Workers' Liberty Students

Tuition fees have been in the press a lot recently, and rightly so. The Student left once campaigned for the full abolition of fees, for the restoration of maintenance grants, for all.

Now there is little activity, other than the bland managerialism of the NUS and their sad calls for reform.

Read more about what we say, and how to get involved here: bit.ly/AbolishFees

Read the latest issue of Solidarity now!

bit.ly/sol-760

Starmer is a dead duck. The question is, what alternative?

Also in this issue:
All our for 28 March! For a workers' united front!
Israel is still bombing Gaza
Palestinian strike against school neglect
Time for "Time For Real Change" to change
A united Europe? 1929 and now.
Sheffield University gives ultimatum

And much more @ bit.ly/sol-760

Students organised in the Sheffield anti-cuts coalition have planned solidarity action with the UCU in the upcoming strikes against the cuts. You can read the article in full in the latest issue of Solidarity bit.ly/sol-755

Join us Thursday at 3:30pm in birkbeck Central cafe to discuss Hal Draper's Why the working class.

'Why do socialists believe there is a special connection between their own great goal of a new society and the interests of labour, this one segment of society? Is it because we "idealize" workers as being better, or more clever, or more honest, or more courageous, or more humanitarian, than non-workers? - Isn't it rather true that the workers have time and again followed reactionary courses and leaders and have by no means shown any invariable affinity for progressive causes? ... Aren't they filled with race prejudice ... sometimes even more so than the upper classes? If it is true that workers are "naturally" pro-socialist, why is it they have made such a mess of things, voting for reactionaries and fakers and supporting the status quo? ... And so on.'

No pre reading necessary and all welcome

Join us at this UK friends of standing together meeting on campus at Birkbeck to discuss the ongoing struggle for peace equality and just, against war and occupation in Israel Palestine.

Join us for a walking tour of Bloomsbury's often overlooked radical history, of Chartism through to student and workers' movements.

Free or you can make a donation. Sign up at bit.ly/walkrev

🚩Socialist Summer Camp! 🚩

📅 Book your ticket now!
🎟 £40 waged | £25 low-waged/student | £20 unwaged
🏕 workersliberty.org/camp

🔥A weekend of fires, partying, nature, good food, and socialist education!

⛺The camp is fully outdoors with, hot showers, toilets, political discussions and workshops.

🥗 Good food (included) with veggie/vegan options. With a bar in the evening, and socialist pub quiz! 🍻📝

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Families: We have activities for kids and a family-friendly vibe. Get in touch for more info!

🚗 Travel: Just 20 minutes’ drive from Haslemere train station. Lifts available from Thursday afternoon (call or email to arrange). 🚖

🏊 Activities through the day and evening 🌳⚽🥏🎲🎶🍺

More info & to book: 👉 workersliberty.org/camp

Read the latest on cuts in Higher Education and about some of the campaigns against them!

‘I write these updates about cuts in higher education for Solidarity every week, and it is crushing. In the last two weeks there have been announcements about planned cuts at universities totalling over 1,000 jobs, hundreds of millions in funding, with courses and entire departments to close. All that is on top of the already committed thousands of job losses, courses closed, departments shut or shuttered.’

Link in bio
bit.ly/UNICUTS

Hearing from an activist with about the refusnik movment in Israel building for more young people to refuse the draft, at All the Rage.

Many people view Israeli society as a monolith, it is not, the brave activists need our solidarity.

Since the devaluations of the Nigerian currency, the naira, in the last year, and the rampant inflation there, currently sitting at around 30%, Nigerian international students have been facing acute financial difficulty.

Teesside University has withdrawn visa sponsorship from Nigerian students who had fallen behind on their tuition fee payments, and the students have then been told they will have to leave the UK. The Home Office has told the students that they have no right of appeal, and that the decision to withdraw support was entirely the university’s.

Some students have since made up the default in fees. However, that does not resolve the status issue, and they are unable to re-enrol, though some were on the cusp of finishing their studies.

So far there has been no public response from the National Union of Students (either the outgoing or the incoming elected officers), from Teesside University Student Union, or from the recently elected Labour Students leadership.

Universities in the UK rely heavily on exorbitant fees for international students. Fees average £22k, and can be anything between £11k and £38k a year. International students are ineligible for any financial support, exempt from hardship funds and are prevented from working more than 16 hours per week. This creates a situation where they are not only exploited by the institutions, but are also at risk of exploitation by unscrupulous employers too.

Education should be free for all. International student fees in Europe are much lower than in Britain except at some private universities. There should be parity. When fees are abolished for home students, then they should be for international students too.

Ejecting the Tories in favour of a Labour government - which will be more susceptible to working class pressure - will be a real gain. But we also fight for something better: a government that is uncompromisingly for workers over business; that is under continuous democratic control by the workers’ movement; that abolishes anti-union laws and confronts big business and unelected state machinery to pursue our class interests on wages, health, education, housing, climate, social freedoms and more.