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No one today can doubt that capitalism is a system in crisis. The capitalist propaganda of the previous decades lies in tatters, writes Hannah Sell, Socialist Party deputy general secretary.

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Socialism 2009

Action needed to bring election coalition into shape

OVER RECENT months meetings have taken place of the participants in the 'No2EU-Yes to Democracy' European election coalition to see whether another alliance could be constructed to contest the forthcoming general election. Informal discussions have also been held with some left trade union leaders not involved in No2EU.

We want workers' MPs on a worker's wage

PITY THOSE poor hardworking, low-paid MPs! The independent auditor, Sir Thomas Legg, has been reporting on some of the expenses claims made by MPs on second houses, writes Kevin Parslow.

RBS/Lloyds - Yet more bailouts and job cuts

fast news

BA cabin crews come out fighting

SANDOWN PARK has witnessed many dramatic moments in its time as one of England's premier race courses, writes Neil Cafferky.

British Airways: Vote YES to strike action: Socialist Party leaflet

Leeds bins strike against management attacks still solid

South Yorkshire firefighters and Sheffield First bus drivers

Victory at Crown Aerosols

Trade unionists must fight for decent benefits for all

Pakistan - New wave of terrorism as the guerrilla war escalates

In recent weeks attacks carried out by Taliban fighters and a new ground offensive by the Pakistani government in the Waziristan region on the Afghan border, have deepened Pakistan's social, political and ethnic fault lines...

Postal workers on strike in East London, photo by The Socialist

Support postal workers

Fighting to defend jobs and services: The Postal workers' strikes are to defend a national service which we can be proud of. Management are only after massive profits, writes Gary Clark, sub area rep, Scotland No.2, CWU

Support post workers, this is no time to equivocate

Postal strike reports: Defending the service

Leaflet: Victory to the postal workers

Socialism 2009 forum - can we build a party for working class people?

Socialism 2009 session times

At Socialism 2009, the third session in the 'Britain after the general election' course will be a wide ranging debate on how the crisis in working class political representation can be solved, writes Dave Nellist, Coventry Socialist Party councillor.

Socialism 2009 final agenda

BBC Question Time panel - Workers' voice denied against BNP

Editorial: Eight million people watched BNP leader Nick Griffin on Question Time, the biggest audience for the programme in its thirty year history...

BBC Griffin protest: Jobs and homes, not racism!

Far right shut out of Newport by mass protest

Huddersfield march for jobs

Huddersfield Youth Fight for Jobs march, photo Huddersfield YFFJ

Students and young workers from Huddersfield took part in a Youth Fight for Jobs (YFJ) demonstration on 21 October, protesting against planned cuts in Kirklees council services, writes Ian Slattery, Huddersfield YFJ.

Youth Fight For Jobs leaflet

Young musicians support YFJ

Cardiff Socialist Student elected

Youth Fight for Jobs demo leaflet, (colour)

Demonstrate 28 November
London • Assemble 12 noon
Assemble Malet St, Central London, WC1E.
Nearest tube Euston / Russell Square
www.youthfightforjobs.com

Youth Fight for Jobs leaflet, (black and white)

Afghanistan: anti-war demo

Anti-war demonstration October 2009, photo Alison Hill

SEVERAL THOUSAND anti-war protesters marched from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square, London, on 24 October to protest against the eight-year long military occupation of Afghanistan by Nato forces...

Tamil Solidarity fights for boat refugees

Darling you're talking rubbish!

WHAT A turnaround. Just a couple of weeks ago, chancellor Alistair Darling, claimed he could see the green shoots of economic recovery. Many media commentators said so too. Then the Office for National...

Energy giant 'fanciful to the point of paranoia'

80th anniversary of the Wall Street Crash: Capitalist failure - then and now

Scant attention has been paid in the media to the 80th anniversary of the October 1929 Wall Street crash. The capitalists can hardly repeat their theme of yesterday - "it can never happen again."
Peter Taaffe, general secretary of the Socialist Party, takes a look at how much of it really has happened again, and spells out the underlying cause.

Strikes sweep across Yorkshire

"Three strikes and we're out" was the front page headline of the anti-union local paper, the Sheffield Star, above a photo-montage of firefighters, busdrivers and posties, all on strike in Sheffield last Friday, writes Alistair Tice.

Leeds bin strike: 92% vote to reject council's 'final' offer

Battle for jobs in Land Registry

Ex Ford/Visteon pensioners protest in Swansea

Leicester uni cuts protest

British Airways: Vote YES to strike action: SP leaflet

Call centres - public services on the cheap

John McInally, vice-president of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), photo Paul Mattsson

THE PROLIFERATION of call centres within the civil service and related bodies is rooted in the government's pro-market 'reform and modernisation' programme of cuts in investment, jobs and conditions and office closures and privatisation.

As John McInally, national vice-president of the PCS (Public and Commercial Services Union - pc) explains, this is not "efficiency" as they claim but an ill-conceived strategy to deliver public services on the cheap.

Newport Rising 1839

Feature: ON 4 November 1839, 170 years ago, the 'Chartist Rising' in Newport, south Wales, ended in bloodshed. DAVE REID explains the background to one of the first workers' insurrections in history.

Daily Mail homophobia

Comment: Jan Moir, a Daily Mail journalist, has provoked outrage with a blatantly homophobic column attacking the recently deceased Boyzone singer, Stephen Gately, writes Conor Payne, Socialist Party Ireland.

Film review - Capitalism: a love story

Michael Moore's film: Capitalism: A love story

Michael Moore's new film Capitalism: A Love Story opens with a simple message: "Capitalism is evil," and must be replaced with a system that puts the interests of ordinary people over profit, writes Reviewed by Dan DiMaggio, Socialist Alternative, USA.

Conspirator: Lenin in Exile

Postal workers demonstrate, photo Paul Mattsson

Postal workers must win

Vital battle to save Mail service: As the national strike to defend the postal service and its workforce begins on 22 October, two Communication Workers Union (CWU) members spoke to The Socialist about the importance of the dispute for all workers...

Post - a battle that mass strike action can win

Editorial Royal Mail bosses have declared war on the postal workers and their union, the CWU ...

Afghanistan: Troops out!

Photo Paul Mattsson

Eight years after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, the situation is a nightmare.
Far from moving towards peace and democracy the last few months have seen some of the bloodiest fighting in the conflict, with 220 British soldiers killed and over 1,500 Afghan civilians in this year alone.

Feature: End the bloody occupation of Afghanistan

Protests at the BBC: No to the far-right, racist BNP

As the Socialist goes to press, Nick Griffin, leader of the far-right racist British National party (BNP) is due to appear on Question Time on Thursday 22 October, writes Hannah Sell.

WDL racists chased out of town

Tommy Sheridan - a socialist fighter on a worker's wage

Tommy Sheridan campaigning in Saracen Street, Glasgow, photo International Socialists

Glasgow North East by-election: TOMMY SHERIDAN is standing in the Glasgow North East by-election on 12 November. Standing as a "Workers' MP on a Worker's Wage" for Solidarity - Scotland's Socialist Movement - Tommy contrasts strongly with the disgraced former incumbent, Michael Martin...

Laughing all the way to the bank

Fast news

Sri Lanka protest: Shut down the prison camps!

Tamil demonstration in London, photo D. Carr

DISGUST AT the inhuman treatment of hundreds of thousands of Tamils held under armed guard in open prison camps in Sri Lanka brought tens of thousands on to the streets of London on 17 October, writes Manny Thain.

Chinaworker.info journalist refused entry into China

FBU strike to defend fire service

FIRE BRIGADES Union (FBU) members in South Yorkshire have shown strong support during the first of two 24-hour strikes against management attempts to impose new shift patterns under threat of mass dismissals...

Leeds bin workers fight on

Giant energy company hounds unemployed electrician

First bus drivers give bosses a 'fright'

400 jobs under threat at Leeds

Striking at London Metropolitan

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Socialism 2009 full agenda

Primary education: Report slams government policy

Martin Powell Davies at the Lewisham demonstration against destructive school policies, photo Paul Mattsson

EVER SINCE New Labour was elected, they have sought to dictate to schools what to teach and even how to teach it. Policed by the threatening machinery of Ofsted inspections and league tables of SATs and GCSE results, schools have been bullied into following each new instruction imposed by ministers and Whitehall officials, writes Martin Powell-Davies, secretary, Lewisham NUT.

Union activists discuss pulling the plug on Labour

A RECENT special meeting of Unite's United Left (UL) in the north west discussed the question of political representation, writes Paul Astbury.

Conference on political representation

The Greatest Show on Earth: The evidence for Evolution

Reviews: This year included the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and, in November, the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species...

Hard Times by Charles Dickens, reviewed by Linda Taaffe

When Britain's spies backed Mussolini

TO FURTHER their interests at home and abroad, Britain's government and secret services have always had secret deals with the most brutal dictators and anti-working-class organisations, writes Naomi Byron.

Dave Nellist (2nd left) and Bob Crow (right) campaigning for an electoral alternative to the three main parties, photo D Carr

The main parties say: 'Work until you drop'

Tory shadow chancellor George Osborne's plea for equality of sacrifice - "we're all in this together" - unravels when the real impact of his pension proposals becomes clear. Dave Nellist, Socialist Party Councillor in Coventry (picture left) argues for a trade union based electoral challenge.

Victory to postal workers

Postal workers demonstrate, photo by Paul Mattsson

Defend jobs, no to increased workloads: In a national ballot, 76% of postal workers have voted to strike, whilst local strikes continue throughout Britain after sustained attacks on postal workers, writes Bill Mullins, Socialist Party industrial organiser.

Leaflet: Why You Should Support the Postal Workers

Support the Postal Workers petition

Afghan conflict: Stop the war now

LAST WEEK'S announcement that US president Obama has been awarded the Nobel peace prize is astonishing considering his intentions to continue the war in Afghanistan, writes Steve Score.

The economy: Green shoots or scorched earth?

Editorial: "WE ARE in the midst of the worst recession most people alive have ever experienced, or will probably ever experience. It is already worse than the 1980s and it isn't over yet."

What would a Tory government be like?

Click here to go to the Socialism 2009 pages

Socialism 2009

Socialism 2009 full agenda

Joe Higgins, Irish Socialist Party MEP, speaking at the Rally for Socialism at Socialism 2008

Manchester mobilises against fascists

AROUND 200 thugs of the far right English Defence League (EDL) came to Manchester last Saturday to stir up racial conflict in the city...

RAP victory in Walthamstow

Housing workers in 'sleep over'

Fast News

Apprenticeships? Yes, but not at any price!

Attempts to divide the working class were ratcheted up a notch at the Conservative Party conference in Brighton last week, writes Sean Figg, Youth Fight for Jobs national organiser.

Fight the fire service cuts

South Yorkshire Fire Brigades Union FBU demonstration, photo Yorkshire Socialist Party

Firefighters across the country are facing a plethora of attacks on jobs, services, conditions and pay. These attacks are being carried out by bullying management, who seem to show little interest in how they will affect the fire service's ability to protect the public. But Fire Brigade Union (FBU) members are determined to fight back and the union is currently involved in a number of regional struggles, writes Greg Maughan.

British Airways - What's really going on?

University staff forced to strike

Socialist stands for NUT vice-president

Unison - opening door to minority rule

Sri Lanka: Shut down the camps!

Demonstration against the Sri Lankan government, photo Paul Mattsson

The Sri Lankan government's war on Tamil people's basic rights continues. Around 300,000 men, women and children remain incarcerated in camps under the most horrific conditions, months after the official...

Greece: Hated ND government booted out in general election

A 'dis-service' to Leon Trotsky

Leon Trotsky reading The Militant newspaper in 1931

PETER TAAFFE, Socialist Party general secretary, reviews Robert Service's book Trotsky, a Biography.
THIS VERY thick book (600 pages) is very thin on honest political examination and analysis of the ideas of Leon Trotsky, the subject of Service's tome...

Youth Fight for Jobs on the anti-G8 demo in London, photo Paul Mattsson

Needed – a party for workers, not bosses

Tories, LibDems, Labour - competing to slash our jobs and services: The 'lesser' or 'greater' evil is not a real choice, claims Peter Taaffe, Socialist Party general secretary. 'Like an impenetrable sea mist, the prospect of a Tory government hung over New Labour's conference in Brighton... '

Stop the war in Afghanistan

October 2009 marks the eighth anniversary of troops being sent to Afghanistan. It is clearer than ever that the invasion has resulted in a nightmare for the people of Afghanistan and the region and those sent to fight.

Youth Fight for Jobs

Youth Fight For Jobs march 2 April 2009, photo Paul Mattsson

Newsflash!: On 1 October a number of Future Jobs Fund placements began. These temporary schemes are designed to artificially push down the number of long term unemployed youth (see previous articles). Young people...

University accommodation scandal: Students must defend rights

University freshers fairs: Students seek out socialism

Wirral anti-cuts victory: 'If you fight, you can win'

WIRRAL RESIDENTS and workers are cautiously celebrating the decision by Wirral council's LibDem/Labour ruling coalition to do a u-turn and revoke their decision to close eleven libraries across Wirral, writes Dave Lunn, Wirral Against the Cuts, personal capacity.

Young parents need support, not attacks

Fight for a living wage

Not to Darling's pay freeze

Fast news

Campaign forces health Trust to save Crowlin House

Fish Tank directed by Andrea Arnold

Film review: In the opening pages of My Life Leon Trotsky denounces the saccharine image of childhood that features in much fiction, saying that, in reality, it's not so easy for most people...

I speak Fula by Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba

An autumn of discontent in South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire Fire Brigades Union FBU demonstration, photo Yorkshire Socialist Party

Lecturers in the UCU union have already held one day strikes this term at Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster colleges, for the implementation of the 2004 pay awards and against cuts and job losses, writes Alistair Tice.

Leeds council calls for talks with unions

Fighting against outsourcing, defending working conditions at British Telecom

NUT vice president: Elect Martin Powell-Davies

Cambridge post workers strike

North Wales shop stewards network

Social care in crisis

Care workers protest at privatisation in Waltham Forest, photo Alison Hill

Cuts, outsourcing and privatisation mean vulnerable adults and children are 'falling through the net'. Social care staff are struggling to cope with high caseloads, increasing red tape and worsening pay, terms and conditions at work.

Paul Couchman, a social care worker and branch secretary of Surrey County Unison writing in a personal capacity, analyses what is going on.

Ireland: Lisbon Treaty vote is not an endorsement for hated government

Socialist Party MEP Joe Higgins campaigning for a no vote in the 2008 referendum, photo Paul Mattsson

A SIGNIFICANT two-to-one majority in the Irish republic, on a higher turnout, passed the Lisbon Treaty on 20 October, overturning the decision of the Irish electorate in June 2008, writes Kevin McLoughlin, Dublin.
As Socialist Party MEP Joe Higgins commented, fear was at the heart of the Yes campaign.

Portugal: Voters turn to the left

Foreign aid - chaining the world to capitalism