Britain
Belhaj case lifts the veil on Britain’s dirty wars for regime change: Part one
By Jean Shaoul, 19 June 2018
The purpose of the deal between the UK government and Belhaj was to prevent any further embarrassing disclosures about the government’s collusion with Islamist forces at home and abroad.
UK residents demand release of Julian Assange, support international vigils
By our reporters, 19 June 2018
Leading up to today’s vigil at the Ecuador Embassy in London, the SEP in Britain has been contacted with messages of support, demanding freedom for WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange.
Grenfell Fire Forum endorses vigils to demand freedom for Julian Assange
By our reporters, 18 June 2018
The Grenfell Fire Forum met just three days after commemorations to mark the first anniversary of the inferno.
SEP (UK) meetings on war and censorship: “War preparations are powered by lies”
By Julie Hyland, 18 June 2018
Socialist Equality Party (UK) Assistant National Secretary Julie Hyland addressed recent public meetings in England, Scotland and Ireland titled “War, lies and censorship: For the building of a socialist anti-war movement.”
Thousands gather to mark first anniversary of Grenfell Tower inferno
By Robert Stevens, 16 June 2018
SEP campaigners won a warm response to the WSWS Perspective on the anniversary of the fire, distributed along with a statement calling for attendance at the June 19 vigil to demand the freedom of Julian Assange.
Grenfell Silent Marchers speak
“I have woken up to the fact that class war still exists, it’s alive and kicking”
By our reporters, 16 June 2018
Attendees at the Silent March on June 14 in commemoration of Grenfell fire victims spoke to the WSWS.
British government extends censorship of online activity
By Simon Whelan, 16 June 2018
The personal information held by MI5 on 20,000 British “suspected” citizens is to be declassified and shared with local authorities, police “and others.”
Brexit crisis intensifies as “Remain” Tories reject bogus compromise on parliament having “meaningful vote”
By Chris Marsden, 15 June 2018
Divisions within the Tories were matched by those in Labour, as 90 Labour MPs rebelled against leader Jeremy Corbyn.
London Review of Books publishes scurrilous account of Grenfell Tower fire
By Alice Summers, 15 June 2018
The Tower was written by Andrew O’Hagan, the same individual who did a hatchet job on Julian Assange’s life in 2011.
One year since the Grenfell inferno
By Statement of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), 14 June 2018
The refusal of the ruling elite to pursue the real criminals guilty of the Grenfell atrocity is in stark contrast to their determination to silence anyone fighting to establish the truth about events.
Professor Piers Robinson demands freedom for Julian Assange
14 June 2018
A leading member of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media and of the Media on Trial organisation, Robinson has opposed regime change wars in the Balkans and the Middle East
Thousands of jobs to go as UK retail chains rationalise operations
By Barry Mason, 13 June 2018
The latest threats to retail jobs come on top of mounting closures and retrenchments in the retail and food industry.
The Guardian mounts defence of British government lies over Skripals
By Jean Shaoul, 12 June 2018
The Guardian is acutely aware of the widespread and entirely healthy scepticism towards anything the government says on the Skripal case.
Sheila Coombes, Professor Tim Hayward and journalist Vanessa Beeley demand freedom for Julian Assange
By our reporters, 11 June 2018
Three prominent individuals associated with the Media on Trial group have sent statements to the World Socialist Web Site supporting the campaign to free Julian Assange.
Brexit constitutional stand-off reaches UK Supreme Court
By Steve James, 9 June 2018
The escalation of tensions risks becoming a conflict not only between England, Scotland and Wales, but between London and Brussels.
Police to investigate London Fire Brigade over Grenfell fire: The real criminals remain at large
By Paul Bond, 9 June 2018
The announcement is part of a cover-up by the authorities, aimed at shifting responsibility away from those responsible for the disaster onto those who attempted to stop the blaze—the firefighters.
Grenfell Tower inferno: Experts’ reports highlight “culture of non-compliance” on fire safety
By Paul Bond, 8 June 2018
Manufacturer Arconic, which produced the Reynobond PE panels used at Grenfell Tower, accepted that the cladding “was not of limited combustibility,” and that this “should have been obvious to any construction professional.”
Oxford Union debating society threatened with legal action over censoring criticism of CIA
By Thomas Scripps, 7 June 2018
The February 27 event is not being censored on legal grounds or on the basis that “sensitive information” has been revealed, but because it is deemed necessary to suppress critical opposition to the US security apparatus and its activities.
UK: Students protest cuts to mental health services and increase in youth suicide rate
By Thomas Scripps, 6 June 2018
As of 2017, one in four adults in the UK each year could expect to suffer some form of mental illness; three quarters of these begin before a person reaches his or her 18th birthday.
“My mum and my sister were murdered and cremated on 14 June last year”
UK: Final tributes to victims of Grenfell fire denounce corporate and political elite
By Robert Stevens, 5 June 2018
Testimony has repeatedly included denunciations of the ruling elite for the social murder that claimed at least 72 lives last June 14.
Lift the ban on communications! Free Julian Assange!
By James Cogan, 4 June 2018
The American state and its allies are seeking to destroy WikiLeaks and Julian Assange in order to intimidate every critical and independent media organisation.
UK: Grenfell victims’ relatives unable to commemorate loved-ones due to government anti-immigration policies
By Simon Whelan, 4 June 2018
Government policies bringing about heartache for Grenfell relatives are having the very impact the government desired—making it more difficult for them to testify at the public inquiry.
Far right promotes UK fascist Tommy Robinson as free-speech “martyr”
By Laura Tiernan, 2 June 2018
Robinson’s media stunt is an attempt on his part to stake a leading role in an ongoing recruitment of Britain’s far-right.
YouTube removes “drill” music videos at request of London’s Metropolitan Police
By Robert Stevens, 1 June 2018
On the basis of a few isolated cases, an entire musical genre is being targeted on the basis that it is responsible for what is described as a “surge” in knife crime in London.
“Government propaganda and the war on terror from 9/11 to Syria”
Journalists and academics expose UK’s criminal actions in the Middle East
By Julie Hyland, 31 May 2018
Despite media smears and government censorship, Media on Trial held an important and successful event exposing the connection between press propaganda and government warmongering.
The working class must mobilize to free Julian Assange!
By Andre Damon, 30 May 2018
The demand for the freedom of Julian Assange must be connected to the developing international movement of workers against inequality, oppression and exploitation.
Oxford Union panel speaker Heather Marsh confirms debate was censored to protect CIA
By Zach Reed, 30 May 2018
It appears that reference to the CIA as an “organized crime syndicate,” and listing a portion of its crimes, were grounds for censorship.
“I don’t think Assange will be forgiven by our rulers because he educated the world”
Join the June 19 London vigil demanding freedom for Julian Assange!
By Robert Stevens, 30 May 2018
Emmy Butlin of the Julian Assange Defence Committee said: “Individual contributions are great, but we change society as a group, acting together.”
Relatives’ tributes at Grenfell Tower Inquiry blame government for deaths
By Robert Stevens, 29 May 2018
Family members frequently broke down as they remembered their loved ones in moving and emotional scenes.
For international action to defend Julian Assange!
By The ICFI and WSWS international editorial board, 28 May 2018
The June 17 demonstration in Sydney will demand that the Australian government immediately act to secure Assange’s unconditional freedom and return to Australia.
UK plans deployment of hundreds more troops as part of US-led Afghan build-up
By Barry Mason, 26 May 2018
The US-led war, now in its seventeenth year, has resulted in catastrophe. It has cost at least £40 billion, with 450 UK armed forces personnel killed and tens of thousands left wounded, ill or psychologically damaged.
UK: Nearly half a million young people not in receipt of minimal state support
By Joe Mount, 26 May 2018
Many youth struggle to access Job Centre services due to lack of proper documentation or other bureaucratic hurdles. Others lack a bank account, internet access or sufficient literacy. Others are carers for older relatives.
War, propaganda and smears: An interview with Professor Piers Robinson
Part three
By Julie Hyland, 26 May 2018
The following is the third part of a three-part interview with Professor Piers Robinson, an academic at the University of Sheffield and a member of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media.
Julian Assange “in jeopardy” of being forced into UK and US detention
By Mike Head, 25 May 2018
Reports allege that the WikiLeaks founder could be removed from Ecuador’s London embassy “any day now.”
A curious incident involving the Oxford Union’s Whistleblowing Panel
By Zach Reed, 25 May 2018
According to an anonymous submission to the World Socialist Web Site, a “Whistleblowing Panel” event at the Oxford Union has been censored, with no account of the meeting made available and no transcripts or a video published of it as is standard.
War, propaganda and smears: An interview with Professor Piers Robinson
Part two
By Julie Hyland, 25 May 2018
The following is the second part of a three-part interview with Professor Piers Robinson, an academic at the University of Sheffield and a member of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media. Part one was posted on May 24.
Testimony to Grenfell Fire inquiry paints devastating picture of social murder
By Robert Stevens, 24 May 2018
The inquiry heard from Hisam Choucair, who lost six members of his family in the inferno and Karim Mussilhy, who lost his uncle, Hesham Rahman.
Grenfell Tower fire: BBC Panorama reveals corporate criminality
By Paul Bond, 24 May 2018
Investigator Richard Bilton says, “We have been advised that the company’s behaviour could amount to corporate manslaughter.”
War, propaganda and smears: An interview with Professor Piers Robinson
Part one
By Julie Hyland, 24 May 2018
The following is the first part of a three-part interview with Professor Piers Robinson, an academic at the University of Sheffield and a member of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media.
Ken Livingstone forced out of British Labour Party
By Thomas Scripps and Chris Marsden, 23 May 2018
The witch-hunt and expulsions within Labour will be held up as an example to follow by right-wing forces all over the world, above all in Israel and the United States.
Members of Windrush generation speak out against UK government persecution
By Margot Miller, 23 May 2018
Governments of all persuasions have deliberately cultivated a climate of fear and intimidation against immigrants.
Sunday Times Rich List: Wealth of Britain’s richest grew 10 percent
By Simon Whelan, 22 May 2018
In the same year that 72 people were killed in London’s Grenfell Tower inferno due to cost-cutting, the city’s wealthiest residents became even richer.
Two Britains: The Grenfell inquiry and the royal wedding
By Thomas Scripps, 22 May 2018
Not a single national newspaper deemed the opening of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry worthy of a position on their front page. Instead, they continued to obsess over the minutiae of the weekend’s royal wedding.
Sergei Skripal discharged from hospital
By Robert Stevens and Paul Bond, 21 May 2018
The entire narrative concocted by the British government has fallen apart, seam by seam.
Report exposes UK role in Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen
By Barry Mason, 21 May 2018
The US, UK and other western countries have supported the Saudi intervention. Like Saudi Arabia, they regard the war against the Houthis as a proxy conflict with Iran.
Wealth-X report shows billionaires gained $1.8 trillion in 2017
By Eric London, 21 May 2018
The social needs of the working class can be met and its democratic rights defended only by expropriating the wealth of the super-rich.
Britain’s royal wedding: Recasting the monarchy in the age of identity politics
By Paul Mitchell, 19 May 2018
Markle’s feminism and racial identity provide the basis for the ultimate post-modernist makeover of the monarchy.
Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung fuels the campaign against Julian Assange
By Peter Schwarz, 18 May 2018
The German daily has joined the campaign to justify handing over the WikiLeaks founder to British and American authorities.
UK: Tories seek to defuse anger over Grenfell fire ahead of official public inquiry
By Robert Stevens, 18 May 2018
The claim by the government, backed by Labour, that adding two panel members to the Grenfell fire inquiry will prevent a whitewash is false.
New Statesman’s Paul Mason advocates for regime change in Russia
By Thomas Scripps, 18 May 2018
Writing in his New Statesman article, Paul Mason parrots the predatory agenda of British and American imperialism against Russia.
The terrible effects on children of Labour’s austerity measures in Bristol
By Mark Blackwood, 17 May 2018
Recent figures reveal that half of all children living in the Lawrence Hill area are struggling just to eat.
Conspiracy emerges to push Julian Assange into British and US hands
By Mike Head, 16 May 2018
The Guardian has instigated a foul campaign to justify Ecuador forcing Assange to leave its embassy.
The massacre in Gaza and imperialist war policy
By Andre Damon, 16 May 2018
The defense by the imperialist powers of Israel’s murder of over 60 Palestinian demonstrators Monday makes clear that they have adopted the mass killing of unarmed civilians as a legitimate policy tool.
London demonstration underscores decline of Trades Union Congress
By Robert Stevens, 16 May 2018
Saturday’s demonstration amounted to a damage-control operation, as the trade union bureaucracy, Corbyn and their pseudo-left cheerleaders attempted to buttress the flagging authority of the unions.
Military coup against a Corbyn Labour government discussed by Daily Telegraph
By Robert Stevens, 15 May 2018
That a military coup is again under serious consideration puts paid to the illusions assiduously cultivated by Corbyn and his apologists that a Labour government led by him will inaugurate a new period of reforms.
Ecuador hints it may hand over Julian Assange to Britain and the US
By James Cogan, 12 May 2018
There is almost universal and reprehensible silence on the part of organisations and individuals that once claimed to defend Assange and WikiLeaks.
Claire Kober: From Labour leader of London’s Haringey Council to property developer
By Paul Bond, 12 May 2018
The evolution of Claire Kober shows that Labour’s enthusiastic embrace of privatisation is the basis for lucrative careers for Labour politicians once they leave elected office.
The death of reformism: Corbyn and the “broad left”
By Chris Marsden, 11 May 2018
The following speech was delivered by Chris Marsden, national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), the British section of the International Committee of the Fourth International, for the past 20 years.
House of Lords Brexit revolt hits Conservatives and Labour
By Paul Mitchell, 10 May 2018
Theresa May’s Conservative government suffered another defeat in the House of Lords on Tuesday, as peers voted for an amendment to the European Union withdrawal bill.
Labour’s John McDonnell mounts Stalinist platform to misrepresent Marx
By Thomas Scripps, 10 May 2018
Labour’s John McDonnell is very aware that the political temper of workers and young people to whom Jeremy Corbyn is appealing is militant, anti-austerity and often anti-capitalist.
Jeremy Corbyn silent on persecution of Julian Assange
By Laura Tiernan, 9 May 2018
It is more than two years since a United Nations human rights panel ruled that Assange’s persecution by the Swedish and British governments amounts to “arbitrary detention” and a violation of international law.
Sunday Times Insight team: Propagandists for Internet censorship and war
By Steve James and Laura Tiernan, 7 May 2018
The Sunday Times feature, published April 29, purports to show that Russian Twitter bots tried to “swing” the 2017 general election for Jeremy Corbyn.
UK: Labour-controlled Leeds City Council censors conference questioning official Syria narrative
By Julie Hyland, 7 May 2018
The council’s actions amount to blatant censorship, in line with government and media efforts to silence opposition to their regime-change policy.
Local elections confirm growing class polarisation in UK
By Paul Mitchell, 5 May 2018
Polling took place in around 4,300 council seats across England in the first electoral test since last year’s general election.
Belgian prime minister smears filmmaker Ken Loach as “anti-Semitic”
By Paul Bond, 4 May 2018
The pro-austerity premier’s slur demonstrates how baseless charges of anti-Semitism are being used to attack any form of social protest or comment.
Food factories closing across Britain
By Steve James, 3 May 2018
The looming mass layoffs expose the bankruptcy of all the mainstream parties and trade unions claiming to speak for the factory workers.
Artists on the Tate Modern’s David King exhibition, Red Star over Russia: “In essence the exhibition was anti-Trotsky”
By our reporters, 3 May 2018
The Tate Modern in London held an exhibition, Red Star Over Russia: A Revolution in Visual Culture 1905-55, from November 8, 2017 to February 18, 2018. The show used items from the David King collection, but adopted a hostile stance toward the October Revolution.
UK media told to conceal connections between Sergei Skripal and MI6
By Thomas Scripps, 2 May 2018
A former UK ambassador has published evidence suggesting that a “D-notice” has been issued to the press—a request to stop the publication of potentially damaging news stories.
UK: Rudd resigns as home secretary after lying to Parliament over migrant deportation targets
By Thomas Scripps, 1 May 2018
The “hostile environment” at the Home Office was never previously challenged by its belated critics.
Fate of London Stadium epitomises toxic “Olympic Legacy”
Part two
By Paul Bond, 1 May 2018
The former Olympic Stadium, which has already cost taxpayers more than £750 million, represents a legacy of corporate venality, corruption and graft.
Fate of London Stadium epitomises toxic “Olympic legacy”
Part one
By Paul Bond, 30 April 2018
The former Olympic Stadium, which has already cost taxpayers more than £750 million, has left a legacy of corporate venality, corruption and graft.
Bogus “Labour anti-Semitism” campaign secures expulsion of leading activist Marc Wadsworth
By Chris Marsden, 30 April 2018
Wadsworth has been subjected to a two-year campaign of denigration by the Labour Party’s right-wing and the media on the most transparent pretext imaginable
UK universities being integrated into military-security apparatus
By Thomas Scripps, 28 April 2018
In addition to commercial relations with the military-industrial complex, universities are working closely with the armed forces to provide education and recruitment opportunities.
UK: Brexit divisions threaten government defeat
By Chris Marsden, 28 April 2018
The prime minister is under pressure from both sides of her party to clarify her position on the customs union, the mechanism allowing goods to be transported tariff-free between European Union member states.
Thousands of UK auto jobs to go
By Margot Miller, 27 April 2018
Nissan’s sales in the UK have dropped by a third so far this year, and its exports to Europe are also falling, from 75,000 in March compared with 91,000 in the same month last year.
Corbyn urges St. George’s Day national holiday
By Julie Hyland, 26 April 2018
The demand for Labour to champion an English national identity has long been promoted by sections of the party’s right wing under the banner, “Flag, faith and family.”
UK government’s persecution of Caribbean workers the tip of an iceberg
By Paul Mitchell, 26 April 2018
In 2016, almost 40,000 people were removed from the UK or classified as “departing voluntarily” after having received threatening letters.
UK: May government declares against customs union as Brexit crisis intensifies
By Robert Stevens, 25 April 2018
Support for the customs union from a sizable cross-party faction is a stalking horse aimed at ensuring the UK remains in the Single Market and possibly reversing Brexit entirely.
Tory-Blairite gangup in witch hunt over alleged UK Labour anti-Semitism
By Jean Shaoul, 24 April 2018
The debate in the House of Commons on anti-Semitism was planned as a co-ordinated attack on Corbyn by Labour’s right wing in alliance with the Conservative government
London residents speak out on Grenfell fire
By our reporters, 24 April 2018
Ten months since the inferno that killed at least 72 people at a housing tower in London, no one has been held accountable.
The CIA Democrats vs. Julian Assange
By Patrick Martin, 23 April 2018
The lawsuit filed by the Democratic National Committee is an attack on the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech and the press.
Skripal case developments further discredit British government lies
By Simon Whelan, 23 April 2018
As the UK government’s lies over the Skripal affair continue to unravel, Moscow has accused it of yet “another gross violation” of international rules.
British Commonwealth summit sees line up against China and Russia
By Mike Head, 23 April 2018
The CHOGM gathering saw a concerted drive to transform the 53-member grouping, long regarded as an imperial relic, into a confrontational vehicle.
Tragic killings of teenagers in London used to urge greater police powers
By Paul Mitchell, 21 April 2018
A major reason for the ramped-up law-and-order campaign is next month’s local elections, with the Conservatives so hated—particularly after the Grenfell Tower tragedy—that they face a wipe-out.
Britain’s Stop the War Coalition: Tying the working class to the pro-war Labour Party
By Chris Marsden, 21 April 2018
The building of a genuine anti-war movement can only proceed through a ruthless exposure of Labour’s apologists.
UK: Report by building research firm reveals scale of criminality that led to Grenfell fire
By Barry Mason, 20 April 2018
No one has been brought to justice for last June’s fire, but a report by a building research body makes clear there is ample evidence to allow for immediate arrests and charging to proceed.
Nearly 30,000 single-parent families made homeless in England in 2017
By Dennis Moore, 20 April 2018
Last year, one third of single parents were affected by welfare cuts, while 39 percent are struggling in low-paid, often insecure work.
Murdoch’s Times witch-hunts academics for questioning UK government’s Syria lies
By Julie Hyland, 19 April 2018
Under conditions where the imperialist powers are dragging humanity towards a third world war, the ruling elites can no longer countenance critical opinion.
UK government’s racist targeting of Caribbean migrants provokes backlash
By Robert Stevens and Thomas Scripps, 19 April 2018
The tightening of immigration legislation was in line with a policy of creating, in Prime Minister May’s words, a “really hostile environment” for “illegal” immigrants.
UK government rejects Corbyn’s demand for parliament to vote on war
By Chris Marsden, 18 April 2018
Amid mass anti-war sentiment, Jeremy Corbyn is seeking to prop up the tattered reputation of the Labour Party by claiming that it can serve as a check on the May government.
Protesters in Britain speak out against air strikes in Syria
By our reporters, 18 April 2018
The World Socialist Web Site spoke to protesters in London and Bristol.
University and College Union sells out UK lecturers strike
By Robert Stevens, 18 April 2018
It was to demobilise opposition to its rotten deal with the employers that the UCU cut the number of universities due to walk out this week, before suspending strike action altogether
UK: Labour right lines up with government over Syria bombing
By Chris Marsden, 17 April 2018
Yesterday May faced widespread criticism, but largely for having failed to recall Parliament rather than any substantive opposition to the illegal action taken by the US, France and the UK.
Anti-academy schools protests in UK curtailed by trade unions
By Tom Pearce, 17 April 2018
Any strikes called by the teaching unions, as a way of maintaining control over the anger of staff at the consequences of becoming academies, are being confined to a few single schools.
“I feel repulsed and outraged about last night’s attack on Syria—it was completely unnecessary”
UK workers oppose drive to war
By our reporters, 16 April 2018
Anti-war protester: “There should have been a referendum on whether to go to war! They are asking us to go to war with no evidence.”
UK: Demands grow for May government to hold debate on Syria attack
By Robert Stevens, 16 April 2018
UK Prime Minister Theresa May is due to make a formal statement to parliament today on the Syria airstrikes, but no vote is to take place.
British government admits links to Manchester and London terror attack groups
By Jean Shaoul, 16 April 2018
The British government and security forces worked closely with terrorist organisations in Libya and Syria, allowing them back to the UK to spawn a layer of British-born jihadis.
US and imperialist allies launch strikes against Syria
By The World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board, 14 April 2018
All of the governments participating in this new onslaught are crisis-ridden and lack any electoral legitimacy.
British cabinet agrees on “action” against Syria, bypassing Parliament
By Julie Hyland, 13 April 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May convened her senior ministers with the express purpose of signing off on a major escalation in the seven-year US-led war for regime change in Syria.
UN agency fails to substantiate claims of Russian use of “military grade nerve agent” in Skripal poisoning
By Julie Hyland, 13 April 2018
The alleged attack on the Skripals, using what was described as a Novichok nerve agent, was intended as a critical element in justifying US and British war plans against Russia.
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