Socialist Worker 2523 2016-09-27 16:24:11.0
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Corbyn  victory should be a launch pad for resistance
People Celebrate the Labour Leadership election result last Saturday (Pic: Neil Terry) Jeremy Corbyn?s re-election as Labour Party leader last Saturday is a boost to the whole of the left. Not only did Corbyn win, he increased his share of the vote to?62 percent from the 59.5 percent he achieved last year. Corbyn defied the plotting of?172 Labour MPs who voted ?no confidence? in him. He won despite Labour?s national executive committee (NEC) blocking 130,000 people who joined after 12 January from voting. The NEC barred another 50,000 for ?technical reasons? while the ?compliance unit? weeded out thousands of others. Corbyn?s success is a clear sign of the feeling against austerity, racism and war. He has shown that socialist ideas can be popular and that the crisis of mainstream politics can be resolved to the left. But there are now choices to be made. Instead of being directed towards inner-party manoeuvres, his victory must be a launchpad for increased resistance in the workplaces and on the streets. This is the crucial arena of struggle. Workers are more open to?radical ideas and less likely to blame migrants when there are lots of strikes and protests. Resistance is crucial anyway. It?s well over 1,300 days until the scheduled general election?we need a fightback now. The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) looks forward to continuing to work with Corbyn and his supporters. Deepen? We need to resist disastrous Tory policies that threaten to destroy public services, deepen poverty, whip up racism and launch more imperialist wars. Corbyn?s rallies have seen large and enthusiastic audiences come to cheer a socialist message. Those people must become a movement in the streets and the workplaces that can block and then remove this Tory government. The SWP is not part of the Labour Party. But on Sunday, alongside Labour members, we will be part of the demonstration at the Conservative conference in Birmingham. On Saturday 8 October we will join the Stand Up To Racism conference which is dedicated to building a mass anti-racist movement?and where Corbyn will speak. The Labour right wingers who have tried so zealously to remove Corbyn are not going to halt their manoeuvres. They will accept unity only on their own rotten terms. There will now be massive pressure on Corbyn to appease the right. That would be disastrous. Boldness and a break from ?politics as usual? won Corbyn his support. He must not back down. Real change will need an assault on wealth and power. The election of the left wing Syriza government in Greece in January 2015 sent hope across the world. But it faced the brutal political and financial pressure from the European Union, the bankers and the rich. It is now implementing a worse round of austerity than that imposed by its Tory predecessors. That?s one clear reason why we need a movement independent of Labour. Winning is??wonderful??reactions from Corbyn supporters? Supporters of Jeremy Corbyn erupted in cheers at the news he had won. At least 700 joined the Corbyn-supporters? event The World Transformed in Liverpool to hear the leadership result. Debbie, a Corbyn supporter, told Socialist Worker she felt ?really, really happy?. She explained she never usually took an interest in politics, but that she was inspired by Corbyn because he ?speaks to how people actually feel?. Labour member Julie said, ?I feel wonderful. If Corbyn hadn?t won today I would never ever have voted Labour again.? Corbyn used his victory speech to ?thank the more than 300,000 supporters who have given me their trust ... They have given me the second mandate in a year to lead our party.? Corbyn added, ?We have more in common than that which divides us. Let?s wipe the slate clean from today.? One Corbyn supporter told Socialist Worker that the result was ?a message that Labour MPs have to listen to the members?. But the right won?t give up (see page 6). Corbyn also said Labour needed to turn outwards to take on the Tories, including campaigning this Saturday over grammar schools (see page 4). He said Labour?s hugely increased membership could ?take our message to every part of the country to win support for the election of a Labour government?. Owen was for going out to ?spread the message?campaigning on the streets and the estates?. The leadership campaign has shown the huge support for his left wing ideas. That must be channelled into real resistance to beat the Tories and to fight for a socialist society where people come before profit. ?

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LETTERS: I worked in a grammar school - they don?t help the poorest
Theresa May says grammar schools can offer a better education to pupils whose parents cannot afford private education. But grammar schools lower the standard of education overall and don?t solve any of the issues May claims they do. May says we currently have a system of ?selection by house price?. However, house prices go up significantly when they are in the catchment area for grammar schools. Most of those who pass the 11-plus have accessed rigorous, expensive private tutoring. The state boarding grammar where I worked is an example. It seemed like a good model for local working class kids. Wealthy families pay for facilities and extra-curricular opportunities, while working class boys and girls get access to an almost private standard of education. In reality the eight-mile catchment is home to three of the county?s best performing prep schools. It?s not hard to guess who gets the highest scores on the entrance tests each year. The return of grammar schools disguises a break for the rich as an opportunity for the poor. And it would complete the move towards performance related pay (PRP) for teachers. Grammar schools and PRP prioritise results above anything else. They are the perfect ideological allies. Yet research shows that performance linked pay doesn?t motivate the workforce. We already have a teaching crisis in Kent. It is no coincidence that this is one of the counties that held onto grammar schools. Kent Messenger newspaper recently published statistics suggesting that as many as?49 schools in Kent were without headmasters as of 17 September. NUT union regional secretary John Walder said the pressure of league tables and results played a huge role in this crisis. The idea that grammar schools are the answer is laughable. Freddie Hulbert,?Kent Say no to?selection?in schools My brother, who had learning difficulties, failed the 11-plus in the 1960s and attended the local secondary modern school.? He was dumped in the ?bottom stream? and basically left to rot. My parents moved to a neighbouring authority where he went to the comprehensive. There he received support, gained CSE qualifications and then got on an apprenticeship scheme leading to a career as an electrician. I passed the 11-plus to go to grammar school.?It was girls only and very academic. Facilities for subjects considered suitable for boys, such as woodwork, metalwork, even physics, were non-existent. Subjects that I would have found interesting, such as sociology, economics and politics, were not available. Non-academic subjects, such as art or?needlework were not treated seriously. While I no doubt did benefit from the education offered,?it was narrow. And I regretted not having the connection with the opposite sex enjoyed by comprehensive students. Theresa May claims that grammar schools of the future will be different. She says nothing of what might happen to kids like my brother. However, strait-jacketing and dividing children at?11 will happen, when we should all be together, enjoying as broad and supportive an education as possible. Anne James,?Chesterfield Junior doctors? action?flags up NHS problems Read through the letters sections of most newspapers and you are all but guaranteed to see a few letters deriding the junior doctors. There are others who support them. But what argument is there? The fact that junior doctors are striking is the biggest pointer that something is cripplingly wrong with where our NHS is heading. Doctors historically have eschewed industrial action. They have sworn an oath to save lives?unlike the politicians who ruin them. Yet they have found it necessary to undertake one of the strongest campaigns of action Britain has seen for a long time. This shows that their actions are vital. We must join them on picket lines from 5 October and make their fight everyone?s fight. Jake Elliott,?Huddersfield Privatisations stop operations Four years ago my privatised health provider refused me an operation for fear its failure would compromise its figures. I told my GP this, who said I was being ?cynical?. The GP swanned off to the area Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). In practice CCG means Cuts Coming Guaranteed. Nigel Coward,?West London Fighting the?fascist threat?in France Christine Delphy is right to blame right wing French politicians for Islamophobia (Socialist Worker, 14 September). The left in France is in disarray on how to resist Islamophobia. For some the issue doesn?t exist. Others blame Muslims for not accepting the values of the French republic. In France there are many local initiatives, such as the numerous groups that provide support for those in the Calais jungle. Le Pen?s fascist Front National and mainstream candidates will ramp up racism in next year?s presidential election. Pulling the initiatives into a national movement is of pressing urgency. Mike Healy,?Charente, France The TUC is?wrong about?airport expansion It?s not only nuclear power that some unions are wrong on (Socialist Worker, 21 September). A climate motion was voted down at TUC conference after some argued airport expansion was good for jobs. Liz Ryan,?West London Defend Brazil's Lula against the elites There is an international campaign in defence of ex leader of Brazil, president Lula. Lula is one of the most important left wing leaders in the world. The Brazilian elites cannot accept the support for him. Please show your support for him at standwithlula.org Sara Vivacqua,?by email Miliband?s in a glass house David Miliband said Jeremy Corbyn has made the Labour Party unelectable. This from the man who failed even to be elected leader! Alan Whyte,?Gateshead The system fails young people Capitalism is destroying young people?s self esteem. The Young Women?s Trust charity said young people lack confidence and fear for the future. Many live with parents because they can?t find a job or don?t earn much. It?s awful that people blame themselves for this when it?s the system that is at fault. Laura Allen,?Bradford
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'MPs must listen to the members' say joyous Corbyn supporters
Corbyn supporters celebrate his victory (Pic: Neil Terry) Jeremy Corbyn supporters erupted in cheers at the news he had been re-elected as leader of the Labour Party with an increased mandate today, Saturday. At least 700 of his supporters flocked to the Corbyn-supporters? event The World Transformed in Liverpool to watch the leadership result announced on a large screen. The atmosphere was already buzzing ahead of the result as supporters watched the BBC?s live coverage. There were cheers whenever a Corbyn supporter was interviewed?and laughter when an Owen Smith supporter said he thought Smith was still in with a chance. People were already celebrating before the result was officially released?but the room exploded at the news that Corbyn had increased his share of the vote from 59.5 percent of the vote in 2015 to 62 percent this time. Speaking after the result, Corbyn supporter Debbie told Socialist Worker she felt ?Really really happy?. She explained she never usually took an interest in politics. But she was inspired by Corbyn because he ?speaks to how people actually feel?. Labour member Julie said, ?I feel wonderful. If Corbyn hadn?t won today I would never ever have voted Labour again.? But another supporter, Fathi Sadiq, said he was ?disappointed that the vote wasn?t even bigger. ?They excluded so many of Corbyn?s supporters. If they had been allowed to vote it would have shown the true support for Corbyn.? Corbyn used his victory speech to, ?thank the more than 300,000 supporters who have given me their trust. ?They have given me the second mandate in a year to lead our party.? Slate He called on the Labour Party to reunite after the leadership election, telling the Labour conference, ?We?re part of the same Labour family and that?s how it?s always going to be.? He added, ?We have more in common than that which divides us. Let?s wipe the slate clean from today and get on with the work we have got to do.? Many of Corbyn?s supporters also called on those Labour MPs who had tried to force him out to come back behind him. One supporter told Socialist Worker that the result was ?a message that Labour MPs have to listen to the members.? If Corbyn hadn?t won today I would never ever have voted Labour again Another, Owen, said, ?Corbyn has offered peace to the MPs that took part in the attempt to get rid of him. I think they should take that, because we really need to start winning back public support again. He added, ?If MPs are saying they?re not going to accept the democratically elected leader of the Labour Party, then I don?t think they have anything relevant to say to the party. ?I don?t think there should be mandatory reselections for all Labour MPs?but I do think there should be that option for members in their constituencies.? The fight between the left and right inside the Labour Party looked set to continue at Labour conference in Liverpool this week, with wrangling over party rules. But Corbyn also said Labour needed to turn outwards to take on the Tories. He said, "This time next week we are all going to hit the streets united as a party. I am calling on Labour Party members all over the country to join us in a national campaign for inclusive education for all next Saturday". This call for action against grammar schools?is a very welcome?step in the right direction. And he said Labour?s hugely increased membership could ?take our message to every part of the country to win support for the election of a Labour government?. Corbyn supporters echoed that message. Owen said Corbyn?s supporters needed to ?go out and spread the message?out campaigning on the streets and the estates.? The leadership campaign has galvanised Corbyn supporters?and shown there is still huge support for his left wing ideas. That energy and enthusiasm has to be channelled into real resistance to beat the Tories and to fight for a system where people come before profit.
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Incompetent or corrupt Met coppers lose millions of files
Police paper trail? (Pic: Flickr/Sam Judson) Scotland Yard has lost?13 unsolved murder files and is considering whether they were destroyed by corrupt cops. The files went missing in 2012. A search of every single document held by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has also uncovered fresh intelligence about suspected?police?corruption?linked to the Stephen Lawrence murder. The force has previously said all relevant material had been handed to the 1999 Macpherson inquiry into the racist murder. The papers were found to be missing in a review of cold cases after two men were convicted of Stephen?s murder in 2012. Each file contained many boxes of documents and were archived at the Met?s General Registry in Hendon, north London. The Met said they have no evidence the files, all dating back to the 1980s, were destroyed by?corrupt?police?officers. So they may have been destroyed by non-corrupt officers. Operation FileSafe has so far examined 900,000 files from 74 archives held in 34 Met buildings. Internal briefings reveal how hundreds of thousands of papers have been held illegally while many sensitive files have simply vanished. One test search of documents held in storage revealed more than half were missing. One document states that the reviews had ?identified wholesale dysfunctional, inconsistent handling of unregistered material across the MPS.? Another document notes that of the material held in ?deep storage? on another site controlled by logistics contractors TNT, 54 percent of the records supposedly there were missing or misfiled. A 2014 memo marked ?restricted? stated, ?The MPS does not know what information it holds, where it is stored or how to retrieve it.? A team of 25 officers have been reviewing anti-corruption documents and is liaising with an inquiry into the murder of private detective Daniel Morgan. Just to cover one building?s documents the 25 coppers would each have to look at and then file 22,727,000 documents. A 2014 review by Mark Ellison QC found files were shredded relating to Operation Othona, a secret 1993?corruption?report. Jeffrey Archer (Pic: Wikimedia Commons/Bj?rn Erik Pedersen) Apparently a group of poshos are up in arms about plans to redevelop London?s Hurlingham Club at a cost of ?19.9 million. Rich members, including Jeffrey Archer, are unhappy as two lime trees will be cut down. One member told a tabloid, ?Some members might chain themselves to the trees to save them.? An Enid Blyton gift shop in Dorset is embroiled in a racism row. The Advertising Standards Agency stepped in after complaints that the shop was using a golliwog to advertise itself. The advert also featured slogans such as ?English freedom? and ?political correctness gone mad?. Man helps woman to break glass ceiling The Daily Mail newspaper last week ran an article on ?the most powerful woman in British business??new GlaxoSmithKline boss Emma Walmsley. According to the Mail, her promotion shows there is no ?glass ceiling?. But it was quick to explain that her success was really down to a man.The Mail hailed her ?VERY understanding husband? and lamented how Walmsley was able to progress because his ?career had taken second place?. It then spent a good few paragraphs detailing her haircut, make up and clothes. Daily Mail Tory columnist Sarah Vine last week described how her daughter receives extra help at school because she is dyslexic. Vine opined, ?The official name for these classes is SEN (Special Educational Needs). I can?t remember this, so I once referred to it as ?special needs class?. ?My daughter was horrified. Apparently this is an inappropriate term (obviously, I now jokingly say it as much as possibly [sic] just to annoy?her).? Gun control for Nottingham scab union Disgraced scab miners? union boss Neil Greatrex failed to lift a ban on him owning guns. This is despite calling his friend Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping to vouch for him in court. The former president of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers stole ?150,000 from sick and elderly miners to do up his home. Representing himself in court to get back his gun licence, he called one witness, former Sherwood MP Tipping. The application was turned down. Is the Labour Party overrun with entryists? Raytheon branded cruise missile (Pic: US Navy) Senior Labour figures are upset at members organising a ?party within a party?. But only if they?re left wing. Labour Tomorrow, which opposes elected leader Jeremy Corbyn, has raised ?335,000 since July. Donors include a hedge fund manager and a couple of Lords. Meanwhile, over to the conference within a conference that is Labour in Liverpool. Here there clearly are some entrists. Not the entirely reasonable Momentum but the purveyor of anti-gay ads the New Statesman magazine. They ran a series of poorly attended corporate shindigs to influence the party. This year?s many meetings at the Labour conference?have two sponsored by Raytheon, which makes weapons of mass destruction. Drug company Novum increased the price of acne cream Aloquin 128 percent to ?10,000 a tube last week. The main ingredients are an anitbiotic and aloe vera plant extract. Both are inexpensive. The cream is classified as ?possibly effective?. This means the US Food and Drug Administration consider it safe but not much else. The company Novum put up the prices of a number of other drugs last week. Since May 2015 Aloquin has gone up?3,900 percent. Here comes the science bit... from Ukip Douglas Carswell, Ukip?s only MP, set scientists straight on a few things last week. Going against the grain as ever, Carswell challenged a top scientist by saying the sun?s gravity caused tides, not the moon?s. Professor Paul Nightingale replied, ?Douglas, this isn?t a controversial point. It?s in Newton?s Principia.? But Carswell remained insistent that he in fact knew best.
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Teaching Labour a lesson in Durham
The TAs and their supporters pack the Durham Miners Hall (Pic: Socialist Worker) When Durham County Council announced a huge pay attack on teaching assistants, it probably didn?t expect to meet much resistance. Officials in the workers? Unison union probably didn?t expect too much trouble either. Instead, the move provoked a rank and file rebellion that has spread right across the county. The dispute has become a serious thorn in the side of the Labour-led council?and the Unison officials. Durham County Council plans to sack all 2,700 of its teaching assistants by 31 December and rehire them on worse contracts that mean less money for more hours. This?23 percent pay cut is life-changing, as workers told Socialist Worker at a hundreds-strong rally last week. ?There are people losing nearly ?5,000,? said Sam, a teaching assistant (TA) of around 30 years. ?One TA sold her house in a panic and has moved back to her parents. ?Another remortgaged her house. She was struggling as it was but it won?t be until she?s 75 that she?s mortgage free because of the pay cut. She?s due to retire at 67. What?s she going to do for the next eight years?? Cuts These are only two of the heartbreaking stories that are a result of Durham Labour councillors? implementation of Tory spending cuts. Labour has 96 of the council?s 126 seats. Jane Brown, Durham County Council?s cabinet member for corporate services, insists it?s not about spending cuts. She said it was with ?a heavy heart? that councillors voted in May to sack the TAs. Continuing to employ TAs on 52-week contracts, when they only work during term time, was ?inequality?, Brown said, and poses ?financial risks of equal pay claims?. The contracts will bring ?fairness and parity? so that TAs ?are paid only for the hours they actually work?. Leave aside the fact that councillors get a ?13,300 allowance, for which some attend two meetings a month on ?average. And leave aside Brown?s extra ?13,300 cabinet member allowance and, until recently, such perks as an ?8,850 clothing allowance. Her justification smacks of little understanding of the reality of workloads in schools. ?If they actually paid us for the hours that we work we?d be a damn sight richer,? said Sam. ?TAs used to work hours and hours above their contract. It was just the done thing. Working an extra two hours a day was the norm.? A common perception is that some officials have too cosy a relationship with County Hall. They have called no protests and have effectively blocked industrial action. Sam said all that goodwill is gone since the council went on the attack. Now many of them are not prepared to work beyond their contract and want to organise a broader boycott of extra hours. TA Agnesa told Socialist Worker that council chiefs weren?t being honest. She said, ?When they say they are ?bringing us into line with the rest of the country? they are only bringing us into line with the way that we?re paid, not the amount that we?re paid.? ?If they regraded us in line with other councils and moved to term time only contracts we?d stay on similar pay to now. They keep telling us it?s not about saving money so why don?t they do that?? Sam added, ?The pay scale for my job in Durham is ?15-19,000 a year. The same job in Newcastle is??22-25,000 a year for term time only. If they had regraded us to the same scale we wouldn?t really have been bothered. But this is an insult.? Even though the council is saying the over ?4 million it will save is staying within school budgets there are no guarantees after this year that it won?t cut school budgets in subsequent years. There are fears that this is the beginning of a wave of attacks. Protesting Labour's wage cut (Pic: Support our local County Durham teaching assistants & HLTAs / Facebook) But TAs are determined to resist. Agnesa said, ?I think they thought ?these women will just accept it? and that we?re just doing it for a bit of pin money but it?s not like that?it?s a profession.? Lisa, another TA, added, ?We don?t just wash paint pots?we?re all highly skilled. People have had enough of putting up with things for an easy life and are standing up for themselves. ?If you think you?re going to lose your house and you can?t feed your kids, you realise that you?ve got to fight. I want to be able to look my daughter in the eye and say I fought. ?They say it?s not a cut?but it?s a cut for us. And it?s a bigger cut if you are not offered additional hours or you can?t do the additional hours, so where?s the equality in that?? Unequal She added, ?One thing we?ve realised by coming together is how unequal it is across Durham. That?s why we?re pushing for a collective county-wide regrade.? The TAs? dispute has widespread support?and seen a high level of participation among the rank and file. TAs have filled the Durham Miners Hall twice in the past three months with 350-400-strong rallies. The vast majority of them are Unison members, some are in the GMB or ATL unions, while only around 300 are not in a union. The potential for a union-led fightback is enormous. But Agnesa said, ?Many TAs feel that Unison hasn?t really put up much of a fight.? A common perception is that some officials have too cosy a relationship with County Hall. They have called no protests and have effectively blocked industrial action. And they haven?t even spoken at the TA solidarity rallies, despite invitations. TAs rejected the council?s new contract by 95 percent six months ago. Four months ago councillors voted to implement it anyway. Helen Metcalf, Unison?s regional organiser, said there was ?no option but to lodge a formal dispute and ballot our members for industrial action?. Unison members are still waiting for that strike ballot. Another consultation, this time on the council?s offer of two years? ?compensation?, ends on 27 September. Metcalf is now quoted in the local press saying how ?pleased? she was with the council?s ?much improved? offer. When this was mentioned at last week?s solidarity rally TAs booed. Agnesa said she hasn?t met ?a single TA that?s pleased with the offer?. She added, ?I would like to ask her if she would be pleased if it was her pay being cut?I suspect probably not.? How Durham Unison officials could put the current offer out for consultation beggars belief. It?s true they haven?t helped to organise the county-wide opposition to the council full time officials. But they should at least be able to notice a big minority of TAs are angry enough to mobilise. Relations Why has Durham Unison allowed relations with its members to sour so badly? Why has it blocked activist TAs from becoming stewards for months now? And why did Unison officials tell the TAs in August that they knew nothing about the council?s plans?despite the fact they had already negotiated the latest offer with the council during talks in July? One TA wrote to Unison general secretary Dave Prentis to say she ?doesn?t have a lot of faith in the local representation?. He had previously promised to intervene personally. But the fact he got regional secretary Claire Williams to respond to the letter left the TA ?very disappointed?. It?s changed me and made me much stronger, more bolshie and much more confident.?Three months ago there is no way I would have contemplated standing in front of a hall full of people to speak. TA Agnesa Prentis should put his words into action. And Williams should pull her finger out before TAs start leaving her Durham branch in droves. Despite itself, Unison in Durham has seen an active and mobilised membership develop in the last six months. Rank and file TAs have created a network spanning over 200 of Durham?s 270 schools. They organise between schools and produce regular bulletins. ?Our strategy is to not just be victims and accept these pay cuts,? Agnesa said. ?We can reject this offer and vote for industrial action?it?s the only choice we?ve got. ?We?re not just fighting for ourselves, we?re fighting for the future of the schools and our profession.? Sadly they feel like they are battling their union as well as the council. ?I never thought I?d have to fight like this for a job I?ve done for 26 years,? Lisa said. Durham TAs took their message to Labour Party conference in Liverpool last Sunday (Pic: Socialist Worker) ?None of us had met each other before last November when this started but I don?t speak to anyone else at the minute. We speak all night, every night planning, coordinating, emailing and messaging. It?s such a strong bond we?ve got now.? Agnesa agreed, ?It?s changed me and made me much stronger, more bolshie and much more confident. Three months ago there is no way I would have contemplated standing in front of a hall full of people to speak.? Anger, passion and determination have helped her get past that. This struggle has changed the lives of all of the TAs on the rank and file committee. Lisa said, ?I go to scooter rallies and Mod events but I don?t really talk about scooters any more?it?s all about equality impact statuses and protests and solidarity. It?s massive change. ?I?ve never been a political person. I?ve always voted Labour because that?s what you do. My dad was a shop steward for years and I?ve grown up on everything to do with the miners. Future ?The way I see it is that it?s ?the big people? taking from what they think is ?the little people? and that?s not fair.? If lifelong supporters think this way about the party that is supposed to be on the side of ordinary working class people then Labour has problems in the north east. It only needs to look north of the border for a vision of a possible future if it continues to drive through austerity. Dozens of its councillors didn?t have the bottle to show up and vote or criticise the cut, though some local Labour MPs have spoken out. Leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke in support of the TAs at this year?s Gala. But Sam?a ?swinging voter??said, ?Jeremy Corbyn offered support but claims this is a result of austerity cuts by the Tories while Durham council claims that it is nothing to do with austerity.? Lisa thought the message behind Corbyn?s Gala speech was ?excellent?. But she said, ?I still can?t quite grasp how, when you?ve got the Labour leader saying ?get this sorted? and we all live in a Labour-run council, it still hasn?t been sorted. ?We?re real people with real lives facing real losses. The people in the high towers don?t know who?s going to lose their house, who can?t feed their kids, who?s had to leave the job. We need more of a voice in this. ?I?ve always said that I wouldn?t slag the council off. But what I will say is that I?m 45, I?ve voted Labour all my life, as has my dad, grandparents, everybody and I will never vote a Labour council in Durham ever again. If this is us now, then who are they going to pick off next?? To send a message of solidarity or invite a member of the rank and file committee to address your union branch, contact spartacusannie@gmail.com
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Corbyn's victory: the Labour right are fuming, we're cheering
Jeremy Corbyn speaking in Barnsley during the leadership campaign (Pic: Neil Terry) This is the text of a press release published?after Jeremy Corbyn's victory this morning. The Socialist Workers Party congratulates Jeremy Corbyn on his re-election as Labour Party leader with 62 percent of the vote. This is an increase on the 59.5 percent he won last year. His success is a clear sign of the feeling against austerity, racism and war. His victory can be a launchpad for increased resistance in the workplaces and on the streets. We look forward to continuing to work with Corbyn and his supporters against the disastrous Tory policies that threaten to destroy key public services, deepen poverty, whip up racism and plunge British armed forces into more imperialist wars. SWP joint national secretary Charlie Kimber said, ?Well done Corbyn! He has struck another blow against the right and their rotten Blairite inheritance?. Amy Leather, SWP joint secretary, said, ?Jeremy Corbyn?s victory is a boost to everyone who hates austerity and racism. Corbyn?s rallies have seen large and enthusiastic audiences come to cheer a socialist message. Those people must become a movement in the streets and the workplaces that can block and then remove this Tory government.? ??The SWP is not part of the Labour Party. But next Sunday, alongside Labour members, we will be part of the demonstration at the Conservative conference in Birmingham. On Saturday 8 October we will join the Stand Up To Racism conference which is dedicated to building a mass anti-racist movement in Britain?and where Jeremy Corbyn will be speaking.? Real change will need an assault on wealth and power We will work together with all the Corbyn supporters both inside and outside the Labour party to fight austerity, racism and war. A particular focus for us all must be to back the junior doctors? strikes that start on 5 October. We urge Jeremy Corbyn to call a national demonstration in support of the junior doctors and to defend the NHS. Unity The Labour right that have tried so zealously to remove Corbyn are not going to halt their manoeuvres. They will accept unity only on their own rotten terms. The large majority of the 172 Labour MPs who voted no confidence in him remain bitter enemies. Charlie Kimber said, ?There will be massive pressure on Corbyn to compromise and appease the right wing. That would be disastrous. Boldness and a break from ?politics as usual? won Corbyn his support. He must not back down.? Real change will need an assault on wealth and power. The election of the Syriza government in Greece in January 2015 sent hope across the world. But it faced the brutal financial, economic and political pressure of European Union institutions, the bankers and the rich. It is now implementing a worse round of austerity than those imposed by its Torypredecessors. That?s one clear reason why we argue we need a movement independent of Labour. 1. The demonstration at the Tory party conference in Birmingham, called by Midlands TUC and the People?s Assembly, takes place on Sunday 2 October, 11.30am, Victoria Square, Birmingham. www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/tory_conference_16? 2. Jeremy Corbyn is one of the speakers at the Stand Up To Racism conference on Saturday 8 October in London. Diane Abbott will also speak. www.standuptoracism.org.uk/2016/09/speakers-announced-peoples-summit-refugees-sat-8th-october/
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Decision to call off junior doctors' strikes is a missed chance to defend the NHS
Brighton solidarity march with the junior doctors during an earlier strike (Pic: Steve Guy) Many junior doctors are angry and frustrated that the British Medical Association (BMA) suspended planned walkouts against Tory health secretary Jeremy Hunt?s imposition of a dangerous new contract.? They planned five-day walkouts in October, November and December.? Rory, a junior doctor in Manchester, told Socialist Worker, ?It?s disappointing to see the BMA go back first given the state of the NHS.?? Another junior doctor in London told Socialist Worker, ?Lots of us feel disappointed and angry at the BMA that the strikes are suspended.?They had a mandate, but there was so much umming and ahhing.? It will be?a disaster for the NHS, health workers and patients if Hunt gets his way. He will use it to ramp up the assault on the NHS.? Junior doctors' leaders had fought off attempts by the BMA Council to suspend their industrial action only last week. But the junior doctors' committee buckled in the face of right wing pressure on Saturday.? Ellen McCourt, junior doctors' committee chair, said industrial action had been suspended because of the ?overriding concern about patient safety?.? Rory said, ?No one wants to put patients at risk, but the new contract will mean junior doctors working longer hours, it will mean more tired doctors and that means more mistakes can be made.? ?That?s what will put patients at risk?.? Solidarity A particularly important factor was the lack of solidarity from other unions and the TUC. The doctors needed to create a political crisis for the government. That could be achieved only if strikes were backed up by a wave of solidarity, mass demonstrations, and other workers and health campaigners taking to the streets. This did take place on a modest scale at local level where activists organised it. But the TUC did not call a national demonstration for the doctors and in defence of the NHS. Neither did the Labour Party. Other NHS unions have not called for protests and solidarity with the junior doctors. This made the BMA feel more isolated and mounted pressure on its leadership to back down.. In fact they have massive support, but it has never been properly mobilised. The Tories and right wing press pumped out propaganda about ?greedy doctors? putting patients? lives at risk. The senior BMA leadership and right within the union pushed this argument and said that there wasn?t an appetite for action.? Hunt will use a successful imposition to attack other health workers? pay and conditions to soften the NHS up for privatisation. Only serious resistance will stop him.
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Will rivalry and repression start a nuclear war over Kashmir?
Indian security forces patrol Kashmir's capital Srinagar (Pic: Flickr/Austin Yoder) India and Pakistan stand on the brink of major confrontation over the disputed territory of Kashmir. An attack by armed militants on an army base in the Indian-controlled part of the region last week killed?18 soldiers. The Indian government blames Pakistan, insisting that the fighters are backed by the country?s secret services. It urged its army to take on the rebels along the ?Line of Control? that separates the two countries. Fighting has raged since then, with many civilians caught between the two sides. The general secretary of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi?s Bharatiya Janata Party calls for more blood. He posted on Facebook to demand, ?For one tooth, the complete jaw. Days of so-called strategic restraint are over.? India and Pakistan have fought two fully fledged wars over Kashmir. Both are nuclear powers. It would be disastrous if the current situation escalated into another major military confrontation. Ordinary Kashmiris?Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists?have endured three months of crackdowns and curfews. Security forces have been battling with protesters against India?s military occupation in Indian-administered Kashmir since July. They have killed more than 80 people and wounded thousands?including many blinded by pellet guns. They injured dozens and killed a 22-year-old farmer when they fired at stone-throwing protesters on Friday of last week. Hundreds of villagers came into the streets in response, chanting, ?We want freedom?. Troops have brought life in the region to a standstill, even blocking worshippers from attending Friday prayers at the largest mosques. All major markets, educational institutions and public transport as well as other businesses are closed. But the protests show no sign of abating. Tensions The tensions could draw in more countries after Modi vowed to Pakistan, ?We will isolate you?. India arrested and detained leading Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez earlier this month, stopping him speaking at the United Nations human rights council. China?s government fears the clashes could threaten its development of the Pakistani port of Gwadar. Chinese prime minister Li Keqiang last week urged Pakistan to ?reinforce prevention on the security risk? and ?provide safety protection?. The ruling classes of both India and Pakistan are happy to stoke tensions, believing that sabre-rattling will make them popular at home. The wishes of the Kashmiri people are furthest from their considerations?as they have been since British India was partitioned into two states, India and Pakistan, in 1947. The imperialist lobby in Britain demanded its local allies, the heads of the princely states, be allowed to decide for themselves which to join. The vast majority chose India?and Indian troops occupied the two areas that chose Pakistan. Kashmir?s ruler Maharajah Hari Singh tried to avoid the decision. Pakistan sent troops to invade, but India seized the capital, Srinagar. Then there was a serious secular movement that fought for independence for Kashmir from both Pakistan and India. Some still hold to that goal. The only way out of this dangerous spiral towards war is for workers to unite across the religious divides?in India, Pakistan, and Kashmir. The left should demand self-determination for the region, and fight to make real the possibility of independence.
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Reports round-up
March for women?s hospital Health campaigners point out Tory hypocrisy Around 2,000 people marched in Liverpool against the closure of Liverpool Women?s Hospital on Sunday. NHS bosses launched a review of women?s and maternity services that could lead to the hospital?s closure. An internal report said that the hospital was ?financially unviable? because it ran a ?7.3m deficit in 2015-16. Liverpool Women?s Hospital is one of only two women?s hospitals in Britain. Protesters gathered outside the hospital in the Toxteth area and marched to the Labour Party conference on the waterfront. Liverpool city centre came to a halt as the march passed through it. More than 40,000 people have signed a petition against the hospital?s closure. The rally was addressed by Labour?s shadow health secretary Diane Abbott, Sheila Coleman from the Hillsborough Justice campaign and radical filmmaker Ken Loach, among others. Butterfields gets a boost Campaigning has pushed an estate agent to take down from its website a property on the Butterfields estate in Walthamstow, north London. It?s a boost to residents fighting evictions. Chair of the Tenants and Residents Association Shahzeb Iqbal called it ?very good news.? Landlord Butterfields E17 Ltd has issued possession summonses. Tenants have asked for donations towards their legal fees. Send messages of support to nicole.holgate@gmail.com To make a donation contact adriennew115@hotmail.com Go to bit.ly/2ddiv2Q for more information Bailiffs are halted in Bristol Neighbours and activists stopped an eviction in the Easton area of Bristol on Tuesday of last week. Nimo Abdullahi?s landlord tried to evict her and her family after she complained about mould. Nimo said damp was affecting her asthmatic children. Some 30 people stood in the way of bailiffs, turning them away. Orgreave summit?to demand justice The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign is holding a conference in Sheffield on Saturday. It will be a chance for activists from a range of justice campaigns to share ideas on resisting the state and organising. Registration from 9am, conference from 10am-4pm. Saturday 1 October, Quaker Meeting House, 10 St James St, Sheffield S1 2EW. To register go to orgreavejustice@hotmail.com?and OTJC.org.uk for details Rotherham 12 need support at court Over 150 people joined the Rotherham 12 campaign?s Injustice in the System conference in Sheffield last Saturday. The campaign is defending 12 Asian men facing trial for violent disorder following an?anti-fascist protest in the town in September 2015. One of the 12, Abrar Javid, urged people to protest outside Sheffield Crown Court on the first day of the trial next Monday. The protest assembles at 9am. Watch the convention online at vimeo.com/184138860 Anniversary march in Cable Street A protest to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the anti-rascist Battle of Cable Street is set to take place on Sunday 9 October. The march will assemble at 12 noon in Altab Ali park in Whitechapel, east London. Speakers include Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Cable Street veteran Max Levitas. For more information go to bit.ly/2cZF5h5 and for the events of 1936 read the article in Socialist Worker next week Walkout is just the ticket in Hackney Traffic wardens in Hackney, east London, struck on Thursday of last week over pay and a victimisation. The Unite union members are employed by Apcoa. They want overtime rates for evenings and weekends. They are also defending a union rep who faces disciplinary action for allegedly failing to fill in a holiday request form. Ritzy staff return to picket line to break pay deadlock Workers at the Ritzy cinema in Brixton, south London, struck last Saturday. The Bectu union members are demanding the London Living Wage of ?9.40 an hour and maternity, paternity and sick pay. Workers won a pay rise after striking in 2014. But they did not win the London Living Wage that they were demanding. Bosses have since been intransigent. Zena, a Bectu member, said, ?Management agreed to talk to us, but now they?ve flat-out refused to negotiate.? Bectu rep Marc Cowan told Socialist Worker, ?If the company is not going to listen we?ll speak to the public.? The union has grown since the last round of strikes with supervisors and duty managers joining after their pay wasn?t increased in line with inflation. Marc said, ?The majority of staff are behind it. ?Front of house staff and duty managers are out here today.? Workers from the Hackney Picturehouse came down to support the strike. They are balloting for the same demands and their action would increase the pressure on mangement. Voting ends on 6 October. Alistair Farrow Unite union calls off distribution strike Two planned 24 hour strikes by up to 300 workers at Menzies Distribution were suspended last week. The Unite union members are voting on a new pay offer with the result set to be known on Friday. The details of the new offer are not being disclosed publicly. The workers deliver newspapers to shops and train stations. Students join the struggle? Thousands of students have started university determined to join the struggle for a better society. At Manchester University freshers? fair Socialist Worker Student Society (SWSS) members decapitated a cardboard cut-out of Margaret Thatcher. It had been brought to the fair by the Conservative Future society. At freshers? fairs across Britain many students supported Jeremy Corbyn and wanted to get involved in anti-racist campiagning. Manal, a Queen Mary University of London student, told Socialist Worker, ?The refugee crisis is the biggest issue of our generation. ?But all of us combined can make a difference.? Dilan added,??In his leadership campaign Jeremy Corbyn?visited all of the community centres, but he needs to make his position clear now.? Manal said that Corbyn is a politician that people can trust but that ?he should be more vocal". "He?s been on the defensive. He needs to speak out against the Conservative Party.? The left-wing NUS leadership is supporting a demonstration alongside the UCU union on 19 November. There is space for activists and newly-politicised students on campus to push for real change at their universities. Follow SWSS on Twitter on?@SWSSNews To join or for more information call 020 7840 5610 or email swss@swp.org.uk
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Old cronies reunite for presidential debate where everybody is the loser
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton - an American horror story (Pic: Gage Skidmore/BU Rob13) Eleven years after Hillary Clinton sat in the front row at Donald Trump?s wedding, the two US presidential candidates met again for a debate on Monday night. These are the two least popular presidential candidates ever. There is little enthusiasm for either, and around 10 percent of voters say they will vote for the Green?s Jill Stein or the right wing libertarian Gary Johnson. The pundits declared Clinton the winner. She certainly looked the respectable politician against an outsider. But Trump has prospered by being a fake??anti-elitist?. Clinton called out Trump as a bigot and a conman. She pointed to his right wing conspiracy theories, his sexism and ?long record of engaging in racist behaviour?. Clinton said Trump?s refusal to release his tax returns showed he was hiding ?something terrible?. Trump turned the tables with Clinton?s own email scandal. She conceded to making a ?mistake?. Clinton pointed out that Trump?s claim to have opposed the Iraq War wasn?t true. But she voted for it. Clinton has made some more left wing noises after a fiercely contested race for the Democratic Party nomination against Bernie Sanders. While still playing to the right, Trump sought to detoxify his image. Racist Clinton criticised the disproportionate jailing of black and Hispanic men. Trump defended racist stop and search and called for more police. Clinton laid into her rival?s ?Trumped-up trickle-down economics? and called for investment and tackling inequality. But she was broadly upbeat about the economy, a world away from ordinary Americans. Trump slammed Clinton for initially pushing the trade deals that she herself now opposes. Clinton objected to being ?blamed for everything that?s ever happened??but pointed to the ?pretty good job? done by her husband and predecessor Bill Clinton in the 1990s. That included the devastating Nafta trade deal and vicious welfare cuts. Trump is catching up in the polls. Reporters asked students at Penn State University why Clinton?s lead among young voters has collapsed from 24 points to five. Anay Pope found her ?slimy?. ?There?s probably nothing Trump can say to make me vote for him,? she said, but added, ?She makes it hard to vote for her.?
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Police ?lost clothes? after rape allegation, court told
Sheffield Crown Court (Pic: Bencherlite) Police apologised in 2003 for questioning a man accused of repeatedly raping a 13 year old girl, a court has heard. Sageer Hussain is one of eight men on trial for child sexual exploitation offences at Sheffield Crown Court. The court heard that Hussain wasn?t charged and the girl withdrew her complaint of rape as a child because police would not protect her, a court has heard. The woman is the main complainant in a case involving eight men at Sheffield Crown Court. The men deny 19 allegations relating to three complainants. The alleged offences took place in the Rotherham area between 1999 and 2003. Raped The main complainant told police in 2003, when she was 13, that she had been repeatedly raped by defendant Sageer Hussain. She withdrew the allegations around a week later. The woman told the court, "I withdrew it because they wouldn't give me any protection and told me they had already lost my clothes, there was no DNA, it was my word against his. That is why I withdrew." Under questioning she denied that she only knew Hussain because of later media reports. She also denied she was motivated by a desire to make money. "This is not about money," she told the court. "It is about justice." The court also heard that defendant Basharat Hussain sexually abused her when she was 14. She denied making up the abuse to "embellish" her story. Defendant Masoued Malik told police in October 2003 that he had had sex with the then 14 year old girl around a year earlier. He claimed he had not known her age and was never charged with any offence. The woman told the court, "He knew what year I was in, which would have been Year 9 or Year 10 which would make me 13-14." Consent She denied that she had consented to sex with Malik. "There was no other choice and if there's no other choice it's not consent," she said. The complainant had told police in October 2003 that Malik and co-defendant Naeem Rafiq held her in a flat against her will where she was abused by five men. Mrs Sweet, representing Malik, suggested the woman had consented to sexual activity to "keep the party going". The woman replied, "I was a child and they were adults. I didn't 'go along with it to keep the party going', I couldn't get out of the bedroom. "It was not a 'party'. It was their party, I was 14 years old." She said the abuse had "destroyed" her life. "It took away a part of me I will never get back," she told the court. "That's why I have never gone away." A second complainant began giving evidence on Friday of last week. The court heard that defendant Ishtiaq Khaliq indecently assaulted her between 1999 and 2000 when she was aged 13 or 14. The trial continues.
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Refugee deaths are the bitter fruit of European Union and British repression
HMS Enterprise is part of Operation Sophia (Pic: Andrew/flickr) Hundreds of migrants drowned off the coast of Egypt yesterday, Wednesday. It was the bitter fruit of European Union (EU) naval operation in Libya that includes British ships. An overloaded fishing boat believed to have up to 450 people aboard sank near the city of Rosetta. Just 163 were rescued and up to 100 may be entombed in the ship?s cold store. The dead include Egyptians, Eritreans, Sudanese and Syrian people bound for Italy.?Egypt?s military regime took survivors into police custody?some handcuffed to hospital beds. Egyptian Ahmed Mohamed said, ?It was like the apocalypse. Everyone tried to get out alive. I swam for ten kilometres.? Seventeen year old Ahmed Gamal said, ?I just wanted to reach Europe and live a decent life.? EU border force Frontex warned in June that Egypt was becoming one of the main hubs for refugees trying to reach Europe. The brutal counter-revolution in Egypt has also spurred growing numbers of Egyptians?particularly the young?to flee. The European Commission has a ?9.8 million aid programme for ?building the capacities of the Egyptian administration? to confront these ?migration challenges?. But the main trigger is Operation Sophia, an EU naval mission launched last year to patrol the Libyan coast. It is now training the Libyan coastguard. Mission Operation Sophia is presented as a humanitarian mission aiming to ?disrupt? people traffickers. This is a lie. It is the latest in a series of clampdowns to drive refugees onto successively deadlier routes. The closure of EU land borders and restrictions on migration through airports drove hundreds of thousands to cross the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece. Nato patrols and an EU-Turkey deal made that harder this year?so the longer ?Central Mediterranean? route between Libya and Turkey overtook the Aegean. Some 3.6 percent of those making this journey die, up from under 0.1 percent on the Aegean. Now Operation Sophia is pushing them onto the even harder Egyptian route. From Rosetta to the Italian island of Lampedusa is almost 1,000 miles. The Royal Navy?s HMS Enterprise is part of the action, as was the frigate HMS Richmond last year. Foreign secretary Boris Johnson called for stepping up the repression last week?arguing that Operation Sophia should include turning boats back. The government has also begun building its latest wall in Calais. Work started days after a 14 year old Afghan became the latest to die on the road trying to get past the existing blockade. The deaths are a direct, predictable result of a conscious policy. Only opening the borders can stop the carnage. Stand Up To Racism conference, Saturday 8th October, 10.30am-4.30pm, Friends Meeting House, Euston Rd, NW1 2BJ. Register?to reserve your place
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Day centre for homeless in Bradford fights closure
Homeless and vulnerable people in Bradford face a bleak future as a day centre in the city could close. The Edmund Street Day Centre has been operating in the city for 40 years. It provides a lifeline for thousands of homeless people. It provides food, washing facilities, clothes and help with accessing health care and support services. The centre is run by Horton Housing. But Bradford council has confirmed that Horton Housing will lose its contract to run the service. Instead the council has awarded the tender to the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army plans to run the centre from a venue 1.5 miles away. Campaigners fear the service will not be maintained and will offer fewer facilities. A campaign called Save Edmund Street Day Centre is up and running. It plans to hold a public meeting on 6 October. For more information go to bit.ly/2dlN6s7
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Labour will ?hit the streets? to fight the Tories? grammar school scam
Jeremy Corbyn speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool (Pic: PA) Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has announced a day of action against Tory plans for new?grammar schools. He declared that Labour members across Britain would ?hit the streets? this Saturday to campaign for ?inclusive education for all?. Corbyn?s announcement means Labour will call on every Constituency Labour Party to take action on Saturday. Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner promised that ?half a million leaflets? would be distributed. ?We will not let Theresa May get away with segregating children by creating new grammar schools,? she said. ?Labour is united against her plan to provide a privileged education for the few, and a second-class education for the rest.? Rayner also said Labour would ?work with all people of goodwill? to stop the Tory plan. The Daily Telegraph newspaper claimed Corbyn?s position could ?alienate the party?s traditional supporters?. It argued that ordinary people support grammars.?In reality there is widespread opposition to May?s grammar school plan?even from some Tories. Treasury minister Jim O?Neill resigned last week partly?in opposition to grammars. Inequality Many people know that grammars entrench inequality and benefit the rich at the expense of everyone else. That?s why May?s plan has enraged people who suffered the grammar system as children. Rob and Nick both faced the grammar system in England in the 1970s. Rob told Socialist Worker, ?It?s not true that working class kids get a leg up. ?You never hear about the kids who got into grammar and were punished, and had a terrible?time. ?I had mates who fell into that category.?They would have been better off in a comprehensive.? Nick added, ?When people get all nostalgic about grammar schools they tend to forget that, if you have a grammar school, you?re going to get half a dozen secondary?moderns.? NUT union general secretary Kevin Courtney has called on NUT divisions to organise street stalls next Saturday as part of the?campaign against grammars. The union is also fighting Tory funding cuts and privatisation policies. Events are already planned in?many parts of England. Contact your local NUT branch to?find out more details about?the campaign where you are. Sadie Robinson John McDonnell (Pic: Guy Smallman) Debate on transforming the economy reinvigorates the Labour left A debate on the economy at Labour Party conference reflected a Labour left feeling reinvigorated and confident after Jeremy Corbyn?s re-election as Labour leader. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell promised that Labour would bring ?a society that?s radically transformed, radically fairer, more equal and more democratic?. The hall erupted when he said, ?That?s our vision to rebuild and transform Britain. In this party you no longer have to whisper it. It?s called socialism.? Some of McDonnell?s promises, such as his plan to set up a national investment bank or ?support business hubs across the country?, seemed fairly pedestrian. He also made a dangerous concession to racist scapegoating of migrants. McDonnell said Labour would ?address the concerns that people have raised in the undercutting of wages and conditions, and the pressure on local public services?. But McDonnell also committed to raise the minimum wage to at least ?10 an hour and to repeal the Trade Union Act. These promises were some of the best received parts of his speech. Labour delegate Chris told Socialist Worker, ?It was a brilliant speech. I really liked the part about the living wage.? He added, ?We?ve finally got a shadow chancellor who?s talking about the rights of trade unions.? Another delegate said, ?I thought it was excellent. I liked the bit about repealing the Trade Union Act?speaking as someone who?s a trade unionist and works for the NHS. ?Now the party needs to unite around it.? Delegate Nicole added, ?It was an inspiring speech. It takes the party in the direction it needs to go. It reaches out to all the members?and I?m a big McDonnell fan.? Motions McDonnell?s speech followed a debate on four motions. The Usdaw union proposed one to campaign for the living wage and promise a minimum wage of ?10 an hour if Labour is elected. Yet Usdaw?s general secretary John Hannett, whose union backed Owen Smith for Labour leader, used his speech to make a thinly veiled attack on the left. Turning to McDonnell on the platform, Hannett said, ?Opposition is a cold place. You can have all the moral arguments you want?all the principles. ?But you can?t put them into action if you don?t win power.? Unite union general secretary Len McCluskey spoke to a different motion. He got big cheers when he said he was tired of people ?lecturing? Labour?s leadership about the need to win elections. He said, ?Of course we need to win power. But we need to win power for our people?for working people. ?If you have no stomach for the fight?depart the battlefield.? CWU union general secretary Dave Ward also got big cheers. ?This is a moment when the country needs fundamental change?not tinkering round the edges,? he said. The mood on the conference floor showed the support among Labour members for left wing?policies. Turning that support into a movement that can fight for them will help make them a reality. ?We want an alternative to policies of austerity? Liverpool University student Luke joined the Labour Party during Jeremy Corbyn?s 2015 leadership campaign. ?It?s the first time I?ve ever really been politically engaged,? he told Socialist Worker. Corbyn?s argument for renationalisation of the railways was a big motivation for Luke to get active.?Peter, a university worker in Liverpool, joined earlier this year. Young Corbynistas Peter and Luke (Pic: Socialist Worker) Both attended Momentum?s fringe event rather than party conference. Peter said Momentum?s attraction is that it ?can discuss ideas that aren?t necessarily in line with the party as a whole?. He hoped Momentum can ?be part of a movement that can reinvigorate the left?. Despite Corbyn being leader Peter thought ?the left is still not setting the agenda in the best way?. Both sympathised with the idea that part of the Brexit vote was anti-establishment and a result of the neglect of working class areas for decades. Luke said Momentum ?is articulating the views of people left behind by Thatcherism? who ?want an alternative to austerity policies?. He said austerity policies ?are killing people, throwing them out of work or making them work for free?. Corbyn?s strengthened mandate is a blow to the Labour right. Pressure to unite the two wings of the party could abandon tens of thousands of people who have joined in the last year. Peter said he didn?t want his ?ideas watered down? for the sake of unity with the right. He added that the ball was ?in their court? to make compromises. Luke agreed but said, ?You can?t impose unity?. He added, ?Labour hasn?t won an election since 2005. "Austerity has failed, the debt has gone?up while living standards and wages have gone down.?We need to trump the arguments of the right.? ?Politicians need to tell the truth?especially Labour ones? Over 60 people joined a Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) fringe meeting at Labour?s party conference on Monday of this week. Talha Ahmad from the Muslim Council of Britain argued for people to turn Stand Up To Racism into a ?great movement?. The meeting chair, a Labour member, called on more Constituency Labour Parties to get involved with SUTR. He said, ?Our party is absolutely united?on the question of refugees.? SUTR co-convener Sabby Dhalu blamed politicians for whipping up racism. She said, ?When politicians say immigration is the problem, it leads to racist attacks. ?Politicians need to tell the truth?especially Labour politicians.? Weyman Bennett, also co-convener, called for Labour members to join with other?anti-racists to build a ?mass movement?. He said, ?We need to make sure there?s a call to arms for resistance.?We need to do this together.? For more go to?standuptoracism.org.uk
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The things they say
?I?m the face on the placard. I?m that bastard? Former Labour prime minister Tony Blair finally gets it... ?When you?re in power, okay, you alienate people?but you get things done? ...or maybe he doesn?t ?I have sacrificed my career, fortune and fame for your country? Obnoxious writer?Julie Burchill?s response to the Israeli state after it refused her citizenship ?It?s a reality, that?s how?I travel? Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley on using a helicopter ?Now Corbyn says he will nationalise Bake Off!? The Daily Mail loses the plot ?I realised: the bastards, they do know and they don?t see anything wrong with it? Civil rights campaigner Bernadette McAliskey on realising British politicians don?t care about Catholics in Northern Ireland
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French president wants to destroy the Calais camp
Part of the camp after the bulldozers moved in at the start of February (Pic: Guy Smallman) French president Francois Hollande spoke in Calais on Monday. He pledged that the ?jungle? refugee settlement there would be ?completely and definitively dismantled? by the end of the year. Some 10,000 people are trapped there by Britain?s border?including over 1,000 lone children. Activists gathered in Calais on Sunday to mark the death of a refugee on the road by the port last Saturday night?the thirteenth known death this year. The demolition of half the camp earlier this year scattered refugees and made conditions even worse. France has detained dozens of people for deportation this month alone. Not to be outdone, Britain?s government has begun construction of a new wall at the border. Stand Up To Racism (SUTR), together with Labour peer and former child refugee Alf Dubs, have called a day of action on Friday 14 October. SUTR joint secretary Weyman Bennett said, ?We?re standing in solidarity with the refugees because of this immediate threat. They should be welcomed here?not thrown all over France.?
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Labour won?t win support by clamping down on migrants
Migrant workers do not push down wages, bosses do (Pic: Guy Smallman) The whole Labour right, some on the left, and most of the media seem to be testing whether saying something often enough can make it true. They claim Labour is losing support, particularly among white working class people in northern towns, because workers don?t like immigration. They conclude that Labour can only win them back by pledging to abolish the free movement of European Union (EU) migrants. One of the latest salvoes came from right wing MPs Rachel Reeves and Stephen Kinnock in a new Fabian Society pamphlet. Rachel Reeves (Pic: Policy Exchange) They argue that immigration drives wages down and unemployment up. But the evidence is so scant they had to shift their emphasis from immigration?s real effects to perceived ones. Discriminated Kinnock argues, ?The impact of immigration is not measured, it?s?experienced?. It takes the form of white working class people ?feeling discriminated against? in favour of minorities. He partially acknowledges that they?re obviously not, but says that doesn?t matter. ?To deny the reality of the experience of white working class people smacks of ?class privilege?,? said millionaire?s son Kinnock. They claim that accepting?anti-immigration myths is a ?progressive? way of undercutting racism. Some even argue that immigration is the cause of racism, but this lets racism off the hook and blames the victims. If that were true, anti-immigrant sentiment would tend to be higher in areas with high immigration. But the Financial Times newspaper?s Gavin Jackson found the link is weak. It actually points the other way?you?re more likely to oppose?immigration if you live somewhere with few immigrants. The main exceptions are parts of eastern England, where large numbers?of migrant farm workers are isolated from British-born town dwellers. Reeves and Kinnock call for wearing?down the stigma that still rightly surrounds scapegoating. But this normalises the lie that the migrants? presence causes problems?laying the ground for more hostility toward them. Repression The unions? and the Labour left?s call to revive Gordon Brown?s ?migration impact fund? is softer than the right?s call for repression. But it still implies that immigration is a burden people should be compensated for. Pandering to these myths only strengthens the racism that feeds on them. Labour is indeed paying dearly for its failure to ?tackle head on? the immigration question, as Kinnock puts it. But to do so would mean busting racist myths instead of echoing them. It means saying loud and clear that immigration isn?t to blame for the suffering caused by capitalism. Racism isn?t inevitable?it?s pushed by our rulers Anti-migrant attitudes have hardened across society?but it is a libel on workers to blame it on them. Racism against migrants isn?t inevitable. People?s ideas are always in flux, and are shaped by struggles in society. Surveys tend to show slightly more open hostility among poorer people than among those at the top. Resentful This difference reflects how workers, whose living standards have fallen, have more reason to be afraid or resentful. Some can be misled into blaming migrants. But the difference in attitudes is far less than claimed by the media. The real culprits are the bosses, the landlords and the politicians who push austerity?and the system they represent. Union leaders have failed to lead the resistance that could make an alternative credible. In the absence of workers fighting together, migrants make a convenient scapegoat. The bottom line is that EU immigration has not harmed the pay, jobs or public services enjoyed by Britons. Jonathan Wadsworth, author of LSE study Too many Labour politicians push this scapegoating rather than confront the bosses.There?s an urgent need to take on racist arguments. That?s one reason why Stand Up To Racism and its conference on Saturday 8 October are so important. When anti-racists are on the streets it?s harder for racists to spread their poison. And when workers fight together for their common interests, it gives them a sense of unity. Why their myths do not add up One of Reeves? and Kinnock?s only concessions to reality is referring to a recent study by the Resolution Foundation think tank. Reeves said it found that while immigration ?had no overall impact? on British-born workers? wages, ?it had caused ?a slight drag on wages? in some sectors?. But the report emphasised that cutting immigration won?t boost wages. It found this ?slight drag? too marginal compared to the overall wage ?squeeze? for it to be responsible for low pay. Even this a red herring?it doesn?t prove causation. Sectors It only shows that in some sectors workers have lower wages if they are in regions with higher immigration. It doesn?t show that higher immigration causes those lower wages. A study by the London School of Economics in May found no correlation between high immigration and lower wages. One of its authors Jonathan Wadsworth said, ?The bottom line is that EU immigration has not harmed the pay, jobs or public services enjoyed by Britons.? Bosses push wages down?and workers? struggles can push them up. But if workers are divided, bosses and politicians have a freer hand to push through more attacks to make life worse for all workers.
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With Scotrail licked, guards take on GTR
Rail Bosses and SNP minister Derek Mackay (centre) worked together (Pic: Phyllis Stephen) Abellio Scotrail conceded it would keep train guards last week in a blow to bosses? plans to extend driver only operation (DOO)across the rail network. The good news from Scotland came ahead of the announcement of 14 days of strikes by train guards on Southern Railway over the next two months. Scotrail unions RMT and Aslef said Abellio had agreed to guarantee a guard on every new electrified train. The deal also means guards will retain their full status and skills. Drivers will open doors and guards will retain responsibility for passenger safety at the interface between the train and the platform, closing the doors and ensuring safer train despatch. This climbdown by Scotrail bosses would never have been possible without several solid guards? strikes during the summer. The RMT described it as ?a major breakthrough in the battle against driver only operation?. Derailment One of the safety reasons for opposing DOO and retaining train guards was underlined by a train derailment caused by a landslide at Watford just outside London last week. The driver was reportedly trapped in the cab and the guard ensured all the passengers got to safety. Southern guards are locked in a major battle with parent company Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), hired by the Tories to drive through attacks on workers and unions. Solidarity is vital for this group of workers. Bosses have used all sorts of intimidation against other Govia workers to prevent them coordinating strikes with the guards. The action on Southern begins with a three-day walkout on 11 October. Send solidarity messages for Southern rail workers to 1885wackers@gmail.com? RMT members working on Virgin East Coast Trains have voted for a 24-hour strike for next Monday. The action is to defend 200 jobs at risk from cuts that endanger safety. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said, ?Our members will not pay the price for a crisis cooked up in the Virgin/Stagecoach boardroom.?
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Scottish college workers strike to demand pay rise
Pickets at North Highland College (Pic: Unison Scotland ) Over 2,500 college support workers in Scotland struck on Tuesday to demand the same lump sum pay rise as lecturers. Unison union members, who struck earlier this month, were joined by GMB union members. Bosses argue that ?the combination of last year's settlement and the current offer equates to a 3.6 percent pay rise?. Glasgow Clyde College Unison steward Claire told Socialist Worker, ?At national bargaining it was agreed there would be a flat rate increase?a percentage is not a flat rate.? But the percentage rise works out well for some. Claire said, ?What we?re seeing is four different flat rates. ?You have ?230 if you earn over ?22,000 a year, ?400 if you?re under that, ?450 for teaching staff and up to ?2,000 for senior management. ?We?re facing the same cost of living increases as everyone else. We want to know why our flat rate is ?230 when management, who are on ?65,000 and upwards, get up to ?2,000.? Bosses were desperate to undermine the strike. At Glasgow Clyde College?s Langside campus workers not in Unison or GMB were forced to sign in or face having their pay docked and bosses changed the absence policy for the day. Claire said, ?Anyone off sick today can?t submit a self-certificate, even though that is the rule. Today this is suspended and they have to get a doctor?s note. This is the kind of management tactic we?re used to in further education that?s used undermine our democratic right to protest.? Pressured? She said janitorial staff were even pressured to train others in their job while they go on strike. At the Anniesland campus pickets were very angry at bosses? attitude and said health and safety was being breached during the strike. The action was strong with dozens joining the pickets. Strikers were boosted by support from some teaching staff and from the National Union of Students (NUS) Scotland. NUS Scotland president Vonnie Sandlan said, ?We will always show solidarity with fellow unions, standing fully behind our staff. We want to see them getting the job recognition and reward they deserve.? Unfortunately there were reports of EIS Fela lecturers? union members being told that their union would not support them if they refused to cross a picket line. This needs to be addressed. Strikers were set to protest at the Scottish parliament as Socialist Worker went to press. They are determined to win their fight. Claire said, ?We?ll continue our industrial action until we get equality and we?re prepared to keep going out until we get that.? Thanks to Drew McEwan and Dave Sherry Workers at Hull College are balloting for strikes to stop cuts. Bosses want to slash some 141 jobs. They have already axed 85 jobs since 2011. The ballot of UCU union members ends next Friday.
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Free State of Jones - an American Civil War story that will sting racists with its tale
Newton Knight (left) threatens to kill a Confederate army lieutenant Free State of Jones is rooted in the bloody battles of the American Civil War of 1861-65. It emphasises that the war did not just pit the ?free labour? North against the slave-owning Confederate South. There was also an ?inner war? in the South between different classes. The film centres on the life of Newton Knight, a small farmer in Mississippi who is part of the Confederate army at the beginning of the war. He is sickened by the way the poor are used as cannon fodder while the slaveowners? children are exempted from the military. He deserts the army and his doubts about the legitimacy?of ?his? side grow as the authorities steal the meagre resources owned by ordinary people in order to fuel the war machine. Knight is eventually forced to flee to the swamps to join a group of?runaway slaves. Their numbers grow as disillusion with the Confederacy spreads and the guerrilla band becomes a small army. It defeats Confederate forces in a series of battles and secures a large part of the state for the Union. There are great scenes as black people fight and kill their former owners and seek to establish a society of greater freedom and equality?alongside poor whites. There are also very strong roles for women. The film is very carefully based on historical truth. Knight existed, the army of blacks and whites did indeed take a large area of territory. Union? The sense they were fighting a ?rich man?s war? or a ?war for cotton? meant that half the Confederate Army had deserted by 1863. A year later Confederate president Jefferson Davis admitted that two-thirds of the army was absent. This was in addition to the 300,000 Southerners who fled to the North at the beginning of the war to fight for the Union army. There were armed bands of poor whites and escaped slaves in the Southern states of Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida and North Carolina as well as Mississippi. In parts of Texas an alliance of poorer whites, Hispanics and slaves opposed the Confederacy. There are problems with the film. Although there are confrontations between white deserters and escaped slaves there is a danger that this?tension is downplayed for the sake of the broader narrative. Because it also deals with the aftermath of the war and even events?decades later, it also sometimes feels overloaded. Perhaps the most important criticism?levelled at the film is that it?substitutes the ?white saviour? Knight for the centrality of slaves? own activity. But this attack is misplaced. The film doesn?t say that whites freed the slaves. Instead it reveals a largely hidden history of class division which punctures the myth of a homogenous and undivided white pro-slave South. Free State of Jones will be enjoyed by Socialist Worker readers and will spark debates about the American Civil War. See it. Free State of Jones Directed by Gary Ross Out now in cinemas Spirit of '60s rebellion and liberation brought to life Right wingers reguarly blame the 1960s for all the ?ills? of modern society. More nauseating still, former radicals turned disreputable reactionaries often dismiss the era as just being about hippies dropping acid and dropping out. The Victoria & Albert Museum?s new exhibition avoids both of those pitfalls. It captures some of the spirit of rebellion and hopes for liberation. The exhibition shows an establishment under attack. A Daily Mirror newspaper front page asks, ?What the hell is going on in this country?? It?s a treasure trove of original photographs of mass movements, as well as contemporary music, art and fashion. A large section is adorned with powerful posters designed by Emory Douglas, the Black Panther Party?s official artist. One of the best things is that it?s interactive, with everyone wearing headphones throughout. We?re shown scenes from the US Civil Rights march in Selma in Alabama and the Kent State University anti-war protest when the US National Guard killed four students. One room is done up as a field at the Woodstock Festival. That said, the structure of the exhibition can make it feel like a rather atomised experience. At one point you can follow the main exhibition route and walk through ?Count me out?, or take the left ?Count me in? door. Fighting to change society is presented as an active decision individuals have to take. But here the exhibition gets slightly weird, with a section on communes in the US in 1970. We?re told that their ?user generated content? can still be seen in Steve Jobs, Apple and Silicon Valley. In reality, it shows how capitalism managed to repackage some of the radicalism as lifestyle chic as a response to the gains won by the mass movements of the 1960s. But the real radical legacy of 1960s is a rebellion against the status quo. Perhaps the steep ticket price is perhaps a reminder of how some have cashed-in on rebellion. You Say You Want a Revolution? Records and Rebels 1966-77 Victoria and Albert Museum,?London, SW7 2RL. Tickets ?16 Until 26 February 2017 vam.ac.uk A world to win?posters of protest and revolution This exhibition looks at a century of radical political posters. It ranges from the Suffragettes in early 20th century Britain to the Arab Spring that swept north Africa in 2011. It?s aim is to look at how political activists around the world have used posters to mobilise, educate and organise. William Morris Gallery,?London, E17 4PP. Until 15 January 2017 Larry Herman?Clydeside 1974-76 Photographer Larry Herman left the US during the Vietnam War in the 1970s. Here Herman chronicles the lives of ordinary people on the River Clyde in Scotland living through intense economic decline. Street Level Photoworks,?Glasgow, G1 5HD. Until 15 January 2017
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Follow the North Sea deal with a war on bosses? cuts
Bosses plans have crashed against workers' resolve (Pic: Richard Child/Flikr) Workers employed by contractor Wood Group on Shell North Sea offshore rigs have voted to settle their dispute. The Unite and RMT union members accepted a new offer from bosses after a series of strikes. They were the first offshore strikes for nearly three decades. Unite said it ?allowed us to reduce the levels of cuts being proposed to our members? wages and terms and conditions. ?We were able to secure improvements to competency payments. ?Threats to life insurance, health care and sick pay have been removed. We have a commitment to greater work security for ad-hoc workers, and they now have greater opportunities to progress into permanent?posts.? However, a significant minority voted to reject the deal. The Unite vote to accept was 105 to 82. Many workers believed more could have been won. The Wood Group strikers have shown that collective action is the only way to resist?and that offshore workers can fight back. With bosses still on the attack, this dispute provides an example and underlines why union organisation must be strengthened for the battles ahead.
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Messy climbdown sees Labour move to keep Trident renewal
Jeremy Corbyn speaking at a demonstration against Trident renewal earlier this year (Pic: Guy Smallman) Labour?s National Executive Committee (NEC) passed a policy at its conference last weekend to oppose ?aggressive wars?. But its commitment to weapons of mass destruction and the?military seems firm. Shadow defence secretary Clive Lewis, who supports Jeremy Corbyn, told the conference that Labour has a clear policy in favour of renewing Trident nuclear missiles. Apparently Lewis had planned to say he would not try to change party policy on Trident because it was crucial for defence workers? jobs. But the line was cut at the last minute. This at least leaves the possibility of Labour opposing Trident renewal?just. Lewis said, after the speech, ?I won?t be coming back to conference between now and the next election to try to undo the policy we have on Trident as things stand.? Labour?s review of Trident was put on hold during the party leadership election. The GMB and Unite unions are determined to back Trident renewal. The Guardian newspaper reported Jeremy Corbyn, ?has agreed to put to one side any attempt to reverse Labour?s support for renewing Trident in a bid to reduce tensions with unions and rebel MPs? This is a mjor significant retreat if true. In his speech Lewis said, ?I am clear that our party has a policy for Trident renewal.? He added, ?I want to be clear that our party?s policy is also that we all share the ambition of a nuclear-free world. So we will take steps to make that ambition a reality.? In other words, he?s against nuclear weapons in general, but for building new ones. Lewis also announced that a Labour government would build three new ships to support aircraft carriers. He said that the work of building nuclear weapons system would be welcomed by business and ?unions like GMB and Unite?. Defend? ?Your members help defend us and we will help defend them,? he said. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament said, ?How can Labour claim to work for multilateral disarmament if it supports the government building a new nuclear weapons system at a cost of ?205 billion? ?This means Labour is supporting nuclear rearmament.? Lewis defended the Nato imperialist alliance, saying it was in keeping with Labour?s values of ?collectivism, internationalism and the strong defending the weak?. Corbyn has previously called on Nato to disband. Lewis committed the party to spending 2 percent of gross domestic product, Britain?s total economic output, on defence. The Tories pushed through a motion in parliament to support this spending target in March last year. The now shadow chancellor John McDonnell voted against. Even then shadow defence minister Kevan Jones, who later resigned in protest at Corbyn, refused to commit a future Labour government to the 2 percent target. Despite all the calls for unity, the pressure to keep making concessions on defence and Trident in particular is clearly having an impact. Union outraged at promised ban Shadow energy secretary Barry Gardiner told Labour conference that a Labour government would impose an ?outright ban? on fracking. The GMB union outrageoulsy said this was ?nonsensical? and asked, ?Which henchman, hangman or head-chopper do we want to buy our gas from?? The Tories are pushing fracking, which is environmentally damaging and unsafe. Gardiner said, ?The next Labour government will ban fracking in the UK. ?Fracking locks us into an energy infrastructure that is based on fossil fuels long after our country needs to have moved to renewables. ?The next Labour government will back the clean technologies of the future. ?We will consult with our colleagues in industry and the trade unions about the best way to transition our energy industry to create the vital jobs and apprenticeships we are going to need for the UK?s low-carbon future.? Gary Smith, general secretary of GMB Scotland, said, ?We heat our homes with gas and British industry is absolutely dependent on gas. ?By closing the door to it, we would be closing the door to energy independence in the UK, which in the current context seems absolutely nonsensical.? Unison union general secretary Dave Prentis said he wanted to ?keep the debate open? on fracking. ?Nobody can say for definite that fracking is the way forwards. We will work out whether or not it is safe and whether or not it should go ahead.? Scottish Labour leader?against unity Scottish Labour Party leader Kezia Dugdale, who backed Owen Smith for Labour leader, hasn?t got the hang of pretending to be united with Jeremy Corbyn. In a recent newspaper article Dugdale wrote, ?I don?t think Jeremy can unite our party and lead us into government?. BBC News asked her about the article in the immediate aftermath of Corbyn?s re-election last Saturday. Dugdale said, ?I?m not changing that view. It?s very clear. It?s written down.? A little later she said that ?of course? Labour could win a general election under Corbyn. A day later at a meeting of Labour?s National Executive Committee (NEC) Dugdale again attacked Corbyn, accusing him of trying to ?undermine? her. Corbyn had suggested the Scottish rep on the NEC should be elected by Scottish Labour Party members.
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Police 'lost clothes' after rape allegation, court hears
A street in Rotherham, South Yorkshire (Pic: Guy Smallman) Police apologised in 2003 for questioning a man accused of repeatedly raping a 13 year old girl, a court has heard. Sageer Hussain is one of eight men on trial for child sexual exploitation offences at Sheffield Crown Court. The court heard that Hussain wasn't charged and the girl withdrew her complaint. The woman told the court, "I withdrew it because they wouldn't give me any protection and told me they had already lost my clothes, there was no DNA, it was my word against his. That is why I withdrew." Under questioning she denied that she only knew Hussain because of later media reports. She also denied she was motivated by a desire to make money. "This is not about money," she told the court. "It is about justice." The court also heard that police are "unable to recover a transcript" of the 2003 interview with Hussain and that "the tapes have been destroyed". Eight men deny 19 charges relating to offences that allegedly took place in the Rotherham area between 1999 and 2003. Defendant Masoued Malik told police in October 2003 that he had had sex with the then 14 year old girl around a year earlier. He claimed he had not known her age and was never charged with any offence. The woman told the court, "He knew what year I was in, which would have been Year 9 or Year 10 which would make me 13-14." She denied that she had consented to sex with Malik. "There was no other choice and if there's no other choice it's not consent," she said. The complainant had told police in October 2003 that Malik and co-defendant Naeem Rafiq held her in a flat against her will where she was abused by five men. Mrs Sweet, representing Malik, suggested the woman had consented to sexual activity to "keep the party going". The woman replied, "I was a child and they were adults. I didn't 'go along with it to keep the party going', I couldn't get out of the bedroom. "It was not a 'party'. It was their party, I was 14 years old." She said the abuse had "destroyed" her life. "It took away a part of me I will never get back," she told the court. "That's why I have never gone away." A second complainant began giving evidence on Friday of last week. The court heard that defendant Ishtiaq Khaliq indecently assaulted her between 1999 and 2000 when she was aged 13 or 14. The trial continues.
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Was patriotic reformer Clement Attlee on the Labour Party?s left or right?
Clement Attlee (left) looks thrilled to meet King George VI (Pic: Imperial War Museum) See also our series: Labour purges show the limits of reformism?bit.ly/2cyrYCv Should Labour MPs face reselection??bit.ly/2ceiWLM The strange story of Labour?s Clause 4?bit.ly/2bQOiGH The ?constraint of unity? fatally weakened the Bennite left?bit.ly/2b4UxRS Nye Bevan?s contortions bit.ly/2c7Q7gJ Stafford Cripps, a turncoat twice over bit.ly/2az9b3Q What Lenin said about Labour bit.ly/2anvZs5 The Independent Labour Party bit.ly/2aYNNe7 George Lansbury was loved - but it wasn?t enough for the union leaders?bit.ly/2box5zj Clement Attlee is often seen as a hero of the left. His 1945-51 Labour government created the welfare state and?nationalised key industries. But Attlee also secretly developed nuclear weapons, backed wars and attacked workers. That?s why some on the right also hold him up as the ideal Labour leader. For them, Attlee is a respectable moderate who could win elections and push through real changes. This is certainly the thrust of historian John Bew?s new biography, Citizen Clem. The book is partly a?rebuttal to left wing critics of Attlee. But it?s also an attempt to snatch Attlee back from those on the left who want to claim him. For Bew, patriotism is at the heart of Attlee?s?socialism. He claims this is ?the glue that bound together so much of what Attlee did?. What Bew means is that Attlee believed that everybody in Britain?no matter what their class?shared a common national interest. And if everyone could unite for the good of the nation, the nation would come good for them. Bew is enthusiastic about this type of ?social patriotism?, writing with the kind of gushing sentimentality normally reserved for the birth of a royal baby. He explains how Attlee ?believed that love of country could be a noble and unifying thing?. Solidarity doesn?t mean unity between workers, we?re told, but ?solidarity with your fellow countryman?. It?s stirring stuff. Bew insists that this patriotism has nothing to do with ?uncritical chauvinistic jingoism or imperialism?. But this assertion rings a little hollow after the First World War adventure story that opens the first chapter. The tale of brave captain Attlee leading his men into Iraq reads like a colonial fantasy. Attlee is reassured by the sight of the union flag flying over the bazaar and thinks of Blighty as he leads the charge against ?the Turks?. Stomach churning though it is, Attlee?s ?social patriotism? tells us something about the Labour Party. The mixing together of class and nation is a contradiction that goes right to the heart of what Labour is all about. The party claims to give a political voice to the working class. Its links to workers, via the trade union leaders, mean it can do this in a distorted way. But Labour?s focus is on an institution?parliament?that supposedly ignores the existence of class. Instead, MPs are supposed to represent all of their constituents, no matter what class they?re part of. The idea of a ?national interest? shared by workers and bosses?despite the conflict in the workplace?is key to helping Labour overcome this. So Labour promises to govern in the national interest, which means trying to manage the system in the interests of everybody. But because the health of the system depends on bosses? ability to make profits at the expense of workers, the national interest often involves attacking the working class. A poster from Labour's 1945 election campaign Attlee?s 1945 government is a good example. Bew accurately accuses Ken Loach?s film The Spirit of ?45 of ?cherrypicking? aspects of this government. Loach celebrates the NHS and the welfare state, but skips over Attlee?s role in secretly developing the nuclear bomb and setting up Nato. Unlike Loach, Bew wants us to celebrate all of Attlee?s ?achievements??not just the NHS, but nukes and Nato too. The formation of the National Health Service and the creation of the welfare state with the National Insurance Bill helped huge numbers of workers. Labour also began nationalising industries such as coal, gas, electricity, rail and even the Bank of England. It was able to do this not just because the system allowed it?but because the system demanded it. The British economy needed to be ?reconstructed? after the Second World War?and capitalists couldn?t be sure of making a profit from these industries. They were more than happy to let the British state do the work for them. Yet when the economy began to stumble into crisis in 1947, the Attlee government set about making workers pay. It did this with wage freezes, ration cuts and other austerity measures. It co-opted the unions into working with bosses to make workers work harder?and justified it all in the national interest. Bew gives us some telling examples. For instance when dockers in east London struck against the wage freeze, Attlee demanded they return to work?appealing, as Bew puts it, ?to a sense of patriotic duty?. ?In the current conditions in the country, this was a strike, ?against your mates, a strike against the housewife, a strike against the ordinary common people??. For Bew, Attlee?s assault on workers ?was social patriotism in its purist form?. This feels a long way from the start of the book, where ?social patriotism? meant making sure workers got a better deal. Now it?s all about cajoling workers into accepting Labour?s austerity. In fact, patriotism and the national interest is apparently behind everything that Attlee ever did?such as secretly developing nuclear weapons. Bew describes the devastating?effect of the nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yet he tells us that Attlee?s ?instinctive and immediate? response that ?Britain must have this weapon for itself?, was a ?brutally realistic assessment?. The weapon was crucial to making sure Britain could keep some degree of independence from the US as its empire collapsed. So in the words of Attlee?s foreign secretary Ernest Bevin, ?We?ve got to have this thing over here whatever it costs. ?We?ve got to have the Union Jack on top of it.? It was patriotism that convinced Attlee to back Labour?s support for the First World War. He claimed that socialists, ?recognised not only solidarity with their fellow countrymen, but also the need for preserving intact the field on which they fought their particular battles?. He was apparently pleased that Labour?s leaders Arthur Henderson and Robert Smillie were ?socialist pro-war, like himself?. As mayor of Stepney Borough council in the 1920s, Attlee worked hard to contain a wave of unrest and radicalism that spread across Britain in the aftermath of the war. His work, Bew approvingly writes, ?Was the perfect rebuttal to the idea that Labour was irresponsible or revolutionary.? And as Labour leader in 1940 Attlee joined Winston Churchill?s Tories in a coalition government that lasted throughout the Second World War. During this time he backed the government?s Emergency Powers Defence Bill which gave it ?dictatorial powers for the foreseeable future?. He was personally responsible for imprisoning Indian national liberation leader Mahatma Gandhi for the duration of the war. And he backed Greece?s royalist government against Communist-led resistance because it threatened Britain?s hold on the area. Yet he refused to give in to demands from the left inside his own party to push for more reforms while in government. Even when Labour was seriously divided, Attlee was more concerned about, ?Looking like a responsible party of government, with a truly national spirit?. For Bew, this was far more important than giving in to what he dismisses as the constant ?hounding? of Attlee from the Labour left. Without any evidence at all he insists that it was ?the Labour Party?s patriotism? that won it a landslide in the 1945 general election. It?s hard to miss the subtext. At the very beginning of the book Bew argues that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is ?a distinct break from the political tradition in which Attlee stood?. He wants us to agree that Labour has to ditch Corbyn to become electable?and replace him with someone more ?respectable?. But if there?s anything we can learn from Citizen Clem it?s that being ?respectable? and governing in the national interest means attacking the people Labour claims to?represent. Most of Attlee?s achievements that Bew wants us to celebrate are ones we should really condemn. If the right want ownership of Attlee?s ?social patriotism?, let them have it. Citizen Clem?A Biography of Attlee by John Bew is out now
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Labour Conference?Left draws crowds as right plots and sulks in pub back alleyway
One of the meetings at the The World Transformed (Pic: Socialist Worker) Huge crowds flocked to The World Transformed event in Liverpool last weekend. It was organised by Labour left group Momentum. The event coincided with Labour?s conference this week. It was a showcase for the enthusiasm and interest in radical left wing ideas that the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader has generated. There was a big working class Liverpool audience and people debated Labour?s relationship to social movements. Many warned against focusing on internal fights because, as one described it, it ?would be the death of Momentum?. Rail worker Craig thought the event was ?a good idea? because ?it gives you a more left wing view of the Labour Party?. Craig reflected the frustration felt by many Labour members towards their elected representatives. He said, ?There was a big march today to stop the closure of Liverpool Women?s Hospital. But not one single Labour councillor or Labour MP from Liverpool turned up. ?They were all sitting having their nice meals but they should be out on the streets with us?they are an utter disgrace.? Hundreds packed into discussions on topics such as the future of the left in Europe, Black Lives Matter and how to build a social movement. Some sessions had?300 people in them. People queued down the street to get into a rally on the type of society the left can strive to build. Hilary Benn rallies the right in an alleyway (Pic: Socialist Worker) Alleyway It was a world away from a rally in an?alleyway round the back of a pub held by right wing Labour members on the same day. There, men in suits discussed how to keep right wing, pro-austerity politics in the Labour Party. MP Chris Leslie said, ?I don?t believe in fibbing to the electorate. That we have this magic money tree growing in Parliament Square?. He added, ?There are lots of people who are not going to give up, and fight for the Labour Party we know.? MP Ruth Smeeth pleaded with right wing Labour members to stay in the party and fight the left. She said, ?The people in the CLPs who?ve already started resigning?we?ve got to go back and beg them to stay.? Hilary Benn, who triggered the attempt to remove Corbyn in June, used his speech to congratulate Corbyn on his victory. ?It is no good debating and arguing among ourselves,? he added. ?We have to look outwards.? To cheers from most of the older men, MP Conor McGinn compared the fight in Labour to his ?favourite film?, Zulu. Quoting a scene from the film he said, ?Why us? Because we?re here. We stand our ground and we will prevail.? An anti-austerity party? Around 150 left wing Labour members joined a Labour Assembly Against Austerity fringe meeting last Sunday. They celebrated Corbyn?s re-election?and the fact that Labour had kept an anti?austerity leadership. Labour activist Kathy said shifting left could help Labour connect with ordinary people. ?We were out knocking on doors in the 2015 general election, speaking to people on estates,? she told Socialist Worker. ?They said they could see no difference between us and the Tories. That?s why we lost.? MP Richard Burgon said, ?Anti-austerity has gone from being the fringe of the party to being the mainstream. ?Last year John McDonnell said Labour was now an anti-austerity party.?This year we made that permanent.? He warned Labour activists against getting drawn into protracted internal battles. ?Let?s leave the constitutional wrangling and other obsessions to others,? he said.
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Defend refugees, organise against the rise in racist attacks
Over 200 people joined joined a solidarity protest at Edinburgh Central Mosque last Tuesday following a petrol bomb attack (Pic: Stephen McBroom) Anti-racists are organising solidarity with migrant workers and Muslims under attack. Around 100 people rallied in Bletchley in Milton Keynes last Saturday in solidarity with a Muslim woman who was attacked on 6 August. The woman miscarried in hospital after the attack outside the Co-Op on Water Eaton Road. A man was arrested on suspicion of racially?aggravated assault, but has been released on police bail until November. When news of the attack was released last month, it sent fear through many Muslim people and migrants in the area. It took place in the context of a rise in racist attacks. But the rally was an important show of unity in the town. As Labour councillor Mohamed Khan told Socialist Worker, ?The rally brought people together in Milton Keynes?lots of people now feel welcomed in the town because of it. Chased He added, ?When I went to school in the 1980s I was sometimes chased by the National Front, but it is different here now.? The rally was organised by Stand Up to Racism and supported by the CWU, TSSA and Unite unions, among others. Kate Hunter from Milton Keynes Stand Up to Racism also stressed that the rally showed the majority of people in Milton Keynes are not racist. ?There?s a minority of people who have destructive views,? she said. ?But we want our voice heard to appeal to the best in people. We want a united, diverse Milton Keynes.? Zdenek Makar, a Czech migrant, was killed outside All Saints Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in Tower Hamlets, east London, last Wednesday. A man has been charged with murder and two teenagers who?were arrested have been released on police bail. Some 20 people joined a vigil organised by Stand Up to Racism outside the DLR station on Monday night. People rallied in Tower Hamlets on Monday night (Pic: Guy Smallman) Racist Khan said, ?I think since there?s been heightened racist attacks since Brexit. We have a lot of Polish and Romanian people in the area?. A minority of racists are acting on the belief that the Brexit vote means the majority of people support their ideas. But the majority of working class people remain hostile to racism. That racism has been whipped up by years of scapegoating of migrants and Muslims. Now the Tories are planning fresh attacks and Labour right wingers want to clamp down on the free movement of labour (see page 17). Khan said, ?The government needs to do more to reduce any tensions throughout the country. ?People are worried that they?re not welcome anymore or that they won?t be able here. ?The government needs to carry forward a message of peace and unity and tell them they have right to stay.?
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