The support for Palestine in Dewsbury was strong this Saturday. 150 people turned out to express their solidarity and frustration. In Dewsbury, the speakers ranged from children reading poetry, prayers being led and political speeches. Many raised the inhumane response from both the Conservatives and Labour on this issue, and putting pressure on local councillors…
On the day that the gym at Kirklees stadium was closing with just one weeks notice, Kirklees Council released the news that at their cabinet meeting on 12th December that two under threat leisure centres would be recommended to stay open. Iain Dalton, Socialist Party Yorkshire secretary This announcement from the council, whose leisure services…
4/11/23 – Leeds – ‘we expect better’ Through the weekly demonstrations, the focus has moved to Labour and Keir Starmer. “We expect better”, a speaker said. And the political awareness of demonstrators is growing as the demos go on. People are realising that Labour does not represent the working class anymore. Mentions of socialism are…
To chants of “Cutback, fightback” and “Kirklees Council, shame on you” campaigners marched from Batley to Dewsbury to highlight the savage cuts being carried through by the council. Iain Dalton, Socialist Party Yorkshire Secretary With a £47m hole in their finances for next year, the last few months have seen more and more announcements of…
For the third time in as many weeks, thousands of people marched through the streets of Leeds against the ongoing siege and bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli state. Iain Dalton, Leeds Socialist Party Those joining the demonstration were motivated by a mix of anger at the devastation being wrought on the people of Gaza,…
250 people from several campaign groups chanted: “Kirklees Council, shame on you, shame on you for turning blue”. We questioned each councillor, asking them not to vote for cuts, and instead save 750 jobs. Many people made deputations to speak to the full council meeting, including two from Unison trade union. But the council refused…
Simone Buitendijk has resigned as vice-chancellor of the University of Leeds, following motions of ‘no confidence’ from all three unions on campus, Unison, Unite, and University and College Union (UCU). Since taking the role in 2020, she has overseen the largest concerted strike action at the university in memory. As part of the national strike…
Over the weeks of campaigns the scale of the cuts has seemed to get worse, with arms-length leisure service providers ‘Kirklees Active Leisure’ now guaranteeing to keep only Huddersfield and Spen Valley leisure centres open. This time last year it ran 13 centres across Kirklees! On our first stall we found that many people were…
Iain Dalton, Socialist Party Yorkshire secretary Over 100 people crammed into the Al-Hikmah Centre in Batley, West Yorkshire, on 29 September to discuss how the cuts to local services planned by Kirklees Council could be opposed. In August, the council announced it had overspent by £27 million on last year’s budget and there was a…
Uni of Leeds – ‘what is socialism?’ The question “what is socialism?” was asked a lot. When we explained, most agreed that a mass workers’ movement is needed and that they would like to see a socialist society in the future. One international student from the US explained to me how the costs work for…
