who killed anthony grainger?

By Mark Harrison

Yesterday I attended an important action in support of the friends and families of those killed at the hands of the police, as part of the #justice4grainger campaign. Around 60 people gathered in Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens and similar events were held around the country. A passionate speech was made by Anthony’s mother (see above) and she was presented with a portrait of her son by a local artist. Other important speeches were then made by Janet Alder (sister of Christopher Alder, killed by the police whilst half naked and after being racially abused) and campaigners who seek to reform Joint Enterprise law. These include Mohammed Riaz, served 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

manchester may day: photo and video report

Mark Harrison was at Manchester’s May Day demonstration this year.

This year’s May Day demonstration was more enjoyable than usual, with a relatively large turn out of around 200 people and pleasant weather for a majority of the day. A ‘carnival bloc’ had been arranged by local autonomists and included a sound system playing traditional workers anthems such as Bella ciao as well as more modern tunes. A large samba band and a couple of demonstrators on stilts kept our spirits high as we marched from the site of the large unemployed workers’ demonstration of 1931 that was ambushed by police, towards the modern Urbis development.

manchester class struggle forum on resistance to austerity, 9th feb

After an extended holiday the Manchester Class Struggle Forum will hold it’s next discussion meeting on Wednesday the 9th of February at 7 pm in Room 5, The Friends Meeting House, Central Manchester, (behind the old Central Library).

The subject will be ‘Class resistance to austerity measures in Britain and Internationally’, with a short introduction from the World Revolution group.

This will also be an opportunity to discuss some of the recent attempts at co-ordinating ‘anti-cuts’ activity around Britain.

Some time will be set aside to consider possible future meetings and subjects.

All welcome.

the educator, issue 2

Issue two of The Educator which is being distributed at Manchester Metropolitan University this week. Click below to see PDFs.

Print run = 850. More people are encouraged to get involved: ring 07976386737 or email manchestercommuniststudents(at)googlemail.com for details.

civil disobedience in manchester against education cuts

Mark Harrison writes his personal recollections of today’s great events in Manchester as part of the national day of action against tuition fees.

Student Protest, scaling new heights.

Fortunately today I slept in and missed my 11am lecture and decided to go to what I expected to be a piddly little demo.

What a pleasant surprise awaited me! By 12:30 approximately 3000 people had gathered at the designated meeting point at the University of Manchester, these were not the usual faces. The vast majority of those present were college and school students playing truant, many had travelled from Cheshire, ‘the left’ was completely swamped, The SWP had made an obvious effort to mobilise all their members, there were a few members of the Revolutionary Communist Group, a guy from the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty and a comrade of the Anarchist Federation distributing Anarchist Student. The militancy on display was inspiring. Despite being promised on social networking websites that we would be marching to the town hall, the consensus loving, ultra democratic officers of the University’s Student Union had apparently decided that we would instead be diverted to the Castlefield arena on the edge of the city, out of harms way. I think ‘health and safety’ was the reason given – political correctness gone mad!

the educator, issue 1

This morning members of Communist Students and students and staff from Manchester’s universities distributed the first issue of The Educator. Click below to see the PDF.

One activist reports that they gave out 300 copies within only an hour and plan another print run. They are looking for more people to get involved: ring 07976386737 or email info@communiststudents.org.uk for details.

tom hurndall memorial lecture 2010

manchester class struggle forum on the miners’ strike, 22nd september

The next meeting of the Manchester Class Struggle Forum will take place on the subject of The Great Miners’ Strike of 1984-85, a member of the Wildcat and Subversion Council Communist groups shall be providing a short lead-off and there will be plenty of time for discussion. From 7pm on Wednesday 22nd September at Friends Meeting House on Mount Street.

The miners’ strike of 84-85 was the last great example of open class warfare in the United Kingdom, some parts of Yorkshire were turned into a police state, solidarity was sent to the miners from across the world, yet the experience was still a bitter defeat for the working class.

manchester class struggle forum on china, 19th august

The next meeting of the Manchester Class Struggle Forum will take place on the subject of class struggle in China.

Recent years have seen a rise in class conflict in China, as workers in “the sweatshop of the world” become increasingly confident in asserting their demands against an authoritarian state, multinational corporations, and servile trade unions. We will be discussing the implications of these developments, and what lessons we can draw from them for the future.

The meeting will be introduced by a presentation on the subject, before moving to open discussion.

manchester class struggle forum 19th july: anarcho-syndicalism

The next Manchester Class Struggle Forum will host a discussion on Anarcho-Syndicalism.

What is anarcho-syndicalism? How do anarcho-syndicalist unions differ from existing workers’ organisations? Do anarcho-syndicalist strategies have any value in 21st Century Britain, or are they 80 years out of date and several countries out of place? Or are anarcho-syndicalist strategies the tool we need to fight back in a period of savage cuts and declining living standards?

manchester anarcha-fems meet

by Bahar Mustafa

Manchester Anarcha-Feminists and the Anarchist Federation Women’s Caucus collaborated on the weekend of 10th-11th April to present two days of workshops inclusive of all genders and ages. The event took place at the Manchester University Students’ Union, and was a brilliantly organised gathering with a vibrant atmosphere. Activists, students, and parents came from all over the UK to be part of the experience.

However, within the feminist movement it is a saddening truth that there exists a division. Feminists on one side of this rupture offer rather contentious analysis in regards to such themes as pornography, prostitution and trans-gendered self-defined women; regarding any woman engaging in such acts as anti-feminist, and excluding  trans-gendered self-defined women from the movement, on the basis that they do not share the same experiences. This is typical of reactionary and conservative responses to these questions – not to mention detrimental to the feminist movement and the struggle of all people.

manchester class struggle forum, 29th april

The third Manchester Class Struggle Forum will host a discussion on national liberation and internationalism, with a lead off from the World Revolution group.

From the IRA, MPLA and the Viet Minh, to Hezbollah, Hamas and the Tamil Tigers. All these anti-working class groups received support from a number of leftist in the 20th and 21st Centuries. This is not a new phenomenon, at the outbreak of the First World War all members of the ‘Second International’ apart from The Bolsheviks lined up in support of their respective national bourgeoisie.

Is it right for communists to support national liberation struggles, however critically? Did not Marx and Engels support national liberation? Was it ever correct historically to support national liberation?

manchester class struggle forum, 1st april

The second Manchester Class Struggle Forum will host a discussion on trade unions and trade unionism.

After the collapse of the global financial bubble, the working class is being made to pay. In Britain workers have started to fight back, in the form of a series of one day strikes. There are stories in the media warning of a return to ‘union power’, but what does this mean and is it a good thing for the working class?

The meeting takes place from 7pm on Thursday 1st April at Friends Meeting House, 6 Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS. Email uncaptiveminds@gmail.com to express your interest or ask for more info.

manchester class struggle forum, wednesday 24th

The first Manchester Class Struggle Forum will host a discussion on the Labour Party and the upcoming General Election.

We will discuss the 2010 general election and the position that communists should take towards bourgeois elections.