Socialist Worker

---

George Osborne’s AAA: austerity austerity austerity - rejected!

Tory chancellor George Osborne’s AAA (Arrogant Austerity Attacks) are in a mess.

---

International Comment Features Reviews What We Think Other

News

Hundreds protest at fascist Marine Le Pen in Cambridge

Some 200 students, school students, trade unionists and campaigners protested at the Cambridge Union Society today, Tuesday, against French fascist Marine Le Pen.

Cambridge anti-racists see off Nazi EDL for a second time

Some 20 supporters of the Nazi English Defence League (EDL) asked police to escort them out of central Cambridge early as they were outnumbered by a counter protest.

Cop 'acted for' Jimmy Savile

There was a real development in the Jimmy Savile scandal last week, while the media focused on documents about why the BBC didn’t run its Newsnight investigation.

Racist EDL heads to Manchester

Around 12 members of the English Defence League (EDL) tried to attack an anti-cuts demonstration in Manchester’s Albert square last Saturday.

Teachers should strike to stop attacks on pay and conditions

Leaders of the NUT union could call a strike over attacks on teachers’ pay and conditions.

PCS activists fight for yes votes as civil service ballot enters last week

Some 250,000 PCS union members in the civil service have entered the last week of a strike ballot over attacks on their pay, conditions and pensions.

Stealth privatisation in the NHS

Private Firms will be given a new advantage over public bodies in the race for millions of pounds worth of NHS contracts.

Councillors can disobey orders to impose cuts

Manchester city council is preparing to vote on a plan that would slash £80 million from its budget.

College workers fight attack on union rights

Management at London Metropolitan University have stepped up their witch hunt of union activists.

The hidden cuts that put vulnerable people at risk

Tory cuts are slashing adult social care services that people with mental health problems rely upon.

Tories U-turning over bedroom tax

The Tories are feeling the heat over the planned bedroom tax, which will penalise benefit claimants in social housing for having "too many" rooms.

Women excluded from power in Britain

The number of women in positions of power in Britain has fallen over the last decade according to a new report.

Student round-up

Sussex university occupiers protest Students occupying a building at Sussex university protested on Thursday of last week. The occupation is part of a campaign against the privatisation of 235 jobs.

News in brief

Tories let big tax dodgers off HM revenue & Customs last week published a list of nine businesses and traders who have avoided tax.

Teachers defy anti-union bosses in strike

Teachers at Alec Reed Academy in Northolt, Ealing west London, were set to strike on Thursday of this week over conditions.

Solidarity boosts impact of Grangemouth strike

Forty two BP tanker drivers struck last weekend at the Grangemouth oil refinery near Glasgow.

Education round-up

Birmingham university strike UCU union members at Birmingham University were set to walk out on Thursday of this week to defend jobs.

Unite the resistance: Conferences to fight back

Trade unionists, anti‑cuts activists and others are preparing for Unite the Resistance conferences to help build the fight against the Tories.

Trial of Alfie Meadows and Zak King continues

The prosecution concluded its case in the retrial of student protesters Alfie Meadows and Zak King on Monday of this week.

Tyne and Wear Metro cleaners strike back

Cleaners on the Tyne and Wear Metro struck for seven days last week in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.

‘Expect the unexpected’ as Jerry Hicks is confirmed McCluskey’s sole challenger

Rank and file activist Jerry Hicks has been confirmed as the only challenger in the race to become general secretary of the Unite union. The nomination period closed last week.

Reports round-up

Reject council pay offer of 1 percent Local government bosses have made a pay offer after three years of a zero percent rise.

Blacklisting: appeal tribunal to hear of ‘human rights scandal’

Construction firm Carillion faces allegations of human rights violations.

Reid Kerr lecturers strike over pay and conditions in Scotland

Over 200 lecturers in the EIS FELA union at Reid Kerr College, Paisley, started a series of rolling strikes today, Wednesday.

Teachers walk out over bullying in west London

Teachers at a west London academy walked out today, Thursday, in a dispute over excessive workload and bullying.

Tories lose in Eastleigh as parties race to the right

The Tories suffered defeat in the Eastleigh by-election. They were beaten into third place by the Liberal Democrats and the far right Ukip.

---

International

General strike paralyses Greece

A general strike paralysed Greece today, Wednesday. The action was against new attacks on workers' wages and their union rights.

Syrian rebels advance despite regime attacks

Syrian rebels have overrun a string of regime bases in a national offensive that marks a major defeat for the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Italian election stalemate is a rejection of austerity

European stock markets panicked as results of last week’s Italian general election were announced.

A human tide rises against market 'coup' in Spain

There were huge demonstrations against cuts in cities across Spain on Saturday of last week.

Marikana miner testifies

Shocking testimony to the ongoing inquiry into South Africa’s Marikana massacre was heard last week.

General strike shuts Indian cities

Tens of millions of workers struck across India on Wednesday and Thursday of last week as its government prepares to pass a harsh austerity budget.

Bulgaria's PM is forced out

Mass protests forced the resignation of Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borisov’s government on Wednesday of last week.

South Yemen reaches boiling point after ‘Bloody Thursday’.

A demonstration on the first anniversary of President Mansour al-Hadi’s "election" turned to massacre in the port city of Aden in southern Yemen on Thursday of last week.

---

Comment

Massacre in Amritsar and Indian liberation

David Cameron visited the city of Amritsar in India’s Punjab region last week. It is the site of a infamous massacre carried out by British colonial forces on 13 April 1919.

Pistorius case shows South Africa’s divide

What is the shooting case of Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius really about? First, it’s about sport, celebrity, and money. It’s hard to explain otherwise how he was granted bail when he admitted that he blazed away at his bathroom door, killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

---

Features

Housing developers attack the block in Southwark

The vast Heygate Estate in Elephant and Castle, south London, was once home to 3,000 people. Now it is a desert. Southwark council has spent more than

Why was Heygate labelled a 'problem estate'?

Only one of the homes on the vast Heygate Estate remains occupied.

Firms compete to make mega bucks from housing sell off

A few miles up the Thames from Elephant and Castle, the enormous Nine Elms regeneration project is already underway.

Stopping the Nazis in Europe

From Brussels to the Black Sea, from Malmo to the Mediterranean, fascist and extreme far right parties and organisations are growing at an alarming rate.

No room for complacency in Britain despite fascist setbacks

The fortunes of the British National Party (BNP) and English Defence League (EDL) may be in decline right now but there can be no room for complacency.

---

Reviews

Roy Lichtenstein: dots in the ideals of post-war America

The work of Roy Lichtenstein represents, for many people, the epitome of American Pop Art.

Mayday drama exposes village life

From the opening credits of Mayday you could think you have sat down to watch the cosy country crime of Midsomer Murders.

Reviews round-up

Edith Tudor-Hart—In the Shadow of Tyranny | Invisible Romans | McCullin

---

What We Think

Coalition parties are in the grip of a crisis

The Tories are scrabbling to regain the initiative after losing a central plank of their economic strategy.

Unemployment stats - call full time on the Tories

The Tories have leapt on figures showing that official employment in Britain is at a record high.

---

Other Categories

Tim's view

Tim: Understanding economics

Letters

Bedroom tax is yet another attack on disabled people I will lose what’s left of my Disability Living Allowance (DLA)and have to find extra money for my second bedroom in April.

Things they say...

‘I will find them. And I will kill them’

Rags owned by millionaires outraged at a six-bed house

It seems there isn’t enough outrage in the world for right wing hypocrites to throw at Heather Frost of Tewkesbury.

Osborne should phone a friend

We’ve all been there. You get a letter from the mobile phone company that says you’re massively out of pocket.

Wanna join the Bullingdon Club?

Fancy moving in the same elite circles as David Cameron, Boris Johnson and George Osborne?

Glamour of part-time work on low pay

Just why are so many people desperate to work in coffee shops?

EDL boot boy who was handy with a blade

Who can the people of Manchester expect to see on their streets when the racist English Defence League (EDL) tries to march there this Saturday?

Detained for Oscar chance

Palestinian film-maker Emad Burnat thought he’d get a break from life under occupation when he travelled to the US last week.

Going up... Going down...

'Truly British' and in the dark

The "truly British family" of James and Emily Bradshaw is determined to go a year without buying anything foreign. It’s not going well.

Aid - a weapon in a battle for big business interests

The British government has decided that India is no longer poor enough to receive overseas aid.

We act like part of Nato, says former Oxfam official

Giant aid organisations are inseparable from the British establishment that pays for them.

Investors, but not in people

The Department for International Development runs its own investment fund, the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC).

---