Socialist Worker

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'Seven medals but now the Tories want my benefits'

Paralympic gold medallist and world record holder Tara Flood faces a test that could see her lose her disability benefits, she told Socialist Worker.

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International Comment Features Reviews What We Think Other

News

EDL humiliated as Walthamstow takes to the streets to stop them

The racists and fascists of the English Defence League (EDL) were comprehensively routed on Saturday. Thousands of anti-fascists blocked their march route and stopped their rally in Walthamstow, east London.

Photos from the Walthamstow anti-EDL demonstration

Read our full report here:

Remploy: after 27 closures, a week of strikes against sell-offs

Disabled workers at Remploy in Chesterfield have announced a five-day strike starting on Monday of next week. Those at Springburn, Glasgow, were set to begin a four-day strike on the same day.

Southampton council backtracks on pay cuts with 'phased reversal'

Unions have released details of a proposed deal to reverse pay cuts at Southampton council. The proposal ends a long-running dispute that saw strikes last summer.

Unite and Unison vote to back shoddy LGPS pensions deal

Workers in the Unison and Unite unions have voted to accept a deal over their local government pension scheme (LGPS).

Sparks protest against pay attack in London and Leeds

Electricians and their supporters gathered at a site near St Pancras station in central London on Friday morning of last week.

Blacklisting: Workers target Balfour's Glasgow HQ

Some 40 workers protested outside the Scottish offices of construction firm Balfour Beatty in Hillington, Glasgow, on Friday of last week.

Health workers in Unite reject regional pay proposals

The Unite union has rejected proposals to change the national Agenda for Change agreement on health workers’ pay and conditions.

DWP call centre strikes are suspended

The PCS civil service workers’ union has suspended further strikes in Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) call centres.

Reports round-up

TransPennine train cleaners strike back Cleaners, security staff and train dispatchers working on First TransPennine Express struck for 24 hours on Friday of last week.

Schools demand GCSEs are marked again after Tory shift

Headteachers are demanding that all English GCSE papers should be re-marked after students received lower than expected grades. The headteachers’ group ASCL is threatening legal action over the "grade fixing" fiasco.

Anger as police harass young people at Notting Hill Carnival

Many people celebrating this year’s Notting Hill Carnival were angry that the police had once more used it as an excuse to harass young people.

Unite and kick out the racist EDL

Thousands of people were set to take the streets to stop the racist English Defence League (EDL) in Waltham Forest, east London, this Saturday.

Fury over NHS cuts fuels protests against Tories

Three big local demonstrations to defend local hospitals will take place across London on 15 September. Protests are organised for Ealing, Brent and Greenwich. A fourth demonstration will hit the streets of Hammersmith on 22 September.

News round-up

No prosecutions over Dale Farm Basildon council in Essex has dropped prosecutions against 14 activists involved in defending Travellers at Dale Farm last year.

'Atos forced me to crawl on the floor in tears'

"I was forced to crawl across the floor in tears of pain and humiliation."

Anti-Atos protests take to streets of Manchester and Sheffield

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Shock UKBA decision hits London Met's international students

Up to 3,000 international students at London Metropolitan University face possible deportation after the UK Border Agency (UKBA) revoked the university’s licence to teach them.

Activists turn up the heat on Atos in London and Cardiff

Protests around the country against Paralympic sponsor Atos continued yesterday, Wednesday.

Protest against UKBA next week to defend London Met students

Lecturers at London Metropolitan University have called a protest against the UK Border Agency (UKBA) after it revoked the university’s licence to teach non-EU students.

Two police officers to face charges over policing of Bolton UAF demo

Two officers in the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) are to face charges that they perverted the course of justice in the case of an anti-fascist arrested at a Bolton demo.

Walthamstow gets ready to protest against EDL thugs

With just a day to go before the racist English Defence League (EDL) tries to march in Waltham Forest, east London, anti-fascist activists in the local community are having a final push to build opposition.

Hundreds protest outside Atos headquarters then blockade DWP

More than 500 people rallied outside the offices of Paralympic sponsor Atos in central London this afternoon as part of a day of action called by Disabled People Against Cuts (Dpac) and UK Uncut.

RMT and counter demo turn up the heat on EDL in Walthamstow

Rail workers at King’s Cross station are threatening to disrupt attempts to ferry supporters of the English Defence League (EDL) to Walthamstow for a racist march today, Saturday.

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International

Marikana miners' strike defies police brutality and the bosses

South African police followed their massacre of striking miners with beatings in prison, while bosses have threatened strikers with the sack—yet the struggle continues, writes Ken Olende

Marikana: Political crisis breaks out inside the ruling ANC

Platinum miners at Marikana last week reoccupied the hill that, just days earlier, had been the scene of the police massacre that killed 34 strikers.

Greece: the government's new attacks provoke anger not fear

Greece’s new coalition government was under fire from all sides last week.

Syrian rebels organised despite latest onslaught

The town of Darayya has become the latest scene of a massacre of civilians at the hands of President Bashar al-Assad’s military forces.

Huge protest march in Quebec

Some 100,000 protesters marched through Quebec in Canada on Wednesday of last week to mark the six month anniversary of the student strike movement against tuition fee rises there.

International round-up

Corrie’s an death ‘accident’, says Israel An Israeli court has ruled that 23 year old activist Rachel Corrie’s death in 2003 was an "accident". An Israeli army bulldozer crushed her as she blocked its approach to a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip. Her family, who brought the civil case, plan to appeal.

No action against US troops who urinated on dead Afghans

Three US marines who were videoed in Afghanistan urinating on the bodies of dead Afghans will not face criminal charges, the US military has announced.

Outrage at plan to charge miners with 'murder' of their colleagues

The South African state is threatening to charge some 270 Lonmin platinum miners arrested at the time of the Marikana massacre with murder. In an outrageous twist they would be charged with the killing of the 34 colleagues who were gunned down beside them.

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Comment

Trivialising rape won't help challenge imperialism

Arguments about the case of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange have divided the left and dominated the media over the last week. The debate has centred on the question of rape.

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Features

Base and superstructure

What is it that drives change in society? This is one of the most fundamental questions that anyone fighting for a better world seeks to answer.

Love Music Hate Racism celebrates its tenth anniversary

More photos from LMHR over the years

LMHR tenth anniversary: photos

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Reviews

Citizen Khan: a significant TV moment, but not one for comedy

The BBC launches Citizen Khan this week, created by and starring former radio presenter Adil Ray.

Shadow Dancer captures the atmosphere of 1990s Belfast

Shadow dancer is an intense and hard hitting thriller set in 1990s Belfast, in the fraught months leading up to the end of the Troubles.

Reviews round-up

The Revolution Will Be Televised BBC Three on Wednesdays, 10pm

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What We Think

Capitalist competition holds back progress

We’re told that capitalist competition is what drives society forward. This myth is central to how capitalism justifies itself.

Pensions fight not over

This week’s ballot results from local government workers in the Unite and Unison unions are a blow to the fight to stop Tory attacks on public sector pensions. Both groups accepted deals that will see them work longer for less.

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Other Categories

Neville Alexander (1936-2012)

Neville Alexander, who has died of cancer aged 75, devoted his life to the struggle against apartheid and for socialism.

Tim: Paralympics

Tim's view

 

Letters

Marikana massacre reminds me of apartheid | Atos | The tragedy of drowning refugees

Quotes from this week's news

‘The environment is a good one. High prices, lots of volatility&#8230; good for Glencore’

Behind bars at last: Asil Nadir, the man who bankrolled Thatcher

Around a month after the 1987 general election, Tory prime minister Margaret Thatcher sat down to write a letter Asil Nadir, boss of fashion firm Polly Peck.

How the police and the law fail women over rape

The entire criminal justice system is stacked against women who experience rape—from the attitudes of the police to low conviction rates and low sentences.

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