North Staffs Anti-Cuts Demo

On the 4th December around 100 people braved the cold to attend a demonstration in Hanley city centre against the savage cuts implemented by the Con-Dems and Stoke City council. In attendance were a number of speakers from various organisations including North Staffs TUC, Unison, Unite, Youth Fight For Jobs, PCS and NASUWT. The community group ‘Save Our NHS Buttercups Nursery was also in attendance – a campaign Stoke Socialist Party has been supporting for a number of weeks.
Speakers from all the groups attending spoke to the crowd, and all had one overriding theme – that of the need for unity between groups involved our anti-cuts campaign. Andy Bentley from Stoke Socialist party reiterated this point by stating the need for us to oppose ALL cuts rather than some, as local councils would try to divide the working-class against each other otherwise.
As well as those present being inspired and vocal, the event also received support from shoppers, and drew interest from bus drivers over the road at Hanley bus station. All this despite Stoke City council’s best efforts to limit the effectiveness of the demonstration! But the message to the council and the Con-Dems was clear – the public sector and ordinary working-class of north Staffordshire will unite and fight the cuts!

Women and the Struggle for Socialism.

On Thursday 30th September at a nondescript bar in Hanley (due to the CWU HQ being closed) several comrades met to discuss this week's branch topic 'Women and the Struggle for Socialism'. The lead-off was led by comrade Claire from London who came up to give the same lead-off at a public meeting earlier at Staffs Uni.

First off, we heard how the capitalist media today portrays a 'post-feminist society'; that is to say that women have won the major battles of the sexes and now 'have it all' in today's world. However, the facts reveal that on average women earn 15 percent less than men, and are more likely to take casual, part-time or temporary posts, and largely in the domestic sector.

What's more it is possible that 1 in 4 women will at some point experience domestic violence, and 1 in 7 will be raped.

There is also an increase in the sex industry, and the further commodification of women in advertisements.

In Engels' Origin of the Family he states that the woman's role is linked to class. The agricultural industry in older societies led to a surplus of production, meaning that men were the members who worked the land. And institutions like family protected private property.

The Industrial Revolution actually led to economic independence for women, and even under capitalism gains were made (albeit slowly) for more accepatance of women within the workplace. The NHS allowed more women to work in various sectors, and more nursery places were available to allow women more freedom in career choices. And how fitting that these are the very areas under attack by a Con-Dem government. (We later discussed the closure of a local NHS nursery in Stoke). Of course the Tories have used family breakdowns as the root of all evil and continue to attack child benefits making it even harder for women to defend the gains made in the past.

This is why as socialists we continue to fight for women's rights by fighting for a change in attitude and how society is organised. As Engels says, "Throughout most of history women's oppression did not exist, and in the future will be no more again."

After the lead-off Andy continued this theme by saying instead of sacking huge numbers of workers, share out the work for all levels of society.

Claire also reiterated the class issue by saying that working-class men don't benefit from the oppression of women, rather it is the ruling class that do. Working-class men would arguably prefer that women had more equality in the workplace to alleviate the strain of their own toil.

Another point raised was that capitalism does not recognise socially useful roles such as nursery nursing, social work and other roles associated with women as being important, hence the ease in which bosses can eradicate such services.

The overall feeling was clear - if capitalism is removed then attitudes can change as we as a society have been constantly institutionalised in our attitude to women, feminism and equality by the media and capitalism.

Wednesday · 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Location
Hope Centre, Hanley

Come down to the start of the fight back against the CON DEM cuts! Not a day passes by without Cameron and Co announcing a fresh wave of cuts in our jobs, services and benefits, the harshest in living memory.The only way we are going to stand a chance against these cuts is to build a huge campaign involving trade unions and communities to resist these cuts....organised by North Staffs Trades Union Council

Speakers TBA

I should be filming this event too.

Protest and Academies

I have recently finished editing a piece I filmed for Stoke Socialist Party. This latest video was of the emergency budget protest organised by us and the National Shop Stewards Network, along with Youth Fight For Jobs. The CWU were also in attendance. Though only a small-scale protest this was an important step in opposing the Con-Dem coalition. This will be continuing tomorrow when I will be doing a lead-off on the need to oppose Academies. Despite the publicity and speed with which these are seemingly pushed through, there are many dangers attached to academies and could see the end of state education as we know it.
CWU Building
Lindsay Street
Hanley
Stoke-on-Trent
7.30pm

Richard Hawley at the Sugarmill 30/08/07

Last night myself and a friend made our way up to Hanley to see Richard Hawley at the Sugarmill. As we arrived Andy Gower was finishing his set, and the place began to fill up in the minutes that followed.
As Hawley played I couldn't help but be amazed by the tunes - mostly 'Bacharach-esque' romanticism in 3/4. One of Britpop's original players in his 40's. A glance around the venue revealed fans in the same mould.
"I was in a band called The Longpigs, many moons ago" said Hawley. "Yes" I thought, "and I saw you in the very same venue 11 years ago. And the singer then was from round here." How much had changed in the intervening years? Didn't bear thinking about.
Anyway, Hawley and his band mates, bespectacled and adorned in suit jackets and blazers, seemed to epitomize the state of those mid-90's acts still around today. Easier listening tunes and a more lounge-like approach. The crowd seemed to have embraced this as well. No reliving old times with zip-up stripey Adidas, Fred Perry's or Campus trainers that might have filled the venue in those days. We were all united in a sort of "let's just wear whatever, and hope the gig finishes before midnight so I can go to bed" vibe. There were quite a few 'oldies' there as well. Sadly, nobody I recognised from that bygone age. If I were to hazard a guess I'd say they're probably in their own homes somewhere, perhaps putting their young kids to bed, settled in a professional routine, maybe even living further afield.
"Britpop is Dead - get over it!" one might cry. But it isn't. It's just, like us, grown old with dignity. And the current scene is all the better for it.