As the sun rose on 24th February 1834, Dorset farm labourer George Loveless set off to work, saying goodbye to his wife Betsy and their three children. They were not to meet alone again for three years, for as he left his cottage in the rural village of Tolpuddle, the 37-year-old was served with a warrant for his arrest.

Loveless and five fellow workers – his brother James, James Hammett, James Brine, Thomas Standfield and Thomas’s son John – were charged with having taken an illegal oath. But their real crime in the eyes of the establishment was to have formed a trade union to protest about their meagre pay of six shillings a week – the equivalent of 30p (or roughly £50 when adjusted for inflation to today’s money) and the third wage cut in as many years.

With the bloody French Revolution and the wrecking of the Swing Rebellion fresh in the minds of the British establishment, landowners were determined to stamp out any form of organised protests. So when the local squire and landowner, James Frampton, caught wind of a group of his workers forming a union, he sought to stamp it out. Workers met either under the sycamore tree in the village or in the upper room of Thomas Standfield’s cottage. Members swore of an oath of secrecy – and it was this act that led to the men’s arrest and subsequent sentence of seven years’ transportation.

In prison, George Loveless scribbled some words: “We raise the watchword, liberty. We will, we will, we will be free!” This rallying call underlined the Martyrs’ determination and has since served to inspire generations of people to fight against injustice and oppression. Transportation to Australia was brutal. Few ever returned from such a sentence as the harsh voyage and rigours of slavery took their toll. After the sentence was pronounced, the working class rose up in support of the Martyrs. A massive demonstration marched through London and an 800,000-strong petition was delivered to Parliament protesting about their sentence.

The story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs and the campaign that freed them inspires us to fight on. The annual festival reflects the spirit of those prepared to stand up and be counted and for those just learning about the history it is a joyful celebration of our solidarity.

any comrades coming to Tolpuddle Martyrs festival?

Every year 5000 people gather in the green fields of Tolpuddle to celebrate our movement, how far we've come, and debate and strategise for how we continue fighting for workers rights in the UK and beyond. Join us in the green fields of Tolpuddle, 19-21 July 2024!

Now the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is publishing a statistical review of the election – The 2024 General Election Fact File – a draft report prepared by the TUSC national election agent Clive Heemskerk for the first post-election meeting of the TUSC all-Britain steering committee taking place on July 17th.

Including the TUSC candidates’ results, after discussion at the steering committee it will be published on the website’s Candidates Page as a public record – as has been TUSC practice for every election we have stood candidates in since 2011.

The result, in terms of the number of seats, is a Labour landslide, just shy of Tony Blair’s New Labour victory in 1997. But enthusiasm for Keir Starmer’s Labour was absent from this general election. The absolute vote for Labour was 9.6 million, lower than the 10.2 million vote Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour got in 2019, never mind the 12.8 million he got in 2017. Labour’s vote share, at around 34%, is the lowest ever for a general election victor, whereas in 2017 Corbyn got 40% of the vote, the biggest jump for a national party in one election since 1945.

The turnout, at less than 60%, was at least as low as 2001, and perhaps the lowest ever in a general election. None of this, of course, has stopped spokespeople for Labour, echoed by the capitalist media, spending election night endlessly repeating how it was only Starmer’s successful ‘change’ in the party (in reality into pro-capitalist New Labour) that had allowed them to go from the allegedly ‘worst election result since 1935’ in 2019 to victory in 2024.

Relief, rejoice, cautious optimism, scepticism… There will be mixed feelings in the minds of working-class people on 5 July. But whatever the cocktail, the fact clear to everyone will be that the Tories, historically the bosses’ primary political party, which has inflicted 14 years of misery on ordinary people, will be resoundingly defeated.

At the time of writing, before polling, Labour are odds on with the bookies to have an overall majority, too short even to make it worthwhile Tories betting on their own demise. Their electoral annihilation will dissolve any remaining cohesive substance holding the world’s oldest capitalist party together.

The source of its fragility? The fragile state of the global capitalist economy and particularly British capitalism’s falling standing within it. And Starmer’s Labour will build a government on those same ruined foundations.

But although Starmer is committed to defend the capitalists’ interests, that doesn’t mean workers can’t or won’t struggle, or that concessions can’t be extracted from the new government, whatever its intentions entering office.

Solidarity to all. Like most of you, I am glad to have witnessed the end of Tory rule, who faced an embarrassing defeat after 14 years of enforcing austerity measures that inflicted suffering on the working class. However, this change will not be resolved by another capitalist party. Labour, under its current leadership, has shown it’s not a workers’ party, a fact that became evident with Tony Blair’s tenure and their eagerness to remove leftist elements from within their ranks during the last election.

The struggle continues. Fight for true representation and justice for the working class. The end of Tory rule is a step forward, but our journey towards genuine change is not yet over.

Tories nearly out

Vote Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

Because Starmer’s Labour doesn’t fight for us

Put the champagne on ice! Because by the time you receive the next copy of the Socialist, the Tories will be out of office.

We can be as sure of that as the Tory insiders placing bets on the date of the general election. In the last days of Rome, they are rinsing the country for everything they can – showing the same disdain for working-class people as they have for the last 14 years.

The workers’ movement has to prepare now for the new Starmer-led Labour government. On 22 June, fighting trade union reps met for the National Shop Stewards Network to discuss how (see pages 6-7).

By striking between 27 June and 2 July, junior doctors have put their pay top of Keir Starmer’s very packed agenda. And from 8 July, Tata Steel workers in Port Talbot will strike to defend hundreds of jobs, demanding action from the new Labour government – nationalisation is needed, with no compensation for the fat-cat Tata bosses.
Years of cuts and crisis

At this election, 40 candidates are standing as part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, including many Socialist Party members campaigning for the socialist policies needed to transform working-class people’s lives after years of cutbacks and the cost-of-living crisis, and a new mass party of the working class.

Vote socialist on 4 July, celebrate seeing the back of the Tories and get ready for the working-class fightback to continue on 5 July.

This post will be segmented as it has been a busy week. Starting with Exeter.

Exeter:

I have been given the privilege of heading an Exeter branch. Speaking with branch leads and branch secretaries, what once felt like a slight nudge has turned into a full endorsement. I am not the type to appoint myself or to ask, so I am glad to have had the insightful chats over the last two days.

So now, how do I go about creating a branch in Exeter? From what I have heard from others who have done the same, with both success and defeat, they all gave similar insights: “It’s hard, but once you recruit one, it’ll get a lot easier.” So far, I have begrudgingly made a Facebook page and created an email account through Tuta. The rest is feet on the ground, leafleting across Exeter in the hopes of finding committed comrades.

Plymouth:

I was in Plymouth from Monday through to Tuesday morning. We had an early start, leaving Exeter at 7:30 am and arriving by 9 am. We headed to the Branch Lead’s house where we wrote the daily itinerary. Then, we moved on to canvassing Plymouth’s social housing estates. The reception was beyond anything I had seen before; we were selling newspapers left, right, and center, and getting TUSC votes. After that, we went to a school where we spoke with parents and handed out leaflets in a final push for the general election. More canvassing took up most of the day until the public meeting with locals hosted by The Socialist Party. The locals were eager to know who we are and what we represent as a workers’ party. The evening continued with drinking, which went on until the early hours.

Lessons Learned:

Election season is intense. The fun kind, like working a bar with four other staffers on World Cup finals – no time to think, but suddenly the bar is empty and we’re closing. Before we leave, we drink, we chat, and we’re all bound by the same experience.

The general election isn’t about the outcome for us. It’s state machinery and it needs dismantling, so it’s not important. What it’s about for me and my fellow comrades is class consciousness. People wake up and see the reality during a general election. We have contaminated drinking water for profit, electric and gas pricing that enriches shareholders and incentivizes environmental destruction, and a political class that sees us as mere objects to step over. We won’t see rent go down, we won’t come out of austerity, and we will continue to pad the pockets of our overlords.

So, comrades, take this time to push and agitate. Turn up to pickets, knock on doors, and ask, “Why are you voting reform?", "Any thoughts on our NHS?". Be revolutionary.

Solidarity comrades,
Squid

Socialist Party members are standing in the general election as part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, which is standing 40 candidates. Socialist Party members campaign for:

• Fully publicly fund the NHS and other public services. Stop and reverse privatisation

• Mass council house building. Rent control now. Don’t make workers pay for the housing crisis – reject rent and service charge increases.

• Stop the slaughter in Gaza. No to war! For mass trade union action to stop arming the Israeli state

• Renationalise rail, mail, energy, water and steel. And other privatised utilities, under democratic workers’ control

• For real workers’ rights. For inflation-proof pay rises. For a £15 an hour minimum wage. Repeal the anti-trade union laws. Ban zero-hour contracts and fire and rehire

• Free education and training. Scrap tuition fees. Grants not loans – for college and university. Votes at 16

• Combat climate change. For a free-to-use, expanded, renationalised public transport system. Don’t make workers pay for the bosses’ climate crisis

• Fight for socialist change. Take the wealth of the 1%. Run society in the interests of the many not the few

As we approach the general election it is crucial that we amplify our voices and champion our cause. We've successfully met our fighting fund goal, enabling us to field TUSC candidates across the board. This is our opportunity to bring about real change.

Solidarity comrades, Squid.

Today on Barrack Road, Exeter, medical professionals lined up out side Exeter hospital to demand better. Our NHS is failing. Nurses, NHS carers, and doctors have been vocal, shining a light on our failing NHS, which has been left to rot by the likes of Tories and Labour government.

As socialists, we also demand better. We call for a full restructuring of our NHS, offering incentives such as bursaries, retention schemes for junior doctors and nurses, adequate equipment, and hospital beds to meet demand. We also demand the removal of the corporate rot that has parasitically sucked our taxes out.

We stood in solidarity with our junior doctors today, we stood with our NHS carers last week, and we will continue to stand in solidarity demanding meaningful change for all workers.

Plymouth’s LGBTQ+ Pride parade had been fractured in the lead-up to the event. Some people broke away from planning the march after hearing of the involvement of companies Babcock and BT.

Babcock, a UK-based multinational corporation, has made applications for export licences for military equipment to Israel, making them a questionable and inappropriate sponsor of Pride. Trans Pride and others stated: “No Pride in genocide”.

BT has announced that 55,000 of their 130,000 employees will be laid off over the next six years, as part of a move into ‘AI automation’. This will affect people in Plymouth.

Written by me edited by socialist parties in house editor's. I am also the one on the right in the picture looking uncomfortable as always.

It has been a busy two days! Being firstly tasked with writing a report for Plymouth's pride event has been challenging but a challenge that has been overcome and will be published online tomorrow and in print in the next issue of our physical paper. The article briefly goes over pinkwashing, the pride event and corporates unattractive affairs and how that juxtaposed grassroots workers movements even going as far as to undermine.

3 comrades and myself once again canvassed more of Plymouth, we are slowing making our way through the area rallying support for Alex Moore a TUSC candidate and dedicated socialist. Reception has been great, even reform voters are willing to talk and listen, some have realised that Nigel Farage is not the politician for the workers, many comrades have taken to dismantling Reforms 'social contract'/manifesto to help would-be reform voters vote within their interest.

Events ended today but not before visiting the RFA's picket line and showing our support for Plymouth government employees who have been hit with massive pay cuts over 15 years, but RFA strikers stood strong and seem very hopeful going into the next election.

Frank Hester, the Tories' largest donor, has given the Tories £15 million, despite his private company, TPP, profiting from £135 million contracts with the Department of Health and Social Care in under four years. Hester was paid £515,000 in 2021-22 and receives £10 million of dividends. The Tories received thousands more from him after his racist and sexist comments were exposed. The second-biggest donor, billionaire Mohamed Mansour, was a minister in Egypt between 2006 and 2009, giving the Tories £5 million and £600,000 from one of his companies. There are reports that Tory donations are drying up, and Labour is also receiving big donations from the ultra-rich.

Summarized

Another beautiful venture to Plymouth with Plymouth branch Socialist Party formally militant.

Today I had got together with comrades, about 8 to show solidarity at the Pride March.

It was a truly amazing turn out and Plymouth branch were well organised through-out. moving with the march.

We mostly went to show solidarity but also to speak with peraders about the strange sponsor's Pride had. One of which is a military contractor Babcock who have been vying for Israeli contracts. Another BT who are planning to lay off 55,000 workers over the next 6 years as it pivots to ai automation. A somewhat unholy partnership. Most pride goers find irritation in this like myself, its purely monitory influence to elevate their ethical legitimacy whist being corpates bastards.

It won’t surprise anyone to hear that NHS waiting lists have gone up yet again – despite the Tories repeatedly claiming the opposite – to a staggering 7.57 million. That’s 40,000 more people living with the fear and pain these long waits impose.

The NHS has been at breaking point for so long now it’s become routine. The Tories have devastated services across the board, creating chaos and misery. People struggle to see their GP, wait for hours in overcrowded A&E departments, get stuck in hospital because there is no available care in the community, or wait months for operations they desperately need.

My second venture to Plymouth.

More door knocking and speaking with Plymouth's working class in the lead up to the general election. We had a few people say they will vote tusc: the party we support. we also heard a few say reform: A bosses party dressed up to entice the workers.

As revolutionaries, we must educate our brothers and sisters, read the parties' manifestos, Labour, Tory, and Reform. In doing so, we can show people the true nature and present a socialist alternative.

Later in the evening, the Plymouth branch held an open meeting in the industrial corner of the city, LeadWorks. A full room listened to an older lady and long-time member who read from papers to the Plymouth branch. She shared concise facts about our NHS spanning from its birth to the caucus and how it came to be such. The atmosphere shifted from informal to electric as members raised their hands, eager to speak next. Each one slammed the NHS harder about how the capitalists have sold it bit by bit from under our feet or how the NHS has failed us. Emotions were rightfully high, almost as if mourning a loss and a deep betrayal.

• NHS Documentry

Today I woke up at another comrades house who'd kindly put me up in their spare room, we quickly made our way to a picket line outside Plymouth's hospital. NHS worker about a hundred stood clutching signs along a busy T-junction. Horns beeping and chants echoed, the energy was high and outlook promising.

I was also able to visit the g4s strike outside the job centre. A slightly different energy from that of the NHS care workers, g4s is owned by an american company and it is doubtful that they will yield.

We are currently seeing the beginnings of class consciousness awakening from its slumber and now we must push with determination, be active members as funding isn't enough, We have to be revolutionaries!

Solidarity,

squid.

I am sure we've all heard the argument that "socialism is easily corruptible." This is a misconception. While there is and has been corruption in socialist structures, it would be of a lesser level to that in capitalist political and corporate society. The only difference is that capitalism calls the same corruption farcical names like "lobbying," "corporate influence," "campaign contributions," "regulatory capture," or "crony capitalism." institutionalized corruption.

The Tory Network of Climate Denial and Fossil Fuel Funding: Write up

Credit to @[email protected] for posting over on [email protected]

We think MPs are paid too much. If you’re elected as a trade union rep in an office or a factory, you don’t get three times the wages of your workmates or four times their holidays. You live on the same terms and conditions, face the same bills, and try and deal with the same financial pressures and problems as the people around you.

MPs should be the same. When I was an MP in the 1980s, my family and I took only the average wage of a skilled worker in a unionised factory in Coventry. We weren’t isolated or insulated from the problems of the people in our city. When I complained about the cost of living, it was because it hit my family exactly the same way it hit the people I represented. And every Socialist Party member standing as part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition in this general election makes the same pledge. If elected, we would be socialist MPs living on a worker’s wage. I think that’s worth supporting. I hope you do too.

A politician should not be a professional career! Its telling when we hear Richie Sunak went without sky TV' as a misguided means to be relatable to the working class. MP's should struggle with us, in doing so they would know the meaningful changes we need. Soon we will see Labour take the wheel with more career politicians. We want better.

The Socialist Party Formally Militant pays all party staff a skilled workers wage, our news papers to be competitive and without predatory advertisements are sold at a loss whilst also printed weekly in house and articles are often submitted in by members, all propped up by memberships and donations.

I don't ask that you join my party but I do ask that if you are a socialist you seek to join one of the many leftist parties here in the UK, I ask that you mobilise. The working class are crying out for an alternative, we want change.

The Labour Party today unveiled its manifesto for the 4 July General Election, with wealth creation and economic growth at the heart of the party’s plans.

Unveiling the party’s manifesto at the Co-op headquarters in Manchester, Starmer told the audience: “The way we create wealth is broken. It leaves far too many people feeling insecure. Wealth creation is our number one priority. If you take nothing else away from this today, let it be this. We are pro-business and pro-worker. A plan for wealth creation.”

He went on to add: “It is too hard for working people to get on, opportunity is not spread evenly enough and too many communities are not just locked out of the wealth we create, they’re disregarded as sources of dynamism in the first place.”

The Labour Party leader pledged to ‘turn the page forever’. So, what are the key themes and takeaways from the manifesto. We’ve got a breakdown of some of the key pledges:

Economy

• The Labour Party made clear its commitment to its fiscal rules, that the current budget moves into balance, so that day-to-day costs are met by revenues and that debt must be falling as a share of the economy by the fifth year of the forecast
• Planning reform in order to build 1.5 million new homes
• Set up the publicly owned GB Energy in order to cut bills for good
• £1.5bn to new gigafactories “so our automotive industry leads the world”

NHS

• Alongside pledging to reduce NHS waiting lists, the Labour Party will deliver 40,000 more NHS appointments each week, during evenings and weekends too
• New dentistry rescue plan, including 700,000 more urgent appointments
• Recruit 8,500 additional mental health staff
• Double the number of cancer scanners
• Bring back the “family doctor”

Immigration

• Create a “Border Security Command” -with hundreds of new investigators, intelligence officers, and cross-border police officers, funded by ending Rwanda scheme
• Hire additional caseworkers to tackle the asylum backlog
• Reform the points-based immigration system

Education

• Recruit 6,500 new expert teachers in key subjects
• 3,000 new primary school-based nurseries
• Free breakfast clubs in every primary school
• High-quality apprenticeships and specialist technical colleges

Constitutional reform

• Votes for 16 and 17 year olds
• Immediate reform of the House of Lords
• A new Ethics and Integrity Commission
• Enforced House of Lords retirement age of 80
• Establish “modernisation committee” for House of Commons

Law and order

• Crack down on antisocial behaviour with more neighbourhood police
• Recruit “thousands” of new police officers
• Introduce new offences for spiking and for the criminal exploitation of children
• Refer every young person caught in possession of a knife to a Youth Offending Team to receive a mandatory plan to prevent reoffending, with penalties including curfews, tagging, and custody for the most serious cases.
• A ban ninja swords, lethal zombie-style blades and machetes, and strengthen rules to prevent online sales

OP: any thoughts from my fellow comrades? personally i find it revealing that wages and rent are missing. he also speaks of building new houses but we aren't struggling with a lack of houses, more-so ownership of those house, i am sure Labor's MP's will have 1.5 million houses to sit on though, but i do like that they're lowering the voting age.

Hello comrades,

I had the pleasure of spending two days with the Plymouth branch of The Socialist Party formerly Militant. It was notably hectic with enthusiasm, which is a given with the general election around the corner. We started with laptops out, a large board for scribbling an action plan, and a table covered with maps showing districts around Plymouth, highlighted to mark areas that have been visited. We spoke about the campaign at length. I spent time with TUSC candidate Alix Moore, an ex-Militant member, now Socialist Party member. Alix and I went door to door speaking with locals—all very lovely and fed-up people due to the current political climate. Concerns around the NHS, schooling, stagnating wages, and sky-high rent were prevalent, and these are all issues TUSC aims to address with rent caps, a £15 minimum wage, and restructuring and funding of public services, to mention a few.

Alix and I busily made our way to a union conference where we listened intently to the issues of our rail workers. Alix then gave a great speech and gained the support of the union. We had a cheeky beer before heading off to the Plymouth branch members' meeting held at a lovely live music bar in an industrial corner of Plymouth. The branch Secretary gave a heartfelt speech about UK housing and how it's failing us—which it is.

The next day, I woke up at the home of a very kind-hearted comrade who had given me his sofa for the night, where I slept off the bustling of the previous day. But that wasn't the end. We set off to Exeter at 11 to set up a stand to sell our papers and speak with shoppers and workers alike. Though there for only an hour, we had very insightful chats with Exeter's residents and received kind-hearted donations.

The working class of the South West is crying out for an alternative to the current situation and what lies ahead after the election. I sincerely ask that my comrades stand up, join the fight, and be active members of your branch and the wider party. This is what mobilization is about and this is our fight!

In solidarity,

Squid.

With the general election less than a month away Starmer remains on course for Downing Street. “Things can maybe get a bit better”, was how the Economist magazine summed up its very faint hopes in the incoming Labour government. Millions of people who, on 4 July, will grit their teeth and vote Labour feel the same, but for very different reasons to the pro-capitalist, neoliberal Economist.

Credit to @[email protected] for posting in a comment section of another community.

A visual scrolling graph demonstrating wealth in america.

This graph can acts as a great example, easily deployable and any sensible person will see the absolute ludicrously that is often misunderstood. I hope anyone out in the field can find utility in this.

Solidarity.

Polluting for profit

But why should anyone expect anything different? After all, these privatised companies are simply doing what they are in business to do – reward their shareholders.