by Maurice Cooper
On 24 September, hundreds of students walked out of their classes and gathered in Parliament Square to demand that the Tory government acts now to end climate change and save our future. The demo was part of other protests, organised by young people, around the country and across the world.
Photo: Isai Priya
The Socialist Party message was very well received. Our young members went out into the crowd with leaflets and sign-up sheets for Socialist Students, with many leaving their details.
Unfortunately, the organisers refused to allow us, or anyone outside of the planned speakers’ list, to give a speech to the crowd. This is highly undemocratic.
It is essential that we have a free discussion, where young people can put forward their solutions, even if there are disagreements. Otherwise, we can end up with nobody putting forward the strategies we need to fight the failure of the Tories and Starmer’s Labour.
We need a democratically organised, mass, working-class movement for the climate. Capitalism is the cause of climate change. We have to fight against it, and for socialist change.