England Follow

TRADE UNIONISTS and campaigners were set to march through central Manchester on Saturday in a united protest against racism. The demonstration and rally was called by the TUC and the Unison union, and backed by the Anti Nazi League. It is a recognition of the danger posed by the British National Party (BNP), which has been targeting the north west of England.

IN ENGLAND the Socialist Alliance is providing an alternative for all those who can no longer stomach voting for Blair's Labour Party. Over 160 Socialist Alliance Against the War candidates are standing in the local council elections. They are also campaigning against privatisation, student tuition fees and the witch-hunt of asylum seekers.

ANTI-NAZI campaigners in outer east London are mobilising against a British National Party (BNP) candidate standing in a council by-election in Barkingside on Thursday of next week. The Nazis are trying to gain publicity in the run-up to local council elections in England and national elections in Scotland and Wales on 1 May.

A FULL-scale rebellion came closer at the English National Opera last week. The head of music, Tony Legge, quit his job as part of a growing revolt over management plans to cut staff. Musicians have been told they face cuts just weeks after the ENO chorus went on strike against the axing of one third of their jobs. The chorus plan a second strike on 3 April.

THE CHORUS at the English National Opera (ENO) staged an unprecedented strike on Tuesday of last week. The chorus singers were protesting against ENO managers' plan to sack 20 of the 60-strong chorus.

CHORUS SINGERS at the English National Opera (ENO) struck on Tuesday. They are staging a series of one-day strikes to prevent 20 of the 60 chorus singers losing their jobs. Their strike is about much more than the jobs, important though they are. It raises the question of who controls access to art in our society.

DRIVERS ON English Welsh and Scottish Railways (EWS) have suspended their strikes after winning a new offer from management. It means a one-hour cut from April this year and another one-hour cut from April 2004. This will see drivers working a 35-hour week.

JOURNALISTS AT two Newsquest-owned newspaper groups in the north of England were set to walk out on Monday of this week. Management refused to offer an increased pay deal. In Bradford workers are to strike for five days. They have been offered just 2 percent.

BLAIR'S PLAN to cut the number of asylum seekers is shocking. One way the government justifies its plans is to say children's education suffers if they are taught with children who don't speak English. I am a parent governor at my daughter Sorcha's school, in a very deprived area of central London.

OVER 2,500 drivers from English Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS) struck on Saturday across Britain, leading to the cancellation of around 200 trains. Drivers, members of the Aslef union, want better pay and pensions plus cuts in hours.

DRIVERS ON English Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS) struck solidly last Saturday and plan another strike this Saturday. They run freight trains and are members of the Aslef union. EWS drivers are demanding what they have been campaigning for over the last three years-a proper pay rise, a 35- hour week, all of pay to count towards pensions, and a maximum ten-hour day.

No. We're not talking about asylum seekers... The mansions here are owned by two English men. Chilham Castle belongs to multimillionaire Stuart Wheeler. He bought the 400-acre estate in Kent because he said the three people in his family "needed somewhere bigger to live".