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On
the 21st of January 10 school students from all around Edinburgh
attended the first meeting of the ESSU (Edinburgh School Students’ Union). The
meeting was billed under the title “Why we need a Union” and was attended by
students from three different high schools.
There has been an explosion of anger among young people all over
Europe. This anger is directed at hardline neoliberal policies aimed at
privatising education and casualising youth employment. In a word they
have been designed to make young people bear the burden of capitalism.
The youth have been fighting back. This inspiring movement recalls
memories of the pan-European movement of 1968. It could be bigger and
more significant, as it coincides with a reawakening of the organised
working class in the teeth of the crisis of capitalism.
Last
week, Leeds University played host to In Defence of Marxism
editor Alan Woods, speaking on the subject of the Venezuelan
revolution and the impact of the recent regional and municipal
elections. Organised by the International Affairs Forum, whose
previous speakers include such well-known establishment figures as Hillary
Benn and Geoff Hoon, the meeting drew a large and lively crowd (over
50 were in attendance).
On Wednesday 19th November UEA’s Socialist Society hosted a joint meeting
with the UEA Green Party. The meeting took the form of a debate between Norwich
City Councillor Rupert Read (Green Party) and Fred Weston on the important
issue of the food crisis. The question of whether the crisis is one of
production or distribution was the starting point of the debate, enabling the
speakers to explain their perspective on the cause of the crisis and
ultimately, their proposed solutions.
On Saturday 8th November, in celebration of the
91st anniversary of the Russian Revolution, students of ULU’s Marxist Society
organised a Lenin tour of London. The tour, led by Rob Sewell, provided a
unique insight into some of the places both Lenin and his life long partner and
comrade Nadezhda Krupskaya lived
and where they worked to build the Russian Marxist movement, destined to lead
the Russian working class and peasantry to victory in 1917.
As water approaches boiling point more and more atoms fly off the
surface. The same process can be observed in society. A revolution is
where the majority actively enters the stage of history and challenges
for political power. But long before society undergoes a revolutionary
transformation advanced layers of the working class, and in particular
young people, 'fly off the surface' and begin to draw revolutionary
conclusions for themselves.
Nottingham Trent University has declared war on the University and
College Union (UCU). On 4 July 2008 the university wrote to UCU and
said it was aware that it should give nine months' notice, but had
decided to terminate the agreement to recognise the union on 4 October
2008.
A successful ‘Marx in London’ tour was organised last
Saturday by ULU Marxists as part of its activities in promoting the ideas of
Marxism. About 20 students came on the tour to see the sights where Marx
worked, lived and drank in London. Rob Sewell introduced the tour with an account of Marx’s
life and times.
Following the government’s £50 billion plus handout to the
banks and city gents, they are now short of cash. We can all expect to be
forced to pay for this through higher taxes and cuts in government services,
with the money from the taxes used to fund the millionaires’ bailout. For
students going to university this has begun sooner than expected.
Why should students
fight for socialism? The dominance of the market on all aspects of life is
crushing students and threatening the public nature of our education system.
This was a huge conquest of the working class against capital. Since the
government has been opening up education and student life to the market, the
crisis of capitalism will inevitably affect education. Of course, students now
have to take out loans, sucking them into debt and tying them up with the
credit system.
Supporters of Hands Off Venezuela intervened at the University of
Sussex's freshers fair on 1st October. Sussex holds a long standing
anti-capitalist tradition which was reflected the enthusiasm of
students for the HOV stall.
Supporters of Hands off Venezuela at Leeds
University intervened during the week long freshers’ fair at Leeds University
Union to promote solidarity between students here in Leeds and the workers and
youth in Venezuela who are struggling to create a new society based on
socialist principles. There was a great deal of interest in the university’s
HOV society and the programme of events that the comrades have lined up. The
society managed to sign up 13 members and collected more than 50 contact details
as well as selling books, pamphlets and HOV magazines.
Yesterday Socialist Appeal editor Mick Brooks spoke to an audience of
40 at the ULU Marxist Society in London. Mick outlined the major
developments of the economy in the last five years. He explained the
reasons for the credit crunch and the collapse of major banks in the
last few weeks.
Supporters of the Hands Off Venezuela
Campaign in Edinburgh held a stall at the two day long Societies’ Fair at
Edinburgh University.
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