UK gov’t fails to maintain dam, threatening homes

Vol. 83/No. 30 - August 19, 2019
UK gov’t fails to maintain dam, threatening homes

LONDON — After days of heavy rain, a dam containing 1.3m tonnes of water from the Toddbrook Reservoir suffered major damage —  possibly leading to a complete collapse. Thousands of people have evacuated nearby Whaley Bridge and 10 other towns…


New prime minister vows to take UK out of EU

Vol. 83/No. 30 - August 19, 2019

LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to take the U.K. out of the European Union by Oct. 31 as his new government attempts to address the deep-seated crisis of British capitalism. After taking office he set off on…


London train cleaners join 48-hour work stoppage

Vol. 83/No. 27 - July 29, 2019

LONDON — Chanting, “Low pay, no way!” 40 members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers picketed the North Pole Hitachi rail depot in northwest London July 9 and 10. Some 60 union members across two shifts…


Protests mark 2 years since Grenfell fire disaster in UK

Vol. 83/No. 26 - July 22, 2019
Projections beamed onto Frinstead House in west London, left, and Cruddas Park House in Newcastle, two years after Grenfell Tower inferno killed 72 people. Thousands joined protests on second anniversary of disaster against government indifference to dangers workers face.

LONDON — A Silent Walk and other events June 14 were joined by thousands, marking the second anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire here that killed 72 people. The deadly inferno was the result of the contempt of government officials…


Rulers political crisis grows as UK workers say, ‘Get out of EU!’

Vol. 83/No. 23 - June 10, 2019

LONDON — Faced with fallout from repeated failed efforts to reach some agreement among the capitalist rulers’ fractured political parties over what to do about Brexit, Prime Minister Theresa May resigned as Conservative Party leader May 24. The resignation takes…


Brutality of British rule in India reflected in Amritsar massacre

Vol. 83/No. 21 - May 27, 2019
Above, visitors at Nehru Centre in London April 12 view Amritsar massacre exhibit. One photo, right, shows the “Crawling Lane” in Amritsar where Indians were forced by British colonial soldiers to crawl on their hands and knees following the massacre.

LONDON — On April 13, 1919, troops of the British Empire’s colonial Indian Army fired on thousands of unarmed protesters in Amritsar, capital of the Punjab. The turkey shoot lasted without pause for 10 minutes leaving hundreds dead and thousands…



Protests in Sudan, London demand fall of Omar al-Bashir government

Vol. 83/No. 16 - April 22, 2019
Several thousand protesters in London April 6 demonstrate in solidarity with massive wave of protests across Sudan calling for ouster of regime of President Omar al-Bashir.

LONDON —“The reason we’re all here in the U.K. is because of the regime of President Omar al-Bashir in Sudan. Everyone here has a similar story,” Ahmed Mustapha, a physician working for the National Health Service, told the Militant as…


Jim Spaul: 30 years building the communist movement

Vol. 83/No. 16 - April 22, 2019
Jim Spaul campaigning for the Communist League in Dalston during the 2015 general elections. March 31 meeting in London celebrated Spaul’s political life as a party leader and member of the National Union of Mineworkers. Spaul was “a party man,” speakers said.

LONDON — “Jim Spaul came to recognize more is needed to emancipate the working class than militant trade unionism, as important as that is,” Communist League Central Committee member Jonathan Silberman told a March 31 meeting here to celebrate 76-year-old…