The first Northern weekend school was held on the 12th-14th September, organised by Yorkshire supporters of Socialist Appeal. The school took place in Saddleworth, on the edge of the Peak District National Park. The theme of the school was "The Class, the Party and the Leadership". The weekend proved tremendously successful, both in terms of political education and bringing together socialists in the movement and young activists.

With the beginning of the 2008/09 academic year fast approaching, students will soon be settling in to the realities of student life. For new students this means at some point they’ve made a choice: between studying away from home on the one hand and continuing to live with their parents on the other. Almost a third of students choose the latter option. This often means a long commute to a university chosen on the basis of its location instead of its merits – but at least these students have the security of a roof over their head. For those who have chosen to study away from home, often unaware of the true cost of student life, this means moving in to student accommodation and an ongoing struggle against poverty, unscrupulous landlords and, more often than not, appalling living conditions.

Join us for a picket of the US embassy and public meeting on Wednesday, September 17, in London to defend the Bolivian and Venezuelan revolutions! Download and print off this A4 leaflet and distribute it as widely as possible.

Even the bourgeois press has admitted that the sudden shift in world economic fortunes has brought Marxism ‘back from the dead’ – the Sunday Times ran an article last week under the title ‘The credit crunch is bringing Marxism back into fashion’. From our perspective, Marxism is not a fashion or a strange breed of animal, as the bourgeoisie like to kid themselves, but the only answer to today’s problems. And as the deep crisis of world capitalism comes more and more to the surface, more and more people will seek our ideas. This was shown by the turnout of more than 30 at ULU Marxist Society and Socialist Appeal’s Marxist Day School on Saturday 12th July.