Britain
People’s Assembly stage tame protest outside Conservative Party conference
By Robert Stevens, 3 October 2017
The pseudo-left groups are desperate to conceal the fact that the many local Labour authorities have imposed austerity on behalf of the government for years.
Manchester demonstrators: “People are dying under these austerity measures.”
By our reporters, 3 October 2017
World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke to those attending Saturday’s anti-austerity protest in Manchester.
Grenfell Fire Forum: Wide-ranging discussion and resolution passed opposing Google censorship
By Paul Mitchell, 3 October 2017
Over 20 people, half of whom were local residents, attended the first meeting of the Grenfell Fire Forum last Saturday at the Maxilla Social Club in North Kensington, London.
UK public sector employment at record low
By Margot Miller, 2 October 2017
The ruling elite is seeking to return social conditions to the Victorian era, abolishing the post-World War II welfare state.
Parsons Green bomb seized on to call for greater internet censorship
By Steve James, 30 September 2017
The ruling elite are calling for powers to exclude whole sections of the population from internet use, as and when politically convenient.
The Labour Party’s Annual Conference 2017
Corbyn prepares for government: At what price?
By the Socialist Equality Party (UK), 29 September 2017
If Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was serious about implementing a single one of his pledges, he would alert the working class to the struggle they face to ensure their demands are met.
Attend the Grenfell Fire Forum hosted by the Socialist Equality Party (UK)
29 September 2017
The SEP (UK) is holding the first in a series of regular meetings on the Grenfell Tower fire on September 30 at the Maxilla Hall Social Club, North Kensington, London.
More disturbances in UK prisons as conditions worsen
By Peter Reydt, 28 September 2017
Riot squads were called to prisons 30 to 40 times a month to deal with serious disorders between March and November 2016.
UK government moves to prop up super-rich tax haven operations in British Virgin Islands
By Jean Shaoul and Robert Stevens, 27 September 2017
The BVI is known as a tourist location, but the island’s raison d’être for the ruling elite in Britain and globally is as a site for financial swindling on a vast scale.
Row over Brexit punctures myth of unity behind Corbyn at Labour Party conference
By Robert Stevens, 27 September 2017
The conference vote on Brexit took on surreal elements, being held on the same day that it was announced that the beginning of a fourth round of talks between the UK and the EU again broke up without agreement.
May’s overtures to European Union on Brexit terms falls flat
By Robert Stevens, 23 September 2017
While Conservative Prime Minister May’s speech in Florence was flagged as bridge building with the European Union over Brexit, not a single EU leader or representative was present.
UK wields military and security cooperation as a weapon in Brexit negotiations
By Robert Stevens, 22 September 2017
The British government’s position paper on the terms of its exit from the EU stresses the UK’s role as the second military power in NATO, to underline the implicit threat that it will withdraw military and defence co-operation with the bloc.
Socialist Equality Party/International Youth and Students for Social Equality (UK) public meetings
Stop Internet Censorship! Stop Google’s political blacklisting of the World Socialist Web Site
22 September 2017
The Socialist Equality Party and International Youth and Students for Social Equality are holding a series of public meetings in the UK in opposition to Google’s censorship of the Internet and its blacklisting of the World Socialist Web Site.
Grenfell Tower fire eyewitnesses: “It’s because of our class—we are the lowest socioeconomic class on the food chain”
By our reporters, 20 September 2017
A Socialist Equality Party campaign team spoke with local residents in Ladbroke Grove, London about the Grenfell Tower fire.
Survivors and local residents speak out on Grenfell Tower Inquiry opening
By our reporters, 19 September 2017
Inquiry Chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick claimed that he was “impartial” and had therefore rejected submissions to appoint a local resident to act as an assessor.
Millions of the UK’s poorest families driven into deeper poverty
By Dennis Moore, 19 September 2017
The government’s overall agenda, dressed up as welfare “reform,” is underpinned by slashing welfare spending and encouraging people to move from benefits into work.
UK government officials back Trump demands for Internet censorship following London bombing
By Paul Mitchell and Robert Stevens, 18 September 2017
In the name of opposing “extremism,” the May government is preparing a drastic curtailment of democratic rights and civil liberties.
Lakanal House: Prelude to the Grenfell Tower inferno—Part 2
By Paul Armstrong, 18 September 2017
In the aftermath of the Lakanal House fire, the Labour-controlled council promised £62 million for improved fire safety and maintenance, but residents are still living in death traps.
World Socialist Web Site readers in Britain oppose Google’s censorship campaign
By our reporter, 18 September 2017
World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke to some of the hundreds of people in Britain on why they have signed the petition to Google demanding that the corporation stop its censorship of the Internet and end their blacklist of the WSWS.
Bomb attack on London Underground sets stage for further state repression
By Steve James, 16 September 2017
As with all such outrages, there is no reason to assume that the attack comes as a surprise to the British intelligence agencies.
Lakanal House: Prelude to the Grenfell Tower inferno—Part 1
By Paul Armstrong, 16 September 2017
Recommendations from a coroner’s inquest into the Lakanal House tower block fire, handed down in 2013, were ignored by the Conservative government, local council authorities and the London Fire Brigade.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry and the case for socialism
By the Socialist Equality Party (UK), 15 September 2017
The refusal of Sir Martin Moore-Bick to answer questions at the official opening of the government inquiry into the Grenfell Tower inferno epitomises the class arrogance and indifference of the powers-that-be towards working people.
As official Grenfell Tower inquiry opens, UK fire safety provisions under attack
By John Vassilopoulos, 14 September 2017
Arnold Tarling, a chartered surveyor and fire safety expert, told the WSWS government cuts were responsible for the Grenfell Tower inferno.
UK: Pay cap for majority of public sector workers to continue, despite government defeat
By Robert Stevens, 14 September 2017
August saw a further precipitous decline in living standards for all workers, due to the rising cost of fuel, clothes and food imports, with wages as a share of national income the lowest since the Second World War.
UK parliament approves sweeping executive powers under Brexit bill
By Julie Hyland, 13 September 2017
The so-called Great Repeal Bill, incorporating European Union (EU) legislation into British law, passed its second reading in parliament early Tuesday morning.
UK: Tony Blair calls for anti-immigration policies to stop Brexit
By Robert Stevens, 12 September 2017
The former Labour prime minister called for EU nationals without work in the UK to be barred from renting homes, opening bank accounts and receiving health care.
UK: Labour Mayor in Salford rubber stamps closure of disabled children’s school
By Margot Miller and Robert Stevens, 11 September 2017
Since 2010, Salford Council has imposed £186 million in cuts to vitally needed services.
UK: May government finalises Grenfell Tower Inquiry cover-up
By Robert Stevens, 9 September 2017
The inquiry has no intention of achieving real justice for the victims of Grenfell—nor remedying the dangers faced by thousands of other tenants across the country.
Royal College of Nursing union holds rally in London
No answers to attacks on public health care
By Ajanta Silva and Paul Mitchell, 8 September 2017
The “Summer of Action” was largely restricted to appeals to MPs and photo opportunities for RCN bureaucrats and union officials making occasional media appearances.
UK: Refuse workers resume strike after Birmingham Council imposes redundancies
By John Farmer and Robert Stevens, 8 September 2017
Throughout the strike, Unite never called all-out action, even as the Birmingham City Council mounted a mass scabbing operation.
British soldiers arrested for membership in banned fascist group
By Steve James, 7 September 2017
Four soldiers in the British Army were arrested on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism as members of the outlawed fascist group National Action.
Labour will seek to block Brexit bill
By Julie Hyland, 7 September 2017
As parliament begins its debate today on the second reading of the so-called Great Repeal bill, the Labour Party officially announced it will vote against.
Rank-and-file committees needed to take forward UK rail workers' safety fight
By Tony Robson, 6 September 2017
Workers need to take the dispute out of the hands of the ASLEF and the RMT and link it with a broader struggle against austerity and cost-cutting in the public and private sectors.
London residents speak on Grenfell Tower fire
By our reporters, 6 September 2017
“As long as the rich people, special interests and the establishment are ruling, then there will always be a cover-up.”
No progress in UK- European Union talks over Brexit
By Julie Hyland, 5 September 2017
The European Union insists there can be no progress to discussion on future relations without Britain settling its “divorce” bill first.
Britain’s pseudo-left promote Labour councils enforcing savage cuts
By Laura Tiernan, 4 September 2017
Theresa May’s Tory government, like the Cameron government before it, has relied on local Labour councils to slash millions of pounds from public spending.
Channel Four News anchor Jon Snow: From mea culpas over Grenfell Tower to demands for censorship
By Chris Marsden, 1 September 2017
Snow’s proposals to “democratise” the media repeated official complaints about “fake news” used by Google to blacklist the WSWS and other sites.
UK rail workers to continue strikes against plans for Driver Only Operated trains
By Tony Robson, 31 August 2017
The latest round of strike action takes place against the background of concerted efforts by the rail unions to end the dispute and prevent its extension to other private operators on the network.
Corbyn and Labour backtrack on Brexit
By Chris Marsden, 30 August 2017
The Financial Times welcomed Labour’s support for continued membership of the European Union Single Market, saying that it put the party “firmly on the side of business.”
UK: 228 high-rise buildings fail mock-up fire tests post-Grenfell
By Steve James, 29 August 2017
Every single one of the cladding systems now being exposed as deadly had previously been signed off by various regulatory bodies as safe.
UK: Salford residents challenge Labour Council over fire risks revealed by Grenfell Tower
By our reporters, 29 August 2017
The meeting offered no way forward for residents, of Salford or elsewhere, forced to live in potential death traps.
Conservative government review of UK “gig economy”—a whitewash for the corporations
By Thomas Scripps, 28 August 2017
The report’s bias in favour of employers is not an oversight, as the political establishment that Matthew Taylor speaks for has no intention of bringing “precarious employment” under control.
Interview with rapper El Nino about “Grenfell Tower’s Burning”: “We had to watch that, so why shouldn’t they have to listen to us?”
By Paul Bond, 28 August 2017
Following the World Socialist Web Site’s recent review of the artistic response to the Grenfell Tower fire from local artists, reviewer Paul Bond spoke to El Nino.
UK: Labour’s John McDonnell woos Tories and City speculators
By Chris Marsden, 26 August 2017
McDonnell chose to end his big business charm offensive with closed-door appearances in July before the London Stock Exchange.
“As we grew up, our instinct was that the enemy was the system and the police. That’s what we were fighting against.”
Attendees at SEP public meeting discuss Grenfell Tower fire
By our reporters, 26 August 2017
WSWS reporters spoke to those who came to the SEP public meeting in London on the Grenfell Tower fire.
Socialist Equality Party public meeting on Grenfell Tower fire
“Grenfell has shown one thing above all—and that is the enormous ingenuity, dedication and seriousness of the working class.”
By our reporters, 26 August 2017
Socialist Equality Party National Secretary Chris Marsden delivered closing remarks to the SEP’s August 19 public meeting in London on the Grenfell Tower fire.
Working class youth priced out of higher education in UK
By Alice Summers, 25 August 2017
Just one in five young people from the poorest areas in the UK will go on to university, compared to half of their wealthier peers.
Grenfell fire survivors speak at Socialist Equality Party public meeting
By our reporters, 25 August 2017
A number of survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire attended and spoke at the August 19 public meeting of the Socialist Equality Party (UK) in London.
Remarks by Jerry White of the SEP (US) at Grenfell Tower fire public meeting in London
24 August 2017
To warm applause, White said, “The most effective use of our energy and our determination has to be mobilise our class, independently, not to expend our energy in fruitless appeals to the powers that be.”
Worker at SEP public meeting on the Grenfell Tower fire: “We are working class and we always suffer. A few people who are rich, they call the shots.”
By our reporters, 24 August 2017
Delroy, from Wembley in northwest London, spoke to the WSWS following the August 19 public meeting on Grenfell Tower.
The political implications of the Grenfell Tower fire
By Chris Marsden, 23 August 2017
This speech was given by Socialist Equality Party National Secretary Chris Marsden at the August 19 public meeting in London on the Grenfell Tower fire.
Anatomy of the Grenfell Tower fire
Speech given by Thomas Scripps at Socialist Equality Party public meeting
22 August 2017
Scripps: “It is politically vital to establish why this one event is a crime perpetrated by capitalism against the working class…and to explain why we have declared Grenfell to be an act of social murder.”
Socialist Equality Party holds public meeting on Grenfell fire in London
By our reporter, 21 August 2017
To ensure that all felt free to speak, the SEP had denied a request from Sky News to film proceedings and told police officers who inquired that they were not welcome.
Report: “The plight of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children in the UK is deteriorating”
Worsening child poverty in the UK
By Barry Mason, 19 August 2017
A new report finds that there are now 3.9 million children across the UK living below the breadline.
European governments condemn Trump’s statements on Charlottesville
By Alex Lantier, 18 August 2017
With far right forces rising across Europe, invocations of “Western values” by the European political establishment against Trump are false and hypocritical to the core.
London residents hold silent march for Grenfell victims
By our reporters, 17 August 2017
Around 500 local residents and others from London boroughs marched through the area surrounding Grenfell Tower Monday evening to mark two months since the fire.
UK: Salford residents speak of their safety concerns after Grenfell fire
By Dennis Moore and Margot Miller, 16 August 2017
Many tower blocks in Salford are clad in flammable material similar to that which encased the Grenfell Tower.
“The night our eyes changed”
Five musical responses to the Grenfell Tower inferno
By Paul Bond, 16 August 2017
Music mogul Simon Cowell brought together high-profile figures for a cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water, but a far more powerful and politically interesting response has come from local artists.
UK: Residents march against social cleansing by Newham Labour council
By our reporters, 15 August 2017
Newham council is refusing to house those it is making homeless in the Carpenters Estate even though there are 400 vacant houses available.
Grenfell fire: “They don’t give a damn because for them life is just cheap”
By our reporters, 14 August 2017
World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke to residents in Ladbroke Grove about the Grenfell fire.
Emergency evacuation of four south London tower blocks
By Paul Mitchell, 12 August 2017
Safety checks carried out following the Grenfell Tower fire indicate the Ledbury tower blocks are at risk of collapse in the event of a gas explosion.
London: Ledbury estate residents speak about evacuation from their homes
By Daniel O’Flynn and Michael Gardner, 12 August 2017
Residents of 242 flats on the Ledbury estate in south London spoke to the WSWS about Southwark Council’s telling them they will have to “temporarily decant the blocks over the coming weeks and months” for emergency works.
British Library exhibition treats Russian Revolution from a hostile standpoint
By Thomas Scripps and Paul Mitchell, 12 August 2017
The exhibition’s handling of sources and events transforms the revolution, which proceeded with a political logic well understood by its leaders, into a hodgepodge of accident and happenstance.
After the Grenfell fire: Britain’s Observer defends the role of the mainstream media
By Chris Marsden, 12 August 2017
The loss of public trust in the media is not because of one or another wrong position, but because almost every major newspaper and TV station is in the pockets of the billionaires who own them.
Survivors, SEP member denounce police inaction over Grenfell Tower fire at latest community public meeting
By Paul Mitchell, 11 August 2017
Eight weeks after the fire, few of the promised measures have materialised and survivors and local residents continue to be treated with contempt.
British government backs US war drive against North Korea, China
By Simon Whelan and Robert Stevens, 10 August 2017
The UK Conservative government has staked its post-Brexit future on being the most loyal ally of the US in all its military actions.
Grenfell Tower: How the warnings of cladding dangers were ignored
By Steve James, 10 August 2017
Decades prior to the Grenfell fire, the dangers of flammable and incorrectly installed cladding were known to governments of all stripes and ignored.
Irish nationalism versus socialist internationalism: A reply to a reader—Part two
By Steve James, 10 August 2017
Knox proceeds from insisting that the British working class is hopeless to exalting the nationalist revolutionary traditions of the Irish working class.
Grenfell fire: “It’s like Victorian days, where we have nothing and they have everything”
By our reporters, 9 August 2017
World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke to local residents in Ladbroke Grove about the Grenfell Tower fire.
The UK’s rich get richer, while the poor get evicted
By Barry Mason, 7 August 2017
Following the global financial crash, the top one percent of income earners, those earning £275,000 or more a year, is again racing away from the remainder of the population.
British Army targets working-class schoolchildren for recruitment
By Alice Summers, 7 August 2017
The British military’s “This is belonging” campaign targets young people from economically deprived areas.
Steelworkers in Sheffield, UK strike after decade without a pay rise
By Danny Richardson, 7 August 2017
The strike at Rom Ltd is an expression of broader oppositional sentiments throughout the working class.
Former Grenfell Tower residents left without permanent accommodation
By Thomas Scripps, 4 August 2017
Currently, only 45 households have accepted accommodation offers, with only 12 properly rehoused.
Grenfell fire survivors speak out over poor treatment
By our reporters, 4 August 2017
World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke to former Grenfell Tower residents about Kensington and Chelsea’s rehousing offer.
Grenfell survivors homeless while local mansions remain empty
By Paul Mitchell, 3 August 2017
Across London, 19,845 homes, worth some £9.4 billion ($12 billion), sat idle for over six months in 2016.
Over 1,000 organisations targeted by UK police undercover spying operations
By Steve James, 3 August 2017
In 2015, the Socialist Equality Party published an Open Letter to the Pitchford inquiry for “the immediate release of the names of all undercover police operatives, especially those active in the Workers Revolutionary Party (and its forerunners and successor organisations).”
No prison in England and Wales safe for young people
By Peter Reydt, 1 August 2017
A new report details how working class criminals are incarcerated in “filthy and dilapidated”, vermin infested, overcrowded and violent “facilities.”
Britain’s National Health Service being gutted through privatisation
By Jean Shaoul, 1 August 2017
According to the NHS Support Federation, more than one third (£5.5 billion) of £16 billion in contracts awarded by the clinical commissioning groups have gone to the private sector.
Residents in London district of Ladbroke Grove speak out on Grenfell fire
By our reporters, 31 July 2017
A Socialist Equality Party campaign team spoke to local residents in London’s Ladbroke Grove on Saturday about the Grenfell Tower fire.
UK: More nurses and midwives quit as onslaught against NHS intensifies
By Ajanta Silva, 31 July 2017
The exodus of nurses and midwives takes place amid a broader shortage of 40,000 nurses and 3,500 midwives in England alone.
Police announce possible manslaughter charges in connection with Grenfell Fire
By Robert Stevens, 29 July 2017
Despite the investigation being in operation for more than six weeks, not a single person has been arrested or even charged.
Grenfell Tower fire survivors reject local authority, police cover-up
By Robert Stevens, 28 July 2017
The Kensington and Chelsea councillors are entirely insulated from the social catastrophe that they inflicted on the working class population they want to drive out of the borough.
London schools with flammable cladding deemed “safe”
By Tom Pearce, 28 July 2017
Despite the widespread use of flammable cladding in schools, only three schools have so far been tested.
Grenfell fire witness Johnny Regasa: “You saw so many people at their windows burning alive”
By our reporters, 27 July 2017
WSWS reporters spoke to Johnny Regasa, who lost a friend, Hashim Kedir, in the Grenfell Tower fire and assisted several survivors.
Residents confront head of government inquiry into Grenfell Fire
By Robert Stevens, 27 July 2017
Such consultations are an attempt to bestow much needed legitimacy on the inquiry, which will have no legal powers to prosecute anybody or hold anyone to account.
Protest in London against police killing of Rashan Charles
By Robert Stevens, 26 July 2017
It is already clear from the response of the police and Independent Police Complaints Commission that yet another cover-up of the death of a man in police custody is underway.
The Grenfell Fire: Vigil held for five-year-old victim
By Robert Stevens, 25 July 2017
Family, friends and local residents gathered to mourn five-year-old Isaac Paulos, who lived with his family on Grenfell’s 18th floor and was found dead on the 13th floor.
Grenfell residents correct to warn of social cleansing agenda
UK: Kensington and Chelsea Council struck deals to avoid building affordable housing
By Julie Hyland, 25 July 2017
Research by the BBC confirms the council has connived with construction firms and property companies to displace working class families from the borough.
May government conceals UK-Saudi terror connections
By Jean Shaoul, 25 July 2017
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states play a vital role in funding Islamist groups that provide essential proxy forces for the imperialist powers in Libya, Iraq and Syria.
IMF global outlook downgrades US growth prospects
By Nick Beams, 25 July 2017
A decade after the global financial crisis, growth rates remain well below the levels of 2008, with no sign of a return to the previous levels in the future.
Grenfell fire: social cleansing by London councils widespread
By Julie Hyland, 24 July 2017
Formerly socially owned and essential assets have been transferred wholesale to major corporations and hedge funds, jeopardising the lives of working people.
Brexit crisis tearing apart UK’s Conservative Party
By Chris Marsden, 22 July 2017
The political turmoil and economic dislocation surrounding Brexit has dramatically undermined the authority of Britain’s rulers, not only in Brussels but also in the eyes of millions of workers.
Residents in Bradford, England: “We are all affected by what has happened at Grenfell”
By Liz Smith, 22 July 2017
Reporters from the World Socialist Web Site spoke to residents in Bradford about the Grenfell fire.
Mixed fleet cabin crew continue strike against British Airways
By Ross Mitchell, 22 July 2017
Unite is seeking to divert the struggle of cabin crew into the dead end of legal appeals against BA’s actions and are insisting strikers put their faith in appeals to Members of Parliament.
UK public meetings:
Grenfell Fire—Social Murder: A crime against the working class
21 July 2017
The Socialist Equality Party urges all workers and youth, including survivors of the Grenfell fire and local residents, to attend our public meetings and discuss the central issues involved in this capitalist crime against the working class.
Council condemned for “disgusting” treatment of Grenfell fire survivors
By Paul Mitchell, 21 July 2017
A heavy police and security guard presence was mobilised outside and inside the town hall to ensure that as few survivors as possible would be able to enter.
Protesters at Kensington and Chelsea council meeting: “This has been a massive crime and they all seem to be getting away with it”
By our reporters, 21 July 2017
World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke to a number of those protesting outside the meeting.
Angry Grenfell survivors and residents berate London police and council officials
By Robert Stevens, 20 July 2017
Local residents and survivors of the Grenfell Tower inferno denounced police and the Kensington and Chelsea Council as “liars” working for “rich folks.”
High Court approves UK government’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia
By Jean Shaoul, 20 July 2017
The High Court has given carte blanche to Prime Minister Theresa May to flout international law and aid in war crimes.
Labour shadow chancellor says Grenfell Tower fire is “social murder”: What is he going to do about it?
By Chris Marsden, 19 July 2017
Workers should ask John McDonnell, who says the guilty parties should be punished for Grenfell, what he and Labour are doing about it.
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