Socialist Worker

Issue: 2242

Dated: 12 Mar 2011

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Don’t let the Tories steal your pension

Not content with slashing jobs and services, the Tories now want to steal our pensions.

International Comment Features Reviews What We Think Other

News

Model motion on pensions for NUT members

Pass this motion in your school/association

Striking to defend jobs, pay and pensions

University lecturers in the UCU union have voted for strikes to defend their jobs, pensions and pay. The first strikes are set to take place on Thursday of next week.

Teachers' massive vote for strikes in Tower Hamlets shows what's possible

In a fantastic result, some 2,000 teachers in Tower Hamlets have voted overwhelmingly for strikes against cuts.

Britain and Libya's web of deceit and hypocrisy

From the "diplomatic team" of spies captured in Libya to the senior common rooms of elite universities, the role of corporations and imperialism in propping up Colonel Gaddafi has come to light.

LSE Ideas at centre of Britain's relationship with Libya

A key link in the complex relationships is the LSE Ideas centre. None of the Libyan cash ended up there, but it is nonetheless an interesting establishment.

The spinning of Gaddafi and son

The public relations company that promoted Gaddafi is Brown Lloyd James. It sold the dictator as a "fascinating contemporary world figure" and his son Saif as a human rights champion.

Links between Libya and Huddersfield University

Former Scotland Yard Commissioner Lord Stevens stands to cash in from a deal worth around £4 million with the University of Huddersfield to train 103 Libyan police.

Does cutting back the state make us free?

Listen to any Tory MP and they’ll tell you that their government is increasing people’s freedom.

NHS cleaners and porters strike

Hundreds of striking hospital cleaners, porters and domestics who work for Medirest in Southampton have vowed to bolster their 60-hour strike this week with a further walkout next week.

Unofficial walkout at Saltend BP site

Some 400 construction workers went on unofficial strike at the BP Saltend plant on Wednesday of last week.

Defend Dale Farm Travellers from eviction

Basildon District Council is set to meet on Monday of next week to decide whether to serve 28 days notice of eviction on Travellers at the Dale Farm site.

1,500 attend 6 Billion Ways event

More than 1,500 people attended the positive and successful 6 Billion Ways conference in London last Saturday.

Unions win victory on anti-strike laws

Bosses’ attempts to extend already draconian anti‑union laws received a blow in the Court of Appeal last week.

Alarm at Tories' attack on health and safety

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is proposing to reduce unannounced workplace inspections by at least a third.

Preston election campaign launch for Michael Lavalette

Activists across the north west of England have launched a campaign to get independent socialist councillor Michael Lavalette re-elected in Preston.

Crown Post Office workers vote for strikes by 93 percent

Workers at Crown Post Offices have voted by a massive majority to strike against a below-inflation pay rise and threatened job losses.

Unions protest Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB deal

Speech and language therapists' action forces concessions

Speech and language therapists in south London were buoyed last week by news that cuts to their service will not be a big as initially feared.

Demonstrations ruin Nick Clegg's weekend

Thousands of people have taken to the streets across Britain again in the last week to protest against government and council cuts.

Pressure grows on council that make cuts

Manchester rose up on Saturday when over 2,000 marched against the £110 million cuts imposed by the government. This was a show of collective rage against the cuts in the city.

Hackney swings the budget axe

Labour councillors in Hackney, east London, last week voted through a cuts budget last week.

Scottish fees plan trashed by students

Higher education in Scotland will remain free after the Scottish government elections in May—whoever wins.

Support floods in for striking lecturers

Lecturers at Dundee University struck on Tuesday of this week over compulsory redundancies.

What do we do after councils pass cuts?

People have protested in many parts of Britain against their councils’ plans to make massive budget cuts, which would devastate lives.

Spread strikes to win against academies

Teachers at John Port school in Etwall, Derbyshire, struck on Monday and Tuesday of this week.

Rotherham teachers join march against cuts

TEACHERS fighting job losses led a lively march through Rotherham, South Yorkshire, last Saturday. The protest was against cuts to public services.

Defend Sue Caldwell

A disciplinary hearing for victimised teacher Sue Caldwell has been postponed. It was due to take place on Friday but has been rescheduled for 23 March.

Civil service union answers calls to escalate action

The PCS civil service workers’ union is to escalate the action in Jobcentre Plus call centres by balloting a further 8,000 members to join the dispute. PCS members are angry about working conditions.

Drivers at East London Bus Group face 15 percent pay cut

Socialist Worker has uncovered a serious attack on pay and conditions of bus drivers working for the capital’s third-largest operator, East London Bus Group.

Anti-racists stop EDL from marching through Rochdale

Anti-racists prevented the English Defence League (EDL) from marching through Rochdale, Greater Manchester, last Saturday.

Stoke campaign to remove remaining BNP councillors

North Staffordshire Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (Norscarf) and UAF held a day of action against the BNP in Stoke-on-Trent last Sunday. The BNP has five councillors in Stoke and activists hope to reduce their number to zero after the May council elections.

Revealed: 40 percent could lose their GP

Thousands of Londoners face losing their GP because NHS managers are pioneering a cost-saving initiative to remove "ghost patients".

Doctors join NHS resistance

Health workers are furious with Tory plans to "reform" the NHS.

Government's carbon plan sham

The government unveiled its draft Carbon Plan this week. It is supposedly a scheme to tackle climate change, but in reality it is a plan to use the free market to back up business.

Greedy bankers Diamond and Rich cash in

Even the governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has admitted that the bank bailout lies behind government spending cuts.

Obama breaks pledge and keeps Guantanamo open

US President Barack Obama is to restart military trials for terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Bradley Manning tortured in the US

Bradley Manning, a 23-year old US army private, is being tortured by the US state. Last week he was handed an additional 22 charges as part of his ongoing court martial process.

Libyan rebels host SAS for breakfast

The plan was simple. An eight-strong group, including SAS members and two spies, arrived near Khadra in Libya under cover of darkness.

Thousands sign statement defending multiculturalism

A petition launched to defend multiculturalism following David Cameron’s disgraceful comments in Munich last month is gathering signatures. Over 5,500 people have signed the statement. It is vital that as many people as possible sign it and pass it on.

Barnsley shock for Lib Dems

Join budget day protests

On budget Day, 23 March, the Tories will announce more attacks on our living standards.

Socialist from Egypt to join debate about revolution

Egyptian activist Gigi Ibrahim will be bringing the spirit of the Middle East revolutions to this Sunday’s Revolution In The 21st Century event.

Join London protest to support Zimbabwean socialists on trial for treason

Please join the protest outside the Zimbabwean embassy this Friday 11 March, 12 noon – 1.30pm, Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, WC2R 0JR.

Angry march through east London for NHS Day X

Angry health workers and students took to the streets of the City of London yesterday (Wednesday) in a protest against cuts and Tory threats to privatise the NHS.

Packed meeting to defend multiculturalism

On Wednesday over 260 people packed into a meeting to oppose David Cameron’s recent attack on multiculturalism and Muslims.

5,000 protest in Sheffield as Lib Dems cower behind fence

Some 5,000 people marched on the Lib Dems' spring conference in Sheffield on Saturday.

International

Libyans can beat Colonel Gaddafi

The revolution in Libya stands at a crossroads. The uprising has deepened and radicalised the revolts sweeping the Arab world—but it is in danger of being compromised by Western intervention.

Tunisia's old leaders manoeuvre as revolution deepens

The great wave of revolution across the Middle East and North Africa is growing.

Fear grips Saudi Arabia's royal rulers

The Saudi royal family has been struck by the fear that what once seemed unthinkable now looks possible.

Wisconsin: We'll keep fighting Scott Walker's bill

More than 30,000 people circled the state Capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin, last Saturday in a continued show of outrage against governor Scott Walker.

Egypt: raid on security is part of bigger battle

The cracks in the Egyptian state opened a little wider last week.

Zimbabwe: most arrested socialists freed - but the rest need support

A court in Zimbabwe has freed 39 of 45 activists who were arrested after they met and watched a video about the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia.

Comment

Searchlight's theory of 'tribes' won't defeat racists

Muslims are demonised for every ill in society. We are told that they refuse to fit in, don’t speak enough English, don’t adopt British values and harbour extremists.

Make these strikes electric festivals against cuts

University lecturers have voted for strikes. Some will strike in the week before 26 March.

Features

Is the West better than the rest?

The post-colonial order of feudal monarchs and military dictators is crumbling across North Africa and the Middle East, shaken by mass protests. "But only a Prozac-addicted optimist would put money on the emergence of anything resembling Western‑style democracy from the current revolutionary upheaval," according to historian Niall Ferguson.

From Jamie’s dream to… the free school nightmare

The Tories want to destroy comprehensive education, weaken education unions and put children at the mercy of private, unaccountable groups. And they want to use billions of pounds of our money to do it.