Socialist Worker

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Losing war vote puts Tories on the back foot

We are taught that the ruling class is all-powerful, that we have to endure everything they impose, whether imperialist war or welfare cuts. Yet last week David Cameron and the Tories wanted to go to war and didn’t succeed and they are reeling from the shock.

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International Comment Features Reviews What We Think Other

News

Police guilty of human rights abuse at Bolton UAF demo

Greater Manchester Police have paid three anti-fascist protesters a five figure sum each in compensation

Unite rank and file win strong vote in election

Ian Bradley the rank and file candidate in the Unite Executive Council  by-election for London and Eastern received 5,878 votes, 42 percent. 

Oil workers rally for safety

Oil workers rallied at RMT union headquarters in Aberdeen last week. The rally was for offshore safety after four workers died in a helicopter crash off Shetland earlier this month.

The racist EDL must not pass in Tower Hamlets

Activists and trade unionists are determined to stop the racist English Defence League (EDL) from marching through east London on Saturday.

Postal workers' union announces strike ballot

The CWU union has announced the date when it will begin a ballot for a national postal strike over privatisation. The ballot of all Royal Mail and Parcelforce workers will begin on 20 September, with the result announced on 3 October. If members vote yes, a strike could take place from 10 October.

Cameron’s defeat over Syria vote leaves rulers in disarray

The ruling classes of the Western powers are in turmoil over military intervention in Syria. The British and French governments have spent months lobbying US president Barack Obama to lead a military strike on Syria. But now prime minister David Cameron has lost the vote in the British parliament. His previous belligerence just compounds the humiliation. His authority is weakened on the international stage, at home and in his own party.

Britain supplies weapons to dictators

Part of the mess the government is in over Syria is about who to arm. But in the best traditions of the arms trade the Tories have it both ways.

United Nations bombs are no better for imperial victims

Many people who oppose a Western attack on Syria feel that intervention would be more legitimate if the United Nations (UN) backed it but it doesn't make a difference.

Disabled activists target DWP during angry protests in central London

Around 200 campaigners for disabled people’s rights protested outside the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in central London yesterday, Wednesday.

Egyptian army arrest revolutionary labour lawyer

Haitham Mohamedain, one of Egypt's leading labour lawyers and an activist with the Revolutionary Socialists, has been arrested today, Thursday.

Solidarity protest at Hovis picket line next Wednesday

Hovis workers in Wigan met last night, Thursday, to plan their second week-long strike from next Wednesday, 11 September against zero-hour contracts.

All out to stop the racists in east London

Thousands of anti-racists are preparing to take to the streets on Saturday to stop the English Defence League’s (EDL) plans to march in Tower Hamlets, east London. 

Ten years on, police apologise over the death of Mikey Powell

West Midlands Police has issued a formal apology to the family of Mikey Powell.

They did not pass - anti-fascists keep EDL out of Tower Hamlets

Anti-racist protesters kept the English Defence League (EDL) out of Tower Hamlets in east London today, Saturday.

Video of Whitechapel Unite Against Fascism demonstration on Saturday

Thousands of people came to Tower Hamlets in east London last Saturday to black a march by the racist English Defence League. Once again the racists said they would march into the borough and once again Unite Against Fascism and other anti-racists stopped them. Video by TerryDee99

Solidarity campaign wins release of Revolutionary Socialist in Egypt

Egyptian Revolutionary Socialist Haitham Mohammedain is released from detention by Egypt's state security forces after massive solidarity campaign.

Islam and the resistance

There are good reasons to oppose a war on Syria, and there are dreadful ones. And one of the worst is to avoid being on the same side as Islamists.

Teachers prepare to take on Michael Gove with strikes this autumn

Hundreds of thousands of teachers across England and Wales are gearing up for a programme of action against Tory attacks.

Overcrowding in prisons is ‘far worse than anyone imagined’ says charity

One in four prisoners in England and Wales were stuck in overcrowded cells in the year up to April, according to the Howard League for Penal Reform (HLPR) who uncovered the figures. It said the situation was “far worse than anyone imagined”.

PCS protest at Eric Pickles’ attacks on union

PCS union members protested outside London’s Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday of this week

Ambulance workers reject sick pay cuts

Ambulance workers in the GMB, Unison and Unite unions have overwhelmingly rejected NHS bosses’ proposal to cut sick pay by 25 percent in consultative ballots.

Anti-fascists protest against the EDL in South Shields

Around 200 anti-fascists opposed the English Defence League (EDL) and North East Infidels in South Shields last Saturday.

Human cost of vile policy

A man attempted suicide in despair at growing rent arrears because of the bedroom tax

Sunderland march says 'save our library'

Around 100 people marched through Sunderland last Saturday against council plans to close nine libraries.

Ex-Gurkhas accept an improved offer

The GMB union last week called off planned strikes over zero-hour contracts at outsourcing company Serco.

Parents and pupils fight Deanes School closure

Over 40 people, including parents protested outside Essex County Council on Friday of last week against plans to close Deanes School in Benfleet, Essex

Car convoy against children’s ward cuts at Bedford Hospital

A colourful protest against the closure of Bedford Hospital’s Riverbank children’s ward took place last Saturday.

Save the Grange campaign

The Grange respite centre for autistic children with learning disabilities is under threat as Salford council plans to turn it into a home for children in care. 

Unison consulting members in local government over pay claim

The Unison union has called on its local government branches in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to consult members for the 2014/2015 pay claim.

Defend health activist Charlotte Monro

A disciplinary hearing against health activist Charlotte Monro is due to be held on Wednesday of next week.

Hundreds of care workers and supporters march in Yorkshire

Over 200 care workers and their supporters were applauded by local people as they marched up Yorkshire Street in Rochdale on Thursday of last week.

Disability protest blockades entrance to BBC

Disabled people and their supporters blockaded the entrance to BBC offices in west London on Monday of this week

Rosey Kirwan death notice

We are sad to announce the passing of Rosey Kirwan over the weekend.

Hovis strikers prove the knead for more dough

Some 220 Hovis workers walked out at Premier Foods’ Wigan bakery last Wednesday in the first of three week-long strikes against job cuts and zero-hour contracts. 

‘Fight this now’ says ward sister as health bosses slash jobs and pay at Barts and Royal London hospital

NHS bosses launched an attack on jobs and wages last week that threatens to open a door to slash staff on every ward in England.

Workers and activists get ready to march on the Tories in Manchester

Workers and activists around Britain are getting ready to march on the Tory party conference on Sunday 29 September.

Vodafone deal shows up the Tories' tricks on tax

Vodafone has made more than £80 billion selling its stake in US mobile operator Verizon Wireless. It’s one of the largest corporate deals in history—and it looks like it will be a colossal tax scam too. 

Victory for blacklisted construction worker Frank Morris

Blacklisted Unite union shop steward Frank Morris has won. He will return to work on the Crossrail project on Monday of next week. 

Anti-fracking protesters begin new phase of protest

Anti-fracking protesters in Balcombe, Sussex, began a month of rolling direct action on Monday of this week.

Firefighters national vote to strike

Firefighters have voted resoundingly to strike over Tory attacks on their pensions. Seventy eight percent voted for strikes.

News round-up

Hillsborough cops kept cash | Memorial for Mikey Powell | IPCC meeting in Christopher Alder case | Union fears on lobbying bill

Last orders in beer workers' talks

Beer pumps in 30,000 pubs are at risk of running dry. Some 970 delivery workers in the Unite union at brewer KNDL voted by 85 percent to strike on a 

One Housing Group workers set to strike

Some 150 Unite union members working at One Housing Group were set to strike for five days from Thursday. The London housing workers are resisting plans to slash pay by up to £8,000.

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International

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Comment

Yet another bailout is no solution to Greek crisis

Panos Garganas says that resistance and economic crisis are fuelling a crisis for Greece’s government—and bailouts can’t stop it

Cameron—at war with his own side over Syria

David Cameron’s defeat in the House of Commons last week has left the policy of using Western military power for “humanitarian” purposes in tatters.

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Features

‘The West’s war will weaken Syria's revolution’

Western intervention will either strengthen Assad’s grip or destroy the gains of the Syrian revolt, says Lebanese socialist Bassem Chit

Syria's history of repression and revolt

Syria’s modern history has been shaped by imperial domination.

Notes from the Syrian uprising

“This is a popular revolution—at its heart are the workers, the masses and the rural poor. It began in the popular working class districts and spread to the countryside.

The struggle continues across the Middle East

Much of the media has written off the struggles that began the Arab Spring as either defeated or dangerous, but the revolutions aren’t over, writes Judith Orr

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Reviews

Educating Yorkshire: harsh head needs to learn from his teachers and pupils

Educating Yorkshire looks at one head’s attempt to ‘turn pupils around’ with punishment. Leeds teacher Sally Kincaid fears that the Daily Mail will love it

The Stuart Hall Project misses the point about Marxism

 This film charts the life and ideas of one of Britain’s most prominent black academics, Stuart Hall. It uses an extensive archive of clips of Hall’s TV appearances, CND marches and lectures, and songs by Hall’s musical hero Miles Davis.

Maddaddam by Margaret Atwood

Booker prize winning novelist Margaret Atwood returns to the post-apocalyptic society she first developed in her 2003 book Oryx and Crake.

Roaring 20s by Rizzle Kicks

 

More Than Honey

A third of our food could not exist without bees—but in many regions they are being killed by chemicals, mites and environmental stress.

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What We Think

Don’t blame the poor

Millionaire celebrity Jamie Oliver has taken it upon himself to tell poor people how to eat. But the real problem isn’t the decisions that people in poverty make. It’s the poverty.

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Other Categories

Letters

Including fighting the bedroom tax, child poverty, and remembering Peterloo

Things they say

In their own words on Syria

Hands off my bonus, says fat cat boss wrecking Royal Mail

Troublemaker looks at an unhappy Royal Mail boss, Starbucks separation, students, holographic receptionists and Jamie Oliver

How PFI schemes damage future of public services

Sarah Ensor finds government-backed Private Finance Initiative schemes have saddled public services with ballooning debt repayments to private firms

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