Event: Thanet Freedom Festival, 19 July
A multi-cultural anti-racist community event in the spirit of Love Music Hate Racism. Freedom Festival Lineup Spookasonic Sam Bumble Spyplane Nicola Booth Milky Negro OHHMS Avenge Thee + Naime Snowden Colliery Brass Band Roma Choir (plus 2 more Roma acts) Milos and Niklolas Lucia Xavier Dimitris Michailidis All My Ghosts Darren Barnes GriffAmy Libbi Jaeggi […]
Review: The Pajama Game strikes a chord
Even for those who usually baulk at the idea of seeing a musical, the new production of The Pajama Game is a treat not to be missed, argues Jaz Blackwell-Pal It may seem strange to step into a West End show and be greeted by an actor telling you that this is a story ‘about […]
Manchester antifascists celebrate BNP defeat
Around 60 demonstrators from Unite Against Fascism gathered outside the Euro election count at Manchester Town Hall
Immigrants are NOT the problem: rs21 North London public meeting (video)
rs21 North London hosts a public meeting with veteran anti-racist campaigner Darcus Howe, Mark Bergfeld, and Ezequiel, a representative of striking SOAS cleaners. Video interview with Darcus Howe available here. Follow rs21 North London on Twitter and Facebook.
Capitalism and Crisis: Why vampires shouldn’t feed on themselves
Amy Gilligan explains how the contradictions at the heart of capitalism that mean that it is an inherently unstable system, prone to crises.
Video: building community support for a strike
Jonathan Neale, an rs21 member, talks about how to build community support for a strike.
Margate mobilises against UKIP’s ‘Nasty Little Nigel’
Over a hundred people gathered on a beautiful sunny day in Margate on May 17 to protest against Nigel Farage.
Newcastle: report from antifascist mobilisation
On Saturday, around 250 people turned out to oppose an EDL march in Newcastle. The counter-demonstration had been organised by Newcastle Unites, a local grouping supported by UAF, Labour councillors and others.
rs21 guide to the European elections: predictions and recommended votes
Anindya Bhattacharyya crunches the figures and predicts polarisation, with a right wing consolidation around UKIP and a left wing tussle between Labour and the Greens I’m going to stick my neck out and give my predictions and recommendations for the European elections in Britain on Thursday. First the headline news: Yes, UKIP is riding high, […]
Busting immigration myths
Immigration has dominated the discussion in the run up to the European elections on Thursday. Politicians and the media are happy to spread anti-migrant myths, Bunny La Roche seeks out the facts MYTH: Migrants hold down wages FACT There is little evidence that mass migration has significantly driven down wages. Three studies undertaken between 2009-2011 […]
Appeal of the Kryvyi Rih Basin Miners to the Workers of Europe
Miners in Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine are engaged in a labour dispute with the enterprises of EVRAZ HQ, whose headquarters are in London. They are issuing this appeal to workers in Europe for solidarity. The oligarchs who are refusing them pay are the same oligarchs who have driven Ukraine to the brink of fratricidal […]
Always a slip between cup and lip: a commentary on the Indian elections
The Great Quinquennial Cacophonic Political Symphony: some thoughts on the Indian elections letter from Chennai by PM Raman, economic historian India, the world’s largest democracy, holds parliamentary or general elections every five years. But this time round it has attracted considerable global media attention: there is a lot at stake for transnational capital as well […]
Review: Comics unmasked
Adam DC reviews a new exhibition at the British Library, Comics Unmasked, which illustrates how in a period of austerity and social degeneration, the politics of the comic is moving leftwards again. Politics is an ever present theme from the very start of the British Library’s new exhibition, with the the ‘V’ (for Vendetta) […]
Behind the screens: an interview with two Curzon cinema workers
Ritzy workers in south London recently went on strike for the Living Wage, but they are by no means unique. Rs21 member, Estelle Cooch, caught up with two workers from Curzon cinemas and asked them to explain why everything is kicking off in the cinema industry. How did you get from an informal network of organising to […]
Edinburgh: vibrant protest against Farage
Pete Cannell reports: Farage’s public meeting in Edinburgh last night was intended as more than just another publicity stunt. Until this year’s elections UKIP’s impact in Scotland has been minimal. Just a year ago Farage had to run from Edinburgh, unable to find a taxi that would take him to the station. Recent polls, […]
“Our demand is quite simple. We want our freedom.” Protests in UK migration prisons spread
A wave of protests in migration prisons across the UK began on Friday 2nd May.
BDS is about justice, not antisemitism
Israel creates myths in order to perpetuate the occupation. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement can help bring about the end of the apartheid regime.
When will it end? More deaths of refugees in the Aegean
On 5th May 2014, two boats carrying migrants sunk off the coast of the Greek Island of Samos. At least 22 people drowned and another seven missing. They are just the latest victims of Fortress Europe. Sofiane Ait Chalalet and Chris Jones watched the tragedy unfold on Monday morning. On Samos Island we watched another […]
The Tragedy of Odessa
We must stand with the people of Ukraine against their own government and oligarchs, against the machinations of the West, against the growing threat of fascism, and against the rising tide of Russian imperialism.
Memoirs of a revolution: Portugal 1974
On the 25th April 1974, against every expectation, a revolution broke out in Portugal. On the 40th Anniversary, Brian Parkin recalls what it was like for a young British engineering worker, arriving in the midst of a city in the process of revolution, where momentarily everything seemed possible. Lisbon. An imperial city. A city as […]
May Day around the world
With photographs and short reports on demonstrations for International Workers’ Day from Moscow to La Paz. Ben (Moscow): There were about 150 people on this march. There were multiple marches: the Ukraine crisis has fragmented the left. Orthodox “Christian” provocateurs attacked the Moscow march. They were objecting to the LGBT contingent. They started by throwing […]
Baltic Pride – not parliament – has the potential for LGBT liberation in Estonia
Civil partnerships for LGBT couples could be recognised in Estonian law from July. But William Cleary argues that the Baltic Pride festival, which will be held in Estonia’s capital in June, will be more significant for LGBT liberation. Estonian legislators are preparing a civil partnerships bill for the parliament, the Riigikogu. The bill is in […]
Debate: What should socialists say about the EU?
As UKIP’s popularity continues to rise, we asked Nick Evans and Hanif to discuss what arguments socialists should be making in the run up to the European elections this month. Continue the discussion in the comments section. If you’d like to write a longer piece on the debate, please email us at rs21.submissions@gmail.com Nick: NO […]
‘I wouldn’t mind turning into a vermillion goldfish’ – Matisse’s cut-outs reviewed
The latest exhibition at the Tate Modern is of the cut-outs created by Henri Matisse in his later years. Mitch Mitchell shares his thoughts.
Ritzy strikers not giving in, not going away.
Ritzy workers were out on strike again yesterday evening, forcing the cinema to close, and the fun to come outside. Søren reports. Management are refusing to come back to negotiations on the Living Wage, so the strikes at the Ritzy continue. This was the third strike day in three weeks. The rumour is that Cineworld, who own […]
UK a tax haven for Big Pharma
Sophie Williams, a medical student at Imperial College London, discusses how low tax rates in the UK make buying out AstraZeneca an attractive deal for US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer US-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has begun a bid to buy-out the UK-registered AstraZeneca. Both companies are the in top-ten most profitable pharmaceutical industries, generating a combined […]
Militancy at Lambeth College strike despite injunction
Estelle Cooch reports from today’s strike at Lambeth College The resistance by lecturers at Lambeth College to the vicious attacks on their pay and conditions is quickly becoming a beacon to trade unionists and activists everywhere. The all-out strike that was meant to begin today has the potential to foster the support and solidarity that […]
Lambeth College all out strike to win!
Mark Winter discusses the importance of the Lambeth College UCU strike against changes to their contracts and what can be learnt from the experiences of the Tower Hamlets College strike.
Indian elections: fears for the future
Voting continues in the Indian general elections, with Modi likely to come out on top. Patrick Ward, a writer for Project-India.com reports from India on the largest elections that the world has ever seen. Everyone has an opinion on the general elections currently underway in India. From the wealthy inhabitants of the luxurious, gleaming […]
“UKIP are quackers”: Farage greeted by protest in Portsmouth
UKIP and Farage can’t expect an easy ride on their speaking tour over the next few weeks.