Solidarity newspaper


 

Search Workers' Liberty sites using Scroogle


User login

Navigation

Students


Socialist Action lashes out

Anti-Racism
Author: 
Sacha Ismail

These are bad times for the Socialist Action group. Not only did the defeat of Ken Livingstone mean the loss of their sinecures at City Hall, their front group “Student Broad Left” has now almost disappeared. In an attempt to shore up their position, SA have hit out at their erstwhile allies in the SWP.


Education Not for Sale grows

Students
Author: 
Sofie Buckland

Education Not for Sale, an anti-capitalist student alliance in which Workers' Liberty students are involved, held the first meetings of its new steering committee on 8 June. It was attended by activists and student union officers from institutions around the country, and was characterised by lively discussion on a variety of issues.


Education Not for Sale relaunched

Students
Author: 
Sofie Buckland,

Despite the exam season, about 75 activists attended "Reclaim the Campus", a conference sponsored by Education Not for Sale on 17 May.


Protest against deportation of Nottingham University activist

FREE SPEECH
Author: 
Pete

About 400 students and academics protested today, May 28th at Nottingham University against the attempts currently under way to deport Hicham Yezza, a former university student now employed on the


Climate change and the student movement: an activist conference

The environment
6 Jun 2008 - 3:30pm
8 Jun 2008 - 4:00pm

Location: 

Brighton


Description: 

Sponsored by University of Sussex SU. With speakers and workshops from groups including Student Climate Project, People and Planet, Liberty, Campaign against Climate Change, Climate Camp, Workers' Climate Action and many more...

£8 including crashpad accommodation.
For more information see here.


Stop the student witch-hunt

Students
Author: 
Gemma Short

Five members of Sheffield University student union’s delegation to the 2008 National Union of Student’s conference (including myself) face disciplinary action following their refusal to vote in line with a “mandate” imposed on them by their union’s Council in favour of the NUS Governance Review.


Student democracy activists under attack

Students
Author: 
Gemma Short

See the Education Not for Sale website.


Reclaim the Campus conference

Students
17 May 2008 - 11:00am
17 May 2008 - 7:00pm

Location: 

Birkbeck College, Malet Street, London (Russell Square, Goodge Street or Euston tube)


Description: 

A conference for left student activists, organised by Education Not for Sale and others. More http://www.free-education.org.uk

Phone 07815 490 837 or email reclaimthecampus@gmail.com for more details.


Colombian students seek solidarity

Colombia
Author: 
Daniel Randall

Numa Andrés Paredes Betancourt, a member of the National Executive Committee of the ACEU (one of Colombia’s main student union federations), visited Britain recently as part of a trip organised by


Behrooz Karimizadeh released, but comrades remain in prison

Iran
Author: 
Kave

On 15 April, Behrooz Karimizadeh, one of the founding activists in the Iranian socialist group Freedom and Equality-Seeking Students, paid 300,000 toman (roughly £16,000) to be released.


Left students debate state bans on fascists

Anti-Fascism

This year’s National Union of Students conference passed a motion from UCL Union calling for NUS to lobby the government to ban the fascist website Redwatch.


National Union of Students Democracy saved... for the time being. Build the fight!

Democracy

Come to the Reclaim the Campus conference on 17 May to discuss the way forward for the student movement!

On 1 April, the National Union of Students conference in Blackpool narrowly voted to reject the NUS leadership’s “Governance Review”, which would have abolished what little democracy remains in our union and institutionalised its conversion into a pro-government lobbying organisation.


National Union of Students "Governance Review" defeated

Students

At the National Union of Students conference in Blackpool (1-3 April), the left succeeded in denying the NUS leadership the two-thirds majority it needed to push through its anti-democratic "Governance Review".


Let Mehdi Kazemi stay!

Anti-deportation campaigns
Author: 
David Broder

Mehdi Kazemi is a 19 year old gay man being threatened with deportation to Iran.


Giving them the measles

Education unions
Author: 
Ed Maltby

A large teachers’ strike has been called for Tuesday 18 March in France, with teachers in many schools voting to strike indefinitely. As the preparations for this are underway, the JCR (the LCR’s youth wing) has been mobilising to get word out to lycée (roughly equivalent to post-16/FE college) students, at a time when the organisation has identified expansion into that age group as a priority.


Reject the review — fight for real democracy!

Students
Author: 
Daniel Randall

It has been some time since there was any meaningful link between the real struggles faced by the working class majority of students and the debates that took place at the annual conference of what is, officially, their union – the NUS. This year that disconnection will be as acute as ever, and (more significantly) we may see the end of the potential to ever reconcile it.


Near-win for left at NUS Women’s Conference

Women
Author: 
Laura Schwartz

The success of ENS Women at this year’s NUS Women’s Conference (13-15 March) in passing radical left-wing policy and mobilising a significant number of conference delegates around socialist feminist politics, is testimony to the hard work of our activists both within NUS and outside it with Feminist Fightback over the last two and a half years. So is the result of the election held at the conference for NUS National Women’s Officer.


Election results show possibilities

Students

There have been interesting election results in a number of university student unions over the last couple of months.

The SWP/Student Respect have lost control of their two strongholds, Manchester University and SOAS in London.


Student unionist victimised over anti-militarism

War and Terror

On 5 March, a 300-plus strong general meeting of UCL Union passed a motion proposed by socialist activist Sham Rajyaguru, president of UCL’s Stop the War Society, to ban the Officer Training Corps, University Royal Navy Units, University of London Air Squadron and all other military organisations from freshers’ events and other union-sponsored events, union premises, and student-run media. Now the right of the union has responded by suspending left-wing General Secretary Sam Godwin.


Propaganda, activism and politics: a reply to Communist Students

Author: 
Daniel Randall

(This is a reply to an article in 'Communist Student', the newspaper of the student group linked to the CPGB/Weekly Worker.


Near-win at student women's conference

Sofie Buckland
Author: 
Laura Schwartz, NUS Women's Committee

The success of the ENS Women group (linked to Education Not for Sale) at this year's NUS Women’s Conf


Right-wing witch hunt against anti-war SU officer

Sam Godwin

From Education Not For Sale

On 5 March, a 300-plus strong general meeting of UCL Union passed a motion proposed by socialist activist Sham Rajyaguru, president of UCL's Stop the War Society, to ban the Officer Training Corps, University Royal Navy Units, University of London Air Squadron and all other military organisations from freshers' events and other union-sponsored events, union premises, and student-run media. Now the right of the union has responded by suspending left-wing General Secretary Sam Godwin.


For an NUS that fights — vote Education Not for Sale!

Students

The National Union of Students conference is taking place on 1-3 April, with the right wing threatening to close down all of the union’s remaining democratic structures with their ‘Governance Review’. The Education Not for Sale network, which has played a prominent role in the fight for a democratic union, is standing candidates for four positions in the full-time elections as well as one for the part-time ‘Block of 12’ posts.


Sussex Uni is not for sale!

Universities

In the last month, Sussex University (in Brighton) has seen hundreds-strong meetings of students and education workers to oppose the anti-democratic, pro-business “reforms” being pushed by the university’s management team. The first mass assembly of the Sussex Education Not for Sale campaign was attended by over 160 people; the second, by more than 300.


Free speech now!

Democracy
Author: 
Adam Elliot-Cooper

On 21 February, around 100 students from the University of Nottingham and the local area took to the campus grounds in a demonstration demanding their basic democratic right to free speech.

The demonstration followed a number of recent protests at the University where this right had been denied. One of these involved the arrest of a member of the Palestinian Society for “breach of the peace”. The University authorities had called the police while he was protesting peacefully against the abuse of human rights in Palestine.


Teach-in for Abortion Rights

Abortion rights
Author: 
Amy Fisher

Although this year has seen no defeats for the abortion rights movement, we cannot afford to be complacent. The government has indicated it won’t seek to reduce the time limit at the moment but this is predicated on scientific evidence of foetal viability – basing time limits on this means any medical advances could threaten abortion rights. At the same time, David Cameron has spoken about the need to reduce the time limit, after leaders of all three parties came out for a reduction during the last election.


Sofie Buckland for NUS Women’s Officer!

Universities

It’s time to challenge Labour Students for control of the NUS women’s campaign. For Sofie’s manifesto, supporters’ list and more on the campaign, see the ENS Women website — socialistfeminist.org.uk

Since the takeover of the NUS Women’s Campaign by Labour Students four years ago, the potential for student women’s organising to lead an active, political regeneration of the women’s movement has been squandered.


Iran’s new left

Iran

The last two years have seen an upsurge of the Iranian student movement — and a sharp turn to the left, as more and more student radicals become influenced by Marxism.


Anoosheh Azaadbar for NUS Honorary Vice-President!

Iran

Activists in Education Not for Sale have organised to nominate jailed Iranian socialist student activist Anoosheh Azaadbar as NUS Honorary Vice-President. Below is the text of her manifesto.


King's students banned... from reading!

Students
Author: 
David Broder

Students at King’s College London staged two “read-ins” in a cafeteria last month in protest at regulations which bar students from reading, writing or using laptops while eating their lunch.


Syndicate content