In the midst of the deepest crisis capitalism has ever experienced, a crisis that young people and workers are being made to pay for, Jeremy Corbyn’s inspiring bid for leadership of the Labour Party has been a beacon of hope for hundreds of thousands of people. Corbyn promises a fight against austerity, a battle with the establishment and a real future for millions of young people. Corbyn’s campaign is proving in Read more…
This year universities have a larger intake than usual as caps on student numbers have been lifted. This, combined with other factors, is leading to a boom in construction work taking place on campuses. But there is a very sinister side to the companies being contracted in to do this building work. In February 2009, a raid by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) exposed the existence of a blacklist containing personal Read more…
2007-08 saw the beginnings of a world economic crisis unlike any other we have seen. Since the end of the Second World War there have been seven official recessions, but each of these was followed by a period of relatively fast recovery. This time the situation is different though. There is no recovery or growth to be seen. All over Europe (including Britain), wages are stagnating, unemployment is rising, and the cost Read more…
by Mordecai Levi, Cambridge Marxists What is now my principal task? To reveal the truth.” – Leon Trotsky speaking in Mexico, January 30th 1937. The events of October 1917 are the greatest in all of human history. For the first time since 1871 – when the Paris Commune was put down in blood – working people had seized power for themselves. The capitalist and landlord classes and the state superstructure were swept Read more…
by Eoin Breathnach and Gavin Jackson, Leeds Marxist Society The past two decades have witnessed a barrage of propaganda against Marxism and its revolutionary heritage.Since the collapse of Stalinism – not socialism, but a monstrously deformed caricature of Marxism – from one front to another the mainstream media, universities, professors and historians have gone on the offensive to discredit Marxism. We examine here the most common myths about Marxism and socialism. Read more…
(A letter to the Kiev comrades. From Pravda, May 31, 1923. Translated for this volume from Collected Works, Vol. 2 1, by Marilyn Vogt. From: Problems of Every Day Life by Leon Trotsky.) Dear Comrades: You complain that you have not been able to read even one-tenth of the books that interest you, and ask how to rationally allot your time. This is a very difficult question, because in the long Read more…
Jeremy Corbyn has proposed the abolition of student fees and the reintroduction of maintenance grants for all students. Striking back hard at the Tory plans to remove grants for the poorest students at university, the Labour leadership candidate has defended the rights of all to education. Having opposed the introduction of tuition fees and loans under previous Labour governments, Corbyn has continued to stand against policy that promotes inequality and disproportionately Read more…
This week the boss of Huntley Mount Engineering Ltd was jailed after a sixteen year-old apprentice, Cameron Minshull, was killed while working for him in January 2013. Cameron was employed by the company as cheap labour, earning just £3 per hour working without training or supervision. The machinery he was using had had safety guards removed from it and the protective overalls given to the apprentice did not fit him. He died Read more…
According to a study released on Monday 6 July, 83,000 16-25 year olds have been forced to sleep rough over the last year. This figure is more than three times higher than the official government figure of 26,852. The study was conducted by the Centre for Housing and Planning Research at the University of Cambridge, and was commissioned by the homeless charity Centrepoint. Part of the study included a ComRes poll Read more…
A survey conducted last month by Save the Student found that maintenance loans for students, which are supposed to cover rent and other living costs for students at university, fall well short of what it really costs young people to maintain a decent standard of living while studying. The average student spends £745 per month (£410 on rent and bills; £110 on food; £67 on socialising; £48 on travel; £27 on Read more…
Sam Miller, a first year student at the University of Cambridge and a member of the Cambridge Marxist society, tragically passed away recently. We publish here Sam’s obituary, written by his friend and fellow Marxist, Moses Levi. ————————————————————– Sam’s death is a huge blow both personally and politically. It seems cliché to say that he was loved by all, but it is absolutely the truth. It was impossible to avoid being Read more…
The Tories’ newly-announced summer budget, delivered with typical smug hauteur by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne yesterday, constitutes a dramatic intensification of the war being waged on the working-class youth of Britain. London students (along with workers, Left activists, SYRIZA member Marina Prentoulis and Labour candidate Jeremey Corbyn) immediately met Osborne’s challenge, assembling on Parliament Square to protest our future being sold out in the name of profit. In addition to Read more…
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