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UK leftists
this will be a pinned post to find different political parties/coalitions. comments should look like: [**Socialist Party *Formally Militant***](https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/documents-and-manifestos/what-we-stand-for/) is a Trotskyist party with branches around the UK and strong union connections. another example: [TUSC](https://www.tusc.org.uk/about/) **Trade Union Socialist Coalition**.
socialistworker.co.uk
> Fascism seeks to annihilate working class organisation and obliterate any sort of genuine democracy. But in order to attract supporters it always puts forward a fake revolutionary veneer. > > It denounces the present set-up as corrupt, elitist and dominated by “unpatriotic” elements. > > Its solution is usually to use racism as a pathway to a “purified” state purged of foreigners and scapegoats such as Jews or Muslims or Roma or disabled people. > > The German revolutionary [Clara Zetkin](https://socialistworker.co.uk/features/a-newly-published-book-by-clara-zetkin-on-fascism-gives-a-stark-warning-for-today/) summarises fascism as “an amalgam of brutal, terrorist violence together with deceptive revolutionary phraseology, linking up demagogically with the needs and moods of broad masses of producers”. > > At a time of deep social and economic crisis, fascists advance by offering a critique of what exists at the top. > > The clearest example is how the Nazis built their organisation in the 1920s and 1930s. > > They denounced the parliamentary set-up as rotten and deceitful and promised a better future for the German worker. > > One wing of the Nazis, grouped around Gregor Strasser, took this further. > > In a speech to the German parliament in 1925 he said, “We National Socialists want the economic revolution involving the nationalisation of the economy. > > “In place of an exploitative capitalist economic system a real socialism, maintained not by a soulless Jewish-materialist outlook but by the believing, sacrificial, and unselfish old German community sentiment.” > > This “anti-capitalism” was always false. Historian Robert Paxton highlights that “even at their most radical, early fascist programmes and rhetoric had never attacked wealth and capitalism”.
> What future does capitalism offer young people? The chasm of wealth inequality grows by the day, as the wealth of the billionaires soars, while wars and climate change inflict misery and threaten the futures of billions of working-class and young people across the globe. > > We’re worried about how to make ends meet, and the state of our public services. Travel fares are sky high, while public transport routes have been cut, meaning many of us have to walk for hours to get home from work and college. > > Our NHS has been cut to the bone, making it harder than ever to simply get an appointment. The housing crisis makes it impossible for us to live fully independent lives. No wonder 1 in 4 students now face mental health issues. > > Our schools, colleges and universities have gone massively underfunded for years. Students used to get grants, not high-interest loans. Now we have our services and courses cut, while greedy bosses make hundreds of thousands of pounds off our education. > > Why is this happening? It’s because the system we live under – capitalism – is organised around creating profit for a tiny handful at the top of society over improving the lives of ordinary people. > > It’s time to get organised and fight back. [Attached PDF](https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SocialistFreshers2024.pdf) A word from me- comrade Squid: hi community, Last week, I had the opportunity to lead off a discussion at a socialist party meeting on the crucial role of student movements and their political awakening. To summarize: Socialism is born from the seeds of political imagination, and students are full of imagination. We witness their energy in the anti-war movements and in student unions, the EMA protests, where they fought tirelessly against the injustices of our society and government. These students are on the brink of entering a world burdened by debt, working 8-hour days, 5 days a week, just to maintain a shred of dignity. Many will see their passions fade, the fire within them dimming, as narcissistic elites hoard the collective wealth of the world. As socialists, it is our duty to reach out to this new generation, to struggle alongside them before they too lose that spark—the spark that can ignite a brighter future for our society.
> In May, members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) elected a campaigning National Executive Committee (NEC) – a coalition for change. But this new NEC majority has so far been blocked by the general secretary and president, both of whom are in the misnamed Left Unity group. > >At an emergency NEC on 27 August, the NEC majority submitted the motion below, rejecting the government’s 5% pay remit and preparing a strategy to campaign. > > At the meeting, yet again, the national president, Martin Cavanagh, ruled out the motions and amendments from the NEC majority coalition. This is an outrageous abuse of presidential powers, which has again prevented full open and democratic discussion at the leading elected lay body of the union. > > This is why there are growing calls for a Special Delegate Conference to allow reps and members to debate the way forward on vital issues such as pay, jobs, pensions and cuts, and to reassert democratic lay control over the union leadership.
socialistworker.co.uk
> ### The Teledyne Four, who targeted an arms company near Bradford, spoke to Socialist Worker > >Four Palestine campaigners walked free from Bradford Crown Court on Friday after a jury failed to reach a verdict. > > The group—known as the Teledyne Four—were released on bail and face a retrial on 9 February 2026. > > The prosecution charged Laila Gao, Ruby Hamill, Daniel Jones and Najam Shah with causing £571,383 of damage to the Teledyne factory. > > The plant in nearby Shipley supplies surveillance and targeting technology to the [Israeli military](https://socialistworker.co.uk/palestine-2023/palestinian-resistance-slams-british-secret-role-in-israels-genocide/).
> ## Build the socialist opposition > > As the Socialist goes to press, Keir Starmer faced a ‘showdown’ in parliament as the hated cut to the winter fuel payment for pensioners went to a vote. > > It is being dubbed as his ‘first political crisis’. 53 Labour MPs didn’t vote with the government. > > The government has little regard for the crisis facing the 10 million people who will no longer get the £300 fuel payment from this winter. > > The real ‘difficult decision’ being made, is by the millions of older people who were already struggling to pay their bills, now having to calculate which, if any, rooms they can afford to heat. > > Starmer is now governing a country with the sixth biggest economy in the world, and 165 billionaires. What does it say about in whose interests Labour is governing, when they decide we can’t afford to heat older people’s homes? > > No one is fooled by the crocodile tears of cabinet members lining up to back Starmer’s claim that they ‘have no choice’. Deaths among the elderly fell by 10,000 following the introduction of the Winter Fuel Payment.
> [The BBC has revealed that the biggest landlord in parliament, Labour MP Jas Athwal](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9qgd4q49gvo), has tenants in some of his 15 properties that are battling mould and ant infestation. He has since thrown his property manager under the bus, who tenants reported threatened them with eviction when they complained. And to top it off, the properties aren’t even on the landlord register – something he introduced as leader of Redbridge council! > > People up and down the country will have similar stories to the tenants in Athwal’s properties – but without the extra public scrutiny to shame their landlords into acting. > > Keir Starmer’s Labour cannot be relied on to fight for people struggling with sky-high rents, dodgy landlords and unsafe properties – over 40 of his MPs make over £10,000 renting properties they own. > > We need a new mass workers’ party – one that will fight for a mass council house building programme and end the housing nightmare.
communist.red
> # **Complicit in war crimes** > > Liberal commentators have been quick to conclude that Britain is experiencing some kind of ‘Damascene conversion’. Starmer’s Labour, they believe, has finally realised that the UK might be complicit in Israeli war crimes! > > Seemingly, unlike the previous Tory administration, who made it their business to show total disregard for international law (over the Rwanda deportation scheme, for example), ‘Sir’ Keir’s Labour is willing to take a brave stand against Netanyahu’s slaughter. > > Not quite so. As Labour Party hacks have hastily made clear, this move does not amount to anything that could be considered an ‘arms embargo’. > > To eliminate any doubt, Lammy went further: the decision by the British government was “a forward-looking evaluation, not a determination of innocence or guilt”. > > Like the true snakeoil statesman that he is, Lammy is trying to have it both ways: admitting the likelihood of serious offences by Israel, but administering nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
socialistworker.co.uk
> The Tory government, Kensington and Chelsea council and cladding bosses ‘all contributed’ to the disaster > The Grenfell inquiry’s final report paints a detailed picture of the corruption, greed and lies that murdered the 72 residents of the west London tower block. > > The report into the 2017 fire, published on Wednesday, highlights who’s guilty. “The simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable and those who died in the fire were failed over a number of years and in a number of ways,” it says. > > The Tory government, Chelsea and Kensington Borough council, the Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) and building bosses all have blood on their hands. > > Inquiry chair Martin Moore-Bick said that all “contributed in one way or another”. He added that it was mostly through “incompetence”, but also through “dishonestly and greed”. A word from Squid: Apologies for mainly posting news from my affiliated party. As a member, it’s difficult to find stories from other groups like the SWP, RCP, and so on. I will make an extra effort to post from more sources, as I don’t believe focusing on a single party aligns with our ideals. The 1917 revolution in Russia was not solely born from the Bolsheviks, but from many socialists, anarchists, libertarians, and non-political workers. In this way, I hope to help members of our federverse find a place for themselves—whether with the SP, SWP, RCP, or even unions and smaller groups. It’s all well and good to be a socialist online and in our homes, but what difference can we make with all this knowledge if there’s no action? I also hope this does not take away from the article above that has been written SWP. All the best and solidarity. Squid
> CrossCountry train guards (train managers/senior conductors) in the RMT rail union are currently being balloted for strike action and action short of strike, due to managers working trains with hugely inflated payments for doing so. > > Over the last two years, CrossCountry recruited large numbers of ‘contingency guards’ to work trains when a guard is not available. A problem caused by not recruiting enough guards to cover the service needed in the first place! A few of these contingency guards have been guards before becoming managers. Others are office-based, with little experience of working trains. > > They are being offered payments of up to £650 to work a shift at weekends with lesser, but still inflated, amounts during the week. This is in addition to their normal pay. > > This is many times more than guards are offered to work overtime. Rather than negotiate reasonable enhancements for overtime work with experienced guards, the company wants to take this course of action. > > Guards currently only get paid normal time for any overtime and the company’s approach is therefore causing much anger and making guards feel completely undervalued. > > The ballot closes on 12 September and we need to push for a large ‘yes’ vote. The company cannot get away with treating its staff this way! > > The first possible date for any strike is 26 September.
> Keir Starmer has said ‘there is a deep rot in the heart of British institutions’. I assumed he meant the Labour Party and the fact that its MPs have declared tens of thousands of pounds of donations from energy companies since the election, the government subsequently hiking households’ energy bills by £149 a year on average. > > As recently as 2023, Labour pledged an immediate freeze on prices. That’s changed now they are in office getting their MP’s salary of £91,000 plus travel, living, eating, heating and office costs covered, with cabinet ministers earning £158,000, also with cushy expenses. > > MPs should take the average wage of a skilled worker, like Militant MP, now Socialist Party National Committee member, Dave Nellist did in the 1980s. We need a workers’ MP on a workers’ wage, not fat cats in suits who laugh in our faces every time they go to the bank at our expense. > > To add insult to injury, last year the eye-watering bonuses of the ‘big six’ energy bosses totalled enough to power 23,000 homes for an entire year! By cutting CEO’s pay, companies like Shell and Paypoint could save money, they could also spend less paying for the breaking and entering of 4,000 homes to install prepayment meters. > > And when they’re found to have broken so-called market rules on competition set by ineffectual government regulator Ofgem, they are told to donate a few million quid to Ofgem’s ‘voluntary redress fund’.
> At 3am bank holiday Monday, a major fire consumed another London tower block covered in flammable cladding. > > Residents pounded on their neighbours’ doors to get them to flee, reporting that no fire alarms could be heard. > > 80 people fled into the street in Dagenham, east London, relying on each other for their safety. Firefighters risked their own lives to save 20 more survivors from the seven-storey building. Many have lost all their possessions, their children traumatised for life. > > The London Fire Brigade shed 27 fire appliances, closed ten fire stations and cut 552 firefighters when Boris Johnson was London Mayor. Labour’s Sadiq Khan has not reversed these cuts during his time in office, vital response times have increased to a record high.
> One month after Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party was ‘swept to power’ by a paltry 20% of the electorate – the lowest support base of any government since the introduction of universal male suffrage in 1918 – violent protests and riots, instigated by far-right groups, broke out across the country. For those trapped in asylum-seekers’ hostels or mosques under brutal attack from gangs of rioters, the experience was terrifying. More generally, many Black, Asian and Muslim people feel that their safety is increasingly under threat. Tell Mama, a monitoring group tracking Islamophobic hate crimes, reported a five-fold increase in threats to Muslims compared to the same time last year. > > The absolute numbers involved even peripherally in the riots were small, probably less than 15,000 nationwide. This is far fewer than those who came out on the streets in counter-protests or – for example – the many tens of thousands who peacefully marched for Gaza on the same Saturday as the right-wing riots started to spread, or the 50,000 who took part in Trans Pride the week before. Not one word, however, of the Gaza demo featured in the capitalist media; whereas the riots were at the top of the news bulletins every day for a week, adding to their momentum. > > Unusually, however, the large anti-racist counter-protests on 7 August did top news reports, with overwhelmingly positive coverage, even from the most rabidly right-wing capitalist newspapers. In a total volte-face the headline on the front page of the Daily Mail, for example, was the ‘Night Anti-Hate Marchers Faced Down Thugs’. (8 August) This, of course, from the rag which, alongside numerous Tory politicians, has routinely referred to the overwhelmingly peaceful mass protests against the slaughter in Gaza over the past ten months as ‘hate marches’.
> Nigel Farage “man of the people” is charging his supporters £1,000 for a photograph and to share a glass of champagne with him. > > Farage is the highest earning MP and represents nothing but the establishment. Reform UK is the party of millionaires not ordinary people Stand Up To Racism aka Socialist Workers Party posted to twitter this absolute [gem](https://x.com/antiracismday/status/1826518204073619820?s=46&t=5P29KLPVUmRz6bepdyoH9w).
> The revolutionary mass movement in Bangladesh is at a critical juncture. A 17-member interim government has been established, including in it a few young leaders who emerged from the mass protests which toppled the government. > > Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country on 6 August, protesters stormed her residence. But her party, the Awami League, and its allies involved in corruption, remain largely intact. Meanwhile, the equally corrupt and undemocratic opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), a right-wing party that has a history of implementing policies against workers and youth, is also waiting to seize any opportunity that arises. > > The continuation of the current situation, without decisive action to transfer power to democratically controlled committees of protesters, workers, and the poor, could enable reactionary forces to gradually regain strength. The student protesters already had to intervene on 9 August when a full court was convened, which they saw as an attempted “judicial coup”, undermining the new interim government. The Chief Justice resigned only after protesters surrounded the court.
In a local branch meeting I attended last month, a young Socialist Party member suggested that we use alternative media instead of traditional books. They argued that newer, younger members may struggle to grasp or have the patience to read Marx, Engels, or even Lenin. The member suggested that we 'get with the times' and introduce new forms of media like audiobooks, films, and podcasts. Personally, I was recommended State and Revolution as an introduction to socialism, but I am middle-aged and haven't had my brain zapped by TikTok and YouTube shorts. So, I ask for advice here: should we offer easier-to-digest media?
Hello comrades, Torquay will see a Stop The Boats protest tomorrow evening 7th of August. for those living there stay safe as right wingers will be bussed up and down from all over Britain. We: a coalition of trade unions and socialists as well as activists and other such leftist groups will counter protest Stop The Boats but we are only strong in numbers. I am asking if you disagree with these extremists and wish to struggle along side us please come and join. And with sufficient numbers are voice will be heard. It has also come to our attention that a protest is expected to take place on Thursday in Exeter. I am currently organising to counter in my home city of Exeter. for further information reach out through signal: squid_slime.37
More info: https://www.reddit.com/r/GreenAndPleasant/comments/1ekkyzg/list_of_targets_for_wednesday_night_in_the/ **Counter protests being organised accordingly. Check with your local good folk or Stop Racism site. Stay safe, this group is violent. Their target list is below.** ηηηηηηηηηηη WEDNESDAY NIGHT LADS THEY WONT STOP COMING UNTIL YOU TELL THEM... NO MORE IMMIGRATION 8PM MASK UP SPREAD THIS AS FAR AND WIDE AS YOU CAN ηηηηηηηηηηη ALDERSHOT - Immigration Advisors Ltd, Victoria Road, GU11 1TH CANTERBURY - UK Immigration Clinic, Canterbury Innovation Centre, CT2 7FG CHATHAM - Immigration Status UK, Maidstone Road, ME5 9FD CHELMSFORD - UK Immigration Information Centre, Violet Close, CM1 6XG BEDFORD - Immigration INN, Ford End Road, MK40 4JT BIRMINGHAM - Refugee and migrant centre, Frederick Street, B1 3HN BLACKBURN - Rafiq Immigration Services, Whalley Road, BB5 1AA BLACKPOOL - Immigration Solicitors, Enterprise Centre, Lytham Road, FY1 1EW BOLTON - Deane & Bolton Immigration lawyers, Chorley new road, BL1 4QR BRENTFORD - UK Immigration Help, Great West End, TW8 9HH BRIGHTON - Raj Rayan Immigration, Queens Road, BN1 3XF BRISTOL - Gya Williams Immigration, West Street, BS2 0BL CHEADLE - Intime Immigration Services, Brooks Drive, SK8 3TD DERBY - Immigration advisory Service, Normanton Road, DE23 6US HARROW - Yes UK Immigration, Pinner Road, HA1 4HN HASTINGS - Black Rock Immigration, Cambridge Gardens, TN34 1EN HULL - Conroy Baker Immigration Lawyer, Norwich House, Savile Street, HU1 3ES KENT - Kent Immigration and advice, Castle Hill Road, CT16 1QG LINCOLN - Immigration Lawyer Services, Carlton Mews, LN2 4FJ LIVERPOOL - Merseyside Refugee Centre, Overbury Street, L7 3HJ MIDDLESBOROUGH - Immigration advice centre, Linthorpe Road, TS1 4AT NEWCASTLE United Immigration Services - Westgate Road, NE4 9PQ NORTH FINCHLEY - Immigration and Nationality Services, Percy Road, N128BU NORTHAMPTON - Zenith Immigration Lawyers, Talbot Road, NN1 4JB NOTTINGHAM East Midlands Immigration Services - Stonesbury Vale NG2 7UR OLDHAM - Expert Immigration - Ellen Street 0L9 6QR OXFORD - Asylum Welcome, Magdelen Road, OX4 1RE PETERBOROUGH - Smart Immigration Services, Lincoln Road, PE1 2PN PORTSMOUTH - UK Border Agency, Kettering Terrace, PO2 8QN PRESTON - Adriana Immigration Services, Church Street PR1 3BS ROTHERHAM - Parker Rhodes Immigration Lawyer, The Point S60 1BP SHEFFIELD - White Rose Visas, Wilkinson Street, S10 2GJ STOKE - ZR Visas, Metcalfe Road, ST6 7AZ SOUTHAMPTON - Y-Axis Immigration Consultants, Grosvenor Square, SO15 2BG SOUTHEND - MNS Immigration Solicitors, Ditton Court Road, SS0 7HG SUNDERLAND - North of England Refugee Service, High Street East, SR1 2AX TAMWORTH - Lawrencia & Co immigration solicitors, Amber Business Village, B77 4RP WALTHAMSTOW - Waltham Forest Immigration Bureau, Hoe Street, E17 3AP WIGAN - Support for Wigan Arrivals Project, Penson Street WN1 2LP`
Once again, I joined a counter-protest standing against the "stop the boats" demonstration. Similar to our efforts in Bristol, we significantly outnumbered them. A diverse coalition of socialists from The Socialist Party (formerly Militant) and Socialist Workers Party, anarchists, anti-war groups, trade unions, and other activists gathered in the heart of Plymouth to express our disagreement with the protestors—a violent group who resorted to hurling stones, fireworks, unopened cans of beer that exploded on impact, empty glass bottles, and even an iPhone charger, which I will now use for its intended purpose (thanks for the freebie). The right-wing protesters were aggressive, attempting to flank the police to engage in fights with us. Some even infiltrated our counter-protest, only to be forcefully removed by anarchists and police. Organizing such a large demonstration was a Herculean effort, but it paid off. Unlike the counter-protest in Bristol, where vandalism and fighting were prominent, this time we showcased our strength through sheer numbers and organization. These right-winger are indeed a minority. ::: spoiler aerial photo. ___ Credit u/theflyingquad on reddit. left - "stop the boats" right - counter demo.  ::: ::: spoiler me middle of set up ___ teacher union banner  :::
www.irishnews.com
> Transport union leader Mick Lynch has said union bosses need to do more to combat flaring anti-immigration protests across the UK and Ireland. > > The RMT (National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers) boss, who has risen to prominence in recent years during public transport strikes in England, gave the annual Connolly Lecture on the opening day of Feile an Phobail at St Mary’s University College on Thursday. > > The union leader’s comments come amid anti-immigrant disorder in the Southport area of England after three children were killed in a knife attack at a summer school. > > Disorder has also been seen in recent months in the Republic with attacks against premises hosting asylum seekers in Dublin and other areas. This Saturday anti-immigrant protests have been organised in Belfast in response to the killings of Bebe King (6), Elsie Dot Stancombe (7) and Alice Dasilva Aguiar (9). [Far-right thugs in violent clashes with police as unrest spreads to cities across UK - by Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/southport-protests-enough-riots-far-right-b2590700.html) > Violent outbreaks spread across the UK on Saturday with far-right thugs hurling bricks, bottles and chairs at the police as demonstrations broke out in more than half a dozen cities. > > Home secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the “thuggery” and “criminal disorder” that has followed in the wake of the tragic Southport stabbings, warning that anyone involved in the ongoing violence “will pay the price”. > > “Criminal violence and disorder has no place on Britain’s streets,” she said on Saturday afternoon following clashes in cities including Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Hull, Nottingham and Belfast. This isn't a "thuggery" issue, this is a social media and class issue. Standing with Bristol's counter-protestors, who had outnumbered the right-wing protestors, I heard chants that weren't about unity but instead division, polarizing both sides further. "Fuck off nazi fascist" might sound good, might be somewhat correct, but a large number of the protestors on the right are working-class people who have been told by GB News that migrants are the cause of our woes. We need a loud and informed slogan that will pull them back. TUSC and unions are using "Fight the bosses, not migrants - fund our NHS and services," a non-divisive slogan laying the blame where it truly belongs. Meanwhile, BBC's reporting has captured and repeated the anarchist slogan of "Refugees are welcome." This slogan is made to offend and to stir aggression in our division. We can't allow the capitalist media to spin our program and fight by giving them easy wins with vapid slogans. We need a slogan for the workers. I will be in Plymouth tomorrow as part of a counter-protest led by the trade unions, and I will be chanting "Fight the bosses, not migrants," pushing for a workers' party.
> Many Communication Workers Union (CWU) reps and members will now be thinking about what the union will do under the Starmer-led Labour government. Jeremy Corbyn’s popular manifesto promise had been to bring Royal Mail back into public ownership. This was agreed at Labour Party conference since, but was not in the manifesto. > > Meanwhile, Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, whose business already owns 25% of Royal Mail, is bidding to take it over. > > The Labour manifesto stated: “Royal Mail remains a key part of the UK’s infrastructure. Labour will ensure that any proposed takeover is robustly scrutinised and that appropriate guarantees are forthcoming that protect the interests of the workforce, customers and the United Kingdom, including the need to maintain a comprehensive universal service obligation. Labour will also explore new business and governance models for Royal Mail so that workers and customers who rely on Royal Mail services can have a stronger voice in the governance and strategic direction of the company.”
Strikes do a few things. 1: they give workers what little dignity can be afforded to them in a capitalist system. 2: they show the flaw of our system. When met with inflation that surpasses our wages what option is there other than to strike, and we can strike through many ways such as not paying our landlords on mass to impede plans to evict from or demolish our homes, we can strike paying utility's that raise our prices demonstrably, we can as civilian boycott all sorts of industry to demand change. All strikes in one sence do fail, they'll give limited dignity ready to be steadily chipped away at giving way to a new struggle as we live in a system that function on indignity. But in a socialist sense even the failed strikes are successful in other ways, they can show the inequality between worker and owner, renter and landlord, *consumer* and shareholder. Each strike is another nail in the coffin of capital and this is why we stand in solidarity with the people at Amazon, the ones working for Stagecoach and the G4S security at jobcenters earning near to minimal wage. If you see a strike taking place then show them your civic support, bring drinks or have a chat, maybe even pick up a placard.
Hello comrades. weekend just gone [The Socialist Party](https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/) set up a booth to speak with festival goers and union members, other political groups were present too such as the [SWP](https://socialistworker.co.uk/about-the-swp/), [Communist Party](https://www.communistparty.org.uk/) and the [RCP](https://communist.red/), [Workers Party](https://workerspartybritain.org/). this year we faced less mud but also less crowds although the weather was mostly wet we all had a pretty good time paying respects to the martyrs of Tolpuddle with banners and flags raised high. looking forward to [Socialism 2024 Festival](https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/socialism-2024-ticket-sales/) where again we can share in solidarity but hopefully in dryer weather and cheaper beer. while at Tolpuddle Martyrs we pushed unions to consider forming a workers party with mass union backing, this could be the party to confront Labour and the greater capitalist structure of our politics, we campaigned with flyers as well as through petitions and dialogs in large talk-events held by notable union members. 
> Who is striking and when? Find out the strikes this week and how they will affect you with the UK Strike Action Calendar. Full date listings of all currently planned regional and country-wide strikes.
> A recent BBC interview with the president of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, has racked up millions of views. In it, he calls out the hypocrisy of the interviewer questioning his government’s plans to extract billions of dollars worth of oil and gas from Guyana’s newly discovered reserves, on the basis that this will contribute to global climate change. > > Ali points out that, even after extracting those resources, Guyana will still be carbon neutral due to its huge untouched forest, covering 80% of the country, with the lowest deforestation rate in the world. > > He poses some questions to the interviewer: ‘If you value biodiversity and the climate, are you [the West] willing to pay for it?’ He argues that the global capitalist system leaves him no choice but to extract the oil and gas: “We have this natural resource. And we’re going to aggressively pursue this natural resource because we have to develop our country.” Around half of Guyana’s population live under the poverty line, but the country has seen economic growth averaging over 40% over the last three years due to the influx of oil money. Profit problem > > This highlights the major problem with attempting to solve the climate crisis under a capitalist system: the lack of profit to be made from protecting natural resources and the inability of capitalist nation states to cooperate in developing global productive potential. Capitalism is incapable of taking the united international action needed to reverse climate warming. > > The serious thinkers of capitalism are only too aware that climate change is an existential threat that needs urgent action. Their proposals, however, are always constrained by the limits of the system they defend. To implement the urgent and sweeping changes needed to avoid climate catastrophe requires a global socialist plan of production, based on nationalisation of major industries under the democratic control and management of the working class. > > In a recent address to investors, the former British Petroleum (BP) chief executive Lord John Browne urged them to consider Aesop’s fable of the rider who stops feeding his horse in peacetime, only to find it lame when war comes. The soldier in the analogy represented the companies who are pulling back on climate action, creating more long-term risk for all concerned as the ever-greater effects of the climate crisis loom.
> We need council homes. Over a million people languish on waiting lists for council housing. In the main, these are people who cannot get together huge deposits either for rent or a mortgage, who can’t afford gruelling private rents, and don’t have the ability to buy a home either. > > So-called affordable housing is out of reach for millions. 40% of council housing built in the last century is now in the hands of private landlords thanks to Thatcher’s ‘Right to Buy’ – kept in place by Labour and Tories since – and the fact sold homes haven’t been replaced. > > Add in to the mix the amount of housing, social and private, that is in horrendous condition with black mould, damp, lack of proper fire access, and everything else making tenants unwell and sometimes causing death. > > A tenant who puts their head above the parapet and complains about the condition of their home faces the threat of a Section 21 ‘no-fault’ eviction. The previous Tory government said they were going to end these but, considering they have so many landlords in their ranks (as with Labour), it’s no surprise that they weren’t willing to make it happen.
> As the sun rose on 24th February 1834, Dorset farm labourer George Loveless set off to work, saying goodbye to his wife Betsy and their three children. They were not to meet alone again for three years, for as he left his cottage in the rural village of Tolpuddle, the 37-year-old was served with a warrant for his arrest. > > Loveless and five fellow workers – his brother James, James Hammett, James Brine, Thomas Standfield and Thomas’s son John – were charged with having taken an illegal oath. But their real crime in the eyes of the establishment was to have formed a trade union to protest about their meagre pay of six shillings a week – the equivalent of 30p (or roughly £50 when adjusted for inflation to today’s money) and the third wage cut in as many years. > > With the bloody French Revolution and the wrecking of the Swing Rebellion fresh in the minds of the British establishment, landowners were determined to stamp out any form of organised protests. So when the local squire and landowner, James Frampton, caught wind of a group of his workers forming a union, he sought to stamp it out. Workers met either under the sycamore tree in the village or in the upper room of Thomas Standfield’s cottage. Members swore of an oath of secrecy – and it was this act that led to the men’s arrest and subsequent sentence of seven years’ transportation. > > In prison, George Loveless scribbled some words: “We raise the watchword, liberty. We will, we will, we will be free!” This rallying call underlined the Martyrs’ determination and has since served to inspire generations of people to fight against injustice and oppression. Transportation to Australia was brutal. Few ever returned from such a sentence as the harsh voyage and rigours of slavery took their toll. After the sentence was pronounced, the working class rose up in support of the Martyrs. A massive demonstration marched through London and an 800,000-strong petition was delivered to Parliament protesting about their sentence. > > The story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs and the campaign that freed them inspires us to fight on. The annual festival reflects the spirit of those prepared to stand up and be counted and for those just learning about the history it is a joyful celebration of our solidarity. any comrades coming to Tolpuddle Martyrs festival? > Every year 5000 people gather in the green fields of Tolpuddle to celebrate our movement, how far we've come, and debate and strategise for how we continue fighting for workers rights in the UK and beyond. Join us in the green fields of Tolpuddle, 19-21 July 2024!
www.tusc.org.uk
> Now the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is publishing a statistical review of the election – The 2024 General Election Fact File – a draft report prepared by the TUSC national election agent Clive Heemskerk for the first post-election meeting of the TUSC all-Britain steering committee taking place on July 17th. > > Including the TUSC candidates’ results, after discussion at the steering committee it will be published on the website’s Candidates Page as a public record – as has been TUSC practice for every election we have stood candidates in since 2011.
> The result, in terms of the number of seats, is a Labour landslide, just shy of Tony Blair’s New Labour victory in 1997. But enthusiasm for Keir Starmer’s Labour was absent from this general election. The absolute vote for Labour was 9.6 million, lower than the 10.2 million vote Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour got in 2019, never mind the 12.8 million he got in 2017. Labour’s vote share, at around 34%, is the lowest ever for a general election victor, whereas in 2017 Corbyn got 40% of the vote, the biggest jump for a national party in one election since 1945. > > The turnout, at less than 60%, was at least as low as 2001, and perhaps the lowest ever in a general election. None of this, of course, has stopped spokespeople for Labour, echoed by the capitalist media, spending election night endlessly repeating how it was only Starmer’s successful ‘change’ in the party (in reality into pro-capitalist New Labour) that had allowed them to go from the allegedly ‘worst election result since 1935’ in 2019 to victory in 2024.
> Relief, rejoice, cautious optimism, scepticism… There will be mixed feelings in the minds of working-class people on 5 July. But whatever the cocktail, the fact clear to everyone will be that the Tories, historically the bosses’ primary political party, which has inflicted 14 years of misery on ordinary people, will be resoundingly defeated. > > At the time of writing, before polling, Labour are odds on with the bookies to have an overall majority, too short even to make it worthwhile Tories betting on their own demise. Their electoral annihilation will dissolve any remaining cohesive substance holding the world’s oldest capitalist party together. > > The source of its fragility? The fragile state of the global capitalist economy and particularly British capitalism’s falling standing within it. And Starmer’s Labour will build a government on those same ruined foundations. > > But although Starmer is committed to defend the capitalists’ interests, that doesn’t mean workers can’t or won’t struggle, or that concessions can’t be extracted from the new government, whatever its intentions entering office. Solidarity to all. Like most of you, I am glad to have witnessed the end of Tory rule, who faced an embarrassing defeat after 14 years of enforcing austerity measures that inflicted suffering on the working class. However, this change will not be resolved by another capitalist party. Labour, under its current leadership, has shown it’s not a workers’ party, a fact that became evident with Tony Blair’s tenure and their eagerness to remove leftist elements from within their ranks during the last election. The struggle continues. Fight for true representation and justice for the working class. The end of Tory rule is a step forward, but our journey towards genuine change is not yet over.
> # Tories nearly out > # Vote Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition > # Because Starmer’s Labour doesn’t fight for us > > > Put the champagne on ice! Because by the time you receive the next copy of the Socialist, the Tories will be out of office. > > We can be as sure of that as the Tory insiders placing bets on the date of the general election. In the last days of Rome, they are rinsing the country for everything they can – showing the same disdain for working-class people as they have for the last 14 years. > > The workers’ movement has to prepare now for the new Starmer-led Labour government. On 22 June, fighting trade union reps met for the National Shop Stewards Network to discuss how (see pages 6-7). > > By striking between 27 June and 2 July, junior doctors have put their pay top of Keir Starmer’s very packed agenda. And from 8 July, Tata Steel workers in Port Talbot will strike to defend hundreds of jobs, demanding action from the new Labour government – nationalisation is needed, with no compensation for the fat-cat Tata bosses. > Years of cuts and crisis > > At this election, 40 candidates are standing as part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, including many Socialist Party members campaigning for the socialist policies needed to transform working-class people’s lives after years of cutbacks and the cost-of-living crisis, and a new mass party of the working class. > > Vote socialist on 4 July, celebrate seeing the back of the Tories and get ready for the working-class fightback to continue on 5 July.
This post will be segmented as it has been a busy week. Starting with Exeter. # Exeter: I have been given the privilege of heading an Exeter branch. Speaking with branch leads and branch secretaries, what once felt like a slight nudge has turned into a full endorsement. I am not the type to appoint myself or to ask, so I am glad to have had the insightful chats over the last two days. So now, how do I go about creating a branch in Exeter? From what I have heard from others who have done the same, with both success and defeat, they all gave similar insights: “It’s hard, but once you recruit one, it’ll get a lot easier.” So far, I have begrudgingly made a [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/r8WpCEZMkziqpP4Q/) and created an email account through Tuta. The rest is feet on the ground, leafleting across Exeter in the hopes of finding committed comrades. # Plymouth: I was in Plymouth from Monday through to Tuesday morning. We had an early start, leaving Exeter at 7:30 am and arriving by 9 am. We headed to the Branch Lead’s house where we wrote the daily itinerary. Then, we moved on to canvassing Plymouth’s social housing estates. The reception was beyond anything I had seen before; we were selling [newspapers](https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/subscribe-2/) left, right, and center, and getting [TUSC](https://www.tusc.org.uk/) votes. After that, we went to a school where we spoke with parents and handed out leaflets in a final push for the general election. More canvassing took up most of the day until the public meeting with locals hosted by [The Socialist Party](https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/1855/06-12-2022/socialist-party-campaigning/). The locals were eager to know[ who we are and what we represent](https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/1855/06-12-2022/socialist-party-campaigning/) as a workers’ party. The evening continued with drinking, which went on until the early hours. # Lessons Learned: Election season is intense. The fun kind, like working a bar with four other staffers on World Cup finals – no time to think, but suddenly the bar is empty and we’re closing. Before we leave, we drink, we chat, and we’re all bound by the same experience. The general election isn’t about the outcome for us. It’s state machinery and it needs dismantling, so it’s not important. What it’s about for me and my fellow comrades is class consciousness. People wake up and see the reality during a general election. [We have contaminated drinking water for profit](https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/125697/05-06-2024/stop-the-sewage-nationalise-under-democratic-workers-control/), electric and gas pricing that enriches shareholders and incentivizes environmental destruction, and a political class that sees us as mere objects to step over. We won’t see [rent go down](https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/mar/20/average-monthly-uk-rent-up-9-the-highest-annual-increase-recorded), [we won’t come out of austerity](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/dec/03/keir-starmer-labour-wont-turn-on-spending-taps-wins-election), and we will continue to pad the pockets of our overlords. So, comrades, take this time to push and agitate. Turn up to pickets, knock on doors, and ask, “Why are you voting reform?", "Any thoughts on our NHS?". Be revolutionary. Solidarity comrades, Squid
> Socialist Party members are standing in the general election as part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, which is standing 40 candidates. Socialist Party members campaign for: > > * Fully publicly fund the NHS and other public services. Stop and reverse privatisation > > * Mass council house building. Rent control now. Don’t make workers pay for the housing crisis – reject rent and service charge increases. > > * Stop the slaughter in Gaza. No to war! For mass trade union action to stop arming the Israeli state > > * Renationalise rail, mail, energy, water and steel. And other privatised utilities, under democratic workers’ control > > * For real workers’ rights. For inflation-proof pay rises. For a £15 an hour minimum wage. Repeal the anti-trade union laws. Ban zero-hour contracts and fire and rehire > > * Free education and training. Scrap tuition fees. Grants not loans – for college and university. Votes at 16 > > * Combat climate change. For a free-to-use, expanded, renationalised public transport system. Don’t make workers pay for the bosses’ climate crisis > > * Fight for socialist change. Take the wealth of the 1%. Run society in the interests of the many not the few As we approach the general election it is crucial that we amplify our voices and champion our cause. We've successfully met our [fighting fund goal](https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/donations/fighting-fund/), enabling us to field [TUSC](https://www.tusc.org.uk/) candidates across the board. This is our opportunity to bring about real change. Solidarity comrades, Squid.
Today on Barrack Road, Exeter, medical professionals lined up out side Exeter hospital to demand better. Our NHS is failing. Nurses, NHS carers, and doctors have been vocal, shining a light on our failing NHS, which has been left to rot by the likes of Tories and Labour government. As socialists, we also demand better. We call for a full restructuring of our NHS, offering incentives such as bursaries, retention schemes for junior doctors and nurses, adequate equipment, and hospital beds to meet demand. We also demand the removal of the corporate rot that has parasitically sucked our taxes out. We stood in solidarity with our junior doctors today, we stood with our NHS carers last week, and we will continue to stand in solidarity demanding meaningful change for all workers.
> Plymouth’s LGBTQ+ Pride parade had been fractured in the lead-up to the event. Some people broke away from planning the march after hearing of the involvement of companies Babcock and BT. > > Babcock, a UK-based multinational corporation, has made applications for export licences for military equipment to Israel, making them a questionable and inappropriate sponsor of Pride. Trans Pride and others stated: “No Pride in genocide”. > > BT has announced that 55,000 of their 130,000 employees will be laid off over the next six years, as part of a move into ‘AI automation’. This will affect people in Plymouth. Written by me edited by [socialist parties](https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/) in house editor's. I am also the one on the right in the picture looking uncomfortable as always.
It has been a busy two days! Being firstly tasked with writing a report for Plymouth's pride event has been challenging but a challenge that has been overcome and will be published online tomorrow and in print in the next issue of our physical paper. The article briefly goes over pinkwashing, the pride event and corporates unattractive affairs and how that juxtaposed grassroots workers movements even going as far as to undermine. 3 comrades and myself once again canvassed more of Plymouth, we are slowing making our way through the area rallying support for Alex Moore a [TUSC](https://www.tusc.org.uk/) candidate and dedicated socialist. Reception has been great, even reform voters are willing to talk and listen, some have realised that Nigel Farage is not the politician for the workers, many comrades have taken to dismantling Reforms ['social contract'/manifesto](https://www.reformparty.uk/our-contract-contents) to help would-be reform voters vote within their [interest.](https://www.tusc.org.uk/pdfs/TUSCmanifesto.pdf) Events ended today but not before visiting the [RFA](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Fleet_Auxiliary)'s [picket line](https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rfa-staff-take-strike-action-on-international-seafarers-day/) and showing our support for Plymouth government employees who have been hit with massive pay cuts over 15 years, but RFA strikers stood strong and seem very hopeful going into the next election.
>Frank Hester, the Tories' largest donor, has given the Tories £15 million, despite his private company, TPP, profiting from £135 million contracts with the Department of Health and Social Care in under four years. Hester was paid £515,000 in 2021-22 and receives £10 million of dividends. The Tories received thousands more from him after his racist and sexist comments were exposed. The second-biggest donor, billionaire Mohamed Mansour, was a minister in Egypt between 2006 and 2009, giving the Tories £5 million and £600,000 from one of his companies. There are reports that Tory donations are drying up, and Labour is also receiving big donations from the ultra-rich. *`Summarized`*