Join the protests and support the strikes on July 10

No ConDem cuts - No Labour cuts

Around the country firemen and teachers will be joined by hundreds of thousands of other workers in a coordinated day of strike action. Red Youth urges comrades, friends and supporters to join the demonstrations and rallies (listed below) taking place in cities and towns on Thursday.

The biggest programme of cuts and privatisation in welfare and public spending since the second world war is well underway, and starting to have serious, even fatal, consequences for ordinary people.

Slashing social provision

Suicide rates among the unemployed are climbing, councils are starting to implement the much-reviled bedroom tax, disabled people are dying as a result of losing benefits, and debt, poverty and homelessness are about to spiral massively.

Every single member of the working class can expect to be affected by this all-out attack, which will blight our lives from the cradle to the grave!

Child benefit, educational grants, family credits, pensions, and social facilities are under attack. Libraries, youth centres and even fire stations are closing down.

Education is being hammered, and private contractors have been given free rein to loot our health service, raking in massive profits at the expense of patient care.

Moreover, as social services disappear, the cost of living is going up and wages are stagnating or going down.

Unemployment and underemployment are endemic. Over 10 percent of workers, and 25 percent of young people, are unemployed, and many more can’t find work that pays enough to live on. Under crisis-ridden capitalism, our future is bleak.

 

Who is to blame?

At a time of crisis, when working people are angry at being forced into undeserved hardship, it is vitally important that we are able to ignore the divisive propaganda that offers us convenient scapegoats and look at the situation from a class perspective.

What we have today is a crisis of capitalist overproduction. Such crises are built into the system of production for profit – they are as inevitable as exploitation and war while capitalism stalks the earth.

The problem is not one of ‘limited resources’, however. Britain is home to the oldest and most cynical capitalist class, who have truly earned their global-pirate status. Our country is swimming in ill-gotten riches that have been stolen at gunpoint from Asia, Africa and Latin America, in addition to the profits sweated from British workers.

Moreover, as all wealth is the product of our work, every new worker is capable of augmenting our collective wealth and wellbeing. It is unemployment that turns potential workers into a burden; unemployment that has arisen because the capitalists have so impoverished the world’s people that it is now impossible for them to make profits by selling all the stockpiled goods back to the masses who made them.

Since the 2008 crash, ‘reckless bankers’ and their ‘excessive’ bonuses have become the targets of much anger. It is certainly easy to hate those who made so much money out of gambling with our economy, but we must be careful not to mistake a symptom for a cause.

The systemic failure of capitalism did not come about because of the greed of a few ‘rogue traders’, no matter how cynical, amoral, and sociopathic they might be. In the last analysis, they are merely the ‘personification of capital’, doing what the system requires and rewards.

Regulation could not have prevented the crash. ‘Sensible, regulated banking practices’ inevitably lead to fevered speculation as production outstrips consumption and markets contract. There is no such thing as sane, sensible capitalism; no such thing as capitalism without crisis and collapse!

 

What is to be done?

Our rulers have made it clear what their plan is: they hope to pass the burden of their latest crisis onto the backs of working people through austerity and war, saving their fortunes and their system at our expense. They do not care what catastrophic effects their self-preservation strategies have on the planet or the masses of humanity.

It is time for Britain’s workers to make an alternative plan. The career politicians of the big parties have proven to be servants of the rich. Asking a Tory, LibDem or Labour MP to take care of the workers is about as sensible as asking a crocodile to look after a zebra.

If we want to stop this assault, we must stop expecting the minions of the capitalist state to deliver justice and get organised to claim what is rightfully ours.

 

We are many and they are few

Step one is defence. Our streets and estates should be no-go zones for bailiffs! We should oppose repossessions and evictions by physically protecting each other’s homes.

And communities need to join with put-upon care workers and teachers to do whatever it takes to kick PFI and privateers out of our schools and hospitals. Decent education and health care are incompatible with private enterprise! We must demand the abolition of fees and the reintroduction of grants for students of all ages.

Similarly, if a library or fire station is closing down, we should join with staff and do whatever it takes to keep facilities open – running them ourselves if necessary.

Workers’ organisations should be repossessing Britain’s one million empty houses and distributing them to the homeless. We need to appropriate surplus food stocks and distribute them to the hungry, and we need to switch on the energy for those who are facing another winter without heating.

Workers have the creative energy to make the attacks of the capitalists totally unworkable. We urgently need an organisation that will inspire and coordinate a truly mass popular resistance against cuts and austerity.

What we don’t need is yet another talking shop run by the same Labour-affiliated careerists who have been diverting and demoralising British workers for decades – not stopping the war, not stopping redundancies, not stopping privatisation and not defending the NHS.

After decades of calling for mindless, tame and fruitless ‘activity’ – dead-end lobbying of MPs, futile court cases, tokenistic demonstrations and endless petition-writing – the placemen who pretend to ‘lead’ our movement need to be given the boot!

Step two is offence. Defending ourselves against austerity won’t change the fact that the country is spiralling into crisis at home and conflict abroad.

If we want to give our children a future free from debt, homelessness, poverty, unemployment, hunger, disease and war, we need to get rid of the parasites who are bleeding us all dry and take the whole British economy into our own hands.

Socialist planning is the only alternative to capitalist anarchy – and the only way to ensure a decent future for all working people. It is time we forged a movement, organisation and leadership bold enough to put the concrete demands of workers back on the agenda.

Join us in this struggle to build a better future – for Britain and for the world!

List of rallies taken from http://uniteresist.org/2014/07/6202/

Region Location Assembly time Assembly Point Rally time Rally
Eastern Bedford Borough 10:00am Bedford Congress Hall
Horne Lane
Bedford
MK40 1NY
10:00am The Salvation Army Bedford Congress Hall
Horne Lane
Bedford
MK40 1NY
Cambridgeshire 10:30am Parkers Piece
Parkside
Cambridge
CB1 1JF
12:30pm Parkers Piece Parkside
Cambridge
CB1 1JF
Essex 11:30am Opposite Shire Hall
High Street
Chelmsford
CM1 1PE
12:30pm Essex Cricket Ground
Writtle Street
Chelmsford
CM2 0PG
Luton 11.00am Manor Park
Manor Road
Luton
LU1 3HG
12.00 pm Market Hill
George Street
Luton
LU1 2SZ
Norfolk 11:45am Chapelfield Gardens Chapelfield
Norwich
NR1 3SH
12.00 pm The bandstand Chapelfield Gardens
Norwich
NR1 3SH
Northamptonshire 11.00am Northamptonshire Becketts Park
Bedford Road
Northampton
NN1 1DR
12.00 pm All Saints Church
Plaza
George Row
Northampton
NN1 1DF
Suffolk 11.00am Giles Statue
Giles Circus
Ipswich
PR1 2NN
11:45am Giles Statue
Giles Circus
Ipswich
IP1 1SW
London London 11.30am outside BBC Broadcasting House
Portland Place
London
W1A 1AA
1.00pm Trafalgar Square London
WC2N 5DN
Wandsworth 10.00am Cafe Nero
20 St John’s Hill
London
SW11 1SA
11.30am outside BBC Broadcasting House
Portland Place
London
W1A 1AA
Wandsworth 10.00am Nightingale Cafe
Balham High Road
London
SW12 9BE
11.30am outside BBC Broadcasting House
Portland Place
London
W1A 1AA
Midlands Coventry 09:30am Broadgate City Centre
Coventry
CV1 1NG
10:00am Broadgate City Centre
Coventry
CV1 1NG
Midlands 11:30am Council House
Victoria Square Birmingham
B1 1BD
11:45am Victoria Square Birmingham
B1 1BD
Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent 12:00pm Outside Civic Centre
Kingsway
Stoke upon Trent
ST4 1HL
12:30pm Outside Civic Centre
Kingsway
Stoke upon Trent
ST4 1HL
North West Lancashire 11.00am

The Assembly Pub
32 Lune Street
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2NN

12.00 pm

Flag Market Cheapside
Preston
PR1 3NU

Liverpool tbc Pierhead
City Centre
Liverpool
L3 1BW
tbc St George’s Hall Plateau
St George’s Place
Liverpool
L1 1JJ
Manchester No march – rally only No march – rally only 12:30pm Piccadilly Gardens
City Centre
Manchester
M1 1AF
Northern Northern Region tbc Laing Art Gallery
New Bridge Street
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8AG
tbc Laing Art Gallery
New Bridge Street
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8AG
North Tyneside 09:00am Tynemouth outside King’s Priory School
Huntingdon Place
Tynemouth
NE30 4RF
09:00am Area outside Kings Priory School
Huntingdon Place
Tynemouth
NE30 4RF
North Yorkshire 12:00pm Clifford’s Tower Tower Street
York
YO1
1.00pm St Sampson’s Square
York
YO1 8RN
Redcar and Cleveland tbc Laing Art Gallery
New Bridge Street
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8AG
tbc Laing Art Gallery
New Bridge Street
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8AG
Sunderland tbc Laing Art Gallery
New Bridge Street
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8AG
tbc Laing Art Gallery
New Bridge Street
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8AG
South East Brighton and Hove / East Sussex 10:30am Norton Road
Hove
BN3 4AHORHollingdean Depot
Upper Hollingdean Road
BN1 7GA
12.00pm The Level
Union Road
Brighton 
BN2 3HD
Hampshire Associations 11:30am outside BBC Broadcasting House
Portland Place
London
W1A 1AA
1.00pm Trafalgar Square
London
WC2N 5DN
Isle of Wight 11:00am County Hall High St. Newport
Isle of Wight
PO30 1UD
11:00am County Hall High St. Newport
Isle of Wight
PO30 1UD
Kent 11:30am outside BBC Broadcasting House
Portland Place
London
W1A 1AA
1.00pm Trafalgar Square
London
WC2N 5DN
Oxfordshire 11:30am outside BBC Broadcasting House
Portland Place
London
W1A 1AA
1.00pm Trafalgar Square London
WC2N 5DN
Portsmouth 10.30am Portsmouth Guildhall
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth 
PO1 2AB

 

12.30pm Portsmouth Guildhall
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth 
PO1 2AB
Slough 11:30am outside BBC Broadcasting House
Portland Place
London
W1A 1AA
1.00pm Trafalgar Square
London
WC2N 5DN
Surrey 11:30am Hove Town Hall
Norton Road
Hove
BN3 4AH
12.30pm The Level
Union Road
Brighton
BN2 3FX
West Sussex 11:30am Hove Town Hall
Norton Road
Hove 
BN3 4AH
12.30pm The Level
Union Road
Brighton
BN2 3FX
Windsor and Maidenhead 11:30am outside BBC Broadcasting House
Portland Place
London
W1A 1AA
1.00pm Trafalgar Square
London
WC2N 5DN
South West Bristol 10:30am College Green
BS1 5TR
11:00am College Green
BS1 5TR
Torbay & Devon 10:45am Belmont Park
Belmont Road
Exeter
EX4 6SS
11:30am Bedford Square
High Street
Exeter
EX1 1LR
Wiltshire 10.30am In front of County Hall
Bythesea Road
Trowbridge
BA14 8JB
In front of County Hall
Bythesea Road
Trowbridge
BA14 8JB
Wales Cardiff 10:30am No march 10:30am Temple of Peace King Edward VII Avenue Cardiff
CF10 3AP
Carmarthenshire 12:00pm No march 12:00pm Notts Square Carmarthen
SA31 1PG
Gwynedd 11:30am High Street end
Farrar Road
Bangor
LL57 1NR
11:30am Clock Tower
Plas Llwyd Terrace
Bangor
LL57 1RT
Merthyr Tydfil No march Civic Centre
Castle Street
Merthyr Tydfil
CF47 8AN
Swansea 12:30pm No march 12:30pm Castle Square
Swansea
SA1 3PP
Wrexham tbc tbc Queens Square
Wrexham
LL13 8AZ
Yorkshire Midland Barnsley 10:30am Gateway Plaza Car Park
Sackville Street
Barnsley
S70 2RD
11:30am Barnsley Precinct
1 Cheapside
Barnsley
S70 1RU
Bradford 10:45am Centenary Square
Market Street
Bradford
BD1 1LH
10:45am Centenary Square
Market Street
Bradford
BD1 1LH
City of Derby 10:30am Kingsmead School
Bridge Street
Derby
DE1 3LH
11:00am Market Place
City Centre
Derby
DE1 3AH
Derbyshire 11:00am Outside Primark
9-13 Market Place
Chesterfield
S40 1PP
12:00pm New Square
New Beetwell Street
Chesterfield
S40 1AH
Doncaster 11:00am Devonshire Green
Devonshire Street
Sheffield
S3 7SF
12:30pm City Hall Steps
Barkers Pool
Sheffield
S1 2JA
Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire 09:30am Unison Offices
39 Alfred Gelder St Street
Hull 
HU1 2AG
10:00am Victoria Square
Paragon Street
Hull 
HU1 3RQ
Kirklees 10.30am St Georges Square
Huddersfield
HD1 1JA
11.00am St Georges Square
Huddersfield
HD1 1JA
Leeds 11.30am Victoria Gardens
Headrow
Leeds
LS2 8DY
12:30pm Victoria Gardens
Headrow
Leeds
LS2 8DY
Lincolnshire 11.30am Mill House
Brayford Wharf North
Lincoln
LN1 1YT
12:30pm City Square
Lincoln
LN5 7EY
Nottinghamshire and Nottingham City Divisions 10.30am Forest Recreation Ground
Gregory Boulevard
Nottingham
NG7 6HB
tbc Old Market Square
Nottingham
NG1 2BY
Sheffield Devonshire Street
Sheffield
S3 7SF
tbc City Hall Steps
Barkers Pool
Sheffield
S1 2JA
Wakefield 12:30pm Coronation Gardens
Laburnum Road
Wakefield
WF1 2HW
1:00pm Cathedral Precinct
Westmoreland
Street Wakefield
WF1 1PJ