Municipal politics and the revolutionary left
Danny Schultz reviews Paint Your Town Red, by Matthew Brown and Rhian E Jones, finding an interesting discussion of the possibilities of radical local politics.
Inclusion and equality matter: Why are they missing from our approach to Covid?
Zero Covid Scotland activist Hannah Hassan outlines the many ways in which Covid policies discriminate against people with disabilities and intensifies existing inequalities.
Historic independent schools pension strike at the crossroads
Striking NEU members at 23 schools in the Girls’ Day School Trust will decide this week whether to accept a deal or return to the pickets, Luigi Brindisi reports.
Huge vote to strike for teachers’ pensions in the private sector
Teachers at 23 private schools in the Girls Day School Trust have voted massively in favour of strike action. NEU and rs21 member Luigi Brindisi reports.
Capitalism, debt and feminism
Kate Bradley reviews A Feminist Reading of Debt, finding an insightful account of the relationship between debt, gender, and capitalism, as well as examples of how to fight back against debt.
Omicron – circuit breaker now!
Johnson and Javid must stop prevaricating and introduce an urgent set of measures to dramatically reduce contacts. Every day of delay in introducing a circuit breaker to cut transmission is magnifying the crisis ahead of us.
Private sector teachers fight back against fire & rehire
Over a thousand NEU members have voted to strike in an indicative ballot over an attack on pensions in 23 private schools.
Patient Humans and other poems
Leila Platt writes on experiences of mental health treatment, Covid and power in ‘Patient Humans’ and other poems.
What a way to make a living | Working in care for 16 years
In the latest instalment of our What a Way to Make a Living series, rs21 member discusses their experience of working in care and how wider changes to the care sector have affected the pay, conditions and experience of care workers over time.
Review | Red Metropolis
Danny Schultz reviews Red Metropolis, the latest work by acclaimed political thinker and architectural critic Owen Hatherley. Schultz argues it provides an insightful history of radicalism within London, yet falls short in considering the importance of the working class struggles which make municipal socialism possible. Owen Hatherley, Red Metropolis: Socialism and the Government of London […]
Covid crisis in schools: we need safety measures now
The way to keep children safe and stop the disruption is not to abandon mitigation, but to go for a strategy to stop Covid ripping through schools.
After Hancock, Tory corruption is here to stay
Beyond the headline-grabbing kiss of the Tories’ latest scandal is a series of personal relationships which the former Health Secretary turned into lucrative professional appointments and government partnerships. Gus Woody writes that this type of corruption is isn’t going anywhere while the Tory party remains in power.
The Paris Commune: Rent Strike!
rs21 members present three new translations from Le Cri du peuple (The Cry of the People), the leading newspaper of the Paris Commune.
Berlin Rent Cap overturned, but housing movement has bigger plans
The Rent Cap in Berlin has been overturned by the Federal Constitutional Court. But the policy was created by centre left politicians to undermine a renter led movement to expropriate the cities’ largest landlords. How did this policy come to be? What did it attempt to do? And what does it’s defeat mean for renters and radical housing struggle in Berlin?
Queen Mary University of London – stop evicting students now!
A statement from the QMUL Rent Strike Campaign from early April 2021 opposing evictions from Queen Mary University of London student accommodation.
Revolutionary Reflections | New Frankfurt and the Housing Question
1920s Frankfurt, in the wake of the 1918 German Revolution, established integrated housing, healthcare and education that is still impressive today.
Govanhill: ghettoisation and exploitation in modern Glasgow
Slum housing, hyper-exploitation and racist demagoguery are alive and kicking in the Scotland of 2021 – along with the basis for internationalist solidarity and resistance.
Are the Tories really reversing NHS privatisation?
The Tories’ new proposed health reforms grab more power for ministers – but that doesn’t mean an end to health privatisation.
Combatting unsafe workplaces: an interview with Janet Newsham
Every workplace is a Covid frontline, as employers try to force workers into unsafe situations. We interviewed Janet Newsham of the Hazards Campaign, which is fighting back.
Next steps in the fight for safe schools
The government’s retreat on school closures won’t last forever. Education workers need to go on the offensive.
Let them starve – food and class in Tory Britain
The Tories and their cronies will let working-class children starve. We don’t just need food for all – we need to take over the food system.
‘As cold as charity’: repression and the ‘speculator state’
The government’s right-wing reform of public services continues apace – and NGOs and charities are being used as cover.
A Universal Credit inquiry | Part 1
Millions of people out of work due to Covid are experiencing the cruelty of the Tories’ reformed welfare system for the first time.
Big Pharma: saints or sinners?
Free-market ideologues claim that ‘Big Pharma’ has saved the day with its Covid vaccines. But pharma companies don’t drive innovation – they simply hoard its benefits.
NEU: preparing for the fight of our lives
Supporting teachers to refuse unsafe work is the NEU’s immediate and overwhelming priority, but we also need to learn the lessons from last June and ballot for strike action.
Behind the spin: how effective are the vaccines?
Looking at the science behind the Covid vaccines provides real grounds for optimism – but we can’t pin all our hopes on a single silver bullet.
Why schools must prepare to run remotely until half term
The government’s mass testing plan will not make schools Covid-secure. Schools cannot fully reopen safely until case numbers have been brought down.
A psychologist’s view: Tory blame games hurt our mental health
The government’s blame games and their failed Covid strategy have helped to turn the pandemic into a full-blown mental health crisis.
Scotland: education workers move towards strike action
Workers at all levels of Scotland’s education system are preparing to fight for workplace safety and job security.
‘We have a right to stop’: interview with a socialist nurse
Whereas the first wave of Covid-19 was an occasion for government-sponsored jingoism, the second wave is seeing health workers abandoned and left to manage the unmanageable.