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THE LABOUR Party has called the by-election in Brent East, west London, for 18 September. It will be a key test for New Labour, taking place in the middle of the Hutton inquiry.

ARMS COMPANIES plan to hold Europe's largest arms fair from 9 to 12 September in the Docklands area of London. Warships are already cruising the Thames in preparation. Around 1,000 companies will run stalls at the DSEi event, which is attended by representatives of many of the world's most repressive regimes.

AROUND 160,000 postal workers across Britain begin a strike ballot over pay next week. London postal workers will also vote in a second ballot over London weighting. Nationally postal workers have been offered a 4.5 percent rise over 18 months. Any larger increase is dependent on mass job cuts, a worse service and even harder terms for the workers.

THE Socialist Alliance has called a national day of action in Brent, north west London, on Sunday 31 August. We are urging activists from across England to come into the constituency on that day to help campaign for our candidate in the forthcoming Brent East by-election.

LONDON Underground workers have been left wondering whether to laugh or cry following the end of the pay campaign for 2002. After two days of strikes last year, London Mayor Ken Livingstone stepped in, offering to settle the dispute via binding arbitration. London Underground had imposed 3 percent, provoking the strikes.

WORKERS AT Peckham Crown Post Office and Camberwell Green Crown Post Offices in south London have launched campaigns to stop their offices being privatised and downgraded. The 30 people employed in the two offices have over 300 years experience serving the community. CWU union assistant sectional secretary Steve Whale said, "We were only informed of the privatisation when the press rang our union room for our comments."

AS THE lies told to justify the war on Iraq unravelled in a courtroom in London, the reality of the occupation of Iraq by US and British troops was shown on our TV screens. For months we have been told that British troops, with their "softly, softly" approach to dealing with civilian populations, had won the trust of the Iraqi people.

Diane Diane is a community nurse at a health centre in west London. She has a young daughter

ANTI-WAR campaigners are hitting the streets to get things moving for the People's Assembly in two weeks time and the national demonstration in London on Saturday 27 September. The People's Assembly is designed to call the government to account for its policies over the war.

POSTAL WORKERS across Britain will start voting in a strike ballot over pay in two weeks time. At the same time a separate ballot begins in the capital over London weighting. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) postal executive voted to call the ballots last week. Their decision is the result of huge pressure from below. Postal workers are fed up with grafting harder and harder for a pathetically small pay packet and they have told their union they want action.

A LEFT challenge to New Labour was launched at a vibrant convention of the left in the Brent East constituency last week. Over 90 people attended the meeting in west London in the run-up to a by-election in the area. Everyone there was determined to build an alternative to Tony Blair's pro-war, pro-privatisation policies.

ON WEDNESDAY of this week strikers from 30 London Unison union branches were due to march through central London to a rally. This action came at the end of their latest four week long round of selective strike action in pursuit of a London weighting allowance of £4,000. The latest strike has seen the highest involvement of strikers, with 1,500 members bringing a range of council services to a standstill. The employers have been left in no doubt about their workers' determination to win the full claim.