at record highs. But this conceals the grim reality of working life in modern-day Tory Britain, with many of those classed as ‘working’ in fact just scraping by.
An intense battle is taking place for the future of the Labour Party. Under attack from the Blairites, concessions are being made. But the left must stand firm. Defend Corbyn and fight for socialism!
Chris Williamson MP has been suspended from the Labour Party, hounded by the Labour right wing. We call on all our supporters to defend Williamson against these Blairite attacks.
Jeremy Corbyn has promised the possibility of a second referendum in an attempt to pacify the Blairites. But such compromises will only embolden the Labour right wing. These careerists must instead be shown the door.
Parasitic healthcare companies and drug producers are making money out of misery and despair. We need to nationalise Big Pharma and put an end to private profit inside our NHS.
Left-winger Jamie Driscoll has seen off a challenge from the right to be chosen as Labour candidate in the race to be the North of Tyne Mayor. This demonstrates the changing balance of forces in the Labour Party.
The fight inside the Labour Party is intensifying by the day, with right-wing MPs splitting away and others threatening to walk too. But instead of joining this struggle, some sectarians are giving lectures from the sidelines.
Seven right-wing MPs have split away from the Labour Party, much to the relief of grassroots members. But many of their treacherous ilk have been left behind. They must be replaced at the first opportunity.
Trump and his administration are continuing to tighten the screws on Venezuela. The Tories and Blairites have been reliable handmaids to US imperialism in this task. Hands off Venezuela!
The neverending Brexit saga is taking its toll on both of Britain’s major political parties, exposing the faultlines and widening the rifts. The question is not if there will be splits, but when.
Grassroots Labour members should be able to hold their representatives to account. But Labour right-wingers have vehemently opposed this basic democratic principle.
Yet another outsourcing scandal has surfaced – this time potentially putting thousands of lives at risk. Privatisation and profit must be eliminated from our NHS.
A coup attempt is in full-swing in Venezuela, orchestrated from Washington. As ever, supposedly ‘objective’ media outlets such as the BBC are softening up public opinion for this imperialist intervention.
Northamptonshire County Council hit the headlines last year after it was announced that the local authority was facing bankruptcy. We spoke to a council worker, who revealed the harsh reality of this crisis.
The profit system has demonstrably failed to solve the desperate shortage of housing in the UK. We need a Labour government with a socialist housing policy to build homes for ordinary people, not speculators.
Last night’s votes in parliament have done nothing to break the Brexit deadlock. Only the election of a socialist Labour government can offer a way out of the impasse.
Britain’s housing shortage has become a source of enormous profits for parasitic landlords and fat-cat developers. Labour needs a bold socialist programme to solve this crisis.
A toxic mixture of austerity, academies, and attacks on teachers have forced more and more children to rely on private tuition to paper over the cracks. But this is out of reach for many working class families.
Theresa May’s government suffered an unprecedented defeat last night in the House of Commons. The ruling class has lost control. Only a socialist Labour government can offer a way forward.
Towns across the country have been laid to waste by Tory cuts and welfare ‘reforms’. Labour must mobilise to fight austerity, not implement it.
With the crucial Brexit vote taking place tomorrow, some Labour MPs are buckling under pressure and offering support for May’s fated deal. Instead, they must fight for a general election.
We publish here a pair of articles from Labour supporters looking at how a Corbyn Labour government can tackle the housing crisis in Britain. We need bold socialist measures to provide decent homes for all.
Given the political paralysis in Parliament, the question of a ‘People’s Vote’ has become increasingly prominent. But rather than stabilising a convulsive political situation, a fresh referendum would only intensify the chaos.
Markus Keaney, chair of Luton South CLP, explains how grassroots members have had enough of the sabotaging shenanigans of right-wing Labour MPs. We need mandatory reselection.
With the Tory Party engulfed by Brexit chaos, wannabe successors to Theresa May are resorting to xenophobic hysteria in an attempt to placade their most backward supporters.
Christmas is almost upon us. But there will be little festive cheer for many families this winter, as austerity continues to bite. All we want for Christmas is to kick the Tories out.
Victory for the left-wing candidate in the Welsh Labour leadership contest shows the desire amongst grassroots members for genuine change. This means fighting for bold socialist policies.
The Prime Minister remains in office after surviving last night’s no confidence vote. But her position is no stronger. The insoluble Brexit contradictions facing the Tory leader have not gone away.
The Tory leader has indefinitely postponed the all-important parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal. But all she has done is buy herself more time to write her own political obituary.
This Sunday, EDL founder Tommy Robinson will attempt to lead a far-right march through the streets of London. The labour movement must fight for a bold socialist alternative to the conditions of austerity on which the racists and far right thrive.
New research shows that large numbers of people in Britain do not trust the establishment. Despite what liberal commentators say, this isn’t a belief in conspiracy theories, but a deep rejection of a broken system.
Dramatic events unfolded in Parliament yesterday, as MPs defeated the government three times in the space of an hour. But this is only a prelude to the political crisis that will erupt when May’s Brexit deal is likely voted down next week.
Violent crime is on the up: the impact of society’s stagnation and a blight on working class communities. But more police on the streets is not the solution.
Britain’s land has been sold off to private speculators and property developers, who leave it lying empty, despite the urgent need for housing. A Labour government must nationalise the land.
Britain’s banks are adding pressure on the most vulnerable in society, forcing landlords to discriminate against those receiving housing benefits. Nationalise the banks and the big landlords!
Angela Smith, the right-wing Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, has received a no confidence vote from members of her CLP. This is why we need mandatory reselection.
Marxist students offer their full support and solidarity to left-wing Labour MP Chris Williamson. Enough is enough – this right-wing smear campaign must stop. The Labour left should stand firm against these slanders.
After years of prevarication over Brexit, all the chickens are finally coming home to roost for the Prime Minister. All hell is about to break loose.
As will already have been suspected by those in activist circles, police have been infiltrating left-wing organisations for years, in defence of the capitalist class interests they exist to protect.
The recent example of a mother being handed a £6,000 bill for giving birth shows the horrifying impact of the Tories’ “hostile environment” policy towards migrants.
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has gone one better than his Tory counterpart’s promise to end austerity, pledging to reverse all cuts. But what economic measures will a Corbyn Labour government need to take?
Six people have been arrested in connection with a sick video showing a model of Grenfell tower being burnt. But those responsible for the actual Grenfell fire have never faced justice.
As the centenary anniversary of the WWI armistice approaches, the British establishment are going into overdrive to whip up a mood of ‘patriotism’. But the real lesson to remember is that capitalism equals war.
With the system in crisis and Labour’s popularity on the rise, the Tory leader is frantically scrabbling around in a vain attempt to gain support from working class voters.
Recent comments by a Tory politician in Scotland have underlined the establishment’s hypocrisy. Whilst the Royal Family receives vast sums in state handouts, the poorest families are being punished with austerity.
The Chancellor’s latest Budget threw extra funding at the Universal Credit system to try and mitigate against its disastrous effects. But this money will not plug the multiple holes in this sinking ship.
A study into Britain’s major political parties has confirmed what most will already know: the Tories are an aging party in decline; Corbyn’s Labour, a party driven by the dynamism of the youth.
As the Brexit deadline draws nearer, big business is frantically scrabbling to ensure that their profits are not hit. The Prime Minister is coming under enormous pressure from above to stay aligned with Europe.
The huge strike action in Glasgow this week highlights the way forward in the fight for fair and decent pay. The labour movement must argue for a socialist alternative to austerity and inequality.
Another week, another summit. But still no resolution for the Prime Minister over Brexit.
After years of being told that we must all tighten our belts, it is clear that the vast majority are no longer willing to accept the Tories’ rhetoric. Thanks to the Corbyn movement, the economic narrative has moved on.
Steve Hedley of the RMT stresses how the organised working class must meet the far right on the streets and combat their racism with socialist policies.
The Prime Minister’s desperate defence of capitalism in her Tory conference speech reveals the terror amongst the ruling class about the prospect of a radical Corbyn government.
The Blairites were in full retreat in Liverpool this week. By contrast, the confidence of the Corbyn movement was on display throughout: in the motions passed and in the militant speeches of left-wing MPs.
The shadow chancellor’s endorsement of the old Clause IV is a welcome step forward. Labour must now firmly commit itself to a bold socialist programme. Nationalisation without compensation!
Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have made a number of bold and much-welcomed pledges in order to fix the “broken economy”. But what kind of economic programme should a Labour government carry out?
Conservative elements within Labour’s ruling body are thwarting attempts to put more power in the hands of grassroots members.
A local Labour member paints a picture of the real mood on Merseyside in the wake of the Blairite MP’s resignation from the Labour whip.
Appeasement by Labour’s leading body won’t stop the attacks on Corbyn from the Blairites and the establishment.
Theresa May’s recent visit to a trio of African states has highlighted the decline of British imperialism and the crisis facing the capitalist class as the Brexit cliff edge looms.
The utter failure of a privatised prison in Birmingham demonstrates why we need nationalisation.
The ruling class in Britain is in a deep crisis. But instead of fighting to bring down the Tory government, the Labour right wing is doing their best to prop up the failed status quo.
LYL is taking positive steps to turn outwards and link up with workers in struggle. But the organisation is still being held back by a lack of democratic political debate.
The crisis engulfing Northamptonshire County Council demonstrates that local government has been cut to the bone by Tory austerity. Labour must step up and organise a fight back.
A concerted Blairite campaign is being run to smear Corbyn and the left over anti-Semitism. Meanwhile, the Tories are being let off the hook for their ingrained racism.
The Blairite-led campaign to undermine Corbyn and the left through allegations of anti-semitism has erupted back onto the scene. But nobody will believe this latest hysterical mud-slinging from the right wing.
Local Labour members are moving to get rid of their Brexit-supporting MPs. These right-wingers should take all their careerist friends with them on their way out.
Capitalism’s race to the bottom is forcing London gangs to adopt ever more ruthless, profit-driven practices.
Events in Cambridge this weekend demonstrated how to fight the far right: meet them on the streets with the power of the organised working class.
The resignation of the Labour right-winger John Woodcock leaves one less Blairite in the Parliamentary Labour Party. But we need to get rid of them all.
This week’s Brexit vote in the House of Commons has shattered any hopes Theresa May might have had for Tory unity and calm. But the options available to the Prime Minister are rapidly diminishing.
The Tories’ attempted changes to the welfare system are already unravelling. Labour must commit to fighting all austerity.
The fawning behaviour towards Trump exhibited by Theresa May and the rest of the British establishment demonstrates how far the UK has fallen on the world stage following Brexit.
The huge protests against Trump last week are a sign of the political direction Britain is heading in.
The resignation of Brexit-supporting ministers David Davis and Boris Johnson has left Theresa May hanging by a thread. Only the threat of a Corbyn government now keeps the Tory Prime Minister in power.
Profit-seeking festival organisers are emptying people’s wallets – and often endangering lives.
Tory austerity and the never-ending crisis of capitalism are pushing millions of people into dire conditions in Britain.
70 years on from its inception, the NHS is facing an existential crisis due to Tory austerity and privatisation. The only alternatives now are socialism or barbarism.
The disgusting actions of Tory MPs recently have served to confirm that they really are the representatives of a rotten capitalist establishment.
Those responsible for the Grenfell murder are desperately seeking to defer the blame. But we must not let them get away with this.
The Prime Minister has weathered the recent Brexit storm for now. But far greater winds and waves lie ahead.
Blairite MPs have made a killing on the back of their political careers. It is time to cut this rot out of our party.
The reactionary rag that is the Daily Mail, has lost its long-standing editor. But the paper will continue to be a platform for the most poisonous political ideas.
One year on, the victims of the Grenfell fire are still fighting for justice. But there are some who choose to defend the criminal actions of those responsible.
One year on from the Grenfell disaster, and everyone is demanding change to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again. To do this, we need to change the system.
The large far-right demo seen in London last weekend should be a wake up call to the leaders of the labour movement.
The previously informal cosy relationship between the media and big business has now been made official by none other than the oligarch-owned Evening Standard.
Workers in the retail sector are seeing their jobs cut, pay squeezed, and work intensified as pressure mounts on Britain’s high streets.
Instead of representing the interests of the working class, many councillors in the UK’s capital are working hand-in-glove with property fat cats and parasites.
The issue of abortion laws in Northern Ireland has shown where the loyalties of establishment female politicians really lie.
The official inquiry into the Grenfell tragedy has begun. But the real criminals are unlikely to ever face justice.
How far would the establishment go to prevent a radical Labour government carrying out its programme?
This letter from a criminal defence lawyer graphically outlines the crisis facing Britain’s justice system as a result of cuts and privatisation.
Labour’s ‘State of the Economy’ conference showed how far the Party has come in recent times – but also how far we have still to go.
After months of prevarication over Brexit, the Prime Minister is quickly running out of time. But all roads lead to ruin for May and the Tories.
Formerly considered a privileged profession, barristers are now organising and taking action against Tory cuts.
After months of kicking the can down the road by the Prime Minister, all of the contradictions and tensions surrounding Brexit are now coming to a head.
The extravagance of the latest royal wedding stands in stark contrast to the austerity imposed by the Tories.
The mainstream media has tried to paint Labour gains as a defeat for Corbyn. But it is the Blairites and Tories who have come off worst.
The fight against gender pay inequality requires a fight against capitalist inequality.
Scandal, resignation, crisis, repeat. It’s time for this decrepit Tory government to go.
The new prince is guaranteed a life of privilege. Unlike the vast majority of children born today in Tory Britain.
The Windrush deportation scandal has revealed how insecure our lives really are within this oppressive system.
Tory austerity means that local council budgets have been cut to the bone. But the wealth exists to fund public services.
The Tories and Blairites are intent on rushing the country to war. Corbyn must mobilise the labour movement to say no to bombing in Syria.
In the final part of our analysis of political developments in Britain, we look at the contradictory pressures that a Corbyn government will face. We need a bold socialist alternative.
More police numbers aren’t the cure to the recent epidemic of knife and gun crime on the streets of London. We need a revolutionary socialist alternative.
Transport for London (TfL) faces renewed funding attacks from the Tory government. Two transport workers look at what this means for TfL workers and for Londoners who rely on the public transport system.
Stephen Agnew interviews an NHS paramedic and uncovers the shocking truth about the extent of the crisis in our health service as a result of Tory cuts and under-funding.
In the second of a three-part analysis of political developments in Britain, we look at the perspectives for the Labour Party. A Corbyn government is on the horizon. But it will face sabotage and threats from day one.
A Romford resident reports on the latest attempt by the Tories to whip up xenophobia. We must use the upcoming local elections to kick out these racists and their austerity policies.
In the first of a three-part analysis of political developments in Britain, we look at the crisis of British capitalism and its reflection in society – as seen by the Brexit vote, the rise of strikes, and the anger against the establishment.
After a brief hibernation, the Blairites have begun to resurface, once again creating an outcry over nothing. A spate of hysterical attacks against Corbyn in the past fortnight shows why mandatory reselection remains a necessary demand.
Socialist Appeal supporters in South Wales report from the recent AGM of Welsh Labour Grassroots, where an enthusing discussion took place around the restoration of Labour’s socialist clause.
May and Hammond are beaming with delight having secured a transitional Brexit agreement and thanks to improved economic growth figures. But the Tories have no cause for celebration. They are still hurtling towards a cliff-edge.
John Russell comments on the latest wave of high street closures taking place across the country, as household names find themselves squeezed from all sides. As per usual, it is the working class who are forced to pay.
Daniel Harris of the Liverpool Marxists reports from a rally against the latest Tory austerity measures to be announced: cuts to free school meals that will effect a million children.
The Labour right wing have lept to their feet recently in support of Theresa May and her jingoistic rhetoric against Russia. This is a dress rehearsal for their future sabotage of a Corbyn Labour government.
The technology may have changed, Daniel Morley writes, but the dodgy practices used by Cambridge Analytica to influence political opinion are no different from those employed daily by the entire capitalist establishment and its liberal mouthpieces.
The hysteria whipped up against Russia by the Tories and Blairities over the poisoning of a double-agent has revealed how Britain has been reduced to an insignificant player on the world stage.
The NHS is in crisis, starved of the resources it desperately needs. The major pharmaceutical companies, however, are laughing all the way to the bank, making massive profits off over-priced drugs.
Everyday reveals another scandal or crisis. Wages stagnate whilst the bosses line their pockets. Capitalism is the source of all our problems. It’s time to consign it to where it belongs.
So acute is the UK’s housing crisis that Theresa May has even had to admit the problem. But the Tories are part of the problem and will do nothing to fix the broken system.
As Jennie Formby and Jon Lansman compete to replace Iain McNicol, the Labour right wing has been left licking its wounds. All attention now, Adam Booth writes, must be on democratising the party and fighting for a socialist Labour government.
The article below is being distributed this afternoon at a protest against the visit of Mohammed bin Salman, the leader of the rotten Saudi regime. Unsurprisingly, the Tory government is rolling out the red carpet for his arrival.
The recent attempts by the Tories and the right-wing press to attack Corbyn have backfired. Their blatant lies have only served to discredit them even further in the eyes of ordinary people. But their hysteria is only a taste of what is to come.
Iain McNicol, the general secretary of the Labour Party, announced his resignation late last week. This marks a further shift in the balance of power in Corbyn’s favour. Now is the time to overturn the expulsions carried out by McNicol.
Dan Langley looks at the Haringey Development Vehicle – a privatisation plan in north London, which is being resisted by local residents and Labour Party activists. Labour councillors must fight against social cleansing, not encourage it!
The Brexit negotiations are quickly unravelling, leaving May and the Tories tangled in knots. With no solution to the question of the Irish border, the Prime Minister finds herself trapped between a rock and hard Brexit.
Bob Percy, Labour Party member in Norwich, discusses the recent scandal on the East Coast mainline, which has been run into the ground by Stagecoach and Virgin. We say: re-nationalise the railways – immediately and without compensation!
It was recently announced by local Tory council leader, Simon Dudley, that the town of Windsor’s streets would be cleared of beggars in advance of the upcoming royal wedding. But if you want to get rid of scroungers, start with the royals themselves.
Steve Jones reviews “Entitled: a critical history of the British aristocracy”, a new book about the English upper class. The monarchy and lords are reactionary and undemocratic institutions. It is time they were swept into the dustbin of history.
Socialist Appeal supporters report on the recent AGM of London Young Labour, which marks another victory for the Corbyn movement in the fight to reclaim the Labour Party from the Blairites.
This Saturday, thousands of healthcare staff, trade unionists, and community activists will take to the streets to say: save our NHS! We publish here three letters about the crisis in the NHS, including two first-hand experiences from nurses on the front-line.
This Saturday (3rd February) sees the regional AGM of Young Labour in London. Matt Rider of Swansea West CLP discusses the steps Young Labour needs to take in order to capitalise on the enthusiasm and energy of the Corbyn ‘youthquake’.
Kelly Lane of the Sheffield Marxists looks at the latest homelessness figures from the charity Shelter. While over quarter of a million freeze on the streets this winter, almost the same number of houses are lying empty due to capitalist speculation.
Lizzie Vazquez and Sarah Taylor discuss the recent revelations from the Presidents Club fundraising event, which have lifted the lid on the scandal and harassment perpetrated by the rich and powerful.
James Kilby takes a look at recent shocking statistics about England’s private water companies, who are syphoning money from households into the hands of fat-cat shareholders.
The deadly disaster of the Grenfell fire, Andy Southwark writes, has demonstrated how truly cold and callous the market, the fat-cat landlords, and the Tories really are.
Luke Boulby of the Sheffield Marxists discusses the findings of a recent official report, which finds that the public is set to pay £200bn in order that private companies can line their pockets.
Events are moving quickly at the Eastham refinery as the dispute between Suttons bosses and their tanker drives escalates. Gilly Singh of the Liverpool Marxists reports from the picket lines.
Dan Langley reports on the latest campaign in Southwark, London, against parasitic developers who are exacerbating the housing crisis with their profit-driven plans to build luxury flats.
Corbyn’s initiative for a review of Labour’s democratic structures is a welcome break from Blairite bureaucracy. But it has one notable absence: the democratic accountability of MPs and councillors.
NHS activist Dave Platts reports on the ever-worsening healthcare crisis. Tory cuts and privatisation have put the NHS on life support. We need a socialist Labour government to save our NHS.
The Left’s clear victory in the Labour NEC elections must be used as a platform for sweeping changes across the Party, Adam Booth writes. We need mandatory reselection and socialist policies.
Ben Curry looks at Theresa May’s botched cabinet reshuffle, which has further exposed the weakness of the Prime Minister and her government. The only thing keeping them together right now is the threat of Corbyn entering Downing Street.
The beginning of 2018 saw another eye-watering rise in rail prices. Private rail firms have run the network into the ground, with the public shouldering the costs. As Rob Sewell explains, the railways need to be nationalised immediately without compensation.
The Tory government is drifting from one crisis to another, divided and split. They are only being held together because they fear defeat and the election of a Corbyn-led Labour government. The Labour leaders should go on the offensive and offer an inspiring New Year’s message: to radically transform society with a bold socialist programme.
In the immediate aftermath of the tragic Grenfell fire, Theresa May promised that all families would be housed within three weeks. But six months have now passed and 4 out of 5 families made homeless by the disaster still do not have permanent homes at all. Moses Levi looks at the chaotic and inadequate response of the Tories to a disaster that they helped to create.
In the 1930s, Labour MP Ellen Wilkinson wrote a book entitled “The Town that was Murdered”, detailing the devastating impacts of the Great Depression and British capitalism’s decline on her constituency, the town of Jarrow. Today, this book’s title could easily be used to describe the situation of many other towns across the country. Lilly Cockwill looks at the particularly tragic case of Blackpool.
Early last week, Tory leaders announced that a deal on phase one of the Brexit negotiations had been struck with the EU. The problem is, nobody had informed the DUP, May’s volatile government partners. In order to keep the peace, Ben Curry writes, the Prime Minister has entangled herself even further in a web of contradictions.
Tory austerity and the deepening crisis of British capitalism has plunged hundreds of thousands into poverty, with 1.25 million people now classified as ‘destitute’ according to latest figures from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a social research charity. These mass poverty levels are a clear sign that the system is broken and cannot be reformed.
Roy Hattersley’s recent article in the Guardian offered a telling insight into the mind of the Blairites. With his semi-coherent ramblings, the former deputy Labour leader provides a perfect example of just how out of touch Labour’s so-called ‘moderates’ are from grasping the real mood in society, and how powerless their position has become.
Over the past few weeks, a series of local Labour council candidate selections have prompted various outcries of a Momentum-led ‘Labour purge’ in the mainstream media. Reza Mohammadi of the Hornsey and Wood Green CLP discusses what really happened: this was no purge, just democracy and accountability in action.
At the end of last month, Donald Trump created controversy once again as a result of his trigger-happy behaviour on Twitter. The ensuing response has revealed the fragility of the ‘special relationship’ between the UK and USA, and has demonstrated the weakness of the Tories and the British Establishment in the wake of Brexit.
Investment banking giant Morgan Stanley recently published a report that warned its clients about the possibility of a Corbyn-led Labour government. Such an outcome, the bankers described, would be a “worse threat to business than Brexit”. The Labour leader responded by saying to the financial firm: “we are a threat”. But what kind of movement and programme do we need to really threaten the capitalists?
As the Theresa May’s zombie government lurches from crisis to crisis, few of its policies have received more criticism than its flagship welfare ‘reform’, Universal Credit. Under pressure, chancellor Philip Hammond announced several improvements to this new welfare system in his recent Budget. But, as Andy Southwark comments, instead of tinkering around the edges, we need to a scrap the whole failed Tory austerity programme.
Daniel Morley reviews the recent BBC Two documentary highlighting the dramatic transformation that has taken place inside the Labour Party in the past six months. As a result of the shock general election result and the rise of the mass movement around Corbyn, the Blairites are now completely demoralised and sidelined.
Living conditions in Britain are becoming unbearable for many, with a million UK families now worrying about the choice between heating or eating this winter. The “heat or eat” dilemma, however, has become nothing more than an empty phrase for those who profit from it. Khaled Labidi explores the brutal choice facing many households this winter.
Richard Leonard, the left candidate for Scottish Labour leader, has won a close fought race to succeed Kezia Dugdale. His victory represents the most significant gain for the Left in its struggle to win control of the overall party since Corbyn’s victory itself. Drew Murray reports on the latest victory for the Corbyn movement.
News that “European business leaders” met with Theresa May earlier this month to discuss their “concerns” about Brexit should come as no surprise. The capitalists, after all, are deeply worried about the potential impact of Brexit on their profits. As Terry McPartlan explains, Theresa May is trapped between a big business rock and a hard Brexit.
Gordon Brown has released his autobiography, entitled My Life, Our Times. In this, and in other recent interviews, the former prime minister has acknowledged the failings of his government and that of New Labour more generally. Unlike the out-of-touch Tony Blair, Adam Booth writes, Brown has sensed which way the wind is blowing politically in Britain.
From the beginning, the regional Labour leadership in Wales has been firmly against Jeremy Corbyn and the programme that he stands for. As a result of their Blairite approach, the Welsh Labour leaders have risked losing the party’s support amongst workers and youth in Wales. Maciej Krzymieniecki from Swansea West CLP looks at the changes needed in Welsh Labour if it is to offer a way forward for ordinary people.
The latest revelations of harassment in Westminster reflect the rottenness of the ruling class; another symptom of a government on its last legs. For many, the Tories have become a stinking corpse, made up of the living dead. As Rob Sewell discusses, not for decades has the establishment been hit with so much sleaze and scandal in one go.
The fate of three separate housing estates in London serves to reveal the growing scandal of the housing crisis in the capital, with working class people being pushed out of their homes to service the demands for profit on a massive scale. Dan Langley looks at how regeneration projects are being used as a fig leaf to turn working class estates into speculative vehicles for the rich.
Recent data published by the London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory has revealed the real extent of London’s growing air pollution crisis. Ed Swanepoel of the Reading Marxists discusses how privatisation and a lack of planning have led to increased congestion on London’s roads and rising pollution levels in the air.
The fragility of Theresa May’s premiership was once again revealed this month, as Tory whip Chris Heaton-Harris came under fire for requesting that all UK universities provide a list of academic staff currently teaching courses relating to Brexit. Ollie Brotherton looks at the increasingly desperate and reactionary measures that the Tories are resorting to as they head towards a train-crash Brexit.
The Financial Times, a serious mouthpiece for the interests of big business, recently published the views of a collection of bosses and captains of industry about the state of capitalism. Their comments make very interesting reading for socialists. Rob Sewell looks at the damning condemnations against the capitalist system being uttered by none other than the capitalists themselves.
When Theresa May was anointed as prime minister, she was heralded by the capitalist press as being a “safe pair of hands”. The new Tory leader stated that she and her party would provide “strong and stable” leadership. But now the whole government is in a shambles and May has been described as “a dead woman walking”. Rob Sewell looks at the political crisis facing the Tories and their leader.
With Britain heading for a Brexit over a cliff, there is a deep anxiety amongst the ruling class about where things are heading. The economic outlook is bleak, and the chancellor will undoubtedly leave the bill at the feet of the working class in the form of further austerity and attacks. Labour needs to fight for a socialist alternative.
After the loss of NHS bursaries, nurse and midwife students have seen their working hours rapidly increase, whilst racking up the same level of debt as other students. Applications to nursing courses have dropped off, leaving services stretched to the limits. Those with learning difficulties have been severly affected. Dan Langley, a leading nurse activist, examines the real impact of Tory cuts.
Potential new Tory party leader and arch-reactionary, Jacob Rees-Mogg is opposed to abortion under all circumstances and with no exceptions. But the right to have an abortion is a basic democratic right that must be defended. Figures like Rees-Mogg epitomise the hypocrisy of the ruling class, who simultaneously declare the “sanctity of life” whilst happily supporting imperialist wars.
Things are coming apart at the seams for the Tories and the system they defend. Theresa May’s car-crash speech this week at the Tory conference, in this respect, was an apt metaphor for the state of her party and of British capitalism in general. Meanwhile, socialist ideas are becoming increasingly popular. Labour must base itself on this radical mood.
Like the Labour Party manifesto at the most recent general election, Corbyn’s closing speech to the Labour conference last week has electrified the party, his supporters, and the Left in general by pushing the tone and policies significantly further to the left. The vital question is: how can we ensure that this programme is implemented?
Following a confident closing speech at this year’s Labour Party conference, it is clear to all that Jeremy Corbyn is set to be the next Prime Minister. The capitalist class, in turn, is now looking at how they can control him and soften the programme of a Left Labour government. Corbyn’s Labour must fight back against any sabotage by carrying out a bold socialist programme.
This year’s annual Labour conference, held in Brighton, has now ended, with the Left clearly on the rise. One recurring question came up time and again throughout the conference: where are the Blairites? Steve Jones looks at the grim prospects facing Labour’s right wing as the Corbyn movement grows and gains confidence.
Daniel Morley examines the controversy surrounding Transport for London’s recent decision to ban multinational ride-hailing firm Uber. Whilst the bullying corporation is clearly responsible for many misdemeanors when it comes to workers’ rights and passenger safety, however, a blunt ban is not the solution.
The renewed infighting within the Tory Party has taken on a new intensity as MPs return to Westminster. Ever since Theresa May’s botched general election, her authority has slowly drained away. This has sparked a blatant jockeying amongst leadership hopefuls, keen to make their mark ahead of the Tory Party conference this weekend.
This year’s Labour Party conference is currently place. Already, the party’s recent transformation is noticeable in the mood of the conference and the left-wing composition of the delegates – not to mention the air of confidence in Corbyn’s stride. Adam Booth reports from the first couple of days’ events in Brighton.
As grassroots members and activists make their way to Brighton for the Labour Party annual conference, Rob Sewell looks at the current Labour manifesto and discusses the programme and policies needed to fight austerity.
Labour’s National Executive Committee earlier this week decided on a number of important organisational issues that will have a critical bearing on the future direction of the party. This sets the scene for a wider battle at the Labour Party conference this weekend, as Corbyn supporters seek to consolidate the Left’s position and reclaim the party from the Blairite bureaucracy.
The situation that now faces the Tory government resembles an episode of Game of Thrones. The intrigues are numerous, as are the characters who scheme and plot in the shadows. Without any allies, the authority of the House of May has been drained. And Winter is Coming – or at least the dreaded Tory Party conference in October. But this is no television fantasy.
Despite Labour riding high in the polls, Corbyn’s critics are desperate to appease big business and the banks by remaining in the European Union and maintaining the status quo. As a result of vocal outrage from the right-wing of the party, Labour have made a U-turn on the question of Brexit. Corbyn and the Left should be fighting for a socialist alternative.
20 years ago today, on 31st August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died as a result of injuries sustained in a car crash in Paris. In the following weeks, a spontaneous mass outburst of grief swept across the country, catching the whole Establishment by surprise. We republish here an article written by Alan Woods analysing this unprecedented phenomenon.
It emerged last week that the Tories are once again, for the second general election in a row, set to face a police inquiry into illegal behaviour surrounding their election campaigning. These continuous scandals and flouting of the law illustrate the deep underlying fragilities of a Conservative Party facing crisis and decline.
Children are going hungry, have no clean clothes, no room to play and are being evicted from their homes on an increasingly regular basis according to a recent report by the charity Buttle UK. As a result, for families and children living in poverty, the summer holidays have become a time of extreme stress and struggle.
In an unsurprising turn of events, the High Court has blocked the prosecution of Tony Blair for the Iraq war, brutally reminding us of the true face of the justice system within capitalism. Fiona Lali of the SOAS Marxists discusses the latest events in the campaign to see the former New Labour leader convicted for taking the country into an illegal war.
Right-wing Labour MPs are pressuring Jeremy Corbyn to condemn the government in Venezuela. Having kept relatively quiet since the Party’s impressive general election result, the Blairites now see events in Venezuela as a chink in Corbyn’s armour and hope to stick the knife in.
Last week, those affected by the horrific fire at Grenfell Tower received a letter from the Metropolitan Police stating that the local council and management company responsible for the tower could be investigated for corporate manslaughter. But with the system rigged against working class communities, Nico Baldion asks: how can we fight for justice?
The proposed formation of a so-called English Labour Network by Jon Cruddas MP represents another desperate attempt by elements inside the PLP at Westminster to undermine Corbyn and his left-wing programme. Rather than blaming migrants and promoting “patriotism”, Labour should be fight for socialist policies.
Last Friday, the local community in Hackney, East London came out onto the streets to protest against the killing of Rashan Charles, a 20-year-old black man who died on 22nd July after being chased and roughly handled by police. Rather than attacking the violence of the demonstrators, we must attack the systematic violence of the police.
As parliament begins its recess, Prime Minister May is hoping for some peace and quiet. But the sharks are circling within the Tory party, with civil war breaking out over the question of Europe and the government’s Brexit strategy – or lack there of. This turbulence reflects a crisis of the regime and the impasse of the system.
The results of recent internal elections in three Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) in Merseyside show the advance of socialist ideas – but also that there is still much to do to create a mass party that truly represents the interests of the working class. Mike Hogan of Merseyside Momentum reports on the battle to transform the Labour Party.
The National Centre for Social Research recently published their 34th edition of the British Social Attitudes survey. This year’s report demonstrates the public’s growing disdain towards austerity, with more and more people demanding an alternative. These results should encourage the Left to fight for a bold socialist programme.
Rashan Charles, a 20-year old black man, died on Saturday after being thrown to the ground and left unable to breathe by police on Kingsland Road in Dalston, London. This is yet another example of police violence resulting in a tragic and unnecessary death. We demand justice for Rash.
With “Corbyn-mania” sweeping the country, the whole political climate in Britain is going through a massive transformation. To the horror of the establishment, the ideas of socialism and public ownership are firmly back on the table. Now is the time to get organised, finish the Tories, and fight for a socialist Labour government.
The Trussell Trust Food Bank Network has reported that over 1.18 million people received emergency food parcels in the last year, the highest such figures to date. Their report has laid bare the extent to which capitalism is harming working class families in Britain and how the Tory government is disregarding those most in need.
Almost ten years after the initial announcement of the building of two aircraft carriers, the first behemoth, HMS Queen Elizabeth, began its journey on the seas. Far from demonstrating the UK’s military strength, however, the new ship has become an embarrassment for the Establishment, highlighting the weakness of British imperialism.
Years of crisis and austerity, with a shortage of stable jobs and housing, have contributed to a rise of anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues affecting young people. At the same time, as Erin Maniatopoulou of the Norwich Marxists reports, Tory cuts and privatisation of the NHS is undermining the services available to help treat these problems.
The momentum generated by Labour’s election campaign and surprise success has continued, strengthened, and gathered pace. Rank and file activists are continuing to mobilise and organise in an effort to complete Labour’s transformation, reclaiming the Party from the Blairites and creating a powerful weapon to fight for the interests of the working class.
Stunned by Labour’s shock success on the basis of a bold left-wing programme, the Blairites are now changing tack. Whilst offering faint praise for Corbyn, Steve Jones explains, they are continuing to undermine him by arguing that Labour needs to appeal to “traditional” working class voters on the basis of nationalism, jingoism and xenophobia.
Since it opened in 2001, the Yarl’s Wood Centre has been the focus of continued controversy around the treatment and safety of the people held there. We must fight for an end to the horrific treatment of people migrating to or seeking refuge in the UK – and the abolition of all detention centres.
Theresa May is desperately clinging to office, suffering one crisis on top of another. She is hoping that the constant storms will subside – but they will not. The whole Corbyn movement must continue going on the offensive in order to drive the Tories out and put Labour to power on a socialist programme.
After a thin Queen’s Speech and long negotiations, Theresa May and DUP leader Arlene Foster finally appeared outside Downing Street earlier this week to shake hands on the deal that will keep May in power – for now. The Prime Minister and her Tory government are facing an existential crisis. Their weakness must be pushed home by the entire labour movement: to kick out the Tories and put Corbyn in Downing Street.
Last Saturday saw the latest in a series of far-right demonstrations in the wake of various terrorist attacks, this time in central London. However, on this occasion, the racist, Islamophobic EDL were humiliated, with their small protest significantly outnumbered by the anti-fascist counter-demonstration.
In Britain we have experienced a fundamental break in the situation. The UK is now one of the most unstable countries in Europe. With May and the Tories in crisis, we are faced with the possibility of a Corbyn government. This, Rob Sewell explains, will open up a new turbulent stage in an already volatile process.
The fire which swept up the Grenfell tower in the early hours of 14th June is not only horrific for the sheer scale of the tragedy, but also for its avoidability. It is a gruesome monument to the naked greed, short-sightedness, and corruption of the capitalist system, shown by the criminal shortcomings of the council and their contractors.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Westminster, Manchester, and London Bridge, May has launched a new set of plans to give more powers to the security services. The Tories’ anti-terror measures, however, will do little to hinder extremism and do everything to exacerbate the feeling of alienation and repression in Muslim communities that feeds jihadi radicalisation.
When questioned during the election campaign by a nurse who hadn’t received a pay rise in eight years as to why this was the case, Theresa May responded with the almost insulting retort of “there is no magic money tree”. Andrew Macknight of the Newcastle Marxists looks at the hypocrisy of the Tories and their rich friends when they tell us that there’s no money.
It is clear from the recent election results that the SNP’s honeymoon period is over. The inspiring Corbyn movement has put pressure on the SNP leadership to prove their left-wing credentials. The question of independence, meanwhile, has been complicated by the possibility of an anti-austerity Labour government. What lies ahead for Scotland?
The criminal disaster of the Grenfell Tower fire has brought to the surface all the horror, injustice, and inequality of Tory Britain. All the anger and discontent within working class communities has now exploded into plain view, with a series of militant protests taking place in the last week. We publish here reports from these demonstrations.
In the early hours of this morning, those leaving the Finsbury Park mosque in London were victims of the latest terrorist attack, when a van was driven into a crowd of people heading home after evening prayers. This Islamophoic terrorist attack is the culimination of a long rise in racist rhetoric from right-wing politicians and their media mouthpieces.
Britain is in a state of shock following the crime that is the Grenfell fire. All the accumulated anger within the local working class community has exploded to the surface, as more and more details emerge showing how the Tories and profiteering corporations are to blame for the murder of the tower’s residents.
Ever since the general election – a mere week ago – Theresa May has been desperately fighting for her political survival. Rob Sewell discusses the crisis facing the Establishment in the wake of the election, as the “coalition of chaos” proves itself to be a government of instability and turbulence.
Many factors contributed to the recent shock election result, including a layer of disaffected former Labour voters returning from UKIP and strong support in working class areas and cities. However, as Joe Attard explains, Labour owes the bulk of its advances to overwhelming support from young people, thanks to Corbyn’s inspiring campaign.
Shortly before 1am this morning, a fire broke out on the second floor of Grenfell Tower, a block of council flats in the London Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. The blaze rapidly became a towering inferno, killing at least 12 people. The blood of these victims lies on the hands of the parasitic management company and the heartless Tories.
The June 8th election results have left the Tories in chaos and May’s authority in tatters. Like a drowning woman, she is now clutching at straws in a desperate bid to cobble together a government. The likely result is a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). But who are the DUP? And what will become of this Tory-DUP alliance?
Corbyn has defied the expectations of all his critics, leaving them silenced and impotent. The Blairites are firmly on the back foot. The hundreds of thousands of new Labour members and radicalised workers and youth must now be organised in order to complete the Labour Party’s transformation.
On the back of last week’s election, the SNP still dominate in Scotland, but have taken a major kicking. Key figures such as Alex Salmond have lost their seats. The unionist vote has consolidated around the Tories, whilst Corbyn’s Labour have won over some left-wing workers and youth. The political landscape continues to be transformed.
Following the shock of Brexit, Britain has experienced another political earthquake. Theresa May is facing oblivion on the back of a failed gamble. A snap election has turned into a Tory disaster. This is all down to the bold Labour campaign led by Jeremy Corbyn, which has given birth to a mass political movement of workers and youth.
For two years, the Left have had to endure the smug ‘analysis’ and predictions of the ruling class’ entire media regarding Corbyn. For them, it was self-evident and simply a fact that Corbyn is unelectable and incompetent. But Labour’s incredible performance in this election has left these so-called experts dumbfounded.
If a week is a long time in politics, then these seven weeks have truly been an age. The British political landscape, and the Labour Party in particular, has been completely transformed. The youth have become organised and conscious. The Tories have been totally exposed and massively weakened. Time to finish the job. Vote Labour! Fight for socialism!
A terrorist attack in London last night has left seven people dead. We utterly condemn this attack, which will only serve to fuel racism and provide a justification for imperialist adventures and attacks on civil liberties. At the same time, we must highlight the hypocrisy of the Tories and their talk of protecting “freedom, democracy and human rights”.
Corbyn’s election campaign has continued to gather momentum, becoming a mass movement of workers and youth. With less than a week until election day, the vulnerability of May and the Tories is now clear for all to see. Latest studies reveal the possibility of a hung parliament. Time to go on the attack!
With their lead collapsing in the polls, the Tories are planning on spending over £1m on online campaigning in a desperate effort to hang onto power. Such is the popularity of Corbyn and his policies that the Conservatives are no longer confident that their billionaire friends who control the media can deliver the goods.
If there is one thing you can be certain about in any UK election, it is that the vast majority of the press will be hostile to Labour. This current election is no exception to this rule. Steve Jones examines the inherent bias within the media under capitalism and discusses the way forward in fighting for real freedom of the press.
The recent rise of Labour in the polls has sent the Establishment into panic mode. Their new strategy is to smear Corbyn with accusations that he is “soft” on terrorism and had “sympathy” for the IRA. As Ben Curry explains, however, a look back at history shows that it is the Tories who are the real terrorist sympathisers.
Jeremy Corbyn returned to campaigning for the general election last Friday with a speech that offered a response to the appalling Manchester terrorist atrocity and that sought to draw a clear line underneath the failed “war on terror”. As Daniel Morley explains, to fight against the causes of terrorism means to fight against capitalism.
The publication of the Conservative Party manifesto has made it clear that the choice facing Britain in the coming election is the starkest in recent memory. The depth of the crisis has forced the Tories to attack their most loyal support base, the elderly. Like Cameron before her, however, Theresa May’s hubris could prove to be her downfall.
Twenty-two people have been killed and 59 injured in the most deadly terrorist attack on British soil since the London 7/7 bombings. We condemn this barbaric atrocity and offer our solidarity to those in Manchester in these turbulent times. We must fight against both fundamentalism and right-wing demagogy – and against the capitalist system that breeds them both.
Within hours of the launch of the Tory manifesto, the Conservative lead over Labour in the polls was slashed by half. The political ground has begun to shift. With the polls narrowing, Labour has everything to play for. The whole Corbyn movement must now mobilise in order to deliver a mortal blow against this Tory government.
The Labour Party under Corbyn’s leadership pledged today that tuition fees would be entirely abolished in time for students starting university in the autumn of 2018. Today is the last chance to register to vote. Students and young people must mobilise, vote for Labour, and fight for a Corbyn-led government on a socialist programme.
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.
Theresa May shocked the country this week by announcing a snap general election on 8th June. This is a fight that Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party can win, provided they offer a bold, socialist alternative. The meteoric rise of far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon across the Channel provides valuable lessons on how to fight this campaign.
Seeking a mandate to pursue a hard Brexit and her attacks on the working class, Theresa May has called for a snap election. Corbyn and the Labour Party must now come out fighting with a bold socialist alternative and a grassroots campaign based on radical policies and mass rallies. This is the only way to kick out the Tories.
We publish here the third part of a Socialist Appeal document on the perspectives for the class struggle in Britain. In this third and final part, we look at the perspectives for the Labour Party. Despite the election (and re-election) of Corbyn as leader, the Blairite right wing maintain control of the PLP and apparatus. The outcome of the Labour civil war depends on the question of leadership.
With Article 50 triggered and Britain now formally starting the process of leaving the EU, the gloves have come off. According to Theresa May, this is “the moment for the country to come together”. But the country has never been so divided. Britain is in danger of breaking apart. The whole Brexit gamble is about to blow up in the Tory government’s face.
Ken Livingstone’s suspension from the Labour Party for “bringing the party into disrepute” has provoked a cacophony of protests from the party’s right wing, demanding his immediate expulsion. It is not Livingstone who is bringing the party into disrepute, however, but the constant sabotage of these Tory infiltrators. They must be shown the door.
Once again, the champagne corks are popping for Britain’s millionaires, if not for the rest of us. The Tories are determined to ensure that the so-called Hard Brexit will be a bonanza for the rich. At the same time, the poorest will be well and truly hit. The only way out for the working class is to fight for a socialist Europe.
Steve Jones examines the growing fears amongst the ruling class about what will happen when the reigning Monarch, Elizabeth Windsor, dies and the Crown is passed on to a successor. The Monarchy’s authority has been severely dented over the years, and this important pillar of the British Establishment is crumbling amidst the general crisis of capitalism.
In the aftermath of the Westminster terror attack last month Amber Rudd, the Tory Home Secretary, took to the airwaves to insist that government intelligence services should be allowed to read people’s WhatsApp messages. In true Orwellian style, the Tories are using this attack as an excuse to strip away our civil liberties.
While one-in-four children in Britain live in poverty and essential public services suffer from dire underfunding, politicians in Westminster have somehow found the money to spend at least £369 million to refurbish Buckingham Palace. Last month’s overwhelming vote in favour of a handout for the Monarchy has revealed plainly where this government’s priorities lie.
We publish here the second part of a Socialist Appeal document on the perspectives for the class struggle in Britain. In this second of three parts, we look at the special crisis of British capitalism, which is undergoing a century-long process of decline. The result is seemingly endless austerity and attacks for the working class, the youth, and the poor.
The die is cast. In her letter, hand-delivered this afternoon to the President of the European Council, Theresa May has announced the beginning of Brexit negotiations under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, marking a point of no return for both British and European capitalism. Only the struggle for a socialist Europe can provide an alternative to the chaos of Tory Brexit.
Philip Hammond’s recent embarrassing U-turn over NIC increases has highlighted two things: firstly, the growing confusion and divisions within the Conservative government; and secondly, the ever more precarious nature of work for millions within the UK economy. Bob Percy looks at the reality of self-employed work in Tory Britain.
We are publishing here the first part of a document on the perspectives for the class struggle in Britain, which was discussed at the recent conference of Socialist Appeal supporters. Although already overtaken by events in places, the document explains the main processes affecting British society, as well as outlining the fundamental contradictions facing the ruling class and leaders of the labour movement.
Four people have been killed and at least 40 injured in what the police are describing as a “terrorist incident” yesterday afternoon in Westminster. We condemn this brutal action. It is clear that capitalism has created this monster of terrorism, which already is creating a sense of panic among the population that will be used to justify all kinds of reactionary measures.
This month, Oxford was again named the least affordable city compared to average earnings. In response to this housing crisis, a number of protests have been seen across Oxford in solidarity with those affected. James Morrow of the Oxford Marxist society discusses the question of housing and homeless and points the way forward.
Steve Jones examines the reasons behind the appointment of George Osborne, the former chancellor, as the new editor of London Evening Standard. With the Brexiteers increasingly in control of their party, the Prime Minister, and the government, it is clear that the liberal wing of the capitalist class is looking to “take back control” for themselves.
We publish here a letter by Socialist Appeal supporter Luke Wilson, who responds to the calls by the prominent Guardian journalist, Owen Jones, for Corbyn to stand down. Instead of demanding compromise and retreat, Jones – an influential figure on the Left – should be calling for Corbyn to go on the offensive against the Blairites and the Tories.
Despite all the talk of “unity” by those at the top of the Labour Party, proof of a politically-motivated plot to rid the Party of socialists has recently come to light, as detailed here by Socialist Appeal supporter and expelled Labour member, Jack Halinski-Fitzpatrick. This plot involves right-wingers from all levels of the Party, including MPs and Labour staff.
The Chancellor’s Budget began to unravel at lightning speed as soon as he had sat down from delivering his speech. Hammond’s humiliating climb down clearly demonstrates that the Tory government is in a complete shambles as it hurtles towards the cliff edge of Brexit. The time is ripe for Corbyn’s Labour to go on the offensive with a socialist alternative.
Nicola Sturgeon this week finally delivered the speech that had seemed almost inevitable ever since the Brexit vote in June last year. By announcing her intention to seek a second independence referendum, Sturgeon has started a political storm that will likely rage on – at the very least – until any referendum takes place, and possibly far beyond.
Grassroots Momentum held its founding conference last weekend, at which around 200 activists voted on the faction’s aims and values as the radical voice of local Momentum groups. The militancy on display at the conference now needs to be channelled into transforming Labour into a fighting mass movement with a bold socialist programme.
After years of privatisation, mismanagement and cuts, social care in the UK is now undoubtedly beyond crisis point. The Tory government clearly has no plan for social care. Labour must call for care to immediately be brought under public control and integrated into the NHS, to provide decent social care on the basis of needs not profits.
Chancellor Philip Hammond’s spring Budget was presented by the media as something of a non-event – unless you happened to be poor, reliant on public services, or self-employed that is. Tory MPs were laughing throughout the Budget’s presentation, but Hammond’s announcements are no laughing matter for workers and the poor.
John McDonnell, Shadow Chancellor and veteran of the Labour Left, has warned of a “soft coup” being orchestrated to undermine Corbyn’s Labour leadership. Owen Jones, meanwhile, has called on Corbyn to stand down and “do a deal” with the Blairites in order to pass on the baton to a left successor. The only way forward for the Left, however, is to boldly go on the offensive.
Britain’s prisons are at boiling point, with overcrowding, long periods of lockdown, and increasing violence putting staff and inmates at severe risk of harm and even fatality. Vic Dale looks at the crisis developing inside Her Majesty’s Prison Service as a result of Tory cuts. The labour movement must fight back with united and militant action.
Capitalist austerity is here to stay. This is the assessment of the serious commentators of big business and their Tory representatives. Hospitals and care homes are being closed. The health service is at breaking point. Homelessness is at a new high. The only way forward is on the basis of a socialist alternative. This is what Corbyn and the labour movement must fight for.
Overworked doctors and nurses. Toddlers sleeping on chairs. A full blown humanitarian crisis. Such headlines of “NHS in crisis” in the mainstream media have become the norm. The truth is that, under the Tories, the National Health Service is crumbling before our very own eyes. The full force of the labour movement needs to be mobilised in defence of the NHS.
The cacophony of calls for Corbyn to fall on his sword has grown louder after Labour’s defeat in the Copeland by-election, with the Labour right wing more determined than ever to stick the knife in. Only by coming out fighting with a bold socialist programme can Corbyn and the Labour Left turn the situation around now.
Yesterday evening, thousands gathered in cities across the country to protest once more against Trump, against his reactionary programme, and against Theresa May’s Tory government, which has cosied up to the new US President in the hope of a post-Brexit trade deal. The message was loud and clear: Donald Trump is not welcome here!
The spectre of inequality continues to loom across Britain. A new report by the Resolution Foundation notes that conditions are returning to those last seen under Thatcher. With wage freezes and austerity measures continuing to burden the poor and working classes, the gap between top and bottom is ever increasing. Capitalism isn’t working.
Npower, one of the ‘Big Six’ energy companies, has recently announced that it will raise its electricity and gas prices further. Even the Tories have been forced to acknowledge that the “markets aren’t working” when it comes to energy prices. We say: nationalise the energy industry without compensation!
In just under a week, on 23rd February, two by-elections will take place in the constituencies of Stoke-on-Trent Central and Copeland. With no clear left alternative provided by the Labour Party, UKIP are threatening to eat away at the Labour vote, particularly in Stoke. Kelly and Joe from the Sheffield Marxists examine the factors behind UKIP’s potential success.
The last decade has seen a sharp rise in profiteering from the building and maintenance of social housing. Although most building projects have concentrated on the upper-end of the market, there has also been some public funding made available for working-class accommodation – a source of easy profits for the private firms involved.
The resignation of Clive Lewis from the Labour front bench has dealt yet another blow to Corbyn’s leadership, as Brexit continues to torment the Labour Party. The public resignation of one of Corbyn’s most well known supporters may prove to be a fatal blow for the Labour leader, as the party is torn apart amidst a crisis of social democracy.
With Brexit, May and the Tories tell us, we have “taken back control”. But the Prime Minister’s subservient behaviour towards the odious Donald Trump recently demonstrates that, far from gaining sovereignty and independence by leaving the EU, British capitalism and the British Establishment have become even more reliant on their big brother across the pond.
Following the inspiring and semi-spontaneous protests last Monday, around 50,000 demonstrators descended onto the streets of London again on Saturday 4th February to say: No to Trump! No to the Muslim Ban! Solidarity with migrants and refugees! The task now is to build a mass political movement against Trump and the Tories.
Every action provokes an equal and opposite reaction. This fundamental law of physics was vividly displayed across the UK last night, as tens of thousands of youth took to the streets in cities across the country to protest against Donald Trump’s #MuslimBan and the complicity of the subservient Tory government.
As a result of the dispute between railway workers and Southern Rail this winter, the question of railway nationalisation has come up in public consciousness again. John Russell of the UEA Marxists puts forward the demand for immediate renationalisation of the railways without compensation.
The debate over the question of whether or not to renew the Trident missile system took a turn this weekend, when it was revealed that a Trident missile – in contrast to the Tories’ assurances in Parliament – had malfunctioned in a test-firing off the coast of Florida, accidentally heading in the direction of the USA.
After months of speculation over the possible terms of Britain’s departure from the EU, Prime Minister May announced on Tuesday that she would abandon the single market if necessary, in favour of ending the free movement of labour. Whilst appeasing her party and her voters, she has left the Establishment gravely concerned about the uncertain future ahead.
The NHS is in crisis. Ambulances are queueing up waiting for free trolleys and beds in A&E departments. And the Red Cross is having to intervene in hospitals across the country. All this thanks to Tory policy. Labour must now go on the offensive and offer a socialist alternative.
At a stroke, Momentum’s democratic structures have been abolished; the tireless work of thousands of Corbyn supporters over the past year-and-a-half thrown out the window. Overnight, grassroots activists have been shunted to the side in what can only be described as a coup. Momentum’s rank-and-file members must not stand for this behaviour.
It seems a week does not go by without the working conditions of warehouse workers being further exposed at what were seen as “reputable” companies. We publish here the story of a warehouse worker at ASOS, the online fashion business, who describes the super-exploitative conditions he and others face every day.
It emerged last week that a “humanitarian crisis” in the NHS has forced the Red Cross to intervene in UK hospitals, with Red Cross staff now working in 20 A&E departments across the country due to the lack of staff and beds. Such horror stories are a damning indictment of the Tory government and the capitalist system they represent.
Within the next three months, the Brexit negotiations with the European Union will officially start. The plan is to leave within two years. But the recent resignation of Britain’s ambassador to the EU has highlighted the likelihood of neither soft Brexit, nor hard Brexit, but “train-crash Brexit”, with chaotic consequences on all sides.
With homeless people dying on our streets, millions of workers scraping by on the minimum wage and zero-hours contracts, and huge numbers reliant on food banks, Britain’s top executives are doing better than ever, earning more in a couple of days than workers will in a whole year.
Another week, another terrible headline for Corbyn in the Guardian, this time courtesy of their friends in the Fabian Society. But the shock announcement that “Labour could slump to below 150 MPs” is just a thin veneer to mask the Labour right wing’s desire to see the party fail and provide an excuse for another coup against Corbyn.
The real face of modern capitalism has been exposed by recent news investigations, who have uncovered brutal and dehumanising conditions in the warehouses of big businesses such as JD Sports and Sports Direct. Rob Sewell looks at the return of Dickensian working conditions in 21st century Britain.
As the last citizens of eastern Aleppo are evacuated, these innocent victims of war have also become caught in the crossfire of Labour’s civil war, used by the warwongering Blairites as a stick with which to beat Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour movement and stalwart of the anti-war movement in the UK.
Over one year on from its formation, and after months of internal wrangling about its democratic structures, and Momentum still lacks both any pace or direction. Amidst this acrimony, most tragically, crucial political questions have been neglected. Momentum needs to set on the task of transforming the Labour Party and fighting for socialism.
The current case in the Supreme Court concerning the relationship between the government and Article 50 has highlighted the manifold contradictions facing Theresa May and the Tories over their Brexit strategy – or, as is quickly becoming apparent, their complete lack of it. Ben Gliniecki comments on the crisis facing the British Establishment.
On 28th October, two Uber drivers heard and won their court case against their exploitative employer, winning the right for them and their fellow “gig” workers to be granted employee status and accompanying workers’ rights. Thomas Soud takes a look at the gig economy and the militant methods needed to end exploitation.
Steve Jones looks at the calls for a “progressive” alliance of the “centre” being made by Lib Dems and Blairites in relation to the upcoming Richmond Park by-election. At a time when the Corbyn-led Labour Party has 600,000 members, there must be no concessions to those clamouring for coalitions based on a return to the failed status quo.
Paul Nuttall, UKIP MEP and former deputy leader for the party, was yesterday announced to be the newly elected UKIP leader, winning the leadership contest with over 62% of the votes from party members. But what, Scott Shaw asks, does the future hold in store for Nuttall and this far-right, racist party?
Currently, upwards of 135,000 people have signed a petition calling for the Royal family to pay for the £369m refurbishment of their ‘home’, Buckingham Palace – an eye-watering bill which the public are being asked to pay. Daniel Morley looks at the facts behind the monarchy and the extortionate amounts they effectively steal from the rest of us.
Prime Minister Theresa May has announced that the government’s agenda is “unashamedly pro-business”. Millions of Britons must be in a state of shock at this earth-shattering news that a Tory government is an “unashamed” supporter of big business. With British capitalism in a particularly precarious state, the bosses’ are looking for reassurances from the Tories.
The latest ruling in the Supreme Court has found in favour of two families who were challenging the Tories and their much-hated “bedroom tax”. Corbyn and the other leaders of the labour movement must now go on the offensive and use this case as a spearhead to attack the Tories and their whole austerity programme.
Recent reports indicate that three regional NHS services in the UK are predicted to reach a combined shortfall of £2.4 billion by 2020. It is becoming increasingly clear to all – patients, healthcare staff, and politicians – that a crisis is brewing inside Britain’s National Health Service, as the Tory government – and the system they defend – starve the NHS of funds.
Earlier this year, Socialist Appeal supporter and UNISON activist Terry McPartlan received a letter from Iain McNicol, Labour Party general secretary, stating that he’d been expelled from the Party after 36 years of continuous membership. We publish here an extended letter from Terry about his thoughts on the Labour purge.
With the shock defeat for the Tory government in the High Court yesterday, the turmoil arising from the Brexit vote in June rumbles on. But this is only a foretaste of the storms that lie ahead. While MPs will not block Brexit, they can certainly delay it and water down any proposals. Prime Minister May faces months of clashes, guerrilla warfare, and an extremely unstable future.
After many years of campaigning from the labour movement and local communities, Conservative Party home secretary, Amber Rudd, this week announced that there would be no inquiry into the brutal events at the Orgreave coking works in June 1984. The Tories’ refusal to hold an inquiry shines a light on the scandalous role played by the whole rotten Establishment over the Battle of Orgreave.
Negotiations over Brexit and the associated fall in the pound have exposed the fault lines within the Tory Party and the British economy. Theresa May and Philip Hammond have warned of “difficult moments” and “turbulence” ahead. The Tories cannot be allowed to make us pay for their crisis. As Rob Sewell explains in the latest editorial, a socialist fightback is needed.
The recent hardening of Tory rhetoric over Brexit and the status of migrant workers in Britain has shocked many, But aside from being a return to form for Britain’s traditional “Nasty Party”, Josh Holroyd explains, Theresa May’s hard talk reflects a deepening divide within her own party and, if anything, a position of weakness rather than strength.
Ross Walker of the Edinburgh Marxists discusses the events of the recent SNP annual party conference, where leader Nicola Sturgeon announced plans for a second referendum on Scottish independence. Beneath the apparent party unity surrounding independence, however, it is clear that strong class contradictions are developing within the SNP.
Any doubts that might have persisted as to whether Owen Smith MP was indeed the establishment candidate in the recent Labour leadership election must have been quickly washed away by the revelation that Smith received nearly £1 million in donations to his campaign. Steve Jones looks at the well-funded right-wing forces hoping to regain control of Labour.
With Corbyn now re-elected on an increased majority, the Blairites are openly struggling to see what the way forward is for them and the forces they represent. Step forward the key architect of New Labour himself, Tony Blair, who has hinted that he make a political comeback in order to lead the “moderates” of the “centre-ground”.
In normal years, the Tory Party conference would be an opportunity for the party’s leaders to rally the troops. But with deep divisions opening up within the Tories over the question of Europe, this year’s conference was notable for how little of substance was actually said as May sought to smooth over the rifts within her party.
Labour Party conferences have become very interesting all of a sudden. Without question, the left of the party have reason to celebrate, following the resounding second victory of Corbyn. But this year’s conference has served as a stark reminder and warning that the battle is very far from over and there remains a great deal of work to be done.
Having seen off the miserable challenge of the Blairites, both Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell gave emboldened speeches to this year’s Labour Party conference, even daring to use the “s” word – socialism. To carry out their programme, however, a break with capitalism and a genuine socialist transformation of society are needed.
We publish here a letter from a Socialist Appeal supporter and NHS nurse, who highlights the mounting pressures on healthcare staff as a result of Tory cuts and the crisis in the NHS. As the letter emphasises, the Tory government are setting the NHS up to fail, as a precursor to privatisation.
Siôn Reynolds, secretary of the Portsmouth NASUWT local association (personal capacity), discusses the Tories’ latest plans for the reintroduction of grammar schools, looking at the history of selective secondaries and the role they play in class society.
Corbyn’s re-election as Labour leader, with an even bigger majority than last year, is a bitter blow to the hopes of Labour’s right wing, who have now been pushed into a corner. They will now bide their time and try to slowly strangle Corbyn from their base within the PLP. The question of deselection, therefore, has not gone away.
Jeremy Corbyn has again won a decisive victory to become Labour leader, with an even bigger mandate than last September. All talk now is for “unity”. But the events of the last year cannot be swept under the carpet. The actions of the right wing have infuriated grassroots members, who will be energised now to defend Corbyn against further sabotage.
The ballot for Labour leader has ended. The result will be announced tomorrow at 12 noon. Barring a nuclear attack, all the indications are that Jeremy Corbyn will win convincingly against his challenger Owen Smith, probably with a bigger mandate. But the battle in the Labour Party is far from over.
The crisis in the NHS has hit the headlines in recent months. Not only have junior doctors been pushed into taking strike action against Tory attacks, but healthcare providers across the country are being stretched to breaking point as a result of long-term under-funding. The situation, as our correspondent reports, is particularly acute in the mental health services.
Theresa May has recently announced that she will be pushing for retrogressive reforms that will see state schools in England be able to select students based on ability. Scott Shaw of the Sheffield NUT looks at the potential return of grammar schools and the rising concerns over social mobility in an age of crisis and austerity.
Over 10,000 were present on the streets of central London on 17th September to show solidarity to the refugees caught up in the chaos of war and poverty caused by capitalism and imperialism. Socialist Appeal supporters were active on the protest, putting forward the slogan: let the refugees in! Kick the Tories out!
Whilst the press attention has been on the “dangers” of so-called Trotskyist “entryism”, a number of right-wing groups inside Labour are hard at work preparing to sabotage the Party and undermine Corbyn’s leadership. Momentum, the trade unions, and the whole Corbyn movement need to respond by getting organised and fighting for a bold socialist programme.
A recent London meeting called by the Stop the Labour Purge campaign was attended by several dozen socialists and Corbyn supporters, all furious at the suspensions and expulsions being carried out by the Compliance Unit and the Labour Party bureaucracy. Socialist Appeal supporters, who were present on the platform and in the audience, report on the way forward in fighting the #LabourPurge.
The past couple of weeks have seen an acceleration of the purge against Corbyn supporters and socialists inside the Labour Party, in a desperate attempt to tilt the balance in favour of the Blairite-backed Owen Smith. We publish here statements from three Socialist Appeal supporters and long-standing Labour members who have been recently expelled.
Thousands of Labour members and supporters are likely to be denied a vote in the current leadership election as a result of a new wave of suspensions and expulsions by the Party bureaucracy. Despite such manoeuvres and machinations, however, the latest polling figures indicate that Corbyn is set to gain an even bigger democratic mandate by achieving another landslide victory.
British politics this week was rocked by a clash between Jeremy Corbyn and the multi-millionaire ‘entrepreneur’, Richard Branson. Branson’s attacks on the Labour leader mark yet another desperate attempt by the Establishment to smear and slander Corbyn. But, as with all these other attempts, Corbyn’s opponents have only served to highlight their own privileges and hypocrisy.
Ballots go out today for the latest Labour leadership election. Despite the best efforts of the Blairites and the Establishment, Jeremy Corbyn is on course to comfortably win the contest – possibly by an even larger margin than last year. This would mark a major blow against Labour’s right-wing MPs. Vote for Corbyn! Fight for socialism!
A number of political donations to a new, shadowy organisation, “Labour Tomorrow”, have recently come to light after being declared to the electoral commission. This organisation, established by prominent Blairites such as Lord Blunkett and Baroness Dean, is another attempt by the right wing to counter the influence of Momentum and of Corbyn’s supporters on the left of the party, and is being touted as the potential organising centre of a split in coming months.
Byron Burger, the high-end restaurant chain owned by Ex-Etonian, Tom Byng, once dubbed ‘The Bourgeois Burger King’ by the London Evening Standard, has become a new flashpoint in Britain’s post-Brexit immigration row.
On his way out of the door, former Prime Minister David Cameron left his honours list as a farewell gift. The people nominated on the list ranged from stylists to drivers and from MPs to special advisers. Among those selected for a knighthood were two Tory MPs. In terms of providing service to the public their record appears rather questionable.
In his latest contribution from a series of hand-wringing articles lamenting the “existential crisis” within the Labour Party, Owen Jones has launched into a completely mistimed critique of Corbyn and the movement around him, full of “despair” about the “terrible plight” Labour faces under Corbyn. Now is not the time to weep, but to offer direction and leadership.
With the new Labour leadership contest well underway, Corbyn is already surging ahead of his only rival – the Blairite-backed Owen Smith. The current Labour leader’s support is most clearly expressed by the huge historic numbers that have already turned out to his campaign rallies in cities across the north of England.
A new TUC report on pay has confirmed that Britain has suffered the biggest fall in real wages over the last decade of any major European country bar Greece. British bosses, with the help of their Tory representatives, have been at the forefront of the attacks on pay, terms and conditions.
The High Court yesterday rejected the legal challenge from a Labour Party “donor” to keep Jeremy Corbyn off the ballot in the upcoming leadership election. With Corbyn riding high in the polls amongst Labour members and supporters, it seems that the Blairites have run out of options in their strenuous efforts to oust the anti-austerity Labour leader.
Events are now moving at a lightning speed. Britain has become the focal point of the European crisis and even the world crisis. We publish here a statement from the Socialist Appeal Editorial Board analysing the turbulent political situation that has developed in Britain and explaining the direction this volatile process is moving in.
Right-wing Labour MPs have now united behind one candidate in their bid to oust Jeremy Corbyn: Owen Smith, MP for Pontypridd. In a bid to distance himself from the hated Blairites, Smith has stated that he is “just as radical as Jeremy Corbyn”. Josh Holroyd takes a look at who Smith is and what he really stands for.
MPs yesterday voted to renew Trident. This vote was not only used by the Tories and the Blairites to prove their reliability as representatives of the ruling class, but also as an opportunity to strike a blow against Jeremy Corbyn. But rather than discrediting Corbyn, these political attacks have only served to make him stronger and highlight the deep divisions that exist within the Labour Party.
The Labour Party is locked in a civil war of historic proportions, following the biggest parliamentary failed coup in modern history. The decision to put Corbyn on the ballot for the leadership contest has dashed the hopes of the party’s right wing. However, their dirty tricks are not over yet. It is time to complete Labour’s transformation by kicking out the Blairites.
As of yesterday, Britain has a new Prime Minister. In another proud day for the venerable British parliamentary system, the “robotic” Theresa May will now lead a nation of 64 million people thanks to the votes of 199 Tory MPs. But what does May’s leadership signify? And what are the interests and policies that she represents?
We are living in a period of sharp and sudden changes. The decision by Labour’s National Executive Committee to allow Jeremy Corbyn on the ballot for the leadership contest represents another important turning point. The situation in the Labour Party, Alan Woods writes, is now almost certaintly heading for a split.
Labour’s National Executive Committee yesterday confirmed that Corbyn would be automatically on the ballot paper in the upcoming Labour leadership contest. With hundreds of thousands joining the Party over the past year due to Corbyn’s leadership, the Blairite back-stabbers are now resigned to the fact that their attempted coup has failed.
After nearly two weeks of announcements and ultimatums, Angela Eagle has formally announced her formal bid to become Labour leader. Unable to force Corbyn to step down, those responsible for the attempted Blairite coup are preparing to face the membership – the one thing they had hoped to avoid.
Since Cameron’s resignation in the wake of the Brexit vote, we’ve been treated to a disgusting parade of some of the most vile and hateful people in modern politics posturing to become the next Tory leader and Prime Minister. This Tory leadership contest has exposed the divisions within the Party, and highlighted the possible realignment of British politics.
The Chilcot report into the 2003 Iraq war and how Britain was dragged into it has finally been published after a delay of seven years. It fell like a bombshell on the British political scene that was already reeling from the effects of the EU referendum. The report’s conclusions could not be more damning, and are another blow to an establishment that is already in deep crisis.
The mouthpieces of the Establishment are now giving open advice to the Blairites as to how to split the Labour Party. The ruling class wants a “Second XI” of big business to replace the discredited Tories, but Corbyn and the mass of Labour members stand in the way of this plan. The labour movement must wake up to these plots being hatched.
Over the past week, thousands have turned out at demonstrations and rallies in cities across the country in protest against the Blairite coup and in defence of Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party. We publish here a collection of brief reports, pictures, and videos that provide a vivid expression of the enormous rank-and-file movement behind Corbyn.
We are publishing here a model motion that Socialist Appeal supporters will be proposing at Labour Party branches and CLPs, Momentum meetings, and trade union branches across the country. We call on all our readers to pass similar motions in their areas. #KeepCorbyn! #DeselectThem!
The Blairite zombies were out in full force over the weekend calling on Corbyn to resign. They are still pressuring the Labour leader to resign, knowing they cannot beat him in a democratic leadership election. Behind closed doors, however, there are attempts to forge a dodgy compromise. We say: no to rotten deals with the Blairites! #KeepCorbyn!
There are some very powerful reasons why the British capitalists are not keen on Britain having to leave the European Union. Some of them have been looking at ways of getting around the result of the recent referendum. Fred Weston asks: can they succeed? And what would the consequences be on the political front?
After days of storm and bluster, the co-ordinated efforts of right-wing Labour MPs to oust Jeremy Corbyn seem to have ground to a temporary halt. Faced with a massive groundswell of opposition from rank-and-file Labour members and Corbyn supporters, the Blairites have had to re-think their plans. The situation is now at an impasse.
As the Blairites continue to plot their coup against Corbyn, mass meetings and rallies of Corbyn supporters have begun to sprout up in city after city across the country. A rebellion of Labour members against the careerists in the Parliamentary Labour Party has begun. We publish here a few reports from recent meetings and rallies that give a flavour of the mood.
The civil war in the Labour Party is intensifying on all fronts. Alongside the attempted coup against Corbyn, the bureaucracy within the Party is being used by the Blairite wing to conduct a purge of socialist activists from Labour. The manoeuvres to remove both Corbyn and his most determined supporters must be defeated by Labour’s rank-and-file.
Britain is in a state of turmoil. There is a political crisis, which will be followed by a constitutional crisis and a renewal of the economic crisis. Independence is again on the cards in Scotland. There is fear in European establishment that Brexit could spark a continent-wide revolt. The system has broken down. Capitalism has failed.
A right-wing coup, instigated by a cabal of Blairite MPs, is under way to oust Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader. The full force of Momentum, the trade unions, and the Labour rank-and-file must now be mobilised to defend Corbyn, defeat the coup, and kick out these Blairite gangsters.
The people of Britain have made a momentous decision. After 40 years as part of the European Union, Britons have voted to turn their backs on it. This decision has immense consequences for the future of Britain, Europe and the world. Above all, the Brexit referendum result was a crushing vote of no confidence in the Establishment.
We publish here an initial statement by the Socialist Appeal Editorial Board on the Brexit vote, which has sent shockwaves across the whole of the British and European Establishment. The status quo has failed. Austerity has failed. Attempts to reform capitalism have failed. The system has broken – we need a revolution!
After the Brexit result, right-wing Labour MPs have mobilised once again to try to remove Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party, calling for a vote of no confidence to be taken early next week. Corbyn and those who support him must now come out fighting. Defend Corbyn! Fight for socialism!
Britain goes to the polls tomorrow to decide on whether to Leave the European Union or Remain. But from the outset this referendum has been a fight between two wings of the Tory Party; a fight in which neither side has anything positive to offer workers and youth. The only way forward is to kick out all the Tories and unite and fight for a socialist Europe.
The EU referendum has become dominated by the issue of immigration, with the Leave camp scapegoating migrants for all the ills in society. Many on the Left have called for a Remain vote in order to keep out the most extreme right-wing elements in the Tories and UKIP. But will a vote to Remain really defeat xenophobia, racism and the far right?
The brutal murder of Labour MP Jo Cox has sent a wave of shock and revulsion through British society and shaken the country’s political establishment. Given the far-right background of her assailant, it is clear that the heightened atmosphere of xenophobia that has been propogated by right wing politicians and press has played an important role in this killing.
With a week to go before the referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU, Leave has leapt to a 7-point lead in a poll published by The Times on Monday. This sudden swing of support away from Remain has caused outright panic in Westminster and stock markets around the world.
A Jewish left-wing activist has been blocked from standing for a position on Labour’s National Executive Committee because – according to the Blairites – her involvement with Momentum taints her with anti-semitism. This is the latest episode in the cynical attempt by Labour’s right wing to use the issue of anti-semitism against the Left.
On Sunday 5th June, Momentum Youth and Students held its founding conference. The mood was very positive thanks to the fact that there was a real sense of the tide having turned. Socialism is now back on the agenda and this is enthusing large swathes of young people who are new to politics.
The recent actions of Philip Green – the billionaire retail tycoon – have been condemned from all sides of the political sphere; few of these condemnations, however, try to address the underlying problem. Richard Fuller, a Tory MP, called Mr Green the “unacceptable face of capitalism”. This is inaccurate: Philip Green is actually the true face of capitalism.
Two sides of the same capitalist coin. That is the choice on offer to workers and youth in this Tory farce of a referendum. We say: No to the bosses’ EU! No to Tory Austerity Britain! Fight for a Socialist United States of Europe! The Corbyn-led Labour Party should mobilise a mass movement to get rid of Cameron and Osborne – and Boris, Gove, and IDS too – and offer the working class a genuine alternative to austerity.
Last August, thousands of Corbyn supporters were barred from voting in the Labour leadership election. Now the campaign against Corbyn’s supporters and allies has re-emerged, and a fresh wave of baseless expulsions and suspensions seems to be taking place, whose victims include a number of Socialist Appeal activists and supporters who have been expelled for “not supporting the aims and values of the Labour Party”.
Despite facing a barrage of attacks since his election as Labour leader last September, Jeremy Corbyn’s support amongst Labour members has not been dented. Indeed, according to the latest figures from YouGov opinion polls, Corbyn is even more popular with the rank-and-file of the Labour Party now than at the time of his election – much to the chagrin of the Blairites in the Parliamentary Labour Party.
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.
The past couple of weeks have seen an intensification of the civil war inside the Tory Party, as rabid reactionary Eurosceptic MPs savage their pro-EU colleagues. Daniel Morley looks at the nationalist delusions of the Brexit camp in the Tories and UKIP, and highlights the limitations of the arguments of left-wing Leave campaigners.
Today, Thursday 21st April, marks 90th birthday of the Queen, bringing with it the media’s outpouring of praise for the ‘People’s Queen’. But why does the Queen mean so much to the Establishment? What purpose does the Monarchy serve for the ruling class? And how successful has it been?
After eight long years of Boris Johnson, Londoners will finally have a chance to elect their new Mayor on 5th May. Boris leaves behind an appalling legacy of reduced living standards for working class Londoners. The task for Corbyn supporters is to ensure a Labour Mayoral victory, and use this as a platform to fight for socialist policies.
Miles Todd from Scunthorpe discusses the latest developments in the steel crisis, as the Tories frantically search for a buyer to fill the shoes vacated by Tata. The Scunthorpe plant has been sold to asset strippers for the nominal price of £1. But what is the fate for workers and steel communities elsewhere?
Last Thursday, amidst a chorus of frenzied calls to “get off the fence on Europe”, Jeremy Corbyn made a highly publicised speech in which he set out his case for remaining in the EU. Josh Holroyd examines the left-wing arguments being put forward by Corbyn and the trade union leaders in relation to a Remain vote in the upcoming EU referendum.
Less than twelve months ago, the sounds of champagne corks popping could be heard across the boardrooms of the City of London following the surprise election of a Tory majority government. One year on, the Prime Minister is discredited and the Tories are weak and divided. The task now is for Corbyn and the labour leaders to use Saturday’s mass protest as a platform to go on the offensive.
Following the Panama Papers leak, David Cameron has faced relentless scrutiny over his tax affairs. Jeremy Corbyn has put in a strong performance attacking Cameron as an out of touch Tory toff. Now is the time for Corbyn to go on the offensive in order to kick out the Tories and fight for a socialist alternative to this rotten system.
The fate of Britain’s steel industry – along with the lives of those working class communities reliant on it – hangs in the balance as Tory ministers continue to flail in response to the news that Tata Steel is exiting the UK. Cameron and the Tories have shown themselves to be impotent in halting the decline and downward trajectory of British capitalism.
Momentum – the pro-Corbyn movement inside and around the Labour Party – has taken the significant step of becoming a membership based organisation. By taking steps to tighten up the organisation of Momentum, the position of the Left within the Labour Party is being strengthened, serving to solidify Corbyn’s position against the right wing within the Party who are set on removing him.
As the details of the Panama Papers continue to see the light of day, it is increasingly clear that David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, is implicated. The entire Conservative Party is mired in this scandal, adding to the crises facing the government. Corbyn and Labour must now go on the offensive and demand Cameron’s resignation. Kick out the Tories! Kick out capitalism!
The Tory government has raised the stakes in its campaign to privatise schooling in England by announcing that all state-funded schools must be academy schools within six years. But opposition to this forced academisation is already mounting, with teachers organising to take strike action against the Tories and their schemes.
In the final part of our draft discussion document on the political perspectives for Britain, we examine the trajectory of developments in Scotland, and discuss the crisis of reformism in this epoch of deep capitalist crisis. The only way forward for society is along the path of the socialist transformation of society.
Workers in Port Talbot have been shocked by the decision of Tata management to sell off its steel plant. Despite all the sacrifice and hard work put in by the workers, they have been once again rewarded with a kick in the teeth. As Rob Sewell discusses, this latest development is yet another stark reminder of the anarchy of capitalism and its brutal impacts on working class communities.
In the third part of our draft document on the political perspectives for Britain, we examine the civil war that is raging inside the Labour Party between Corbyn and his supporters on the one side, and the Blairite cabal of MPs on the other. Given the immense political instability, the prospect of a future National Government is on the cards.
In the second part of our draft document on the perspectives for the political situation in Britain, we examine the splits taking place in the Tory Party over the question of Europe, and discuss the impact of the Corbyn revolution on the political landscape in the UK.
“Climate change is the real injustice.” These words were taken from the statement of the ‘Heathrow 13’, a group of environmental activists arrested for closing down a runway at Heathrow airport. Jack Halinski-Fitzpatrick discusses the revolutionary action needed to stop climate change.
Some have suggested that the resignation of Ian Duncan Smith from his position as Tory Secretary for Work and Pensions is proof of a “moral stand” being taken. But the list of past cuts overseen by IDS suggests that his actions are nothing short of political opportunism.
Recent polling conducted by YouGov demonstrates that socialist ideas are back on the agenda, with a rise in the popularity of socialism amongst the public. British people of all ages prefer ‘socialism’ to ‘capitalism’, and are turning left and looking for an alternative to crisis and austerity.
The resignation of Ian Duncan Smith as Work and Pensions secretary represents the clearest example yet of the growing divisions emerging inside the Tory party. Now, as the EU referendum draws closer, the infighting within the Tories will only increase. The gloves are off and the knives are out.
We publish here the first part of a draft document analysing the explosive economic and political situation developing in Britain, to be discussed at an upcoming national conference of Socialist Appeal supporters. In part one, we look at the decline of British capitalism and the radicalisation taking place due to years of austerity.
In today’s budget, George Osborne promised that all schools in England will become independent of local authority control by 2022 – an extension of the academy system that has already been rolled out. This is a further step towards privatisation and the squeezing of teaching staff in this epoch of austerity.
“Britain’s Year Zero” was the banner headline in the i newspaper for 10th March. It was a sharp reference to the new official figures showing a sharp rise in the number of UK workers on zero-hour contracts. The zero-hour contract scam is just one part of the growing low-pay culture of capitalism in Britain
According to recent reports, the cost of becoming a barrister has risen to up to £127,000 in various student fees. More and more people are being priced out of the legal profession, whilst austerity and cuts to legal aid are even forcing this previously privileged layer to begin to unionise and take strike action.
After being initially denied membership of the Labour Party, two of Britain’s left-wing trade union leaders have been allowed to join the party this month. This is indicative of the shifting balance of power within the party, which is bolstering Corbyn’s position. Nevertheless, deep divisions in the party still remain.
Jeremy Corbyn’s statement in favour of the decriminalisation of prostitution last week once again brought the wrath of the Parliamentary Labour Party against him. Right-wing female Labour MPs have hypocritically used this issue as another opportunity to strike a blow against Corbyn.
This year’s Young Labour conference comes in the wake of the transformation in the Labour Party that began with the election of Jeremy Corbyn. The overall picture of the conference confirms that there has been a shift to the left in the Labour Party and its youth organisation. Now is the time to put socialism back on the agenda.
Like many council estates around the country, Cressingham Gardens in Lambeth, London, has fallen into a state of disrepair, with Lambeth council claiming that they do not have the money to maintain it. Nathan Taylor reports on the campaign to save Cressingham Gardens and its residents from eviction.
In a desperate attempt to hold his party together, Cameron has risked everything by allowing a referendum on EU membership. In doing so, he has set loose forces that are beyond his control – forces that could lead to an implosion in the Tory Party and an acceleration of the disintegration of the EU.
A number of British universities have demanded that they should be exempt from the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act. The FOI Act has been recently used by student campaigners to highlight the inequalities within higher education salaries, and now university management is trying to squash such campaigns.
The Tata Steel plant at Port Talbot in Wales recently announced plans to lay off 750 of its 4,000 workers. These are only the latest casualties in the crisis of the British steel industry. As the global crisis of capitalism continues, the social fabric of working class communites is being torn apart.
Since Corbyn’s landslide victory to become the leader of the Labour Party, a furious battle has opened up within the party. Tens of thousands have signed up to Momentum in order to defend Corbyn and argue for his policies. The task now is for Momentum to become a vehicle to transform Labour and fight for socialism.
With the endless coverage of Labour in-fighting in the media one could be forgiven for assuming that the rest of British politics was a sea of tranquillity. But over the last few months the burgeoning split in the Tory Party over the question of the EU has burst to the surface.
The walkout by over 10,000 Liverpool FC supporters at the game against Sunderland on Saturday 6th February is just the latest indication of the growing anger against how football clubs are trying to fleece fans for every penny. A wider protest is developing against big business’ role in the “beautiful game”.
The Court of Appeal ruled that the ‘spare room subsidy cuts’ – better known as the much hated ‘Bedroom Tax’ -was deemed to be discriminatory following legal challenges from two of its victims. This latest ruling shows the contradictions facing the Tories and the ruling class as they attempt to push through austerity.
In the United Kingdom, higher education is the most-casualised sector outside of medicine, with a third of the academic workforce employed on non-permanent contracts. Joe Attard of the Kings College London Marxist Society and the KCL UCU Executive Committee (personal capacity), discusses the casualisation of education in this period of capitalist crisis.
The Tories laughably claim that the NHS is “safe in our hands”. At the same time, there are vested interests at the top of government with links to private healthcare firms. Cameron and co.’s attacks on doctors and cuts to the NHS demonstrate the rottenness of the Tories and the capitalist system that they defend.
The Corbyn movement that began last summer represented the beginning of a political revolution inside the Labour Party. But this transformation is not yet complete. Corbyn has weathered the storm of attacks from the Tory press and the Blairites, emerging stronger in his position as leader; but Labour’s civil war is far from over.
Thousands of families across the UK have had their homes and livelihoods ruined by devastating floods this winter. Such scenes are becoming almost an annually recurring nightmare in Britain. As a result, ordinary people’s anger has rightly fallen on the Tories, whose senseless austerity cuts have exacerbated this disaster.
We now have the greatest housing crisis since the war; but that crisis is welcomed and is being deliberately engineered by the Tories for one simple reason: the greater the crisis, the greater the profits. Pete Gilman of the Islington South Labour Party (personal capacity) looks at the Tories’ attacks on council housing.
At last night’s match, Newcastle United fans, in protest against the club’s billionaire owner, Mike Ashley, unfurled a giant banner emblazened with the slogan #SportsDirectShame. The recent revelations about the alleged working practices at high street retailer Sports Direct have shone a light on how big business is exploiting workers in Tory Britain.
In the end it was by no means the “night of the long knives” that the national press were predicting. However, Jeremy Corbyn’s reshuffle of Labour’s shadow cabinet in Westminster was critical enough to enrage the Blairites who infest the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).
One of the greatest myths peddled by the Tories and their supporters is the idea of wealth trickling down to benefit all. However, a recent report into the housing market and the property investments of the super rich shows that this is all the “trickle down” theory is: a myth!
2015 was a turbulent year in British politics, with the general election, mass demonstrations, and the rise of the Corbyn movement. Rob Sewell, editor of Socialist Appeal, looks ahead to what 2016 has in store, as the Tories ramp up their austerity and the Blairites sharpen their knifes in preparation to stab Corbyn in the back.
Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership has brought to the surface a seemingly insoluble contradiction inside the Labour Party: there two wings of the party – Corbyn and his supporters; and the Blairite clique in parliament – which are irreconcilably divided. Mandatory reselection is the only way to genuinely unify the party and defeat the Tories.
To whip up support for the latest imperialist adventure in Syria, we have seen no shortage of deceptions by the ruling class. Meanwhile, all manner of lies have been spun by the press against Corbyn and his supporters, as part of the on-going civil war being waged by the Blairites in the Labour Party.
We publish here the second part of an analysis of the Corbyn movement by Alan Woods, originally written in early November 2015 for the In Defence of Marxism magazine. In part two, Alan discusses the role of the Blairite right-wing within the Labour Party, and the future prospects of a Corbyn-led Labour government.
Everyone was on the edge of their seats, braced for terrible news from Oldham. The media was full of prophecies of doom for Corbyn, predicting that Labour would suffer at the hands of UKIP in last week’s by-election. In the end, the complete opposite occurred, providing a massive vindication of Corbyn and his leadership of the Labour Party.
We publish here of an analysis of the Corbyn movement by Alan Woods, originally written in early November 2015 for the In Defence of Marxism magazine. In part one, Alan discusses the international context and the astonishing rise of Corbyn to the position of Labour leader – a political earthquake that has transformed Britain and shaken the Establishment.
Following nearly eleven hours of heated parliamentary debate, Cameron secured a big parliamentary majority for the bombing of Syria. He was aided in this by the Blairites within the Labour Party. In the process, the question of military intervention in Syria has served to bring all the contradictions in society to the fore.
In February 2015, Young Labour will be hosting its annual national conference and electing a new national committee. Several Socialist Appeal supporters are standing, with the aim of bringing the Corbyn revolution and a socialist programme into Young Labour.
Parliament will once again be voting on whether to take the country to war in the Middle East. Cameron is leading the charge; but after a retreat by Corbyn, right-wing Labour MPs will now have a free hand to support the Tory leader. The Blairites’ enthusiasm for yet another imperialist adventure, however, may well be their demise.
Last weekend, 28-29th November, saw protests across Britain against war and against climate change. Socialist Appeal supporters across the UK were present on these rallies and marches, drawing the links between these issues and pointing out that it is ultimately the capitalist system that is responsible for both.
In spite of the relentless attacks from the media, his own MPs and even now some trade union leaders, Corbyn’s support is growing. Two divergent paths open up before us: either the right-wing clique in the Labour Party forces Corbyn out, or Corbyn and his supporters force them out.
George Osborne was yesterday forced to retreat on plans to cut tax credits, due to overwhelming opposition. This backtrack by the Tory Chancellor exposes the weakness of the government, and is a foretaste of the turbulent period ahead in Britain as the Tories attempt to push through their programme of austerity.
David Cameron is once again banging the war drum for intervention in Syria, cynically using the horrific attacks in Paris to attempt to whip up support for military action. Corbyn has correctly opposed military intervention, but Blairite MPs are gearing up to rebel on the issue. We say: no to imperialist intervention – Labour must oppose war and fight for socialism!
Only months into the new government, and the Tories are already facing an almightly backlash over their attempts to introduce further cuts and austerity measures. An explosive situation is developing in Britain – a vertible Winter of Discontent.
The election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party shocked the establishment, and galvanised socialists, not least in radicalised Scotland. But can Corbyn win back workers and youth – who have abandoned Labour for the SNP – in Scotland?
Josh Booth, the newly elected Cheshire Young Labour rep, reports on the recent North West Young Labour (NWYL) conference – one of the first tests of the popularity of Corbyn’s ideas within the formal structures of the Labour Party since his election. The victory of the left in the NWYL elections is an indication of things to come.
The campaign to discredit and sabotage Jeremy Corbyn has reached new levels of absurdity, following his “disrespectful” bow at the Remembrance Day service. Central to their attacks has been Corbyn’s opposition to Trident, the UK’s nuclear weapons system. James Kilby looks at the issues behind Trident and nuclear weapons.
Yesterday evening, November 11, Labour Young Socialists held a London-wide rally at which around 100 students and young workers assembled to discuss what left-wing youth should do now that Jeremy Corbyn is leader of the Labour Party. The Marxists highlighted the need to defend Andrew Fisher and other Corbyn supporters who have been attacked by the Labour bureaucracy.
According to recent comments by General Sir Nicholas Houghton during Remembrance Sunday, we should be “worried” if Jeremy Corbyn became prime minister. These words are just the latest in a series of “political” statements to be made by leading members of the UK armed forces – a warning of what to expect in the future.
On Friday 6th November, Andrew Fisher – a longstanding Labour left-winger, recently appointed as a political advisor to Jeremy Corbyn – was suspended from the Labour Party. These latest actions by the Labour Party bureaucracy are a clear provocation and attack against Corbyn and his supporters.
On Tuesday 27th October, around 200 Labour Party members, trade unionists, and local community activists crammed into the Wood Green Social Club for the founding meeting of Haringey Momentum. The size and variety amongst the crowd in attendance painted a vivid picture of the potential strength of the Corbyn movement.
The Tory plans to cut tax credits have been seriously delayed thanks to last night’s vote in the House of Lords, demonstrating how much Corbyn’s leadership victory has changed the dynamic in Parliament – only months after the jubilant and complacent Tories won the general election.
The real implications of the Tory plan to cut tax credits for low paid workers are starting to hit home. Even some Tory MPs are starting to worry about the impact these cuts will have, likening them to Thatcher’s Poll Tax in terms of public opposition.
The UK steel industry has again been plunged into further crisis following the latest announcement of an expected 1,200 jobs to be cut at Tata Steel in Scunthorpe and Scotland. The Tories, meanwhile, are crying crocodile tears as the British steel industry’s crisis continues, threatening thousands of jobs across the country.
Corbyn rode to victory on the back of a grass-roots rebellion that shook the Labour Party from top to bottom. His anti-austerity message took the party by storm. The Corbyn movement has sweep aside the old order of things. The Pandora’s Box is open. Radical socialist policies are now back on the agenda. But the job is far from finished.
Emily Cosentino and Joe Attard of the Labour Young Socialists’ steering committee discuss the programme and demands that are needed in order for the Corbyn-led Labour Party organise young people and workers in the fight against the Tories, against austerity, and against capitalism.
In recent weeks, thousands of junior doctors have been drawn into the political arena and joined the class struggle, as they fight back against Tory attacks to their terms and conditions and organise to defend the NHS. Protect the NHS! Support the junior doctors!
The question of Trident – Britain’s nuclear deterrent – dominated this year’s Labour Party conference. Jeremy Corbyn rightly made it clear that he will not “press the button” and start a nuclear war should he, as a future PM, be asked to do so. Yet the Establishment, the Blairites, and even the trade union leaders opposed Corbyn on this question. Why?
Since his landslide victory in the Labour Party leadership contest, Jeremy Corbyn has come under attack from all sides of the British Establishment. One particular intervention stands out: that of an unnamed serving general in the British Army, who has openly stated that the could be a coup d’état if Corbyn became prime minister.
We publish below a selection of comments from the Hands Off Corbyn! online petition, by people outraged at the way the media is treating Jeremy Corbyn – a shameless attempt by wealthy media owners to smear a democratically elected Labour leader who is willing to stand up to them. These attacks must cease now! Defend Corbyn! Fight for Socialism!
Jeremy Corbyn’s first speech to Labour Party conference has provoked genuine enthusiasm from the Party’s rank and file, keen to break clearly from the Blairite gruel of past years. The conference marks a turning point in the fight against the Tories. The task now is to organise to defend Corbyn and fight for socialism.
Jeremy Corbyn’s first speech to Labour conference as party leader was greeted with genuine support and real applause, unlike many of the speeches that have been given by previous leaders, which were simply stage-managed affairs for the media. The task now is to convert the hope and promises into a reality.
The latest revelations about the Prime Minister have lifted the lid, again, on the sordid and sleazy world of the elite. At the same time, the airing of such dirty laundry in public is yet another demonstration of the crisis of the Establishment, which is rapidly losing all moral authority and legitimacy in the eyes of the masses, following one scandal after another.
During freshers week the UEA Socialist Society had a chat with Clive Lewis, the left-wing MP for Norwich South and a firm supporter of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. Here we publish an interview with Clive, where we found out his thoughts on the fight against austerity.
Day after day, there is a relentless barrage in the Tory media against the newly-elected Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn. The whole Establishment, including the Blairite ring-wing in the Parliamentary Labour Party, has rallied to attack Corbyn and protect the privileges of the ruling class. Defend Corbyn! Fight for Socialism!
On Sunday 20th September, around 140 young activists and Corbyn supporters from across the country assembled at UCL university in London for the launching of the Labour Young Socialists, a new organisation that aims to mobile youth in defence of Corbyn and the fight for socialism. Two Marxist Student comrades were elected to its steering committee.
On 9th September 2015 Elizabeth II became the longest reigning monarch in British history. As this date approached, newspapers and programmes on the telly joyously compared Elizabeth’s reign to the reign of Queen Victoria. As Marxists, we call for an end to this feudal relic and pillar of the Establishment, and fight instead for a socialist republic.
Assem Allam, a millionaire, owner of Hull City football club, and Blairite donor to the Labour Party, has reportedly stated that he will help fund right-wing MPs who wish to leave the Labour Party for the Lib Dems or form a new political party. The Blairites and their big business backers should be encouraged to leave, and the unions should step up their support for Corbyn.
In his first week as Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn has faced an onslaught of attacks from the media, Tories, and Blairites, all intent on discrediting the newly elected leader and destablising the Corbyn-led Labour Party. Corbyn’s supports must rally to his defence!
On 27th August, the government appointed 45 new members to the feudal relic that is the House of Lords, of whom 26 are Tories, 11 Liberal Democrats and eight Labour. The cronyism of these appointments was so blatant that it has made obvious the need to abolish this insult to democracy that is the Lords.
In the days following Jeremy Corbyn’s inspirational landslide victory in the Labour leadership election, the Tories, the right-wing press, and the Blairites within the Labour Party have stepped up their campaign of hysteria and attacks against the new Labour leader. We call on all our readers to get organised in defence of Corbyn. Hands Off Corbyn!
The level of media hysteria, manipulation and hostility against Jeremy Corbyn is unprecedented. These attacks demonstrate the fear of the ruling class towards the Corbyn-led movement against austerity. Workers and youth must organise to defend Corbyn. Hands off Corbyn!
On Saturday 12th September, around 100,000 workers and youth came onto the streets of London to demand that refugees and migrants be welcome in the UK. This formed part of an international day of action, with similar demonstrations in cities across the UK and Europe. The real mood of the working class is one of solidarity, not racism and xenophobia.
Jeremy Corbyn’s stunning victory in the Labour leadership election has dealt a decisive blow to the right-wing of the party. Ben Gliniecki looks ahead to what kind of movement needs to be built now, and the role that young people can play in defending Corbyn and fighting for socialism.
The astonishing victory of Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership represents a political earthquake of monumental proportions. It has turned the political map of Britain upside down. Hundreds of thousands of workers and youth, desperate for change, are celebrating this victory all over the country.
100 days that shook Britain. That should be the name historians give to this summer’s Labour leadership campaign, if not for the fact that the next 100 days, in which Corbyn will most likely be leader of the party, will shake Britain much more still. Daniel Morley reports on the final Corbyn rally and examines the inspiring Corbyn movement of the past few months.
After participating in the despicable, racist bile being thrown at the thousands of desperate refugees making their way to Europe, David Cameron has announced that he will allow 20,000 people to find refuge in Britain. This announcement is the very definition of a political fudge, but it is one which will have fatal consequences for many innocent people.
Earlier this week, thousands of Labour members received an email from John Prescott, the former New Labour deputy leader, encouraging voters to back Burnham for Labour leader. Darrall Cozens, a long-standing member of the Labour Party, replies to Prescott and calls on workers and youth to vote for Corbyn and fight for socialism!
Capitalism is pushing us into a crisis of healthcare in Britain. Austerity in the NHS is having serious implications for the quality of patient care and the working conditions of those who look after us when we are sick. We publish here an interview with a junior doctor working in a central London hospital, which gives an insight into the situation facing the NHS today.
Harvey Dodds of the Leeds Marxists outlines why Jeremy Corbyn is the only candidate offering a hope and a future for young people today. Marxist students must give Corbyn their full support and defend him against the manoeuvres of the right-wing. Vote for Corbyn! Fight for socialism!
The Labour leadership election is being stained by the purge of left-wing members and supporters from the Party. A Kafka-esque wave of letters sent out by Party bureaucrats informing thousands of people that they would not be allowed to vote. The Corbyn campaign and trade unions must use every available means to fight back against this attack on democracy.
A political earthquake is shaking the Labour Party to its foundations. An unprecedented 610,000 are voting to elect a new leader. The ramifications are being felt everywhere. Corbyn’s campaign for Labour leader has acted like a lightning rod for all the discontent in society. It appears to be unstoppable, with Jeremy Corbyn on course to win the Labour leadership contest.
We publish here a letter from a comrade in West Yorkshire, who highlights Jeremy Corbyn’s programme for culture and the arts. Rather than simply protecting funding for the arts, socialists should be arguing for a revolution in how art is created, displayed, and distributed – and, in turn, for a revolution in how society is run and organised.
A massive 11th hour surge in voter registration has given the Corbyn campaign for the Labour leadership a huge boost. Now the knives are out for Corbyn. The Blairites have let the smiling mask of democracy slip, revealing the ugly, ruthless, and Machiavellian face of the ruling class underneath.
To the dismay of the Establishment, a new opinion poll has suggested that the gap between Jeremy and his rivals is widening as the momentum behind the #JezWeCan movement grows. Meanwhile, in a desperate attempt to stop Corbyn, the Labour bureaucracy have launched a hysterical campaign to “root out” the “entryists” who are joining in order to vote for Jeremy.
Over the last few weeks, a succession of right-wing relics have risen up to attack Jeremy’s candidature and to call for a vote against him. A mood of hysteria has gripped the political establishment as the unbelievable seems to be happening: people are rallying around a new mass movement against austerity and the Westminster consensus.
Jeremy Corbyn has proposed the abolition of student fees and the reintroduction of maintenance grants for all students. Harry Bark, of the Leeds Marxists and Marxist Students for Corbyn, provides a socialist perspective on the question of free education and equality.
We publish here two recent letters that we have received from Socialist Appeal supporters in Coventry, which outline and explain the enthusiasm amongst workers and youth for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour leadership campaign. As one comrade writes, Jeremy’s campaign and potential victory represents a “big step forward for our class”.
Following on from mass rallies in Liverpool, Birmingham, and Coventry in the past week, over two thousand people gathered in Camden, London, last night to hear Jeremy Corbyn speak about his alternative to austerity. It is clear that a new political movement is being forged, providing a point of reference for workers and youth.
Following on from the backing offered by Unite, FBU, RMT, and ASLEF unions, Corbyn’s campaign for the Labour leadership has now also received the support of the CWU (postal workers) and TSSA unions, as well as that of UNISON, the big public sector trade union. The unions now need to mobilise all their members to vote for Jeremy.
George Osborne and the Tories are pushing for local councils to join together to form regional combined authorities, which will be given powers and responsibilities for budgets, investment…and for cuts. Darrall Cozens, President of the Coventry Trades Council, analyses the real interests that lie behind these latest Tory plans.
The vote on the Tories’ welfare reform bill, which would see £12 billion cut from the welfare budget, has revealed the depths of servility to which the Blairite leaders of the Labour Party like Harriet Harman are prepared to stoop. At the same time, it has highlighted the contrast between the Blairite leadership candidates and Corbyn.
After a week of frothing at the mouth, the New Labour acolytes have finally called forward their Messiah to try and push back the surging Corbyn tide. But so hated is Blair, that his intervention will have the opposite effect to that intended, pushing more voters towards Jeremy’s anti-austerity campaign.
To the shock and surprise of the Blairites, Jeremy Corbyn has emerged as the frontrunner in the race to become the next leader of the Labour Party. The right-wing are now hell-bent on doing everything they can to prevent Corbyn from winning. These professional politicians are completely out of touch and cannot understand why Jeremy’s anti-austerity message is so popular.
Osborne’s latest Budget was proclaimed to be “stealing Labour’s clothes”, with the announcement by the Chancellor of a new “national living wage”. But make no mistake about it: this was a typical Tory budget, announced by a government of the rich, for the rich, by the rich; a budget intended to make workers, the youth and the poor pay for a crisis they did not cause.
As George Osborne announces £12 billion more in vicious new cuts, a new report has revealed that big business is getting a massive £93 billion each year from the public purse in the form of grants, subsidies, and tax breaks. The Tories and the right-wing press complain about “benefit scroungers”, but the real parasites are the capitalists themselves.
The news that the national executive of Unite, Britain’s largest union, has come out in support of Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign to become Labour leader will be welcomed by both Labour members and trade unionists. The trade union leaders must now throw their full weight behind Corbyn and argue for a strong socialist programme in order to galvanise the vote for Jeremy.
An open letter has appeared in the Guardian from various leaders of the labour movement and figures from the Left in Britain, appealing to Cameron for debt relief for Greece. But the solution to austerity, Rob Sewell argues, will not be found in appeals to the capitalists and their representatives. Instead, the Left leaders should be fighting for a socialist programme.
We publish here a letter from Ben Gliniecki, a Labour Party member and Socialist Appeal supporter, who responds to a comment from another London Young Labour member and Jeremy Corbyn supporter that “it’s the taking part that counts”. Far from being unelectable, Ben argues, with a bold socialist programme, Corbyn could make Labour a pole of attraction to workers and youth across Britain.
Corbyn’s campaign has helped to enthuse workers and youth, who are otherwise turned off by the Tory-lite policies of the Blairites. Darrall Cozens, of Coventry North West Labour Party (personal capacity), reports on the leadership hustings in Birmingham, which saw a large attendance, mainly as a result of those who are attracted by Corbyn’s anti-austerity message.
Several weeks ago, “The Smiler” rollercoaster at the Alton Towers theme park crashed leaving 14 people injured. The cause of the accident hasn’t been made public yet; but even if the investigations point the finger at individual members of staff, there will be one root cause that will not be mentioned: profit.
Luke Wilson, a Labour Party and Unite the Union member, examines the programme and position of Jeremy Corbyn, the left-wing Labour MP, whose campaign for the Labour leadership is gathering momentum on the basis of his anti-austerity, anti-war stance. How do we really fight the cuts and campaign against oppression and war internationally?
Friday 12th June saw the Queen’s Birthday Honours list published – a festival of self-congratulatory propaganda on the part of the British Establishment, which this year saw 1,163 people nominated. Notably amongst those on the list are a whole host of Tory donors and capitalist fat-cats – all rewarded by the Establishment for services rendered.
To the shock and surprise of mainstream political commentators, Jeremy Corbyn, the left-wing Labour MP, has emerged as the clear winner in the first televised Labour leadership hustings. The Blairites are becoming concerned by the popularity of Corbyn’s anti-austerity message and the possibility that he could actually win the leadership contest.
The Greek philosopher Plato believed that the best paid in society should not have an income of more than five times the lowest earners. Under a workers’ democracy, Lenin and the Bolsheviks said the pay gap should not be greater than four to one. But the realities under capitalism have more in kin with Marx’s theory of increasing misery, as the latest figures show.
Jeremy Corbyn, the left wing Labour MP, has got on the ballot paper for Labour leader, with a last-minute surge of nominations. This is a remarkable and welcome turn of events, despite being achieved by the slimmest of margins. Corbyn’s challenge serves to break the right-wing mould and at last allows left-wing ideas to be aired throughout the movement.
“ONE SOLUTION – REVOLUTION!”: this has become the rallying cry of radicalised youth across Britain, reflecting the profound change that has taken place over the last few years, but especially since the Scottish independence referendum. There is a developing mood of anger, bitterness and disenchantment – a desire to overthrow this rotten system and fundamentally transform society.
After weeks of dreary boredom over the endless jostling by assorted Blairite candidates to get on the ballot paper for the labour leadership election, some life has been injected into the campaign by the announcement that the veteran left wing Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn has declared that he is putting himself forward to go on the ballot paper.
Owen Jones – the socialist journalist and political commentator – has argued that “Britain’s battered, bruised and demoralised left” has much to learn from Podemos, the popular radical left party in Spain. Adam Booth asks: on what basis will a mass Left be built in Britain? And what is the way out for workers and youth from this endless crisis of capitalism?
Daniel Morley analyses the latest developments in the Labour leadership election – a contest that is notable for its complete lack of originality, variety, or inspiration. The only options on offer to Labour supporters are between various shades of Blairism, none of which will solve the problems facing the working class in this time of deep capitalist crisis.
Yesterday, 27th May, the Queen announced, on behalf of the new Tory government, the latest vicious attacks on workers, youth, and the poor that can be expected in the coming period. The scene is now set for an intense class struggle in the period ahead.
In the past five years a fundamental transformation has taken place in British politics. The capitalist economic base of society has become exhausted. In its turn, the old British political establishment finds itself out of step with the new economic reality. This is stirring up powerful forces deep in the bowels of society.
Since the election, semi-spontaneous protests have erupted and large meetings have been organised in cities across the country, as ordinary people begin to fight back against this government of the rich, for the rich, by the rich. We publish here reports of such demonstrations and meetings from Socialist Appeal supporters in Bristol, Sheffield, Wales, and London.
While Cameron has been preparing all-out war on the working class, thousands of youth up and down the country have been taking to the streets in protest. The situation in Britain is explosive. It is time for the trade union leaders to come up off their knees and organise a militant fightback.
We publish here a letter from a mental health services worker in the NHS, who outlines the reality of what the Tory election victory, austerity and cuts, and the crisis of capitalism mean for the lives of ordinary people who rely on NHS services.
Alongside the shock of a Tory majority, the other big story of the General Election results was that of Labour’s collapse in Scotland to the SNP. With the Nationalists very nearly sweeping the board with 56 out of 59 seats, the result constitutes an earthquake that will transform politics in Scotland and Britain for years to come.
The coming to power of a new Tory government opens a new stormy chapter in Britain. The stage is set for a turbulent period ahead of instability and upheaval. Rob Sewell looks at the explosive situation that is developing in the wake of the election and in the context of the world capitalist crisis.
Over the last week since the general election, David Cameron has lost no time in announcing yet more reactionary laws. Emboldened by their parliamentary majority, and freed from the ballast of coalition with the Lib Dems, the Tories have rushed to introduce further measures to stick the knife in against the working class.
For a layer of radicalised, working class youth, the result of the general election has shattered illusions in bourgeois, parliamentary democracy and intensified their fury against the whole rotten system. This was demonstrated by the thousands who gathered in London at short notice on Saturday 9th May, determined to fight this latest Tory government from day one.
Today, big business and the fat cats of the City of London are celebrating the victory of their friends in the Tory Party. Working people, in contrast, will be despairing at the thought of years of further attacks. The responsibility for Labour’s defeat lies with the right-wing policies of the leadership. Britain is set for a turbulent period ahead of crisis and struggle.
Russell Brand is a figure who has a habit of throwing cats amongst pigeons. As Britain goes to the polls, the latest stir up has been his change of opinion on the importance of voting. Having previously abstained, the comedian-turned-activitst has now supported a Labour vote. Is Brand right to change his position?
In a recent National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) poll, 84% of those questioned reported that they were providing additional support to students from poverty-stricken homes. In the face of mass austerity, schools have had to try and plaster over the wounds left by the crisis of capitalism.
The General Election 2015 takes place tomorrow. Whoever finally walks through the door of Number 10 will find civil servants ready to present the bill to enable the next government to meet the agreed legal spending caps on welfare spending. In turn this bill will be paid by the poorest and most needy sections of society.
It is clear that the Tories must be kicked out; and it is only Labour that has the power to do so. However, with his endless series of political somersaults, Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, risks allowing the hated Con-Dem Coalition to continue with its programme of cuts for another five years.
With just one week to go till the British General Election, polling in Scotland, and the SNP in particular, has been at the forefront of reporting. Polls have shown that rather than Labour closing the gap, the SNP’s dominance in Scotland has solidified and even extended. Labour faces complete annihilation north of the border – a result that will send tremors across the entire British political landscape.
We publish here a letter from Darrall Cozens, longstanding member of the Coventry NW Labour Party and President of the Coventry TUC (personal capacity), who comments on the upcoming elections and points out the options facing the Labour leaders: either fight for a genuine socialist alternative, or carry out cuts and see support for the party wither even further.
As the general election approaches, the working class face a bleak future. The Tory party promises to “finish the job” through increased austerity. The Labour leaders, meanwhile, want to continue the austerity but in a more “humane“ fashion. A clear alternative to austerity is needed. The leaders of the Left and the labour movement must fight for bold socialist policies.
Alan Woods provides a Marxist analysis of the national question in the context of Scotland. Despite the defeat of the Yes campaign, the referendum on Scottish independence was a political earthquake, which has transformed the landscape of British politics for years to come.
As the 2014-15 football season drags towards its end, all the top flight clubs are basking in the glory of the nice fat TV deal which has been concluded. Football supporters and those watching games on TV will be less happy, however, as ticket prices and subscription rates increase even further. Steve Jones asks, whatever happened to football being “the working man’s game”?
At their manifesto launch this week, the Green Party called for a “peaceful political revolution”, announcing a range of progressive reforms designed to challenge austerity and an economy “being run for the benefit of the few, not the many”. Matt Rider of the Swansea Marxists looks at the Greens’ manifesto promises and analyses how can we fight for these demands.
Barely more than two years after the British working class celebrated the demise of one of their bitterest enemies, Thatcher’s toxic spirit lives on in the Tories’ recent proposal to extend her Right to Buy policy to Housing Association properties. Sam Ashton explains how the crisis of housing is yet another reflection of the crisis of capitalism.
Last Saturday, on 4th April, the far-right group PEGIDA demonstrated in London. Whilst this reactionary outfit was only able to muster dozens to their protest, hundreds of workers and youth marched and rallied on the counter-demonstration to defiantly oppose the far right and their racist, Islamophobic ideology.
That the British ruling class has fiddled whilst Britain burns is no longer a metaphor, it is literally true. Now that the Pandora’s Box of paedophilic corruption at the top has been opened, an avalanche of vile revelations exposing the whole establishment spews forth each day. Daniel Morley examines the latest news from the scandals surrounding the establishment.
The 2015 general election campaign is finally underway. This rotten parliament is now consigned to the dustbin of history after five dismal years of austerity, cuts, attacks on the poorest sections of society, corruption and scandals, and huge payouts for the super-rich. Few will mourn it’s passing. If ever a parliament reflected the decay of a system it was this one.
As George Osborne, the Tory Chancellor, unveiled the last Budget before the election, one message was clear: there will be deep cuts ahead. The Chancellor may have boasted about recovery, but the vast majority of ordinary people have seen little to cheer about, in an economy dominated by exploitative, insecure and low-paid jobs.
As the general election approaches, polls indicate that Labour will be hit hard in Scotland, possibly being reduced to just a handful of seats. The rise of the SNP is posing an enormous headache to Labour, who will be unable to form a majority government without their support – and yet Miliband has, under Tory pressure, ruled out a coalition.
With less than two months to go until the general election, the Labour Party should be charging ahead in the polls. Yet Labour find themselves neck-and-neck with the Conservatives. The responsibility for this lies entirely with the Labour leaders, who have failed to connect with the real mood of anger and radicalisation that exists across society.
Capitalism in crisis can no longer afford its old institutions. This is causing conflict and increased tension in the bourgeois state, which must be painfully reorganised in order to correspond with this epoch of austerity. In short, the British capitalist state is eating away at itself, causing greater instability both in Britain and on a global scale.
In recent weeks, the Tories and their pals in the boardrooms of England have been upping the pressure over Labour’s proposed Mansion Tax. This is a tax which would affect people with properties worth more than £2 million pounds; in other words this is a tax which is targeting the rich. But would the Mansion Tax be enough to reverse the Tory Coalition’s austerity?
So-called “insurgents” are surrounding the walls of Westminster. The likely result will be another hung parliament. Whichever parties form a government, the only certainty is that they will face a crisis from day one, with serious implications for the class struggle in Britain.
In this editorial from the latest issue of Socialist Appeal, Rob Sewell looks at the rotten Establishment in Britain, which is mired in scandal from top to bottom, with corrupt politicians supporting corrupt bankers, and ultimately a corrupt system. It is time to clear out the filth and fight for a socialist future.
The latest scandal, revolving around Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Jack Straw, both MPs and former foreign secretaries, has once again lifted the lid on the rotten, corrupt world of parliament – a true den of thieves. Adam Booth examines the “cash-for-access” scandal and the deep questioning of the system that such seemingly endless revelations are provoking.
Tenants at the New Era estate in Hackney, London, have won a tremendous victory and, in doing so, struck a blow for tenants everywhere. Faced with massive rent increases that would have meant certain evictions for all the 93 families, the New Era tenants rallied their forces and took the fight to the enemy.
In recent months, the ghosts of New Labour have resurfaced on the political scene, imploring the current Labour leaders to reclaim the so-called “centre ground”. But the reality is that capitalism in crisis and the traditional parties of the “centre ground” can offer no solution. Instead, there is a growing radicalisation, and a political polarisation taking place.
With only months to go until the 2015 General Election, there is little enthusiasm for any of the options being presented. Ordinary workers and youth are presented with the “choice” of cuts, cuts, or cuts. With capitalism in a state of permanent crisis, the time for reforms is over. Only a socialist transformation of society can offer a way out.
Thanks to a militant campaign of protests and demonstrations, the residents of the New Era estate have won a temporary victory and will keep their homes for the coming year ahead. But the long term housing crisis in Britain has not been solved – and indeed, cannot be solved under capitalism. A socialist programme for housing is desperately needed.
In recent months, few issues have articulated the growing frustration with endemic inequality in Britain more than that of housing. As rents continue to rise, landlords have made profits of £177bn from capital growth alone in the last five years. Only a bold socialist housing programme can tackle the crisis of housing in Britain.
Hackney was for years a solid multi-ethnic working class stronghold in London. Now that is changing, with the borough witnessing a growing influx of rich people buying up what was previously cheap, council-owned property. It is going on across London with the Labour Party – who are often in charge of local councils – either doing nothing about it or actively joining in.
The scandal enveloping Prince Andrew and his paedophile friend, Jeffrey Epstein, has shone an unwelcome spotlight on the festering corners of Britain’s rotten Establishment. Ben Curry of the Leeds Marxists examines the latest episode in the neverending tale of Establishment sleeze and depravity.
With the biggest squeeze on living standards for 100 years now being promised by the coalition government, the next 12 months will bring little relief to working class families in Britain. The crisis is about to enter a new relentless phase of mega-austerity. Rob Sewell analyses what’s in store for workers and youth in Britain in 2015.
70 members turned up the 2014 Annual General Meeting of London Young Labour (LYL) last weekend, reflecting the fact that young people in general feel fundamentally disengaged from the policies of the Labour Party. Only with revolutionary socialist policies can the Labour Party hope to attract the radicalised youth of today to their banner.
The Blairite Jim Murphy has been elected as the new leader of Scottish Labour. This new leadership begins in far from happy times for the Labour Party, with Labour predicted to be heavily beaten by the SNP in Scotland at the next General Election. It is set to be a turbulent political period ahead in Scotland and the rest of Britain.
Russell Brand’s appearance on Question Time last week demonstrated the real mood that exists within society, with the comedian receiving the largest applause from the audience for his fiery rhetoric against the bankers and bosses. Brand’s rising popularity is yet another expression of the growing radicalisation amongst workers and youth in Britain.
Recently released figures have drawn attention to the rise of the food bank in Britain, with four million people in the UK now at risk of going hungry. Such statistics give an indication of the growing poverty in the country, highlighting the inability for capitalism to provide a basic standard of living for many ordinary people.
Whilst Osborne and the Tories boast of recovery, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s report ‘Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion 2014’, makes for a lot less positive reading, providing details about how this so-called “recovery” has not benefited the poorest in society.
A major new study by the London School of Economics (LSE) has confirmed what many have already suspected – that Tory tax measures have resulted in a “significant” transfer of wealth from the poorest sections of society to the richest. Under the Tories, the 1% have avoided any pain caused by the recession, and it is ordinary people who have had to pay for the crisis.
Across Europe, support for the traditional parties of bourgeois democracy has collapsed. The crisis of capitalism has exposed the rottenness of the mainstream parties, as they carry out the cuts on behalf of the bosses and bankers. As a result, in Britain, there is growing force on the electoral plane that is partially reflecting the radicalisation in society: the Green Party.
The grim fate awaiting us after the next election in 2015 has been exposed by the revelation that the Treasury, under orders from the Tories, has called on senior civil servants to start drawing up a hit list of an extra £25-30 billion pounds worth of public spending cuts to be implemented over the period April 2016 to March 2018. Only socialist policies can stop these cuts!
30 years on from the original Band Aid single, which promised to raise money to feed the world, Bono and Bob Geldof are back with another celebrity-endorsed single, this time aimed at the Ebola crisis in West Africa. Ed Taylor looks at this latest charity single and asks: do these millionaire musicians really know who’s to blame for famine and disease?
We live in turbulent times. Across Europe, the old parties of the social democracy are facing perhaps the deepest set of crises in their history. Britain has not been immune to this. Following the independence referendum and a collapse in its support, and with a leadership election on the horizon, Scottish Labour is facing a crisis of its own.
Eric Pickles, the Tory Minister for Communities and Local Government, has referred to the Tower Hamlets local council as possessing “a culture of cronyism” that promotes “the corrupt spending of public funds“. Ben Gliniecki looks at these strong words emanating from the mouth of a Tory politician who has himself been at the centre of scandal.
John McArthur, a 59-year-old North Lanarkshire resident, has for the past three months been staging a one-man protest against the draconian policies of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). John, a former electronics specialist, had been ordered by the DWP to perform six months unpaid work for LAHM recycle – a company which until recently had actually employed him!
A new official report from Credit Suisse paints a grim picture of the growing divide in the UK between the rich and the poor. Britain now tops a shameful league of G7 economies on income inequality. Despite years of austerity – with more to come say the Tories – the super-rich in the UK have done very well for themselves.
The probation system has undergone a radical transformation in recent months, which has seen the most brutal and systematic dismantling of yet another public service by the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition. Steve Brown looks at the disasterous effects of privatisation of the probation service.
90,000 demonstrated in London last Saturday, and thousands more in Glasgow and Belfast, at the plight of Britain’s low paid. This followed a week of strike action involving hundreds of thousands of workers. Rob Sewell explains how, in this period of permanent capitalist crisis, the labour movement must fight back with a bold socialist programme.
After a period of silence, the Blairite careerist rump inside the Labour Party has started stirring things up again. Rumours have even been circulating of a plot to remove Ed Miliband as leader and replace him with the Blairite Alan Johnson. Steve Jones looks at the latest machinations of the Blairites.
Saturday 18th October will see hundreds of thousands of trade unionists, students and youth, pensioners and unemployed, all marching through London and Glasgow as part of the TUC-called day of protest against austerity, cuts in services and for and end to the pushing back of workers pay. Join Socialist Appeal supporters and members of the Marxist Student Federation on the demo to argue that Britain needs a revolution!
Friday 10th October marked a gain for UKIP, as newly defected ex-Tory MP Douglas Carswell retained his seat at the Clacton by-election, giving UKIP their first-ever elected MP. At the same time, Labour were given a scare, as they almost lost their previously safe-seat of Heywood and Middleton. These results demonstrate the growing hatred towards the Coalition and the Establishment that they represent.
As the Tory-led Coalition continue to boast about the so-called “recovery”, a group of young mothers in London, under the name of Focus E15, is struggling with the local council to have something as basic as a house to raise their children. Beatrice Papapietro of the Southampton Marxists looks at the inspiring struggle of the Focus E15 mothers.
Over the past few weeks, membership to the Scottish National Party has skyrocketed on the back of the momentum from the pro-independence campaign. Recent events, in which the SNP-led government has overseen the re-privatisation of the Scottish rail network, have exposed the divide between the SNP leadership, which is wedded to capitalism, and the radicalised rank-and-file, who are looking for a genuine alternative to austerity.
We publish here an open letter from Darrall Cozens, President of the Coventry TUC and lifelong member of the Labour Party, who responds to the Labour leader, Ed Miliband’s, justification for supporting the recent vote in Parliament backing military action in Iraq.
Following their vote for war against the Islamic State in Parliament, the Tories then headed off to their party conference last week to re-declare another war: a class war against the working class. Steve Jones looks at the latest promises of austerity that Cameron and co. have offered to workers and youth.
It is very clear that today’s rent is completely unaffordable. Britain in 2014 has a prospering culture of landlords striving to become new little Rachmans, letting tiny uninhabitable rooms for extortionate prices. Jo Pickard of the Oxford Marxists examines some of the latest shocking stories emerging from the UK’s farcical housing and rental market.
The referendum is over and now is the time to consider the future of Scottish politics and how we as Marxists should intervene in the movement. Amy Dean of the Glasgow Marxists analyses the developments in Scotland over the past two years.
The referendum in Scotland marks a fundamental shift in consciousness, with thousands brought into political activity and discussion for the first time. By looking at the survey statistics on how and why people voted, one thing stands out: the desire for change and a break from the status quo of the Establishment and capitalist austerity.
The referendum campaign in Scotland is over. Now in the cold light of day it is necessary to draw all the conclusions. The first and most important is that this represents a decisive turning-point in the development of the class struggle in Scotland and in the rest of these islands. Alan Woods analyses the implications of the referendum on Scottish independence.
The Scottish Referendum produced a seismic shift in the political landscape of Scotland. The campaign shook up the whole of society and touched those who had never even voted before. Although the Scots rejected independence, they have sent shockwaves through the British political Establishment. We must work to link this mood, together with workers throughout Britain, to the fight for socialism.
With the referendum vote finally here, we are at the end of two years of campaigning by both sides. Neither the SNP-led YES campaign nor the Better Together campaign have offered any genuine change or alternative. Workers and youth must reject any attempt to divide the working class along national lines; instead, we must remain united in the fight for a socialist future.
With under a week to go until Scots head to the vote, the results of the independence referendum are too close to call. A recent surge in support for the pro-independence campaign has struck fear into the leaders of the NO camp. The maintenance of the union is now seriously under threat, providing yet another demonstration of the weakness and crisis within the Establishment in this epoch of capitalist crisis.
The NHS has come under attack from the Tory-led Coalition, with creeping privatisation, major budget cuts and attacks on staff pay and pensions. This weekend’s final leg of the People’s March for the NHS in London showed the widespread anger against these attacks. Scott Leonard of the Sheffield Marxists looks at the future of the NHS under capitalism.
With just 8 days left until the Scottish independence referendum, the past week has seen a big shift in the polls. Having been comfortably in the lead up until recently, the NO campaign now facing the possibility of losing. Amy Dean of the Glasgow Marxists analyses the factors behind the growing popularity of the YES campaign.
Boris Johnson, the bumbling and eccentric Tory Mayor of London, has potentially thrown his hat into the ring of a future Conservative Party leadership battle by signalling his desire to return to parliamentary politics in 2015. A possible challenge by Johnson – far from being an indication of strength for the political representatives of the capitalist class – is yet a further signal of the crisis within the ruling class.
The crisis of British capitalism expresses itself at the economic, social and political level. The British establishment has always whipped up xenophobia and racism in an attempt to divide the working class. Today, however, under conditions of crisis, the issue of immigration and anti-EU hysteria has served to highlight divisions within the ruling class, especially its political representation.
With the referendum on independence approaching in Scotland, we republish here an indepth analysis by Ted Grant on the national question in Scotland. The article, written in 1992, was originally written in response to the formation of the “Scottish Miliant Labour” organisation, but contains much relevant and interesting material in relation to today’s political situation in Scotland.
Events are moving quickly. Everyday one crisis seems to give rise to another. We are in a period of sharp and sudden changes. With the conference season ahead, the leaders of the labour movement must seize the opportunity to present a socialist alternative to crisis and austerity.
In the past few weeks, the news has broken that, due to a scarcity of specialist medical units, children with mental health issues are being assessed in police cells. This state of affairs is completely unacceptable, and is yet another example of the real impact of the crisis of capitalism on people’s health and lives.
The Israeli government’s attacks on Gaza have drawn condemnation from many ordinary workers and youth in the UK, as shown by the large demonstrations seen in London. The criminal actions of the Israeli state, however, have now also resulted in condemnation from a political representative of the ruling class, Baroness Warsi, the former Chair of the Conservative Party, indicating the weakness of the Coalition.
It has often been remarked that politicians are out of touch with the ordinary conditions of ordinary people. In the case of Tory politician, Mr. Simmonds, it seems to be a case of living on a totally different planet. Mordecai Paechter examines the case of yet another bougeois politician whose insatiable greed characterises the capitalist class that he represents.
New data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has confirmed that pay in Britain under this Tory-led coalition government is now officially falling. The ONS figures released in August shows that wages, including bonuses, fell during the April-June quarter by 0.2%. Even if you remove the bonuses element, wages only went up by 0.6% – the worst figures since the ONS begun compiling these records back in 2001.
For over forty years now privatisation has been at the core of right-wing economic thinking and strategy, pursued by both the Tories and New Labour alike. It was initially presented to us as a means of reducing the “bloated” state structure, cutting overheads, making public services and industries “more efficient” and so on. Reality has turned out to be quite the reverse.
As housing prices continue to soar, we publish here a report from Pete Gilman a Unite and Labour Party member in Islington, London, who looks at how rented accomodation is providing huge profits for big business and their Tory chums at our expense.
Saturday 26th July saw another wave of protests in Britain against the military aggression of the Israeli state, who have continued their criminal attacks on the innocent people of Gaza. We publish here brief reports of two of the demonstrations in the UK from Socialist Appeal supporters in London and Newcastle.
Once again, the whole British Establishment is mired in deep scandal. Whilst the most vulnerable in society are under attack from this millionaire’s government, the Establishment has been able to get away with murder, safe from prying eyes. Rob Sewell, editor of Socialist Appeal looks at how, under capitalism, there is one law for the rich and another for working class people.
On Saturday 19th July, tens of thousands gathered outside 10 Downing Street and marched to the Israeli embassy in London to protest against the Israeli government’s military attacks on Gaza, which escalated last week with a ground invasion by the Israeli military. The mood amongst demonstrators was one of emotion and militancy, reflecting the intense feelings of anger and injustice towards the criminal attacks of the Israeli army.
The High Court this week ruled that proposed Tory cuts to legal aid are unlawful and discriminatory. The scale of austerity needed to keep capitalism afloat can barely be carried out within the framework of bourgeois democracy. Even bourgeois judges are being forced by the basic principles of bourgeois democracy to oppose the Tories’ attempts to make the poorest pay for the crisis of capitalism.
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.
Converted garden sheds, industrial outbuildings and domestic garages are now common features in London’s housing market. They are the symptoms of London’s housing crisis, demonstrating that capitalism exploits every angle and turns a profit out of the most soulless conditions.
By all accounts, Labour should be miles ahead in the opinion polls as more and more people turn against this coalition government of the rich. But Labour is now only a few points ahead of the Tories with just ten months to go before the next general election. Without a bold socialist programme, Rob Sewell argues, Labour are heading for disaster.
The phone hacking scandal that led to the closure of the News of the World (NotW) newspaper brought to the surface the real state of things within the British establishment. Ben Gliniecki discusses the verdicts for Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks that, three years later, have only further highlighted the web of scandal amongst the papers, police, and politicans.
Why is it that, in recent times, many young Muslims are turning towards a radical and political version of Islam? This apparent growth in religious fervour is a reflection of the deep-seated political disaffection of Asian Muslim communities in Britain and Europe – a result of the state of political siege in which many Muslims find themselves.
Conor Burns, a backbench Tory MP, has attacked the charity Oxfam for being too “political” its criticism of government austerity policies and the poverty they have created. Ben Gliniecki looks at the contradiction of charities, which on the one hand were to be a vital part of the Coalition’s “Big Society”, but which on the other hand are being pushed to draw radical conclusions due to the conditions in society.
UKIP-mania has swept Britain, or rather, its chattering classes. UKIP are being presented as a new “fourth force” in British politics. But, as Daniel Morley explains, Farage’s party are riddled with contradictions that will lead to its support falling as fast as it has risen.
The campaigning around the referendum on Scottish independence has now entered the final period with the vote only a few months away. Paul Cummings of the Edinburgh Marxists reports on the latest developments in what is turning out to be a tight contest.
Britain is facing a massive housing crisis. There is an acute and growing shortage of housing; virtually no council housing has been built for decades; homelessness is increasing; private sector rents are soaring; the entire private sector is a disaster. Pete Gilman looks at the housing question in Britain and concludes: reform is not enough – only a bold socialist programme offers a solution.
The results of the 2014 local and European elections have delivered a resounding double blow to the Tories and their coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats. Despite all the talk of an “economy on the mend” with “good times just around the corner”, the grim reality for David Cameron, George Osborne and the rest is that people simply do not believe them. With a general election now under a year away, these results will not calm nerves.
Recent opinion polls have put the Tories ahead of Labour for the first time since 2012. Does this mean that the public has made an historic shift to the right? In reality, the contradiction lies between the working class’ interests and the Labour leadership. Daniel Morley argue that the latest polls are a dire warning to Labour: they must fight on a pro-working class, socialist programme to win back support.
With less than five months to go before Scotland goes to the polls to vote on independence, the Better Together campaign is in a state of panic as the gap between both sides continues to narrow. Recent opinion polls indicate that support for Scottish independence is rising and all the momentum is with the nationalists. Given the performance of the unholy alliance of the No campaign, that should not be totally surprising.
Recent statistics about falling inflation, decreasing unemployment, and economic growth have been touted by both the Tories and bourgeois economists as a sign that their programme of austerity is working and that, after six years of recession and falling wages, things are starting to get better. But the official figures hide the reality that the vast majority of the population still find themselves struggling to cope with the biggest decline in living standards since Victorian times.
On the back of two televised debates, Nigel Farage and UKIP have seen their popularity rise in the opinion polls. Farage has frequently taken to banker bashing, posing himself as the defender of the hard working people of Britain against the evils of the EU, immigration, and big business. But far from being an anti-establishment party, the real programme of UKIP is that of attacks against the working class.
On Wednesday 2nd April, Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, and Nigel Farage, leader of UKIP, went head-to-head in the second of two debates on the question of the European Union. Alex Bollard of the Queen Mary’s Marxists looks at the arguments put forward by these two representatives of capitalism – two personalities who offer nothing to the working class.
It emerged earlier this week that Maria Miler, the Tory Culture Secretary, was discovered to have stolen £45,000 from the public purse for expenses on her second home. Despite this she has been ordered to pay back only £5,800 of the money. This comes in the wake of countless other scandals that have rocked all sections of the establishment and exposed the bankruptcy of the coalition government.
A recent report shows that public trust in the police has been severely shaken by the long list of scandals that have been revealed in recent months. Ben Gliniecki comments on the remarkable frankness with which the establishment has admitted the loss of public confidence in the police. This reflects the weakness of the ruling class at a time when, more than ever, they require a strong state to attack workers taking action against austerity.
Tonight sees the second debate between Nigel Farage and Nick Clegg, leaders of UKIP and the Liberal Democrats respectively, with a focus on the question of the European Union. Daniel Morley reviews the first debate between Farage and Clegg, hosted last week, and provides a Marxist analysis of, and socialist alternative to, the EU.
Over the last weeks and months, concerns about energy have become more and more widespread in Britain, from the controversy surrounding fracking to the news about energy companies and the investigation into Britain’s “broken energy market”. There is increasing talk about the possibility of blackouts due to decades of chronic underinvestment. The question has to be asked: is Britain facing a serious energy crisis?
A year after it was first introduced, the Bedroom Tax has been revealed to be nothing more than a means of making working and poor people pay for a crisis they didn’t cause. The government had claimed the tax was meant to address the problem of chronic overcrowding by freeing up under-occupied homes but, as usual with the Tories, this is just a convenient excuse to cover up their real intentions.
Ofgem – the regulator for the British gas and electricity markets – this week called for an investigation into the “Big Six” energy firms regarding anti-competitive behaviour. The behaviour of these giant energy monopolies should not, however, come as a surprise. It is not simply the energy market, but rather the entire capitalist system, that is “broken”.
On Friday 21st March, around 60 students attended a ‘Justice for Mark Duggan’ meeting at Kings College London, in which his aunt – Carol Duggan – spoke about the blatant lies of the corrupt police and the capitalist press. KCL Marxists report on the meeting and the Mark Duggan case, which has exposed the injustices of the bourgeois state.
We publish here the third and final part of a discussion document, written by the editorial board of Socialist Appeal, which outlines the economic and political perspectives for Britain. In this final part, the document analyses the political developments taking place within the Labour Party and the Tories, as well as looking forward to the 2015 General Election and the upcoming referendum on Scottish indepence.
Earlier this year, Oxfam reported that the wealth of 85 of the world’s billionaires was equivalent to that held collectively by half the world’s population – around 3.5 billion people against just 85. Now Oxfam have produced a further report concentrating on the UK. What it has to say will shock and anger people but will come as no surprise.
The death of Tony Benn after a long illness at the age of 88 marks the passing away of an outstanding leader of the British left. Although Tony Benn came from a very privileged class background, he became the standard bearer for the left and the militant working class in the 1970s and 1980s. Rob Sewell, editor of Socialist Appeal, looks back at the life of a greatly principled socialist.
We publish here the second part of a discussion document, written by the editorial board of Socialist Appeal, which outlines the economic and political perspectives for Britain. In this second part, the document discusses the developments and processes taking place within the trade unions. In particular, the analysis focusses on the role of the reformist leaderships in the labour movement, who have failed to provide a fighting socialist alternative to working people.
The recently announced report on Metropolitan police corruption is nothing more than a confirmation of what the family of Stephen Lawrence – the black teen stabbed to death in a 1993 racist attack in South East London – had suspected since the days following his murder. Such reports will only serve to further undermine the authority of the police and the Establishment at a time of deep capitalist crisis.
Saturday 1st March saw the Labour Party Special Conference, venue for the vote on the Collins Report, the proposed changes regarding the trade union and Labour Party link. Steve Brown, delegate to the Special Conference, reports on the discussion and the meaning behind the changes, which were voted through.
We publish here the first part of a discussion document, written by the editorial board of Socialist Appeal, which outlines the economic and political perspectives for Britain. In this first part, the document discusses the economic background to the situation in Britain – that is, the world crisis of capitalism, which has hit Britain particularly hard. The crisis has meant deep cuts and declining living standards for ordinary people.
The Young Labour National Conference was held over the weekend of the 22nd – 23rd February 2014. As with previous events of this kind, a large proportion of the agenda was given over to speeches by members of the Shadow Cabinet about the necessity of “fiscal responsibility”. Despite this, there was a noticeable shift leftwards in Young Labour, particularly noticeable among those who are newest into the Party. Ben Gliniecki reports from the conference.
There can be little doubt about the extent to which the ruling class and their political front men the Tories manipulate figures to suit their political and economic priorities. Steve Brown, an employability worker from Ashington, highlights the latest Tory shenanigans, in which the unemployment statistics have been fiddled, with real devastating effects for ordinary people.
Under the Tory-led Coalition in Britain, the poor are crushed and slandered. This has raised concerns and protests from the Church’s top clergy. These deep concerns are simply a warning to the ruling class of the dangerous path they are treading by ruthlessly pursuing austerity.
We publish here an open letter from Ross Walker of the Edinburgh Marxists, who appeals to those supporting a “Yes” vote – from a leftwing perspective – in the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence. The letter outlines the position of the Marxists, who call for a “No” vote to retain the unity of the working class across Britain in the struggle for international socialist revolution.
Ordinary working people have faced an onslaught against their living standards over the past five years due to the crisis of capitalism. The leadership of the Labour Party should be offering concrete political proposals to combat this. Instead, however, the LP has spent the last four years concentrating on a reorganisation of the Party. Darrall Cozens examines the recent focus of the Labour leaders on organisational changes rather than political alternatives.
As the rain continues to fall and the storm winds continue to blow, in what has proved to be the wettest winter for decades, the Tories have continued to shout and bluster in the face of a crisis to which they can find no solution. Felix Lighter looks at the floods in Britain, which are exposing the hypocrisy of the Tory Coalition and the tensions in society.
With less than seven months before Scotland goes to the polls over its future, the “No” campaign to keep together the 300-year old Union with England has once again been put on the back foot due to the clumsy intervention of the English Tory Prime Minister, David Cameron. Rob Sewell, editor of Socialist Appeal, looks at the latest developments in the question of the referendum on Scottish Independence.
No one with any sense believes Cameron’s lie that “we are all in this together”. The class nature of this government’s austerity programme and its effects on poor and working people is inescapable. Ben Curry of the Leeds Marxists looks at the geographical distribution of the cuts and discusses how the poorest and most disadvantaged areas are suffering the most. The effect is the sharpening of already glaring disparities.
The complete irrationality of the capitalist ‘freemarket’ knows both tragedy and farce. Under capitalism, overcrowded and dilapidated housing exists alongside empty mansions; meanwhile, a tiny handful own vast tracts of idle land, whilst the Tory government talks of having nowhere to build new housing. Gavin Jackson discusses the absurd contradictions of housing under capitalism.
Since the beginning of 2014 the word “recovery” has been looming large in all reports on the UK economy. But a recent report shows that the benefits of any growth have not been evenly shared across the country. Rachel Gibbs of the Glasgow Marxists looks at the regional inequality in the “recovery”.
Labour Party members and trade unionists have been given just one short month to digest and discuss the new “reforms” on trade union affiliation to the Labour Party. Steve Jones examines the likely impact of the internal changes being presented by Ed Miliband.
The capitalist media have presented the recent policies of Miliband and Balls on the banking system and tax as revealing a ‘growing contempt for capitalism’ amongst Labour leaders. The reality, however, is of confused and contradictory policies that simply create the illusion of defending the poor whilst ultimately defending the capitalist system.
We are frequently told that the working class is no more and that class in 21st century Britain is simply a matter of social tastes. We are supposedly “all middle class now”. Martin Hall of the Bristol Marxists examines the real nature of class in British society today.
The energy scandal and the profiteering of the six giant companies – which control 98% of the market – really highlights the choices between heating and eating that increasing millions of people have to face. Darrall Cozens looks at this “new normality” under capitalism for ordinary working class families.
The conservative government in Spain has recently abolished the right to abortion in the country after a long campaign of demagogy and reaction. The response in cities across Spain has been immediate, with tens of thousands protesting against this new change to the law. Julia Vidania of the Edinburgh Marxists reports on the recent solidarity demonstration in Scotland against the Spanish abortion ban.
The recent half day ‘strike’ on Monday 6th January by barristers and solicitors practising in criminal law is of great significance. Mark French, a legal aid lawyer who took part in this action, comments on the next step forward for those battling against the Coalition’s cuts to legal aid.
After almost two-and-a-half years of waiting, Mark Duggan’s family were yesterday insulted with the laughable finding that his killing by police was ‘lawful’. This sham verdict, and the scrutiny it is being subjected to by a baffled public, reveals very clearly the way in which the law is nothing more than a tool of the rich and powerful.
Clerkenwell Fire Station was the oldest in Europe until 9.30 yesterday (Thursday 9th January) morning, when it was closed along with nine other stations around London as part of austerity measures imposed on the Emergency Services by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. Guy Howie of the UCLU Marxists reports on the cutbacks to the fire brigade in London, which have also resulted in the redundancy of 552 firefighters and the removal of 14 fire engines from service.
Workers around the country have reacted with astonishment and anger at the decision of the Parliamentary Standards Authority (PSA) to press ahead with the recommendation to give Westminster MPs a huge 11% pay rise in 2014 – about £7,600 a year extra. Felix Lighter reports on yet another example of hypocrisy by MPs, who talk about the need for austerity, whilst happily taking a pay increase for themselves.
Thousands of lawyers staged a half-day strike on Monday 6th January in protest at Justice Secretary Chris Grayling’s measures to cut legal aid fees by 30%. Both solicitors and barristers participated in the walkout which, for barristers, is the first strike ever in the 800 year history of the Criminal Bar Association. That the Tories have provoked the first strike by barristers since the 13th Century says much about the scale of attacks on living standards being carried out by this government.
The regime of austerity is set to continue with ever more cuts being pushed through. George Osborne, the Coalition Chancellor, has announced that £25bn in further cuts will be needed after the 2015 General Election, with the welfare budget in line to be slashed. Once again benefits will bear the brunt forcing many more ordinary people into a desperate situation.
With less than 18 months until the next General Election, the past few months have seen the Tories step up their campaign against their main opposition, with a barrage of attacks on those associated with the Labour Party – primarily Unite the Union and the Co-Op Party. But with the Conservatives leading a coalition that is presiding over falling living standards, and which is rightly seen as supporting the bankers and fat-cat energy companies, it seems that the mud being slung by the Tories will not so easily stick.
Under capitalism, spreading the “Christmas spirit” doesn’t come cheap. With wages stagnating at an average of 8% lower than what they were in 2008, and with the costs of food, heating, transport and other basic necessities rising, one million people in the UK are this year expected to be using payday loans to cover the costs of the festive period. Ben Gliniecki looks at the scandal and scourge of payday lenders.
A recently joined member of the Labour Party reports on the London Young Labour 2013 conference that took place on the first weekend of December. Frequently during the weekend, guest speakers addressed the attendees as ‘the future of Britain’, which put to the test the political level of the conference. However, leading London Young Labour members mainly used the day to run a series of caucuses and workshops, which gave little room for discussing wider political questions.
The question of police brutality against students and the presence of police on university campuses has been raised due to recent events surrounding the University of London. It is the task of revolutionaries and activists to put forward a socialist programme in order to build a mass movement of students and workers against police repression and the Coalition’s austerity programme.
The title “The Strange Death of Tory England”, a book published in 2005, might seem an overstatement considering the nasty party has been in power since 2010. However the chronic sickness and decline of British capitalism is doing its best to infect the party that represents this diseased system. Daniel Morley looks at the crisis facing the ever increasingly unpopular Tory Party.
The “No More Page 3” campaign (NMP3), now boasting over 117,000 signatures to their online petition, asks for the Murdoch-owned British tabloid rag The Sun to remove the topless women from Page 3. Natasha Sorrell of the Sheffield Marxists analyses the NMP3 campaign and asks: will such a campaign achieve its desired aims? And if so, will this mark a real step forward in the fight against sexism and the objectification of women?
On Saturday 16th November, about thirty young Spaniards in Edinburgh gathered outside the Spanish Consulate in Castle Street to protest against the Madrid government’s cuts in financial support for students studying abroad under the Erasmus Scholarship scheme. The cuts are one more attack the big business government is making on the living standards of Spanish workers. Tam Burke of the Prospect trade union (personal capacity) reports.
The recent interview between Russell Brand and Jeremy Paxman became an overnight sensation. Brand’s attack on the profit system, criticism of the current political class, and bold call for revolution have clearly found an echo amongst ordinary people who clearly can no longer tolerate the status quo of crisis and falling living standards that capitalism offers.
We publish here a letter from one of our regular readers, who describes the story of a female worker in the NHS and the horrific experiences she has had to endure as a result of privatisation and the pursuit of profit inside the health service. Her story is all too likely to be similar to those of many other workers in those services that have been privatised and outsourced.
People are becoming increasingly revolutionary, according to the latest polls. A growing hatred for big business and profiteering comes on top of the bankers’ bonus scandals, the Libor rigging scandal, the foreign exchange manipulation scandal, and the callous profiteering of the energy companies. This backlash against capitalism has rung alarm bells amongst the apologists of big business. Rob Sewell, editor of Socialist Appeal, reports.
As part of the battle against the “cost of living crisis”, Ed Miliband has announced plans to incentivise businesses into paying a “living wage” through temporary tax breaks. The Labour leader paints a win-win situation, in which both workers and business gain. Every increase in real wages for workers is a step forward that is to be applauded. But what is likely to be the real outcome of Labour’s latest pledge if implemented?
Rachel Gibbs of the Glasgow Marxists looks at the recent promises from Ed Miliband and the resultant attack from the Daily Mail against Ed’s Marxist father Ralph. What are the reasons for this hysteria on the part of the right-wing press? And do Marxists really “hate Britain”?
The recent announcement by Ed Miliband that Labour would freeze energy prices for 20 months if elected in 2015 has clearly struck a chord with ordinary people. Adam Booth looks at the facts behind the energy companies in Britain and examines whether Labour’s latest policy commitment is enough to tackle the problem of unaffordable energy.
The verbal exchanges between Cameron and Ed Miliband over the last few weeks seem at long last to indicate that battle lines are being drawn. With 18 months before a General Election, the political ground has at last begun to shift. The Labour Party seems to be moving – in its rhetoric – slightly to the left, while the Tories are reverting back to their old image as the “nasty” party. Rob Sewell, editor of Socialist Appeal, looks at the changes taking place in British politics.
A recent report by the charity Save the Children shows the stark effects of social class on the educational opportunities of British children. A decent education is increasingly becoming a pipe-dream for the majority of society. Under capitalism, it has always been clear – you only educate “the masses” to the absolute minimum required to run production and make profits.
Recent polls have revealed that people are clearly not thinking the way the Tories and big business would like them to, confirming that the crisis of the system has had a profound effect on people and how they view society. Trust in the bankers to run the economy has fallen, whilst trust in the trade unions has risen. This represents a damning indictment of the capitalist campaign to discredit the organisations of labour.
Around 150 students crammed into the Revolution Coffee Bar at Sheffield University on Monday 30th September to hear John Dunn – Socialist Appeal supporter, ex-miner, and current member of Unite the Union – debate a motion about Thatcher’s real legacy. Richard Vivian of South Yorkshire Unite Community branch reports.
Figures recently published by the Office for National Statistics have revealed that those living in the wealthiest London boroughs enjoy their good health for, on average, 18 years longer than those living in the poorest areas. Capitalism is literally making life a misery for an increasing number of working class people in Britain, and what is becoming clearer and clearer is that if we don’t break capitalism’s hold on society, then it will be capitalism that breaks our society apart even more.
The recent speech by shadow Education Minister, Stephen Twigg, should ring alarm bells for anyone expecting any significant change from the current state of affairs in the event of Labour winning the next election. John Pickard of the NUT argues that the Labour leaders must make a radical break with the Coalition’s education policies.
In a year’s time, on 18th September 2014, Scotland will go to the polls over a key constitutional change – over whether to support an independent Scotland or not. This will be a vital issue, the outcome of which will have profound consequences for the fight for socialism in Scotland and the rest of Britain.
On Saturday 7th September the English Defence League (EDL), a far-right racist organisation, had planned to march through Tower Hamlets in London. Such a march, had it gone ahead, would have been sensationally provocative. But faced with the prospect of thousands of anti-fascist workers and youth confronting the EDL, the police stepped in and banned the EDL from entering Tower Hamlets. Ben Gliniecki and Niklas Svensson, present at the anti-fascist demo, report.
Sharp and sudden changes in the situation – that is the nature of the period. In the space of 24 hours, Cameron and the coalition government have gone from banging the drum for military strikes against Syria to a humiliating parliamentary defeat. This marks a new disaster for the coalition government, and in particular for the credibility of Cameron. The Emperor has been exposed without any clothes. This episode clearly reveals that the days for the Coalition are numbered.
We publish here a letter from a Socialist Appeal supporter about his experiences of a recent local Labour Party meeting, which reflects the beginnings of a mood change within the Party. As the Coalition’s cuts take effect, and with the Labour leaders failing to provide a fighting, socialist alternative, many ordinary Party members are beginning to raise the voices in concern and demand a genuine opposition to austerity.
This week, The Guardian newspaper published evidence of police collusion in the blacklisting of building workers. We present here the latest statement from the Blacklist Support Group, which accuses the Met Police and Information Commissioners Office of deliberately withholding information that proves the link between the police and the blacklist.
The crisis of capitalism has led to cuts across the board. The Tory-led Coalition have, despite their desires, been forces to attack the conditions of the police – a vital pillar of the capitalist state – leading to tensions between the police and government. The consciousness of rank and file police officers has begun to change, leading to demonstrations of the Police Federation and demands for the right to unionise and strike. Richard Baywood asks what attitude should Marxists take towards such developments?
In 1908 a top Tory grandee, informed that there was to be a new, socialist party coming into being which would threaten the status quo in Britain, responded “Don’t worry – we’ll have our own people running it.” Today, this right-wing role within the Labour Party is played by the Blairites and the Progress group. Bob Stothard examines the various well-funded groups that have voiced the interests of capitalism inside the Labour Party over the decades.
So long as capitalism has depended on the nuclear family, the institution of marriage has been at the forefront of oppression. This institution has become a powerful tool in the hands of the capitalist system, allowing it much control over the working class, including inheritance, social norms and definitions of relationships. Forthcoming legalisation on same sex marriage in England, Wales and Scotland is a breakthrough; but whilst some may hail this as a milestone in the long path to equality, we as Marxists must not allow ourselves to become complacent.
In recent weeks the government has unleashed a vicious new campaign against immigrant workers. This has enraged local communities, who have lived and worked in the UK for years and find themselves hassled and intimidated on their way to work for no better reason than the colour of their skin. The capitalists have used racism and discrimination to perpetuate their system for centuries. It is the duty of the Labour movement to organise and protect immigrants.
The number of workers on “zero-hour” contracts has reached one million. This is an indicator of the real crisis in Britain. For countless workers trying to make ends meet, zero-hour contracts can mean little to no employment from week to week; total flexibility in when and for how long you work; as well as the constant threat of instant dismissal. Darrall Cozens of the UCU and Coventry TUC comments on the latest startling statistics.
The Marxist understanding of politics and the “democratic” parliamentary process have been completely vindicated over and over again down the years. Recent revelations of parliamentary sleaze have once again laid bare the thousands of threads that big business has woven into the fabric of so-called representative government. John Pickard examines the ways in which capitalism buys the politicians we elect.
Anti-immigration hysteria, racism and propaganda are nothing new to these shores. There is currently, however, a particularly rabid hue-and-cry over immigration in Britain.This torrent against immigration is artificially manufactured by the bourgeois media and parties. Daniel Morley looks at the myths and facts surround immigration, and analyses the real cause behind society’s ills: the capitalist system.
It’s hard to find people in Britain who don’t have an opinion on the late Margaret Thatcher; her politics were, and still are, divisive at best. Of her myriad policies which forever changed the landscape of British politics one of the most commonly overlooked decisions was the “Right to Buy” scheme which was introduced in the 1980 Housing Act. For the first time a large proportion of the population was promised the opportunity to make owning property a reality. The fulfillment of this promise, however, came at a price.
There has been much talk recently about how things are improving. But if you take a look beneath the surface, the underlying picture is one of continuing crisis and austerity. Rather than accepting the Tory cuts, the Labour leaders must put forward a socialist alternative.
After months of uninterrupted work, supporters of the International Marxist Tendency and Socialist Appeal, in collaboration with Hands off Venezuela and the Solidarity with Bolivia campaigns, launched the first one-day conference of its kind in Edinburgh on the 9th of June. “La Revolucion” tackled the different movements against the capitalist system across several countries, and made a special emphasis on the international nature of the crisis and class struggle.
Despite the dismal record of the Coalition, Labour are not surging ahead in the polls. At root, this is because of the absence of a clear alternative from the Labour leadership. Many Labour councillors in local areas, despite the best of intentions, have ended up carrying out “dented shield” policies – i.e. carrying out Tory cuts. Austerity is the only option available under capitalism. Labour councillors must lead the fight for socialist policies.
On Saturday, 1st of June the facist Scottish Defence League (SDL) held a static protest outside the parliament in Edinburgh in response to the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in London. Corrie Knight of the Edinburgh Marxists reports on the SDL’s arrival in Edinburgh.
Two major UK charities, Church Action on Poverty and Oxfam, recently published a report entitled ‘Walking the Breadline: the scandal of food poverty in 21st century Britain’. The report says that the last five years of violent cuts by the UK government have led to “destitution, hardship and hunger on a large scale”.
“A strain of collective madness has descended over the Conservative party in recent days…” states an editorial in the Financial Times. The split within the Tory Party has turned into a chasm and is a stark reflection of the deepening crisis of British capitalism. The wind always blows the tops of the trees first, stated Trotsky. In the past, the British establishment boasted of having the most successful conservative party in Europe. Not any more. Rob Sewell looks at the increasing political tensions within the Tories.
Public opinion in Britain and throughout the world was horrified by the murder of a soldier on the streets of Woolwich in South London. The gruesome images of a young man with bloodied hands, brandishing a kitchen knife and haranguing passers-by shook the entire nation to its foundations. Alan Woods analyses these recent shocking events and the possible ramifications for the labour movement.
The violent murder of a serviceman in Woolwich has left the local community in shock. This action will no doubt heighten tensions on the streets of the United Kingdom. No amount of increased state security apparatus can protect against such violent horrors, which ultimately reflect the wider horror that is capitalism – a system of seemingly permanent chaos and crisis.
It is commonplace for the coalition government’s attacks on the welfare state and working-class living standards to be described as “ideological.” This is nowhere more so than for those policies being pursued by the current Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove. Is it really the case that his policies are just ideological? Or is there something more material behind his manoeuvres? Sion Reynolds of the NASUWT in Portsmouth (personal capacity) examines the wider attacks to education.
This weekend, on Saturday 18th May, London residents, hospital staff, Labour Party members, and trade unionists, will be protesting in the London-wide “Defend the NHS” demonstration to save the NHS, and defend this most valuable of institutions against Tory cuts and privatisation. As Aneurin Bevan, the former Labour Minister of Health and founder of the NHS, once said, “the NHS will exist as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it.”
Amidst the onslaught of privatisations, cuts, pay freezes and redundancies emerging from the capitalist crisis, Britain’s environment-conscious Green Party are becoming increasingly torn by political polarisation. Forced to carry out the same agenda of public sector cuts being advocated by the Con-Dem coalition in the interests of capital, the Green Party in Brighton & Hove City Council is beginning to experience inevitable contradictions and conflict regarding its political agenda.
The concept of a coalition government lends itself towards instability and is somewhat problematic for the ruling class. But this becomes twofold in a period of economic crisis where the traditional party of the bosses has been unable to do its job of winning an outright majority. Rachel Gibbs looks at the latest attacks from the Tory-led government, which demonstrate the weakness of the coalition.
Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove’s latest broadside against teachers is that our children and young people need shorter holidays and longer school days. He believes that we should learn from Asian countries and promote in our schools a culture of “working harder.” But is the British educational system actually broken? And in whose interest are these proposals really being made? Sion Reynolds of the teaching union NASUWT looks at the suggested changes in education.
The Tory Minister for Justice, Chris Grayling, has recently published proposals to completely re-organise the way people facing criminal investigations or allegations get legal advice and representation at police stations and the courts. If these proposals are pushed through, it will amount to the biggest attack on the rights of working class people to free and independent legal advice that this country has ever seen. Mark French, a legal aid solicitor in London, analyses the latest attack on democratic rights.
In an article featured in The Times newspaper recently, former Tory chancellor Lord Nigel Lawson called for Britain to exit the European Union. This adds to the mounting pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron, and it reveals the deep rifts developing within the Tory party at all levels. Ben Peck analyses the latest tensions inside the Tories.
With a fair number of the 2013 local election results now in, it is clear that the Tories and their partners-in-crime the Lib Dems have had another bad night at the polls. The mainstream media are focussing on “the rise of UKIP”. These election results reflect a continuing mood of opposition to the way things have been going under this government. The solution for Labour is not to pander to the anti-immigrant rhetoric of UKIP, but to put forward a bold socialist programme
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.
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.
On the day of Margaret Thatcher’s funeral, we publish this statement from the Liverpool Trade Union Council on the death of Thatcher. The city of Liverpool was hit particularly hard by the policies of Thatcher’s government; but it was also at the forefront of the fight against the Tories in the 1980s, with the magnificant struggles of the Liverpool City Councillors.
Thousands of people in two Scottish cities took to the streets on 30th March to protest against the bedroom tax, which has now been brought in by the Tory-led government as part of a package of attacks on the welfare state and on the most vulnerable in society. Our correspondents from the Glasgow and Edinburgh Marxist societies provide reports of the demonstrations in these cities against the cuts.
The Thatcher period was a turbulent one, with many that shook the labour movement and the political situation in Britain. The articles presented here give a thorough background and analysis of these events, showing the real legacy of Thatcher.
Amongst the victims of Thatcherism include the miners in Britain, who fought a long battle against the Tory government of the 1980s. Here we present a letter from John Dunn of the Justice for Mineworkers campaign, who gives a personal view of hearing the news about Thatcher’s death. The letter is entitled: “The day Margaret Thatcher died and ruined my internal decor”.
The TV is full of the sycophantic outpourings of right-wing commentators and politicians about the sudden death of Margaret Thatcher. The news is full of tributes, portraying Thatcher as some kind of champion of freedom and liberty. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. She was a champion – a champion of capitalism, the ruling class, and all it represents. Rob Sewell looks back at the history of Thatcher and the class interests that she represented.
Margaret Thatcher, the former Tory Prime Minister and one of the most hated figures in the history of the labour movement, died today at the age of 87. Thatcher, more than anyone, personified the brutal attacks on the working class during the 1980s – attacks that the Tory-led Coalition are continuing today. With the news of Marget Thatcher’s death, the UCLU Marxist Society is hosting an event on “Thatcher’s Legacy and the Fight for Socialism”. Rob Sewell, editor of Socialist Appeal and former national organiser for the Militant, will speak about the real legacy of Thatcher and the need to […]
Margaret Thatcher, the former Tory Prime Minister and one of the most hated figures in the history of the labour movement, died today at the age of 87. Thatcher, more than anyone, personified the brutal attacks on the working class during the 1980s – attacks that the Tory-led Coalition are continuing today. We publish here a short piece on Thatcher’s death, with more in depth analysis of her legacy to follow soon.
News that the self-avowed fascist Paolo Di Canio has been appointed to manage Sunderland AFC has been met with anger from big sections of Sunderland fans and other workers around the country. We provide here an article by Falce Martello, the Marxists in Italy, who provide some background and history to the life of Di Canio and his fascist beliefs.
Thursday February 28th will go down in local labour history as the day that three Hull Labour councillors stood up for their principles and voted against the Tory led coalition cuts. Socialist Appeal supporters spoke with these courageous councillors, who are setting an example for other Labour controlled councils across the length and breadth of the UK to follow, and of course for the whole labour and trade union movement.
In the five years since the global financial crisis first exploded, life has been hard for Britain’s unemployed and working poor. Millions of people are struggling simply to get by. Yet, as bad as this might be, there is worse still to come. As the new attacks on welfare and benefits come into effect this week, Sam Ashton looks at the changes taking place and the need for a fightback.
Things are going from bad to worse as the British economy heads for another downgrade by the credit agency Fitch. This is a direct reflection of the continuing deterioration of the public finances as the economy stagnates, tax revenues fall and borrowing rises. The perspective under capitalism is for a long downward cycle. It is time for the leaders of the labour movement to begin the fight back.
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the privatisation of the British railway system. The old state-owned network, British Rail, was broken up and sold off to private companies by the Tories, with the promise that the introduction of market forces would bring better service, quicker trains, and lower costs. Chris Burrows asks: what has happened to the UK rail service?
The announcement by the Home Secretary, Theresa May, that the Conservatives would scrap the Human Rights Act (HRA) and potentially pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if they win the next election is music to the ears of the Tory right. Ben Gliniecki looks at the latest proposals by the Tories and the broader question of human rights.
On Tuesday 12th March, over 100 local residents, trade unionists, and Labour Party members met in the Abney Hall in Hackney, London, to hear about the changes taking place to welfare and benefits and to discuss the way forward in the fight against these attacks. Adam Booth, Labour Party member from Hackney North and Stoke Newington CLP, discusses the attacks on welfare and benefits, and the need to fight back.
The economic crisis is not a product of mysterious ‘irrational exuberance’, nor of this or that government policy, but an inevitable product of capitalism’s inherent laws. This particular crisis expresses the dead end that capitalism has become, and is increasingly being reflected by tensions within the Tories – the party of the capitalist class. Daniel Morley looks at the latest economic figures and maneouvres inside the Tory Party.
The debate about the government’s proposals for secret courts has made headlines, as several prominent Lib Dem supporters have resigned from their party in protest. The issue exposes deep rifts in the coalition parties, and brings to the surface questions about whose interests our legal system really serves. Importantly, this is a continuation of the attacks on our democratic rights, and should be resisted by all in the labour movement.
The “horsemeat in UK food” scandal is dragging on and on. Each day brings new discoveries, with supermarkets then having to quickly remove items from sale. Felix Lighter takes a look at the things the Tories don’t want you to know about when it comes to the food we eat.
A small leftward shift within Young Labour was detectable at this year’s national conference, held in Leicester on 2-3 March 2013. However, there is stil a way to go in the struggle for the democratic structures and socialist policies that Young Labour needs in order to become a fighting organisation for young workers and students in Britain.
On Thursday 28th February 2013, three Labour councillors in Hull stood up in front of a packed and cheering public gallery at the Guildhall and laid out why they were going to defy the Labour whip and vote against the Coalition’s cuts, proposed by the controlling Labour Group. Such defiance marks an important turning point in the fight against austerity and should act as a rallying call for the trade unions and other Labour councillors across the country.
Students and workers sympathetic to the ideas of Marxism have founded a Marxist Society at the University of Edinburgh after holding several successful meetings with the help of Socialist Appeal supporters. The arrival of a forum for Marxist ideas on such an important campus comes as British capitalism continues to decline and Tory cuts bite. The economic crisis is deepening and the effects are beginning to be felt everywhere, including Edinburgh, where many workers across the city are being threatened with wage cuts, worsening conditions, and lay-offs.
Socialist Appeal will be holding a fringe meeting at the Young Labour national conference in Leicester this weekend on Saturday 2nd March at 7.30pm. The meeting is titled “The militant fight against cuts”, with guest speakers John Dunn (ex-Clay Cross councillor) and Gary Wareing (current Labour councillor opposing the cuts) talking on the struggles against austerity – past and present.
Sunday 17th February marked the 2013 AGM of London Young Labour, held in Stratford Town Hall in east London, with 60 young members of the Labour Party in attendance. Socialist Appeal supporters were present, arguing for the need for Young Labour to be a forum for political discussion and debate, whereby working class youth and students can argue for a genuine alternative to crisis austerity.
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.
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.
With 5.9 million recipients, Council Tax Benefit (CTB) is by far the most widely claimed means-tested benefit in the UK. But from April 2013, CTB will be abolished, with the government leaving it up to local authorities to design their own replacement schemes. Sam Ashton looks at the Coalition’s latest attack on the poorest in society, and discusses what response is needed from the labour movement.
Earlier this month it was announced that two NHS A&E and maternity units serving South West London and Surrey will have to close as a result of the 24% cuts to NHS services in the region being imposed by the coalition government. Why is Epsom hospital now being threatened in this way? For all of us in danger of losing local healthcare, is there an alternative to these cuts or do we simply have to accept Tory hypocrisy and the rise of expensive private healthcare? Ben Gliniecki reports.
David Cameron finally ended his long period of dithering and capitulated to political pressure in his own party from the right-wing Tory ‘Euro-sceptics’ on the issue of a referendum over Britain’s membership of the EU. Why has Cameron made a move that seems almost designed to undermine the influence of British capitalism globally and in Europe, and what attitude should socialists have to the question of an EU referendum?
As part of their austerity programme, the Tories and Lib Dems have made a barrage of cuts to benefits and the welfare state. Sam Ashton looks at the real effects of the Coalition’s new attacks on benefits and explains why and how they must be resisted.
Large companies such as Amazon, eBay, Boots, Cadbury, Ikea, Vodafone and Starbucks have all been found guilty of abusing the UK tax system. This has rightly caused an uproar amongst ordinary people who have been told that “we are all in this together”. Scott Shaw of the Sheffield Marxist Society examines the ways in which big business dodges paying their “fair share” and explains how to ensure that the bosses pay for this crisis.
The New Year will be ringing in not joy but woe for working class people. It is the year that the cuts really begin to bite. It is the year that many people lose their jobs. It is the year that, in the words of Nick Clegg, “painful” Universal Benefits are introduced. It is the year that many lose their housing benefit and become homeless. It is the year the capitalist crisis deepens in Europe, with Spain, Italy and France following in the footsteps of Greece. Britain, however, is not far behind.
As with the sites of production of other commodities, the sites of media production are simultaneously sites of struggle. Journalists and other media workers can and must struggle against the domination of capital over their professions and over humankind.
Pharmaceutical companies bend or withhold scientific data and lie about their drugs, in ways which endanger, harm or kill sick people, to make a profit. That is the shocking reality laid bare in Ben Goldacre’s new book, ‘Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients’. This is a prime example of the way the profit motive rewarded by Capitalism stands in front of human progress.
In the run up to Christmas we are seeing the usual desperate appeals
from charities to raise money but the recession has meant that even
their income is now falling. At the same time, the Tory-led Coalition’s
programme of cuts, combined with job-losses and pay freezes are forcing
more and more people to rely on hand-outs from charities.
After months of waiting, the first half of the Leveson
Report into press standards has finally arrived. Two thousand pages long and
nearly a foot high in printed form, it contains a mass of data into how the
press has operated and makes many damming comments on this– the recommendations
however are what matters. Leveson’s call for an independent panel to monitor
press standards, backed up by law, to replace the discredited Press Complaints
Commission, has split the Coalition.
We have received the following letter from an LP activist, written as a
personal contribution to the ongoing discussion now taking place in the
local Labour and trade union movement, on the issues being raised by the
Rotherham by-election due to take place on November 29th. In view of
its length we are unable to publish it in its full form in the December
issue of Socialist Appeal so we are making the complete text available
online now in advance of publication.The author welcomes any comments on his letter.
Join Spanish trade unionists in London at a protest as part of the European Day Of Action
Hardly a day now seems to go by without some scandal or
resignation rocking the British Establishment. The BBC is presently engulfed in
a major scandal involving the Savile paedophile cover-up and the blunder over
the erroneous exposure of an alleged Chief Tory child abuser, apparently based
upon uncorroborated evidence now revealed to have been a case of mistaken
identity.
The
head of the BBC, Mr Entwistle, and others have resigned. But this is only the
tip of the iceberg. A whole series of scandals have emerged exposing the
rottenness of the British Establishment, its lies and its cover-ups.
The Tories’ latest attack on welfare benefits threatens to place even
more of the burden of the bankers’ crisis onto the shoulders of the
unemployed, the disabled, children and pensioners.
Hundreds of firefighters, their families and supporters
including Socialist Appeal sellers marched through the centre of Leeds last Saturday to
protest against proposed cuts to their services.
Sunderland supporter Bob Stothard looks at the current state of the
”people’s game" as clubs go bust, players revolt over racism and ticket
prices go up and up and up.
This was the second time in three weeks that the good people of
Rotherham had to be subjected to the racist ranting of the fascist right who
thought that they could be on fertile ground for their messages of hate by gathering in the steel and coal town
of Rotherham in South Yorkshire.
Two weeks ago it was the EDL who did not succeed in dividing the close
knit community and this week it was the turn of the National Front.
Splits and divisions are haunting the Coalition. Such a situation could
not have come at a worse time for Cameron and Osborne, as they sharpen
their knives for further cuts.
It’s finally been confirmed. After months of dithering and posturing
from David Cameron last month saw the British and Scottish governments
agree that there would be a referendum on Scottish independence in 2014.
Southampton Labour Councillors Keith Morrell and Don Thomas, who opposed
cuts in local services, have been expelled from the Labour Party.
Perhaps nothing elicits more disagreement and debate among Marxists and other left activists than a discussion about the media. There is no doubt that the mass media is omnipresent, mediating every aspect of our lives. How one relates to and interprets the world is largely colored by how the media informs us. On the eve of the release of the Leveson report, we publish this Marxist analysis of the media from a correspondent in the USA.
On Sat Oct 20, thousands of workers, pensioners, unemployed and youth
will march in London, Glasgow and Belfast against the attacks of this
Tory-led government. Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades
Union, sends a special message through the pages of Socialist Appeal to
all those marching for a better future.
Once again the Tory faithful assembled in Birmingham for
this year’s Tory Party conference to drink, eat and complain about the working
class. As usual they reserved their strongest hatred for the class enemy –
those Tory leaders who were not up for a good bout of shouting “hang ‘em!, flog ‘em!”
As the party conference season comes to an end, we look back at what went on in Manchester and Birmingham. Here, Alun Morgan looks at the events surrounding Labour’s conference.
The mood was not of anger, nor even
that of resentment, but of militancy towards those who were placed in
their positions to represent us, the workers.
In the aftermath of the revelations presented by the Hillsborough Independent Panel (read report here ) we publish here the thoughts of a Liverpool supporter Mike Jones who speaks for many in the city of Liverpool about the reaction to what the report findings have now officially confirmed.
After a long fight lasting 23 years, the families and
friends of the 96 football supporters killed at the Hillsborough stadium in
Sheffield on the afternoon of Saturday April 15 1989 have finally had official
confirmation of what really happened that day. For 23 years they have had to
fight alone against a torrent of lies, mistruths and a cover-up involving the
police and others. Now a report
published by the independent commission established by the last Labour
government has made available the real damming evidence of the blunders on the
day and all the lies that followed
Councillors Don Thomas and Keith Morrell have been suspended for four
months from the Southampton Council ruling Labour Group. Their crime was
voting against the Group’s proposal to close a well supported swimming
pool in their area of Southampton to save about £250,000
Ben Peck takes a closer look at Labour MP John McDonnell’s new document on the alternative to the Tory programme of non-stop cuts
200 people packed into Lords Hill Church in Southampton recently, to
protest at plans by the new Labour Council to close Oaklands swimming
pool with the loss of dozens of jobs.
With increased borrowing, exports falling and the British economy in
recession, the Tory-led Coalition is heading for a major showdown with
the working class.
The Tories have already launched their attack on “lazy British workers”,
who need to be taught a hard lesson in hard work. They have branded
British workers “the worse idlers” in the world and said that we should
emulate the work ethic of Asia. In other words, we need to stop shirking
and work harder and longer for less pay and pensions. However, for us
to “compete” with Asia – on the same pay and conditions – means a race
to the bottom.
Back in June, Labourspokesperson Jim Murphy sent out an e-mail to Labour Party members on the subject of Armed Forces Day. Darrall Cozens from Coventry NW CLP sent a reply back (which was also printed in the July/Aug edition of Socialist Appeal) taking up some of his points. Since then a few more e-mails have been sent. Here we reproduce the texts of this interesting debate.
So the London Games are over. Time for grim reality to
return. Bad news then for the Tories who have been trying to live off the
feel-good factor for the last two weeks. If there was any sign of a Team GB
medal in the offing then up would pop Mr. Cameron to cheer along from the
stands. No problems getting tickets for him then. Now he is off chillaxing on
holiday!
Some Tories are seriously embarrassed at the contrast between the
success of Team GB in the Olympics and their government’s miserly and
backward attitude to health and sports. And they have every right to be
embarrassed! The Tories’ policy for tackling the wave of obesity
affecting children and adults alike is to leave their food policy in the
hands of the big food corporations! Not for nothing, two of the main
sponsors of the Olympics were Coca Cola and McDonalds – two of the worst
culprits for undermining a healthy diet.
LRC supporter Keith Henderson, the secretary of Clacton Labour
party and parliamentary spokesperson has been suspended from
holding office following undisclosed allegations made against
him by persons unknown.
On Saturday 4th,
August over 2000 marchers demonstrated through the streets of Redditch in the
West Midlands to protest at the threatened closure of key services at the
Alexandra Hospital in the town. The removal of A&E, Maternity and
Paediatrics services would in essence kill the hospital as a functioning
general hospital.
On behalf of Midlothian Trades Union Council I would like to thank those who responded to the call to come to Dalkeith on the afternoon of Saturday, 28th July to confront Nick Griffen and to those unable to attend but who sent messages of support.
Earlier this year, the British labour movement marked a little-known yet
important milestone. Eighty years ago, in April 1932, hundreds of
working class ramblers defied police and landowners to trespass across
Kinder Scout, an iconic moorland plateau that marks the highest point in
the Peak District, in Derbyshire.
When all else fails, pretend it isn’t happening. This is the new
approach being adopted by pro-Tory "expert" economists according to a
report in the last issue of the Sunday Times.
Despite the prediction that the Durham Miners Gala might be rained off,
and the recent flash floods in Tyneside, the weather was more or less
dry and calm on Saturday, but it appears that despite the apparent calm
one of the pages from Ed Miliband’s speech somehow was blown away by a
freak gust of wind. (…)
The old Racecourse in Durham was quiet at 8-00am on Saturday Morning,
the stalls were setting up along the river bank, the kids rides and the
hot dog vans weren’t doing too much business, giving the amused
stallholders a chance to watch 3 Socialist Appeal supporters (4 would
have been better) trying to put up the gazebo to shelter the book stall.
Here is an interesting story, posted on the Ethical Consumer
website, about how the big sponsors of the London Games enjoy nice tax
benefits on top of everything else. Looks like we are giving more to
them than they are giving to the games. If nothing else this shows yet
again how big business views these events – just another way of making
money at our expense.
This weekend (14 July) is the Durham Miners Gala. A big turnout is
expected and Socialist Appeal will be there! Look for our stall and
comrades selling the current issue with the Gala wraparound.
Not for first time, Cameron has again laid into the “unemployed
scroungers” as a pretext for more cuts, while protecting his cosy
relationship with the millionaire scroungers, press barons, and tax
dodgers.
When
the British comedian Jimmy Carr recently became the focal point of a
media storm around the issue of income tax avoidance by the rich via
overseas investment, he was nothing more than a scapegoat for right-wing
monetarists within the Conservative Party who still believe themselves
exempt from legal and financial obligation. David Cameron referred to
Carr’s tax avoidance as ‘morally wrong’, but this is sheer hypocrisy as
his own family fortune and the wealth of fellow Conservative supporters
have prospered from tax avoidance.
As Socialist Appeal has reported in the past, Progress is the right-wing Blairite organisation inside the Labour Party which has been funded by Lord Sainsbury and other big business backers. It still has considerable support in the parliamentary Labour Party in particular and its current president is MP Stephen Twigg, shadow minister of education.
On the weekend of 3rd June, over 10 million viewers tuned in to watch the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee pageant. A further 1.2 million lined the banks of the Thames to watch 700 boats, lavishly decked out and bearing cargoes ranging from the National Children’s Orchestra to Maori Waka, go past in a celebration of 60 years of the Queen’s rule. It cost an astronomical £12m to cover the cost of celebrating 60 years of the taxpayer forking out for the extravagant lifestyles of Elizabeth II and her family.
On May 26th, the city of Edinburgh prepared itself to give a heated
welcome to the racist members of the SDL, who were planning to
demonstrate in the city.This demonstration was shamefully unprecedented,
with members of the SDL having been granted the local authorities’
permission to demonstrate legally, despite continuous violent attacks
against Muslims in particular, all across the country.
In the May elections, workers delivered a sound hammering to the
Coalition parties and made very clear what they thought of them and
their policies.
In the recent local elections,
the Coalition parties took an electoral hammering to Labour’s gain. The
Conservatives and Lib Dems lost around 740 seats in total – and control of 13
councils – with Labour gaining 800 seats and majority control of 32 local
authorities
A day after the electoral authorities had announced massive gains for
Labour up and down the country, activists in London were left
disappointed as the Tories kept control of City Hall. In an incredibly
close contest, incumbent Boris Johnson beat Labour veteran and former
mayor Ken Livingstone by 1,054,811 votes to 992,273, after
second-preferences were counted. This contrasted sharply with the other
results: Labour gained 823 council seats nationally, with the Tories and
their Liberal Democrat stooges losing 741 between them.
Last week’s local elections saw a disastrous showing for the Coalition
government as the Conservative and the Liberal Democrats respectively
lost 403 and 329 council seats. At the same time the Labour Party saw a
huge net gain of 824 councillors meaning they were able to gain control
of 32 councils across the country.
This year’s local election results have delivered a huge no-confidence
vote to the Coalition parties. On Thursday night, the Tories were
accused of ‘ramping up’ election predictions for Labour in the hope that
they would not win that figure and the government could then claim that
things were not that bad after all. In fact, the Tory prediction was
wrong – Labour did far better!
Three facts stand out from the 2012 local election results in Coventry:
the Labour Party made huge gains; the last remaining Socialist Party
councillor, Dave Nellist, lost his seat to Labour and the voting turnout
was very low at 26.43%.
The publication of this year’s Sunday Times Rich List 2012
has revealed a trend which has been going on for many years now – the rich are
just getting richer.
Crisis has returned with a vengeance. Britain is now officially back in
recession following two quarters of economic contraction, something
which will come as no surprise to many workers on the breadline. The
Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the British economy contracted
by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2012, which follows a 0.3% decline in
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the final three months of 2011.
The weekend of April 14th and 15th saw
the biggest gathering of the supporters of Socialist Appeal and the
Marxist Tendency in 20 years. This year’s conference discussed the World
situation and the ongoing global capitalist crisis, which is developing
into the deepest in the history of capitalism. The perspectives for
Britain were discussed, with special reference to the question of a
referendum on Scottish independence.
The government has been trying to take some quiet comfort from the new unemployment figures announced today. Yet they hide some damning facts.
Marking the 20th anniversary of the launching of Socialist Appeal, over
100 delegates and visitors assembled in London at what was the largest
Socialist Appeal conference held to date. Detailed discussions were held on
the world situation and the latest perspectives for Britain. Reports
were presented on the Sparks dispute, the work in the universities, the
fight for public sector pensions and the way forward for the Labour
Party and the unions. The tremendous mood of the conference was
reflected in the magnificent collection for the Fighting Fund where
nearly £5,000 was raised – a record!.
As part of its austerity programme the
Tory-LibDem coalition is planning to cut police officers’ wages and
making it easier to sack them. There are to be wage cuts, job losses and
more stringent requirements to enter the police force.
Hands
Off Venezuela on April 12 is hosting at Bolivar Hall the London
premiere of "Cuarto Poder" (the Fourth Power) a new documentary
examining the role of media, media monopoly and ownership, media
manipulation and related issues with special reference to the media
coverage of events in Venezuela. John McDonnell MP and Alan Woods will
be speaking at the event
George
Galloway’s remarkable victory in the recent Bradford West by-election
has again thrown the spotlight on the Labour Party’s lamentable failure to
provide an opposition to the Tories and the Coalition government’s vicious
attacks on the working class.
The
remarkable victory of George Galloway in the Bradford West by-election has sent
a massive cannon ball flying across the boughs of the Labour leadership. At a time of huge
unpopularity of the Coalition government, Labour should have romped home in
this traditional heartland. To their astonishment, Labour was driven into
second place behind George Galloway, who scored a massive 36.59% swing from
Labour to Respect.
There are significant signs that the trades unions affiliated to the
Labour Party are growing increasingly impatient with the Blairite wing
of the party and its shadowy support organisation, known ironically as
Progress. Because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, tuition fees, ID
cards, PFI and a whole raft of neo-liberal policies, Tony Blair is now
completely discredited among the majority of the rank and file of the
Labour Party. But the organisation set up to support him in 1995 is
still functioning and campaigning for quasi-Tory policies inside the
Labour Party.
While hundreds of thousands of civil servants,
teachers and health workers are fighting to defend their pensions, the Tory Lib
Dem Coalition are preparing further attacks on all sections of the working
class people. The March 21st budget was a budget by the rich, for the rich. Pensioners, those on benefits, the
unemployed – all will be hit hard, yet the rich are rewarded with tax handouts.
Four inches of snow had fallen
during the night and temperatures were well below freezing, but with breath
turning white in the icy air the socialists from Peterborough Labour Party were
out campaigning for Socialist Appeal supporter, Ron Graves, who is the
prospective candidate for Stanground Central in the May local government
elections.
It is the scandal that must not be ignored. For yet another month, UK
unemployement has risen again as we pay for the bosses’ crisis. Another
28,000 have been added to the ranks of the jobless in the three months
from Nov 2011 to January 2012.
On Thursday, 3rd May, Londoners will go to the ballot box to elect our
new Mayor. Despite other candidates standing it is clear that the choice
facing Londoners is simple: Tory or Labour, Boris or Ken. For working
Londoners struggling to make ends meet in the face of Tory cuts the
answer is equally simple: vote for Ken and kick out Boris!
At least 800 people participated in the TUC march and lobby of the Lib
Dem conference this morning (Saturday) in Gateshead. Meanwhile inside
the Conference Centre the Lib Dem leadership are coming under pressure
from their own members who are not surprisingly worried that the party
faces electoral disaster.
The campaign against the government’s plans to attack Health Service
Pensions has been strengthened over the last few days as the results of
consultation by trade unions and professional bodies on the proposed
deal. This is despite the government’s position that they have presented
their final offer.
All eyes are on 28 March. This will see the next mass strike by
public sector workers in defence of their pensions. Over a million
workers are likely to participate, including fire fighters, who did not
participate in theaction on 30th November.
“The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it." (Aneurin Bevan) Despite the ambitions of Bevan’s
present day counterpart to dismantle a system of which Britain can be
proud, the words of the miner’s son seem to be holding true, considering
the widespread opposition to the implementation of the Health and
Social Care Bill. The Bill is based on government proposals to reform
the NHS, released in in July 2010 as a document titled ‘Equity and
excellence: Liberating the NHS’, more commonly known as the White Pape
The Coalition government is very keen to tell us at every
given opportunity that we are “all in this together” even as they announce cut
after cut. However, a new report published by the TUC has revealed a very
different truth about how the working class has been affected in recent years.
The latest shocking unemployment figures provide grim
evidence of the real affects of the crisis and the measures being taken by the
Coalition government to “resolve” it. Women and youth have again been hit
hardest.
For the government and the City of London, the ‘austerity’
measures are all about cold balance sheets, charts and slashing figures on
computer screens. However these cuts are also about real people facing real
misery.
It will go down in the annals of the labour movement as one of the
greatest victories that has ever been achieved in Britain. Forty years
ago to the day, when the NUM was picketing the Saltley Coke works in
Birmingham, some 30 to 40,000 engineering workers struck in support
across the city.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists: A new two-handed version of Stephen Lowe’s original
adaptation of Robert Tressell’s book.
ON TOUR THROUGHOUT 2012 – read on for more info
When things get bad the ruling class has been known – if all else fails –
to turn on its own "for the greater good." With all the anger
continuing to boil up over the cuts and the role of the bankers, the
government decided it was time for a sacrificial lamb to come forward.
So this week "Fred the Shred" – Fred Goodwin – got his knighthood taken
away from him. The former head of RBS was told that he was being
punished for helping to bring down the world financial markets.
The following is a motion written and
proposed by Adam Booth, Labour Party member and secretary of the
Cambridge Marxist Discussion Group. The resolution was written in
response to comments made recently by Ed Miliband and Ed Balls, the
leader of the Labour Party and Shadow Chancellor respectively, who have
outlined that the Labour Party cannot promise to reverse any of the
Coalition’s cuts if Labour is elected in the next election.
The recent remark by Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, that the Labour
party should join a Lib-Lab coalition, is another dangerous attempt to
push the party to the right
The Coalition of millionaires is continuing with its onslaught against
working people. Billions of pounds have been slashed from public
spending, destroying essential services, cutting pay and conditions and
throwing tens of thousands of workers on to the dole.
In response to pressure from the bosses’ press and Blairites, Labour leader, Ed Milliband has come out in favour of the government’s line on cuts and pay. Rob Sewell responds.
Ed
Miliband’s leadership of the Labour Party is turning into an elaborate
parody of the emptiness of reformism. With capitalism unable to afford
any reforms, he is like the school pupil who works extremely hard to
avoid working whilst giving the impression of being studious. He is
trying very very hard, tossing and turning, to give the impression that
reformism can work without any actual reforms. Unfortunately for Ed, in
this case the illusion does not work.
The government has been hard at it coming up with new ideas to punish those who are unemployed and on benefit. The latest such idea involves forcing people to work for nothing or starve. This is now being legally challenged as it breaks laws against bonded labour i.e. slavery!
When Tony Blair left office (and then parliament itself) he set about
doing what all ex-PMs tend to do – earn a little bit of extra cash.
Well, as it happens in Tony’s case, quite a lot of extra cash.
Just 10 years ago, 88 of the top 100 companies in the UK offered final
salary pensions. Today Shell is the last company in the FTSE 100 to
offer such a pension to its new employees.
From time to time governments like to pretend that they are indeed aware
of the problems of society and truly wish to resolve them. This normally
takes the form of some announced "action" or "task force" aimed at
getting to grips with whatever problem they have identified.
The recent Scottish Labour Leadership contest saw the
election of former deputy leader Johann Lamont to the role. With the
endorsement of most MPs, MSPs and trade unions, she was the clear choice
of the party leadership, and won with 51% of first preference votes.
“We’re all in it together” is the constant message from the government.
Yet the reality is very different. Workers are facing pay freezes or
even cuts, those in need are seeing benefits cut back and services shut
down, prices are rising month on month. Unemployment continues to go up
with women and youth being hit particularly hard. Every survey indicates
that job prospects for the coming year are grim, not least due to the
continued job losses in the public sector.
Margaret Thatcher is a hate figure for millions in Britain who suffered
under 13 years of her rule. We, who opposed Thatcherism to the bitter
end, will never forget the mass unemployment, the cuts, wholesale
privatisation and the attacks on the trade unions as well as our
democratic rights.
Working people are facing the biggest attack on their living standards
for generations. They are being presented with a bill for a crisis not
of their making. In the meantime, millionaire bankers and financiers
have gotten away with murder.
For the last few days Prime Minister Cameron has been full
of himself. Having exercised the veto in Europe, he has been receiving fulsome
praise from ultra-right wing Tories and the gutter press for “standing up to
Europe.” On Wednesday the real world returned with the announcement of shocking
new unemployment figures.
The constant excuse of Cameron and the government for
attacking public sector pensions is that workers in the private sector do not
have access to final salary pensions but have to rely instead on the
fluctuations of the money markets to provide the pension funds with enough
income to give to its members a miserly pension. But it was not so long ago
that the majority of private sector workers had the opportunity to enrol in
final salary schemes. It was only after 1998 that schemes started to close to
new members so that today only 15% of private sector workers are covered by
final salary schemes.
The 30th November day of action, for all intents and purposes a general
strike of the public sector, is a turning-point in Britain. It
represents a re-awakening of the working class after years of relative
dormancy. Now there is a catching up with the workers in the rest of
Europe, as the Coalition unleashes an austerity regime not seen for
generations. Sections are being drawn into struggle who have never been
involved in action before, such as head teachers – the first time they
have been on strike in their union’s 114-year history.
Trade
unionists in Cambridgeshire have taken the first steps in coordinating
the strike action taking place on November 30th by establishing a county
wide cross union strike committee. The strike committee involves local
activists from those trade unions taking action and both the Cambs and
District and Huntingdon Trades Councils.
The Tory-led government has come forward today with newly revised
proposals on public sector pensions in the wake of the build-up to the
mass strike on November 30th.
The protest camp outside St Paul’s Cathedral in the heart of
the City of London has had one unexpected side effect. It has revealed the
usually hidden fissures inside the
Church of England.
Socialist Appeal member Adam Booth spoke against Vince
Cable, the Secretary of State for Business in the Coalition government, in the
Cambridge Union on Thursday 27th October, in a debate that
highlighted the two starkly contrasting choices facing society as a result of
the crisis of capitalism: austerity or socialism.
As the Coalition intensifies its attacks on working people, it
clearly reveals itself as a government completely in the pockets of big
business. In fact it is a government of the stinking rich, for the
stinking rich, by the stinking rich.
The Tory Party conference is the place where leading Conservatives get
to "let their hair down" and head off into flights of fancy about giving
the working class/young people/foreigners (delete as applicable) a good
hammering. This is not just to cuddle up to the Torygraph and the Daily
Mail but to square things with the assembled Tory ranks in case they
are needed for election purposes.
It was billed as a "March and Rally for the Alternative: Jobs,
Growth and Justice". On Sunday, September 18th, over two thousand trade unionists and political activists descended on Birmingham
to march and rally with the aim of trying to bring pressure on the Lib
Dems at their conference in the city to break with the Tory policies of
the Condem government.
It’s official. November 30th is the agreed date
for a national “day of strike action” by public sector unions and others
against the government’s plans over pensions. It is expected that three million
workers could strike in what has been called the “biggest mobilisation in a
generation.” Unison, Unite and the GMB have given notice that they will ballot
their members, joining other public sector unions in what is intended to be the
start of a rolling campaign of action, which will go through the winter and into
2012.
Barnet Council workers are taking action on Tuesday – however the bosses
are attempting to impose a ‘lock out’ to pressurize Unison members
into backing out. This is just the latest in a series of attacks
initiated by Tory-led councils against workers resisting the cuts.
Plymouth has ‘derecognised’ Unison and Soujthampton workers have been
taking action for some weeks now.
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee have issued a report which comes as close as they dare to damning the
Private Finance Initiative (PFI) approach used over the last decade or so to
fund public projects.
Socialist Appeal recently met up with Claire Locke, president of
London Met SU, to discuss the cuts taking place at London Metropolitan
University and the fightback against them Claire described
how the Tories are conducting a class war at the University. They are
cutting humanities, arts and student support at the same time as
strengthening the business ties of the university.
The Tories are on the rampage. Their response to the worst riots in
living memory is more state repression. The blame for the riots,
according to David Cameron, lies with the “criminal disease” sweeping
our neighbourhoods.Cameron also attacked the “moral collapse,” the breakdown of “family
values,” poor standards in schools, and a welfare system that rewards
the idle.The Tories’ answer, as always, is tougher rules on benefits claims, the
introduction of National Service, more discipline in schools, ending the
human rights culture, and the introduction of “family tests.”
As Britain prepares for the possibility of new outbreaks of rioting this
weekend, the courts have been hard at work dispensing bosses’ justice
to those unfortunates picked up by the police in the wake of the
disturbances over the last few days.
As expected the state is warming to the task of cracking down hard, as they like to put it, on looters/rioters past, present and future. Cameron and May have been strutting around talking tough about what they are going to do.
As the day moves on a strange mood has hit the streets and estates of London. Traffic has started to die down and shops are being boarded up. Yet families are walking around as if nothing is happening. Stories of likely flash points are being banded around. Indeed police have just advised people in the building where our print offices are based to lock up and stay indoors as a riot is "expected shortly" in the street outside.
The riots in Britain are only a symptom of a general crisis of capitalism. The Marxists will not join with the bourgeoisie and its agents in their hypocritical chorus of denunciation. Our duty is to find a road to the youth, to help them to find the right road – the revolutionary road, the road to the socialist reconstruction of society.
Burning cars, broken glass, looting and an entire community enraged at the violent actions of those who are supposed to protect them. This describes the situation not in Greece or 80s Liverpool, but Tottenham, London on 6th August 2011. In this article we look at the background to these events demonstrate the underlying cause lies in the crisis of capitalism.
The riots which started in the Tottenham area of North London on
Saturday night and which have since spread to many others parts of the
capital have exposed the social decay within the city as we enter the
final year before the start of the prestige Olympics.
If the report in Today’s edition of the Guardian (click here
to read it) is to be believed it seems that the Labour leadership has
decided to ignore any of the good stuff which may have come out of the
Refounding Labour consultation exercise and instead dig up some old
Blairite/New Labour garbage. Yet again, they want to dilute the union
presence in the party decision making process. Given that the mood in
the movement is for a more powerful annual conference rather than the
jamboree it became under Blair, Ed Miliband has offered up some
‘reforms’ of his own.
Saturday the 9th of July saw the arrival of the EDL (English Defence
League) to the centre of Cambridge to protest against the proposal to
build a new mosque on Mill Road, a vibrant and multi-cultural part of
the city. The events in Cambridge were part of a national day of action
by the EDL that saw around 150 members of the EDL march through Plymouth
only to find them met by around 300 anti-fascist demonstrators,
alongside a demonstration in Middlesbrough that saw around 200 EDL
protestors met by 400 anti-fascists and a demonstration in Halifax that
numbered around 450 EDL demonstrators and 200 anti-fascists. Various
other EDL divisions were also planning on marching through Liverpool,
Dagenham and Derby however these marches were cancelled due to the high
level of opposition by the local community.
The phone-hacking scandal that has led to the closure of the News of the
World newspaper has brought to the surface the real state of things
within the British establishment. The rottenness of a regime,
that prides itself at being a model of “democracy,” is now out in the
open for all to see. What has now been revealed is that a powerful media
empire that for years has played a key role in British politics, making
and unmaking political leaders, has been buying police officers, using
influence with politicians, and all this peppered with out and out
criminal activity.
For all of us working at Lloyds, the announcement that the bosses would
be throwing 15,000 (or 14% of the 104,000 strong work force) people onto
the street came not from our employer but from the press release that
was made to appease the stock markets – they were only too happy to hear
we’d be bearing the brunt of the effort, as ever, to drag Lloyds out of
the mess the bosses got it into in the first place.
The phone-hacking scandal that has rocked the British establishment in the past week is not only bad news for Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World and its parents NewsCorp and News International,
who have now had to sacrifice their main paper, it is bad news for the
politicians, the police and the capitalist class as a whole.
Over
the recent period, splits and divisions have opened up within sections of the
ruling class, which reflect a deepening unease over the crisis and the effects it
is having on British society. The
outspoken attack in the New Statesmen on the Coalition government by the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan
Williams, was an indication in some quarters of the effects of the austerity
programme.
On Wednesday 22nd June, 700 activists
gathered in Friends’ Meeting House, London, in opposition to the cuts
and to build for the June 30th strike. Under the banner of "Unite the
Resistance," activists from trade unions, student groups and others
gathered to discuss the cuts. The rally was a great success and shows
the depth of anger against the cuts and austerity.
Listeners to ‘File on 4’ on BBC Radio 4 last month would have got an
inkling of the vast river of money that is currently leaving the NHS and
going directly into the coffers of big business.
Pay more! Work longer! Get less! This is the stark and
uncompromising message on pensions that the Tory- dominated government is
sending to millions of working class people. In the public sector, six million
state employees will find that the expected reward of a half-decent pension in
exchange for low wages during their working life is now being taken away.
Cameron and Osborne appear oblivious to the crisis unfolding in front of
their very noses. While standing on the edge of a precipice, they are
busy reassuring everyone that Britain has nothing to fear from the
European financial crisis. They are the modern equivalent of the emperor
Nero, who fiddled while Rome burnt. British banks, they say, are sound
and with enough capital to insulate themselves against a sovereign debt
crisis across the Channel.
As the flames of economic crisis spread across Europe, it is essential
public services such as fire and rescue that are now being cut as a
result. All 49 fire services across Britain have seen their funding from
the government reduced by 25% as part of the Tory-led Coalition’s
programme of austerity. Despite already having one of the most efficient
and affordable fire services in the country, Cambridgeshire is seeing
huge attacks on its fire and rescue services.
Socialist Appeal notes with sadness the untimely deaths of Andy Viner and Brian Haw at the weekend and sends condolences to their families and friends and the many people who knew them. Here we pay tribute to them and the role they played.
June 30th is building up to be one massive day of action by public sector workers and others. UCU, PCS, NUT and ATL members have already voted to take strike action on the day. Many other workers and students will be joining them in participating in protests, marches and rallies up and down the country. Here are some details, compiled by PCS on their website, of events taking place on the day:
As Britain’s largest care home provider teeters on the brink of
bankruptcy we examine the underlying causes of the crisis and explain how not
even the care of elderly people is immune from the ravages of capitalism.
The crisis which has hit the care home company Southern Cross continues
to get worse and worse. Already 3,000 jobs losses have been announced
and today the FT leaked the news that the company intend to "return to
their landlords" 132 of their homes – about 20% of the total holding.
We are being
constantly reassured that the financial crisis gripping Greece cannot reach
Britain. Many facts and figures are provided to back this up. However, a
closer look at the situation reveals the real underlying financial
crisis that sooner or later must surface in Britain also. In this
article Adam Booth looks at the situation in Greece and Europe as a
whole and shows how Britain cannot escape the inevitable.
It would be remiss of us not to mention this year’s Sunday Times Rich
List, which was published during April. The opening article is headed
‘Wealth goes through the roof.’ It starts with the blurb: ‘While Britons
feel the pain of spending cuts, high-rollers march onwards and
upwards…’ What! Didn’t the government just tell us that We Are All In
This Together? Well it seems not.
Plans by Royal Mail management to slash around 40,000 jobs over the next five years have been leaked. Clearly the plan is to make the company an ‘attractive option’ for buyers following privatisation. In reality this will turn RM into just another courier service – offering poor service for high prices.
At
its annual Congress held at the Harrogate International Centre, from
Saturday 28 May to Monday 30 May 2011, the University and College Union
(UCU) passed a unanimous resolution condemning US sanctions against
PDVSA.
“From Scotland to Spain, the problem is the same!” was one of many slogans being shouted from the streets of Edinburgh today (29th May) as around 200 – 300 people (most from Edinburgh’s sizeable Spanish
community) organised to demonstrate in solidarity with revolutionary
movements in Spain and elsewhere in Europe.
To get the perspective of the NHS reforms from a
healthcare worker, Socialist.net talked to Martin Booth, Chair of the Unison health branch
at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge and Secretary of the Cambridgeshire
Against the Cuts campaign.
The creation of the National Health Service is considered
by many people to be the greatest achievement of any British government. The
NHS was established in 1948 on the back of a landslide victory by the Labour
Party in 1945, who came to power on a programme that included the creation of
the cradle-to-grave welfare state, the mass construction of council housing,
and the nationalisation of transport and key industries. Aneurin Bevan, the
Labour Minister of Health who pushed for the creation of the NHS, famously said
that, “The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight
for it.” Now these words are being put to the test as the coalition government
seeks to introduce the most regressive changes to the NHS in its history.
The Labour Party have launched a "consultation" exercise around a document called ‘Refounding Labour. ‘ What issues are involved and what response will best serve the movement now as the Tory led coalition government attacks our public services? These questions are considered in a response to the document written by a party activist from Coventry which we publish here.
On Thursday history was made as the
Scottish National Party, who only a decade ago seemed destined to play
second fiddle to the Labour Party in Scottish politics, became the first
party in the Scottish Parliament’s twelve year history to form a single
party majority. More importantly, for the first time there is a
pro-independence majority in the Parliament, and consequently a
referendum on whether Scotland should leave the United Kingdom will be
held within the next five year term.
Elections are simply a snapshot of the
mood at any particular moment in time, but they can reveal a lot about
the real underlying processes taking place in society. That was the case
with the May local elections, which marked the first anniversary in
power of the Coalition government and from which we can draw important
lessons.
As the election results come in (with the AV vote expected tonight) we take a quick look at what they all mean. Already it is clear that the Lib dems have taken a well-deserved hammering.
Not too late to take part in the second non-event of the year, following
on from the Royal Wedding of last week. Yes it is referendum day where
we get to choose how we elect our MPs.
While the Great and Good were busy spending our
money on the Royal Wedding, low-paid cleaners at Buckingham Palace were
fighting to increase their meagre wages to something like a decent level. Sign
the petition in their support.
On Friday 29 April the people of
Britain will be invited to participate in the joyful celebration of the
marriage of Mr. William Windsor and Ms. Catherine Middleton. At the same
time that the government is cutting billions from unnecessary
extravagances such as hospitals, schools, teachers, nurses, the old and
the sick, the unemployed and single parents, the Coalition has had the
good sense to spend a lot of money on something as essential to the
Public Good as the nuptials of Willy and Kate.
Last month a local newspaper in Rotherham published a rant from a
Tory councillor about the causes of the current crisis and Labour’s role
in all this. What he had to say doesn’t matter. What was interesting
was the flurry of letters which appeared a week later in reply. Nearly
all put the blame firmly on the backs of the Tories and their system. A
number also called for Labour to change course politically.
This
year’s national sellers conference of ‘Socialist Appeal’ was held in London on the
weekend of April 16th and 17th. Supporters from all over Britain, from Aberdeen
to Torbay, came together against the backdrop of a year of class struggle and
revolution in Britain and internationally. Without doubt, the conference marked
a new period in the development of the Marxist voice.
Saturday 26th March 2011 marked a watershed point for the modern Labour
Party. The Trade Union Congress had called for workers, students,
pensioners and all those affected by the coalition cuts to converge on
the capital. The question was: would Labour show up to the party too?
In all this talk of Career Average Pensions an important element has
been missed in all the media reports that women will come out worse when
the pension calculation is done. Hutton has not taken into account the
normal working life of women when making his proposals and the very act
of using Career Average Pensions is sex discriminatory.
We have received news from students at Glasgow University of an
attempt by police to put an end to the 7-week long occupation of the
Hetherington Club by the forcible removal of the students.
A million workers on strike. This is the minimum response that should be given to plans being drawn up by the government to implement Hutton’s report on public sector pension ‘reform.’
According to a news report, an expert has warned of "food riots" coming to the UK
Council workers supported by other public sector trade unionists
lobbied Gateshead Councillors prior to the budget setting meeting on
Thursday March 3rd. The council has a yawning budget deficit
of £70 million over the next two years. £32 million of cuts are set to
fall this year and up to £38 million over the next two years.
Six Labour councillors from Hackney in London have signed a statement against carrying out any cuts. Socialist
Appeal welcomes the stand taken by these Labour councillors and
calls on other elected representatives to make a stand now and join
them. A concerted drive of this nature would have a tremendous effect on
the anti-cuts campaign and deliver a serious blow to the government’s
attempt to “pass the buck” for the cuts programme to the local councils.
The biggest cuts in living memory are creating massive opposition
everywhere, even in the leafy Tory shires, as the £81bn of cuts start to
bite. While the Coalition’s austerity policies have been cheered on by
the big business institutions of the IMF and the OECD, rage is bubbling
up amongst ordinary people. No wonder support for the Coalition
government has crashed. Even Cameron has been forced to recognise this:
“It will not make us popular. It will make us unpopular. It will make me
unpopular.”
Thousands gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square on Saturday (12th
February) to celebrate the departure of the hated, now former
president, Hosni Mubarak. The gathering was actually called as a
demonstration against the regime and to demand the resignation of
Mubarak. However, events have moved at such a rate that the despot had
tendered his resignation the day the before. Therefore, the event was
now a party in the centre of London to concur with the one in Tahrir
Square.
From students to pensioners, private to
public sectors workers, unemployed and disabled, the march represented all of
Worcester residents threatened by the cuts. As one of the placards said,
“Cameron, Unions are the Original Big Society.”
On Saturday (5th February) around one
thousand people – Egyptians, Londoners and others ‑ gathered outside the
United States embassy and later marched through central London to the
Egyptian embassy. The protest was called to show solidarity with the
revolutionary struggle of the people of Egypt.
NEXT DEMO: RALLY AT TRAFALGAR SQ THIS SAT. 12.00 – 14.00
The confirmation today that 2,000 public sector jobs are to
go at Manchester City Council, as part of a planned budget reduction of £110
million, will come as grim reading for the people of that city.
There are just over three months to go before the elections for the
Scottish parliament, which take place on May 5th. Aside from the
contest itself the Scottish electorate is left with the knowledge that,
whoever wins the election, massive cuts are set to follow after the
Nationalist Scottish Government set a budget in December clearly aimed
at winning this election.
An Emergency Motion in support of the Arab workers was passed at a meeting of the West Midlands TUC on Saturday, January 29th. It was agreed to forward it to the Regional TUC and to all affiliated Trades Union Councils.
We have now entered a critical period. The cuts are no longer on the
horizon; they are knocking at the door. Over the next few months, local
councils will be finalising annual budgets for the next financial year,
agreeing what services should be reduced or cut and increasing charges
for those which remain. For the labour and trade union movement the
time for talk has passed, action is now needed.
Thousands of workers and youth braved the freezing cold to march through the centre of London today (Sat 29th Jan) to protest against the cuts. Cameron and Clegg may have hoped that, now the votes on tuition fees have been voted on, things would quiet down. They were wrong.
Here are some pictures from the day
Around 350 Labour Party members, trade unionists and socialists
attended the 2011 LRC (Labour Representation Committee) “Resist the
Cuts, Rebuild the Party” conference at Conway Hall in London on January
15th. LRC Conference tends to major on the big events of the day. Two
years ago it was the economic crash and last year the general election.
This year the conference was not surprisingly dominated by the threat of
cuts and the need to defeat them.
The result of the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election will come as a bitter blow to both the Tories and the Li Dems. It will not be the last.
The bankers have sent out a message – it’s not their fault and people should stop blaming them for the crisis. Is this just bare-faced cheek or a deeper reflection of the arrogance of the ruling class? Both, we suggest.
Millions of workers made the grim trek back to work today after the long
Xmas break. Millions more will be making the even grimmer trek to the
dole office over the next few months as the Coalition cuts start to
become a reality. Two things are with us already – the increase in VAT
and the increase in public transport fares.
The deepest crisis since the Great Depression, with its accompanying
financial, banking and sovereign debt crises, has opened up splits and
arguments not seen for generations. Where do they go from here? Savage
austerity, which threatens the weak recovery, or possibly pump-prime the
economy and risk market turmoil? That is their choice as the crisis
moves into its next dangerous phase. Under the topsy-turvy logic of
capitalism they are both right and both wrong. Whatever they do they
will not be able to cure this unsolvable and protracted crisis of the
system.
For the second time in less than a month, Britain has ground to a standstill as a result of snowy weather. Heathrow
airport has virtually ceased operating with over half a million
passengers affected during what is normally the most busy time of the
year with people trying to get home for the holidays.
Following on from last Thursday’s mass demonstration in London of youth
against the increases in college fees, the media has been full of
reports of how the police are now going to hunt down the troublemakers.
It seems this manhunt is being given top priority – murderers, rapists
and robbers can relax, the police are now otherwise engaged!
On Saturday 4th December, over 2000 trade unionists, students, and
activists braved freezing temperatures and marched through the streets
of Norwich as part of the Norfolk Coalition Against the Cuts campaign.
Alan Waters, a Norwich councillor, said it was one of the biggest
protest marches the city had seen for several years. Despite the cold
weather, the atmosphere was hot, with impassioned chants throughout the
march and fiery speeches at the rally.
Around 250 trade union activists and local residents attended the
Peterborough Trade Union Council organised ‘March and Rally for Unity’
on Saturday 11th December, organised in response to the English Defence
League march in Peterborough.
With the bosses media foaming at the mouth over the throwing of a bit
of paint at the flash car being used to drive the Prince of Wales and
his wife to another shindig (no cuts here then), we reproduce an article
written for the Militant Student website just before the marches on Thursday which deals with the role played by the big business-owned press and media.
John Swinney’s launch of the Scottish budget went down like a damp squib
as the Nationalist government attempts to balance its way between the
cuts from Westminster and the increasingly unpopular administration’s
electoral prospects in May. The Finance Minister announced a raft of
cuts, “efficiency savings” and real wage cuts.
On a sunny Saturday afternoon in
Manchester, around 70 people gathered in the Friends’ Meeting House to debate
how best to fight the onslaught of cuts this Tory government is about to
unleash.
As the scale of the cuts start to sink in, we look at the background to this crisis and ask – why has this happened?
NUJ members at the BBC have voted by 70% to reject the latest offer
from the management on pension changes and are intending to take action
by striking for 48 hours on 5 and 6 November and again on 15 and 16
November with further dates to be named in the coming days. Here is the
text of an appeal now being circulated.
Since the days of the Thatcher government, public sector workers have
had to live with the repeatedly stated ‘fact’ that the private sector is
supposed to be better, more efficient and cheaper at providing services
than the public one. This was the stated logic behind decades of
privatisation and outsourcing.
On Saturday 20,000 people marched through
the streets of Edinburgh to show their opposition to cuts in public services.
The march was called by the Scottish Trade Union Congress to launch their
“There is a Better Way” campaign, which they have described as the beginning of
the fight against Tory cuts north of the border.
Saturday 23rd October saw the largest demonstration in Cambridge for
many years with over 500 trade unionists, students and community
activists marching through the city centre in opposition to the cuts
announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review. The march, organised by
SERTUC and Cambs and District Trades Council, drew in trade unionists
from across the region, with workers from other trades councils in
the region, Cambridge Labour Party members, pensioners’ groups and
students.
Tens of thousands demonstrated throughout the country as the government
finally presented its ruthless spending review. After many months of
guesswork, now we know the facts – and they are every bit as bad as many
expected. This coalition of millionaires is set on forcing working
people to pay the bill for the bailouts to the bankers and their rotten
system.
On Wednesday evening, October 20th, around 200
trade unionists, students and community activists gathered on the steps of the
Council House in Coventry in protest at the national and local cuts. Tory
Chancellor Osborne’s announcement of the cuts package was a few hours old, but
the previous day Coventry City Council had announced that it would cut £146
million over the next four years from a present budget of £809m. This would
have represented a cut of 18% but with the knock on effects of higher benefits
and lower council receipts the cuts will be far higher.
Oct 20th – Today’s the day. For months now workers have been dreading
the arrival of this day – the date chosen by this bosses coalition to
announce the biggest series of public spending cuts in living memory.
The depth and the scale of the damage that
the Tories and Liberal Democrats intend to impose on the public sector
will
become more apparent on the 20th October when the results of
the
Comprehensive Spending Review will be announced. Already the summer
budget has highlighted
the threat of between 25% and 40% cuts across government departments.
Very rarely does one venture into the “personal finance” section of
the business papers. Maybe it is because advice on how to invest your
million pounds fortune doesn’t seem that relevant to your life
situation. Sometimes, however, it pays off.
On Sunday October 3rd the – at times – torrential
rain could not dampen the enthusiasm of around 7,000 marchers as they wound
their way through Birmingham city centre in protest against Tory/Lib Dem
government’s planned cuts. As Mark Serwotka, PCS General Secretary,
said speaking from the rally platform, ”If thousands could be mobilised against
the cuts in the pouring rain, just think what could be achieved if the TUC were
to organise such a demonstration. We could bring hundreds of thousands onto the
streets.”
Steve Kelly reports on a meeting against the cuts organised in the heart of Essex.
Against all the odds and against the wishes of the whole establishment from The Economist to The Sunday Times, Ed Miliband has emerged as Labour Party leader, simply by standing a little to the left of his brother. This clinched the trade union members vote, which shows in which direction workers want the party to go, clearly to the left. But which way will Ed Miliband go?
According to the
propaganda of government and big business we have come through the worst of the
recession and are now set to prosper as the “green shoots” of recovery start to
grow. A recent survey by the Bank for International Settlements has shown that
for some this is clearly the case.
This Saturday Glasgow once again showed that we won’t tolerate fascists and the far-right on our streets.
The Pope’s visit to Britain comes in the midst of the most serious
crisis of capitalism since the Second World War, with a growing mood of
discontent among the workers. No doubt a little help for the British
Establishment in times like these from the Almighty will always come in
handy. The Pope is also hoping to boost the fortunes of the Church
after it has been shaken by scandals in one country after another.
The TUC has produced the latest and most detailed report yet
on the likely effect of the coalition’s plans to cut public services and
benefits. To no-ones surprise they have again confirmed that, contrary to the
government’s stated position at the time of the summer budget, these cuts will
hit the poorest hardest.
Blair’s New Labour principles have conveniently provided a starting
point for the new education law the Tories’ have rushed through
parliament. This is intended to lead to a dramatic acceleration of the
academies programme, starting with schools judged ‘outstanding’ by the
schools inspectorate, Ofsted.
The Tories’ decision to cancel Labour’s Building Schools for the Future
(BSF) project is a blow to thousands of school children currently being
taught in the most dilapidated, uninspiring and antiquated schools.
They must now continue to be taught in substandard buildings
Labour, in it’s original programme, intended to spend £55bn over two
decades, and would have rebuilt or refurbished just about every
secondary school in the country. In Michael Gove’s drive to cut public
expenditure, it has proved to be too tempting a target to mis
Pressure, Pressure and yet more pressure. Life in our schools has never been tougher… here is an account of what’s going on from a secondary school teacher.
It’s official. The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is a waste of
money. Tens of millions of pounds may have been wasted on refurbishing
social housing in London under the Private Finance Initiatives, the
public spending watchdog warned last month.
In 1948 all the Tory MPs in the House of Commons dutifully voted
against the setting up of the National Health Service. For more than
sixty years since, the NHS has been one of our most loved institutions,
relied on by millions of people to look after their health. The Tories
have publicly regretted their stance and pledged that, “the NHS is safe
in our hands.” We now see that was a lie. If new Health Secretary
Andrew Lansley’s plans, called ‘Liberating the NHS’, goes through the
NHS will be in tatters in five years time.
On the morning of Saturday 28th August Bradford had become a ghost
town. Pubs, shops and cafes were boarded up and the Saturday shoppers
stayed away. Some landlords had gone one further by piling up all their
beer garden tables and chairs against the doors to keep the trouble
out. The EDL were in town to “peacefully protest” against the supposed
takeover by radical Islam.
The cuts outlined in the 2010 emergency budget will come as a
hammer-blow to all workers. However, it is working class women –
especially the low paid and single parents – who will be amongst the
hardest hit. For them, the changes to Child Tax Credits and benefits
will be a particularly bitter pill to swallow.
Socialist Appeal Editorial: The Labour leadership election contest will
be ending in September as the ballot papers finally go out. It could
have been an opportunity to discuss a balance-sheet of the right-wing
control of the party under New Labour and an opportunity to discuss a
socialist programme in face of the worst capitalist crisis since the
1930s. However, the contest has left most people cold.
We reproduce here a statement from the LRC on the campaign to decide who will be the next leader of the Labour Party.
Journalists usually refer to August as the silly season. It
is in that context that we have the latest madcap idea to come from the Con-Dem
coalition. According to plans leaked by the Guardian newspaper, council housing
tenancies will no longer be ‘for life.’
When David Cameron announced "The Big Society" (a name nicked from the
American President LBJ who used it in the ’60s) during the election,
most people laughed and assumed that would be the last we would hear of
it. Tory spokespeople said that they had no idea what it meant and one
Tory MP described it as "Bollocks." Indeed. However, now safely inside
Number 10, Cameron has brought up it up again.
On Saturday 10th July, around
200 trade unionists, local residents, and health campaigners took to the
streets in opposition to plans to franchise the management of
Hinchingbrooke
Hospital in Huntingdon to the private sector. Protestors received
support along
the route of the march through the centre of Huntingdon chanting, “Hands
Off
Hinchingbrooke; Defend the NHS”.
More than a century after the
formation of the Labour Party, the
party still remains rooted in the organised working class. Despite
everything, the results of the recent general election confirm the
ingrained support for Labour throughout the working class areas of
Britain.
Campaigners, trade unionists, and local
residents are set to take to the streets in Huntingdon this Saturday
10th July to
protest against plans to franchise the management of Hinchingbrooke
Hospital to
the private sector.
The draconian budget rolled out in June is only the first instalment in
a five year programme of austerity to be inflicted upon the British
people. The Tory-dominated government is telling us that the economy is
in a hole. This is true. They are softening us up for drastic cuts in
public spending, saying we can’t afford it and (in the words of
Thatcher) that there is no alternative. This is a lie.
We conclude Dan Morley’s three part study of the crisis inside UK housing.
Here is part two of a three part article looking at the crisis in UK housing today.
Over the past few days the labour and trade union movement
in Coventry has begun to move into action to mobilise working people against
the cuts announced by the Lib-Con government. The mass Unite rally last Saturday,
June 19th, already reported on the Socialist Appeal website, was the
first step.
“Open for business.” These were the words spoken by
chancellor George Osborne as he delivered the most vicious anti-working class
budget for generations – a budget for big business indeed!
Throughout the four hours of the indoor rally at the Methodist Central
Hall in Coventry on Saturday June 19th, some 140 trade unionists and
members of
Coventry communities came together and participated. The rally had been
convened
by the Unite union to highlight the ongoing dispute between youth
workers
organised in the CYWU section of Unite and Coventry City Council.
The question of housing in Britain
today reveals much about the character of the crisis that permeates our
entire
society. Through the medium of housing we can see almost every problem
our
society faces – from inequality to out of control speculation, health
problems
to overcrowding, groaning infrastructures to gross regional imbalances
and
distortions. Dan Morley, in the first of a three part article, looks at the situation facing the housing market today.
Further to
our earlier report that John McDonnell has withdrawn as a candidate for
election as Labour leader, it has now been confirmed that Diane Abbott
has now secured
enough nominations to get on the ballot. She will be up against the two
Milibands,
Ed Balls and Andy Burnham.
The following statement has just been released by John McDonnell
concerning his campaign to be on the ballot paper for Labour leader.
Nominations close at lunchtime today with the party NEC meeting this
afternoon. We will comment further on this once the situation becomes
clearer later today.
Last Saturday an excellent meeting of the Northern LRC was held in
Gateshead with John McDonnell, fighting to be on the ballot for the new
leader of the Labour Party, and Paul Holmes, candidate for GS of
Unison, amongst those in attendance. We reproduce here a report on the
meeting by Veronica Killen from the LRC
Those of us watching the political developments in the wake of the
election have seen a kaleidoscope of people passing by – Brown,
Cameron, Clegg and all their understrappers have all been very busy.
They all have one thing in common. They are interested in politics. But
at this crucial time their attention has been concentrated on an
unusual figure – the Queen. She’s unusual because she’s not interested
in politics at all. Her favourite paper is the ‘Racing Post’ and her
major interest is in horse racing
In
1987, Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative Prime Minister, declared in an
interview that, “there is no such thing as society.” It is therefore fairly ironic that 13 years later,
David Cameron, the new Conservative Prime Minister, has announced his plans to
create a ‘Big Society’ in Britain. Throughout the general election coverage,
Cameron had avoided mentioning any specifics on what was meant by his vision of
a Big Society, but now Cameron and his new best friend Nick Clegg, have
outlined what is in store for the country.
Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of UNITE,
in a speech at the union’s conference in Manchester, declared his
determination
to “take the party back” for working people. This is a positive step but
it
needs to be made concrete.
Britain is heading for a showdown. The British establishment is taking
stock of the situation. They are fully aware of the social crisis that
is unfolding. The illusions of class harmony have evaporated. They
consider that it is time that the working class learned its lesson that
capitalism cannot afford any reforms. Counter-reforms are on the order
of the day. The workers are therefore being sent to the school of the
coalition government whose programme is “red in tooth and claw”
austerity.
It cannot be denied that the historic global crisis of
capitalism has not, in Britain and America, led to an immediate corresponding
rise in class struggle (unlike say in Greece). Does this rule out the class struggle in the long term?
No. But in order to understand why it has been delayed, it is necessary for
socialists to concretely analyse all the conditions of the class.
At this year’s Trades Council conference, the West Mids delegate was
asked to do the traditional vote of thanks speech – so he decided to
tell the delegates a little fairy story. Here it is. Please note that
any connextion between this and the current UK situation is purely
intentional!
After spending most of the week following the general election wheeling
and dealing his way to power, David Cameron expected his first prime
ministerial visit to Scotland to be somewhat more dignified. However
this was not to be as the Tory leader was once again forced in and out
of the back doors. This time it wasn’t to woo the Liberals but to flee
from protestors!
It was one of the surest things in British politics: when an election
comes around, no matter the national trend, Scotland will always vote
Labour. But with the SNP managing to form a minority government,
winning one more seat than Labour in the 2007 Scottish Parliament
election, and then their shock by-election victory in Glasgow east in
2008 it seemed, to some, that the Scottish working class was switching
their allegiances.
David Cameron has been crowned. After days of torturous
negotiations, the Tories have finally cobbled together a “principled” deal with
the Liberal Democrats “in the national interest”. Cameron is now Prime
Minister, with Nick Clegg his ever-so-thankful Deputy PM. Five cabinet posts
are to be given to the Liberal Democrats to cement together this unholy
coalition, the first coalition in 70 years, since Churchill formed the war-time
government. Gleggameron is upon us!
As a new Tory/Liberal coalition takes office – in reality an accomodation of two capitalist parties – on a programme of austerity and attacks on the public sector, we look back at the lessons of the election and what it means for the Labour and trade union movement. (Photo – Flickr)
In 1999, the government set a target of eradicating child poverty
within a generation and of halving child poverty by 2010. Progress has
been made and (according to a government report ‘Ending child poverty:
everybody’s business’) 600,000 children have been taken out of relative
poverty, and absolute poverty has fallen by 1.8 million to less than
half the 1998-99 level. But many children still live in poverty and
this is unacceptable. (Photo – flckr)
Who has won the election? Everybody has lost. The ruling class was
quite clear what it wanted and needed. There is a crisis. They need to
unload the burden of the crisis on to the backs of the working class.
To achieve that they needed a strong majority Conservative government
ready and willing to put the boot in to jobs and public services. The
election hasn’t delivered it. Here is the editorial from the new issue of Socialist Appeal.
The 2010 general election has produced the result that the ruling class were dreading: a hung parliament. With one seat to declare, no party has a working majority. So the dirty dealing begins…
Thursday 6th May. Election Day. After weeks of campaigning the opinion
polls suggest that the result is still too close to call. Of course,
the polls could be wrong as they were in 1970 and more recently in
1992. But one thing is clear – no one is looking forward to whoever
forms the next government with much optimism.
Who killed Blair Peach? This is a question
which has been asked many times over the last 31
years, not only by the family and friends of Blair Peach, but the by the
thousands who joined a demonstration to protest against a so-called public
meeting held by the far right National Front as a provocation in predominantly
Asian Southall, on April 23rd,
during the election campaign of 1979.
The Liberal Democrats are riding high
in recent opinion polls. They are presenting themselves as something
“new” and “clean”. A closer look reveals a very old party that has
always carried out the policies dictated by the capitalist class of
Britain.
Given the colossal volatility within the electorate in the
recent period, the outcome of the general election has become impossible
to
predict. With under 10 days to go, opinion polls point to some kind
of hung
Parliament with the Liberal Democrats holding the balance of power.
With the general election campaign almost at the official
half way spot and all the polls pointing to a tight campaign, something
odd has
happened. A sense of boredom has crept in to what should have been an
exciting
four weeks of political cut and thrust. Only the recent jump in the Lib
Dems
position in the opinion polls has provided any points of interest.
The Marxists in Ireland take a close look at the British general election of 2010.
It had to happen sooner or later. The ruling class has long used race
and gender to divide the working class and to divert attention from the
real causes of the ills of society. Now it is a whole generation who is
to blame. They are the ‘baby-boomers’
It is unusual
for the captains of industry to blatantly come out and formally back the
Tories in public. It is more likely that these creatures of the night
stay in the dark
pulling the political strings, manipulating the news media and ruining
the
lives of millions of workers. However,
a well-planned media storm has been created just before the election
over
National Insurance increases but, as Edward Heath might have described
them,
these ‘Ugly Faces of Capitalism’ have a lot to hide.
Here are some photos from the London demonstration held last Saturday in
defence of the Welfare state
Tomorrow, Sat April 10th, thousands of trade unionists and Labour
movement activists will unite to march through London in a demonstration
algainst cuts in public services, called by over 20
organisations including a number of trade unions. The March will assemble
at Midday outside Embankment tube and will end up in Trafalgar Sq. for a
rally. Here is what Socialist Appeal has to say about the issues raised by the
march in a leaflet being handed out on the day:
The massive over-reaction of the police and the courts against arrested Gaza demonstrators has come as a shock. Usually people convicted of minor public order offences get
a suspended sentence or community service.This time the judge has been
handing
down savage sentences of up to two and a half years at Isleworth Crown
Court.
The general election of 2010 has been called. To no-one’s surprise, on Thursday 6th May, voters will go to the polls to decide who will form the next UK government. For a very long time now, the Tories – the party of big business – have enjoyed a sizeable poll lead, backed up by good results in local and Euro elections. Yet the gap between the Tories and Labour has closed sharply in recent months. Why is this?
The centre of Dudley in the Midlands became
a ghost town on Saturday 3rd April with shops on the
High Street
boarded up, resembling the effects the recession had last year on many
towns .
But this deserted town centre was not the result of an economic
downturn, well
not exactly. It was the overreaction of the Midlands police in occupying
the
town with road blocks in an attempt to prevent trade unionists and
socialists demonstrating
against the venomous EDL who were trying to sow divisions amongst the
workers
of Dudley.
You couldn’t make it up. In a recent report on ‘executive pay’, The Economist
(hardly a champion of equality) has been obliged to admit the (for
them) embarrassing absurdity of ever ballooning capitalist pay-cheques
in the midst of attacks on working class living standards.
Over the last year Cambridge residents have
seen a number of attacks on the industries and public services in the
city. 12
months ago, Cambridge University Press, the oldest publishing house in
Britain,
announced plans to outsource much of its work; Addenbrookes, the main
city
hospital, has recently been told to find £40 million in efficiency
savings; the
workers in the CWU came out on strike last October against modernisation
plans
for the postal service. All of these words – “outsourcing”, “efficiency
savings”, “modernisation” – are clearly euphemisms for attacking jobs
and
services.
Over the last year Cambridge residents have
seen a number of attacks on the industries and public services in the
city. 12
months ago, Cambridge University Press, the oldest publishing house in
Britain,
announced plans to outsource much of its work; Addenbrookes, the main
city
hospital, has recently been told to find £40 million in efficiency
savings; the
workers in the CWU came out on strike last October against modernisation
plans
for the postal service. All of these words – “outsourcing”, “efficiency
savings”, “modernisation” – are clearly euphemisms for attacking jobs
and
services.
On
Saturday 20th March the ragtag bunch of ex-football hooligans
and far-right activists who call themselves the English Defence
League (EDL) descended on Bolton, in their latest attempt to stir up
trouble.
On
Saturday 20th March the ragtag bunch of ex-football hooligans
and far-right activists who call themselves the English Defence
League (EDL) descended on Bolton, in their latest attempt to stir up
trouble.
Eight months ago the Worcester-based company, Faithful
Workwear, which
was owned by former Tory cabinet minister Stephen Dorrell MP and made
industrial
clothing, went into so-called "pre-pack administration." The assets
were sold
to a new business trading under a new name but without the pension
liability
of the old business.
Now instead of the firm’s pensioners living a well earned
retirement,
after contributing for years to a pension fund, they are set to lose
30 to 40% of
their pension.
Eight months ago the Worcester-based company, Faithful
Workwear, which
was owned by former Tory cabinet minister Stephen Dorrell MP and made
industrial
clothing, went into so-called "pre-pack administration." The assets
were sold
to a new business trading under a new name but without the pension
liability
of the old business.
Now instead of the firm’s pensioners living a well earned
retirement,
after contributing for years to a pension fund, they are set to lose
30 to 40% of
their pension.
The suicide of three Russian asylum seekers has aroused the indignation
of the local community in Springburn. A mother, father and stepson
jumped from the fifteenth floor of a tower bloc in the Red Road flats
in Springburn, Glasgow. This followed the rejection of their asylum
application, with the family having been instructed to leave the flats
in Springburn following this.
The suicide of three Russian asylum seekers has aroused the indignation
of the local community in Springburn. A mother, father and stepson
jumped from the fifteenth floor of a tower bloc in the Red Road flats
in Springburn, Glasgow. This followed the rejection of their asylum
application, with the family having been instructed to leave the flats
in Springburn following this.
On the 6th of March around 10,000 teachers, students, parents and political activists took part in a demonstration organised by the main Scottish teaching trade union, the EIS, against proposed cuts to education funding by both the Scottish government and local councils.
On the 6th of March around 10,000 teachers, students, parents and political activists took part in a demonstration organised by the main Scottish teaching trade union, the EIS, against proposed cuts to education funding by both the Scottish government and local councils.
The Scottish Defense League (SDL) was once again run out of a major Scottish
city on Saturday the 20th of February by militant anti-fascist
demonstrators. This was the Scottish wing of the English Defense League’s
second attempt at staging a march in Scotland, after they had been denied a
march and bussed out of town in Glasgow.
The Scottish Defense League (SDL) was once again run out of a major Scottish
city on Saturday the 20th of February by militant anti-fascist
demonstrators. This was the Scottish wing of the English Defense League’s
second attempt at staging a march in Scotland, after they had been denied a
march and bussed out of town in Glasgow.
Why does Britain grind to a halt as soon as we get a few snowflakes? Answer – capitalism. Here are the facts. Road Salt, what the gritting lorries pump out to make our roads safe, is produced for the UK by two private mining companies, the Salt Union in Cheshire, and the Cleveland Potash company.
Last week, Portsmouth FC became the first
top-flight football club in England to go into voluntary administration as a
result of their massive debts, currently estimated at £86 million. Over the
season so far, they have repeatedly failed to pay wages on time, owe the Inland
Revenue millions in unpaid taxes and VAT, have had to sell many of their
players to get quick cash and – as a result – are lying firmly at the bottom of
the Premier league table. According to
the Guardian (3/3/10) they need to find £14 million just to keep going until
the end of April.
The widely quoted figure of 20,000 job cuts in local government over
the next few years is starting to gain a grim credibility as councils
begin to show their hands.
As Birmingham reels after the
discovery of the tenth child – a two year old from Harborne – to die from
neglect in the city in under four years, the Tory/Liberal run City Council has
announced its main target for cutbacks – the council’s Children, Young People
and Families Service. Birmingham, the
largest local authority in the UK, has a £26 million deficit and aims to slash
over 2,000 jobs from Social Services: 1300 jobs from the Children, Young People
and Families Service and 305 jobs from Adult and Community Services.
Six traffic wardens working for the private company running Islington
Council’s parking enforcement service have been summarily dismissed
after being found sheltering from a heavy downpour in a cafe.The company had traced their whereabouts via the workers’ hand-held
electronic devices, which allow the employers to track workers’
movements every minute of the working day.
In the society in which we currently
find ourselves, class society, a small minority of the population holds
ownership and control over industry, banks and all major means for
producing wealth. Because we, the workers, do not get to enjoy this
wealth, although we create it, our lives are reduced to working for
wages that disappear when we pay the bills. How does the ruling class
keep us putting up with such a lifestyle? One way is the fact that the
ruling class’s ideology permeates contemporary culture and dominates
the media.
In the Labour Party and among Trade Union leaders here in Wales, it is
thought defeatist and almost traitorous, to express the belief that
Labour may lose the General Election this year. We look at how things are panning out in Wales and what Labour really needs to do to avoid defeat in the coming elections.
This year, Britain experienced its coldest winter in over 30 years, and
as temperatures dropped below -20ºC in some parts of the UK, thousands
of people suffered the effects of one of society’s gravest ills: fuel
poverty.
According to official definitions, “a household is said to be in fuel
poverty if it needs to spend more than 10% of its income on fuel to
maintain an adequate level of warmth”; current figures estimate that
there are approximately 4.6 million “fuel poor” households in the UK.
The severity of the problem is such that the Office for National
Statistics calculated that there were 36,700 deaths in the winter of
2008/09 due to the cold weather.
Kingston upon Thames has become the latest target in ongoing attacks against the National Health Service.
Segments of the NHS are to be subject to renewed cuts and transfers
that will see medical care placed in the hands of the private sector.
The news that Cadbury, the iconic chocolate making firm, has accepted a hostile bid from US based Kraft is clearly not good news for Cadbury workers given the huge debt Kraft is currently carrying. In an article wriiten just before the news broke we look at what all this could mean.
It is customary at this time of year to look back over the events of the last 12 months. In this article published in the final issue of Socialist Appeal for 2009, Terry McPartlan takes a trip back over the highs and lows of the year (and decade) now ending.
New Year is meant to represent a new beginning, a clean
slate. Old Father Time gives way to a new bouncing baby. But what can we expect
in 2010? Will it be a new shiny outlook
for world capitalism or will 2009 just seem to be dragging on under a new name?
Earlier this week two
hundred angry North London residents packed into an emergency meeting convened
by Islington’s Labour MP, Jeremy Corbyn, after a government document was leaked
revealing plans to close Archway’s Whittington Hospital Accident &
Emergency department.
The TUC has worked out that the richest folk in the land get
subsidised massively in their old age by the rest of us. No change
there, then. £37bn is set aside by the Treasury as tax relief for
pension funds. This tax break is, of course, worth much more to those
on the higher rate of income tax. They get their hands on 60% of the
£37bn. Of this sum, nearly £10bn is grabbed by the top 1% of the
population, people on more than £150,000 a year.
Saturday November 14th saw the Scottish Defence
League’s attempt at a Glasgow
city centre rally fail miserably. The group spent most of the day confined in a
pub, protected by hundreds of police, before being forced onto chartered buses
in the face of a much larger counter demonstration. However, the story is not
simply one of the far right being driven from the streets by a left wing
demonstration. There are many political lessons to be learned from Saturday’s
events and the lead up to it which are important for those attempting to
effectively oppose the English Defence League and its Scottish ally
The Glasgow North East By-election was billed by political
commentators as a final test for Gordon Brown and his leadership of the Labour
Party. If he was to loose another Labour heartland seat in Glasgow to the Scottish National Party (SNP)
then he would struggle to hold on to his position as party leader. Despite many
early predictions to the contrary, Labour held on to the seat (formerly held by
the speaker and therefore previously benefiting from no opposition from Tories
or Lib-Dems) and actually managed to increase their percentage of the vote. But
this hides the real story. Labour got 3,000 less votes than they did in 2005, these
votes did not fall to the Nationalist, who lost 1,000 votes on last time but
instead fell into mass abstentions making this the lowest turn-out in a
Scottish by-election ever.
Last week, a mob from the English Defence League (EDL), a rag-tag collection of football
‘service crews’ and other assorted hooligan and racist elements, mobilised in
the northern city of Leeds. Clearly hoping to capitalise on their ‘successes’
in Manchester (where they managed to mobilise several hundred people) and Luton
(where the absence of any counter-mobilisation by the labour movement allowed
the EDL’s thugs to attack Muslims in the street), several hundred of these
fascist yobs gathered in City Square. Over 1500 (see picture) came to oppose them.
Internationally, capitalism is
emerging from its worst crisis since the 1930s. There is palpable
relief in the ranks of the ruling class at avoiding a financial
meltdown. However, despite heated talk of green shoots, there is a
universal gloom about the current situation.
While the leaders and lieutenants of capital
continue their assault on the pay, conditions and jobs of workers everywhere,
strikes have broken out sporadically across the UK,
including in transport. As was the case with the bus drivers of Essex and
Greater Manchester, in August the workers of GoNortheast in Washington in the
North-East of England also walked out of pay talks after rejecting a pitiful
offer of just 2% over 18 months.
Waste, big salaries and huge pensions, that’s the image the
Tories are trying to present of the public sector in Britain today. It’s a bit
rich coming from them, at a time when their rich backers in the City of London
have been exposed as a bunch of greedy parasites.
It was only a few months ago that public anger against the banks and an
unprecedented crisis of capitalism seemed to have an almost
revolutionary tone. Public consciousness and official opinion seemed to
have shifted decisively to the left. Yet this rage seems not to have
effected any political change at all and somehow the public debate
(i.e. the editorial line of the press and the rest of the media) has
swung far to the right. But the anger and opposition to bank bailouts
has not disappeared.
In March of this year, the People’s Charter was launched at the House Of Commons and has since been backed by many labour movement organisations, trade union leaderships and the TUC. Based around six demands, the aim is to present a way forward which will ensure that the burden of the preesent crisis is not borne by working people. How effective are these demands? How could they be actually implemented? As part of the discussion which the Charter has opened up, we present the first of a number of articles which will seek to examine these demands from a Marxist perspective.
Nearly two decades ago. Robert Maxwell – former Labour MP, newspaper
tycoon and (so it turned out) conman died after ‘falling’ off his luxury
boat. Soon after all the scandals he was involved in were revealed to
an amazed world. He was living a great big lie and – worst of all – it
was at the expense of those former and then-current employees of the
Maxwell-owned Mirror Group who discovered that their pension fund had been milked dry by Maxwell.
You
couldn’t make it up! About two years ago the banks in Britain, the USA and all over the world began to
go bust. It started over here with Northern Rock and culminated in the USA with the
collapse of the giant Lehman Brothers, the biggest corporate bankruptcy in
history. The problem for governments was that the banks were threatening to
take whole chunks of the capitalist system over the precipice with them. The
banking collapse and the ‘credit crunch’ were the triggers for a general crisis
of capitalism.
Cuts, cuts and even more cuts. This is the
message now being shouted by the leaderships of the Tories, the
Liberal-Democrats and – disgracefully – Labour. Indeed they are all trying to
outdo each other in presenting ever more severe programmes of public spending
cutbacks as part of what has been called a ‘race to the bottom’ on the part of
the three parties.
This Thursday 17th Sept will see a Day Of Action taking place in
support of the sacked Vestas workers. Meetings and rallies will be
taking place all around the country. 600 jobs have been lost at the Vestas
plant on the Isle Of Wight. Workers from the closed factory were at the
TUC in Liverpool this week and got a great reception. The demand
remains: nationalise the factory, keep the jobs.
In Will Hay’s classic farce ‘Oh, Mr Porter!’ the new stationmaster arrives to
be greeted at Buggleskelly ticket office with the words “Next train gone.” For thousands
of travelers on the modern day farce of London Midland network last Sunday it was a case of “No
trains coming.”
Hard on the heels of Donald Trump’s Aberdeen golf complex for
the rich and famous comes an even more exclusive playground, not for the rich,
poor things, but for the super-rich! According to a report in the Scotsman newspaper: ‘The Dall
Estate, on the shores of Loch Rannoch, is set to become a "mini
Monaco" in the heart of the Scottish countryside – a home from home for
billionaires, Russian oligarchs, heads of state, the international glitterati
and Hollywood and sporting superstars.’
Last Saturday, activists from around the country assembled in the Derbyshire town of Codner to protest at the presence in the area of the BNPs "Hate Fest." Here are two reports by supporters of Socialist Appeal who attended the protest.
During the summer much was made of Tory
leader David Cameron’s unfortunate use of the ‘T’ word during a radio
interview. One cartoonist later commentated that he would have got into more
trouble with the Tory hierarchy had he used a different four-letter word,
‘cuts.’ Cameron has gone out of his way not to give the impression that the
Tories will bring in massive public sector cuts should they win the next
general election. Indeed he has gone on
record as saying that the budgets for overseas aid and – more to the point –
the health service will be protected. Can we believe him? We think not.
Although the spin doctors have been hard at work – for them anyway – trying to convince people that the ‘green shoots’ of recovery are starting to appear, the reality is still grim for the UK economy.Company liquidations have gone up by 40% this year according to the Insolvency Service.
A meeting of concerned educators and carers worried by the vague
proposals to reorganise the management of Doncaster’s Pupil Referral
Unit (PRU) was held on July 9th . The proposal to transfer all
Education Outside Schools (EOS) to a School Based Company (SBC) is being dressed up in an attempt to portray a simple cost cutting exercise, with a market driven ethos as a model to provide a better management system for learners who struggle to cope with mainstream education.
Report from a public meeting held by Edinburgh supporters of Socialist Appeal on the ongoing economic crisis effecting millions of workers and poor people across the globe. Speaking were Fred Weston, editor of the website In Defence of Marxism, and Bayo Ogunrufta of the Nigerian Marxists Campaign for a Workers Alternative.
The way that a society treats its old, its sick, its children and
vulnerable people is a barometer of the health of that society as a whole. It
is therefore no wonder that the death of Baby P. had such an effect on the
public consciousness. Why is it then that in 21st Century in Britain
a so called advanced country, that circumstances like this can develop?
Here is a report from the London School Students Union. They are hosting a meeting next Monday 13th July at SOAS at 6.30pm. Ameline Shah will speak on the youth movement in France and the
rest of Europe and her involvement in the French school students’ union
The economic
crash following the so-called ‘credit crunch’ has caused property prices to
nose dive since their peak in 2007. This has led to property developers and
house builders to “retard” their construction projects. The colossal drop in
land prices has served to further irritate this problem because house builders,
who bought land during the peak, have chosen not to build on them yet until,
when they hope, property prices rise again. Also they do not wish to sell the
land due to the massive reduction in its value.
Workers at the Lindsey Oil refinery site have been demonstrating
over redundancies and sackings made by Total, the multinational company that
owns Lindsey, and contractor Shaws. Nearly 650 workers were given their cards
by a management determined to break the union. In a show of equal
determination, workers on other sites around the country have been coming out
in solidarity.
The
unprecedented European and local government electoral advances for the BNP in
the north of England has seen many on the British Left thrown into disarray,
anger and disgust. Whilst all these responses may seem understandable, similar
emotional reactions can be seen present in the organised left’s response to the
BNP, which are characterised by an abject failure to understand the nature of
the BNP or to answer it politically in a meaningful way. As the initial
reaction dissipates it is time that those who are serious about stopping the
BNP recognise the failures of the recent campaign and the need for a response
based around the mobilisation of the working class; it is now clear that we can
rely on no one but ourselves to smash the forces of the far right.
The
European election results were published last Monday, following on
from the local election results of a few days earlier. They showed
Labour behind not just the Tories, but even behind UKIP, a lunatic
fringe party, on just 15% of the vote. What does this mean? What should be done?
The political crisis in Britain that emerged through the MP expenses
scandal has accelerated the crisis in the Labour party. Last week
ministers resigned from Gordon Brown’s cabinet, severely undermining what
little authority New Labour had left. In the european elections New Labour
has suffered it’s worst election result in history, losing areas like
Wales and Scotland for the first time since 1918. The BNP has emerged with
2 MEPs. Hear more at these meetings
With the European elections looming, visit any main town across the
length and breadth of the country during the day and you will be sure
to find BNP activists in smart suits handing out glossy leaflets in the
High Street and their message of "Yes to Putting British People First"
– a message of course earlier put out by Gordon Brown, a message that
has done much to hinder the campaign against the racist BNP.
As the economic crisis deepens across the world the ruling class throughout Europe is launching a fresh offensive against education as it tries to squeeze working class students for as much as they’ve got. In April, education ministers from all over Europe met in Prague to announce the success the of the Bologna process: a Europe wide plan to further open up public education to the pillaging forces of the market.
London Met Police have been accused of using plain clothed officers to
infiltrate the G20 protests held in london this April in order to provoke violence.The accusation has come after several weeks
of shock after news of the death of Ian Tomlinson at police hands and the
injuring of many others.
The furore about MPs
claiming outrageous expenses and resorting to outright fiddling gets
worse by the day. Labour, as the Party in
power for the past twelve years presiding over this scandal, is
facing electoral meltdown. Naturally the Labour ranks are panicking.
Labour appears doomed at the local and European elections on June
4th,
and in the general election over the next year. The situation could
still be turned around but the unions and rank and file will have
to take decisive action and take the Parliamentary Labour Party by
the scruff of the neck.
Redundancies announced at Worcester Technology
College will fall heavily
on lecturing and support staff who provide for the needs of some of the more
disadvantaged students in the college. Worcester College of Technology staff
are shocked at the news that 30 jobs are to be axed in the new academic year.
With the announcement that Michael Martin, The Speaker of the House of Commons, is to stand down in June, the MPs Expenses scandal has claimed its most high profile victim. Rob Sewell looks at this developing political crisis in Britain and explains the real background to it.
We received this piece from a young supporter of Socialist Appeal. The article shows how many young people are beginning to think about the ugly reality behind the shops they buy their clothes and accessories from: sweat-shops, child labour and vicious exploitation of the workers that produce these commodities. Young people, increasingly aware of these horrors, want to do something to show solidarity with the workers. This instinctive internationalism we welcome wholeheartedly.
The MPs expenses scandal – based on nicked data ‘obtained’ by the Daily Torygraph has become the talking point of the day. Around the country people are furious that these same publicly paid MPs, who tell us all to cut back and grandly complain about every minor infringement of benefit claims, have taken expense claim fiddling to a level undreamt off by most of us – and it’s not just a few ‘bad eggs’ either. Nearly all of them seem to be at it! Mick Brooks now takes a light look at this scandal and makes a few biting points at their – for once – expense.
This Wednesday 13th May at Bolivar Hall in London
OCCUPY! The Factory Occupation Movement in Venezuela and London.
7.00pm start. Videos and Speakers. Admission Free.
On the day that the Pakistani army continued to be bogged down in a ferocious battle against the Taliban inside its own borders and yet another British soldier was killed in Afghanistan, the one hundred and fifty third since 2001, it is evident that the British military is engaged in a war it cannot win. Defence Minister Bob Ainsworth has outlined desperate measures which entail a wholesale reform of the Territorial Army. Gone forever will be the image of a glorified Dad’s Army as the TA is to be integrated with the rest of the army and better prepared for wars abroad.
Editorial.The events around the G20 demonstrations have underlined the fact that, when working people stand up against capitalism, sooner or later we come slap up against the capitalist state. The police were talking up the prospects of violence well before the G20 began. Ian Tomlinson was killed by riot police on his way home. He wasn’t even part of the demonstration against the G20, just a worker going about his business. Complaints and evidence about heavy-handed and brutish policing are pouring in. Des Heemskerk led a group of workers in Basildon, concerned only about protecting their jobs, to occupy their factory – Visteon. They came up against police in full riot gear with slavering dogs on hand.
Poor old Gordon Brown, down in the polls as his part in destroying the lives of millions of working people through his mismanagement of the economy is exposed to all. With his attempts to smear the Tories blowing up in his own face, things aren’t going so well for him. He thought a cabinet meeting in Glasgow, away from the City and Fleet Street, might do some good for his popularity. He was wrong.
What can you say to your son when he asks, “Why is my life so sh*te?” All you can do is listen and sympathise.
Twenty years after the event it would be fair to say that almost all football fans who went to a game that day will remember exactly where they were at 3.06pm on Saturday 15th April 1989, the day of the Hillsborough disaster. They will have little or no memory of the game they watched and what happened in it. What they will remember is groups of people on the terraces standing around radios listening as the terrible news unfolded. What they will remember is the look on the faces of players as they came out onto the pitch to start the second half, having heard the news during the break. What they will remember is the terrible silence as people left the grounds just wishing to be home, many long before the final whistle.
Video evidence now proves that the man killed at the G20 demonstration, Ian Tomlinson, was the victim of an unprovoked attack by the police. The labour movement must demand the suspension of the officers involved, the pressing of criminal charges, the organisation of effective workers’ committees to ensure safety on demonstrations, and the right to assemble freely without fear of violence.
The media has been trying – not too convincingly – to claim
that the brutal response of the police in London of the past few days was a
necessary response to violent anti-G20 demonstrators. All those who
participated in the events saw a different picture, a police force intent on
provoking violence. This is clearly part of a plan to portray the peaceful
protestors as "violent", in effect an attempt to criminalise ordinary people
protesting. Here is an eyewitness account.
Around 35 thousand people packed into central London on Saturday 28th of March in a militant protest at the upcoming G20 summit.Under the slogan of “Put people first” the demonstrators aimed to bring world leaders to heel over the economic crisis.
Workers across all industries are feeling the squeeze as the bosses try to pass on the costs of the recession to them. Some workers are getting below-inflation pay-rises. Others are getting no pay rise at all. However, most would take for-granted that, if they remain in work, they will be paid something for their labour. But at King’s College London they are advertising a post which pays nothing at all.The post is voluntary! The college ‘generously’ offers to reimburse expenses!
Britain’s commercial television industry is in crisis. Channel 4 has announced plans to cut 150 jobs next year (from a total workforce of 1,000), and has reduced its programme budget by £25m, after already cutting £15m from last year’s budget. Britain’s newest Channel, Five, has announced 87 job cuts (nearly a third of its workforce). But one of the bleakest stories is that of Britain’s oldest commercial broadcaster, ITV. They have forecast the recent wave of job cuts to reach the 1,000 mark by the middle of this year, along with a £65m cut in their £1billion programming budget, putting an end to many popular programmes, including high-end costume dramas.
March 23rd saw the BNP once again make another ugly appearance on the streets of Glasgow, the second time they have done so in three days. On this occasion they could only muster two supporters, seemingly their hardcore in the west of Scotland. As usual this pair carried out their Laurel and Hardy style act with the big intimidating one, complete with scary red bobble hat, remaining silent as the smaller overly confident character spewed out a range of contradictory positions and bigoted lies.
Further to our previous article the government has been defeated on their own attempt to stop a clear Labour Party manifesto commitment from gaining the force of law. On Friday 13th March a private member’s Bill moved by Lindsey Hoyle gained a second reading after being passed by 85 votes to 17. This is a small but significant victory, won against government skulduggery.
The government has announced that workers who are stressed out by the financial worries will receive free counselling on the NHS; I always thought that the NHS was free at the point of use anyway. What is behind this announcement is the fact that the government has recognised that it will have to boost mental health and increase the number of psychologists to provide a support network to help those who develop depression from the stress the recession is putting on individuals and families.
The workers of Britain are facing 20 years
of austerity, not seen since the inter-war period. Whoever wins the next
general election – whether it be Labour or Tory – they will be forced to go
onto the offensive against the working class. But we can already see the
outlines of the future class struggle in this country, which will create the
conditions in which Marxism can gain the ear of the workers. [This text is
based on a speech given by Rob Sewell at the recent conference of Socialist
Appeal , the Marxist tendency in Britain].
At the beginning of this month comrades
from up and down the country met in London for the National Conference of the
Socialist Appeal, the British group supporting the International Marxist
Tendency.
The British Marxist tendency met last year
as the economic crisis had begun to affect British capitalism. This year the
system in Britain and internationally shows no sign of emerging from the
recession it has plunged into, overshadowing the bourgeoisies’ celebrations of
the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin wall, which they saw as the ‘final
victory’ of capitalism.
Comrades left
in high spirits determined to build the forces of Marxism throughout Britain,
as our part in the fight for socialism internationally.
The chances of a referendum on Scottish independence appear increasingly distant following a Scottish parliamentary vote in favour of a resolution condemning moves towards one. This is a huge blow to the SNP self-declared Scottish Government that is committed to holding a referendum before the current parliament ends in 2011. However the vote has also done little for a Labour Party that has lost all sense of direction, as its leadership exposes itself as utterly unable to capitalise on the SNP’s fall from grace.
In a sign of the increasing anger at job losses, workers at BMW’s Mini factory in Cowley, Oxford threw fruit at union officials when they heard they were to be sacked with one hour’s notice on Monday 16 February. Management at the Mini factory had minutes earlier told the weekend shift of 850 workers that they were being made redundant.
As socialists we absolutely support the movement of the workers of the Prisme Packaging Plant in fighting for their right to work and pay.
Maureen a worker of the factory for 13 years spoke of the optimistic
mood amongst the workers in the factory “We have decided to continue
our fight to put this company to shame. We have to fight for our
rights. The support we have had has been tremendous, totally amazing."
This shows only in a small part the growing radicalisation of the
working class of not only Scotland but also of the United Kingdom as a
whole.
Following on from the Hooper Report, the
government is proposing to part-privatise Royal Mail, the letter delivery arm
of the Post Office. There’s no silly nonsense about putting the arrangement out
to tender so we the taxpayers get the best deal either. They’ve already lined
up TNT to take 30% of Royal Mail. The announcement has roused fury among
millions of people – trade unionists and just ordinary people who use Royal
Mail, which is pretty well everyone. Why mess about with something that works
well? We have the cheapest postal service in Western Europe. We are the only
country in the European Union that still has a Saturday delivery.
As the
capitalist crisis deepens, more and more workers are coming under attack.
Vodafone has just announced huge lay-offs. There are plans to axe 1,000 jobs on
the railways. The sacking of 850 agency workers at the Cowley car plant in
Oxford is the latest in a string of redundancies. They received no redundancy
pay, no holiday pay and no sickness pay. All they were offered was their P45s
and a week’s wages. Wage freezes have also become common in the last period. Short-time
working has spread with Toyota closing its factory for four weeks.
High-ranking British police officers
have expressed concern that the country may be facing an outburst of street
protests. Superintendent David Hartshorn, head of the Metropolitan police’s
public order branch, and one of the highest ranking police officers in the
country, in an interview with The Guardian newspaper, spoke of the
possibility of riots like those that rocked the country in the 1980s, erupting
later this year as people who lose their jobs, homes or savings become
"footsoldiers" in a wave of violent mass protests.
The State Pension was
established 100 years ago on 1st January 1909. This followed a ten
year campaign by social reformers and the Trade Union Movement.Pensions should be a right for those who have worked all
their lives. Instead the government is looking to whittle away the fragile
gains of a century of struggle.
The welfare ‘reform’ measures currently wending their way through Parliament are so right wing you might have thought they were drafted by the Tories. Funny you should mention it…David Freud, who drafted the White Paper on which the bill is based, has just defected to the Conservatives. This shows two things:
He’s a rat leaving what he sees as a sinking ship
New Labour sucking up to the Tories with anti-working class policies just paves the way for the real thing to take over and put the boot in further.
Poor old Alex Salmond. Things
haven’t been going too well for him lately. Maybe it was one too many whiskeys
with their Burns Suppers, but the Scottish National Party Government seems to
be stumbling from one embarrassment to another. First they couldn’t get their
“recession beating” budget passed on the first go. Then they were forced to
back down on their flagship policy to scrap council tax, apparently due to a
lack of “parliamentary consensus”. And then, just to add insult to injury Iain
Gray, the Scottish Labour Party leader, slammed the SNPs plans for an
independence referendum.
Coupled to the Bologna Process, though not explicitly included in
it, has been the privatisation of education and all that this entails. So now
not only are students faced with the fact that they will have to work harder
and longer hours for a shorter period of time, that the costs of their
education will also increase (so working on top of the hours required for
studying becomes more of a strain) but also that their courses may end up being
influenced by some company who’s only real interest in to create profit out of
the process…
The Private
Finance Initiative was always bonkers. The idea was that, instead of the
government borrowing to build infrastructural projects, they would hand the job
over to a private consortium to raise the money.This was
always daft. The government was always the safest borrower in town. When did
you last hear of a government going bust? Because its loans are completely
safe, the government can borrow at a cheaper rate than anyone else.
Yesterday it was David Blunkett and his
privately funded trip to South Africa, which he forgot to own up to. Today it
is Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and her £116,000 expenses claim. According to
the BBC: ‘Ms Smith reportedly claimed £116,000 in expenses for her home in
Redditch, Worcestershire, after telling the Commons that her sister’s home –
where she stays while in London – was her main residence.’ The tax-free
Additional Cost Allowance is worth up to £24,006 a year at present.
Boris Johnson,
Mayor of London, was the man who didn’t let the buses go out during the snow in
London on Monday 2nd February because he thought it was dangerous.
So how did he
expect people to get in to work? Now he’s docking transport staff a day’s pay for
not making it in. The managers who are making the threat are claiming that they
were ‘working from home.’ So they get their money.
David
Blunkett has been rapped over the knuckles by the Parliamentary Commissioner
for Standards. Apparently the former Minister ‘forgot’ to register a trip to
South Africa paid for by a private training company.
Blunkett,
as a former Minister in charge of the Department for Work and pensions, was a
big fan of opening up the administration of the welfare service to the private
sector. No wonder. Sheffield-based firm A4e is bidding for a whole raft of
multi-million pound contracts under New Labour’s misnamed welfare reform
programme. And they find Blunkett’s services well worth purchasing.
In these recessionary times the fear of a
future with no income amongst redundant workers is persuading some to part with
all their cash in return for future wealth and riches – only to find themselves
bankrupt and maybe homeless. This is a legal form of
ripping you off, with the rise of the some of the worst kind of leeches to prey
on the real victims of the economic downturn. This cost me and by wife £50,000, and hundreds
of other hard working people have lost tens of thousands of pounds to this form
of legalised extortion.
Campaigners to keep Tyne and Wear
Metro, Britain’s best-performing railway, in the public sector, have condemned
the publication of a list of ‘approved bidders’ that brings the network’s
operations a step closer to privatisation. Around 250 RMT members employed by the
Tyne and Wear passenger transport executive Nexus are to be balloted for strike action over the threat
to jobs and conditions posed by moves to privatise the network’s operations.
Public transport in London, that kept going throughout the blitz, pathetically
came to a halt on Monday February 2nd because of a few inches of
snow – or rather because of cost-cutting by private firms keener to make a fast
buck than to provide a decent service to Londoners. The whole public transport
system, rail and buses alike, is privately owned and run for profit. Staff did
their best to keep the service going, but they weren’t helped by management
cheese-paring. As far as they are concerned, workers are just a cost that needs
cutting back.
n light of the recent Israeli attacks on Gaza, people in Britain and around the world have come out to demonstrate and show their disgust at the imperialist attacks of the Israeli state and its funding and support from both the UK and the USA. On the 10th of January supporters of Socialist Appeal attended the Palestinian Solidarity demonstration in Edinburgh.
Around 300
people gathered in the centre of Cambridge last
Saturday in the biggest demonstration yet since Israel
began its assault on Gaza
a few weeks ago. A noisy rally was held in front of the Guildhall before a short
march through the town centre as shoppers were treated to the loud rallying cry,
‘Free, free Palestine, occupation is a crime!’
The
events of the past year or so, financial meltdown, political instability,
uncertainty over jobs and the threat that many workers could lose their homes
represents a huge shift in society, both internationally and especially in
Britain where the effects of the “credit crunch” have been particularly acute.
In the context of such a deep crisis the halcyon days of the “feel good factor”
and the “15 years of unbroken economic growth”, seem like ancient history.
Whose fault is it that nearly 30,000 workers have lost their jobs
with the closure of all the Woolworths stores? Not the workers, that’s for
sure. We are due to see an avalanche of job losses after Christmas. Unemployment
is nearly 2 million already, and due to hit 3 million in 12 months’ time. None
of these workers deserve to lose their jobs. They are the victims of a
capitalist system that is just not working. How can we make things better? If
we fight for work or full pay, the bosses would soon find them something to do.
In 1848 The Communist Manifesto opened with the line, "A spectre is
haunting Europe – the spectre of communism. " The spectre of Marx haunts
world capitalism still.The years of steadily rising living standards, of relatively full employment
have gone, never to return. This year, and for years to come, workers look with
trepidation at their future. Will they have a job? Will they still have a roof
over their heads?
The government has thrown its weight behind the
Hooper Report and decided to sell 30% of its stake in Royal Mail.
The background to all this is that Royal
Mail has been making shed loads of profit for us as a publicly owned company
for years. The trouble was that the Treasury has been using the Post office as
a milch cow all that time, siphoning off all the money. Then the government
complains that the firm hasn’t invested. No wonder!
2008 makes for a sad story, and in 2009, the working class will
begin really paying for it. Some of the worst to be affected will be young
unskilled workers; cleaners, shop-workers and caterers, like myself. Minimum
wage workers at the best of times, we have, during the period of boom (which
apparently was the last 10 years, although no one told us) eked out an
existence, hovering from one place to the next for as long as moral holds out.
Most I have worked with were young, often migrants, demoralised but unorganised
and so usually without contracts of employment and subject to very poor working
conditions.
Buried on page 11 of the Guardian on 1st
November is an article, extremely enlightening in its simplicity, reporting the
‘news’ that during office Blair was only too happy to do Rupert Murdoch’s bidding.
According to Lance Price, former Downing Street
spin doctor, Murdoch was ‘one of the four most influential people in the
administration’. Never mind that he was totally unelected, not actually a part
of any ‘administration’, or that he is a US citizen whose company (News Corp.)
pays no net tax.
If you’re a fan of the writer George
Orwell then you may find Gordon Brown’s recent proposals to install lie
detectors into phone lines at benefit offices frighteningly reminiscent of the
novel ‘1984’, which was about a draconian totalitarian state that constantly
monitored its citizens, and brain washed them into submission. Well, it seems
that Orwell was only 24 years out.
One of our regular readers sent this letter to the Prime Minister. Strangely, he did not get a reply
The economic and financial crisis has dominated the whole year. Speculation and uncertainty in the US led to the price of oil hitting
$100 a barrel by January 2nd, followed shortly after by the first stock
market crash of the year amid fears of a global recession caused by
last year’s crisis in the sub-prime mortgage market. The world has entered perhaps the most disturbed period in the whole of human history.
Saturday 13th
December saw fascists once again attempt to organise in Glasgow’s city centre.
A few weeks ago it was the pleasantly named and completely ineffective ‘Racial
Volunteers Squad’ who were intimidated just by the sight of the number of left
wingers who were also handing out propaganda on Buchannan Street. However this Saturday saw those fine
defenders of white nationalism, the racist British National Party attempting to
distribute their paper, the aptly titled ‘Voice of Freedom’ to unwitting members
of the public.
The recent much
publicised arrest of Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green
has led to acres of newsprint
being used up by normally establishment papers in
defence of Mr Green and the tradition of whistleblowing.However are we not seeing double standards
here? When it is a right wing MP leaking stuff about immigration then it is all
OK, but when it is a trade unionist revealing management lies being perpetrated
in the public sector or in government then it is quite a different story.
For us, another world is not only possible but also
necessary. However, to achieve all this, to get our ideas out to workers,
students, homeworkers, unemployed and all those who find capitalism to
be lacking, we need your support. At this festive (although not so
festive for the thousands now facing losing their job or having a cut
in salary) it is traditional to make a special appeal for donations to
help build our resources.
Single parents and those on incapacity benefits are due to
suffer as a result of government rule changes. From now they will be
transferred from Income Support to Job Seeker’s Allowance. They will have to
show they are ‘genuinely seeking work.’ If not, their benefits could be cut by
up to 40%. This is workfare on the way.
What a difference a few months make! In the summer Gordon
Brown was on the ropes. Over the past couple of months he has picked up a
thoroughly undeserved reputation as the ‘saviour of the world economy.’ Brown has embraced Keynesian policies wholeheartedly,
without explaining his U-turn. His solution to our economic ills is to hurl
money at them. ‘Never apologise, never explain’, seems to be his motto. So what
is making Brown look good? The Tories, that’s what.
As our editorial last month pointed out,
what killed the citizens of Pompeii was not the pyrotechnics of the explosion
of Mount Vesuvius, but the resulting ash that choked the people. It is
possible, though not inevitable, that we have seen the worst of the banking
collapse. But the results are destroying jobs all over Britain.
Buried on page 11 of the Guardian on 1st
November is an article, extremely enlightening in its simplicity, reporting the
‘news’ that during office Blair was only too happy to do Rupert Murdoch’s bidding.
According to Lance Price, former Downing Street
spin doctor, Murdoch was ‘one of the four most influential people in the
administration’. Never mind that he was totally unelected, not actually a part
of any ‘administration’, or that he is a US citizen whose company (News Corp.)
pays no net tax.
"ANDREA: Unhappy the land that has no heroes!"
"GALILEO: No, unhappy the land that needs heroes."
Bertolt Brecht (The Life of Galileo)
He is the
Hero of the Hour, the man who single-handedly has saved the world financial
system from meltdown. When all around were panicking and in despair, here was a
man who kept his head and, emanating a sense of absolute calm akin to the
Buddhist Nirvana, issued the command that re-established the Order of the
Universe. Nothing remotely similar has been seen since that far-off time just
before the Big Bang when the Almighty pronounced the immortal words: Let there
be Light. And there was Light. And God saw the Light, that it was good.
A vote at the Employment and Social Affairs
Committee of the European Parliament could signal an end to the British opt-out
from the Working Time Directive. Of particular significance was the unanimous
vote of British Labour MEPs to kill it. This is in sharp contrast to the
determination of New Labour in Whitehall to keep the opt-out – at the expense
of the British working class. The resoluteness of our MEPs, in behaving like
real Labour representatives, has rightly been described as an “embarrassment”
to the UK government.
Come and hear Jesus Pino from the
Revolutionary Front of Steel Workers (SIDOR). He is speaking at the Hands Off
Venezuela National Conference in London
in less than two week’s time. He will speak about the struggle to nationalise
the steel industry and the fight for workers’ control in Venezuela. The
nationalisation of SIDOR earlier this year was a direct outcome of a militant
struggle by the steel workers themselves. This shows the direction that the
Venezuelan Revolution is taking and highlights the need to complete the tasks
of expropriating the Oligarchy.
The situation of financial crisis, coupled
with a hugely unpopular Westminster government that has found itself entirely
incapable of coming up with any solutions
beyond throwing more and more of our money at the banks, would seem a
perfect opportunity for the SNP to make their mark and assert the need for an
independent Scotland. With unemployment poised to reach two million and share
prices continuing to fall at the SNP conference, Alex Salmond has been reduced
to calling for the return of ‘Scotland’s money’ and blaming the collapse of
Scottish banks on the Union. Supposedly independence will save us from such
catastrophes in the future.
After a long drawn out process the Scottish
Government has controversially granted infamous American tycoon turned
television celebrity Donald Trump permission to build a luxury golf resort in
rural Aberdeenshire. It will feature two golf courses and hundreds of private
homes and is set to be the most expensive golf resort in the world. The plans
have faced widespread opposition and the means used to finally secure their
approval has only exposed the reality of our allegedly democratic system and
the slavish attitude of the SNP government towards big business.
The case of Binyam Mohamed is a national disgrace. Binyam
faces trial before the Military Commissions at Guantamo, which all fair-minded
people regard as kangaroo courts. The US administration is desperately trying
to wangle a few convictions in order to justify keeping suspects locked up for
years and torturing them at Guantamo Bay. Binyam faces the death penalty, but
his defence has a problem. They cannot procure the evidence that could save
him. The US government refuses to release the documents.
Sooner or later the financial tsunami will run into the sand, but in
its wake the real economy will be left in recession. The immediate
crisis will have abated, but the sludge, mud, sewage and devastation
lasts much longer. They’re still mopping up the mud from the 2007
floods… how long will the recession last and how deep will it go?
New Labour has climbed down before big business again, on the issue of a windfall tax on the energy companies. Brown’s pathetic advice, that the elderly should wrap up warm and
switch off lights when prices go up, makes you wonder whether we voted
for Labour or the Big Six gas and electricity companies to run the
country in the last election.
Parliament will once again be discussing the Human Fertilization and
Embryology Bill in October. Once again battle is joined between those
who defend the right for women to decide over their own bodies, and
those who want the state to do it for them. This time, however, there
is room for improvements to existing legislation – not just calls to
turn the clock back fifty years.
On Wednesday, (October 1st,
2008) around one hundred people gathered in Bolívar Hall in
London to attend the launching of the English language edition of
Alan Woods’ latest book, Reformism or Revolution – A Reply to
Heinz Dieterich. The event was organised by Hands Off Venezuela
and Wellred,
the Marxist Publishing House. Comrade Rob Sewell, editor of Socialist
Appeal, chaired the meeting and introduced the two speakers,
Samuel Moncada, Venezuelan Ambassador and Alan Woods himself.
The Banks are going down like ninepins. It’s just over a year ago that
Northern Rock went bust. That was the first time we heard of the
‘credit crunch’ – the fact that banks were nervous of lending to each
other. Why? Because they realised the whole financial system was stood
on an unstable house of cards of credit. The pyramid had been built up
over years of mad speculation. They had got to the stage where they did
not know which bits of coloured paper in their vaults were sound and
which were non-performing toxins.
Boris Johnson defends capitalism.
“Go on.
Admit it. You don’t feel altogether sorry for those bankers, do you? When you
read about the collapsing pillars of the temples of mammon, you don’t feel the
tears beginning to prick the corner of your eyes.
“When you
read that the masters and mistresses of the Universe are being expelled from
their glass palaces, ferrying their possessions in cardboard boxes, you can’t
quite find it in you, somehow, to mourn…”
In
response to coup plotting in both Bolivia and Venezuela, the Hands Off
Venezuela Campaign, together with several other Latin American
solidarity organisations, organised a picket outside the US Embassy in
London followed by a highly successful public meeting, where all
speakers and participants condemned the manoeuvres of US imperialism
and pledged themselves to keep up the solidarity activity.
In the first part, Ed dealt with the housing shortage, the renting crisis and the attack on public housing. Here he deals with home ownership and outlines a socialist programme.
In the absence of decent rented accommodation, thousands of people look to
buy in order to get a roof over their heads. But this is a major problem for
people. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors estimates that
affordability for first-time buyers has fallen by 351% over the last 10 years. Equally,
repossessions were up 20% during 2007, which hit an eight-year high.
Living in Britain in the 21st century we should all at least expect to have decent a
decent place to live at an affordable price. Having your own place should not be
down to luck or to a ‘dream’ of owning your own home: it should be your
right. We all should expect that amidst the massive wealth of British
society all people who live here can at least have a decent home – is
this really too much to ask?
The
Observer (17.08.08) ran a front page headline “Health chief attacks drug giants
over huge profits.” Sir Michael Rawlins hit out after the National Institute
for Clinical Excellence (NICE) was accused of ‘barbarism’ for refusing to
approve expensive kidney drugs. NICE said the drugs ‘only’ gave the patient an
extra few months of life. We wonder if they would be so insouciant if it were their
lives on the line?
“We
are told we are being mean all the time, but what nobody mentions is why the
drugs are so expensive,” Rawlins commented.
£8.80 for a 39 hour week!
The ‘Guardian’ reported (30.06.08) “After a 39-hour week, one man took home
£8.80 when his monthly rent of £155 was deducted in one week. Another man
worked a 70-hour week, earning £420, but was not paid overtime and after having
£228 deducted for repayment on tools was left with £66. A third man worked a
40-hour week but was left with £13 after paying £155 for a month’s rent. As
self-employed workers they received no holiday pay.
Alan Ritchie, general secretary of Ucatt, said: "This case is the worst
we have seen. These workers were virtually destitute.
The SNP victory
in the Glasgow East by-election certainly marks a new low in the recent history
of the Scottish Labour Party but the question is now posed: does it mark the
seismic shift in Scottish politics that Alex Salmond has declared?
Just
when you think it can’t get any worse for Gordon Brown, it does. New Labour has
succeeded in losing the Glasgow East by-election. Glasgow East is a solid
working class area with one of the finest labour movement traditions on the
country. It has been a Labour heartland for generations.
Wasn’t it good of
Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, not to accept a pay rise of
£100,000? What a model/example of restraint to us all! Instead he would only
take 2.5% pay increase each year for the next five years, out of his annual
salary of £289,551. We must feel sorry for him. That means he will only get a
bit more than £7,000 pay increase this year. How did anyone work out that he
should get such a pay rise in the first place? The way the economy has been going
over the last year, it can’t be.
Readers of Socialist Appeal would have heard the
headlines this week about the delay in supplying the SATs results for schools
and the damage that this is causing. Apart from the late delivery, and the
whole issue that SATs as a form of assessment are not good education in the
first place, one of the critical issues about the current situation has largely
been missing from these headline reports.
The second World on Your
Doorstep (WOYD) festival took place in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, over the
weekend of the 19th and 20th July. WOYD is a world music festival, celebrating
the diverse cultures, music and traditions of West Yorkshire and the long
history of migration into the area from all parts of the world.
The
judicial House of Lords has recently ruled that pleural plaque (scarring of the
lung – a condition caused by breathing in asbestos) is not an industrial
illness for which compensation can be claimed. This reverses twenty years of
common law practice. What do the Law Lords know about it? Asbestosis related
conditions are not exactly an occupational hazard for judicial bigwigs.
Even the bourgeois press has admitted that
the sudden shift in world economic fortunes has brought Marxism ‘back from the
dead’ – the Sunday Times ran an article last week under the title ‘The credit
crunch is bringing Marxism back into fashion’. From our perspective, Marxism is
not a fashion or a strange breed of animal, as the bourgeoisie like to kid
themselves, but the only answer to today’s problems. And as the deep crisis of
world capitalism comes more and more to the surface, more and more people will
seek our ideas. This was shown by the turnout of more than 30 at ULU Marxist
Society and Socialist Appeal’s Marxist
Day School on Saturday 12th
July.
The unexpected by-election in the Glasgow East constituency
has focussed the attention of the political parties and the media on a part of
Clydeside which it has long been fashionable to ignore. At the
general election Labour obtained a majority of 13,500 over the SNP candidate,
gaining 60.7% of the vote. If ever Labour had a safe seat it was Glasgow East.
This has led to the constituency being taken for granted and systematically neglected.
In Greater Glasgow, life expectancy is below the national average at 70.7
years. In the Calton ward of Glasgow East it is just 53.9 years, a figure
comparable with many ‘third world’ countries.
A government Report has confirmed what everybody already knew. The
‘liberalisation’ of the postal service has benefited big business, but
not ordinary people. This is no surprise. The Post Office works on a ‘one price goes
everywhere’ principle. The monopoly on letters enables the huge volume
of business to business mail from and to central London head offices to
in effect subsidise highland crofters and little old ladies who live on
remote Scottish islands keeping in touch with their loved ones. Does
anyone have a problem with that?
Pressures
have been building up in British society. High house prices, fuel and food
price increases and pay restraint and cuts particularly in the public sector
are all having a huge effect on workers. It’s obvious that there’s going to be
a change and the longer it is delayed the worse the storm is when it eventually
breaks.
At present gas prices are going up by 13.6%
in Britain. They’re rising by just 2% in the Netherlands. Prices are 25% higher
here than on the continent. By the end of the year household bills will be
£1,323 a year. This is twice as high as when Labour was elected in 1997. Some
estimate household bills could hit £1,500 next winter.
Public
sector pay is big news this summer. In fact, contrary to what the weather
forecasters might tell you, it could be a decidedly warm one. It doesn’t take a
lot to work out why either. Public sector workers are being made to pay for the
New Labour meltdown. Pay restraint is intimately tied into the government’s
finances and that means dinner ladies and civil servants footing the bill not
only for the ongoing occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan but also for the black hole
in public spending courtesy of the ex board members of Northern Rock. Alistair
Darling’s plea that the need to keep inflation under control "applies to each
and every one of us" will ring hollow in the ears of the civil servants
and other workers on the minimum wage or a marginally better pittance.
The bosses
are over the moon. “Boris Johnson’s London
will be a Tory laboratory” trumpets the Daily Telegraph (May 4th). That makes David Cameron their Doctor
Frankenstein. Don’t let anybody
fall for the line that it can’t get worse after Blair and Brown. Already one of Johnson’s top aide’s has had to
resign for saying about immigrants who don’t like Tory policies "Well,
let them go (back) if they don’t like it here."
Brief as it was woeful, Wendy Alexander’s
leadership of the Labour Party in Scotland has come to an end.
Alexander was forced to resign after being given a one day ban from parliament
for breaking rules regarding donations for her campaign to become Labour Party
leader. Her actions were illegal – no doubt about it. No one is quite sure why
such large sums of cash were needed for what in effect became a coronation,
given the lack of an opposition candidate.
In the Mental Health Trust
where I work, now a Foundation Trust, the primary anxiety for workers is not
about pay but about the future of their jobs. Of course, rising prices and
a lousy pay deal – coupled with the Trust’s intention to hold an across
the board ‘banding review’ – piles on the pressure, but the fact that
repeated structural changes, resulting in cuts in the management structure,
have saved no real money and, now, all vacant posts have been abolished
(rather than frozen, as has been usual in the past) has drawn attention to
a very pressing threat to jobs.
An undercover police officer tried to provoke violence at the ‘Stop
Bush’ demonstration. These are the allegations made by George Galloway
MP. We publish below his letter to the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. We
find his evidence compelling and the allegation disturbing. Is the
British state using provocateurs against us? The labour movement will
want an answer.
The government is trying to push a proposal through Parliament to
increase the length of time a suspect can be detained without charge to 42
days. What argument does the government use as excuse for eliminating rights
and liberties we have defended for hundreds of years? Not much. The authorities
present the ‘war against terror’ as one that demands secrecy on their part.
They hint darkly that lives are at risk if they tell us what they know, but
that the situation is grim. Trust us!
The political landscape in Britain is changing before our
very eyes. This morning’s prominent TV news is of the tanker drivers’ strike,
showing scenes of pickets with Red Flags turning away lorries at Shell
refineries. The next item is the deepening government crisis, followed by a
warning from Gazprom that oil prices could reach $250 a barrel. It was like a
typical news bulletin of the 1970s.
Has someone been pinching your manhole covers? Basically any piece of metal that’s not screwed down is being slurped up. The opening up of the giant Chinese, Russian and Indian markets has
pushed scrap metal prices through the roof. Raw materials and new metal
production cannot keep pace with the demand, so they are begging,
borrowing and stealing anything that can be re-smelted to feed the
ravenous beast. Scrap metal prices have increased
by 95 per cent. Who is making all the money from this new boom? The UK scrap metal industry is now a staggering £1.1 billion.
Proof that where’s there’s muck there’s brass.
In the first part of this article on the poverty of life in Britain
we looked at the experience of working people in the workplace. In this
section our focus is on what is called the social wage. This is the
social provision of goods and services that working people cannot,
unlike the rich, provide for themselves individually. It includes such
things as health services, education, pensions, support if you become
unemployed, and local services such as swimming pools or meals on
wheels for the elderly.
The recent ballot by members of the Police Federation who
voted overwhelmingly to press for full industrial rights including, ultimately,
the right to strike is evidence of the understandable anger and disillusionment
currently felt by rank and file police officers at the derisory pay increase
they have been offered, at a time when the price of many of life’s essentials
is rising so sharply.
Boris Johnson, new Mayor of London, has started as he
intended to go on. He introduced an alcohol ban on London Underground without
any preparation and without putting staff in place to enforce the ban.
Inevitably the ban was challenged last Saturday night. Tube staff were left on
their own to deal with drunken revellers in addition to running a transport
system, as they had warned in advance. They were left at the sharp end of
Johnson’s self-publicising antics.
The water companies were privatised by the Tories to harness
‘the dynamism of private enterprise’ to the water industry. Most people at the
time didn’t realise there was a problem with the water supply. They could turn
a tap on any time and water rates were low. There’s a problem now – the problem
is private ownership.
A few days ago London’s Tory mayor, Boris Johnson, scrapped
the discounted oil deal with the Venezuelan government which allowed half price
bus fares for Londoners on income support.
The election of Boris Johnson as London Mayor in May should be met with
foreboding. This is not good for train operators or working people in
and around London. Boris appears to be born not only with a silver
spoon in his mouth (having been educated in Eton), but also a foot. We
should not be taken in by the appearance of barmy Boris.
The wealth in the UK today is the product of the labour of
working people. The problem is that they do not control how that wealth is
distributed. The value that they have created over and above what they receive
in their pay packets is appropriated by the owners of industry who ensure,
through their State apparatus, that the lion’s share is creamed off to those
who already have more than enough for their needs. The present leaders of the Labour Party are tied hand
and foot to the interests of the rich, the capitalist class. A new leadership
of the Party is required that will harness social wealth to provide for all.
The Crewe by-election, with an 18% swing to the Tories,
confirms that they are on target for a landslide win in the next general
election. Railway workers and other working class people who have voted Labour
for generations have finally had enough. The betrayals and disappointments of
New Labour have caused these electors to break the habit of a lifetime. Make no
mistake about it. Mass working class abstentions have done for Brown and his
witless crew.
This is the first of two articles looking at the decline in the quality
of life for working people in Britain today. This first article focuses
on the workplace, where there has been relative decline in wages and
deterioration in the conditions of employment. The second part looks at
the attack on the ‘social wage’. This consists of the services and
facilities we access such as health care, education, public transport
and local services – all of which contribute towards the quality of
life for working people in modern society. They form the provision in
society of things working people, unlike the rich, could not afford to
buy individually but provided on behalf of people by the State.
Together the two elements – direct wages and the social wage – provide
our quality of life, but both are now under attack, creating an
impoverished life in Britain for working people.
Marxism is the memory box of the class, but more than that it is a
means to an end, a weapon in the hands of the working class. We don’t
stand aside and carp like the sectarians, but play a role in the
movement and try to develop the struggles that take place. This is
precisely the approach that Marx advocated in the ‘Communist Manifesto’
160 years ago.
The class struggle arises from the conditions of life of human beings.
It’s a struggle of living forces; there are complicated and
complicating factors. Different industries have different conditions;
there are different traditions of struggle, different forms of
organisation, different political conditions over time and different
leaders.
Wendy Alexander, leader of the Labour Party in Scotland has
declared that the SNP Government should “bring on” a referendum on independence
and has gone as far as to not rule out a bill calling for a poll earlier than
the Nationalist administration’s proposed date of 2010. This has resulted in
the issue of Scottish independence making a large impact on the national media
for the first time since the SNP’s victory in the Scottish Parliament elections
in May of last year. It has also unleashed a potential Pandora’s Box that is
threatening to divide the Labour leadership in Scotland from the national
leadership.
The 27th
April marked the 40th anniversary of the coming into force of the
1967 Abortion Act that led to the saving of thousands of women’s lives. The Act
allowed women in England, Wales and Scotland access to safe abortion on the NHS
in a government approved hospital when 2 doctors agreed to the procedure within
the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. We must not turn the clock back by
criminalising women who find themselves in the position of needing an abortion.
We must join the lobby of parliament today to protect the
right to choose and not allow religious bigotry to put women back to the unsafe
abortions of the pre 1967 Abortion Act where thousands of women put their
health and even their lives in danger.
Following on from the disastrous election results of New Labour last Thursday, those left groupings who were hoping to capitalise on Labour’s difficulties also found themselves in a mess. As Ted Grant explained, the working class always ignore the sects and in times of struggle always turn towards their traditional organisations.
A
thousand people gathered in London on Thursday’s 2008 May Day to march through
the streets of the capital in celebration of International Workers’ Day. In
light of recent and threatening developments in Bolivia, different campaigns came together
to organise a joint meeting after the demonstration. The
energy and enthusiasm of the meeting boldly reflected the impact that Latin
American revolutions are having on people here in Britain demonstrating that the May Day spirit
is very much alive and kicking.
This is the final draft of the British Perspectives document worked out and voted on by the comrades of the British section of the International Marxist Tendency at their National Conference in April of this year.
The Brown government has been ruthless in attempting to keep
workers’ wage rises to 2%, causing real pain amongst Britain’s poorest workers.
Their justification was that inflation was only 2% and the “country” could not
afford inflationary pay deals.
They’re back from the dead. We thought we’d driven a stake
through their rotten hearts in the Labour landslide of 1997. Now they’re 13
points ahead in the polls. They should be history. So why are they making a
comeback? Because New Labour have been rumbled. They said they were being
prudent with the economy. They talked about, ‘no return to boom and bust.’ Now
we can see that they were just lucky. Don’t
let the failure of New Labour be the opportunity for the Tories. Reclaim the
Labour Party. It was set up as our party, as a party for the working class.
Fight the Tories with socialist policies.
The government is pushing plans for a third runway and a sixth
terminal. The fifth terminal will open soon. The fifth terminal on its
own is the third biggest airport in Europe. When the go-ahead for a
fourth terminal was given in 1979 Glidewell, the Chair of the Inquiry,
stated, "In my view the present levels of noise around Heathrow are
unacceptable in a civilised society." Right first time. The fourth
terminal was given the nod on the grounds that that was it. No fifth
terminal. Ever. It seems all governments, not just the present one, are
terminal liars.
It is easy to write off Boris Johnson as a buffoon. There is
a real danger he will be running London, a city of 7½ million people in a
couple of months time. Make sure Johnson is not made London’s Mayor in the May
1st elections. As Compass points out, “his buffoonery conceals a
hard line right wing set of views – a type of Norman Tebbitt in clown’s
uniform. The quotes below are taken from their pamphlet Boris Johnson – a man of the Tory hard right.
May 1st, May Day, will see one of the tightest and most important
elections to hit London for some years. The election of London Mayor is
being hotly contested between Ken Livingstone for Labour and Boris
Johnson for the Tories.
At a meeting in London on 13th March a couple of
hecklers were attacking John McDonnell for being a member of the Labour Party.
Veteran trade unionist Harry Whittaker answered them in his typically
forthright Scottish manner. He said: “What would a working man do if he had
spent years building himself a house only to find it had become infested by
rats? Would he give up his home and move elsewhere, leaving the house
completely in the control of the rats? Of course not! He would never give in to
the rats; he would fight them and he would not rest until he had rid his house
of the last vestige of this verminous infestation. And this is exactly the same
course of action which the true socialist must take with the House of
Labour."
Margaret Thatcher was recently asked what she regarded as
her legacy. She replied with a smile, “Tony Blair”.
As world capitalism lurches into a deepening economic crisis
and world stock markets tumble, members of the Brown government, the continuers
of Blairism and New Labour, are more eager than ever to extol the virtues of millionaire
capitalism.
After the PSUV founding congress, the Venezuelan revolution
is back on the agenda. This is even more important than ever considering the
current world economic turmoil and the uncertainty surrounding Cuba’s future
since Castro announced he was not standing for president. In Norwich the Hands Off Venezuela campaign has enjoyed success on campus, now for the first time the campaign has branched into the city. At the recent Stop the War march HoV, along with other solidarity campaigns, offered a revolutionary alternative to a capacity meeting.
It is a frightening possibility that, on May 2nd,
Londoners could wake up to find they have an extreme right-wing Tory as Mayor
of London. This is a truly scary scenario. Opinion polls show Boris the
Bumbling Buffoon – whom most regarded as a joke candidate when he threw his hat
into the ring – is creeping up on Ken.
We are now due another flu pandemic. This is nothing to do with some
evil ‘Spooks’ style conspiracy but a fact of life. Every 37 years or
so, the flu virus mutates or morphs into a new strain that humans
haven’t suffered before. A dilemma for the State – they have spent the past decade whipping us into work, regardless of how ill we were.
British Gas delared record £571m profits this year. Regulator Ofgem has
claimed the energy giants are making £9 billion in windfall profits. As
soon as the government talks about a windfall profits tax or even
suggests these monster companies do something about ‘fuel poverty’ they
threaten to cut investment in clean energy. As Julia Finch (Guardian
5th March) says "Their audacity knows no bounds." Do we control them or
do they control us and the government? The case is overwhelming. We need
to take back the fuel companies into public ownership. Then we’ll pocket
the profits
The government has finally been forced to nationalise Northern Rock after months of dithering. They have wasted more than £55 billion of our money – to no purpose. The ‘geniuses’ who ran the Rock as a capitalist bank made a total hash of it and lost billions of pounds of other people’s money. It’s not just the bank’s management who stand indicted. The whole capitalist system is shown to be based on swindling and gambling.
This British perspectives draft document (2008), agreed on February
3rd, has been issued by the Socialist Appeal editorial board as part of
a wide-ranging discussion about the likely development of events in
British society. Such a document is not a blue-print, but an attempt to
understand the underlying processes at work in Britain today, and how
these will be reflected in the class struggle. The document will be
discussed at the Socialist Appeal conference at the end of April. Part 1. Part 2.
Spongers, Scroungers and
Scum. These are just three of the many words used by the tabloids in describing the 2.7 million people on incapacity benefits. Recent figures show that 1.2 million of the 2.7
million people on incapacity benefits are unable to work due to mental health
problems. The rising number of claimants who suffer from mental disorders is a
reflection of a service-dominated economy.
This British perspectives draft document (2008), agreed on February
3rd, has been issued by the Socialist Appeal editorial board as part of
a wide-ranging discussion about the likely development of events in
British society. Such a document is not a blue-print, but an attempt to
understand the underlying processes at work in Britain today, and how
these will be reflected in the class struggle. The document will be
discussed at the Socialist Appeal conference at the end of April. Part 1.
This British perspectives draft document (2008), agreed on February 3rd, has been issued by the Socialist Appeal editorial board as part of a wide-ranging discussion about the likely development of events in British society. Such a document is not a blue-print, but an attempt to understand the underlying processes at work in Britain today, and how these will be reflected in the class struggle. The document will be discussed at the Socialist Appeal conference at the end of April.
The announcement by English football’s ruling elite, the FA
Premier League, that they intend introducing an extra round of fixtures to be
played in venues around the world over one single weekend should come as no
surprise to anyone. Since its formation 15 years ago as a replacement for the
old First Division, the FA Premier League has sought to increase the
profitability of its product (their term not mine) out of all proportion – and
at our expense.
In a speech on ‘liberty’ at the University of Westminster, Gordon Brown
outlined his vision for ‘Britishness’. Brown is, of course, a Scot.
Listing the achievements of so-called ‘British liberty’ from Magna
Carta to the Reform Act of 1832, he announced a debate on what it means
to be British. Brown’s vision, however, amounts to nothing more than
reactionary politics dressed in liberal-radical language.
New Labour
should hang their heads in shame in their ongoing programme of cuts, closures and job losses
in the public sector. Margaret Thatcher’s band of robbers would be proud of their accomplishments and
their policies sit so easily within a Tory ideology that it is no wonder the Tories don’t look
like an opposition. They don’t need to. They have been in power in the guise of New Labour for over 11
years.
Caroline Flint, the new
Housing Minister has proposed that new tenants on council estates will have to
sign up to "actively seek work" as a condition of their tenancy. So now it’s a
case of "no dog, no cat, no loud music, keep the place spick and span and you
must get a job". There is something
disturbingly familiar about this rubbish: it’s like the old Victorian notion of the deserving and
undeserving poor.
Former military heads of
the British army have attacked proposals for Parliament to have to
approve any declaration of war made by the British state. The ruling class is
eager to keep a direct grip on its bodies of armed men; the police and the military,
the chief instruments of class suppression. These are vital to the ruling
class’ ability to keep control of society, and sections of the boureoisie are
reluctant to relinquish them even to their own organs of so-called democratic rule.
From The Guardian, Wednesday
January 23, 2008: Individual hopes of betterment through education
are often destroyed by the fear of debt, says John McDonnell, who asks why then
is the government ensuring the private sector profits from it.
Sixty years ago Railway companies up and down the
country were nationalised. They were not necessarily nationalised for
ideological reasons – the vast majority were were hindering the
development of the British economy after the Second World War. At the time the
view was that you cannot plan what you don’t control and you can’t
control what you don’t own. That view still holds true today.
Over Christmas the railways were in chaos – again. Why does
this sort of thing happen in Britain? It hasn’t always been like this. The
problem started with privatisation. The Tories under John Major plotted a
privatisation so stupid that even Thatcher had thought better of it.
The government is
desperate not to nationalise Northern Rock. As Trotsky says, “the banks concentrate in their hands the actual control over
the economy.” If the banks are
always to be bailed out because they are so important to the economy, then we
need to take them all over.
The government has now pumped about £60
billion of our money into Northern Rock. That’s a lot of money – it’s more than
half what the health service costs. Now the NHS is looking after millions of
people at any one time and hospital services are available round the clock for
you in case anything goes wrong. It employs over a million people and its
benefits are there for all to see.
As we explained in the last issue, the vultures
are hovering round Northern Rock. There are the shareholders on the one hand,
people who think the rest of us owe them a living and, if they bet on a horse
that loses, then we should just give them their money back.
The Scottish parliament elections last May saw
the Scottish National Party (SNP) win a national election for the first time in
its history. The flip side of this is that the majority of Scots have
always consistently opposed independence. But on Sunday, Dec 16th, the
Sunday Herald newspaper claimed in their own poll that demand for independence
was just short of 50%. Their poll was based on a random 1,000 people
across the country. Why the rise in nationalist sentiment? Events of recent
times have caused a large section of the electorate in Scotland to
lose faith in Labour.
Our differences with the SWP are not limited to theoretical questions. They are fundamentally to do with method and approach. They adopt an empirical petit-bourgeois approach to politics, which is the hallmark of the sectarian, which always ends up in a contradictory mess.
We publish a response from the GMB to an article in the Guardian that implied multinational banana companies in Latin America supported the principle of free collective bargaining. It exposes the collaboration between union tops and companies such as Del Monte, who have carried out a campaign of intimidation against organised workers. The dominance of British supermarkets in the area is identified as a key element in this campaign.
The ‘Respect’ party was initially set up by the Socialist Workers Party and ex-Labour MP George Galloway. They were hoping to capitalise on the success of the anti-war movement and offer a political alternative to New Labour. We predicted at the time that this venture would end in failure. The whole of the last century has been littered with the wreckage of sectarian groups hoping to replace the traditional organisations of the working class.
Supermarkets can sell cheaper than small independent shops
because they can buy cheaper. They use their bullying power over small farmers
and other producers. The Competition Commission has been deliberating for
eighteen months. They have decided that the four big supermarket chains
(Sainsbury’s, Tesco, ASDA and Morrisons) that sell three quarters of all food
in the country offer us all plenty of ‘choice’.
Tommy Sheridan
is facing yet another fight in his colourful career as Scotland’s best known
socialist. He has been arrested on suspicion of perjury arising from his widely
publicised defamation case against the News of the World for which he was
awarded £200,000 damages.
Towards the end of last year we witnessed the collapse of another
attempt to create a party to the left of Labour. The RESPECT party,
which was founded in 2004, was the latest effort to establish an
electoral alternative to Labour. It succeeded in winning an MP, George
Galloway, as well as a few dozen councillors up and down the country. However, the
whole project soon went pear-shaped.
BBC News: A male lawyer can expect to live over seven years longer than the man who empties his wasterpaper bin, Office for National Statistics figures suggest. The rich are getting richer and can effectively ‘buy’ longer lives through more regular holidays and leisure activities. The very nature of people’s work, and not just the lifestyle it affords them, can have an impact on longevity. “Monotonous jobs where people have little control over what they can do can be much more stressful than more high-powered jobs, where people have much more freedom,” said Professor Dorling. “And that may ultimately take […]
A single mother in Keighley is being evicted
from her residence with two months notice. The ‘owner’ of the property does not
claim any fault on the part of the worker; calling her an exemplary tenant.
The move is sound business; house prices may fall so it would be better to cash
in now and let someone else (e.g. someone poorer) take the loss. Yet this woman
is a nurse suffering attacks at work by privatisations, and a mother of four
with no other housing options.
After the serious physical threats against PPP activists in
Karachi, John McDonnell MP has issued this statement, condemning the attack and
warning that if they continue the issue will be taken up in the British and
world labour movement.
Christmas is very close and all the kids are eager in anticipation of what
Santa will bring them this year for being good. But who actually is that kind, old man with a bag full of nice gifts for
the children called Father Christmas or Santa Claus?
We follow up on the Farepak fiasco, that last year was responsible for wiping out the savings of 150,000 people. Victims are yet to have their savings returned to them – a mere £38 million in total. This despite the government being happy to prop up the collapsing Northern Rock with billions of tax-payers cash.
The Electoral Commission
has launched an investigation into an illegal donation to Wendy Alexander MSP’s
campaign to take over from Jack McConnell as Labour leader in the Scottish
Parliament. The crisis
unfolded when the Sunday Herald learned that every donation to the Wendy
campaign was under £1,000. Many were for £950. Under the Elections Act 2000,
all donations of £1,000 or more must be declared to the Electoral
Commission.
On Friday, December 7th, Al Jazeera’s programme The Listening Post
analysed the world’s media biased coverage of the constitutional reform
referendum. Amongst those interviewed was Alan Woods, founder of Hands
Off Venezuela.
Last August Northern Rock was the subject of the first run on a bank in
this country for a hundred and forty years. People queued up all night
to try to get their money back. But, of course, their money wasn’t
there. Where had it gone?
On Saturday November 24th,
around two hundred people attended the third national Hands Off Venezuela
conference in Britain.
The whole day was a great
success and left everyone inspired to carry on the struggle to defend the
Venezuelan people and their Bolivarian revolution.
LABOUR MP John McDonnell demanded that the Brown government make "a
choice between democracy or oligarchy" at the weekend. At Saturday’s
Hands Off Venezuela national conference in London, he condemned new
Labour’s ongoing hostility towards Venezuela and pledged to make
solidarity with the Bolivarian revolution an issue that "no MP would be
allowed to dodge."
In last May’s Scottish
Parliament elections the Scottish National Party (SNP) emerged victorious as voters
wilted under increasing attacks and cuts in public services – already threadbare
after the Thatcher Tory years – by the New Labour-Liberal coalition. Socialist Appeal carried
in-depth Marxist analysis at the time when
we predicted an SNP victory and the factors that had made it possible.
Multiculturalism is again under attack. And it’s not just from the BNP, but members of
New Labour. Following the bombings on London in 2005 Ruth
Kelly and David Blunkett called for a ‘British
identity’. Jack Straw asked women Muslims in his constituency
to remove their veils (the niqab), as he feels uncomfortable with
them. The chair of the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights has urged for
integration as a way forward, "to stop us from sleep walking into segregation".
The Health Care Commission accused the Kent and Sussex NHS Trust of
"significant failings in infection control" after 90 patients were
known to have died of the super-bug "Clostridium difficile" in three of
its hospitals last year. Kent police and the Health and
Safety Executive are considering the unprecedented action of pressing
manslaughter charges against the Trust.
This weekend supporters of the Venezuelan revolution will gather at the
University of London Union for the Hands off Venezuela National
conference. Speakers from Venezuela will include Guadalupe Rodriguez from the Coordinadora Simon Bolivar and Nelson Rodriguez from the Factory Committee at Inveval. Show your
solidarity with the revolutionary events taking place in Venezuela and
throughout Latin America – book your place today!
We have now had more than a decade of Private Finance Initiative
involvement in the health service. Despite Labour pouring money into
hospitals and health care, more and more health trusts are reporting
deficits. PFI is sucking the NHS dry!
As winter creeps, in students and staff at Edinburgh schools and nurseries have learned
of the chilling news that their places of learning and work places may be under
threat once again. The Edinburgh Evening News reported on the thirtieth of
October that Edinburgh Council intended to reopen a consultation process that
would look into the future of schools. It also listed seventeen schools and
nurseries that it expected to be earmarked for the process.
Marxists have always maintained that
at some stage the intensity of the class struggle affects even the "armed
bodies of men" of the bourgeois state. Such an example was the police strike in
Britain at the end of the First World War. In the late summer of 1918 the sight
of 12,000 furious Metropolitan constables marching on Whitehall sparked panic
among ruling circles in Britain. Under the leadership of the National Union of
Police and Prison Officers, militantly class-conscious policemen conspired to
overturn their role as the subservient body of the State.
BBC staff are set to ballot for strike over plans to axe up to 2500
jobs. The mood is angry and a big ‘yes’ vote is likely among the 23,000
workers. The three unions involved are Bectu, Unite and the National
Union of Journalists.
In the Guardian on September 4th George Monbiot gave a classic
example of PFI madness. In Coventry officials wanted to refurbish its
two hospitals.This would have cost £30m. They didn’t have £30m, so they had to go for PFI.
After weeks of media speculation the Brown bounce election became the general
election that never happened. Marx explained that the state and politics are like a superstructure that sits on top of society and maintains the appearance of having a certain independence. But in the final analysis, politics, the state and even bouncing Prime Ministers are organically connected to the real world. The prospect of a general election was just too risky.
King Abdullah of Saudi
Arabia is occupying the headlines of many newspapers with
his comments that Britain
failed to act on intelligence that could have prevented the 7/7 London bombings. Beyond
the response of the bourgeois media, what is the real relationship between the
West and Saudi Arabia?
The UK Social Atlas
states that British society is becoming more and more segregated into
classes, and British people are becoming more and more conscious of the
class society in which we live. The report ‘finds’ that Britain is
becoming increasingly segregated along the lines of class, education,
income, occupation, health status and family type.
You’ve probably never heard of Punch Taverns. But you may well have
had a drink in one of their 9,000 pubs. Chief executive Giles Thorley awarded
himself £11.3 million last. Punch Taverns
has the biggest gap between executive and workers’ pay in Britain.
Two years after the brutal shooting by police in London of Jean
Charles de Menezes, his family are no nearer
seeing anyone brought to justice. Jean was shot at least 8 times from
point blank range as he boarded a tube
train at Stockwell station in south London. We now know the murder of Jean Charles de Menezes
is considered by the British establishment as justified despite a
mountain of evidence to the contrary.
Speculation has reached fever pitch in the press over whether or not
Brown will call a snap General Election after only three months as
prime minister. With the Tories languishing in the polls, one giving
Labour an eleven percentage lead, and the government surviving the
different crises of foot and mouth, floods and the run on Northern
Rock, the young Turks of New Labour’s front bench are keen to launch an
election. However there is little enthusiasm amongst traditional Labour supporters and there are dangers of an economic crisis.
New Labour’s record on housing policy is a
disgrace. Reports say
we face a ‘housing time bomb’. There
are 1.6 million on council house waiting lists. Their numbers are
growing by 7.6% a year. Repossessions were up by 65% last year to
17,000 losing their homes, and official homelessness went up by 14.4%
between 2000 and 2005. Last year we built less houses than any year since the
1920s. And because so few new homes are being built, prices go up so as
to be completely unaffordable for the poorer in our society.
Ten years ago in Britain, at the time of the sudden death of
Diana, we witnessed an outburst of popular feeling without precedent in recent
British history. It was an entirely new phenomenon, reflecting an entirely new
situation in Britain. Here we republish Alan Woods’ article written in 1997 which
looked at the serious crisis the monarchy and the British establishment were
facing at the time.
Everyday our television screens are filled with
images of horrific bloodshed and carnage in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hundreds die,
men, women and children, in a single day. Some estimate that one million people
have perished since the invasion of 2003. This is the reality after more than
four years of foreign occupation.
In May 2004, we reported Scotland’s worst ever industrial disaster when the
Stockline plastics factory in Glasgow exploded leaving 9 dead and 40 injured.
It was another searing indictment of breaches in Health & Safety
legislation, now a matter of course in Britain. Ex-employees told journalists
they had been sacked after raising concerns about safety. The 2 companies jointly responsible, ICL Tech and
ICL Plastics, faced only charges relating to Health & Safety, for which they have now been
fined a measly £400,000.
Showing tonight on ITV1 is The War on Democracy , John Pilger’s documentary that analyses the relationship between Latin America and the US, focusing on Washington’s attitude to
countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile. Pilger pays special attention to the developing situation in Venezuela, including an interview with President Hugo Chavez.
A recently published
book by Francis Beckett, The Great City Academy Fraud, is a clear exposé
of the City Academies programme of the New
Labour government. Launched by David Blunkett in March 2000, the Academies
programme is both an attack on state education and, in educational terms, a
disaster. The programme is also an example of the spin and deceit methods that
are the hallmark of New Labour.
Brown has replaced Blair as leader of the Labour Party and Prime
Minister, but has anything fundamental changed? Absolutely not! And yet behind
this seemingly uneventful change lies the manoeuvre to stop John McDonnell to
stand for the leadership. All the indications were that John would have made a
good showing. Something is stirring in the British labour movement.
The first showing of the new film No Volveran attracted a large number
of people. Read the report on the Hands Off Venezuela website .
The collapse of Metronet , the consortium
entrusted with upgrading the tube, spells the collapse of the whole notion of
‘Public Private Partnership’, otherwise known as the Private Finance
Initiative.
From the makers of the Hands Off
Venezuela film ‘Solidarity‘, and the Sanitarios Maracay short film
series, comes ‘No Volverán – The Venezuelan Revolution Now’, an exciting
feature length documentary about the Venezuelan Revolution. The Film’s world’s premiere, London July 18th.
Last week, the Bank of England hiked its
interest rates, yet again, to 5.75%. This
was the fifth rise since August 2005.
And the head of the bank, Mervyn King, said that "further action" on
interest rates could be necessary. Most
observers reckon the interest rate that most borrowing and mortgages are based on
– the bank rate – will go to 6% or more by the end of this year.
As the Middle East descends deeper into a vicious cycle of
death and destruction, the Reverend Blair has stepped once again
onto the world stage as international envoy for the Middle East,
representing the "Quartet" of the European Union, Russia, United
Nations and United States. In this new role, Blair has the strong
backing of the US President George W. Bush, who is the key player. In
other words, Blair will bend the knee as always to US imperialism and
its interests.
Yesterday the smoking ban came into effect in England. But as socialists, should we be applauding such
state interference in our lives? Smoking kills thousands of people each year, but by supporting a smoking ban are we no better than the New Labour leadership who constantly patronise and blame working class people for the ills of capitalist society?
The media has always distorted the truth to justify the actions of its big business backers. This article from medialens exposes the myths behind so-called press freedom so prevalent in today’s media.
In the education
field Brown is continuing where Blair left off. In his endorsement of city
academies, Brown has called on Britain’s big business to form partnerships with
every primary and secondary school in order to get the kind of education
capitalism needs.
This is the final part of the British Perspectives document approved by the national conference of the Socialist Appeal. The issues which it covers are the trade unions and the Labour party, and the Marxist’s orientation towards the mass organisation. Also covered is the importance of the youth, emphasing the importance of theory and the training of Marxist cadres for the enormous events that impend in Britain and elsewhere.
The most astonishing piece of news to have been
greeted with relative apathy by the bourgeois press this week has to be the
rumour that Tony Blair could be serving as a Middle East envoy. When the ruling class becomes this divorced from reality, what they might do next is anyones guess.
In this section we deal with the question of the Blair government, the increasing abstentions of the working class, and the growing discontent affecting all sections. It also deals with the Conservative party, the natural party of the ruling class, which has shifted to the “centre” ground and won back
a layer that voted Liberal Democrat. Their hope is that Labour voters will stay
at home and traditional Tory voters will turn out to vote. On this basis they hope to win the next election, but that remains to be seen. Amongst other questions this section deals with the developments unfolding in Scotland and Wales.
While GDP in Britain is supposed
to be the fifth largest in the world, the division of this wealth is extremely
unequal.
What growth has taken place has mainly been by increased exploitation of
workers. The market principle of profit comes before education and health. Yet British capitalism’s share of world exports has continually decreased. Now young Asians are portrayed in
the media as potential terrorists, in the same way as the miners were portrayed
as the "enemies within".
A recent poll of Labour Party members, published
in the Sunday Times shows why the New Labour clique around Gordon Brown were determined to keep
left challenger John McDonnell off the ballot paper.
Thanks
to the sabotage of some 300-odd members of the Parliamentary Labour Party,
ordinary Labour Party members and affiliates, who were expecting a leadership
election, ended up with no election and a "one member, no vote" imposed
candidate. The task now is to strengthen the left in preparation for future
battles.
This document is a statement on Britain, an analysis which was agreed unanimously at the national conference of Socialist Appeal in April. The statement constitutes an analysis of the deepening social, political and economic crisis of British capitalism. This perspective applies the method of Marxism to these developments, seeking to uncover the trends and processes within, and serves as a guide to action for all those workers and youth who want to struggle for a socialist transformation of society.
The East London tube Line is to be extended overground south to West Croydon and North to Dalston Junction, both main line rail connections. This is a good idea. The Mayor's office tells us that the only way to finance this is by privatisation. If we look at the real picture a different story emerges.
On Monday May 10th David Keogh and Leo O'Connor were sent to prison for six and three months respectively for offences against the Official Secrets Act. Since the main news story that day was the resignation of Tony Blair, was this ‘a good day to bury bad news'?
We publish a revealing letter describing how ordinary workers are beginning, themselves, to draw conclusions about the nature of capitalism, in total contrast to the propaganda put out by reformist politicians and big business.
Throughout the history of the labour movement we have witnessed the development of sectarianism within a section of the left. It reflects the inability to understand that the mass of the working class moves through its traditional mass organisations. The sectarian ignores this and believes that all you have to do is declare the "new party" and then the masses will come flocking.
We are reproducing here a letter sent by John McDonnell to all his supporters in which he stresses the need to now build the Left of the Labour. The campaigning work of the recent period is not wasted. It can be the basis for strengthening the left.
The Reverend Tony Blair has announced his departure from the pulpit of the Trimdon Labour Club, Sedgefield. Ten years ago millions of workers hoped that the party would introduce fundamental change after two decades of Tory misrule. They were disappointed. For the working class, the departure of Blair is a blessing. He has become even more hated than Thatcher. The task now is to finish off Blairism, and the reactionary pro-capitalist creed associated with New Labour.
The local election results for the Coventry area serve as an interesting insight into the mood of the working class, in particular the way they view the Labour Party under the concrete conditions of a Tory-controlled council. It shows despite the deep unpopularity in the Blair government, workers still see the Labour Party as the only viable alternative to the Tories.
While the Blairites are licking their wounds after last week's elections results, the results of the Scottish Socialist Party and Solidarity in Scotland and the Socialist Party in England should leave no doubt in anyone's mind that sectarian politics is a dead end.
Last week's elections confirmed the damage that Blairism has done to the Labour Party. Far from being the man who "wins elections" as the Blairites boasted in the past, Blair has become a liability. After ten years he has thrown away the 1997 victory. Now is the time to draw lessons from this whole experience and fight to change the leadership of the Labour Party.
On April 16th, "senior Labour sources" briefed the Financial Times that they "fear a drubbing" in Scotland. What we are witnessing is a rejection of the New Labour project which rejected class politics as outdated.
The trade unions have the power to clear the Blairite clique from the Labour Party by putting their full weight behind John McDonnell instead of presiding over the coronation of Gordon Brown, who supports privatization, the anti-union laws, the sacking of 100,000 civil servants, wage cuts in the public sector and the war in Iraq.
This Thursday May 3rd, Scotland goes to the polls. With capitalism red in tooth and claw and public services cut to the bone, people's needs are at odds with parliamentarians actions. Policies and programmes benefiting ordinary people and the poor, the sick, pensioners and students are difficult to find. What developments can we expect in this Thursday's elections? A grim reminder of the ultimate failure of Blairism and the policies it represents.
Our regular columnist Elmer Whitefeather is back and keeping us up-to-date with the broad, and the particular, political developments north of the border.
The mood for change in Scotland, the discontent Scottish people have for Westminster and Holyrood, is finding its expression in the rise in support for the Scottish Nationalist Party. However, the supplantation of bourgeois rule from London by a capitalist class closer to home will do nothing to change the fundamental conditions of ordinary working people.
More words of wisdom from our regular columnist, Elmer Whitefeather.
Last night an unholy alliance of Blair's New Labour and the Tories won a commons vote for the renewal of the Trident nuclear missile defense system. The rebellion of Labour backbenchers over the issue represents a serious political tremor however.
As a new addition to the Socialist Appeal website we would like to introduce the outspoken Elmer Whitefeather column, which takes a light-hearted look at working-class life.
Here we publish a letter sent by a Socialist Appeal reader about the decision of Michael Meacher MP to run for the Labour Party leadership.
A recent Unicef report has condemned Britain as the worst industrialised nation for children to grow up in. For all the noise the government has made over the years about investing in our children, the realities of privatisation have produced the opposite effect.
As Blair prepares to hand over the leadership of the Labour
Party to Brown, opinion polls reveal how low support for Labour has fallen. We
face the real prospect of a return of the Tories at the next general election.
Blairism has failed abysmally and it is time to change course and adopt genuine
socialist policies.
On the 6th of February the HOV delegation that went to Venezuela during the December elections, showed video-clips and slides from their visit and spoke about their experience. John McDonnell MP and Alan Woods, founder of the HOV campaign, were among the main speakers, as was the Venezuelan Ambassador, Alfredo Toro Hardy.
The stench of sleaze emanating from Number 10 Downing Street marks the end of the Blair era. Brown is no alternative. Both men will lead the Labour Party to defeat in the future. What is needed is a genuine left alternative. That is why it is so important that John McDonnell gets the required number of nominations to be able to stand for the party leadership.
We live in a world never so technologically advanced, and yet never so unbalanced and chaotic. What we need is a society driven by the edict, "from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs". This article exposes the contradictions of a society driven by private profit.
It is widely agreed that the main security threat facing Britain today is terrorism. Yet the British Bourgeois insist on maintaining nuclear weapons in an attempt to represent itself as a great economic and political power.
Hospital closures in North Lanarkshire have caused outrage among local residents already suffering from a woefully inadequate health service. Here we see how dangerous PFI policy in our NHS really is.
As George Bush commits a further 20,000 troops to Iraq in a desperate gamble to hold the situation, the realities on the ground are pointing to a defeat for the super power. We take a look at the implications and prospects of this new 'surge'.
Family, friends and comrades of Phil Mitchinson gathered in Cardiff on Saturday 13th January for a memorial meeting. We came together to celebrate his life that ended so tragically.
The capitalist system that flourished in the time of Dickens is still upon us, as are all of its ills and evils. Reminiscent of the popular festive tale A Christmas Carol, in 2006, over 150 years after Charles Dickens wrote the story reflecting the callousness of a society divided by class, we still find that ordinary working peoples everyday lives are subject to the whims of a minority of parasitic individuals. This has found expression most recently in the Farepak fiasco.
The minimum wage went up by 30p an hour on the 1st October. It now stands at £5.35 for anyone 22 and over. But it's as little as £3.30 if you are 16 or 17 and only rises to £4.45 when you hit 18, unless you are an apprentice of course (which means you can paid as little as £80 per week!). The TUC was holding out for £6 an hour. £6 is a bit better, but it goes nowhere near far enough to solve the problems of low paid workers.
We have received more messages from all over the world. Phil was a
highly respected comrade and the messages reveal the warmth that many
comrades felt towards him.
Police in London
brutally break up a protest picket outside the Mexican embassy. The picket had
been called to protest at the army clampdown in Oaxaca over the weekend. Read the report here
The Editorial of November's Socialist Appeal examines the
staggering death toll in Iraq and the various 'exit strategies' being
considered by the imperialists desperate to extricate themselves from
the quagmire they have created.
Council
tenants in Stirling voted by a resounding 68%
against privatising the housing stock in a magnificent victory to keep council
housing out of the hands of profiteers. As this report is compiled,
Renfrewshire tenants have also voted "NO". Council tenants across the country are
sending a strong message to local authorities and the Scottish Executive – NO
TO THE PRIVATISATION OF COUNCIL HOUSING!
The Editorial of October's Socialist Appeal calls for meetings
to be organised to support John McDonnells' bid for the leadership of
the Labour Party as an important opportunity to raise socialist ideas
throughout the labour movement. In preparing for a struggle in the
Labour Party we must learn from the past. The most vital lesson is that
it is not sufficient to tinker with the
capitalist system. We will fight for any reform in the interests of the
working class. The central lesson of the whole of Labour history,
however, must be that not one of those reforms can endure if the
capitalist system remains intact.
John McDonnell, the Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, has announced
his intention to stand for the leadership of the Labour Party. He is
Chair of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs, the Labour Representation Committee,
and the 'Public Services Not Private Profit' anti-privatisation
campaign. He is also the national chair of Hands Off Venezuela and has
been at the forefront of the campaign to defend the Venezuelan
revolution. Socialist Appeal supports John's campaign as a real
opportunity to raise socialist ideas throughout the labour movement. We
asked John to tell us about his campaign and about the need to fight
for socialist policies inside the Labour Party.
On Thursday, September 14, around 80 people attended a meeting called
by Wandsworth Stop the War Coalition at the Baptist Church in Balham to
which Hands off Venezuela was invited to have a stall. The main
speaker of the evening was John McDonnell MP, who is standing for the
leadership of the Labour
Party once Blair quits. Next week we will be publishing an interview
with John McDonnnell, which features in the October edition of Socialist Appeal.
The Blair era is drawing to close not with a bang but with a great deal
of whimpering. The socialist candidate for the Labour leadership, John
McDonnell MP, compared the intrigues and back-stabbing campaigns of the
past week
to an episode of The Sopranos. Launching his leadership campaign the left-wing MP for Hayes and
Harlington is concentrating on politics, and on policies in the
interests of working class people. What is needed, he argues, is “a
national campaign for a radical break with the failed policies of new
Labour", adding that changing leaders would "not be enough to save
Labour at the next election".
The July 2nd elections in Mexico witnessed massive electoral fraud against PRD candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Since then millions of Mexicans have taken to the streets to protest. Come and show your solidarity with the Mexican people in the struggle against fraud and against repression. Download the PDF flyer here.
In the light of recent developments in the Scottish
Socialist Party (SSP) we are publishing a document written by Ted Grant back in
1992 which already outlined the roots of the present crisis in the SSP. Ted
explained that the concessions the leaders of the then SML (later to become
SSP) were making to Scottish nationalism would lead to a disaster. Time has
proven him correct.
The editorial of the September 2006 issue of Socialist Appeal looks at the climate of fear and Blair's dwindling support. The latest ICM poll for The Guardian shows that after three terms
of Labour government the Tories are now nine points ahead in the polls.
What an indictment of failure. Labour's support now stands at a
nineteen year low. This is Blair's legacy.
There is more news emerging from the crisis within the Scottish
Socialist Party every day. This article was received a few days ago and
appears in the new issue of Socialist Appeal.
It came as no surprise when Lewis MacDonald, the Deputy Health Minister
at the Scottish Parliament, effectively rubber-stamped the "prefered
option" of Lanarkshire Health Board Trust and announced the closure of
the Casualty Unit at Monklands Hospital on August 22nd. The decision shows the "consultation exercise" over 6 weeks and costing
£50,000 of public money was, as we pointed out at the time, a complete
sham.
On Tuesday, 15th August I attended a packed meeting organised by the
Stop the War Coalition, now an established annual event during the
Edinburgh Festival. The evening began with some anti- war poetry in
both Arabic and English, followed by a selection of anti–war protest
songs.
Yesterday, August 24, a meeting was held in Walthamstow, North London, by the Pakistan Trade Union Defence
Campaign to discuss the recent arrests in the area and the renewed attacks on
both democracy and Muslim workers. Some twenty people turned up to hear Zakir
lead off on the subject.
British airports were in a state of chaos yesterday
after it was revealed that a terrorist plot involving liquid explosives had
been foiled. However, it would be a great mistake to abandon our ability for
critical thinking in this period of hysteria and media frenzy.
A great deal of the money being pumped into the NHS is
coming straight out the other side into the pockets of private capitalists
without even touching the sides of the health service. We pay taxes for the
NHS, not to subsidise parasites!
The last week has seen a rising tide of anger in Britain at the Israeli
attacks on Lebanon. This is reflected in the mood and size of the two
marches and lobby, all organised at short notice.
Last Saturday, July 15,
more than 300 people, amongst them veteran members of the International Brigades,
their relatives, friends and general public, gathered in the heart of London to
remember and pay homage to all those who, seventy years ago and following the
dictates of their internationalist hearts and minds, left everything to fight
for socialism in a Spain devastated by the fascist troops of Franco, Hitler and
Mussolini.
The crisis in the
Scottish Socialist Party hit the news when judge Lady Smith jailed SSP policy
co-ordinator, Alan McCombes, for 12 days on May 26th, after he
continually refused to hand over the minutes of a meeting from November 2004.
This was the latest in a series of crises which has stretched the party almost
to breaking point.
The Editorial of the latest issue of Socialist Appeal (July/August
2006) calls for a socialist candidate to oppose Brown in a Labour
leadership election. "The idea of a handover – with no election – that Blair and Brown had
imagined is clearly now dead in the water. There is a rising tide of
opposition to Brown’s succession.
What an ideal opportunity to raise socialist policies throughout the
labour movement!"
Today, Tuesday 17th June, around 1,500 trade unionists gathered at
Westminster Central Hall, London, to launch a fight-back over the
privatisation of public services. This was an excellent turnout for a
weekday rally.
Peugeot is planning to move production from its Coventry plant in the UK
to Slovakia, where labour costs are one quarter of what they are in the UK. Capitalists
have no concern for their workers. They go where they can maximise profits. The
only answer is nationalisation under workers’ control.
The concluding section of British Perspectives 2006 looks at the state
of the British economy, which has been propped up by colossal debts for
some time, but is now grinding to a halt. The decline of manufacturing,
and the domination of banking and financial services is an expression
of the enfeeblement of British capitalism. This lies behind the attacks
on the welfare state, on jobs and conditions, and on democracy. All the
conditions are being prepared for a new outbreak of class struggle that
will have a profound impact on British society in the next period.
As the 2006 World Cup kicks off in Germany Steve Jones looks at the
commercialisation of football and the impact of profiteering on the
sport and the fans.
There
is no greater threat to democratic rights than a capitalist system in fear of
its future. British capitalism has long been in decline, and this decline is
accurately reflected in the crises of the Tory Party. The sickness of British
capitalism also means a growing class polarisation of British society, which at
some stage must be reflected in the Labour Party.
Despite
the almost incessant rainfall we are officially in a drought. There
can be no doubt that climate change is contributing to changing
weather patterns to adversely affect our water supply. This is a
foretaste of what conditions will be like here in the not too distant
future if something is not done to halt and reverse the destruction
of our environment on a global scale.
After being labelled a “butcher” by
the British press following last week's bad election results for the
Labour Party and the subsequent Cabinet reshuffle, Tony Blair
suffered another blow, this time not at home but abroad. In Basra the
British army lost five soldiers, including the first female casualty,
as their helicopter crashed and British soldiers came under attack.
In Part One of
British Perspectives Phil Mitchinson looks at the general trends in
British politics, with an eye to the international situation, the war
in Iraq, and the decline of Blairism.
Labour suffered a heavy defeat in England's local council elections,
but Blair is desperately clinging on to office for now. In an attempt to
cover up Labour's losses and to shore up his support Blair quickly moved
to sack several high ranking ministers and promote loyal supporters.
What Blair has installed is a Final Days administration. It is a bunker
cabinet. Blair is finished and so is Blairism. These elections
illustrate a growing class polarisation taking place in British society.
The workers at the Peugeot plant in
Ryton (near Coventry) risk losing their jobs and livelihood. Darrall
Cozens reports on the latest situation after interviewing John
Cummins, Deputy Convenor from Amicus, about the trade union plans to
keep the plant open.
Like vultures waiting for an animal to die before ripping it to pieces, private “investors” are watching as Blair destroys the National Health Service preparing the ground for more and more privatisation. The grandparents of today’s British workers struggled for a fully funded free healthcare system. Now we have to struggle to win it all back.
Tony Blair has been pushing the line that the National Health Service has never had it so good. He lives on another planet obviously. Anyone who uses the NHS or works for it knows that a systematic attack on the very concept of free healthcare is taking place.
The decision to close the Peugeot car plant at Ryton in Coventry and cease production of the best-selling 206 model was compared by one worker at the plant to knowing that a loved one was dying of cancer yet being shocked to know that death is at the doorstep. There is no time to lose if this struggle to save jobs is to win!
This year’s Socialist Appeal conference, which was held in London, showed a significant increase in attendance over last year, particularly of young comrades. Sellers and supporters attended from all over the country to participate in a weekend of debate and discussion.
Twenty-five years ago today John Lennon was killed in New York. There was a mass outpouring of grief all over the world. This was because he symbolised something different from the mainstream music industry. He gave expression in the words of some of his songs the genuine feeling of disgust of many workers and youth at what capitalist society stands for.
The right to demonstrate, to strike, to trial by jury in Britain are all elementary civil liberties, yet most of them have already been whittled away. Now the so-called “war on terror” is being used to destroy what little is left. This assault on our democratic rights is not a secondary matter. The democracy afforded us by capitalism is restricted, but we can no more ignore the attacks launched on our political rights than we can attacks on our jobs, wages and conditions.
The British government and the Metropolitan Police are now trying to
sweep under the carpet the brutal execution of Jean Charles de Menezes
on July 22. We must not allow this to happen. This young, innocent,
Brazilian man – an electrician by trade, just 27 years of age – is the
latest victim of the so-called “war on terror”, but also of the
undermining of civil liberties and the strengthening of the powers of
the capitalist state.
Radical changes in consciousness often spring from arbitrary collective
experiences. Last week’s bombings in London are no exception. On the
surface, the story being broadcast and repeated by the journalists,
politicians, and purveyors of “objective information” appears to be
true. But there is more to it than that.
The recurring theme of today’s mass media coverage can be summed up in three words: “Business as usual.” After all, life goes on for most Londoners. This indomitable spirit of the ordinary people is something that Tony Blair and the Establishment are seeking to exploit. One thing is clear: if the imperialist bullying continues, the epidemic of terrorism will continue to spread uncontrollably, a terrible expression of the impasse of the capitalist system on a global scale.
We received messages from the Dadu Sindh branch of the PTUDC and the
American Workers’ International League addressed to the people of
London.
Whoever was responsible for today’s terrorist attacks in Central London
showed no mercy to the innocent victims of their actions. Such
activities are utterly repugnant to anybody who defends the cause of
socialism and the working class. This kind of action serves only to
bolster the forces of reaction. It must be condemned outright.
The
establishment of the Premier League in Britain, a renaming of the old
First Division, in the early 1990s opened up a period of naked
commercial exploitation of football. The new league exists to maximise
the profits and commercial potential of the richest clubs at the
expense of the rest. Central to this are clubs like Manchester United,
the world’s richest club which has now been virtually bought up by US
tycoon Malcolm Glazier, who has grabbed control of over 75% of the
club’s shares.
As a postscript to British Perspectives 2005 (What is happening in Britain)
Phil Mitchinson analyses the results of the recent general election in
the context of mounting insecurity in the British economy, politics and
society as a whole. Labour won the election with the smallest share of
the vote of any victorious party in history. With the government's
majority severely reduced how much longer can Blair last? 'New' Labour
has set off on a collision course with its own backbenches and with the
trade unions and the working class.
This resolution was unanimously passed by the Central London Branch of
the National Union of Journalists in a meeting held on May 12.
The state of the world economy, the USA, China, the disastrous war in
Iraq, all have a direct effect on the situation in Britain. Some may
find a contradiction in the fact that although Blair is very unpopular
he will almost certainly win the elections. The fact is that there is
no alternative. The workers of Britain have not forgotten what the
Tories did when they were in power. But the undercurrents are already
discernable and these will sooner or later come to the surface.
From the main squares of US cities to the streets of Istanbul, from
London to Sydney, demonstrators came out in support of the Iraqi people
and in rejection of the two year long imperialist occupation.
The London Hands off Venezuela campaign held an excellent meeting at
the Walkers of Whitehall pub just off Trafalgar Square after the
anti-war demonstration on March 19, 2005. Hands off Venezuela had a
stall at the demonstration that attracted a lot of attention, where
DVDs, pamphlets and leaflets were distributed on the revolutionary
events in Venezuela.
Elections can provide us with a snapshot of the political mood of
society at a given moment. Yet if we restrict ourselves to who won and
who lost they can teach us very little. This is the editorial from the
current issue of the British Socialist Appeal.
In her usual style Naomi Klein provided many interesting facts, but
failed to reach any concrete conclusions of how we can or whether it is
actually necessary to abolish capitalism. In essence she would like
another kind of capitalism, a more humane capitalism, which of course
is utterly utopian.
The left wing Labour MP John McDonnell has tabled an Early Day Motion
condemning the murder of Danilo Anderson, the Venezuelan prosecutor
investigating the April 2002 military coup against president Chavez.
The Scottish Socialist Party, once heralded by many on the left as the
most successful socialist experiment in recent times, is in the process
of tearing itself apart after sacking its founder and leader Tommy
Sheridan as the party’s convener. Officially he is now simply a
“backbencher”.
The Butler Report, the official inquiry into how intelligence sources were
used by the Blair government to justify the war in Iraq, has produced
nothing surprising. It is another whitewash, just like the Hutton report.
What is amazing however is that it provides enough evidence to show that the
government did indeed lie to the British people, that it went to war under
false pretences.
The 2004 elections to the European Parliament, London Assembly, and local
councils were a historic defeat for Blair and the Labour leaders. Phil
Mitchinson looks at the rise of the UK Independence Party, and the lessons of
Britain's Super Thursday elections.
Former Cabinet Minister Clare Short, who resigned over the war, has candidly
admitted that British Intelligence
had spied on UN officials including Secretary General Kofi Annan, in the run-up
to the Iraq war. This follows on the admission of a former translator at GCHQ
who revealed that the US intelligence services has asked the British to spy on
senior UN officials and representatives of other "allied" governments.
Imagine a game of football where the manager of one team made up the
rules to benefit his own side, where the goalposts were moved and where the
referee was on his side. The outcome of such a match would, of course be known
in advance by the winning side, who would then run around the stadium in a state
of ecstasy, yelling “Victory!” That is precisely what happened with the now
infamous Hutton report.
The Hutton inquiry produced few surprises. Naturally Tony Blair and Alastair
Campbell were exonerated. This inquiry was no different to any of its
predecessors, since no such inquiry ever found a government to be guilty. It was
a whitewash.
Teflon Tony, otherwise known as the ‘Houdini of British politics’ has
narrowly escaped a major political defeat yet again. It is however fair to say
that his protective layer of teflon may be wearing off, as the Labour majority
in parliament was reduced to just 5, down from the on-paper majority of 161.
Thebill on tuition top-up fees passed its second reading by a vote of 316 to 311,
and the Labour Party’s parliamentary group is looking seriously beleaguered
after an intense few days of political haggling and backroom swindles.
Since last summer we have seen a widespread debate about the pros and
the cons of GM products. There are people for and against GM products from all
the different political shades. The bourgeois papers have been very keen on
giving voice to different people in the debate. What is missing, however, is a
class point of view. No one poses the question from the point of view of
ordinary working people.
The festive season in Britain got off to a grim start with the discovery of two
pensioners who died weeks after their gas supply was cut off because of an
unpaid bill of £140. These events happened, not in 1840 but in our own times.
The Office of National Statistics predicts that 2,500 people will die of cold
this week. The cause of these deaths is usually attributed to things like
influenza, heart attacks, pneumonia and the like. But the real cause in most
cases is poverty and neglect.
In Gordon Brown’s recent Budget Report for 2003 we are told that "social
justice" is the aim of the Blair government. A closer look at official
statistics shows that the opposite is being achieved.
This is how history is made. Hundreds of thousands of protestors flood
the capital demonstrating their opposition to a President who holds office
thanks to a rigged election. They demand democracy, they demand their voices
be heard, they demand that the President go. The biggest weekday demo in
British history greeted the visit of George W. Bush. Meanwhile in Georgia, a
President and not just an effigy was overthrown.
On Tuesday November 18th, President George Bush arrived at Buckingham Palace
for a three-day state visit, complete with red carpets, banquets and cannon
salutes. Outside the palace gates, a huge security operation was under way. Some
5,000 British police officers were on hand to protect the president, along with
the 700 or so secret-service agents Mr Bush brought with him. More than 200,000
people participated in the biggest weekday demo in the history of Britain to
protest at his visit and to cheer the symbolic toppling of his statue.
Strikes, demonstrations, political crises, Britain looks a lot different now
than it did when Blair and co came to power. For us the task of the hour is to give
active support to workers struggling to defend jobs and services and carry that
fight over into the Labour Party, into a fight for socialist policies.
In the nine months since the publication of our perspectives' document, The New Situation in Britain,
events internationally and here in Britain have continued to accelerate. The
consequences of the imperialist adventure in Iraq have had an even greater
impact in Britain than in the US. Here the furore over the death of weapons
inspector Dr. David Kelly and the Hutton inquiry represent the most important
crisis faced by Blair to date. It is clear that the new situation in Britain is part
and parcel of a new, profoundly unstable and tumultuous period in world history.
In Part one of his article Phil Mitchinson looked at the world situation
and how this affects Britain. In this second part he looks at the devastation of British
manufacturing over a period of decades as shown by the investment and output figures
he provides. He goes on to chart the degeneration of the British
ruling class, from its far-sighted predecessors to the current degenerates
who can't see past their bank balances. This reflects itself in the present mess
the Tory party finds itself in.
A general perspectives document on the economic, social, political and trade
union position in Britain, produced at the beginning of 2003 by Phil Mitchinson.
Each new piece of evidence presented to the Hutton inquiry raises the lid a
little more on the real truth behind the government dossier on Iraq's weapons
and the death of Dr. David Kelly. With each passing day the Blair clique is being increasingly exposed as
nothing short of a nest of vipers.
Blair is having a lot of problems convincing us that he told the truth
abouth the so-called Weapons of Mass destruction (WMDs). The majority of people
in Britain no longer trust him. Mick Brooks unravels the contradictions in the
various explanations givene by Bush and Blair to justify the war.
As we were preparing for publication, the news came through of the sudden
death of Dr David Kelly. Dr Kelly had been publicly named as the source of a
report by BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan, that exposed the manoeuvres of the
Blair government to justify the war against Iraq.
As the summer break draws near, the thoughts of politicians, as those of
ordinary mortals, turn to sunny beaches where one can forget the travails of
life and relax in pleasant company. For the British and American soldiers
sweltering in temperatures of 50 degrees, dodging Iraqi bombs and bullets, this
pleasant prospect is further away than for most of us. And for Tony Blair,
besieged by an ever more hostile press and public, the holiday season cannot
come quick enough.
Why are pensions being cut or not paying out money that was promised? All over
Europe pensions are under attack. Everywhere workers are being asked to retire
later, to give up on the idea of a guaranteed state pension and to look to the
private sector for a pension. British Socialist Appeal looks at the real reasons behind the pensions crisis.
Mick Brooks looks at the question of the movement of labour (emigration and
immigration) and how the bosses have always managed to have a flexible approach
on this question depending on the needs of their system at any given moment. In
the end whether they are campaigning for it or against it, it is always used to
enhance their profits as they attempt to divide the workers on this issue.
Mick Brooks answers some of the myths and distortions about asylum seekers
and "illegal immigrants" by simply stating what the facts are.
The debate over whether Britain should join the Euro is heating up. On both
sides of the debate we find a capitalist logic being applied. One side stands
for so-called British "sovereignty", the other praises the merits of
the wider market. Neither side is defending the real interests of the workers.
As Mick Brooks points out, "The answer is surely for us to control the
movement of capital by taking over the means of production, not relying on the
goodwill of our enemy, the capitalist class."
The resignation yesterday of Clare Short, the former international development
secretary, is a shattering blow to the Blair government. It could spell the
beginning of the end for Blair, as things begin to unravel with increasing
speed.
With most of the results in from the local council, Welsh Assembly and Scottish
parliament elections the message to Blair is clear – his imperialist adventure
in Iraq was deeply unpopular, and at least as unpopular are the government's
proposed attacks on public services, the introduction of foundation hospitals,
the further privatisation of the NHS, and the introduction of top-up fees for
students.
The killing of two Spanish reporters during the war in Iraq stirred public
opinion in Spain and it increased the anger that the working class and youth
feel towards the present right-wing Aznar government.The Spanish Marxist journal, El
Militante, interviewed Jeremy Dear on the war and other developments.
As we go to press the TV is broadcasting scenes of US 'victory'. Yet if we
have learned one fact in recent weeks it is that the first casualty of war is
the truth. This war is not finished yet no matter what the headlines say.
Now the battle for Baghdad is under way, capitalist commentators are going
euphoric. The war against Saddam could possibly be over in days. The stock
market is already rocketing up on the prospect.
Capitalism is renewed, such is the current mantra.
With the latest issue the Socialist Appeal journal in Britain
has gone fortnightly. It will be published twice a month for the duration of the
war and its immediate aftermath. This is an important step forward for the
forces of Marxism in Britain. It is a clear indication that Marxist ideas are
getting a wider echo in the British Labour movement. To mark this occasion, we
are publishing the Editorial of the first fortnightly edition.
According to the Sunday Times, two British service men were
sent home from the Middle East after refusing to fight in the war against Iraq.
The two face a court martial and up to two years in jail for disobeying orders.
In January Roy Jenkins, a Liberal Democrat Lord passed away. In the
1960s and 1970s he was right at the top of the British Labour Party. After his
recent death the
bourgeois press were full of praise for his achievements, the reason being that
as of 1979 he had worked strenuously to destroy the Labour Party! No longer able
to control the ranks, who were moving radically to the left,
especially after the defeat in the 1979 elections, he attempted together with
others to build the Social Democratic Party.
In this article in our series on the history of the British Labour party, Barbara Humphries looks at
the early years of Labour in parliament and how the development of the class struggle forced the leaders of
the party to make the final break with Liberalism.
(Originally published in Socialist Appeal, issue 48, February 1997).
As the world enters a new
turbulent period of wars and revolutions Rob Sewell looks at the situation in Europe in
the period of the 1930s and 1940s
On November 17 we published an article on the crisis in the British Conservative
Party, Tories in Crisis – The Plots Thicken.
The purpose of the article was to show how the Tories' crisis, and especially the crisis of their
leadership, is an expression of the crisis of the capitalist system, which
affects all classes in society. We explained how the 'Old Guard' of the
Tories would prefer the leader of the party to be elected by the MPs and not the
rank and file, because the present rank and file are so right wing and out of
touch with the real needs of the ruling class. The latest statements of some of
the old guard Tory leaders now confirm our analysis.
On the one hand, Blair prepares to send troops into Iraq behind the coattails
of the Americans to overthrow Saddam. On the other hand, he and ‘two Jags’
Prescott prepare to send in troops to break the picket lines of the
firefighters. If you adopt the policies of capitalism abroad, inevitably you
will adopt them in domestic policy.
The dearth of leadership in the Tory Party is not the cause of their crisis,
but it is not an accident either. The failings of these leaders faithfully
reflect the impasse of their system. Nye Bevan once said of the Tory leaders
(including Churchill) they have nothing to say about tomorrow, and harp on about
the past because they have no part to play in the future. They are a doomed
party representing a doomed class and a doomed system. The crisis in the Tory
Party is symptomatic of the impasse facing the profit system. The sickness of
that system spreads like a cancer affecting every aspect of society.
It’s amazing how people change. And it’s even more terrible when you forget
your roots. This is surely the case with poor old John Prescott, once National
Union of Seamen firebrand, and now "responsible" statesman and
minister in charge of the Labour Government’s stand against the just demands of
Britain’s firefighters.
On Saturday, September 28, the biggest anti-war demonstration ever seen in
London took place with 400,000 people marching. This shows the real mood in
Britain today.
Strikes in Britain are at their highest level for thirteen years and the
trend is upwards. The recent council workers’ strike involving over one
million people was the largest strike by women workers ever seen in this
country. Fire fighters have voted unanimously at their recall conference to
ballot for strike action over a 40% rise in pay! If this takes place, it
will be the first national strike in 25 years. Rail and tube workers, who
have their own disputes, have threatened to refuse to work on grounds of
safety if there is no fire cover. The general public, according to a recent
Guardian/ICM poll, appear to sympathise with them. The days of workplace
"servitude" seem finally to be coming to an end.
This article deals with the scandalous so-called "Private Finance Initiative" in Britain. This process allows private companies to be involved in the building and running of what were formerly public services, such as hospitals, railways, and even schools. Mick Brooks shows quite clearly that the only people to benefit from PFI have been the fat cat capitalists who run the private firms.
Steve Jones from the British Marxist magazine Socialist Appeal looks at the World Cup and also the game closer to home, with the ITV Digital catastrophe.
The Jubilee has come and gone. India and Pakistan stood on the brink of nuclear war. Suicide bombers were striking in Israel and Belfast was aflame with sectarian conflict. But on the streets of London and other British cities, millions of people cheerfully participated in street parties in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Yet this year’s festivities totally lacked the grassroots "spontaneity" of the Silver Jubilee, 25 years ago. The enthusiasm for the monarchy that has been whipped up by the media in recent weeks is at best superficial. The mood is quite different to 1977 and even more distant from that of 1952.
This is a report of the successful meeting in London organised both to launch Ted Grant’s book History of British Trotskyism and to celebrate 10 years of .
This is a shorter report of the same event.
The Queen has started her Golden Jubilee tour of Britain, and particularly with the events (and non-events) following the death over Easter of the Queen Mother, the media are trying to create a revivial of the monarchy’s public standing. Steve Jones looks at this, and at the real role of the British monarchy.
Peter Doyle, an organiser for the public sector union Unison in Cumbria, Northern England, reports on the Equal Value claims that his union region is submitting to the government to get women workers in traditional "women’s jobs" in the health service the same levels of pay as workers in traditional "men’s jobs". They are on the verge of an important victory.
On March 30, 1982, in response to Argentina's deepening economic
crisis, and the repression of General Galtieri's military-police
dictatorship, the workers had taken to the streets of Buenos Aires. The
regime was staring overthrow in the face. It responded by starting a
war, one of the principal aims of which was to distract the attention
of the masses. In all wars the policy and analysis of every
organisation is put to the test. The analysis made by the Marxists, on
the other hand, remains as valid as when it was written. Unlike other
tendencies we can reproduce everything we wrote twenty years ago
without changing a single word.
This is the complete text of a pamphlet written by Ted Grant in May 1982.
Following on Blair’s attack on the trade unions, in which he accused them of being "wreckers" for daring to oppose his privatisation plans, the British journal Socialist Appeal has published this special supplement entitled The Wreckers’ Bulletin.
Ten years ago this April, the Socialist Appeal was launched as the journal of the Marxists in the British Labour movement. We are on the eve of celebrating the hundredth edition of the Appeal, and ten years of tireless work in defending the ideas and principles of Marxism on a world scale.
A report of the Socialist Alliance Conference on December 1st which started with words of unity and ended up with the Socialist Party splitting off.
In the aftermath of September 11, governments around the world have been attempting to rush through legislation which undermines democratic rights, in the name of fighting terrorism. In the UK, Blair is trying to introduce a new law which will allow among other things indefinite imprisonment without trial of foreign nationals.
Report of the demonstration against the war in Afghanistan held in Trafalgar Square on Sunday Novemeber 18.
The demonstration against the war called by the CND on Saturday 13 October in London was much bigger than expected. According to the police there were about 20,000 demonstrators on the march, but this is a gross underestimation. The organisers claimed around 50,000 participated. When the head of the demonstration had reached Trafalgar Square (about three miles away) the tail of the march had not yet left Hyde Park.
The Editorial of next month's Socialist Appeal deals with the economic
effects of the current crisis and the build up to a war against
Afghanistan. It also explains how the right wing leaders of the labour
movement are using the pretext of the "war against terrorism" to
prevent any criticism of their policies regarding privatisation with
the curtailing of the TUC and Labour Party Conferences. This is also
the pretext for the introduction of ID cards and other measures against
civil liberties.
The events in Oldham have hit the national headlines. Similar explosions of racial conflict have taken place in other towns in Britain. This has brought the BNP and the danger from far-right groups back into the spotlight. Bryan Beckingham, Secretary of Oldham National Union of Teachers, and Alan Creear in Oldham describe the background to these developments.
This statement by the Editorial Board of the
Socialist Appeal
analyses the situation in Britain today. It looks at Britain within the
context
of world economic and political developments and
analyses how these affect the British trade union movement, the
Labour Party, the youth and outlines the
perspectives for the coming period and poses the tasks of Marxists
today.
Over the past weeks the news has been dominated by the story of
yet another crisis in farming. The rapid
spreading of the food and mouth epidemic in Britain is a direct
consequence of capitalist farming
methods.
The horrific deaths of 58 Chinese migrants
found in Dover, revealed to the world the
monstrous effects of Britain’s immigration regime. By making it
virtually impossible for refugees and
migrants to enter this country legally, many thousands every year
seek to come here illegally. Jack Straw
was quick to place the blame on Chinese smuggling gangs called
the Snake Head. Thinking people can
see through this.
We hear a lot about the Third Way these days. But
does this represent anything new or
is it just the socialdemocrats recognising that there is no
longer any room for manouvre?
Barbara Humphries looks at where these ideas come from
and what do they really mean.
This is supposed to be, as the media are forever telling us,
the people’s game, our World
Cup, etc., etc. But we have little or no say in it. We generate
the passion but all the
officials see are the buckets of cash. The governing bodies
of football, both national and
international, are remote, out of touch and above all
travesties of democracy. So long as
big business and the multi-nationals control the game and
shape it in their interests,
this will continue to be the reality of things. The fightback
should start now, starting
with the grassroots supporters groups, to ensure that fans
have a say in the game,
alongside the players and coaches, and that big business is
given the red card.
The dramatic events of the first week of September 1997
mark a sea-change in British
society. The sudden death of the Princess of Wales was the
signal of an outburst of
popular feeling which was without precedent in recent
British history. Of course, Britain
has seen more than a few royal births, deaths and
marriages, duly attended by large crowds
of cheering or silently respectful people. But such a
spontaneous eruption as this, such
an overflowing of emotion, such a movement of the
masses, unorganised, uncalled-for,
uncontrollable – such a thing has never been seen. It is an
entirely new phenomenon,
reflecting an entirely new situation in Britain.