This November marks 95 since the Russian Revolution of 1917. To celebrate this the UCLU Marxists, in collaboration with "Socialist Appeal" and the website "In Defence of Marxism" (www.marxist.com), are hosting a special day school on the events of 1917, the Stalinist degeneration, and the question of socialism today.

At a meeting of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), earlier this month something out of the ordinary happened. At the meeting of the General Council a motion moved the Prison Officers’ Association that included a proposal to ‘explore’ the possibilities of a General Strike.

Marx is considered to be one of the most influential political philosophers in history. The course of the 20th century was shaped by the ideas of Marx and his followers. Only a few years ago we would hear that Marxism was an outdated philosophy - an interesting theoretical perspective but with no practical use.

As the government proves intractable over demands to revoke London Met’s ban on teaching overseas students, it is becoming increasingly clear that only a militant campaign by the student union and trade unions can force the government’s hand.

A clearing house for students displaced by the university’s visa fiasco will include six private colleges in a total of 14 institutions. In keeping with its general policy of favouring business over the needs of ordinary people, the government now gets to offer a subsidy in the form of the tuition fees of over 2,000 overseas students.

Our approach to history is to learn the lessons. 1972 was the highest point in the class struggle in Britain since 1919. It is the year Britain came within a hair’s breath of a general strike, the first time since 1926, when the TUC threatened to call a stoppage in support of five imprisoned dockworkers. Come to this year's Marxist Summer School, taking place on 15-17 June, in London, where we will hold a special plenary session at the end of Saturday where participants from those events will recall the battles of the time.

We will have a number of important speakers at this year's Marxist Summer School, taking place on 15-17 June, not least among them Gerry Ruddy. Gerry is a longstanding and well known Irish republican Marxist and a former Ard Comhairle member of the Irish Republican Socialist Party. Gerry writes for the Red Plough, an Independent Republican Marxist Blog, as well as being a regular contributor to Fightback - the website and journal of the International Marxist Tendency in Ireland - and also marxist.com. Gerry has campaigned for many years for the primacy of politics within republican socialism, Marxist ideas and for the central role of the working class in struggling for socialism, solving the age old national question and creating a united worker’s republic. He is the author of several important articles including “The Political Road” and “Ireland - An Overview 1967-2007”, as well as his preface to Alan Woods’ book Republicanism and Revolution.

One of the most widespread and entrenched prejudices of capitalist society, and therefore most pernicious, is that charity is purely and simply good, and therefore beyond criticism. If one does not bow to this social pressure, and dare to criticise the role of charity, it is assumed that the person must be fundamentally callous and strongly in favour of the maintenance of poverty and disease. It is presumably for these reasons that the owners of the Save the Children charity, upon funding Ken Loach (by then a known socialist) to make a film celebrating their 50th anniversary in 1971, naively allowed him to get on with it in complete freedom. As Loach explained in a rare showing of the film in Peckham, London, it simply never occurred to them that he might make something in any way critical of what they do.

Vladimir Illyich Ulyanov, aka Lenin, arguably the greatest thinker and politician of the 20th Century, spent many of his most important years building the Russian Marxist movement from exile in London. From there in 1902-3 he edited the paper, Iskra, which would be decisive in formulating the revolutionary ideas of Bolshevism and in developing a nucleus to keep the movement going.

In our walk we will visit the office in Clerkenwell Green where he edited and wrote, the various houses he lived in, including the one where he first met Trotsky, and finally stopping off in a pub in the local area which the man himself drank in with his comrades! At each stopping point there will be a brief talk on Lenin's life and the historical context to his life in London.

Meet at 1pm outside Kings Cross station Main Entrance, Saturday 5th November. Contact: Daniel 077 2344 3410

Everyone is welcome to attend and participate!

Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818 (New Style), in the city of Trier (Rhenish Prussia). His father was a lawyer, a Jew, who in 1824 adopted Protestantism. The family was well-to-do, cultured, but not revolutionary. After graduating from a Gymnasium in Trier, Marx entered the university, first at Bonn and later in Berlin, where he read law, majoring in history and philosophy. He concluded his university course in 1841, submitting a doctoral thesis on the philosophy of Epicurus. At the time Marx was a Hegelian idealist in his views. In Berlin, he belonged to the circle of "Left Hegelians" (Bruno Bauer and others) who sought to draw atheistic and revolutionary conclusion from Hegel's philosophy....

The president of the London School of Economics student union, David Adelstein, and Marshall Bloom, President of the Graduate Students’ Association, have been suspended for taking part in demonstrations and direct action against their leadership. Millions of people are taking to the streets in France, and there are massive protests in the US after the government ignores its peoples’ demands. The year? 1967.

The Launch Meeting of Glasgow Schools Student Union has been announced. On the 2nd March, at the Centre for Contemporary Arts (View Map) we shall officially launch our Union.

The University of Arts, London (UAL) Marxist Society was featured in the UAL "Arts London" university newspaper last month, a paper produced by the students, with copies being distributed thoughout the university. The following is an explanation of the society and of Marxism, and it's relation to the student and workers' fight against the cuts, including a link to the article as it features on the original website. If you are interested in getting involved with UAL Marxists, a list of events and contact details can be found at the bottom of the article.

A new issue of the Militant Student is now available, and being sold on campuses up and down the country.