Latest News from REVOLUTION
Australia: PM loses shoe, rescued by riot cops
The Australian Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition had to be rescued by riot cops, after celebrating Australia Day by questioning the ‘relevance’ of Aboriginal Rights. They were surrounded by 200 protesters who banged on the glass shouting ‘shame’ and ‘racist’. PM Julia Gillard appeared to stumble and lose a shoe while being evacuated… [Continue Reading]
Birmingham school defies privatisation pressure
A primary school in Birmingham has become the latest to join a growing tide of strikes and industrial action by teachers opposed to the privatisation of schools through the Academies programme. Staff at Montgomery Primary school first took action in December when NASUWT, NUT and GMB members were on strike and the school was closed…. [Continue Reading]
Religion and Revolution
On the 1st anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution, millions flooded into Tahrir Square to demand an end to military rule and counter-revolutionary violence. The last few months have been filled with fresh uprisings against the army junta, attacks by religious extremists, and united action between Christians and Muslims to face down those who want to… [Continue Reading]
NUS ducks united action – let’s make it happen
After nearly two years of cutbacks and creeping privatisation, the NUS has called for a walkout and action against the privatisation of Higher Education. There is a planned lobby of Parliament on 7th March, to be followed up by a ‘week of action’ beginning 12th March. The NUS have chosen these dates in order to… [Continue Reading]
Exposed! How big business buys its way into government
It’s emerged that businesses including BP, Shell and Apple have been forking out up to £1800 a time for cosy chats with ministers, MPs and government advisors. Operating out of a fancy restaurant in Mayfair, a ‘networking business’ called Chemistry Club organises ‘invite only’ events attended by the likes of Danny Alexander, policing minister Nick… [Continue Reading]
Revo motions to NCAFC conference
Below are the motions that Revolution members will be submitting to NCAFC Conference 2012. All out 1st March The UCU have called a strike for 1st March, which can act as a beacon for all workers, students, young unemployed, pensioners – everyone suffering from the Tory government’s austerity agenda to fight back. We call for… [Continue Reading]
Nigerian bombings aim to weaken united resistance
Last Friday, Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram carried out a wave of bombings and gun battles which have killed at least 162 people. The attacks, in the commercial city of Kano, are the Islamist group’s deadliest yet, in a series of more than 30 bombings claimed by the group since 2009. Friday’s events come in… [Continue Reading]
Why the NHS needs our support
In two weeks, the government’s flagship Health and Social Care bill will be discussed in the House of Lords. This bill outlines the process by which the government would begin breaking up the NHS into bite-size chunks and dumping them into the shark-infested waters of the international healthcare industry. Written in the kind of civil… [Continue Reading]
Willett’s privatisation bill rolled into ditch – for now
The government has dropped controversial proposals to make it easier for private businesses to set up universities, after several months of protest by students. The White Paper drawn up last year was to lessen the criteria for the track record investors would have to demonstrate before setting up a new institution. Liberal Democrats in the… [Continue Reading]
Leeds Unilever workers strike to defend pensions
This Saturday (21.01.12) workers at Unilever factories in Leeds and Port Sunlight went on strike for 24 hours as part of the 12 day program of rolling action across the 12 Unilever UK sites. The action has been taken by USDAW, UNITE and GMB over Unilever’s refusal to continue negotiations about pensions. Unilever wants to… [Continue Reading]
NCAFC Conference 2012 – generalise resistance!
NCAFC Conference 2012 will be a great opportunity for students to come together and discuss how student activists can work together in different areas of struggle. It is an opportunity to publicise the arguments against the competition and divisions which hamper the anti-cuts movement. The conference is a chance to turn NCAFC outwards and situate… [Continue Reading]
Why we defend the right to choose
A bill put foward by Tory MP Nadine Dorries which would have forced schools to promote ‘abstinence’ (not having sex), was ditched on Friday. Whatever the political shenanigans which led to Dorries withdrawing her bill, one thing is certain: the Tories’ policies on women, sex and marriage, are as backwards, patriarchal and patronising as ever…. [Continue Reading]
Primark workers set for strike action
Primark workers in Northern Ireland have been balloted for potential strike action against efforts by management to freeze their pay for a second year running. A consultative ballot was held before Christmas by the Usdaw union, with 95% of members voting in favour of holding a ballot for industrial action. Most Primark workers earn just… [Continue Reading]
Game over for OccupyLSX?
Eviction looms closer for protesters camping at Occupy LSX, after courts ruled in favour of the City of London’s attempts to police land they don’t own. Although the protestors are staging an appeal it is likely that an eviction will take place in the near future. Last week the Parliament Square Peace Camp was partially… [Continue Reading]
Kettle this!
Kettling , an efficient form of mass arrest, has been declared a perfectly legitimate means of suppressing political dissent in Britain’s healthy democracy. The Appeals Court overturned last year’s High Court ruling that police acted illegally when they violently broke up the Climate Camp during protests at the G20 in 2009. Last September the High Court threw… [Continue Reading]
Barclays sinks millions into education gold-rush
Barclays Bank has surprised no-one by throwing its weight behind Michael Gove’s pet ‘free schools’ project. It announced that it would make more than a million pounds available as grants to people wanting to set up their own school. Barclays has said the money won’t have to be paid back. But since nothing is ever… [Continue Reading]
Come to Revolution Northern Gathering 2012
On February 26 REVOLUTION will be holding a northern region meet-up in Leeds city centre. All our members and supporters are invited. We are planning to make a weekend of it, since the Tories have unwisely chosen the same weekend to hold their Local Government Conference. It’ll be a fun demo, great for children and… [Continue Reading]
The Encyclopedia Strikes Back
Wikipedia has taken its english-language page offline in a protest against a proposed anti-piracy law being debated by the United States’ Congress. It is opposed to the Stop Online Piracy (Sopa) and Protect Intellectual Property (Pipa) Acts which are designed to block access to websites hosting unauthorised copyrighted material. The encyclopedia giant has been joined by… [Continue Reading]
Feeling down? Capitalism not the cure
The world economic crisis has opened up an era of mass unemployment and poverty not seen for decades. While economists and stockbrokers tinker with their markets, the hidden human cost of rescuing a system based on exploitation and oppression is revealed in the spiralling rates of depression and suicide. In an age where television is… [Continue Reading]
Come to the NCAFC National Conference: 28-29 January, Liverpool
The National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts is now in a position to announce the date and location of our national conference. It will take place on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th January in Liverpool. To let us know you’re coming, or to register a larger delegation, email againstfeesandcuts@gmail.com. Accommodation will be provided as far… [Continue Reading]
Brum Uni Students ‘I am Spartacus’ moment
Students involved in the occupation of Birmingham University have come out in support of one of their number, singled out for repression by the Tory President of his own Students’ Union. Mark Harrop, president of Birmingham Uni Guild of Students collaborated with management to victimise students and shut down a peaceful occupation against the trebling… [Continue Reading]
New report in ‘cuts cause poverty’ shock
Have you noticed that the Con-Dems’ have stopped insisting ‘we’re all this together’? A new report showing child poverty rates spiralling as cuts hit the poorest families hardest might help explain why. The report, published by the Campaign to End Child Poverty tells a tale of two cities in Leeds. Child poverty rates in the… [Continue Reading]
Video: La Senza workers occupy Irish store
On 10 January, women workers at the Liffey Valley shopping centre occupied their branch of La Senza after they were sacked without receiving their wages or christmas-period overtime. The workers have received huge amounts of support from the public and workers from other La Senza stores in the region. This action is an example to… [Continue Reading]
No one is illegal!
Four children imprisoned in a UK detention centre for over a year have won a landmark victory against the British government for unlawful detention. The government tried to limit exposure by settling out of court. This case has once again exposed the horrific – and profitable – nature of the detention and deportation industry. The… [Continue Reading]
Zionism in the water?
With echoes of the South African Anti-Apartheid movement, activists in Palestine – from Students’ Unions to LGBTQ organisations – have asked international supporters to join a growing boycott of companies and institutions that profit from the zionist occupation. The National Union of Students is boycotting two key companies operating on UK campuses that are directly… [Continue Reading]
New year, new headache for Gove
As Education Secretary Michael Gove struggles on with efforts to privatise education under the pretence of improving standards, one North London school is fighting back. In doing so it is following the example of dozens of other schools who have waged recent struggles against the encroaching dead hand of the market. The school, Downhills Primary in… [Continue Reading]
Exploding breast implants are the logic of capitalism
Exploding breast implants have been banned by one government, ignored by others, injured thousands of women and exposed the dangerous logic which drives capitalism to put profit for a few before the health of the masses. Shortly before Christmas, the French government made the removal of the toxic PIP breast implant available free through the… [Continue Reading]
Stephen Lawrence: racism, lies and reluctant justice
On Thursday 22nd April 1993, a young man was murdered in a racist attack while waiting for a bus in South-East London. After nearly two decades of incompetence, inquiries and retrials, two men have been found guilty of murder. The student was Stephen Lawrence, murdered because of the colour of his skin. The guilty men… [Continue Reading]
A New Years’ resolution worth sticking to
2011 was certainly a year that will remain forever in the history books – it was the year that saw movements of millions overthrow the most brutal dictators. It was the year that saw thousands occupy financial districts in the heart of the beast through the #Occupy tent cities. It was the year that saw… [Continue Reading]
An Open Letter to Occupy Wall Street
Fellow 99%ers, Our movement and struggle against the economic and utterly corrupt power of 1%, the disgusting social inequality the latter has engendered, stands currently at a precipice. For months now we’ve assembled and occupied; we’ve protested and voiced our indignation at the government bailing out the richest financiers, bankers, and corporate shareholders while the… [Continue Reading]
Union leaders prepare to sell out our futures: what can be done?
The overpaid leaders of Britains big unions have made clear that they do not want to take further action in defense of pensions, and are preparing to accept a rotten deal that will ruin the futures of their members, and a future for young people. Several sources have reported that leaders such as Len McCluskey… [Continue Reading]
Unfinished Business: the student movement 1 year after
It’s now been a year since students from across the country descended on parliament square in an attempt to block the Tories and Lib Dem sell-outs from tripling top-up fees and slashing EMA and education budgets. Paint bombs flew, the book bloc was in full effect, and students prepared to take on the police who… [Continue Reading]
Leeds says Hands off our NHS
Remember this? Cameron ran the election on the slogan “I’ll cut the deficit, not the NHS.” Enough people saw through his bullshit to deny him an outright majority in Parliament, but propped up by the Lib Dem stooges, the Tories are doing their best to funnel our money into bankers’ pockets by selling off our… [Continue Reading]
Sparks defy union and bosses to defend pay
Once again the sparks have shown the rest of us how to fight back, organising one of the largest wildcat strikes in decades. Construction sites across the country were shut down as trade unionists picketed and occupied sites, defying the corporate killers Balfour Beatty, who have legally challenged the right of the electricians to go… [Continue Reading]
Disability in an age of austerity
In a period of capitalist crisis and austerity, social, health and educational provisions for disabled people are among the first things to be cut – disabled people are seen by governments as an easy target. Marginalised and denied a voice in mainstream politics and media, governments across the world have masked the cruelty of cuts… [Continue Reading]
Homeless youth have no stake in Big Society
A recent study found that 13,000 young people went to local authorities in October to declare themselves homeless; this number will be higher as there will be some who didn’t declare themselves. In addition to this the number sleeping rough inLondonalone since April is already up 32% on the whole of last year. This is… [Continue Reading]
Tory schools teach marriage right, choice wrong
Free Schools and Academies are to be forced to sign up to strict new rules by Education guru Michael Gove as to what can be taught about relationships and sex. Head teachers will be told that children must be ”protected from inappropriate teaching materials and learn the nature of marriage and its importance for family life… [Continue Reading]
Ideas, culture and media under capitalism
The scandal involving News International’s phone-hacking and corrupt deals with world governments was not the exposure of a ‘rogue operator’. Instead it merely exposed, in dramatic style, the underlying basis of the media under capitalism. Run by multi-national corporations, their purpose is to promote the interests of their billionaire owners. In the 21st century, the links… [Continue Reading]
Why tuition fee cuts are an unwelcome diversion
The announcement by 24 universities of last-minute reductions in tuition fees ought to be welcome news for students. However, even a cursory examination reveals that these reductions make good headlines for the government, but do nothing to stem the drive towards privatisation of Higher Education. In July, 47 universities announced plans to charge the maximum… [Continue Reading]
Why Greece?
For months Greece has been at the centre of the so-called Eurozone crisis. But how can a country which is one of the smallest economies in Europe, present such a grave danger to the stability of the world’s biggest economies? Greek workers and bosses alike have paid the price for ‘the good times’, but not… [Continue Reading]
Return to Tahrir Square
It’s been nearly a year since the hated Mubarak was removed from power after massive popular protests and a general strike launched by the newly-formed Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions. On his abdication, Mubarak announced that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) under Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi would be running operations until the… [Continue Reading]
Clarkson: don’t feed the troll
“I think they should all be shot… I’d take them outside and shoot them in front of their families.” When Jeremy Clarkson got a prime-time spot on the BBC’s One Show a month before Christmas, he must’ve spent a good 5 minutes thinking up something shocking that would get him in the news, and his… [Continue Reading]
Racism, sexism and idiocy: LSE tories uphold tory values
The LSE Conservative Association (tory students) have smeared themselves and their party in a fresh layer of shit. Having previously courted controversy by burning effigies of Obama and Mandela, the association makes a point of toasting Apartheid at its annual dinners. The Conservative Association, or Conservative Future, is the successor to the Federation of Conservative… [Continue Reading]
Occupy Liverpool joins the wave
Liverpool joined the dozens of UK towns hosting Occupy camps this weekend with a camp set up outside St George’s hall. A supporter sends this report. The occupation started on Saturday morning and like other camps, say they plan to remain there indefinitely. Unite the Union buildings close by have allowed them to use toilet… [Continue Reading]
Musharraf visits Leeds under cover of darkness: Dictators off our campus!
On Wednesday 29 November, on the eve of the biggest strike in Britain since the 1926 General Strike, a former dictator was seemingly welcomed with open arms onto the Leeds Met campus. Without a murmur of protest from the students union or university management, General Pervez “The Cowboy” Musharraf, a former Pakistani dictator living in… [Continue Reading]
Manchester: a whole city behind the strikes
It seemed that everywhere you turned in Manchester city centre there was a picket line somewhere – and the strikes were strong too. Even very large workplaces recorded few staff or service users crossing the picket lines. But it was no ghost town! Every other person walking down every other street seemed to be holding… [Continue Reading]
Leeds N30 strike is a statement of intent
Early this morning millions of strikers and supporters prepared for a cold day on picket lines and demonstrations across the country, and members of REVOLUTION Leeds were no exception. Sally Turner reports on an inspirational day which puts the government on notice that we won’t pay for a crisis we didn’t cause. 7-30am at Leeds… [Continue Reading]
Sparks vote to strike at Balfour Beatty
Unite members at Balfour Beatty have voted for official strike action against attempts to slash their pay by 35% and tear up existing terms and conditions. The date set for the start of industrial action is December 7th, the same day that bosses have declared workers must choose between unemployment or the new contracts. The… [Continue Reading]
N30 Mass Strikes – Live coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of the November 30 public sector strikes. We will be bringing you the latest info and reports as our members join pickets, occupations and demonstrations across the country. Send your reports to info.socialistrevolution@gmail.com Meanwhile, check out the articles below for background and analysis of the Tories’ response to the biggest… [Continue Reading]
