STAFFORD SOCIALISTS CAMPAIGN FOR A GENERAL ELECTION – SAY NO TO A TORY CORONATION!

Socialist Party members and supporters were out in Stafford on Saturday campaigning for a general election to get rid of all the Tories. David Cameron is a gonner but the Tories are planning a coronation with the leadership of the country passed from one former Etonian to another. This is totally undemocratic and we want a general election now, not in 2020.

Supporters of both remain and leave signed our petitions and took leaflets. One woman asked for four leaflets so that all her children could have one each.

Unlike most political parties in Britain we are not frozen like rabbits dazzled by car headlights. We know what to do. We are energetically throwing ourselves into getting rid of the Tories and stepping up the fight against austerity, racism and the capitalist system.

We urge you to get involved in this struggle. Interested? Fill in the form here and we will be in touch.

For further analysis click here to read an article from our national website

There will be an open meeting on Thursday to discuss the situation after the referendum and how we can get the Tories out. It is taking place at 7.30pm in the Village Tavern, 513 Leek Road, Stoke-on-Trent ST1 3ER. We hope you can make it.

BACKING FOR JUNIOR DOCTORS STILL SOLID IN STOKE!

Despite Jeremy Hunt’s bluster, Junior Doctors are still in defiant and confident mood. Socialist Party members were there supporting their action and later did a campaign stall in nearby Newcastle-under-Lyme to build support for the action they are taking in defence of our NHS.

The backing of local people coming up to our campaign stall hasn’t diminished at all, in fact their backing and support is growing. As one fella said, “It’s about time somebody stood up to the dismantling of the NHS. These young junior doctors are an inspiration.”

NATIONALISE STEEL!

15,000 steel jobs are on the line, but the call to nationalise Tata is growing louder and the political pressure on Cameron to act is building!

In recent days, politicians of all the establishment parties in Cardiff and London are moving their positions, but we have to keep the heat on them. On 2 April hundreds came on a 'Nationalise Tata' demonstration inPort Talbot organised by the trade union rank and file National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN).

On 4 April, NSSN national chair and Socialist Party member Rob Williams spoke at a lobby of the specially recalled Welsh Assembly to discuss the steel crisis:

"We marched around the simple demand that steel benationalised to keep the furnaces firing in Port Talbot and around the UK. That is the only solution. Not to bribe another vulture capitalist to asset strip the company.

Tata reckon the business is losing £1 million a day. But that's just half what Osborne gave to the super-rich in tax cuts in the budget. It's nothing when you consider the social costs of the steelworks closing.

Assembly members should vote through a motion calling on Westminster to immediately nationalise Tata.

Labour Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones seems to be coming round to nationalisation, on a temporary basis. But the industry should be permanently nationalised along with the other privatised industries like rail and energy.

We need a real socialist economic strategy. As we protest here, Tata union reps are meeting in London. Let's give them the confidence to take the action that is necessary to keep the furnaces firing, to keep the steelworks going, to keep the communities alive!"

Next Meeting of Stafford Socialist Party Branch

100 Year Anniversary of the Easter Rising in Ireland

• 100 years ago an uprising against British rule in Ireland took place - what did it represent? What were the lessons?

Come along for friendly discussion and debate

at

The Vine Hotel

Salter St STAFFORD

on

Tuesday 12th April 2016

STAFFORD SOCIALIST PARTY SUPPORT JUNIOR DOCTORS!

Despite horrendous rain, Stafford Socialist Party and Unite Community members were once again out on the picket line supporting the junior doctors as they continue industrial action against the government’s   imposition of unwanted contracts.

outside the main entrance of Royal Stoke University Hospital.

Despite the bad weather the mood was still buoyant and determined and by the continuous honking of car horns, they still have lots of support from the general public too.

MASS WALKOUT AT STAFFORD COLLEGE

Around 100 members of staff at Stafford College staged an unprecedented walk-out last Friday in protest against mismanagement and cuts. This followed a meeting of around 300 in a lecture theatre where they twice voted for no-confidence in the management of the college.

Teachers and other members of staff at the college are demanding the resignation of principle Beverly Smith. Ms. Smith and the management are blamed for a culture of fear, bullying of staff, increased workloads and unrealistic target setting, as well as general bad organisation.

Even Ofsted inspectors identified the need for improvement in 'effectiveness of leadership and management'!

Although the protest was mainly focused at these areas of incompetence and treatment of staff, the protest follows the recent announcement of a swathe of cuts and redundancies. The college will face a drop in funding from September, which workers and students are being made to take the brunt of. It is telling that Ms. Smith has been quoted as saying, 'Our transformation will allow the college to be more efficient and gives the opportunity to continue to improve and meet the needs of our stakeholders'. Yet again, we are seeing the consequences of privatisation - the greed of a few over the needs of the many.

A 30-day 'consultation period' is currently underway with unions and staff. Cuts and redundancies will be announced after this, the main attacks likely to be on adult education. This is on top of redundancies and funding cuts from central government from previous years. $1 million was cut at the same time last year with 69 workers facing the axe.

No confidence in management

UCU Rep Robert Trimmings, who campaigned for TUSC in the May elections, highlighted the anger, citing the example of e-mails being sent out to all members of staff threatening redundancy even though no decisions have yet been made. It is no wonder staff are protesting a 'culture of fear' and refusing to tolerate this bullying by management.

Marina Bowler, also a UCU rep, made a statement in the local paper, The Express & Star, saying:

'Staff feel they are operating in a culture of fear and they feel like they are being bullied. Workloads have gone up, stress levels have gone up. Staff are not being listened to and skills are not being utilised. Good staff have left the organisation and been made redundant.

The issues have been ongoing since Christmas and staff have now reached the point where desperate action is needed.

I think initially we were viewed as a small militant faction of lefties but it is totally not the case as proven by events today.

This is a lobby with a view to further action. We have been trying for six months to negotiate with the college. We don’t want to go down the route of industrial action. We are passionate about the college, it is an amazing place to be.

But that care is not being supported by a positive culture and it is not being supported by principal Beverley Smith.'

Some of the protesters present were those who had left their jobs in recent months. Since September 19 full-time workers, 11 part-time staff and 16 sessional employees have handed in their notice.

In recent months, staff have also marched on a board of governers meeting demanding the standing down of management, following a vote of no confidence in a union meeting of around 100 staff. Union membership has increased rapidly in this short period.

It is workers; teachers, technicians, cleaners and so on that know how to do their jobs to the highest standards and know how best to run the service they provide day-in-day-out. Beverly Smith and the management have proved they are not capable of running Stafford College. By exercising their collective power, staff have demonstrated that the management have lost their confidence, and are no longer fit to lead. Beverly Smith must 'do the right thing', as a speaker at the protest put it, and stand down. If she refuses, workers should push for official strike action, as well as inviting students for their support. With united action we can build a quality college that serves the needs and rights of workers and students and not the 'stakeholders'.

City of London fills with defiance against austerity

A vast mass of people compressed into the streets next to the Bank of England on Saturday 20 June, eager to show their anger and opposition to the Tory government's vicious austerity agenda.

Estimates of the huge turnout ranged from 70,000 to over 200,000. The mood was very buoyant, as the size of the demo brought home to everyone that the fightback against Cameron's plans has really begun, and this just six weeks after the shock result of the general election.

20.6.15, photo Paul Mattsson   (Click to enlarge)

After an opening rally of speakers invited by the demo organisers - the People's Assembly - the march set off through the City ofLondon, packing the streets through to Blackfriars and then along Fleet Street towards its destination - Parliament Square.

Many of the individuals and groups - who came from all over the country - were new to demonstrating. Young people were strongly present. All clearly felt that they can't sit back and watch a renewed onslaught on people's living standards, while the richest get richer.

Trade unionists were also key participators, though not on this occasion in a highly organised form with large blocks of union contingents, which are an inspiring and important hallmark of TUC-led demonstrations.

Isai from Tamil Solidarity speaking from the TUSC stage near Bank, 20.6.15, photo Paula Mitchell   (Click to enlarge)

Self-made placards were prominent, with inventive and humorous messages condemning austerity - from the carefully polite to the rude or crude.

The hundreds of placards on offer from the Trade Unionist andSocialist Coalition (TUSC) and those of the Socialist Party were eagerly snapped up, until all were gone.
Thousands of Socialist Party leaflets headed "Organise! Strike! Resist! to smash Tory austerity" were also enthusiastically taken, with their message on the need to build for a 24-hour general strike meeting widespread support.

A number of the anti-cuts candidates who stood for TUSC in the 7th May elections spoke from a TUSC stage while the marchers were assembling, attracting a lot of interest.

Later, the Socialist Party hosted a stage on Whitehall, with speakers from it including former 'Liverpool 47' councillor Tony Mulhearn who was in the leadership of the major Liverpool anti-cuts battle in the 1980s that achieved victory.

Niall Mulholland reports on the Parliament Square rally:

Trade union leaders, singer Charlotte Church, comedians Russell Brand, Mark Steel and Francesca Martinez, and politicians addressed many thousands crammed into Parliament Square. They lambasted the Tories' plans to continue with the brutal austerity policies that have brought so much suffering to the poorest and most vulnerable in society and the working class as a whole.

Marina Prentoulis, representing Greek party Syriza, appealed for solidarity with the Greek people in their struggle with the austerity-imposing Troika - the EU, ECB and IMF.

photo by Paul Mattsson   (Click to enlarge)

Jeremy Corbyn, the left candidate for Labour Party leader, got a rousing response when he rounded on the grotesque inequalities in society and pointed out that the richest 100 people now have the same wealth as 36% of the population.

Speakers were at one in pointing out that the Tory government, voted into power on only 24% of those registered to vote, has no mandate to continue with viciouscuts and new assaults on trade union rights.
Sixty four per cent voted against the Tories, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey pointed out. A government "with no legitimacy" to continue attacks "will be responsible for the consequences" of more austerity, he warned.

The cruel effects of austerity were expressed by speaker after speaker but what concretely should be done next to stop the new Tory government assault?

John Rees, from the People's Assembly, correctly said we "cannot win with one demo" and called for mass action to "make society ungovernable" by organising "protests, meetings, direct action".
But his proposals did not go beyond calling for protesters to "lay siege" to Tory party conference later this year, and to build resistance across the country.

photo by Sabah   (Click to enlarge)

Similarly, Len McCluskey, leader of the one of the biggest trade unions, said the "fight goes on" but left it at a call for "solidarity" and "community spirit".

In contrast, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said it was necessary to "say not just what is wrong but what to do". He got a rousing response when he posed the question: "Six and half million in trade unions - why not strike together?" He pointed out that by "stopping all work" we can "turn the government back".

The Socialist Party agrees. Mass actions, including more big demonstrations, are very important in building mass resistance to austerity but this needs to be linked to a plan of industrial action against cuts and attacks on trade union rights. The Socialist Party calls on the unions to start building for a 24-hour general strike. The organised working class, with a bold anti-cuts policy, can lead the campaign to force the Tories to back down and even kick them out of government.

photo by Paul Mattsson   (Click to enlarge)

A successful anti-austerity movement also needs to be 100% against cuts. There cannot be any 'acceptable' or compromise levels of austerity, as every cut affects someone's family, work colleague or neighbour, and indeed, society as a whole.

The Labour MP for Edmonton, Kate Osamor, said she would use her seat in parliament to speak on behalf of the anti-cuts movement. But she had nothing to say about the huge cuts passed on by Labour run councils without a semblance of resistance, or Labour's support for the Tories' £30 billion worth of new cuts during the life of this parliament.

Socialist Party placards (centre): Organise, Strike, Resist!, photo by Judy Beishon   (Click to enlarge)

Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, got a rousing reception for her anti-cuts stance but she has had to distance herself from Green-controlled Brighton council's cuts.

Martin McGuinness, deputy first minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly, claimed that Sinn Fein is "an anti-austerity party". He said Sinn Fein is "proud to say" it "blocked the welfare bill" in the Assembly.

But as part of the Stormont power-sharing executive, along with the DUP, Sinn Fein has voted through attacks on the rights of workers and cuts, in particular major cuts in pension entitlements for public sector workers. Sinn Fein is disputing only some of the new cuts measures, while at the same time calling for lower corporation tax for big business.

Sinn Fein's current 'anti-austerity' rhetoric has more to do with the fright it got during the Westminster elections, when its vote fell, partly as a result of its unpopular cuts.

photo Sabah   (Click to enlarge)

The question of political representation for the anti-austerity movement and the working class was left hanging in the air in Parliament Square.

Jeremy Corbyn, who did not refer to his Labour leadership bid, spoke eloquently about 150 years of class struggle in Britain and how it created the Labour Party and won important reforms for the working class.

The Socialist Party wishes Jeremy well in the Labour leadership election, but does not believe there is a realistic prospect of the left gaining control of the Labour Party. Labour has long ceased to be an organisation of the working class, at least at its base, and slavishly follows an openly pro-capitalist agenda.

A new mass party of the working class, which can bring together anti-austerity activists, trade union fighters, environmentalists, housing campaigners, etc, is urgently needed. And to be successful, a new workers' party has to not just oppose cuts but offer a bold socialist alternative to austerity and capitalist crisis.

photo Paul Mattsson   (Click to enlarge)

Altogether there were 30 speakers during the demonstration's opening and closing rallies, but unfortunately TUSC, which stood over 748 anti-cuts candidates in May's elections and collectively received over 118,000 votes, was refused the chance to speak.

Speakers at Saturday's rally talked in general terms about the need to "rebalance and rethink" our society, called for "social justice" and the need to "change our society". Julie Hesmondhalgh, the Coronation Street actor, used the 'S' word, correctly stating that "socialism is not an anachronism".

The Socialist Party agrees. Only socialist policies - such as opposing all cuts and calling for the nationalisation of the main pillars of the economy, under democratic public ownership - can start to reverse the attacks on the working class and poor and bring about a society for the many, not the capitalist elite.

AFTER THE JUNE 20 DEMONSTRATION - WHAT NEXT?

PUBLIC MEETING

TUESDAY 23 JUNE AT 7.30pm

 

The Bird In Hand 1 Victoria Road, Stafford ST16 2AQ

Google Maps

 

Discussions on where next for the fightback with a talk by a local Trade Union activist and TUSC candidate

ALL WELCOME

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

END AUSTERITY NOW!!

Remember that this Saturday is the MASSIVE demonstration against Austerity and many other issues that the ordinary person is passionate about!

Austerity has killed more than 10 thousand people (Figure taken in 2012) How many more people need to die in the next 5 years just so the government can carry out the lie that is austerity, we aren't running out of money, there is plenty of it in the top 10 richest people in the UK. 

There are now 1.5 million people that live on Food Banks, this can literally degrade a person to the extent that they develop mental health issues.

AROUND 100 PROTEST IN CANNOCK AGAINST CANCER CARE SELL-OFF

ANTI-NHS PRIVATISATION GROUP, CANCER NOT FOR PROFIT, (CNFP) HANDED OVER A 60,000 NAME PETITION TODAY AGAINST PLANS TO SELL-OFF STAFFORDSHIRE’S CANCER CARE AND END OF LIFE TREATMENT TO PRIVATE COMPANIES. IF IT WASN’T FOR CNFP’S CAMPAIGNING WORK OVER THE LAST YEAR THIS SELL-OFF WOULD HAVE ALREADY GONE THOUGH. 

United in opposition at privatisation of cancer care today in Cannock

STEP UP FIGHT TO STOP £1.2 BILLION NHS SELL-OFF OF STAFFORDSHIRE CANCER CARE

The Tories are determined to push through the biggest single privatisation of NHS services by inviting private companies to bid for £1.2bn worth of contracts to provide cancer care across Staffordshire.

WE NEED DECISIVE ACTION TO DEFEND THE NHS FROM THESE PRIVATE VULTURES!

We can’t trust any establishment parties as they all support the dismantling and privatisation of the NHS

Ordinary working class people had to fight to win a publicly owned NHS, now we have to fight to save it!

BUILD A MASS MOVEMENT

Local TUSC supporters along with Unite the Union and other groups set up the Cancer Not for Profit alliance and it’s had a significant impact . More than 60,000 people have already said NO to the sell-off by signing petitions

50,000 marched through Stafford against Tory plans to dismantle Stafford Hospital and the fight goes on. Nationally hundreds of thousands have marched to save the NHS. This opposition gives a glimpse of the massive anger which exists nationwide against NHS privatisation. 

But it’s now more urgent than ever that a plan of action is drawn up nationally by the health trade unions, other unions, local communities, campaign groups etc to carry out an organised campaign against the dismantling and privatisation of the NHS, including strike action if necessary. 

Such a campaign would receive support from millions across Britain and have the potential to stop the Tory’s plans.

But we also need to continue to defend our NHS at the ballot box. 

TUSC ACTION AGAINST NHS PRIVATISATION!

Local TUSC supporters were the first to campaign against the £1.2 billion NHS sell-off and have worked alongside campaign group Cancer Not For Profit

In May 2014 TUSC stood candidates in local elections in Newcastle with a fighting programme to STOP the dismantling and privatisation of the NHS and again in the 2015 elections in Stoke, Newcastle and Stafford. Despite a virtual media blackout, TUSC were the 6^th biggest party nationally in May’s general & local elections. And TUSC will continue to challenge the cuts, closures and privatisation of our NHS at the ballot box at every opportunity.

• To find out more about TUSC www.tusc.org.uk – To contact TUSC locally call or text 07845893607

Inaugural meeting of Stafford Socialist Party

We are pleased to announce that Stafford branch is up and running again! The first official meeting of The Socialist Party in Stafford for 18 months, following standing four candidates for TUSC (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition) in the May elections, will take place this

  Tuesday 2.6.15 @ 7.30pm in The Vine 

Following Labour's complete failure to defeat the Tories, Andy Bentley, full-time activist for The Socialist Party in Staffordshire will be introducing the discussion on 

What is the best way forward to build a fightback against austerity?

SUPPORT GROWS TO SHUT DOWN THE TOWN!

Socialist Party members were out again last Saturday and today campaigning to defend Stafford hospital. Many more signed our petition to scrap the Health & Social Care Act – a privatiser’s charter.

We have now given out over one thousand leaflets calling on Support Stafford Hospital to name the date for a shut down of Stafford to make the administrators listen to us.

We have also asked the opinions of the hundreds who have signed our petition what they thought of this idea as the next step. A big majority agreed with us, some weren’t sure but not one disagreed.

A Stafford hospital worker who didn’t want to be named said, “Yes, we need decisive action as soon as possible to save maternity, paediatrics, intensive care and A&E. Closing down the town might just work”.

Save Our Hospital! Shut Down the Town!

Self-appointed administrators have announced plans to reduce services at Stafford District General Hospital (DGH) and facilities in surrounding towns. It leaves people to travel 20 miles to hospitals in Wolverhampton or Stoke.

This is what they effectively decided months ago – it fits in nicely with government plans to run down DGHs and dismantle and privatise the NHS. No one in Staffordshire accepts their verdict!

 

The  administrators’ so-called consultation is a sham  -  they know it and we know it!
 

Over 1,500 angry people turned up to Stafford’s first ‘consultation’ meeting. Only half could fit in the room, others went to another room, 250 listened in a car park.

Despite calls for calm, people vented fury against health bosses who had cut their services. They cried “turn it off” as bosses played their promo video. Staff who challenged the bosses were cheered to the rafters. If that’s the start, then future consultation meetings don’t augur well for administrators!



We don’t need to be ‘consulted’ again – 50,000 of us marched on 20 April against any plans to dismantle Stafford/Cannock hospital! Originally the administrators raised the spectre of closure but the pressure we have all put on means they are not confident enough to go that far at this stage.

But they’re clearly still not listening enough! The powers that be still want to get rid of Maternity, Paediatrics, Intensive care and downgrade A&E. We need to step up the fight to defend Stafford and Cannock! Decisive action is necessary.

IF WE ARE TO MAKE THEM LISTEN TO US AND KEEP OUR SERVICES THEN WE MUST CLOSE DOWN THE TOWN FOR A HUGE PROTEST!

 

Every business should close, with every worker stopping work for a day or half a day to build a giant weekday rally that can make crystal clear we will not accept the loss of any of our services.

 

The 50,000 who marched on 20 April showed clearly there is massive support. Now is the time to mobilise this support again.

If the ‘Support Stafford Hospital’ campaign called for a shut down and named the date, this would receive massive support locally and nationally.

We should turn the ‘consultation’ meetings into mass rallies to build support for a shut down.

Trade unions should join in by organising workplace meetings.

Community groups and residents associations could organise local public meetings to mobilise support.

Neither is Stafford an isolated case. It’s part of the government’s plan to cut local hospitals and privatise as much as they can of our NHS.

Support Stafford Hospital should appeal to organisers of other campaigns like Lewisham and elsewhere to support such action in Stafford.

Save our NHS campaigners in other areas threatened with cuts might also consider taking similar action!

Zero tolerance for zero-hours!

Ian Pattison, Youth Fight for Jobs

 

Zero-hour contracts have hit the headlines with a bang. One million workers – more than four times as many as previously thought – are on zero-hour contracts. For those unlucky enough to be counted in this statistic, there are no guaranteed hours, no guaranteed work, and no guaranteed pay.
You can be called up by your boss at a moment’s notice and expected to be in work. Boots, one of the many high street chains using zero-hour contracts, had the cheek to tell staff with no guaranteed hours that they may be asked to work abroad!
Zero-hour contracts make it impossible for us to plan our lives. You don’t know one week to the next how much work you will have, how much you will get paid, whether you’ll have any work at all. 14% of people on zero-hour contracts say they do not earn enough to live.

Race to the bottom

Zero-hour contracts aren’t just a nightmare for the workers suffering under them – they are part to the race to the bottom, driving down pay, terms and conditions of all workers. You can’t get any lower than zero-hours!
We’re returning to the dark days when dockers and other workers would face the humiliation and uncertainty of lining up before a potential day’s shift, hoping to be picked for work by the boss.
Almost three million workers are out of work in Britain (one million of them aged 16 to 24). But this latest scandal proves that the real unemployment figure is a lot higher.
In the 1980s, the Tories changed the way unemployment was measured 20 times to disguise the true cost of Thatcher’s vicious policies. Today, companies’ use of zero-hour contracts allows the government to claim many more people are employed than have the security that used to come with having a job.
Under pressure, big business politicians like Nick Clegg, Vince Cable, and various Labour Party figures have joined the chorus criticising zero-hour contracts. But what sets Youth Fight for Jobs apart is that we have a real strategy for action to make zero-hour contracts a thing of the past. If the trade unions organised zero-hour contract staff, including through strike action, we could have a united fight to win decent contracts, with guaranteed hours, on a living wage for all.

24-hour general strike

Youth Fight for Jobs is joining the National Shop Stewards Network lobby of the TUC on Sunday 8 September in Bournemouth to call on the trade unions to name the day for a 24-hour general strike to stop austerity.
A 24-hour general strike could unite all workers against the Con-Dem cuts. It could inspire even currently non-unionised, zero-hour contract staff at Sports Direct and other companies to fight back too.
The demands of such general action should include a decent job with a proper contract for all those able to work. This would win overwhelming support from ordinary working-class people, who don’t want to see another ‘lost generation’ thrown on the scrapheap.
For more details on the NSSN lobby of the TUC see www.shopstewards.net or email info@shopstewards.net

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The Socialist Feature: End Zero-Hour Contracts Now!

SHUT DOWN THE TOWN TO SAVE STAFFORD/CANNOCK HOSPITAL

    No to ‘independent’ administrators decision!

The ‘independent’ administrators have announced what they decided months ago as it fits in with the government’s plans to dismantle the NHS. 

 

No one in Staffordshire accepts their verdict!

 

SHUT DOWN THE TOWN TO SAVE STAFFORD/CANNOCK HOSPITAL

 

The people of Staffordshire have demonstrated great support for our hospitals. Yet the powers that be still want to reduce our services.

The pressure we all put on means they are reducing less than initially planned.

 

BUT IF WE ARE TO MAKE THEM LISTEN TO US AND KEEP OUR SERVICES THEN WE MUST CLOSE DOWN THE TOWN FOR A HUGE PROTEST

 

Every business must close, every worker stop work for half a day to build a giant week day rally that can make crystal clear we will not accept the loss of our services.

 

We call on;

• Trade Unions to rapidly organise meetings
• Support Stafford Hospital to call for such action and name the date
• Community groups, residents to organise local public meetings to mobilise support

Keep Private Vultures out of the NHS!

The Health and Social Care Act (2012) has unleashed chaos into the health service. A full competitive market is trampling on cooperation and fragmenting service delivery, paving the way for private companies to cherry pick the most profitable treatments. 

The government’s multi million pound shake up, coupled with an unprecedented £20 billion of so-called efficiency savings are putting our NHS at grave risk. In just three years £7 billion of new NHS contracts have flooded the private health care market– a figure set to soar to £20 billion in the next few years.

We say ……….

* Axe the Health and Social Care Act

* Kick big business vultures out of the NHS

* Stop all cuts, closures and privatisation

* All hospitals to be fully funded by the NHS

* Adequate staffing levels to provide good quality care for all patients with decent pay and conditions for all staff

* A mass national trade union-led weekend demonstration to save the NHS

* Health unions should organise industrial action to defend every part of the health service

* A 24-hour general strike against all cuts

A Health Service for all!

Socialist Principals were at the core of the NHS when it was set up in 1948. Health care available to all, free at the point of use was a massive victory for working class people. 

We want big business out of the NHS, the pharmaceutical companies nationalised and health spending increased. Health workers, service users and communities they serve should have democratic control over how and where money is spent.

 

If you agree then Join the Socialist Party!

 

Text JOIN with your name & postcode to 07761818206 E-mail join@socialistparty.org.uk; phone 020 8988 8777; write to Socialist party, PO Box 24697, London E11 1YD

National Health Service in crisis!

• Stop the destruction of the NHS in east London!
• No cuts at Whipps Cross, Barts, Newham and the Royal London

Socialist Party members in east London

A major campaign to defend the NHS is needed in east London, as it is in many parts of the country. Privatisation and cuts threaten Barts Health Trust, which includes Whipps Cross, Barts, Newham and the Royal London hospitals, forming Britain's biggest NHS hospital trust.

Barts has announced it is losing £2 million a week and plans severe cuts at all the hospitals, especially at Whipps Cross, to avoid going into administration. The Trust is making the biggest cuts in the NHS, with £30 million cuts this year alone.

It is saddled with a massive PFI (private finance initiative) deal to rebuild the old Royal London. These cuts are due to the greed of private companies that suck the lifeblood out of the NHS.

They are also part of the Con-Dems' plans to sell off the NHS and make massive cuts to all our public services, to pay for a crisis caused by bankers and bosses.

Part of the reason for the dogged drive to privatisation of the NHS, which clearly opens the door to disaster, is in order to provide new and profitable fields of investment for big business in this time of ongoing economic crisis. Another hint is the over £10 million in donations from companies profiting from private healthcare that the Tories have received since 2001.

The cuts must be fought! Why should working people across east London - workers in and users of the NHS - pay such a terrible price for the failures and the greed of the rich and big business?

Workers at Whipps Cross hospital have a proud record of standing up and fighting and winning.

Whipps Cross Unison branch is calling a public meeting and demonstration, and wants to work with the unions across all the hospitals to build a united campaign.

Attack on the union

The Waltham Forest Guardian reports that: "Charlotte Monro, chairperson for Unison's Waltham Forest health branch at the Leytonstone hospital, has been barred from representing members at a Barts Health Trust staff consultative group pending an investigation into her trade union activity."

It also reported a Unison spokesperson saying that "Ms Monro is the public service union's main link to the trust-wide body for the branch at Whipps Cross and barring her from attending disenfranchises members at the hospital."

Hospital workers and trade unionists who speak out to defend public services must be defended - an attack on one key figure is an attack on the whole union and the campaign.

The whole community should get behind the campaign of the workforce in the hospitals. The Unsion branch at the hospital has a very good record of resisting attacks on members and of defending workers' rights by organising determined campaigns, involving wide sections of the workforce and including strike action.

Demonstrations and other protests will all be important to bring together the community, NHS users, and the workforce to fight the latest attacks and to prepare for further threats. It is the workers in the hospital and the union branch who ultimately have the power to take decisive action, including strike action, which, with the community behind them, could beat these cuts back.

Socialist Party members, who work at Whipps Cross and are campaigning across east London, are pointing to the need to link up this struggle with all those against the cuts and to support the NSSN lobby of the TUC to call a 24-hour general strike.

Several hospital workers from the area are planning to stand as Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidates in next May's local elections to provide a political voice that stands up for the NHS.

To get involved in the campaign and for details of meetings and protests, email paulamitchell@socialistparty.org.uk

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No cuts in the health service

• Kick big business out of the NHS:
• Cancel privatisation and outsourcing contracts - reintegrate all health services back into the NHS
• All hospitals to be fully run and funded by the NHS
• Adequate staffing levels to provide good quality care for all patients. Decent pay and conditions for all staff
• Health service unions to organise industrial action to defend every part of the NHS

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111 emergency

The NHS non-emergency phone line - 111 - is in crisis after NHS Direct decided to pull out of the contracts it holds (threatening the service in a quarter of areas). Why the sudden cold feet? Well, it has become 'financially unsustainable' to continue providing the service on the current contract. Which might have something to do with the fact that NHS Direct massively under-bid for the project, promising it would only cost £7 a call. The actual figure has been much higher, leaving NHS Direct in the red and the service worse than shoddy. So much for the benefits of competition.

Out to tender

£5 billion worth of NHS contracts are going out to tender. These include 160 large-scale contracts and seven worth over £100 million. Private sector vultures are swarming round the bidding process, in what has been described as "an arms race", recognising this huge outsourcing of public services as one of the only ways to make a profit in the current economic situation. This tendering represents a major shift in how the NHS operates and the likely devastating effects will be seen over the coming years.

Serco scandal...again

One company very interested in the latest round of privatisation in the NHS is Serco. Serco already runs out-of-hours GP services in Cornwall - which suffered massive failings and a "culture of lying and cheating" within a couple of years of takeover - and community health services in Suffolk. They have a hand on every area of public services in fact - the prisons where they keep prisoners locked up all day, the tagging where they overcharge the government by millions. You'd think these success stories would be enough to put a stop to it but Serco is now going after a £1 billion contract for health services in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Needed: a strategy to stop the destruction of the NHS. A collection of articles from the Socialist

£2 including postage

Available from Socialist Books, PO Box 24697, London E11 1YD,

020 8988 8789 www.socialistbooks.org.uk

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National Shop Stewards Network NHS bulletin number 3

Includes articles on Whipps Cross, Wales, Mid Staffs and building for a 24-hour general strike

See shopstwards.net or email info@shopstewards.net