“The workers... battle-cry must be: 'The Permanent Revolution.'” — Marx and Engels, 1850
Wed 30, July 2008 @ 21:39
100 people entered and secured an uncultivated field at Deansgate Ridge at 3.00pm today, only 1 km from Kingsnorth Power Station. They erected and climbed tripods to prevent police from moving them and have erected a marquee alongside a banner which reads ‘No New Coal’.
Wed 30, July 2008 @ 20:58
The Convention of the Left steering group held another one of its regular meetings on Tuesday 29th July. 34 people attended, with 11 apologies. So far 31 organisations have agreed to sponsor the event. Major speakers including John McDonnell, Jeremy Corbyn, Derek Wall, Tony Benn, Lindsey German and Tariq Ali have agreed to participate.
Wed 30, July 2008 @ 15:54
Wed 30, July 2008 @ 10:33
In the week when Barack Obama’s world tour focussed the
Western media’s eye on the Middle East, Solidarity, the paper
belonging to the Alliance for Workers Liberty, contains their own
unique attempt at dissecting the potential conflict between Iran,
Israel and the possibility of nuclear war....writes Vicky
Thompson...
Wed 30, July 2008 @ 10:26
Just to let our readers know, unfortunately, we've had to turn off the comments facility owing to the amount of Spambot mail that's hitting the site. Hopefully we'll have a solution in the next few days.
Yours
PR webby
Tue 29, July 2008 @ 15:13
Over the weekend the Labour Party National Policy Forum
met to decide policies for the next election manifesto. The meeting
took place on the back of the disastrous election defeat in Glasgow
East and poll ratings suggesting near wipe out at the next General
Election....writes Andy Smith...
Mon 28, July 2008 @ 17:44
From John4leader Campaign Owen Jones (in a personal capacity)
It is clear that Gordon Brown's leadership is swiftly drawing to a close. It is also clear from recent local elections, parliamentary byelections, opinion polls and the total disintegration of party membership that the Labour party faces ones of the gravest crises in its history. We face the nightmare prospect of a generation or more of Tory rule.
Sun 27, July 2008 @ 12:12
Since 1967, Guevara has been different things to different
people: icon of the Cuban revolution against Batista; architect of
the Cuban Stalinist counter-revolution; implacable anti-imperialist
fighter willing to sacrifice his life in another country’s cause;
or even, as the man who lost a volume of Trotsky’s writings in a
skirmish days before his death, an “unconscious” advocate of
“permanent revolution”....writes Mark Abram...
Sat 26, July 2008 @ 00:32
Volviendo un poco en la historia de la revolución cubana, nos damos cuenta de que, aunque el proceso no ha sido lineal, hay un hecho que siempre se ha mantenido: el masivo apoyo del pueblo cubano a su revolución y su alto nivel de conciencia revolucionaria.
Fri 25, July 2008 @ 19:00
On Thursday 31st July, a three billion quid question will be posed. At a public debate, organised by Manchester Climate Forum(1), panellists from the Momentum Group, United City, Clean Air Now, Campaign for Free Public Transport and the GMPTA will discuss the Transport Innovation Fund and the need to drive down carbon dioxide emissions from transport.
Thu 24, July 2008 @ 20:27
Mark
Hoskisson Final Session at PR event
The session is called “Can the left put revolution on the agenda again”, and the answer to that is a resounding “No”! The revolution is a product of social contradictions, of economic and political circumstances, the left has never been able to put revolution on the agenda, although at a union meeting I had last week when I got a unanimous vote to reject the pay deal I asked my members, “now that I’m on a roll can I put the socialist revolution on the agenda?” – and they all said “don’t be daft”.
Wed 23, July 2008 @ 17:45
This is the transcript of the debate at the recent Permanent Revolution event between Daniel J (PR) and Mike McNair (CPGB)
Daniel J
Whether we call the BNP fascist or not depends fundamentally on our definition of fascism. There have been different debates about exactly what fascism is, but a general outline, the definition which came out of the discussions around the rise of Hitler and Mussolini...
Wed 23, July 2008 @ 17:10
For too many years the BNP have enjoyed their annual Red, White and Blue festival without major opposition. They have usually kept the location secret for as long as possible but nevertheless have often brought numbers in their hundreds for a weekend of morale boosting, party-building and scarcely concealed, well-documented Nazi and fascist celebration.
Wed 23, July 2008 @ 12:22
Brent TUC is organising a public meeting Wednesday 30th July in support of the RMT cleaners' strike, an important struggle by mainly migrant workers, for a living wage and basic employment rights.
Tue 22, July 2008 @ 10:43
Farzad Kamangar could face execution in the near future, according to the web site Human Rights Activists in Iran. On 11 July, the Iranian Supreme Court confirmed the death penalty against Kamangar, a 33-year-old Kurdish teacher and trade unionist.
Please send protests individually and where possible from union branches
Sun 20, July 2008 @ 15:10
1.1 The united front is based on a series of tactical principles and which govern the relations between the revolutionary vanguard and other organisations of the exploited and the oppressed in the struggle against capitalism, imperialism and all forms of reaction.
Sat 19, July 2008 @ 12:19
MF: I enjoyed the school, there was a good comradely culture but until Mark’s closing remarks I didn’t hear clearly about the PR project?
SK: I’m not sure that revolutionary organisations have projects; the aim of a revolutionary organisation is to make revolution. The question is how do you do it and the activity you carry out to make a contribution towards overthrowing capitalism. We’ve only been in existence for a couple of years since the split with Workers Power. If you are a healthy organization, splits make you re-think things; where you were wrong, where you were right and how the left is doing.
Fri 18, July 2008 @ 17:39
Post your strike reports here
Manchester Unison strike report
Manchester Unison was solidly in support of the pay strike. In my department out of over 26 childrens centres only 5 were open on the Wednesday, and of these at least three had closed by the Thursday, as GMB members refused to cross picket lines.
Thu 17, July 2008 @ 23:33
After a successful strike Tuesday, July 15 and further action in the pipeline as well as a legal challenge, the council have backed down from closing Hayward school, Bolton and reopening it as a privatised academy in six weeks' time... writes Jason Travis.
Wed 16, July 2008 @ 15:04
Unison public sector pay leaflet PDF
Tue 15, July 2008 @ 23:36
Rally Against Low Pay, 12.00, Thursday 17 July,Peace Gardens, St Peter's Square, behind Manchester Town Hall
Tue 15, July 2008 @ 16:53
Roy Wilkes is the secretary of the Campaign against Climate Change Trade Union Group, and a member of the ISG (British section of the Fourth International), he spoke recently on climate change and the role of the trade unions and the PR event at ULU. This short article discusses how socialists and trade unionists should relate to the direct action wing of the climate change movement, encapsulated in groups like Plane Stupid, Rising Tide and the Climate Camp.
Sun 13, July 2008 @ 15:23
ON SUNDAY 4 March 1984 the miners at Cortonwood Colliery in Yorkshire voted to strike. Three days earlier, the Coal Board had announced the closure of the pit on the grounds that it was uneconomic. The pit was to be closed with only five weeks notice.
Sun 13, July 2008 @ 11:11
Gwent crematorium was packed on Friday as friends, family, work colleagues and comrades said farewell to South Wales activist Cameron Richards.
The sheer number of mourners and the heartfelt trubutes to Cameron bore witness to the love and respect inspired by this throroughly decent and committed teacher and revolutionary socialist.
Sat 12, July 2008 @ 23:00
Climate Camp
2008
Eleven months of every year go by without a place for people to
gather on mass to work out how we are going to respond to the
climate crisis we all face.
Sat 12, July 2008 @ 19:55
On Saturday July 5th, South Yorks LRC had its first public
meeting. It took place at Wortley Hall near Barnsley. The occasion
was the annual Labour Movement festival in the grounds of the Trade
Union owned stately home....writes Andy Smith....
Fri 11, July 2008 @ 16:29
There will be a demonstration of cleaners and supporters outside
Boris Johnson's mayoral question time next Wednesday, 16 July, at
9.30am. For more details see the Facebook event
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=33338353472&ref=mf
Thu 10, July 2008 @ 21:21
An attempt to hold Cuba’s first Gay Pride March at the end of June was quickly ended when police arrested the organisers and banned the march writes Stuart King.
Thu 10, July 2008 @ 17:40
It’s a general rule of thumb in politics that anyone who includes the word ‘freedom’ in their name is an enemy of it. The Freedom Association, a capitalist organisation with strong links to the Conservative party, care only about their freedom to exploit; when they defend civil liberties, it is their own right to conduct their own affairs in secrecy with which they are concerned.
Thu 10, July 2008 @ 16:32
School students across Germany are taking to the streets in protest against a variety of attacks. The central demand can be summed up as "for free education". Wladek Flakin of the independent youth organisation REVOLUTION reports from Berlin
Wed 09, July 2008 @ 09:59
Over 60 people crammed into a committee room at the Houses of Parliament last night to hear, Clara Osagiede (RMT Cleaning Grades Secretary), describe the appalling conditions suffered by the hundreds of cleaners on the London Underground, writes Clare Heath.
Tue 08, July 2008 @ 22:46
Tue 08, July 2008 @ 19:49
Paul Mason, economics editor of BBC's Newsnight, spoke recently at a Permanent Revolution weekend school about the Chinese working class and its struggles, based on the work for his book and his recent visit. In this short video extract he describes the condition of the country's migrant workers
Mon 07, July 2008 @ 08:02
The lives of Behnam and his mother are in great danger. They are at risk of being returned to Iran as they have so far been refused asylum in the UK. at the moment we are anxiously waiting to hear if the Home Office will consider a fresh claim that was submitted in April.
Sun 06, July 2008 @ 12:30
In many places we fight against things that we can’t stand: at school against the pressure to succeed and the arbitrary rule of teachers, at work against bad conditions and low wages, on the streets against nazis. We campaign against militarism and against the destruction of the environment. We fight in small groups or we join up for big protests like last year in Heiligendamm against the G8.
All our struggles, as well as the struggles of the Iraqis and Afghans against occupation or the struggle of the Venezuelans against imperialism have something in common. They are struggles against the ills of our society, of capitalist society. What other struggles are there? What other ills are there that are worth struggling against? Why are there so many problems and what can we, must we do to build up another society?
Sat 05, July 2008 @ 23:10
In a video clip Jack Heyman, leading member of the west coast ILWU (longshoremen's union), tells PR weekend event why workers in the United States should not back Barak Obama in this year's presidential election
Sat 05, July 2008 @ 21:52
In ISJ 119 Chris Harman repeats the notion that capitalism
is stagnant, with falling output and investment – stuck in a mire
of low profitability. This view has been subject to increasing
criticism – so at odds is it with the recent history of world
capitalism....writes Bill Jefferies...
Sat 05, July 2008 @ 15:49
Nick Clarke, from the Czech Republic, reports on the antistrike
propaganda of the English-language press
Thu 03, July 2008 @ 16:31
The Cardiff Radical Socialist Forum met for the second time last night to discuss the united front tactic, specifically as it relates to the fight against fascism. Numbers were up from the first meeting, with activists coming from Swansea and Newport to join a variety of Cardiff socialists and anarchists in a constructive and informative discussion entirely free of wooden sectarian posturing.
Thu 03, July 2008 @ 09:58
Left-wing Labour MP John McDonnell told Permanent Revolution's weekend event that Labour faced annihilation at the next general election due to the mass diasaffection of its grass roots working class support. View a clip of his speech at the weekend here.
Thu 03, July 2008 @ 09:41
Orlando Chirino, is a national coordinator of the largest
Venezuelan trade union federation in Venezuela the UNT. The
following interview was conducted by Wladek Flakin in Ciudad Guyana
at the end of March
Wed 02, July 2008 @ 21:50
The women’s section of the Labour Representation Committee
www.leftwomensnetwork.org – mary@leftwomensnetwork.org
Women activists and trade unionists join us for…
Tue 01, July 2008 @ 23:12
Today, activists from Feminist Fight back took over the lobby of the Transport for London Headquarters and expressed their solidarity with the striking underground cleaners. Armed with feather dusters, brooms and mops, they set about helping Transport for the London clean up their act. Activists are targeting Transport for London to ensure that they do not pass the buck and instead take responsibility for the working conditions of the underground cleaners.
Tue 01, July 2008 @ 16:21
London Unison strike rally Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:00pm - 4:00pm
At the Regional strike committee, meeting on Monday 30 June, it was reported that the large meeting room at Friends Meeting House has been booked for a regional strike rally on Wednesday 16 July. Subject to discussions with the Police there will be a march from Lincoln’s Inn Fields to Friends Meeting House in Euston, provisionally starting about 1.30.
Tue 01, July 2008 @ 11:26
This strike is very important and we should do everything in our power to deliver maximum solidarity. It is the first attempt by the RMT to organise agency cleaners on the tube who are the lowest paid, have the least rights, are in their majority women, often migrants, who regularly suffer bullying and sexual harrassment at the hands of their bosses.
