Over 600 people from across Scotland crowded into a room in the centre of Glasgow on Sunday afternoon for the launch of Solidarity, a new movement for socialism in Scotland.

The government’s broken promises on climate change

Right wing economist Frances Cairncross shocked climate campaigners last week by calling for the government to make adapting to the "inevitable consequences" of climate change a priority - not attempting to stop it.

Three-day strike at Whipps Cross fights the Rentokil parasites

Over 200 workers at Whipps Cross hospital, in east London, struck from Wednesday to Friday last week. They are demanding equal terms and conditions to colleagues directly employed by the NHS.

Firefighters' union must step up the defence of gay rights

Nine firefighters who refused to hand out safety advice leaflets to people attending a gay pride march in Glasgow were disciplined last week.

Coventry porters' action wins a cash prize

Forty porters, members of T&G and Unison, at the new PFI-funded University Hospital in Coventry stopped work for four hours on Friday of last week.

Health service round-up

Anti-cuts march It would have taken more than torrential rain last Saturday to keep the people of Cumbria from marching to stop their Westmorland hospital from closing the essential heart and cardiac ward.

Reports round-up

Support Raytheon anti-war protests Fife Stop The War Coalition was to protest on Thursday of this week outside the Raytheon arms manufacturing facility in Glenrothes.

Unite to stop US-led war and sanctions against Iran

The end of August has seen the deadline of the UN Security Council resolution on Iran pass. Iran has ignored the demand to suspend uranium enrichment for a civilian nuclear technology that it regards as its inalienable right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Pensions: Report shows that bosses live high life in retirement

Britain’s top businessmen can look forward to retiring on pensions of more than £10,000 a week, with many on nearly £20,000 a week, according to research released this week.

Police 'terror' raids increase racism

Last weekend saw the headlines dominated by another series of high profile police raids to round up Muslims alleged to be involved in "terror plots". This time a halal Chinese restaurant in south London and an Islamic school in East Sussex were targeted.

Blair's crisis

"As TB enters his final phase he needs to be focusing way beyond the finishing line, not looking at it. He needs to go with the crowds wanting more. He should be the star who won’t even play that last encore. In moving towards the end he must focus on the future."Leaked memo from Blair advisers planning their boss’s exit from power

Photographer returns from Lebanon war

Student Respect is ready for new term

Activists from around the country met last weekend to decide the direction for Student Respect in the new academic year.

Tony Blair’s plans to take “pre-birth” action for our children

Under Tony Blair the New Labour government has criminalised whole layers of society. The introduction of anti-social behaviour orders is one of the worst examples of this.

Socialist Worker appeal: help us raise £200,000

Socialist Worker wants to raise £200,000. The money you donate will help pay for our coverage of campaigns across Britain and the world.

Shoot The Messenger: the message is wrong

"Everything bad that has ever happened to me has involved a black person." So says Joe, the central character, espousing the recurring theme in Sharon Foster’s Shoot the Messenger which went out last week on BBC2.

Crucial battle for firefighters on Merseyside

Firefighters on Merseyside are in a crucial battle against plans by the local fire authority to ram through a package of cuts - dressed up as neo-liberal "modernisation" - that would axe 120 frontline firefighters posts, some one in ten of the workforce.

Solidarity and unofficial walkout win important victory for Exeter postal workers

Striking Exeter postal workers voted unanimously to return to work on Tuesday after forcing their bosses into a total retreat.

Testing time for bosses at Driving Standards Agency

Over 1,500 members of the PCS civil service workers’ union in the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) struck for the second time on Monday over job cuts.

South West Trains strike threat—then a deal

Around 900 members of the Aslef train drivers’ union were set to strike on Friday of this week, severely disrupting services on South West Trains (SWT) for a second time.

Burston school strike rally

Over 500 trade unionists gathered in the Norfolk village of Burston last weekend at the annual rally to remember the longest strike in history. The 25 year dispute started when school students walked out in solidarity with their socialist teachers in 1914.

Rail workers back the Organising For Fighting Unions Conference

Activists in the RMT rail workers’ union are mobilising for the Organising for Fighting Unions conference set for London on 11 November.

Brilliant mood during Oxfordshire post strike

Postal workers in Oxfordshire struck on Thursday and Friday of last week and Monday of this week in a battle for justice and fair treatment in the workplace.

Post Office counter staff strike in South Wales

Post Office workers in south west Wales struck for two hours on Monday in protest at the closure of offices in Swansea and Llanelli.

Labour orders £22bn privatisation for NHS Logistics

The government has announced one of the biggest ever health privatisation schemes - selling off the contract to supply and equip hospitals across England. But the workers threatened with privatisation are balloting for strike action to oppose the government’s plans.

Merseyside firefighters call new eight-day strike

Firefighters on Merseyside have announced eight more days of strike action following yesterday’s breakdown in talks between the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and Merseyside fire authority.

Tony Blair: go now

Tony Blair’s crisis is the result of a revolt that has been gathering for five years. At the heart of it is opposition to imperialist wars and New Labour’s murderous alliance with George Bush.

Statement from Raytheon Nine as court date set

The Raytheon Nine appeared in court today and were remanded on continuing bail to appear again in court on 12 October.

International

Mexico: key moment in democracy battle

Friday 1 September was a key date in the battle against electoral fraud in Mexico. Outgoing president Vicente Fox was set to give his last annual state of the nation speech to Congress.

Anger grows as Turkish parliament prepares for vote on troops for Lebanon

As Socialist Worker went to press on Tuesday of this week, the Turkish parliament was set to vote on sending troops to Lebanon as part of the United Nations (UN) force.

Strike victory in Bangladesh

Workers in Bangladesh staged a national hartal (general strike) on Wednesday of last week. The victorious strike followed the shooting dead of six demonstrators protesting against a plan by a British company to construct an opencast mine.

Chilean miners’ action ends

Miners at Escondida, Chile’s largest copper mine, returned to work on Monday of this week, ending a 25-day strike. They have won an 8 percent pay rise and one-off bonuses worth £8,920.

Turkish troops for Lebanon: doing Israel’s dirty work

This time round, the Turkish government got what it wanted. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül, perhaps the only two people in the country who had no reservations about sending troops to Lebanon, brought the vote in parliament as far forward as legally possible and railroaded their own party’s deputies into voting in favour. We needed 85 to vote against, only 15 did so. The government spent hours explaining how the troops would not fight, not touch Hizbollah, not do anything to help anyone but the Lebanese!

General strike in Palestine

A general strike in Palestine this week by public sector workers brought services to a halt in much of the area run by the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Comment

We have to act now to stop environmental devastation

It is time to act. Over the last 20 years the scientists have organised themselves globally to sound the alarm.

The Manchester Time to Go demonstration: ‘This isn’t one to miss’

The amount of money spent on communications by the government has trebled since it came to power in 1997. The biggest single increase in this astonishing figure has been at the ministry of defence.

Features

A brutal life of punishment

Last week I gave a general overview of prison life. This week I extend my argument with a little more detail about how the system treats prisoners, and what this does to them.

All roads lead to the Manchester demonstration, 23 September

With just two weeks to go until the 23 September "Time To Go" demonstration in Manchester at the Labour Party conference, momentum is growing in the north west of England.

The Russian Revolution and national freedom

We live during a new wave of struggles for national freedom and dignity, expressed most strongly in the Middle East and Latin America, but finding a reflection in the heartlands of imperialism.

Bias revelations in Blair Peach case

There is new evidence that a Tory government suppressed documents showing the coroner in the inquest into the death of Blair Peach on a 1979 Anti Nazi League demonstration was biased.

Reviews

Evelyn Dunbar: recording the role of women during the war

Evelyn Dunbar was the only British woman artist paid by the government to record the Second World War. She painted unsentimental images of the Women’s Land Army that are easily recognised, yet she is largely forgotten in discussions of Second World War art today.

Bolivia 2006 - Start of the Process DVD

For the mainstream media the political upheavals in Bolivia since the turn of the century culminated in the election of radical president Evo Morales in December last year.

Brick Lane Festival | Gaddafi: A Living Myth | The Journey

Brick Lane FestivalBrick Lane, east LondonSun 10 Sep As well as the usual mix of music, fashion and food, this year’s festival will include the Chili Film Festival.

What We Think

Imperial onslaught - and resistance to it

Five years ago next Monday saw the terrible events of 11 September 2001. While millions around the world mourned, George Bush and the neoconservatives around him were busy plotting to use the attacks as a pretext for unleashing terror across the world.

Other Categories

Letters

Workers defy Australia’s vicious anti-union laws Trade unionists across Australia joined demonstrations on Wednesday of last week at the beginning of court proceedings against 107 construction workers. These workers defied right wing prime minister John Howard’s new industrial law regime.