Category: Uncategorized

The Socialist Labour Party wishes to condemn, without reserve, the attack on the sovereign state of Iran by the United States and Israel.

This illegal act of aggression under international law has already cost innocent human lives, and we see this as the latest of a series of conflicts, spurred on by the US’s imperialist ambitions in that part of the world.

We also condemn the duplicitous response of the UK government, which has claimed, on the one-hand to be free of involvement while simultaneously deploying aircraft in the conflict arena, instead of working towards de-escalation and negotiation. We urge the immediate ban of arms sales and military aid to the aggressor states, from the UK.

We are concerned by the potential for escalation in this conflict and the possibility that this could be a key moment in global history, should this conflict develop even further.

We stand in solidarity with the people of Iran.

Socialist Labour Party

This morning (27/02/2026) woke up to the spectacular result of the Greens win in the Gorton and Denton by-election, in Manchester Labour was beaten to 3^rd place. They had won the seat in 2024 with a majority of 13,000 which has now been crushed by the Greens to a withering 9,364 votes, and a massive swing of 26% from Labour to the Greens.

The other astonishing aspect of the result is the complete annihilation of the Tory vote, reduced down to just 706 votes out of an electorate of 76,000, and losing their deposit.

There is little doubt that the traditional duopoly of power of Tory and Labour has been smashed, and the political landscape in this country has shifted irrevocably.

There is little doubt that the traditional duopoly of power of Tory and Labour has been smashed, and the political landscape in this country has shifted irrevocably.

The Conservatives are busily re-inventing themselves as Reform to avoid electoral oblivion and the electorate have called foul on Labour’s lies, austerity, war-mongering and its support for Zionist, ethno-supremacist regimes; the Epstein political class has been shown the red card.

There is little doubt from the result in Gorton and Denton, that the Green’s progressive rhetoric has been very successful in capturing the leftist vote, which demonstrates that there is a real hunger in the electorate for left-wing policies. A real hunger for real change.

The political position of both the Greens and Your Party, remains uncertain on key issues:

• Are they anti-NATO or not?
• Are they anti-EU?
• Are they an anti-Zionist Party?
• Are they fully committed to common ownership of key industries?
• Do they have a close relationship to the Labour Movement and Trades Unions?

The Socialist Labour Party as a long-standing Socialist party has clear answers to the questions left by others including the Greens and Your Party.

It is a party that has a long and consistent history of advocating an avowedly socialist platform, it is a party founded by Trade Unionists for Trade Unionists, and it is the solidarity of the working people that can and will change this country for the better. This is what we stand for.

Our manifesto is online at https://socialistlabourparty.org.uk/policies

If you agree with our policies and are interested in standing as a Socialist Labour Party candidate in the forth-coming elections, please contact us via email at generalsecretary@socialistlabourparty.org.uk

Socialist Labour Party

In 1982, Arthur Scargill gave an interview to Ian White on his recollections on the Battle of Saltley Gate and the Miner’s Strike of 1984-85, for the Look North program.

Arthur’s reflections on the events of 1972 and the Strike of ’84 should give us pause to reflect.

His central message about the importance of solidarity among the working class, is just as vitally important as it ever was.

When workers are united, they are unstoppable force, and that lesson should not be lost because we forgotten our history, particularly in these days of austerity and downward pressure on the pay and conditions of working people.

By Allistair Lomax

By David Jacobsen

On Februrary 22nd 2026 ‘The Isle of Islay’ branded ferry pulled into Greenock harbour from Turkey.

Steel produced abroad again as with the Germany produced tracks and coaches for Edinburgh Tram build. Too costly to taxpayer, recent examples of capitalist decisions to globalise theft of world resources at a cost to UK self sufficient re-industrialisation.

The ‘inevitability’ of further poverty cost to the working class – after the 2008 economic crash – has to be justified by a ruling class to maintain its economic dominance. 

Post 2008 and post 2020 Covid outbreak in Britain the political ‘inevitability’ of capitalism terminology is austere aka austerity. Pre 2008 capitalist cronies termed working class dire economic and social circumstances as Cost of Living Crisis for them to bear with stoicism and national pride. Post 2024 new terminology has entered the public arena. A Right to Die option for people expendable, surplus to requirements.

The historical development of economic and political austerity since the end of the Second World War is explained in Socialist Labour Party Manifesto (pages 3-5) along with the way to develop a Socialist economic and political transformation that  consigns ruling class exploitation to the dustbin of history.

We now experience a revitalised and more organised working class in a fight for life and peace in the world. 

The Socialist Labour Party has a Constitution and political Manifesto to steer Britain towards Socialism.

David Jacobsen
Socialist Labour Party

The events of yesterday, with the arrest of Peter Mandelson, draws to an end a chequered career of a politician, who will no doubt go down in history as the icon of everything this is corrupt and sleazy about the Labour Party.

As Mandelson perp-walks to infamy, it’s worth reminding ourselves that his loathing for genuine socialism extended to the Socialist Labour Party, which came to a head when he debated the issue of Clause IV with our Comrade Arthur Scargill in Hartlepool in 1995, a debate organised by Tribune, and attended by current members of the Party

Arthur recalls that he won the debate hands down, and that, once he saw that he was losing the argument, Mandelson asked the chairperson to forego a vote on the outcome of the debate, playing his usual Machiavellian tricks.

Arthur insisted it went ahead and won the vote 10 to 1!!
Tribune later sent a photo to Arthur, with he and Mandelson debating, which read “-“Bobby” Looking to the heavens for deliverance”. It was obvious to Mandelson, that at that point, he had lost the debate.

Five years later, in 2001, Arthur Scargill described Labour’s policies and Mandelson:

“The government’s policies on the NHS, education and housing were “disastrous” and Mr Mandelson was an “unmitigated disaster”.

He added that job cuts at steel company Corus would help highlight his fight against the market forces Mr Mandelson and New Labour had embraced.

“The mass destruction of the British coal industry is testament to the fact that I got it right and they got it wrong,”

Given the current unpopularity of the Labour Government, and of Keir Starmer in particular, it seems that the prediction that Mandelson was an “unmitigated disaster” was prescient.

As the Gorton and Denton by-election, nears it is worth remembering that Peter Mandelson was one of the architects of New Labour, and has been instrumental in bringing the Labour Party to its current, parlous state; mistrusted, corrupt and wedded to Thatcherite ideology.

Last September (2026, our Election Nominations Officer, Chris Butler made the following announcement:

Dear Comrades,

The Socialist Labour Party is hoping to stand as many candidates as possible in the elections in Scotland,Wales and England next year (2026).

If you would like to be considered as a candidate, could you let me know, please, so we can try to coordinate the campaigns.

As a candidate your views must align with the SLP constitution and position, as outlined in the party’s Manifesto.

And, of course, you must be a fully paid-up member of the party.

If you wish to be considered, please give me your name, region and contact details so that we can all work together.

The Socialist Labour Party has a lot to offer to achieve a just, socialist alternative to the disaster the other parties are making.

Solidarity,

Chris Butler,

Elections Nomination Officer, Socialist Labour Party

If you are interested then contact the party at:

generalsecretary@socialistlabourparty.org.uk

Or via our contact form

This week sees 54th anniversary of the Battle of Saltley Gate, 10th February 1972. The battle went on through the entire week and workers across Birmingham came out in support. 15-20,000 marched on Saltley and ensure that the gates to the coking plant were closed.

The police had advised the government that they had everything under control, but as a result of the extent of solidarity from working people: men and women from diverse cultures, the police ordered the gates to be closed. The Prime Minister, Edward Heath, lost the following election after asking who ran the country. We, the people told him. 

This was the time when an unknown Yorkshire miner, Arthur Scargill, became known in Britain and as leader of the 1984 – 5 Miners Strike, universally. The struggle continues. Saltley was a clear victory. A further confrontation at Orgreave mirrored Saltley. A demand for a public enquiry continues. 

Birmingham Trade Council organised the 40th anniversary celebration in 2012 when Arthur Scargill, Ken Capstick, Deputy Leader of the Yorkshire miners during the strike and Bob Crow, General Secretary of the RMT were speaker. Banner Theatre performed music, including sings from their production telling the story of the Battle of Saltley Gate. Teacher and Troops Out activist Mary Pearson was M.C. 

You can watch a video of Ken Capstick speaking at the 40 anniversary.

Here is the BBC report from 2012 on the anniversary:

The Socialist Labour Party wishes to express its support for the government of Venezuela, led by Acting President Delcy Rodríguez. We recognise the legitimacy of her government, supported by the institutions, trade unions and the people of Venezuela.
We unequivocally support the right of the Venezuelan people to govern themselves and determine their own futures, as well as their right to defend themselves against the imperialist behaviour of the United States.

We call upon the British government to recognise the legitimacy of the government of Venezuela and call for the cessation of all hostile acts by the United States.

We condemn utterly the aggression and barbarism of the United States in the illegal abduction of President Nicolás Maduro to United States territory in open and flagrant disregard of the international law. Such actions make a mockery of the United States claim to represent the so-called ‘rules-based order’ and threatens to destabilise global security.

Socialist Labour Party
5^th of January, 2026

Declaración oficial del Partido Laborista Socialista sobre la situación en Venezuela

El Partido Laborista Socialista desea expresar su apoya al gobierno de Venezuela, liberado por la presidenta en funciones, Delcy Rodríguez. Reconocemos la legitimidad de su gobierno, apoyado por las instituciones, los sindicatos y el pueblo de Venezuela.
Apoyamos inequívocamente el derecho del pueblo venezolano a gobernarse a sí mismo y determinar su propio futuro, así como su derecho a defenderse de la conducta imperialista de los Estados Unidos.

Hacemos un llamamiento al gobierno Británico para que reconozca la legitimidad del gobierno de Venezuela y exija el cese de todos los actos hostiles de Estados Unidos.

Condenamos rotundamente la agresión y la barbarie de Estados Unidos al secuestrar ilegalmente al presidente Nicolás Maduro en territorio estadounidense, en abierto y flagrante desacato al derecho internacional. Estas acciones desvirtúan la pretensión estadounidense de representar el llamado “orden basado en reglas” y amenazan con desestabilizar la seguridad global.

El Partido Laborista Socialista (Reino Unido)

5 de enero de 2026

You can download the statement in PDF format in both English and Spanish.

The Socialist Labour Party were shocked yesterday by the events in Venezuela, which included the abduction of the elected President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

This is a flagrant violation of International Law by the gangster state led by Donald Trump.

The official statement from the SLP is shown below:

“The slaughter of innocents, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and genocide in Palestine/Gaza has been condemned by the United Nations, supported by the overwhelming majority of countries throughout the world.

The Socialist Labour Party welcomes the January 2024 judgement of the International Court of Justice condemning the genocidal action of Israel in Gaza. We also welcome the May 2024 call by Karim Khan, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

We support the isolation of the Apartheid Israeli state, Britain should with draw diplomatic and all other relations, refuse to have any financial dealings with and indeed fully sanction the Israeli state until a Palestinian state is established with the right of full return for all exiled Palestinians and their descendants.

The Socialist Labour Party stands in full solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The world is in a perilous state – in danger of nuclear annihilation. We have been driven to this situation by increasingly desperate, warmongering elites and governments. The conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine have their roots in this approach by western governments and there is the potential for more war and destruction because of US aggression towards China.

The Socialist Labour Party opposes all this madness and stands for internationalism, friendship between nations and peoples and against war

The Socialist Labour Party does not adopt a position in support of any capitalist country. However, we are aware of the origins of the Ukraine – Russia conflict. In short, it is because of NATO expansion, the 2014 CIA organised coup against the democratically elected Ukrainian President and government, and the civil war launched by the Ukrainian coup leaders against their own citizens in the Donbass region of that country. Even after Russia’s intervention in 2022, the then Ukrainian government had an opportunity to come to a settlement with the “Minsk” accords. Their own negotiators signed but goaded by then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (seen recently in a leaked video lauding the openly fascist AZOV brigade) the agreement was reneged on by President Zelensky. Unfortunately for Ukraine any future deal is likely to be so much less agreeable

The Socialist Labour Party is clear; we oppose globalisation as we do NATO expansionism and US aggression- we say stop funding war. Let us begin working towards a world truly at peace with liberty, justice and prosperity for all.”

From the Socialist Labour Party Manifesto
Pages 2-3.

Comrades, we are being led into war – again. The media is full of stories about the threat of war from Russia, China, North Korea. Nato is warning us that we are about to be invaded and we must prepare for war, like WW1 and WW2. The Russians are coming, with snow on their boots.

Why is this? War is very profitable, for some people. The manufacturers of Arms are delighted to be selling more arms and seeing their profits soaring. They will sell arms to both sides, maximising their profits, laughing all the way to the bank. Some Governments are also very happy with the fear of war since they can use this to divert money away from the provision of essential services onto “defence”. This power they can use to subordinate people, to control any dissent. These were the tools of imperialism and colonialism. When we had the greatest navy in the world we ruled the world. “Britain never, never, never will be slaves”. We ruled the world; we exploited the world and its people.

Of course, to do this we have to have “enemies”. If we don’t actually have any then we must invent them. China and Russia are clearly our enemies. We must arm against them. Wrap ourselves in the flag. Invoke patriotism, nationalism.

Of course, it won’t be our leaders who are doing the fighting. They will be photographed wearing battle fatigues riding in a tank. That is as close to the front line they will get. No, it will be the working class taking the fire, fighting the working class of another country. We are the cannon fodder not our leaders.

No sisters and brothers we must resist this call to arms. Instead let us invest in what is needed to produce a fair, just and equitable world for us all to live and prosper in.

Chris Butler

December 2025