Brighton SolFed

Good old Sir Richard Branson has once again managed to get himself to the front of the queue for state handouts. Having spent years channelling public money into massive profits at Virgin Rail, he is now turning his attention to milking the NHS. Figures released in January 2018 show that his company, Virgin Care, won a record £1bn worth of NHS contracts in 2017. Added to already existing contracts, this means that Virgin Care now has over 400 separate NHS contracts. Funny how these arch free market capitalists, such as Branson, seem to be able to swallow their anti-state principles when it comes to claiming state subsidies. Good old Sir Richard even took this to the extent of suing the NHS in 2017 when Virgin Care lost an £82m contract. In the process he won an undisclosed sum that otherwise would have been wasted on treating sick people. 

Manchester Solfed's guide for migrants coming to Manchester has been republished with a updated edition for November 2017.

The guide contains information to help new migrants settle in the city. While focusing on Manchester, much of the guide will be useful to people living anywhere in the UK.

Available in English and Spanish, the guide can be downloaded in pdf format from the links below, paper copies will also be distributed around the city.

We are currently working on a translation into Portugese and we are producing a version for smartphones.

The Migrants Guide is a work in progress and we welcome submissions and suggestions. Please contact the Manchester local if you have anything to contribute.

Cleaners have a vital role in society, yet their job is poorly paid and routinely dismissed as a job carried out mainly by women to earn a bit of extra cash; cleaning is not generally seen as a particularly physically hard or dangerous job, many people see it as involving a bit of dusting, mopping and hoovering.

Ian Hartley is one of those prisoners still serving an IPP sentence. Originally given a tariff of 3 years and 2 months, he is still in prison 12 years on. Ian discribes the hell which is IPP as follows “I hate waking up in a morning and look forward to going to sleep at night. Prison is an awful corrupt place full of violence and abuse. I have served my time and just want to be in a loving family environment to live the rest of my life. The hell I am suffering within this place is indescribable and if it wasn’t for my partner and my family I would have ended my life by now." As part of the Smash IPP campign a petition has been organised.

You can sign the petition here: http://chn.ge/2yfxiDU

You can get more info here: https://www.change.org/p/free-ipp-prisoner-ian-hartley

Rail guards on the 3rd October took action to protect their jobs on Northern,‎ Southern, Merseyrail and Greater Anglia. The strike is aimed at preventing the rail companies removing the guards from trains and operating driver only trains. The RMT rail union stated  "RMT members are standing absolutely rock solid and united this morning in these four separate disputes as they make the case for safe, secure and accessible rail service for all.”

On Saturday September 16th, Manchester SolFed took part in a demonstration organised by the Smash IPP campaign. Imprisonment for public protection (IPP) is a brutal system under which people find themselves rotting in prison for years without any idea of when they will be released. Under IPP, people as young as 16, after being given initial sentences of two years or less for petty crimes, such as theft of a mobile phone, still find themselves locked away in prison after as much as ten years or more later. As one IPP campaigner noted, being locked away in prison for year after year with no idea of when you will be released is nothing less than a form of mental torture. Needless to say, many prisoners serving IPP sentences suffer from mental health problems, reflected in the fact that a large number of IPP prisoners resort to self harm as a coping mechanism.