Socialist Worker

Issue: 2421

Dated: 16 Sep 2014

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As Scotland votes: Kick the ‘Effing Tories’

The Yes campaign in Scotland, which concludes this week, has had David Cameron on the run.

International Comment Features Reviews What We Think Other

News

New savage A&E cuts show why health workers are right to fight the Tories

A struggling A&E in London will have to deal will some 8,000 more patients a year after two neighbouring emergency departments were closed last week.

Build TUC 18 October protests and boost class confidence

This autumn’s mass demonstrations against austerity on 18 October are now just four weeks away. They will come just days after huge public sector strikes.

Bus workers call for strikes over unequal pay

Over 150 bus workers marched in central London on Thursday of last week in protest at unequal pay and conditions.

Further education colleges to join action for better pay in the autumn

UCU members in further education colleges in England are set to join other public sector workers on strike over pay on 14 October.

Teachers begin strikes consultation

The NUT union has begun a consultation on whether teachers should take up to two days of strikes before next year’s general election.

Hundreds of Carlton Bolling students demonstrate in support of sacked support worker

Over 400 school students demonstrated outside Carlton Bolling College, Bradford, on Wednesday of last week. They were protesting against the suspension of support worker Asif Khan.

Big vote to re-ballot at Lambeth College

Workers at Lambeth College have overwhelmingly voted to re-ballot for further industrial action to fend off bosses’ attacks.

Vote Christina Paine and Darren Tolliday to UCU national executive

Elections have begun in the UCU union for two casual vacancies on the national executive committee.

Defend UCU union negotiator Keith McKenna

Bosses at the City of Westminster College have announced the potential redundancy of UCU union lead negotiator Keith McKenna.

Brighton refuse workers stage one day walkout

Brighton and Hove refuse and recycling drivers struck for 24 hours last Monday as part of an ongoing dispute over pay and allowances.

Freedom riders defiant as bosses refuse to make concessions

Train bosses are refusing to make any concessions to South Yorkshire Freedom Riders’ demand for the reinstatement of free train travel for older people.

Kirklees council bosses suspend job threats and offer talks

Kirklees Council has suspended the threat to sack and re-engage its staff on new terms and conditions. This comes after Unison members voted by 73 percent to strike in an indicative ballot.

Ritzy cinema workers accept improved pay deal

Workers at the Ritzy Picturehouse cinema have voted to accept an improved offer from bosses.

Worldwide protests set to meet climate summit

Worldwide protests against climate change were set to take place this Sunday two days before a summit in the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York.

There's no going back for Scotland's radical Yes voters

Campaigning for independence has awakened new working class hopes for change, writes Raymie Kiernan

More strikes called to take on Your Choice Barnet bosses

Care workers in north London have announced four more days of strikes in their dispute over pay with bosses at Your Choice Barnet (YCB).

Doncaster Care UK workers vow to keep fighting

You might think that meeting Brian May of Queen would be the highlight of a trip to London. But it wasn’t for Care UK strikers from Doncaster who visited the capital on Tuesday of last week. Joining Barnet council strikers at a rally and social was the best part of their day.

Heathrow baggage handlers strike over pay

Baggage handlers in the Unite union struck at London Heathrow airport on Friday of last week.

Hundreds rally in support of Scottish independence in Cardiff

More than 400 people joined a rally in support of Scottish independence outside the Welsh assembly in Cardiff last Saturday.

US missiles will worsen Iraq crisis

The US started a new bombing campaign in Iraq this week. It no longer claims to be carrying out a humanitarian mission.

Protest in support of detainees at Harmondsworth detention centre

Protesters held a fourth Surround Harmondsworth demonstration at the immigration detention centre near Heathrow airport last Saturday.

'Primary blame' for Hillsborough disaster lies with cops, says former police sergeant

Former South Yorkshire Police sergeant Stephen Payne has said that the “primary blame” for the 1989 Hillsborough football disaster lies with the police.

Hundreds hear debates at Podemos meeting in London

Up to 300 people attended a meeting of Podemos—the new left party that is shaking up politics in the Spanish state—in central London last Saturday.

Two different visions of Scotland go head-to-head in referendum vote

In a speech to a Tory audience in Aberdeen prime minister David Cameron said the Yes campaign’s vision of a different Scotland “was too good to be true”.

Ukip comes under fire from angry anti-racist protesters in Glasgow

Campaigners get set to take on Farage with a demonstration at Ukip’s conference in Doncaster, reports Sadie Robinson

Asset-stripping by bosses finished Phones4U

More than 5,500 people in 550 workplaces across Britain could lose their jobs after sales company Phones4U went into administration.

Nazis exploit child abuse horror with protest in Rotherham

A mosque in Rotherham had a glass door smashed last Saturday after hundreds of racists descended on the town to try and whip up division.

News in brief

Homeless prisoners | Benefit justice | Cops let off by bosses

Don’t let Muslims be criminalised

Campaign group Cage, formerly known as Cage Prisoners, is holding a series of meetings against the criminalisation of Muslims who research or fundraise for events abroad.

Traffic wardens call off strikes for deal

A planned traffic wardens’ strike in Ealing, west London, was called off last week.

Lowestoft protest over cuts to health

Some 70 demonstrators gathered in front of Carlton Court in Carlton Colville near Lowestoft on Monday of this week.

Back anti-Zionist Jews in Manchester

Socialists in Manchester are organising solidarity with Jewish people who faced attacks after speaking out against Israel’s assault on Gaza.

Support TUSC candidate Vivek Lehal in Haringey by-election

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is standing a candidate in a council by-election in Woodside ward in Haringey, north London.

Reasons to be cheerful: Arguments against Better Together lies on Scottish independence

Ten questions answered

Protest for man jailed over ‘ridiculous’ bedroom tax

Michael Hilton, a East Lancashire housing association tenant jailed on remand because of the bedroom tax, is set to appear in court on Monday of next week.

Scotland special - Yes to independence! Break the Effing Tories' hearts

Our special Scotland edition is full of reasons to support independence, news from the campaign and analysis of what's at stake.

Palestine protests target Sainsbury

Around 40 people took part in a lively protest against Sainsburys stocking Israeli products in Angel, Islington, last Saturday.

'Are you watching, Cameron?' Hope for independence fills streets on the eve of Scotland's vote

Up to 10,000 people filled Glasgow's George Square tonight, Wednesday, to rally support for independence ahead of Thursday's referendum. An hour after the rally was due to end thousands remained in the square.

NHS workers vote to strike

Health workers in the Unison union have voted to strike against attacks on their pay.

Scottish independence rejected, but Yes campaign has created new movement

Scottish voters have rejected independence by 55 percent to 45 percent. But they gave the British ruling class the fright of its life—and Scotland will never be the same again.

Unison calls for NHS strike across England on Monday 13 October

Britain’s biggest health union today named Monday 13 October as the day for England’s first NHS strike over pay in 32 years.

50,000 march in London on day of global protests to tackle climate change

Tens of thousands of people marched across Britain today, Sunday, as part of a global day of protests against climate change.

International

Egyptian activists released on bail

leading egyptian political activist Alaa Abdel Fattah and his co-defendents Mohamed Abdel-Rahman, known as Noubi, and Wael Metwally were released on bail, following a court ruling on Monday of this week.

Nato bomb's kill 11 civilians in Afghanistan

Nato airstrikes killed 11 people, including children, in the eastern province of Kunar in Afghanistan on Wednesday of last week.

Sweden’s racist right make gains

Sweden’s Social Democrats came top in the general election last Sunday, but did not get an absolute majority

Millions demonstrate for Catalan independence

Up to 2 million people protested in Barcelona for the right to vote on Catalan independence on Thursday of last week.

Migrants drown off Libyan coast

More than 200 African migrants are believed to have drowned after their boat sank off the Libyan coast last Sunday night.

More clashes in eastern Ukraine

Heavy fighting raged between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatist forces last weekend, despite a ceasefire being in place since 5 September.

Comment

Far right threat looms over Europe as its economy stagnates

Panos Garganas argues that fighting the fascist Golden Dawn in Greece must go hand in hand with fighting against austerity

Why Britain's bosses fear an independence vote in Scotland

Sections of our ruling class are being driven wild by the opinion polls on the Scottish referendum. Apparently if a small country on the edge of Europe votes for independence, civilisation as we know it is over.

Features

Motley mutinies, popular pirates and slave revolts at sea

Historian Marcus Rediker spoke to Ken Olende about the struggles that took place aboard the ships of early capitalism

Scared, scarred and starved in Calais - the refugees locked out by Britain's borders

In 2007 and 2009 Socialist Worker reported from makeshift camps in northern France where migrants survived in squalor. Now, as calls for another crackdown grow, Dave Sewell and Guy Smallman return to meet the new victims of racist border controls

Reviews

Tony Benn Will and Testament is a moving portrait of his life and politics

The modest documentary Tony Benn Will and Testament, made shortly before his death, is a reminder of his socialist politics, argues Sarah Ensor

Bojack Horseman—‘horsin’ around’ or a clever satire on US society?

Animated comedy Bojack Horseman is based around the life of an anthropomorphic horse, who was the lead star of a 1990s sitcom called Horsin’ Around.

Culture round-up

Robert Young 1965-2014 | Narrating Objects:unlocking the stories of sculpture

What We Think

Their media is never impartial. Neither are we.

Nick Robinson, the BBC’s political editor, is upset. He doesn’t like the fact that people have rightly picked him up for being biased against the Scottish Yes campaign.