The central committee claims that the SWP has a consistent record of fighting for women’s liberation. Former SWP national committee member Dave Isaacson sheds light on the not so excellent truth
Women’s liberation: a class question
Firstly I must say that I do not think that the massive crisis currently taking hold of the Socialist Workers Party – while clearly … read this post
From the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts
The National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts is calling for a National Student Strike this March, in support of a nationwide strike on pensions by the lecturers’ union, UCU, and coinciding with an official walk-out called by the National Union of Students. A date will be announced later this week, along with dates for … read this post
Callum Williamson looks forward to the biggest demonstration of working class power for decades
There are obvious reasons why students should support striking workers (many of whom work in education) this Wednesday. On the specific issue of pensions, it is clearly not in the interests of the working class majority – of which most students are a part – for … read this post
As I write, commentary on the ongoing Conservative Party conference is focused not on David Cameron’s ‘can-do optimism’, not on the news that effectively the wheels have fallen off George Osborne’s economic strategy, with the estimate for UK economic growth over April-June cut to 0.1%, and not even on the impending euro zone catastrophe. No, it has been focused on … read this post
Ed Miliband is being attacked from the right, argues James Turley.
It is a commonplace these days that politics – like more or less everything else – has been ruined by spin and PR. The roll-call of villains and debacles is well storied: Alastair Campbell, Andy Coulson and even the makers of the dodgy Iraq dossier have gone down in … read this post
Bourgeois political power is not as unassailable as they would like us to think. Our rulers can be relied upon, periodically, to split. James Turley looks at the botched attempt of the Metropolitan Police to use the Official Secrets Act
Once again, The Guardian has found itself targeted because of its phone-hacking investigation. Waving around the Official Secrets Act, Scotland … read this post
Last week’s riots revealed anger but also the weakness of our class. We must inspire disaffected youth with a vision of a different society, says Callum Williamson
Urban riots, such as those we witnessed over four nights last week, rarely result in a positive outcome for our class and at worst can lead to tragedy. The killing of Mark Duggan … read this post
There is no ahistorical code of ‘press ethics’ which can come out of this farrago, writes James Turley (first published here)
Talk about a hostage to fortune – as soon as this writer detects a “momentary let-up” in the phone-hacking saga,[1] we get a new crop of developments.
Another senior News International figure, former News of the Worldmanaging editor … read this post
Maciej Zurowski spoke to Donnacha DeLong, anarchist and NUJ President (first published here)
“Any information relating to anarchists should be reported to the local police” – that is what the good citizens of Westminster were being urged in a notice recently issued by the Metropolitan Police. After all, they are told, “anarchism is a political philosophy which considers the state … read this post
Rather than relying on bureaucratic solutions, argues James Turley, the left needs a dynamic approach to the media (first published in the Weekly Worker)
Prior to the outrage in Norway, the news agenda had been dominated by the phone-hacking scandal, and the chaos into which it pitched the entire establishment.
The left press was no exception. The wanton depravity of … read this post
Michael Copestake demands the break up of Murdoch’s media empire (first published in the Weekly Worker)
The continuing turmoil around News International and the phone-hacking scandal has brought into sharp relief the attitudes of the different sections of the labour movement to the media – as things stand, they are machines for making money, tools for propagating the views of … read this post
The scandal at News International reveals a few home truths about the corrupt establishment, writes James Turley (first published in the Weekly Worker)
Some starry-eyed commentators have, of late, begun comparing the implosion of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire with another spectacular collapse: the Berlin wall.
This is, obviously enough, overstating the case by some considerable margin. Anybody who expects some … read this post
The News of the World scandal has revealed the true relationship between the media and politicians, writes James Turley (first published in the Weekly Worker)
It has probed, at best semi-legally, into the private affairs of well-heeled celebrities, politicians and royals major and minor; yet Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has suffered its first major body-blow in decades at the hands of … read this post
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