Socialist Worker

---

Cameron’s Calais shame—border control leaves refugees for dead

They fled poverty, tyranny and war. But so far 24 refugees have died at Britain’s border this year because David Cameron won’t let them in, writes Dave Sewell

---

International Comment Features Reviews What We Think Other

News

Students occupy to halt campus closure at the Cass

Students at the Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design in east London occupied a university gallery space on Wednesday of last week.

Strikes to defend Andrew Mootoo force concessions from Royal Mail bosses

Royal Mail bosses in Bridgwater, Somerset, have moved towards reinstating a disabled worker kept on sick leave.

Steel workers - sacked before Christmas with no fightback in sight

The mass steel job losses announced by Tata Steel in October are beginning.

Strike beats Alfreton Grange school bosses

NUT union members at Alfreton Grange academy in North Derbyshire have won over working conditions.

FE lecturers vote to give SNP a parcel of discontent for Christmas

College lecturers in Scotland have voted by 92 percent in favour of national industrial action in an indicative ballot. The turnout was 55 percent.

Shaker Aamer - 'British state was complicit in my torture in Guantanamo Bay'

The last British resident to be freed from Guantanamo Bay, Shaker Aamer, has described his torture in the camp, writes Judith Orr

New Tory attack targets council housing

The government is set to end lifetime tenancies for council tenants, in an amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill.

Reports round-up

Postal Workers Day | NSL traffic wardens walk out in Brighton | Arriva Trains Wales workers strike in Chester | Lambeth library workers to ballot over cuts | Yorkshire Nazis met with protest | Medway bus bosses get a Christmas gift | L&G insurance workers’ strike on the cards | Waiters tipped for ME Hotel protest

Unison union leadership election should be re-run

The result of the Unison union’s general secretary election was set to be announced on Thursday of this week.

News in brief

Call for Inquiry into Orgreave | Rise in reported domestic abuse | Jobs threat for 5,000 from Iain Duncan Smith

Thousands join Glasgow rally against Tory union bill

Some 1,700 people joined a Scottish TUC (STUC)rally against austerity and the Tories’ Trade Union Bill in Glasgow on Thursday of last week.

Hillsborough inquests hear of signs of life

Fresh inquests into the deaths of victims crushed during the Hillsborough football disaster have heard evidence of signs of life following the crush.

Union activists recruit Sports Direct workers

Activists are organising to take on union-bashing Sports Direct bosses in Shirebrook, Derbyshire.

Anger on streets of Paris at dirty climate deal

As politicians cut a dirty deal on climate change, some 20,000 people protested on the streets of Paris last Saturday.

We’re right to build the anti-war movement, despite right’s attack

The Stop the War Coalition faced an unprecedented onslaught from politicians and parts of the press over the past week.

Nursing students fight cuts to bursaries

Tory health secretary Jeremy Hunt is facing a fresh NHS revolt as healthcare students organise to defend their bursaries.

Privatisation of children's services will only deepen failure

David Cameron has said the Tories will take “failing” children’s services out of the control of local authorities. They could be handed to “teams of experts”.

Witness in Rotherham sexual abuse trial says she was abused when aged 15

A witness giving evidence to a major sexual abuse trial has told a court that she was abused when aged 15.

Labour MPs lay into left, but voters back Corbyn

Labour left group Momentum came under sustained attack by “moderates” and right wingers in the party last week.

Muslims join mass rally to condemn mainstream parties' Islamophobia

Campaigners slammed the mainstream parties’ Islamophobia at a rally near Paris on Friday of last week.

Dave Prentis re-elected to lead Unison amid allegations of malpractice

The Unison union announced that incumbent general secretary Dave Prentis has been re-elected to serve a fourth term as the union’s head, today, Thursday.

Tory cuts turn extreme weather into social disaster

Heavy rain on Boxing Day led to flooding across large parts of northern England. Everywhere Tory cuts and privatisation have increased the devastation–and its impact on the poorest.

Junior doctors call new strikes as Tories refuse to budge

Junior doctors’ strikes against new contracts are back on, the British Medical Association (BMA) announced today, Monday.

---

International

Fascist Front National grabs a record vote in French elections as anti-racists organise

The fascist Front National failed to win control of any regional councils in last week’s elections—but it won a record vote, says Dave Sewell

Protest blocks Greek Golden Dawn Nazis

Anti-fascists marched through the port town of Piraeus, Greece, to stop an event by the fascist Golden Dawn party last Sunday.

Syrian dictator starves out key city

The regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad gained control of the last rebel-held area of the city of Homs on Wednesday of last week

The left is the real winner of Spanish elections as two party system crumbles

Elections last Sunday brought political instability--with big gains for left party Podemos, no prospect of a stable government, and a potentially decisive role for Catalan nationalists. The real test will be deepening resistance, argues Andy Durgan

---

Comment

Political disillusion in the US has boosted Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s racist words targeting Muslims have had a cancerous effect.

Poor choice for voters in the Spanish State as Podemos shifts to the right

Andy Durgan looks at the roots of the political crisis gripping Spain—and says this month’s election won’t resolve the turmoil

---

Features

Fascism—a movement of despair

Socialist Worker argues that fascism is about more than racism or authoritarianism—it’s a movement that aims to smash the working class and all democratic rights

Amazon Unwrapped

Simon Basketter looks behind the spin of the giant online retailer to examine how it expands by exploiting workers—and what really drives it

---

Reviews

Dickensian brings together old characters in a fresh plot

The BBC’s Christmas special series Dickensian unites some of Charles Dickens’ best-known characters for a murder mystery, writes Mary Brodbin

Tripped—a comedy that doesn’t quite reach its potential

Channel 4’s Tripped is a drugs comedy gone science fiction drama.

The ghosts of Christmas TV past, present and future

So you have Dr Who (Christmas Day, BBC1) and Sherlock (New Year’s Day, 9pm, BBC1).

Two classics of Italian opera are revived in the modern world

Italian composers Pietro Mascagni and Ruggero Leoncavello, together with Giacomo Puccini, were the last representatives of the Italian realist tradition known as “verismo” (realism).

Reviews round-up

London Recruits tells story of the young workers and students whoundertook clandestine missions for the African National Congress (ANC) during the apartheid regime.

---

What We Think

Obscene system lies behind war and refugee crisis

The plight of refugees exposes all that is rotten about capitalism.

Shoot first smear later

Could a police officer face prosecution for murder? Perhaps.

---

Other Categories

Anna Owens 1967-2015

Anna, my partner, was one in a million. Her school friends recall a strong character who stood up to bullies and looked out for the vulnerable. These characteristics remained constants of Anna’s joyous personality.

John Bradbury, 1953-2015

 

Letters

Our house in Lancaster was one of 55,000 homes without electricity for two days after Storm Desmond.

The things they say

‘It’s a disaster’

Joy for Murdoch and Morgan as hacking cases are halted

Evidence at the trials of Sun journalists showed that Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper group prompted the police investigation into payments by its own papers. It did so because it wanted to escape a corporate prosecution for corruption. It has got its way.

There will be more deaths if Tories keep cutting the fire service

Firefighters and their FBU union are sounding the alarm about the impact of successive cuts to fire stations, engines and jobs. Cuts are already increasing the dangers, writes Nick Clark

---