Socialist Worker

---

Billionaires double their wealth - while we face record fall

Under five years of Tory austerity, the richest have got even richer. For the rest of us it’s a different picture. A new TUC report revealed that our living standards have suffered the longest drop since records began.

---

International Comment Features Reviews What We Think Other

News

Inquest hears 'clear evidence' that Hillsborough cops tried to smear fans

An inquest has heard of “clear evidence” that police tried to denigrate Liverpool football fans in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster.

National Gallery workers vote for more action if bosses don't back down

Workers at the National Gallery in central London completed their 23rd strike day yesterday, Friday, and warned bosses they could face more walkouts.

Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman forced out by a campaign of racism

The long Islamophobic witch hunt against Lutfur Rahman continued last week with his removal as mayor of Tower Hamlets in east London. 

All-out strike unites workers in Glasgow

Homelessness caseworkers in Glasgow are into their fifth week of an all-out strike as council bosses desperately claim that it’s “business as usual”.

'We're not backing down,' say Dundee NHS strikers

Hospital porters at Dundee’s Ninewells and Victoria hospitals are now in the fourth week of an indefinite strike and the ninth week of industrial action.

Council bosses face walkouts in Bromley and Barnet

Workers at Bromley Council in south London began a week of strikes on Monday of this week. This follows a previous 48-hour strike after an 87 percent strike vote to strike against planned cuts.

TUSC looks beyond 7 May general election to build the fightback

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) parliamentary candidates are making a final push before next week’s general election.

Five-day pay walkout hits CSC bosses

IT and army pensions staff at Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) finished a five-day walkout on Friday of last week.

Cockroaches spark student rent strike

Over 150 students living in two halls of residence at Soas university in central London have called a rent strike over their living conditions.

No to racist English Defence League in Walthamstow

The racist English Defence League (EDL) has said it will come to Walthamstow, north east London, next Saturday.

Hope deserves more than the Scottish National Party

Two rallies in Glasgow reveal the radical mood behind the rise of the Scottish National Party—and a swing to the left that a socialist alternative could build on, reports Raymie Kiernan

Reclaim Brixton protest sends a warning to property developers

Over 1,000 joined a Reclaim Brixton rally near Umunna’s south London Streatham constituency the previous day.

News in-brief

Man loses toes due to bed tax | Protest halts an eviction | Back door for developers | Fat cats’ fuel poverty bank

Bradford bus drivers walk out to defend conditions

Bus drivers began a 48-hour strike at First Bradford on Monday of this week. 

Greenwich College workers prepare for more strikes

Workers at Greenwich College in south London were set to strike on Friday of this week over new contracts that slash holidays, impose longer hours and bring in unannounced teaching observations.

Pearson protest says no to tests and privatisation

Teachers and parents lobbied the annual general meeting of private education firm Pearson on Friday of last week.

STUC conference says, fight the cuts

the backdrop to the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) last week was the demise of Labour in Scotland and rise of the Scottish National Party.

Walkout at Dundee university over job cuts

Workers at Dundee university walked out on Tuesday of this week against management plans to impose compulsory redundancies.

News round-up

Left does well at NUS elections

Raids and more border patrols won't help desperate refugees

European leaders pledged more money to patrol the Mediterranean Sea after the deaths of 1,300 refugees in just one week last month.

Protests in solidarity with migrants slam a deadly, racist system

Protesters gathered across Europe in solidarity with migrants last week. In London hundreds protested outside European Union (EU) commission near parliament in central London last Saturday.

A&E use next winter’s crisis reserves to keep going

NHS bosses are spending funds earmarked to deal with the next winter crisis in a desperate bid to keep accident and emergency (A&E) departments running.  

‘I can’t breathe’—cop tells of Kingsley Burrell’s plea

The inquest into the death of Kingsley Burrell heard how he was strapped on a trolley, handcuffed and in leg restraints for two hours.

Ukip feels the heat in Kent

Nigel Farage has said he will step down as Ukip leader “within ten minutes” if he is not elected MP in the general election.

Workers debate ending Labour link at CWU conference in Bournemouth

Workers in the Communication Workers Union (CWU) debated anti-racism and the union’s relationship to the Labour Party at their general conference in Bournemouth last Sunday and Monday of this week.

---

International

Baltimore rises up after death of Freddie Gray

The US city of Baltimore has erupted in riots following the death of 25 year old Freddie Gray

The poor bear the brunt of misery after Nepal's earthquake

Tens of thousands of Nepalis who survived last week’s earthquake but lost their homes are now in desperate peril.

South Korean workers strike back against president

Some 270,000 workers in South Korea took part in a one-day general strike on Friday of last week.

---

Comment

We deserve better - so let's vote for it

Britain’s political terrain is shifting. Neither of the two main parties can be sure of gaining enough support to win the general election outright.

Syriza’s compromise won’t beat austerity

The rulers of the European Union (EU) are getting seriously annoyed with those pesky Greeks.

---

Features

After the latest migrant deaths in the Mediterranean - smash Fortress Europe

Dave Sewell looks at how racist scapegoating and migrant deaths are bound up with the bosses’ European Union—and argues the alternative lies in workers’ solidarity

Creating monsters - the murder of Zahid Mubarek

A new film We Are Monster explores the build up to a notorious racist murder in Feltham Young Offenders’ Institution in 2000. The filmmakers and the uncle of the murder victim talk to Simon Basketter

---

Reviews

Detroit '67—‘Motown was always about more than just love songs’

Music journalist Stuart Cosgrove talks about his book Detroit ’67, the first of a trilogy exploring US soul music’s links to radical struggles against racism

Politics is ripe for satire—so why is TV falling short?

If one thing is proving predictable about the general election, it’s the tedium.

Light Shining in Buckinghamshire

Hurry to the National Theatre’s production of Caryl Churchill’s classic play about the English Revolution.

Whitlit—Whitstable Literary Festival

This year’s Whitstable Literary Festival is putting on a number of events that will give an insight into Kent’s radical history. 

---

What We Think

Why the rich like their politicians boring

 Even the politicians have noticed how boring the general election campaign is. So last week David Cameron stressed how “bloody lively” he felt about it.

Ads are selling sexism

Tens of thousands of people have signed an online petition enraged at the sexism of an advert that has been plastered around London Tube stations. 

---

Other Categories

Letters

Firefighters take on Tories, Australia's response to migrants, no to Green music video, mistaken attack, work for nothing, realise our potential, tainted donation, Aboriginal children stolen, betraying working class

Immigration controls should be abolished

Workers have no interest in maintaining controls on migration—they exist to protect the powerful and should be scrapped

The things they say

‘Effectively getting rid of trade unions’

The Troublemaker

Benefit scams of the rich and how the ruling class want the Orgreave inquiry kept a secret

Don't let the National Gallery become a bosses' playground

The National Gallery provides free access to art for all. But its millionaire trustees want to privatise staff and cater to the rich—and workers are fighting back, writes Annette Mackin

Vote TUSC on Thursday 7 May

Socialist Worker Party candidates explain why you should vote for a socialist MP

---