12:30pm Murraygate, Dundee, Tuesday 6th August Near Tesco’s

The Young Socialists, Young Workers Rights campaign will be protesting and raising the need to join trade unions.

Maddie, Dundee fast food worker, and member of Unite Hospitality, “If you're sick of your boss, join a trade union and get involved in our day of action. Retail bosses like Asda are hammering workers with attacks like Contract 6, where paid breaks and holidays are cut and workers are threatened with the sack if they don’t sign up. We support the fight of the GMB trade union against Contract 6. Recently we have sign Tesco workers organised in USDAW take strike action, CWU postal workers walk out against management bullying and Unite airport workers strike for decent pay and to defend pensions. The best way to defend your rights and conditions at work is to join and get active in a trade union. We fight for trade union rights for all workers on day one of employment”.

Oisin, Glasgow bar worker, and member of Unite Hospitality, “Young Socialists Young Workers Rights campaign fights for a £10 an hour minimum wage and trade union struggle for a living wage. Recently at festivals like Glasgow TRNSMT we have seen young workers suffering tip theft and working without breaks. Exploitation of young workers is also rife at the Edinburgh Fringe and T in the park. Bar workers suffer bullying, uniform charges and exploitative shift patterns every day of the week. It’s time to stand up and fight back. As well as fighting for rights at work we want to change society and end capitalism. That means workers control in workplaces, socialism, taking over the top 150 major companies, banks and industries into public ownership”.

Wayne, Dundee factory worker and member of the GMB, “We need to fight for the rights of all workers including apprentices who should be paid a living wage with the trade unions fighting for the Construction Training board to implement this.

The SNP government talks about “fair work” but has let workers down including failing to protect skilled work at the Caley Railworks through nationalisation.

Jeremy Corbyn has a lot of pro worker policies such as a £10 minimum wage, one of our tasks is to call on the TUC, the STUC and the Corbyn Labour leadership to launch a mass campaign of rallies advocating socialist policies, mass demonstrations and co-ordinated national strike action to bring down Johnson’s Tories and force a general election.”

For more information, ring or text or text Maddie on +44 7596 456551

Theresa May on Thursday admitted that herself and the Tories got it wrong on tuition fees and higher education funding.

The headline proposal contained in the long delayed Auger report is to give students from disadvantaged backgrounds a £3000 a year maintenance grant, admitting that the Tories in 2015 got it wrong. This will come as welcome news to students who have been forced to take out loans and accrue debt just for choosing to pursue studies in higher education. It’s a reflection of the massive pressure the Tories are under, terrified of the huge anger their policies of cuts and austerity measures has created.

Other suggestions in the report are completely woeful. Even the suggestion to cut fees by a small amount to £7,500 is cover for vicious attacks on students and low paid graduates in debt.

The plan suggests extending the period over which former students would repay their loans from 30 to 40 years. Moreover, the report suggests lowering the income threshold for loan repayments to begin, meaning that even lower paid young workers will be forced to give up their wages towards paying off loans and extortionate interest, simply for going to university.

Clearly these changes are intended so that the government has more time to claw back money from the currently huge and growing pile of national student debt. The debt currently stands at £118 billion, and is predicted by the government to reach £450 billion by 2050 without inflation. Three-quarters of students will not pay back their loan in full by the time it is wiped, and the state will be footing the bill.

The Tories are aware that they are presiding over an economic time bomb. Desperately, they are attempting to remedy that by fighting to further shackle former students, as we age into retirement, with a lifetime of debt.

But even the proposal to reduce tuition fees is a poisoned chalice. When the Tory-Lib Dem coalition trebled tuition fees back in 2012, the government cut its funding to universities, meaning universities were forced to rely on student’s tuition fees for funding.

With the report suggesting a decrease of tuition fees to a still ludicrous £7500 a year, and no proposal for the government to plug the funding gap, universities would face a huge cut to funding – resulting in cuts to courses, redundancies, and closures.

Scandalously, bosses of the Russell Group came out in March to rally against reducing tuition fees for this reason, pretending that there would be no alternative. This however isn’t true.

A mass struggle of students united with workers to end austerity could provide free, fully funded university education. Jeremy Corbyn raised in the 2017 general election abolishing tuition fees, but Socialist Students says he should go further – to not only scrap tuition fees entirely and to introduce living grants for all students, but also to cancel all the outstanding student debt.

With Theresa May gone, now is the time to launch that fightback. A campaign to fight for free education which mobilised students and workers in demonstrations and strike actions could spell the end of the Tory government which is tearing itself apart with yet another leadership contest – and fight for an anti-austerity Corbyn led government to power on a socialist programme.

Tens of thousands will take to the streets of London on 4 June to protest against the visit of US president Donald Trump. During his state visit he will also attend - at the invitation of doomed prime minister Theresa May - D-Day commemorations in Portsmouth, angering many.

The sacrifice of D-Day soldiers and others in the fight against fascism during World War Two led to the election of a reforming Labour government in 1945, by returning servicemen and women, determined not to see a return to the capitalist crisis and austerity of the 1930s.

To see May and Trump show their respects is the height of hypocrisy after overseeing a decade of austerity that has thrown many veterans further into poverty, with cuts on pensions, benefits, housing and the NHS.

The great-great grandchildren of these veterans, also hit by austerity, are joining the fightback by leading climate strikes. They are helping to build the protests against Trump in Portsmouth alongside local trade unionists.

These world leaders, ‘masters of the universe’, are masters of hypocrisy. Their claims to defend democracy and act for the many as voices for peace and prosperity are shallow lies to hide the reality. Representatives of the super-rich, their policies are for imperialist plunder and profit, if necessary through war and sponsoring dictatorships.

For workers and their families in Portsmouth, including those working in the armed forces and defence industries, their policies of austerity have led to massive cuts in jobs, particularly at Portsmouth BAE dockyards, pay, pensions, benefits, education, the NHS and council services.

Growing poverty, food banks and homelessness is the outcome. For armed forces personnel returning from conflict, cuts to mental health services has left many of them suicidal and living on the streets.

Portsmouth trade unionists, students and socialists have come together to sign a joint letter of protest opposing the visit of Trump saying: “Trump’s system is one of war and militarism, exploitation and misery, racism and misogyny.

“We stand for a system based on solidarity and the belief that together, united as a class, working people can surmount the international problems caused by the elites like Donald Trump - from climate change to capitalism itself.”

This letter has raised the call for an immediate general election to bring down the Tory government which invited Trump: “An immediate general election, putting an anti-austerity Jeremy Corbyn led Labour government committed to socialist policies in power, is the only way to deliver for the many not the few.”

Only on the basis of a socialist world can we hope to see an end to poverty, racism and war, where the world’s resources can be used in a rational way through democratic workers’ control and planning to meet the needs of all and the planet.

Here's the text of the leaflet Socialist Students members were giving out at the climate strikes around the country today. If you want to get involved then email us at socialistudents@gmail.com

Climate Criminal-in-Chief to visit UK

Once again May is rolling out the red carpet for Donald Trump, the sexist, racist, billionaire Climate Criminal-In-Chief. But it isn’t just what Trump thinks about climate change that’s the problem (3 years ago he said he thought climate change was a “hoax”), it’s his actions as US President that matter. Since taking office he has pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement and scrapped a climate change advisory group in the government for not including enough representatives from big business.

That’s what he and May have in common. They both act in the interests of the capitalist class. The system they defend – capitalism - is based on exploitation of working-class people by the bosses, whether that’s through cuts and austerity, university fees, high rents, poverty pay or environmental destruction. We suffer – they get richer!

Walk Out against Trump + Climate Change

Last time Trump visited the UK, hundreds of thousands marched against his sexist, racist, anti-working class agenda. Given the growing climate movement taking place in Britain and around the world now, the demonstration when he visits in June will also be against the inability to act on climate change of his and May’s governments.

Building for both the next climate strikes and to walk out against Trump should start now, with general students’ meetings or just groups of interested students at your school or college. We must spread the movement to all young people who will be affected by climate catastrophe, low pay and austerity.

The fightback on these issues and others, including school funding cuts, can be stepped up by organising school students’ unions - students democratically organising together. These can take a lead in building for the walk-outs and demonstrations, and can also defend students against detentions and punishments.

If you want help or to discuss what to do, contact Socialist Students.

SOCIALIST CHANGE TO END CLIMATE CHANGE!

It has become a well-used statistic on the demonstrations: 100 companies are responsible for 71% of greenhouse gas emissions. While it is absolutely right that people recycle and demand their schools cut down on waste and emissions, this movement must also fight to take the power out of the hands of big businesses if we are to stop the destruction of the planet for profit.

The calls for the government and councils to declare climate emergencies reflect the anger with the inability of capitalist establishment politicians to act on climate change. Protesters demand that emissions are cut, or even that towns and cities become carbon neutral in the next 10-30 years.

Some local councils, the Welsh and Scottish governments and Parliament itself have unanimously called a climate emergency. But the Tories and the Labour Blairites represent those who are making profits off the back of environmental devastation, so these words will be meaningless unless we fight for measures to bring real change.

Our movement needs to demand that councils use their existing powers, for example to build carbon-neutral council housing for all the families and young people in housing need. This could also create jobs with trade union rates of pay. By refusing to pass on Tory cuts to youth services and other services, Labour councils could, alongside our movement and strikes by workers, help force the Tories to call a general election.

Organising mass action to get the Tories out is the most important way we can influence parliament right now – replacing them with an anti-austerity Corbyn-led government with socialist policies. But will the capitalist elite in Britain then accept real green proposals in the interests of workers, young people and the environment?

The IPCC estimated it would cost $900 billion a year to halt global warming. This represents less than 2% of world economic output but it will not be forthcoming when profit remains the driving force for the global economy.

To prevent the bosses undermining such policies, we need to take all the major banks and big corporations out of their hands. Nationalising Britain’s top 150 firms under democratic workers’ control and management would allow socialist planning of the economy to meet the needs of all and the environment.

We can have no faith in the capitalists to defend the planet. How can they fix it when they can’t even fix their own system which has been in crisis for the last decade?

The trade unions, which organise workers, are key in escalating our struggle against climate change. By linking up with them, young people can build a potentially colossal movement. Mass collective working-class strike action has the power to not just shut down the roads but to shut down the whole country. From the teachers and students in our schools and colleges, to the bus and train drivers on our transport networks, to those who create all the goods and services in our society - the working class has the power to bring everything to a halt.

Greta Thunberg, who started the climate strikes in Sweden, recently said she is in favour of a general strike. She’s correctly pointed to who has the real power in today’s society, not those at the top but ordinary workers and young people.

A general strike would need to be democratically organised in the workplaces and trade unions. It can force the capitalist class to make concessions, out of their fear of such a movement developing further and challenging their right to rule.

That’s the type of movement we need to build. And it needs to become strong enough to justify their fear and really challenge their right to rule, posing the alternative of a socialist society that can offer an entirely different future.

Socialist Students statement on NUS’ turnaround reform motion

Socialist Students campaigned and voted against the reform, highlighting that even if all the amendments submitted by SUs which would have slightly ameliorated the rotten reform were passed, this motion overall represented a huge cutting of democracy and attack on the ability of the NUS to lead the struggle for student rights.

What next?

These reforms push the NUS further away from being fit to channel and lead student struggles which are currently developing and also the potential mass movements on the horizon over fees, cuts, privatisation, housing, lack of student voice, etc.

The task of every delegate present at this conference now is to return to their campuses and campaign for the convening of emergency student meetings, either organised by SUs or by students and campaigners ourselves, dedicated to discussing the task of building the democratic and fighting national students’ union we need.

The question of a new national students’ union

Out of this could come an extraordinary national conference of all students and campaigners who need a fighting student organisation and are searching for how to build one. Such a conference could democratically discuss the way forward in the aftermath of this reform motion.

These meetings and conference, even if acted on by only a handful of Students’ Unions initially, could decide whether or not to continue the fight to save the NUS in its current form, or to begin to take the steps necessary to found a new national students’ union.

Which exact path events will take remains to be seen. Regardless, any such new national student organisation - either a completely re-founded NUS, a brand new national organisation, or a combination of both of these paths - will have to outright reject the undemocratic unaccountable corporate financial model of the NUS which has led it to the abyss.

The NUS currently has approximately 600 students unions affiliated to it, meaning the NUS nationally has an affiliated membership of around 7 million students. This could have been a potentially huge financial source mobilised to save the NUS.

But this financial potential could only have been realised on the basis of a political and fighting NUS leadership that could convince those students that it is an organisation committed to leading struggle to improve the lives of students - for free education, cancellation of the debt, for adequate housing and jobs, rights of all oppressed groups and so on. Instead, the leadership produced the Turnaround Reform aimed at further moving NUS away from being such an organisation.

Some in the discussion about the way forward have raised the lack of engagement of students alienated from the structures of the NUS as an obstacle to achieving this. But this is due to the failures of the NUS over a period of years to lead students in struggle. The recent youth climate strikes, the UCU student solidarity last year, and the youth surge around Corbyn’s anti-austerity programme including free education are all testament to the massive potential which exists, and the crucial necessity to build a national students union up to the task of leading students in struggle.

NUS conference is meeting this year in the midst of an unprecedented crisis for itself as an organisation.

The NUS is on the brink of bankruptcy. The responsibility for this catastrophic situation clearly lies with years of successive right wing NUS leaderships who have pushed through undemocratic reforms which have concentrated power in the hands of unaccountable and inept leaders. What has made them inept is their rejection of their role in leading student struggle, instead using the NUS as a springboard into political careers in pro-big businesses parties. They have totally failed to fight for students – including when fees were introduced in 1997, and when they were trebled in 2010, and they have failed to mobilise the massive student support for Corbyn’s 2017 manifesto in the streets against a crisis ridden Tory government.

The reform motion submitted by NUS’ so called “Turnaround Board” says that “there have been attempts to fix NUS’ democracy and governance as far back as 2004.”

There certainly have been reforms since then. But they have not been to the benefit of ordinary students, but rather designed to deliberately side-line and alienate students from the structures of the NUS.

Governance reviews pushed through undemocratically by the NUS’ bureaucracy deliberately side lined the active involvement of students in the internal life of the NUS as a campaigning organisation, and converted it into little more than a charity or a think tank, lobbying politicians without the involvement of its rank and file. NUS’ strength is in its million-strong membership, but this has not been mobilised in defence of students’ rights.

This is summed up by the fact that it was an unaccountable board of trustees who presented a report to last year’s April conference, misleading conference and stating that they had ‘no concerns’ about the financial state of the organisation!

In response to the financial crisis, the Turnaround Board produced a ‘White Paper’ of proposals on how to reform the NUS for consultation to produce the reform motion presented to conference.

But how was this so called ‘consultation’ undertaken? The leadership of the NUS allowed Students’ Unions to submit their official responses without any involvement or democratic discussion whatsoever with students themselves – just responses from SU presidents or CEOs! It’s obvious to all that this entire process has been an undemocratic sham from beginning to end.

The results of this sham consultation are laid bare in the reform motion presented to this year’s conference, as well as a new set of Articles and Rules for the NUS.

Given the lateness of the release of this document, it’s impossible to deal with every detail of what is proposed.

But what’s clear is the proposals mean that the last vestiges of control by ordinary students over the NUS’ political direction are to be removed. An annual NUS manifesto is to be set out, not to be determined by a democratic conference, but instead by a new ‘cabinet’, made up of the 7 full time officers, and to be approved by a board of directors. Students will only be involved to be ‘consulted’ on, not through a conference and face to face democratic discussion and debate, but through online ballots!

While conference will be made even shorter, Students Unions’ will be free to select their delegations however they want – without holding campus wide elections if they choose. Additionally, the proposals argue for the abolition of the NEC, a body which potentially could channel the desire of students for mass struggle , the cutting of 13 full time officers positions, and for elections of full time officers to be contested purely on personal ‘merit’, not on political ideas or manifestos.

These final proposals, if successfully pushed through, could potentially finish the process set in motion years ago when the first governance reviews were introduced by Blairite Presidents such as Wes Streeting (now an anti-Corbyn MP) - seeing the further transformation of the NUS away from an organisation which can lead students in struggle, moving towards the status of a think tank.

That’s why Socialist Students rejects all proposals put forward by the current leadership, including the proposals to cut funding to liberation campaigns and to current full time officers.

However, the NUS does find itself in a state of genuine financial crisis. That’s why we call for the opening of the NUS’s books to the democratic oversight of students and elected NUS officials as part of a democratic investigation into the organisation’s finances, and potential financial solutions to the crisis, led by students and democratically elected officials.

What next?

A crucial step towards this would be the organisation of general emergency meetings on campuses organised either by Students’ Unions or students and campaigners ourselves dedicated to discussing building a democratic and fighting national students’ union and potential solutions to the NUS’ financial crisis. Out of this could come an extraordinary national conference to discuss the way forward for our movement out of this crisis in the NUS, open to all students, campaigners and activists.

This could come from a successful struggle to fundamentally transform the NUS; to fight for a re-founded NUS as a democratic, accountable and fighting organisation that puts the fight for things like free education and student grants, affordable student housing, the fight against cuts and marketisation and the struggle to kick out the Tories centre stage.

Socialist Students stands for a student movement which links up with workers in the fight for a society based on peoples’ needs, not the profits of big business – a socialist society.

If these reforms do go through however, it is very doubtful that the NUS will be an organisation which can lead on these issues – in which case, the task of building a new national students’ union will be crucial. In a time when the Tory government is wracked by such deep crisis, and with such huge opportunities for students wanting to fight back, it is vital that we have continue the fight to get organised on a local level on our campuses and link up nationally in the fight against austerity. The recent climate strikes, the 2017 general election, and the student support for the UCU strikes last year all demonstrate the huge appetite for this.

We need:

A national students’ union that fights for free education, for students’ rights, and to kick out the Tories

Mass students meetings on every campus and college to discuss the way forward for our movement

On 15 March, in 1,000 cities and 100 countries, millions went on strike and demonstrated against the huge threat to the environment and human populations posed by rapid climate change. These protests, against the failure of capitalist governments to agree meaningful environmental policies, were led by young people, in particular school students. This is the generation which will bear the brunt of catastrophic global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions from profit-driven capitalist industry, transport and agriculture.

Socialist Students and Young Socialists played an important role in building the 15 March protests and will continue this effort in the next round of protests.

Below, we carry 15 March reports from around Britain, and Socialist Students national organiser Theo Sharieff presents a socialist strategy for developing the youth strike protest movement.

Massive protests over catastrophic climate change - build for April 12!

Socialist Students is calling for the creation of school and college student unions to help students coordinate their next walkouts on 12 April and, importantly, to defend the right to protest. Hundreds of students signed up to Socialist Students for help with setting up such unions in the run up to 12 April.

Socialist Students also wants to take the movement forward by linking it in struggle with the working-class majority in society. Students pointed out on our open mic in London that it will overwhelmingly be working and middle-class people who pay the heaviest price if climate change continues unabated - through food and water shortages and climate-related poverty.

The super-rich - including last year the Kardashian-Wests in California - have the resources to protect their property, hiring private fire services to keep their mansions safe from wildfires. Working-class and young people are not so fortunate under similar circumstances.

That's why Socialist Students is calling for the trade unions to help organise and steward local protests on the next round of school strikes.

In London, well over 200 students left their details with Socialist Students to be put in touch with local trade unions and trade union councils for assistance with organising joint students' and workers' demonstrations against climate change in their local areas and towns.

Socialist Students is now setting out to officially establish local student unions to help organise students who want to build this movement, and will be looking to hold founding meetings of student unions over the coming weeks.

But we now must extend our movement by appealing to the trade unions, through new student unions or as Socialist Students, to weigh in on this battle.

We want to put central to this movement our demand that the Tory government is kicked out and replaced with a Corbyn-led government - a government which nationalises, under democratic workers' control and management, the big polluters, the energy companies, and the commanding heights of the economy as a matter of urgency, to introduce a socialist economic plan to halt and reverse climate change.

Theo Sharieff, Socialist Students national organiser

London

Students and young people in London once again filled Parliament Square - this time much bigger and even more vibrant.

Throughout the day, students and young people marched back and forth to Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace. Holding their homemade placards as they marched, they called for immediate action to address climate change.

Trade unions, such as the RMT, were also present during the protest, giving support.

Socialist Students, aware of the importance of democratic debate to build this movement, set up an open mic to engage with young people about how we can go further. This proved to be very popular and a massive crowd formed around the 'red' sound system.

Although there was a wide spectrum of ideas, there was one argument that almost all agreed on: only mass action from below, linking up with trade unions and disrupting not only the traffic but the whole economy, has the potential to halt climate change.

Many agreed that profit-oriented big businesses would do nothing to halt climate change - and some students chanted "socialist change - not climate change".

More than 200 people signed up to Socialist Students to hear more from us. Many young people said they want to campaign in their schools and colleges to build for the next climate strike. We told them that we would be more than happy to provide materials and any other support they need.

Berkay Kartav, KCL Socialist Students

Brighton

Defying threats of school fines and detentions, a huge turnout of around 3,000 students and young people marched in Brighton against climate change - more than double the attendance of last month's demonstrations.

Many students recognised the need for system change, and our specific slogan - 'socialist change, not climate change' - was well received. They were also enthusiastic about our call to form school and college student unions to organise the fight back, especially with the example of the recent strikes of our sister organisation in the Spanish state.

Young people across the country are realising that the Tories and the current capitalist system provide no solutions to the pressing problems we face, and in fact are the problem! Some of the biggest chants were "Tories out" and "oh Jeremy Corbyn".

Connor Rosoman, Brighton and Sussex Socialist Students

Swansea

Around 200 young people braved the wet weather, taking to the streets to demand climate justice. In the main square, university and school students stepped up to our megaphone to share their thoughts.

Socialist Students had a strong, visible presence, and our placards were popular among the crowd. We marched through the city centre to the Guildhall behind a Young Socialists banner and led various chants which were enthusiastically picked up. We also distributed leaflets promoting our meeting on the 20th March, looking to keep up momentum from the strike by engaging young people with discussion of socialist solutions to climate change.

We also distributed leaflets promoting our meeting on 20 March to discuss socialist solutions to climate change.

At the Guildhall, the local climate strike movement demanded the council declare a climate emergency and disinvest from fossil fuels.

All in all, Friday’s protest had an excellent turnout and we are working to build further momentum and support for the protests in the months ahead.

Ellen Rosier, Swansea Socialist Students

Leeds

Outside Leeds Town Hall, Victoria Square was packed with around 1,500 protesters, where students of all ages walked out of their classrooms, carrying signs and placards, to make their voices heard.

Spirits were high, and the crowd was determined. Both the Socialist Party and Socialist Students had a good showing, with a stall, leaflets and badges.

Passers-by were stopped by the chanting of the assembly and took pictures of the placards. Some took on a humorous tone, "Spill tea not oil", "Clean up planet Earth, it's not Uranus"! Others were more serious: "System change not climate change", and "There is no Planet B".

Around midday the assembly marched through Leeds, chanting and cheering, while onlookers voiced their support. We marched behind our banner and lead the chants.

Kai Trinder and Lilli Green, Leeds Trinity Socialist Students

Leicester

Over 100 students protested at the Clock Tower, then marched to Jubilee Square. When we got there a student steward shouted at me and told me off for handing out leaflets for Leicester Young Socialists as they said the event wasn't meant to be political.

But everyone took our leaflet and they agreed with our slogan 'Socialist Change Not Climate Change'. Some of them were interested in coming to our next meeting

Climate change is a political issue. Capitalism always prioritises profit over the planet. This is why the only solution to global warming is a socialist fightback.

Bethany Morgan-Smith, Leicester Socialist Students

Manchester

Around 500 school, college and university students gathered in central Manchester, demanding action to combat climate change. The atmosphere was one of anger and militancy.

Students as young at eleven were attending with parents, urging that our future cannot be jeopardised through another generation of destructive fossil fuel reliance.

There were, however, attempts to 'depoliticise' the strike. Certain environmental groups limited themselves to vague talk about simply 'acting' on climate change. This didn't stop many students from talking about the need to kick out the Tories and to put the 'planet before profit'! Our socialist ideas were received with keen interest.

A positive mood exists on these strikes for system change. We argued that to take immediate action to halt climate change, we have to take on the profiteers that drive the fossil fuel industry. This means socialist change, based on workers' democracy and public ownership - not a false 'green' capitalism!

Tom Costello, Manchester Socialist Students

Birmingham

Around 1,000 young people gathered outside Birmingham Council House for the climate strike demonstration. Socialist Students provided a socialist approach to combating climate change.

The march itself was short and sweet, plenty of noise, chants, whistles and handcrafted signs, all with an air of cheerful resistance.

Many bystanders were enthused that young people were taking action and an older man who'd asked for a leaflet proudly told me that he was a lifelong socialist and expressed his solidarity to the school strikers.

Many marchers talked about how the reaction by their schools wasn't too positive and they'd been threatened with detention - but it was quickly pointed out, if my school is underwater, detentions aren't as feasible anymore!

More than 60 people signed-up for more information. School students bought copies of the Socialist with their lunch money and every single leaflet handed out, the day was a resounding success.

Birmingham Socialist Students

Glasgow

From across the west of Scotland the second #youthstrike4climate drew 1,800 people to George's Square in Glasgow.

Many of the demonstrators were primary or secondary school students, as well as those in third-level education. Young workers were also present, with Unite the Union, the RMT and Glasgow Unison representatives all in attendance.

The protest was lively and colourful with many banners. The joint Socialist Party and Socialist Students stall was busy all morning, with many young people signing our petitions demanding nationalisation of the energy industry and taking up other climate issues.

Socialist Students and Socialist Youth will be assisting school students organising for the next strike on 12 April. It is important to stress the potentially huge role that the trade unions could play in this developing environmental movement.

To start with, we suggest calling on the teachers' unions to assist in the organisation of demonstrations and strikes at their schools and fight against any attempt to victimise striking school students.

Oisin Duncan, Glasgow Socialist Students

Fire crews were battling gorse and grass fires across England, Wales and Scotland on 26 February.

Wildfires such as these are common in the spring and summer months, when warmer and dryer conditions increase the risk. But for this number to break out during winter is virtually unheard of.

They came during one of the hottest Februarys on record in Britain, but also all of Europe - where the occurrence of wildfires had already reached 480 across the continent by 1 March. The average number by this point in the year between 2008 and 2018 was just 21.

This news will no doubt upset and anger the tens of thousands of school and college students who walked out on 15 February to protest against the government's complete inaction and incompetence in the face of climate change.

In London, chants filled the streets around Westminster demanding that Theresa May and the Tory government be kicked out.

Socialist Students has been campaigning at the schools and colleges since February 15 to help students organise and build for the next round of walkouts on 15 March.

The wildfires underscore the incredibly urgent need for action against climate change. But what is the solution? And how can young people and workers best fight to achieve it?

Since 1988, 100 multinationals have been responsible for 71% of all greenhouse emissions globally, according to the 2017 Carbon Majors Report. And it is the system of capitalism which compels these companies to pollute our planet as a by-product of their pursuit of profits.

Many students who spoke on the Socialist Students open mic on 15 February in London observed that the system of capitalism compels these companies to pollute our planet as a by-product of their pursuit of profits. Socialist Students agrees.

We think we need therefore to fight for a clear alternative to capitalism. A socialist alternative, where the companies responsible for climate change, as well as the banks and top 150 companies which control around 80% of the British economy, are publicly owned under the democratic control and management of workers and young people.

Then it would be possible to not only rapidly halt pollution, but also fund and democratically plan mass investment into green technologies. Capitalism is incapable of this on the scale we need, as it stubbornly prioritises profits above everything else.

'Extinction Rebellion' events have popularised the tactic of small direct actions, such as blocking roads and bridges, to call attention to the problems of climate change.

But Socialist Students believes we also need to mobilise mass, collective action - specifically strike action, the main weapon of the working class - to shut down not only the roads, but the whole capitalist economy.

That's why Socialist Students will be going to the schools and colleges. Not only to helping students organise for the 15 March walkouts. But also to campaign for the trade unions - starting with the National Education Union and the University and College Union - to link up in struggle with striking students, to fight for a socialist future as the only means to save our planet.

That's why we're campaigning for the trade unions to get involved on April 15 - the next round of international walk outs after March 15 - by organising local demonstrations side by side with students.

15 April is in the school holidays – but Socialist Students says why not organise a local demonstration on that day? Why not plan to visit all the local schools, colleges and unis in your area to get people to join in? Why not contact workers too – at your school, but also in shops, bus depots, fire stations, etc? Why not contact the local trade unions and trades councils to back these protests? Trade unionists have a record of helping students organise effective and safe protests. This is the message that Socialist Students is going to be bringing to students on the March 15 walk-outs - for a united struggle between students and workers to fight for a socialist alternative to capitalist driven climate change.

Socialist Students talking to climate strikers in London on 15 February

"We have not come here to beg the world leaders to care for our future. They have ignored us in the past and they will ignore us again.

"We have come here to let them know that change is coming whether they like it or not. The people will rise to the challenge."

This was the rallying cry of 15-year-old Swedish climate activist leader Greta Thunberg, addressing world leaders at the United Nations climate change conference last year.

Since then hundreds of thousands of school, college and university students across the world have joined a wave of strike action and direct action.

Young people are facing the reality that just 100 companies are to blame for 71% of global carbon emissions, and that only 26 individuals own and control wealth equivalent to half of the world's population - some 3.8 billion poor people.

Young people realise that this capitalist hoarding and reckless disregard for the planet cannot last.

And with climate experts claiming we have 12 years left to save the planet, young people are taking to the streets, striking for change.

This movement rocked the UK on 15 February when tens of thousands of students and young people descended on parliament, and thousands more walked out of schools, colleges and campuses across the country on the first #YouthStrike4Climate.

Socialist Students and Young Socialist groups mobilised to take part in what could develop into an important new youth movement, the likes of which we have not seen for nearly a decade.

These strikes, coming just weeks after Socialist Students passed a motion at our national conference to support climate protests and divestment efforts, have captured the imagination of young people.

Placards reading "If the earth was a bank it would have been bailed out by now," and "System change not climate change" have been shared widely on social media, showing that this generation of activists - having known only austerity - is becoming aware of what needs to be done to save the planet.

Given the lack of leadership from the trade unions and Labour Party, it is understandable that some students distrust political action, or look mostly to individual lifestyle changes.

But Socialist Students explains that challenging the capitalists responsible for greenhouse gas emissions is inherently political. And only mass collective action for a socialist alternative can achieve it.

Direct action to shut down roads is a valid publicity tactic. But using the power of the organised working class in the trade unions to shut down the capitalist economy is much more effective.

Socialists also need to explain the impossibility of solving climate change within the limitations of the capitalist system, and argue that we need to nationalise the energy industry, infrastructure and the commanding heights of the economy (in order to democratically plan society) if we are to have the chance to stop this environmental catastrophe. It is this kind of change - socialist change - that we need to fight for to save the environment and our planet.

Socialist Students was out today in towns and cities across the country participating in the climate change protests which saw tens of thousands of students, mainly from schools and colleges, marching and demonstrating to demand action on climate change. The determined, energetic and fighting mood on these protests was a reflection of the seriousness of the situation, outlined recently in one UN report which said there is only 12 years left to halt a climate change catastrophe.

Over the coming days and weeks, Socialist Students is going to go to the schools, colleges, and universities around the country and campaign for a new, bigger wave of education walkouts and strikes for the next round of international climate protests on March 15. We want to help you grow this movement. We need to start organising at our schools and colleges so that the next protests are even larger. Socialist Students will offer every help possible for those who want to build for the next day of protest.

In London, we spoke to many students who reported that they had been threatened by their schools with disciplinary actions for attending today’s climate change protest, including detentions, suspensions, and exclusions. Socialist Students totally rejects the idea that students should be punished by their schools for taking a stand, fighting for our environment and the future existence of our planet. If students are punished, Socialist Students will support protests at any schools in defence of the right of students to protest and get organised. Get in contact with us as well as teaching unions for support with this.

Throughout the day at the main protest in London, Socialist Students led an open mic and welcomed school and college students to speak to the thousands who were in attendance discussed the strategies for building this struggle and what alternative to the rotten, polluting system of capitalism we need to fight for.

Socialist Students came to today’s protests with the message that to fight against climate change, we need to fight for socialist change. Since 1988, just 100 big corporations have been responsible for 71% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. This shows why none of the politicians or parties that defend capitalism have the answers we desperately need. We need a general election to kick out the Tories. Unprecedented change is required, urgently, if we want to have a planet to live on, cities and towns to live in, food to eat and water to drink by the end of this century.

From the very beginning, we’ve welcomed the call for a youth strike. Now we think we need to escalate our struggle - we believe mass collective action is what is required. And to achieve the change we need means building a powerful movement. This requires linking up in action with the working-class majority – who due to their power to shut down production and services are potentially far more powerful force than the capitalist elite who cause climate change - around a socialist programme which puts people and the environment first. We call on the trade union movement, Corbyn and McDonnell to get behind this youth movement, build links and offer every assistance possible.

You can’t control what you don’t own. The nationalisation of the energy companies, alongside the banks and the rest of the major multinationals that dominate the economy, under democratic control of workers and young people for a socialist future to save our planet. Only on the basis of a socialist world, where the planet's resources are taken out of the hands of those driving climate change - the capitalists - and into collective ownership as part of a democratic plan for green production, can we truly meet the needs of all society, and avert catastrophe.

NEXT STEPS YOU CAN TAKE AT YOUR SCHOOL, COLLEGE, OR UNIVERSITY

- Contact Socialist Students if you want to build for the next strike

- Call a protest in the build-up to the next demo

- Approach local NEU members and the local trade union movement for support

- Organise banner making sessions

To the Student Left Network national committee,

From: the Socialist Students national steering committee

We write to the national committee of the recently founded Student Left Network with the aim of initiating a discussion on how best to build the student movement in 2019. Socialist Students stands for the building of a mass student movement to fight for free education, against austerity, and for a socialist alternative to the havoc wreaked on young people’s lives by capitalism. Socialist Students wants to work with any other organisations it can do to help build such a movement, and has a record of pursuing the building of such links.

Last year, particularly the latter half of 2018, enormous potential opened up for workers and students who want to see the end of this rotten Tory government. The deepening crisis and divisions within the Tory Party threaten to tear the government asunder.

That’s why Socialist Students last term at freshers put the demand for a general election centre stage on the campuses and colleges nationally where we have a presence. What was clear was that despite the lack of a generalised national student movement, and the frustration amongst Corbyn supporting students that there had been no significant call to action by any leading organisation in the labour or student movement, the ideas of mobilising students alongside working class people to challenge the Tory government and demand a new general election was an incredibly popular idea.

Despite these overwhelmingly positive developments, there still has been no call to action whatsoever by the official leadership of the student movement, the NUS. At last year’s national conference in Glasgow, the right wing, Blairite leadership of the NUS did everything in its power to stifle discussion and debate, resulting in a spontaneous protest and occupation of the main stage by around 150 delegates.

It has now been reported that the NUS is facing the fresh threat of bankruptcy nationally, facing an estimated £2.9 million deficit by April of this year. The proposed course of action put forward by the leadership of the NUS will further gut democracy – including to shorten the length of conference, to cut full time officers, and to abolish the elected ‘Block of 15’. These proposals raise the possibility that the NUS ceases to exist as an organisation through which struggles can be channeled, transformed instead into the equivalent of a think tank.

Socialist Students argues that the only way forward for the NUS now is a special emergency conference, with delegates chosen through special delegate elections carried out within all affiliated student unions, to discuss the way forward for the NUS.

At such a conference, Socialist Students would argue for an NUS that rallies around a clear programme of fighting fees and austerity, for living grants for all students, and an end to marketisation and cuts on campuses. We would also argue for the abolition of any unelected boards or committees, and the opening up of the NUS's books to the democratic oversight of students and elected NUS officials as part of an investigation into the finances and potential financial solutions to the crisis. Socialist Students would also argue against the key proposals which have been raised by the current NUS leadership to resolve the financial difficulties through a combination of further clampdowns on democracy within the NUS and cuts to full-time staff.

The final outcome of this development of course remains to be seen. But in any case, the imperative for the student movement to build itself a leadership – either outside the NUS, or through it on the basis of its fundamental transformation – is urgent.

In light of these points, we would like to suggest a meeting between representatives of Socialist Students’ steering committee and the Student Left Network national committee to discuss if there is any basis for our organisations to work together in the future.

We look forward to hearing your response to the points we raise here. We hope this will be helpful to building alongside you and other groups for elevated student struggles in the future.

In Solidarity,

Socialist Students Steering Committee

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