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On Saturday, October 20th,
the streets of London were once again filled with red flags and
colourful trade union banners as 130,000 workers and youth from all over the
country marched against the austerity policies of the LibDem-Tory
coalition government.
We have received the following report
from a Spanish comrade living in Edinburgh, Julia S. Vidania, on her
recent visit to her home city of Madrid. She gives a vivid account of
the almost revolutionary tension in the city as the European austerity
programme and the crisis of capitalism erodes the veneer of stability in
society, exposing the deep fault-lines of the class struggle.
According to official sources, over 100,000 marched through London today (Oct 20) to protest against the austerity regime and cuts being imposed by the government – the actual number who marched was almost certainly much higher. Many workers carried banners and shouted slogans demanding action including a one-day general strike. A full report and analysis will follow but in the meantime here are some photos of the day.
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.
The world economic crisis has led to such a deterioration of the health of public finances worldwide that the recent World Economic Outlook
(WEO) of the IMF has the apt title “Coping with High Debt and Sluggish
Growth”.
In November last year Francis Maude, Cabinet Office
Minister, told civil servants who were embarking on strike action to protect
their pensions that they could take 15 minutes of symbolic action without loss
of pay. He was ignored and hundreds of thousands walked out in protest over
pension “reforms." This week in Coventry more than 200 PCS members and others took
Francis Maude at his word and walked out for 15 minutes as he was visiting the HMRC
tax office in Sherbourne House where they worked.
Over one hundred and thirty five
people attended the UCLU Marxist Society last night to watch “Days of
Hope: General Strike” by Ken Loach. Present at the discussion held
afterwards was the veteran socialist film director himself, as well as
John Dunn from the “Justice for Miners” Campaign.
Ireland: The decision of the Workers and Unemployed Action Group to withdraw
from the United Left Alliance is an unwelcome symptom of the growing
impasse within the ULA, previously reflected in the controversy over
Mick Wallace and the departure of Clare Daly from the Socialist Party.
The WUAG has a long standing base in South Tipperary and its departure
will have an influence on the development of the ULA at a national
level.
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 Cambridge Marxist Society, founded shortly after the
crisis began in 2008, is now in its fourth year of existence. Over these years,
the society has grown to become the largest political society in Cambridge
University, with 350 people signing up at this year’s freshers’ fair. This was
followed up by an excellent first meeting of the new academic year, with over
90 people attending to hear Alan Woods, editor of www.marxist.com, speak on “Why Marx was
right”.
UCLU Marxists are hosting a film
screening of ‘1926: General Strike’, from the Days of Hope series by Ken
Loach made for the BBC in 1975. Ken will be in attendance to answer questions after the screening.