Over one thousand trade unionists – on Zoom and via a live feed – attended the meeting held on July 21st to discuss next steps in a campaign for unions to be at the core of a new working class party to challenge Keir Starmer’s continuity Tories New Labour.

Hosted by Dave Nellist, the former Labour MP (1983-1992) and now the chair of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), the meeting featured contributions from Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana MP.  While executive committee members from Unite, UCU, NEU, Unison, the PCS and others, focused the discussion on what needs to be done to ensure that trade unions and trade unionists can take the lead in building the new anti-austerity and anti-war party so desperately needed.

If you missed the meeting, you can watch the video at https://youtu.be/fTTmB-itr4U?si=CS3s5DEUioGeUzUg

Follow-up meetings will be organised for individual unions in the coming weeks but in the meantime an online petition, at this point supported by over 1,800 trade unionists including 43 current and former union executive committee members, can be signed at https://www.change.org/TradeUnions-LaunchANewParty   

And a template to print out paper versions of the petition to use at meetings, demonstrations or for individual discussions with other trade unionists can be downloaded at https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Petition-template-update.pdf

Youth walkout against Trump

Meanwhile, Socialist Students, which is one of the constituent organisations of TUSC, has made the front page of the US Time magazine – or, at least, the top of the Time website landing page for a day! 

In a feature on how people ‘across the pond’ are responding to Trump’s UK visits, the Time article highlighted a planned September 17 nationwide Youth Walkout Against Trump in schools and colleges with, as they write, hundreds “already signed up, according to Socialist Students, the organizers of the protest”.

Adam Gillman, Socialist Students’ national organiser, is reported as saying “we can send a powerful message to young people and workers in America that we stand with them against Trump – not with Starmer, who issued the invite for this state visit”.

And “Lauren, a student from the Welsh town of Wrexham” – which happens to be the home city of two TUSC-supporting councillors – is also quoted: “These walkouts are a chance to stand up to Trump, as well as our government who welcome him with open arms, and all other leaders who uphold this corrupt system”.  And building support for the idea of a new party as we do.

Socialist Students is a campaigning organisation with a presence in over 60 schools, colleges and universities.  If you want to be part of the walkout campaign, sign up at https://socialiststudents.org.uk/youth-walkout-against-trump/

Can you help TUSC and its work?

TUSC, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, fully supports the moves towards the establishment of a new working class party, including an offer to hand over its legal registration with the Electoral Commission to Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana if that would speed things along (see the full statement from the TUSC all-Britain steering committee at https://www.tusc.org.uk/21778/17-07-2025/tusc-offers-full-backing-to-moves-towards-a-new-party/).

Can you help us in all this work?  Donations can be made at https://www.tusc.org.uk/donate/  And, if you are not a member of one of the constituent organisations of the coalition but want to participate in it, you can join the TUSC individual members’ section, with their own representatives on the steering committee, at https://www.tusc.org.uk/join/  The time to get involved is now. ■