Thousands rally in George Square – report from Glasgow anti-austerity protest
North and south of the border, last Saturday was an important day in the process of building a mass fight back against austerity. Pete Cannell, from Edinburgh, and Joe Sabatini from Carlisle report from the anti-austerity rally in Glasgow. Thousands rally in George Square Pete, from Edinburgh, reports: As tens of thousands marched against austerity […]
Hundreds of thousands march against austerity in London
Amy Gilligan reports from yesterday’s impressive anti-austerity demo. Hundreds of thousands of people marched through London from the Bank of England to Parliament Square yesterday on the “End Austerity Now” demonstration, organised by the People’s Assembly. The demonstration was so large that getting an accurate figure for the number taking part is difficult, but the organisers’ […]
Battles in Bromley
Four hundred people marched in Bromley this weekend over cuts to the council. Paul Summers reports: Four hundred people marched this Saturday (13 June) as part of the ongoing fight between Bromley council and Unite members. The council wants to reduce the staff from 3,000 to 300. The council has withdrawn facility time simply stating the […]
Colossal cuts for further education
With colossal cuts looming, Barbara Jeffery and Mark Winter outline the devastating impact that the Tory plans for further education will have on colleges At the onset of their second term, the Government outlined their plans for adult further education. Excluding funding for apprenticeships, the budget for 2015/16 will be […]
20 June: your chance to undermine the Tories
The Tories have been confident since the election, but the big People’s Assembly demo on 20 June can start to change that. Jen W lists six things you can do to make it as big as possible. If you are reading this you probably woke up on the Friday after the election, like me, in a pretty […]
No return to the thirties: an eyewitness warning
Jean Edmond looks back to the poverty and defeats of the 1930s, and warns against them returning. This article appeared in Issue 10 of the Northern Star, a Leeds based publication. My name is Jean Edmond. I was born on 19th March 1921 in Bootle near Liverpool, the daughter to a struggling housewife and an […]
New Faces, New Voices – left politics after the election
Eleven young people address the question, “after the election, what do you hope will be the response and what to you intend to do going forward?”
Manchester protests against austerity
Mikhil Karnik and Ian Allinson provide pictures, interviews and a report from today’s anti-austerity demonstration in Manchester. During the afternoon around 1000 people took part in a static anti-austerity demonstration in Piccadilly Gardens. It brought together people from a wide variety of campaigns along with a significant number protesting for their first time. Speeches focussed […]
Protest as Ealing Maternity Unit threatened with closure
Protests continue against the end of maternity services in Ealing, reports Steve Eason. Today the Clinical Commissioning Group for Ealing held its public consultation at a private sports club near West Ealing. They discussed the closure of Ealing Maternity Unit and resulting closures including paediatrics and gynaecology. A panel of some 24 leading NHS cutters […]
Occupations for homeless rights and education in Manchester
Ian Allinson reports from a lively, if soggy, day in Manchester for the occupations in the city centre for homeless rights and at Manchester University for free education. The homeless rights camp had been in St Peter’s Square, outside the Town Hall, for some weeks while Manchester’s Labour council paid money to drag homeless people […]
Four thousand march against the Tories in Bristol
A demo against austerity in Bristol yesterday, organised by local students on Facebook, was a big success. Linda Nunns reports. Today something happened in Bristol that nobody predicted. A group of students started a Facebook group a couple of days ago to organise a protest against austerity and to “get the Tories out”. 4,000 people said […]
“FE means Free Education Further Education For Everyone”
Mark Winter reports 1200 lecturers and students marched on Saturday 25th against the 24% cut in adult education, on a national demonstration called by the UCU (University and Colleges Union). The cuts are massive – UCU estimates that they could lead to a loss of more than 400,000 places for adult students in 2015/16 alone. […]
Students protest against LeSoCo cuts – photo report
Colin Revolting and Ian Crosson report 200 jobs are at risk at Lewisham and Southwark College. Yesterday lunchtime around 50 students from the college took part with others in a protest against these cuts. Shakira Martin, who is SU President in the college has just been elected Vice President for Further Eduction at the NUS […]
Lively LeSoCo lobby against FE cuts
Ian Crosson reports: Last Tuesday (24 March) there was a lively lobby of the governing body of Lewisham and Southwark College outside the Lewisham Way site. The lobby was called to protest against a £7m cut to the staff budget, which is largely the result of the massive national funding cuts to adult education. […]
Cruel incompetence: Tories continue assault on disability benefits
Naomi Care discusses new tory plans to axe billions from the welfare budget, continuing the attacks on some of the most vulnerable people in society It is rare that a news article scares me, but the leaked documents from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that the BBC published details of yesterday made my […]
Action against the 24% cut in Adult funding
Mark Winter, a lecturer at Tower Hamlets college, reports 200 lecturers and students marched on Downing Street on Wednesday (25 March) as part of a protest organised by UCU against a 24% cut to funding for adult education. As a result of the cuts 400,000 places will be lost, and these cuts could be a deathblow to […]
The Budget: four reflections and a rule of thumb
by Michael Rosen 1. In the post-Budget fog, there are occasional dissident voices that say something along the lines that obsessing about small differences in “the deficit” is some kind of smokescreen for what’s really going on. In other words, capitalism can cope with what are by all accounts relatively small differences (i.e. people go […]
rs21 magazine Spring 2015 launches tomorrow
The Spring 2015 issue of the rs21 magazine will be launching at our event for International Women’s day 50 Shades of Struggle: Women and the New Social Movements taking place at LSE tomorrow (Wednesday 11 March, 7pm, East Building, Room E304) – get your copy at the meeting, from your local rs21 group, by subscribing or […]
Tory cuts hitting FE hard
Mark Keating, a lecturer in a London college, discusses the cuts that are hitting the further education sector hard The Tories delivered another body blow to the further education (FE) sector when they announced swingeing 24% cuts to the Adult Education budget at the end of February. This kind of cut would have been greeted […]
An alternative to austerity is growing in Merseyside
Clara Saraiva shares the experiences of an anti-austerity conference bringing together grassroots activists across Merseyside. 100 people took part in the “No Austerity Conference” February 14 in Liverpool, with participation from representatives from trade unions, community organisations, leftist parties. The conference was conceived in November 2014, following the victory against the attempt at closure of 11 libraries by […]
A national NHS campaigners’ convention: A view from the inside
Sophie W, a medical student in rs21, interviews Joanna Adams from 999 Call for the NHS , a grassroots campaigning organisation, in advance of their national convention on Saturday 28 February. The NHS is in the midst of a deep crisis. While politicians and political parties talk of their visions for its future, health campaigners are […]
The Assault on London Housing Rights
Graham Campbell reports on two local struggles to defend council housing in London, and draws some conclusions about the social significance of the Coalition’s assault on social homes. February 14th to 23rd is designated by Radical Housing Network as Housing Action Week, and it certainly has been. Leading up to the actions of the past […]
‘The rocky road ahead…’ The movement against Irish Water
Five activists from rs21 spent a weekend in Dublin and took part in a city-wide demonstration against the Irish Government’s recent Water Charges bill, and spoke to several activists on the Irish left.
Tens of thousands join parade of the labour movement
Amy Gilligan reflects on Saturday’s TUC demonstration. The large TUC demonstration on Saturday saw tens of thousands of trade unionists march through central London. Branch banners from across the country were visible in many of the union blocks, and groups from outside of the capital made up a substantial proportion of those marching. The demonstration was […]
Fight for your right to read
Alan Gibbons, author, organiser of the Campaign for the Book and lifelong socialist discusses the attacks that the library service is facing in Britain. He is based in Liverpool where proposals to cut eleven of the city’s nineteen libraries have recently been announced. It is the fiftieth anniversary of the public library service. This should […]
Build in, build out, build up! July 10 strike report
Estelle Cooch writes: Over a million public sector workers went on strike today against pay, pensions and cuts. The strike was the biggest in several years and brought together unions that haven’t struck together since the two big pension strikes of 2011 – June and November 30th. It is worth recapping how the action came […]
Lambeth College strike: Stage One ends, but prepare for Stage Two
by Matthew Cookson, UCU lead negotiator, EHWLC (personal capacity) Strikers at Lambeth College in south London marched back together to work today (Wednesday 9 July) after five and a half weeks of all-out action. The college lecturers have pledged to resume their strikes in the autumn term if the dispute is not resolved. The UCU […]
Event: Stand Up Against Austerity
Stand up for the People’s Assembly Monday 7 July, 7pm Hammersmith Apollo (Eventim Apollo Hammersmith) Join the People’s Assembly for an evening of comedy from some of the best comedians in the country. As well as an essential way to raise much needed funds for the campaign, this will be an unmissable night out! […]
A sunny success for the People’s Assembly
Anindya Bhattacharyya writes: Saturday’s march through central London was a test for the People’s Assembly Against Austerity’s – the first time it had organised a national march primarily through its own resources, rather than putting a call out for a march that brought bigger forces (the TUC, the big unions) behind it. It passed that test smoothly […]
People’s Assembly demonstration – rolling coverage
Reports and updates from today’s #NoMoreAusterity demonstration in London. Follow @revsoc21 on twitter and send reports, updates and photos to revolutionarysocialism21@gmail.com 4.48pm From Brixton earlier – Curzon workers join Ritzy picket line ahead of demo 4.04pm Great view from the stage via @pplsassembly, giving some idea of the size of today’s demo: 3.42pm Vishal, a medical […]