London Follow

WE ARE living in an era of intense political mobilisation. Over the past two years London has witnessed a succession of great mass demonstrations that belong to a far larger tapestry of global protest.

THE RIGHT wing press seized on a judge's ruling last week against a refugee family from Lithuania living in Southwark, south London. The family were appealing for adequate housing. The Daily Express called the case "asylum rip-off number one" and its front page screamed "Proof Britain is a soft touch". But the story will be familiar to ordinary people across Britain desperate to be rehoused.

FEAR OF anti-war protests has already hit George Bush's attempts to turn his visit to London next month into a political triumph. The British government has abandoned plans for Bush to parade with the queen down the Mall during his visit to Britain in four weeks time.

Ballots SECTIONS OF postal workers across Britain could soon be balloted for strikes. Royal Mail bosses have refused to negotiate over proposed major changes in the processing (sorting) and logistics (driving) divisions. They think they can railroad through whatever they want in the wake of the vote against national strikes over pay-although recent events in Oxford, London and Wolverhampton may now be making them pause for thought!

PAUL AND Caroline Medhurst are two of the workers on strike for a living wage this week in London.

READERS IN Ealing, West London, were ready for Thursday's council workers' and postal workers' strikes.

THE OUTRAGE over George Bush's state visit to Britain in five weeks time is snowballing as more people find out about it. "It's not just that people are angry-they want to do something about it," says Robin Beste from the Stop the War Coalition in Muswell Hill, north London.

'GREAT BRITAIN has seen a foolish display for three days. London's genteel West End looked like a battlefield. Near Buckingham Palace squads of riot police grappled with leather-jacketed toughs.

The Sun's owner, Rupert Murdoch, is notorious for, among other things, smashing the print unions at his Wapping headquarters in London in the 1980s. So you may be surprised to learn that the Sun's origins can be traced back to a bulletin produced to support a London printers' strike.

POSTAL WORKERS and council workers will strike together in London next Thursday.

"A BRILLIANT strike day last week. Now let's strike alongside the council workers next Thursday and go on to give management a real hammering."

SOCIALIST WORKER went down a storm on last Saturday's anti-war demonstration. Not only did 5,000 people buy copies of the demonstration special, but our supporters also found some innovative ways of selling before and after. Huw, from Swansea, tells me that they started selling Socialist Worker before their coach even arrived in London. "Two of us put up a table in one of the service stations on the M4. We sold five copies in ten minutes. Then we were moved on by security."