Over one-hundred-and-thirty-five people attended the UCLU Marxist Society last night to watch “Days of Hope: General Strike” by Ken Loach. Present at the discussion held afterwards was the veteran socialist film director himself, as well as John Dunn from the “Justice for Miners” Campaign.

The Cambridge Marxist Society, founded shortly after the crisis began in 2008, is now in its fourth year of existence. Over these years, the society has grown to become the largest political society in Cambridge University, with 350 people signing up at this year’s freshers’ fair. This was followed up by an excellent first meeting of the new academic year, with over 90 people attending to hear Alan Woods, editor of www.marxist.com, speak on “Why Marx was right”.

Tonight (September 7^th), I felt the winds of change. Not just in the general state of things globally but in my community in particular where over 120 people came to have their voices heard at the ‘Edinburgh East Save our Services!’ meeting in Portobello’s town hall. The mood was not of anger, nor even that of resentment, but of militancy towards those who were placed in their positions to represent us, the workers. The same representatives who are elected to fight against the dictates of big business and place our needs first.

Over the Weekend of 15th-17th June the second ever Marxist Summer School, hosted by the University of London Union Marxist Society, took place. The event was a resounding success, building on the experience of the previous year, with up to 100 in attendance. Because we managed to pack in so many discussions, we were able to cover a lot of ground and go into detail in a way that is not normally possible.

In Edinburgh, hundreds of young people took a stand and marched against the creation of another ‘lost generation’. The march was to highlight the effects of government spending cuts which are devastating life opportunities for young people and increasing unemployment.

This week Ben Gliniecki, former president of Selwyn College and member of the Cambridge Marxist Discussion Group and Socialist Appeal, is running for the presidency of Cambridge University Student Union (CUSU) as a socialist candidate and to help build a fighting CUSU.

At a time when capitalism is imposing its deepest cuts in living and education standards for the working class, we need our own organisations, the trade unions and student unions, to mobilise a militant and determined struggle against their cuts and capitalism. This week, two students from the University of the Arts London, one of the biggest universities in the country, are running a campaign organised along these lines for the student union leadership.

The University of London Marxist Society this week hosted Marie Frederiksen, editor of the Danish Marxist newspaper, Socialist Standpoint, who came to speak on the topic ‘Women and Revolution: The Real Iron Ladies’. The Iron Lady was released at the beginning of January, a film in which female director Phyllida Lloyd and female writer Abi Morgan attempt to portray Margaret Thatcher as a role model for the emancipation of women, while subsequently skimming the surface of Thatcher's politics and infamy. In light of this, Marie spoke about those women who she felt really deserved the accolade of ‘Iron Lady’.

We received this report from Ruth O'Sullivan, a school student at Camden School for Girls, who helped organise a contingent in solidarity with teachers and other striking public sector workers on November 30th. We believe this report serves as an excellent example and inspiration for other young people who are drawing revolutionary conclusions and looking for an alternative to the impasse of capitalism.

The ULU Marxist Society meeting on Wednesday November 9th was special for two reasons. It was the meeting following the NUS demo against education cuts and tuition fees, where the ULU Marxists had an excellent intervention. It was also the 94th anniversary meeting of the Russian Revolution where Fred Weston, editor of the website In Defence of Marxism (www.marxist.com). Here we give a brief report of that meeting, and also the audio recording of the lead-off on 1917.

Glasgow University hasn’t been short of dramatic events over 2011. This includes a march of over 3,000 students against course cuts, a major police operation attempting to evict a student occupation which was successfully opposed by hundreds of student protestors, and a tight election for the Student Representative Council (SRC) presidency which saw the left come within a couple of hundred votes of winning. The situation has now developed to the point where the victor of that election, Stuart Ritchie, has been forced to resign only months into the first semester.

Socialist Appeal member Adam Booth spoke against Vince Cable, the Secretary of State for Business in the Coalition government, in the Cambridge Union on Thursday 27^th October, in a debate that highlighted the two starkly contrasting choices facing society as a result of the crisis of capitalism: austerity or socialism.