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NHS SOS
Communities and health workers unite to…resist cruel NHS cuts
The Tories have already cut doctors, nurses, student nurses and 15,000 beds. Now the government intends a further £22 billion of cuts through its ‘sustainability and transformation plans’ (STPs).
Short reports on some of the attacks on the NHS.
What we think
What we think: Talk of Britain ‘going to war’ with Spain, European politicians telling each other not to ‘lose their cool’ – it could all seem rather surreal.
Socialist Party news and analysis
Fight Tories’ callous cuts pushing 200,000 more kids into poverty
A raft of callous Tory measures starting on 6 April will push another 200,000 kids below the breadline, according to the Child Poverty Action Group.
Labour group to discipline councillors for resisting Haringey gentrification scheme
For a council group which opposes cuts and privatisation: Ten Labour councillors in Haringey, north London, face disciplinary action after voting for further scrutiny of a gentrification scheme.
Gagged Jobstown defendants defiantly expose the Irish state
The ‘Assembly for Justice’ in Liberty Hall, Dublin on 1 April was an inspiring display of working class solidarity with those facing trial for ‘false imprisonment’ of austerity politician Joan Burton while peacefully protesting in Jobstown.
May Day greetings final push: We’re really pleased we achieved our regional target this year for May Day greetings from trade union bodies, student groups and local campaigns. If you haven’t yet, you still can!
It’s one world for the super-rich, and another one for the rest of us including top bosses’ wages, luxury goods and licence fees.
Anti-racism
Horrific attack on Croydon asylum seeker
Residents and workers in Croydon, south London, are horrified following the vicious attack on a teenage asylum seeker on 31 March.
Far right humiliated in London – but trade unions must organise against racism and austerity
It was difficult to tell, peering through the massive police protection they require in order to show their faces in public. But it looked like a motley crew of not much more than 100 mustered for the 1 April Britain First/EDL march in central London.
Food
What would a socialist food industry look like?
How to feed the world? That is a question that capitalism has never been able to solve, with one-third of the world’s total population suffering malnutrition. Even in the economically advanced capitalist countries like Britain growing numbers are reliant on food banks.
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
TUSC to challenge for the Merseyside ‘metro-mayor’
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is on the ballot paper for the inaugural election of the Liverpool City Region directly-elected mayor (the ‘metro-mayor’).
NHS worker to stand for mayor of Doncaster
Socialist Party workplace news
Walkout on three rail networks against driver-only operated trains
Further strike action across the country’s rail network will take place on 8 April as the transport union RMT continues to fight the further introduction of driver-only operation (DOO) on Southern Rail, Northern Rail and Merseyrail, writes RMT union members.
Ferrybridge workers protest against ‘race to bottom’
Construction workers protested outside Ferrybridge power station, Yorkshire on 29 March.
Solid Picturehouse picket and protest
Around 30 striking workers and their supporters gathered outside Hackney Picturehouse on 31 March for a three-hour protest and picket. This marked the sixteenth strike organised by these workers since October 2016.
Bromley library workers strike against privatisation
Unite union members working in Bromley libraries began the first of eight days of strike action on 1 April. The long-running dispute is in defence of the library service from privatisation.
Hackney children’s inclusion unit forced to strike
Labour authorities often claim that their cuts are kinder than the Tories’. But what could be worse than Hackney Labour council trying to slash in half the small but vital Early Years part of the the Inclusion and Specialist Support Team?
Support Len McCluskey and United Left candidates before ballot closes
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Homeless due to the housing crisis
A recent meeting of Waltham Forest Housing Action, set up by the local trades council, heard from several housing campaigns and people affected by the housing crisis. One was Claire Murphy, who told her story.
Rents up 40% – can’t pay, will stay!
‘Keyworker’ tenants of the housing association One Housing in Newham, east London, have been hit by a 40% price hike.
Name and shame the worst behaviour by housing associations
Which association has the most overpaid chief executive? The worst record on maintenance? The poorest relationship with its staff? The recently formed Housing Associations Workers and Residents Network (HAWRN) has announced an ‘alternative’ housing awards ceremony.
International socialist news and analysis
Turkey: Erdogan seeks sweeping dictatorial powers in referendum
If the 16 April constitutional referendum called by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government results in a ‘No’ vote, it would constitute the beginning of the end of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s corrupt and polarising regime, which is based upon repression, chaos and fear.
Fukushima nuclear disaster – a terrifying legacy
It is six years since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. On 11 March 2011 – ‘3/11’ – a devastating earthquake and series of tsunamis destroyed the cooling systems at the Fukushima power plant, one of 50 nuclear plants in the earthquake prone country.
On 31 March campaigners internationally, spearheaded by the CWI, demanded justice for former Total/G4S workers in Yemen. As the Socialist (see issue 941) has previously reported, these giant corporations have washed their hands of responsibility for their former workers’ unpaid wages and compensation.
Socialist Party comments and reviews
Financial hardship facing millions of cancer sufferers
Finding out one has cancer is worrying enough. Treatment is often an ordeal. Facing financial hardship and insecurity as a result adds enormously to the anxiety many experience.
Letters to the Socialist’s editors including Unite elections, NHS, Star Trek, and Welsh trains.
Courageous Ebola nurse Salomé Karwah dies
Salomé Karwah was an Ebola survivor who returned to the hospitals of Liberia to tend to the sick and dying during the epidemic of 2014. Now she has fallen victim to the appalling healthcare endured by ordinary people in Liberia as across most of West Africa.