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John Dunn of the Justice for Mineworkers campaign makes a New Year’s resolution: don’t forget the crimes of capitalism and the ruling class; learn from history and begin organising the fightback for a socialist society.
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.
Darrall Cozens – from the Coventry TUC and Coventry NW Labour Party – reports on the continued national strike action being taken by firefighters against Tory attacks on conditions and pensions, and looks at the wider context of these austerity measures at a time of capitalist crisis. It is clear that a response – both industrial and political – is needed from the entire labour movement to fight the Coalition’s austerity programme. Additional information provided by Nick Harrison from the Coventry FBU.
The time has come for us to take a step forward. For twenty years Socialist Appeal has maintained itself as a permanent, monthly fixture in the labour movement, providing a Marxist, class-based analysis of events in Britain and internationally. From 2015, however, Socialist Appeal will be a fortnightly paper. Over the next 12 months, we will be preparing ourselves for this transition. We ask all our readers to support the Forward to a Fortnightly campaign.
Published in 1938, The Black Jacobins essentially opened up the serious study, not just of the Haitian Revolution, which created the first black state outside of Africa, but of the role of slaves as a revolutionary historical force. Owen Walsh of the Leeds Marxist society reviews CLR James’ masterpiece of Marxist historiography.
It is with a heavy heart that we report the tragic passing of one of the labour movement’s most staunch defenders and activists. In South East Northumberland, in particular in his home town of Ashington, John McCormack was first and foremost a socialist; a working class fighter; a dedicated member of the labour and trade union movement, who rose to become this year’s national president-elect of his union the UCU.
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.
Daniel Morley looks at China’s announcement of its very own Air Defence Identification Zone, which highlights the tensions between Chinese and American imperialism. This ominous step by China is proof that US imperialism’s golden era of relative stability is drawing to a close and a new phase of instability and conflicts dawns.
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.