Socialist Worker

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Cameron says he'll step down after second term - go now, and take your rich mates with you

For David Cameron, being prime minister for a third term “might just be too many”. For many ordinary people, having him as prime minister for one term is more than enough.

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International Comment Features Reviews What We Think Other

News

Refreshing victory at Refresco Gerber sees bosses bottle it

Striking workers in Bridgwater, Somerset, have stopped an attack on their terms and conditions at fruit juice manufacturer Refresco Gerber.

Meet Maxine Bowler the TUSC candidate for Brightside and Hillsborough

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is standing parliamentary candidates in May’s general election.

Sweets Way resists eviction

Campaigners in north London held a victory march from Barnet County Court on Monday of this week after a judge postponed a hearing to evict them.

Back Billy Hayes in CWU general secretary election

Ballot papers for the CWU union general secretary election were mailed out to members this week.

Strike threat for North Sea oil bosses

Thousands of offshore workers in the North Sea oil and gas industry could soon be drilling into the bosses’ profits. 

Essex emergency fire control strikers lobby MPs

Emergency control staff from Essex lobbied MPs at parliament over attacks on their working conditions on Wednesday of last week.

Thousands join protests and stand up to racism

A loud, angry and young march through London showed the mood to take on racism, says Ken Olende

‘Academies suck’ say Lewisham campaigners—now let’s escalate the action

Workers in the NUT, NASUWT and GMB unions at three south east London schools began a two-day strike on Tuesday of this week.

News in brief

Short news stories from the past week including MPs on the impact of benefit sanctions, the privatisation racket on the railways continues, public inquiry report on tainted blood scandal and IPCC to release report on Mark Duggan death

Over 500 black and ethnic minority people have died in state custody since 1991

More than 500 black and ethnic minority people died at the hands of the state over the last 24 years. And no one has been successfully prosecuted for their deaths. 

Nigel Farage forced to flee pub by ‘Cabaret of Diversity’

Around 100 anti-Ukip activists staged a protest last Sunday at a pub in Downe, Kent, that Nigel Farage regularly frequents.

Your Choice Barnet care workers choose another walkout against pay cut

Unison union members at Your Choice Barnet (YCB) in north London were set to begin a three?day strike on Wednesday of this week against a 9.5 percent pay cut.

National Gallery workers are star exhibit with five-day strike against privatisation

Workers at the National Gallery in London began a five-day walkout against privatisation on Tuesday of this week.

Reports round-up

East Sussex refuse strikes called off | Vigil against plans to shut down Dagenham Civic Centre | Anniversary event for Justice4Bolton | Meeting debates Ukraine and Nato | Appeal date set for cleaners' rep Clara Osagiede | Arrest as Blacklist activists target bosses

Students join lobby to stop education cuts

Around 200 college students and workers lobbied parliament on Wednesday of last week. They were protesting against cuts of up to 24 percent to adult education funding.

Barts NHS Trust bosses' 'culture of bullying and harassment' blamed for care failings

Health workers are furious with bosses at the Barts Health NHS Trust in east London for running Whipps Cross Hospital into the ground.

Education round-up

Dundee University | Greenwich Community College | University of Salford | University of South Wales

Conference criticises Unison leadership over local government pay deal

Over 500 Unison union members debated their leadership’s role in last year’s rotten local government pay deal at a special one-day conference on Tuesday of this week.

Hillsborough police failings 'direct cause of fans’ deaths'

Police failed to stop a dangerous buildup of fans in the run-up to the Hillsborough football disaster, inquests have heard.

No to academies in Brent

Teachers at St Andrew and St Francis School in Brent, west London, began a two-day strike on Tuesday of this week.

‘Muslim plot’ school probe slammed

A parliamentary report has criticised recent investigations into Birmingham schools.

LSE students: No fees, no cuts—Occupy!

Students occupied two London universities last week to stop course cuts and to demand free education.

Transport round-up

Network Rail | London Midland | Abellio buses | First buses

Unison special conference votes to restart pay campaign

Hundreds of Unison union delegates voted to restart their pay campaign on Tuesday, overturning the position of the union’s leadership.

National Gallery strikers march on Downing Street demanding privatisation is halted

Striking National Gallery workers in London held a rally outside the gallery in Trafalgar Square today, Thursday.

Osborne's budget is nothing to feel good about

The Tories gloated when the final budget before the election was announced. But they have failed even by their own standards—and the only winners are the rich.

Councils fail homeless teenagers

A new report has exposed the lack of care given to homeless teenagers.

Sanctions protests target Tories and Labour

Protesters gathered outside job centres across Britain on Thursday of last week to speak out against benefit sanctions.

Cleaners revolt sweeps London university campuses

A small revolt is beginning at a clutch of London’s universities as migrant workers fight to improve their terms and conditions.

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International

Israeli election result lays bare a rotten, racist society

The Israeli right’s victory will lead to more brutal attacks—and means we have to step up our solidarity, writes Nick Clark

Migrants join mass anti-racist demo in Athens

Protests took place across Europe and beyond last Saturday. Anti-fascists in Greece called the day of action to seek solidarity against the Nazi Golden Dawn.

Protests in Germany as rulers try to beat Greece

The latest standoff between Europe’s rulers and the Greek government began this week. Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras and German chancellor Angela Merkel held crunch talks in Berlin.

Tunisian government plans mass crackdown

The Tunisian government called for “national unity” between workers and bosses after a terror attack killed 23 people and injured tens more on Wednesday of last week.

International round-up

Water charges demo in Dublin | Breakthrough for Spanish left | US oil workers return to work

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Comment

The Front National is using its votes to build fascism in France

Could Marine Le Pen’s fascist Front National (FN) win the next French presidential election in 2017? The dominant trend on the French left is to see the FN’s gains only through this prism.

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Features

How we can change everything

As activists gather for the This Changes Everything event in London, Martin Empson looks at why workers are the key link in changing the world and saving the planet

Detention is a way to destroy people - detained migrants speak out

As protests spread inside the brutal centres where refugees are locked up, current and former detainees tell Ken Olende the hell needs to end.

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Reviews

The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny - still a challenge to the system

This opera was first performed in the shadow of the 1929 Wall Street Crash in Leipzig in 1930.

Richard Diebenkorn's paintings capture a fresh and intriguing Californian light

The Royal Academy’s exhibition of Richard Diebenkorn’s art brings together abstraction and the natural world and should not be missed, writes Nick Grant

Circa Waves—making you feel a part of the band

Great songs aren’t perfectly polished. They depend on hooks that grab the listener from their opening chords.

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What We Think

Lift the lid on child sex abuse

Cops who had evidence implicating MPs and others in child sex abuse were threatened with the Official Secrets Act if they did not drop the cases.

Election froth can’t hide crisis in politics

The general election campaign has officially begun—though in reality it has already been going for more than a year.

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Other Categories

Letters

Leading on Obama still fuels the fires that Bush’s wars started and including why we shouldn't support a call to vote SNP

The Tory, the racists and the fake demonstration plot

Leading on the Afzal Amin scandal and including the City Link sackings

Striking refuse lorry drivers say, 'We've just got to take a stand'

Refuse lorry drivers in Barking and Dagenham spoke to Tomáš Tengely-Evans about their fight to defend a public service from the cuts and the local council’s plans to slash their wages

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