Campaigners for Scottish independence have received another boost as a branch of the public sector trade union Unison sided 鈥減ositively with the Yes side鈥 in a debate on Scotland's September 18 referendum on whether to remain part of Britain.
Britain
The newly formed Left Unity party held its first major policy conference in Manchester on March 29, following its founding conference in November last year. The party has its origins in a call for a new party to the left of Labour made by veteran left-wing filmmaker Ken Loach.
鈥淚n a few short months,鈥 principle speaker for Left Unity Salman Shaheen said in a March 31 , the new party 鈥渉as attracted more than 1,800 members. With a new member joining every 10 minutes over the weekend, the party is going from strength to strength.鈥
Thousands of people protested against British Conservative Chancellor George Osborne's budget on March 19, the Morning Star the next day. The protests were part of a national day of action called by the People's Assembly.
Across Britain, there were marches, rallies and festivals demanding a people's budget for Britain.
The People鈥檚 Assembly Against Austerity was launched last year to help create a mass movement across Britain against the austerity measures imposed by the government in a bid to make ordinary people pay for the economic crisis. It was supported by quite a few trade unions, the Coalition of Resistance, many campaign groups and several MPs.
The older you get, apparently, the more you abandon the daft socialist ideas of your youth to become sensible and conservative. There will never be a greater retort to this miserable myth than the life of Tony Benn.
Because somehow he became more defiantly, inspiringly, stroppily, youthfully socialist every year up to 88. If he鈥檇 lasted to 90, he鈥檇 have been on the news wearing a green Mohican and getting arrested for chaining himself to a banker.
-- We are deeply shocked at the news that National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers general secretary Bob Crow died suddenly of March 11 of a heart attack at the age of 52.
We send our heartfelt condolences and solidarity to his family and friends, and to the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and its members. His death is a huge blow to the RMT and to the wider trade union movement and to the cause of militant class-struggle trade unionism.
Scotland will vote on September 18 on whether to become an independent nation or stay in the British 鈥渦nion鈥 led by England that includes Wales and Northern Ireland. Independence is opposed by major political parties in Westminster and establishment forces in England and Scotland. However, support for independence is growing.
In this piece reprinted from , Lindsay German looks at what the severe flooding in Britain tells us about the system.
* * *
1) Climate change is a reality, and those who deny it are the equivalent of those who persisted in believing the earth was flat, against all scientific evidence.
Sea levels are rising worldwide, weather is becoming more unpredictable and this is affecting food production, where people live and how they carry on their livelihoods.
London transport workers have been involved in industrial action against proposed job cuts. The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) and Transport Salaried Staffs' Association are campaigning against plans to close all 260 London Underground ticket offices, which will cut 950 jobs. Below, British comic and socialist Mark Steel looks at the media response to rail strikes in early February.
The BBC's Today program is enjoying high ratings, and the Mail and the Telegraph are, as usual, attacking the corporation as left-wing.
Last month, a single edition of Today was edited by the artist and musician PJ Harvey. What happened was illuminating.
I wonder how useless you have to be as a banker before they don鈥檛 give you a bonus.
If you turned up for work drunk on Special Brew and Dubonnet, and wet yourself over the computers causing the FTSE to short circuit, bankrupting Brazil and forcing the defence ministry to pawn its tanks at a Cash Converters in Southend, maybe they鈥檇 say: 鈥淵ou get just half a million this year, until you wipe yourself down with a sponge.鈥
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