Britain

Is the Party Over?

A disorderly retreat... or stay and fight?

Tim Nailsea  ·  05 July 2020

Keir Starmer declares war on the left

We must protest Starmer’s sacking of RLB and demand her restatement with a full and humble apology. We must stop the witch-hunt of anti-Zionists, which is the prelude to a wider offensive on everything positive that remains of the Corbyn legacy.

Workers Power  ·  29 June 2020

The murder of George Floyd and the uprising against police racism

By Martin Suchanek and Jaqueline Katharina Singh George Floyd was murdered in a brutal and cowardly fashion by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on a public street in front of bystanders on the morning of May 25th. One of them videoed the whole event and now millions worldwide have seen it. It has triggered weeks […]

Workers Power  ·  25 June 2020

Resist the Tories’ attack on Trans Rights!

The entire Labour and trade union movement must organise to resist the Tories’ attack on existing, inadequate, rights and fight to extend trans rights to include self-ID.

Rob Schofield  ·  16 June 2020

Five ways the government’s emergency coronavirus legislation threatens the working class – and how to fight back

From strengthened police powers to forcing workers to pay for the crisis.

Dave Brody  ·  08 June 2020

Fifth International Website Redevelopment Fund

Our international website fifthinternational.org is in need of a redesign, and we need your help! Please donate to our website redevelopment fund so we can bring you revolutionary news and commentary from around the world in a more accessible and aesthetic form.

Workers Power  ·  01 June 2020

Unions and Labour Councils must step up the fight against unsafe re-opening of schools

How we can stop the schools reopening on 1 June and put public health before private wealth

A school union rep  ·  20 May 2020

Relaxing the Lockdown? To save lives and jobs – we’ll need workers control

Britain has become No1 in Europe and No2 in the world for COVID-19 mortality. To replace the “stay at home’ message with “go to work” carries the danger of a second peak.

Dave Stockton  ·  07 May 2020

Threat of mass walkouts foils Royal Mail bosses’ sneak attack

Royal Mail's attempt to cut the postal service has been thwarted by the threat of walkouts.

A CWU Rep  ·  04 May 2020

Hungary: Orban uses pandemic to attack Trans rights

Under the guise of the coronavirus pandemic, Viktor Orban has been granted the power to rule Hungary by decree. His first act? To attack trans rights.

Rebecca Anderson  ·  04 May 2020

Ted Knight (1933-2020)

Ted Knight, leader of Lambeth Labour council during the rate-capping dispute of the 1980s, and lifelong socialist, has died.

Simon Hannah  ·  28 April 2020

Remember the dead – fight for the living!

As the coronavirus crisis rips through society, International Workers' Memorial Day on 28 April is more important than ever.

Andy Yorke  ·  27 April 2020

The Labour left after Corbyn: A chance to break with strategy of compromise

Two successive election defeats have opened a debate about the balance sheet of the Corbyn project, the objectives of the Labour left, and what role Momentum should play in the struggles to come.

Urte March  ·  27 April 2020

Keir Starmer’s election: the end of the Corbyn revolution

THE ELECTION OF Keir Starmer as Labour leader, with 56.2% of the vote, represents a clear victory for the right in the party. Neither the fact that some on the left were seduced into voting for Starmer, nor that Rebecca Long-Bailey got 27.6% of the vote, can disguise this. Starmer himself dispelled any doubts by […]

Workers Power  ·  15 April 2020

Why Covid-19 has pushed the NHS past breaking point

The UK government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed not only the ineptitude of the current government but the sorry state of our National Health Service, which has been pushed to breaking point by successive administrations

Rebecca Anderson  ·  13 April 2020

A million sign on in two weeks: the reality behind Sunak’s empty promises

In the last two weeks of March, 950,000 people successfully applied for the income support part of Universal Credit. The DWP has moved 10,000 backroom staff onto the frontline to cope with the 10-fold surge in demand

Jeremy Dewar  ·  11 April 2020

Lockdown: More Must be Done for Victims of Domestic Violence

Since the implementation of COVID-19 quarantines on an international scale, life has become more dangerous for people trapped in households with abusive relatives, partners or housemates.

Olivia Nightingale  ·  09 April 2020

The politics of being off sick

THE INTERNATIONAL CRISIS of the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the stark inadequacies of the capitalist system in a number of ways. Whether it is the lack of funding for the health system, deficiencies in education and childcare, or the fragility of the economy, it has shown how the social system as it is currently structured […]

Tim Nailsea  ·  07 April 2020

Why Unite members should oppose Heathrow expansion

The environmental argument against a third runway at Heathrow is clear. Emissions from aviation already rose by thirty-two percent between 2013 and 2018. Currently they account for two percent of global carbon emissions and this amount is projected to triple by 2050 if no action is taken

Tim Nailsea  ·  05 April 2020

Our Lives are Worth More than Junk Mail!

While the ballot is on hold, postal workers’ health concerns have come to the fore as offices in Bridgewater and Alloa walk out

A CWU Rep  ·  31 March 2020

Immigration and the Trade Unions

The recent election of a Conservative government, with one of the most openly racist Prime Ministers and Cabinet in living memory, the victory of an openly xenophobic and anti-immigrant Leave campaign in the 2016 referendum, and the rise of racist and xenophobic movements in Britain and throughout the world, have all raised questions as to how the working class movement should respond to what appears to be growing support within the working class for restrictions on immigration

Tim Nailsea  ·  31 March 2020

Motion: Workers’ action against the covid-19 pandemic

A motion passed by Lambeth Unison's branch committee

A Unison Steward  ·  27 March 2020

A programme of action to fight the corona crisis

A programme of action published in the early weeks of the pandemic.

Workers Power  ·  24 March 2020

School closures: skeleton service or community organisation?

The vulnerable will suffer most in any social – and economic – lockdown. We must insist schools apply a broad definition to the terms of which students and families are ‘vulnerable’ based on need, not the dictates of an uncaring, neoliberal government seeking to protect business over workers and the poor.

A Unison Steward  ·  21 March 2020

Postal workers smash reballot – but should the coronavirus crisis block action?

To the surprise of many, when CWU leaders Dave Ward and Terry Pullinger announced the ballot result to members on Facebook,[2] they said they would not set dates for a strike, explaining that “it’s not the right moment for us at this particular point to take industrial action”. Since then Terry has said “we’ve got no choice in the matter”, citing the “unprecedented circumstances” of the coronavirus crisis.

Pete Thompson  ·  20 March 2020

Royal Fail: postal workers get little coronavirus help from bosses

In the ballot result announcement on Tuesday, Dave Ward and Terry Pullinger reported on growing anger in the workforce against lack of management action to protect staff against coronavirus. Royal Mail have done little to provide gloves, hand sanitiser or sympathy despite the vulnerability of staff who work among the public every day.

A CWU Rep  ·  20 March 2020

Why the government is lying about coronavirus

Our era is indeed facing ever more regular and more severe crises from global heating to financial meltdowns to pandemic diseases. Yet these global, social problems are being dealt with along rival national lines and under competing capitalist property rights

Jeremy Dewar  ·  16 March 2020

IWD 2020: Build a socialist women’s movement

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2020 comes at a time of widespread mobilisations of women against rape, sexual harassment and violence in the home and on the streets. The tsunami of women speaking out against their abusers, inspired by the #MeToo campaign, exposed the pervasiveness of outrageous sexism in every area of life. Sexist behaviour is not […]

Workers Power  ·  08 March 2020

CWU: Vote Yes and prepare to fight

What we do now will determine whether we have jobs and a postal service in the future – vote yes and prepare for the fight of our lives.

A CWU Rep  ·  03 March 2020

Royal Mail takes posties on a “journey” to downsize our jobs and conditions

Royal Mail's promises don't matter if they succeed in busting the union. That's where 120,000 postal workers come in

A CWU Rep  ·  03 March 2020

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