Socialist Worker

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Hillsborough campaigner speaks out: 'Sorry is not enough'

The most frightening thing about the Hillsborough disaster is how orchestrated the cover-up was.

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International Comment Features Reviews What We Think Other

News

Anti-racists celebrate past struggles and look to future

Some 600 people, young and old, black, white and Asian came together last Saturday to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR).

We won't take these health cuts lying down, protesters say

Demonstrations to defend the NHS hit streets across London on Saturday of last week. Some 5,000 marched through Ealing, west London. And hundreds protested in Brent, north west London and in Woolwich, south east London.

20 October TUC demonstration: let's all fight back together

There’s a month to go until the TUC’s 20 October mass demonstration. Trade unionists say the march has the potential to be a key day in the battle against the Tories.

Workers fight for their rights at Amnesty UK

The London office of Amnesty International UK was almost empty on Wednesday of last week as workers struck to defend their jobs. There were at least 30 workers on the picket line by mid-morning.

Sparks picket against 28 Crossrail sackings

Rank and file electricians and supporters picketed the Crossrail project in west London on Monday and Tuesday of this week.

Protests for London Met students

A hearing in London’s High Court this week will rule on whether London Metropolitan University can continue to teach students from outside the European Union. Supporters of the students plan to hold a lobby outside the court.

Lecturers' pensions action suspended

The UCU union’s dispute over the USS pensions scheme in older universities has been suspended for talks, following a meeting in Manchester last Thursday.

Gove leaves school workers in limbo

Workers in Merseyside remain in limbo after two schools they worked at closed and a free school opened.

Teaching unions set for joint action

Teachers in the NUT and NASUWT unions are preparing to take industrial action from Wednesday of next week. They can refuse to carry out duties such as some appraisals and some classroom observations in certain conditions.

Battle over jobs brings strikes to two government departments

On Friday 21 September, workers in the Department of Transport (DfT) are set to strike for the day.

Remploy workers left with no plan to save jobs

The Unite and the GMB unions suspended a five day strike that was set to start on Monday of this week at Chesterfield Remploy. It was suspended for talks.

Private prosecution to fight extradition

Karl Watkin is trying to start a private prosecution against Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsan with the support of their campaigns. The two men are fighting extradition to the US.

New threat to Dale Farm Travellers

Travellers at Dale Farm, Essex, face a second eviction. Basildon council evicted around 100 families in October last year.

Don't Argos it, strike for pensions!

Distribution workers in the Unite union at retail giant Argos were set to strike for four days this week to defend their pensions.

Vigil for Mikey Powell

The family of Mikey Powell held a vigil last week outside Thornhill Road police station, Birmingham, where he died in custody in 2003. They were joined by supporters including the families of Anthony Grainger and Kingsley Burrell Brown.

Reports round-up

Southampton council cuts close pool Protesters lobbied Southampton council on Wednesday of last week as it voted through £2.5 million of budget cuts—including the closure of the popular Oaklands pool.

TUC round-up

Anti-racism Congress passed a motion opposing racism in football was a motion from the Professional Footballers Association. The CWU communication union moved an amendment which called for the TUC to organise a national event involving Unite Against Fascism.

Gove's new exams will help no one but the Tories

Tory education secretary Michael Gove announced on Monday that he is replacing GCSEs with a new exam for 16 year olds.

New push over workfare

Unemployed people who refuse unpaid work could lose their benefits for three years under new government plans.

Ian Tomlinson cop sacked

Simon Harwood, the cop who struck Ian Tomlinson, has been found guilty of gross misconduct and dismissed from the Metropolitan Police.

News round-up

Companies get NHS £20 billion Private companies hope to glean £20 billion worth of business from the NHS.

'We know that the Hillsborough cover-up came right from the top'

The Hillsborough disaster which killed 96 football fans, and the cover-up that followed, are indictments of the entire political system.

Did Murdoch empire order burglary of Hillsborough campaigner’s home?

Hillsborough campaigner Sheila Coleman’s home was broken into more than once—and her address book and papers about the case stolen. The question is: who did it?

Argos workers strike to defend their final salary pensions

Over 1,000 workers struck today, Wednesday, at five Argos distribution centres around Britain.

London Met students win legal reprieve

Up to 3,000 international students at risk of deportation could be allowed to continue their studies at London Metropolitan University, a court has ruled.

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International

Netherlands: all the mainstream parties call for harsh austerity

The Dutch parliamentary elections on Wednesday have been won by two parties, the neoliberal VVD and the social democratic Labour Party.

South Africa cops attack miners as fight spreads

Platinum miners in Marikana, South Africa, protested outside Lonmin’s mine compound on Monday of this week, despite a police crackdown the previous weekend.

Chicago teachers vote to stay out on strike against Emmanuel

Some 800 teachers’ union representatives in Chicago, US, have voted to reject a deal. The strike now enters its second week.

Bangladesh textile workers scare bosses with strike wave

A new wave of militant strikes by garment workers in Bangladesh is spreading fear in the government and among multinational clothing firms.

Greece set for general strike

Greek unions have called a general strike for Wednesday of next week, as the fightback against austerity across Europe hots up. Some workers are threatening to escalate this to a three-day stoppage.

New Afghanistan deaths expose a country in chaos

The crisis in occupied Afghanistan has deepened after Afghan personnel killed six troops from the US-led coalition last weekend.

Marikana miners to return to work after accepting 22 percent

Striking miners at the Marikana platinum mine in South Africa say they will return to work on Thursday morning after accepting a new offer from British-owned mining company Lonmin.

Chicago teacher: why our strike against Rahm Emanuel was a win

Teachers in Chicago returned to school on Wednesday after nine days out on strike.

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Comment

New Arab protests reflect deeper crisis in the region

Protests across the Arab world triggered by the trailer for an anti-Muslim film on YouTube have set off a predictable deluge of Islamophobic commentary. For many in the mainstream media, the protests express the irrational and violent nature of Muslims.

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Features

Hillsborough: the blame lies with the police and the Tories

The appalling tragedy at Hillsborough was a disaster waiting to happen. Years of politicians and police branding football fans as mindless hooligans ensured near a hundred died when they were herded into cages from which there was no escape.

Who are the hooligans now?

The lives of thousands of people have been rent apart by last week’s tragic events.

Sexuality and struggle

A trashy tale of a twisted relationship has become one of Britain’s best selling books. The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy tells the story of a wide eyed virgin who falls for a controlling man and changes him.

The class contempt that killed 96

Liverpool football fans died because government and police refused to treat them as human beings." That’s what Socialist Worker said after the disaster at Hillsborough, Sheffield Wednesday’s football ground, in April 1989—and that was the truth.

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Reviews

Waterline: A tragic novel with an authentic working class voice

Contemporary British novelists have a problem with today’s working class.

Nobody's watching nasty film of racism and the rich

As I entered the cinema to watch St George’s Day, the ticket taker told me I was the first to arrive for the showing. As it turns out I was also the last. And I’m glad.

Reviews round-up

Inhospitable Landscape This exhibition plays with the idea of humans feeling uncomfortable in their environment and a sense of society being inhospitable.

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What We Think

Hillsborough: The only lesson they learned is to keep lying

Socialist Worker is proud of our front page from the week of the Hillsborough disaster. We don’t have to change it—it still holds true today.

Muslims have reason to be angry

The world’s liberal press has gone into overdrive attacking Muslims for protesting against an anti-Islam film.

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Other Categories

Peggy Purdy (1930-2012)

We lost a revolutionary socialist and a class fighter when Peggy died last week.

Tim's view

 

Tim: One bad apple

Letters

Turn TUC general strike motion into reality This year was my first time at the TUC congress and I really didn’t know what to expect. But I’m pleased to say that I enjoyed the experience.

Quotes from this week's news

‘It’s Lady’

So who would live in a house like this? Only the super-rich

A mansion in London’s posh Knightsbridge has gone on sale for £300 million—making it the most expensive house sale in British history.

Violence is at the core of the Northern Irish state

Sectarian rioting broke out earlier this month in Northern Ireland. It followed a series of provocative Orange Order marches going past the St Patrick’s Catholic Church, just on the outskirts of Belfast city centre.

Map of Belfast showing link between poverty and violence

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