Issues Follow Follow

THE GMB is the latest major union to consider strikes against New Labour’s public sector pensions robbery.

British ministers’ claims that they are leading the global fight against poverty will ring hollow unless the government changes policies which harm rather than help developing countries.

Thousands of public sector workers, like these in Southend, Essex, rallied in defence of pensions this week as part of the TUC’s day of action.

Read this issue's Malcolm X supplement on the fortieth anniversary of his assassination.

The US war drive goes on regardless. Whatever the diplomatic niceties surrounding George Bush’s visit to Europe, it is business as usual in Washington.

Former miner Eric O’Brien is entitled to all the comforts to help him in his advancing years. But he admits he is frightened for the future as his care home is one of four earmarked for closure in the South Yorkshire town of Barnsley. Campaigners fear Barnsley could be left without a single council old people’s home following an attack by the Labour-run district council and the town’s NHS primary care trust (PCT).

Dr Salam Ismael’s report of US atrocities in Fallujah, Iraq, which Socialist Worker printed as our front page last week, has sent ripples around the world.

The government is to hand £1 billion of NHS money to private companies to provide scans and medical tests to the health service. Health secretary John Reid announced the privatisation of diagnostic tests, including the MRI scans that are important in diagnosing serious conditions, as part of measures to reduce NHS waiting lists last week.

The Left Bloc has just won its best election results ever. We won 6.4 percent of the national ballot and elected eight MPs. That compares with 3 percent of the votes and three MPs at the previous general election of 2002. In fact this time we were only 65 votes away from electing our ninth MP — we hope we can still do it in the recount!

RESPECT MP George Galloway and councillor Oliur Rahman spoke to around 40 local residents at a meeting on the Collingwood estate in east London’s Bethnal Green & Bow constituency last Saturday.

On Friday of last week, thousands of people all over the country took part in rallies and demonstrations against the government’s plans to force millions of public sector workers to work for an extra five years before they can collect their full pension.

Civil rights activists campaigning against New Labour’s latest round of "anti-terrorism" legislation joined forces with the families of those who have died in police custody last weekend at a meeting in Tooting, south London.