Tag: Socialists in Coventry

Lively Coventry protest in solidarity with the mass uprising in Sudan

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Lively Coventry protest in solidarity with the mass uprising in Sudan

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A large protest took place today organised by the Sudanese community in Coventry and Warwickshire in solidarity with the protests taking place in Sudan. Socialist Party members attended to show our support.

Broadgate was filled with men, women and children showing their anger against the brutal regime of Omar al-Bashir. His government have overseen attacks on protestors with many killed and even more injured.

As we wrote in a recent article, Sudan has been rocked by extensive anti-government protests since 19 December.

People in the diaspora have come out in large numbers outside Sudanese embassies to show their solidarity. In contrast, most media outlets in neighbouring countries have been silent.

State subsidies on flour have been removed in River Nile state, tripling the bread price overnight, and provoking the biggest protests in this part of Sudan for years.

After school meal costs were more than doubled, school students and hundreds of other people marched in Atbara. Protesters set fire to the main office of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and local government headquarters and ransacked the offices of the notorious NISS security services.

Protests continued into the night and spread to other towns. A state of emergency and curfew was declared in Atbara and all schools were shut down in the city.

On the second day, demonstrations continued in all River Nile towns, despite the state of emergency, and spread to the far east of the country. By 21 December, five states had declared night time curfews.

The government banned all social media apps, shut down the internet, suspended classes, and closed all universities and schools. From the next day, western parts of the country started to rise up in protest

Iman Elkhatim, a lawyer from Coventry gave us this message

Dear Friends from all around the world. My country Sudan is uprising against the dictatorship, massive protests are happening, death tolls increasing, social media had been suppressed by telecom companies. Please, help us to highlight the regime’s awful practices against demonstrators. Pass our voices to your media. #Sudan_towns_uprising.

The Socialist Party and the Committee for a Workers’ International pledges our solidarity to this movement and we urge working class people in Coventry and across the world to do the same.

To read more about the situation in Sudan, click here for an article in the current issue of The Socialist newspaper.

Photos from the protest will be posted in our Facebook page

If you would like to find out more about what where we stand on the situation in Sudan, and other issues, please fill in the form below!

 

 

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Coventry shows support for Windrush generation

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Coventry shows support for Windrush generation

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The demonstration starting off from Friargate

Nearly 200 people marched from Friargate to Broadgate on Saturday 5th May in support of the ‘Windrush generation’.

Speakers attacked Tory government policy, most clearly expressed by Theresa May when Home Secretary in 2012 which aimed to “create a really hostile environment for illegal immigrants” and which resulted in appalling personal cases of detention and threatened deportation.

Coventry, it was noted, was built over the last century on a wave of different populations from Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and most recently Eastern Europe. In the case of the’ Windrush generation’ they were invited after the Second World War to come and work in transport, factories and especially the NHS – ironically the Tory Minister of Health at the beginning of the 1960s who invited thousands of Caribbean workers to come and train as nurses, was Enoch Powell!

Speakers explained that the root cause of discrimination and racism in the 60s, 80s, and today was always the same – a way of dividing working people so that the rich, the employers and Tory politicians could more easily get their own way.

Now that Amber Rudd has gone, Teresa May must go too. Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party must increase the pressure for an early general election so that the Tory policies of austerity and the “hostile environment” goes too. We need a new government, prepared to act in the interests of working people, which would reverse the acts which led to the detentions and deportations, end all racist immigration controls, and clear up the question of citizenship in the favour of the ‘Windrush generation’ now.

We will be posting pictures from this protest on our Facebook page over the next few days.

Jobs threatened at Culture Coventry Trust

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Jobs threatened at Culture Coventry Trust

The Herbert

The plans to deliver Coventry’s City of Culture in 2021 were badly dented as news was released that as many as 17 staff (over 15% of the total workforce) could face redundancy at the city’s main museums and art galleries, including the Herbert and Coventry Transport Museum.

With reduced funding from Council grants and general cuts to art’s funding, the cultural experience for Coventry citizens and visitors to our city is continually threatened.

Cuts to library services, reductions in opening hours of museums and more reliance on volunteers have weakened the cultural foundations in our city. Initiatives such as the historic 12th century Grammar School building in the centre of the city are also at risk.

Local groups are constantly struggling to provide and enhance those activities which enrich so many people’s lives with arts and music, especially disadvantaged groups and people with disabilities. Many are having to spend huge amounts of time on bids and fund raising to keep their groups going.

Art, music and other subjects in our schools are under threat because of government underfunding and the pressure to deliver narrow exam results.

People in the past had access to a wide range of Adult Education classes in arts, crafts and music but many of those have now been cut.

It’s undeniable that Coventry has a rich cultural history and there is lots going on, but just imagine what cultural life in Coventry could be like if there were much more resources available and people had more time to get involved.  We are a wealthy country, but whilst the top 1% syphon off their money to squander on hugely expensive pieces of art for personal gratification instead of paying their fair share of taxes, the rest of us are expected to put up with endless cuts.

As Socialists, we believe that investing in the arts is important.  It is about creating a world to allow all people to live life to the full: to run society, to study, and to create.   We want to see a society where every city and community is a beacon of culture and not just for one year. To do that, will mean fighting for a different type of economy – a socialist system where human need is put before private profit.

  • Not a penny to big business or property development projects!
  • Use the money to fund services and leisure opportunities for working class people all across the city!

Join Socialist Students at Coventry and Warwick!

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Join Socialist Students at Coventry and Warwick!

Socialist Students

Socialist Students on the march

By Berkay, Warwick Socialist Students

The surge in the popularity of Corbyn’s policies signifies the revival of socialist ideas within the younger generation. But for the people in the socialist movement this is not a surprise.

The rise of Corbyn and the fight for socialism

After decades of attacks on working-class people, living standards for the majority of people have fallen to low levels. Students have also taken a big hit from these attacks caused by the neo-liberal capitalist agenda. The rocketing tuition fees and sky-high rents, combined with zero-hour contracts, have led to the deterioration of the conditions of students throughout the country. Not only the life for students has worsened, the quality of education has also gone down.

In this respect, it is not a surprise at all to see young people showing interest in the politics of Socialist Students. In fact, this interest was perceived by us prior to the rise of the popularity of Jeremy Corbyn. This was shown by the increasing frequency of student demonstrations over the past couple of years and the increase in student activism. Undoubtedly, the Coventry and Warwick Universities have been a hotspot in the fight for free education in this period.

Students must get organised

And now a new academic year is starting. Campuses are being filled by excited new students who are inspired by socialist ideas. The tide is turning and being organised is more important than ever before. Socialist Students is an organisation attempting to bring positive, socialist change to the society that we all live in. It is a growing group and has started to have much more influence on campuses; it shows a good example to other students with its determination in defending the rights of students.

First meetings of term at both universities

Accordingly, the Socialist Students are holding their first meetings of the year on the week commencing the 2nd October.

The first meeting of the year at Coventry University will be on Monday 2nd October at 18:30 in The Castle Grounds, CV1 2UR.  The meeting will be on socialism, where we will discuss how socialism is possible and why we should fight for it. This discussion will also include many contemporary events such as the recent general election and the rise of Corbyn.

A similar meeting will also be organised on Thursday 5th October at Warwick University. The meeting will begin on 18:00 in H0.03, in the Humanities building. The possibilities of a socialist revolution will be discussed in this session.

These meetings will be an immense opportunity for new students to ask questions and join the discussion with regards to Socialist Students or about socialism, revolution and Marxism in general. Hope to see you in these meetings!

We urge you to get involved in Socialist Students, fill in the form below

May Day in Coventry

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May Day in Coventry

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PCS Vice-President John McInally speaking at Coventry May Day rally

As part of protests, rallies and demonstrations around the world to mark International Workers’ Day an event was held in Coventry city centre, organised by Coventry TUC and Coventry against Racism.

As well as local speakers from a wide variety of unions and campaigns, the main speaker this year was John McInally, national Vice-President of the PCS civil service union.

John outlined the current situation facing working class people, and the need to get rid of capitalism and fight for socialism. He pointed out that 100 years ago in Russia, many people would have said it was impossible to get rid of the Tsar. Yet working class people not only overthrew the Tsar, but also capitalism.

Other speakers included Dave Nellist on the history and origins of May Day, a speaker from UCU, an NUT rep, a member of the Indian Workers’ Association, a Socialist Party member calling for solidarity with LGBT people in Chechnya and an activist from Stand up to Racism.

Coventry TUC have ensured that the tradition of May Day is kept alive and hundreds of shoppers will have heard pro trade union, anti racist and socialist arguments. In the coming years this event will grow as the working class begins to find its voice, and rediscovers it’s revolutionary history and the relevance for today’s struggles.

On Monday we will be publishing an article by Dave Nellist in the current issue of The Socialist newspaper on the real origins of May Day.

Coventry Socialists to celebrate International Women’s Day and the start of the Russian Revolution at public meeting

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Coventry Socialists to celebrate International Women’s Day and the start of the Russian Revolution at public meeting

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Women helped spark the Russian Revolution!

Coventry Socialist Party has organised a public meeting on Wednesday March 8th to mark International Women’s Day. We will be discussing the start of the Russian Revolution, which began in February 1917 and was led by women workers.

Corinthia Ward from Birmingham Socialist Party will speak about the history of International Women’s Day in what should be an excellent meeting. Corinthia is the author of an article in the current issue of The Socialist newspaper and a trade union activist. All interested in learning about what took place and how it relates to the struggles and campaigns of today are welcome. There will be plenty of time for discussion and debate.

Weds 8th March, 7.30pm Methodist Hall, New Union Street, Coventry City Centre

Book your place on the Coventry buses to national demonstration to save our NHS!

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Book your place on the Coventry buses to national demonstration to save our NHS!

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Join the demo to say no cuts, no closures and no privatisation!

Saturday 4th March will see tens of thousands of ordinary people descend on London to protest against the destruction of our National Health Service which is under threat from cuts, closures and privatisation.

The march is being organised by Health Campaigns Together and is now being backed by unions such as UNITE, PCS, UNITE, CWU and many more. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has also announced his support and will be attending. Buses are being organised from Coventry, and we urge everyone to attend!

To book a place on the buses or to get more info, fill in the form below or text Kieran on 07709 598942

Please also like the Facebook page of Coventry NHS SOS to keep in touch about future events and meetings!

Coventry City Council announces plans for devastating cuts

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Coventry City Council announces plans for devastating cuts

Coventry City Council plans more cuts

Coventry City Council has announced plans for further crushing cuts that will affect people all across our city.

Working class people across the board will be hit – there are plans to increase Council Tax whilst weekly bin collections are stopped meaning the public paying more but getting less, reductions in Council Tax Support that will damage low paid workers, the threat of another 200 jobs being slashed (on top of the 2,100 that have been lost since 2010), and the possibility of the terms and conditions of the remaining staff being attacked and much more.

The Council are already ‘consulting’ on plans to close and cut public libraries, nursery provision and youth clubs, looking to replace staff in libraries with volunteers who will work for free. All this at the time Coventry is bidding for City of Culture!

In addition to the council cuts, of £19 million in the next financial year rising to £36 million a year by 2020, Coventry is also due to lose by 2020 a further £30 million across all schools in the city. That’s a 14% funding cut and, if those cuts are not challenged, they could be hundreds less teachers in the city in four years’ time.

Tory austerity is hitting cities like Coventry hard. The Coventry Telegraph estimates that the city has lost around £95 million in funding since 2010.

Is there an alternative to hundreds of job losses, “redesign” of bin collections, rising charges for burials and cremation, for car parks and in the council tax – whilst the vulnerable and the working poor face cuts in Council Tax Support?

Yes. And it has to start with Labour standing up to the Tories, not just, however unwillingly, doing their work.

Unfortunately rather than put up any resistance the Council have proceeded to implement all cuts that have been asked for by central government.

The Labour Council should be honest with the people of Coventry: cuts are already hurting – and the further cuts coming in educational services such as speech therapy and the Performing Arts service make hollow the aspiration to be UK City of Culture 2021.

Total council reserves, which rose from £41 million to £84 million over the last five years, have risen again, to £95 million! Surely, within that sum, there is scope for not proceeding with the £19 million cuts proposed for 2017/18 and instead temporarily funding those services from reserves whilst leading a serious campaign against the Tories for the restoration of essential local funding.

Cllr John Mutton and others have said that this is not a solution and you can only use reserves once. However what the Socialist Party have consistently argued is that the reserves should be used as a short term measure to plug the gap and keep key services going whilst at the same time building a massive campaign to demand more funds from central government.

We have explained before how this approach worked in cities like Liverpool where the equivalent of £60 million was won for the city from the claws of Margaret Thatcher. Would this be easy? No, absolutely not. The choice though is to fight, or to implement cuts that are going to hit the people of Coventry. Labour have a duty to stand up for the people of Coventry, not carry out this savage austerity.

A campaign should include:

  • public meetings in every ward explaining the consequences of Tory cuts;
  • a march and rally through the city, with national labour and trade union speakers, to unite the thousands who could be involved if a serious lead was given;
  • a conference held in Coventry of Labour local authority representatives and trade unions from across the country, to broaden support and work out a common agenda of resistance;
  • a national demonstration organised by Labour and the TUC early in the New Year to demand an end to cuts and restoration of the billions of pounds stolen from local towns and cities.
  • The council trade unions should gear up to oppose these cuts and defend jobs and services, if necessary by taking industrial action

The Socialist Party will be campaigning against these attacks, and for a fighting programme to defend our jobs and vital services. If you agree and want to get involved, fill in the form below

We urge readers to join the campaign event organised by unions outside the Central Library on Saturday 3rd December at 12pm

Vote for TUSC – no to austerity!

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Vote for TUSC – no to austerity!

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Vote TUSC!

As previously reported on this site, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is standing in all 18 seats in the local elections taking place on Thursday 5th May in Coventry.

We urge you to vote for the TUSC candidate in your ward to help build the opposition to the cuts being inflicted on to this city by the Tory government, and being dutifully implemented by the Coventry Labour council.

These cuts include closing libraries and replacing staff with unpaid volunteers, shutting play centres, making 1000 workers redundant within the council and closing public toilets across the city. Labour have also signed us up for George Osborne’s West Midlands Combined Authority without giving the people of Coventry a vote on the matter.

The Labour Council has increased its reserves to over £84 million; however they refuse to use any of this money to hold off the cuts and build a serious campaign to win back the money for Coventry which has been stolen by the Tories.

Our candidates include former Labour MP and Socialist Councillor Dave Nellist (St Michaels), leading libraries campaigner Sarah Smith  (Woodlands), Simon Evans (Foleshill) who organised the campaign in defence of the last two play centres in Coventry that have been threatened with closure, and community campaigner Rob McArdle (Lower Stoke). We are proud to have young workers, trade unionists and students as our candidates.

See the end of this article for the full list.

TUSC says:

  • No to cuts. No to austerity
  • £10 an hour minimum wage now. End zero-hour contracts
  • For a huge programme of decent jobs with a future
  • Kick privatisation and PFI out of the NHS – support the Junior Doctors
  • For free, quality education for all from nursery to university
  • Abolish fees now! Stop the academisation of our schools
  • For immediate introduction of rent and landlord controls
  • For a massive building programme of affordable, high quality, council homes
  • Use some of the £84 million of council reserves to buy time to hold off the cuts, to build a massive city wide campaign to win more money for Coventry. For Councillors who refuse to inflict Tory misery on our city
  • For Socialist change – so the wealth of this country benefits all, not just the super rich

List of candidates

Bablake – Dan Crowter; Binley and Willenhall – Terri Jay Hersey; Cheylesmore – Judy Griffiths; Earlsdon – Kieran Gangaram; Foleshill – Simon Evans; Henley – Jamie Edgar; Holbrook – Ryan Rochester; Longford – Jordan Jefferies; Lower Stoke – Rob McArdle; Radford – Dave Anderson; St Michaels – Dave Nellist; Sherbourne – Jim Hensman; Upper Stoke – Paul Smith; Wainbody – Ian Wardle; Westwood – Jim Donnelly; Whoberley – Rich Groves; Woodlands – Sarah Smith; Wyken – Greg Crabb

 

 

New Labour right-winger imposed in Sherbourne – vote for an anti-austerity candidate

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New Labour right-winger imposed in Sherbourne – vote for an anti-austerity candidate

Jim Hensman with Dave Nellist

Jim Hensman with Dave Nellist

Across Coventry, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition will be standing candidates to put forward the anti-cuts alternative in the local elections on Thursday 5th May.

This includes Sherbourne where we will be standing Jim Hensman. There has been considerable controversy over the imposition of Blairite Lynnette Kelly as the Labour candidate, against the wishes of the members of Sherbourne ward Labour Party. In her election leaflet she says “the Labour Council will continue to work closely with big businesses”. For us this highlights the priorities of leading figures in Coventry Labour Party – they see this as more important than opposing and fighting Tory cuts.

We need Councillors who will actually stand up against the cuts, not just implement them.

TUSC does not want to stand against Labour and will support any Labour candidate that has opposed the cuts or pledges to do so.

As Jeremy Corbyn has said, “Austerity is a political choice, not an economic necessity”.

Unfortunately Blairite Labour councillors nationally have been making the political choice for austerity and expelling Labour councillors who oppose the cuts.

Former councillors like these, together with trade union activists and campaigners from groups like the one fighting the closure of the last two play centres in Coventry, make up the candidates standing for TUSC. Saving the play centres would only cost £100,000. Yet Coventry Labour Council increased their reserves this year by £3 million. The cuts are definitely a political choice – vote TUSC and fight austerity!

The following are extracts from one of our election communications in Sherbourne.

Jim Hensman, our TUSC candidate has lived in the ward for over 40 years

A message to Labour voters in Sherbourne

The Labour candidate is Lynnette Kelly. She was a councillor in Henley ward until 2015 before stepping down in a failed attempt to become a MP in Warwick and Leamington at the last general election.

The local press have reported how she has been imposed on Sherbourne Labour Party by the regional Party machine, against the wishes of the members. The local Labour Party Secretary who opposed her appointment was also suspended without being given any reason. So much for democracy!

When Lynnette was a councillor she voted for cuts, along with the rest of the Labour group. She is a supporter of the Blairite Progress faction which seeks to undermine Jeremy Corbyn. Is this the sort of representative Sherbourne needs? We want Labour to stand up and vote against the cuts in the Council chamber. Not just act like Tories.

Our candidate, Jim Hensman has lived in the ward for over 40 years.  He has a long history of standing up for ordinary people, has been a trade unionist all of his life and was expelled from Labour for standing up for his Socialist views and being a supporter of Dave Nellist.

Unlike the establishment parties, Jim would be a voice on the Council for ordinary people and would oppose and vote against any more cuts to our local services.

Jim says

“The establishment have been shaken to the core by the support for Corbyn and now the Panama tax scandal. The Tories are weak and divided on every issue, and with the news that David Cameron had his nose in the Panama tax trough…We say he has to go!

But Coventry’s Labour Councillors spend more time attacking Corbyn than the Tories and carry on with further devastating cuts. TUSC councillors will fight to defend the jobs and services that we as ordinary people rely on. We need to build a city-wide campaign against the cuts to demand the return of money stolen by central government, whether it was Labour or Conservatives in power.”

The Tories are trying to rob Coventry, and the Labour Council are letting them!

Instead of fighting back, Labour in Coventry have made cuts that any Tory Council would be proud of. The Council have £84 million in reserves, this should be used to fund services and to buy time to build a campaign win back money for our city.

Despite the election of Jeremy Corbyn who is trying to oppose the Tories, your local Labour Council have voted to

  • Close libraries and want to replace staff with unpaid volunteers
  • Shut play centres
  • Make over 1,000 workers redundant over the next few years
  • Close public toilets across the city

Labour signed us up for George Osborne’s West Midlands Combined Authority – Ann Lucas and Co didn’t even want Coventry people to have a vote. Is that because they were afraid about what we would say?

If you would want to help the TUSC campaign in Sherbourne (for eg helping us leaflet, putting up a poster or donating), fill in the form below!