London Follow

An act of cold-blooded murder. Not one Western leader would dispute that if it were 18 innocent people in London or New York who were blown apart in the early hours of last Friday.

London mayor Ken Livingstone chose a dinner at the Mansion House in the City of London last week to launch an attack on the rail union, the RMT. An audience of financiers gave him an ovation when he told them he "had not the slightest intention" of conceding to the union in the staffing dispute on London Underground as this would be "rewarding bad behaviour".

London Underground bosses have been forced to come up with a new offer to resolve the dispute over staffing and safety which has led to two 24-hour strikes by station staff in the RMT union.

Derek Bailey, born in Abbeydale, Sheffield, in 1930, died in the early hours of 25 December in Clapton, east London. In his 75 years, he made a name for himself as the most fastidious and intransigent member of the musical avant-garde.

Jean Renoir seasonNational Film Theatre, central LondonUntil 2 Marchwww.bfi.org.uk

Campaigners across Britain are organising for the important Defend Council Housing (DCH) lobby of parliament on Wednesday 8 February.

Pressure is mounting in east London against Tower Hamlets council’s disgraceful treatment of Eileen Short.

Every passenger and worker in London has an interest in seeing Underground workers win our ongoing battle against attacks on safety and jobs.

VelázquezNational Gallery, LondonStarts October 2006www.nationalgallery.org.uk

New Labour’s plans to privatise council housing suffered a series of major setbacks in the run-up to Christmas. Defend Council Housing (DCH) campaigns run by council tenants and trade unionists fought off attempts to privatise housing in the east London borough of Tower Hamlets, Waverley in Surrey and Edinburgh.

London Underground bosses were given a bloody nose when thousands of stations and revenue staff in the RMT union walked out on New Year’s Eve to defend the deal we’d won for a shorter working week.

Unions at City and Islington College, north London, have called a rally to defend education to coincide with the visit of education secretary Ruth Kelly on Tuesday 24 January.