Although she is only 29 years old, the Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has won wide acclaim. Her first novel Purple Hibiscus was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction and longlisted for the Booker.
Taking liberties is a new political documentary film that traces how civil rights in Britain have been systematically dismantled under ten years of New Labour.
Remploy isn’t working
I’ve been involved in supported employment for disabled people for over 15 years. In that time I have never seen a situation where a person with a disability could not be supported in real employment with the right support.
‘We have chosen as a society to put the civil liberties of the suspect, even if a foreign national, first. I happen to believe this is misguided and wrong. I believe this is a dangerous misjudgement." So said Tony Blair in a parting shot at civil liberties before stepping down.
Workers at the Sunvic plant in Uddingston near Glasgow last week agreed to call off their strike and return to work. The workers were in the 11th week of an all out strike against bosses demanding the right to impose lay-offs.
Ritzy cinema workers strike again
Workers at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton, south London, struck for a second time on Saturday of last week. The Bectu union members, who voted to strike unanimously, are fighting against poverty pay.
The inaugural congress of the University and College Union (UCU) last week brought together two very distinct unions – the AUT and Natfhe, into a new lecturers’ union.
The congress of the UCU lecturers’ union heard a storming speech from PCS civil service workers’ union general secretary Mark Serwotka. He outlined a strategy for a united fight across the public sector to break Gordon Brown’s pay freeze.
On the first day of the UCU congress, delegates voted by 158 to 99 in favour of a motion that instructed the union to facilitate discussion on Palestine and open the possibility of a boycott of Israeli academic institutions.
Postal workers in Luton will strike tomorrow (Wednesday) for 24 hours from 5am after a delivery postal worker was sacked. The worker had a nine year unblemished record when, under time pressure, he momentarily left the keys in his van while performing a collection and the vehicle was stolen.
It was a good conference for the new union and the left within it. The potential of a union representing 120,000 educationalists organised at the heart of what is fashionably known as "the knowledge economy" could clearly be seen.
