TUSC – a left wing challenge to New Labour.

This week saw the launch of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition or TUSC. It is an alliance, as you might guess, of socialists and trade unionists who are sick of the cuts and privatisation proposed by all three main parties, who oppose the racism of the far right and want to put forward a genuine, socialist alternative in the interests of ordinary people.

It is not clear yet in how many seats the new party will stand in, but early signs are promising. The Scotsman reported on a meeting in Glasgow led by Bob Crow (leader of the RMT) in attempt to unify the Scottish Socialist Party and Solidarity, two parties which have been standing against each other in recent elections. As a dip in their support has shown, we are stringer when we can campaign together rather than separately. If successful, I think this is a very welcome opportunity for the left in Scotland.

Can we do something similar in England? Already a number of groups have gathered under the banner – the CPB, Indian Workers’ Association, Socialist Party and Alliance for Green Socialism amongst them. If we can put our differences aside, and campaign together in a federal organisation, then this has to be good for the prospects of building a new mass party to represent the interests of ordinary people.

Meanwhile, the onus is on all of us who wan’t to see something better than the three main parties to get behind this coalition, get doorknocking for the general election and spread the word. There is little time until May and there is a lot of work to be done.

To sign up as a launch sponsor of TUSC, in a personal capacity, send the necessary details (name, address, trade union/position, etc) to TUSC, 17 Colebert House, Colebert Avenue, London E1 4JP or e-mail the electioncoalition@btinternet.com for more details.

Killing in the Name Of for Number One.

Tomorrow is the last day we can download Rage Against the Machine’s 1992 anthem Killing in the Name of . . . to stop Cowell spoiling Christmas with yet another karaoke track.

And there is also a sudden cold snap, with travel disruption across much of the country. I am an atheist myself, but could this be God’s vengeance on Cowell?

From the Gospel according to St Morter:
And the LORD listeneth to Radio 5 Live and heard the mighty track Killing in the Name Of. A man by the name of Cowell had angered God by releasing yet another idiotic single and He was full of vengeance. In words of thunder, He spake: “Lo, that tw** Cowell is not spoiling my holiday again this year by spreading his karaoke rubbish. Let it snow on Great Britain, so that it will freeze the brass monkeys off anyone stupid enough to go out and buy his tripe. And on the seventh day He downloaded the track and He Rocked!

Great news – the campaign demolished X-factor by 50,000 sales. Let’s hope now that people start to think about the lyrics and genuinely rage against the machine!

Protesting at the demolition of the Bowstring Bridge 5/10/09

We are the paymasters. Wake up.

Protesting against the demolition of the Bowstring Bridge and Pump and Tap pub to make way for a swimming pool attached to De Montfort University.

The council are selling the land for a measly £1 to DMU. They claim it is necessary to make way for a swimming pool, although why they can’t keep the bridge, the pub and build a pool somewhere else is beyond me.

The hypocrisy of the situation is that the council closed St Margarets Baths and done nothing to replace it for over 10 years. The bridge is a landmark as you go into Leicester, and is part of the Great Central Way. Why should the council knock down what little is left of the city’s heritage?

The answer is in the picture below. We need to campaign for a genuine, democratic alternative to the sleaze and corruption that infests politics at the moment.

No to city council cover ups & backhanders

At least in Leicester West, come the next election, the Socialist Party may well be standing to offer an alternative to the three main parties of sleaze, spin and corruption.

“Time to fight back” rally at the TUC conference

Today, I went up to Liverpool to join a rally aimed at encouraging the trade unions to fight for jobs and conditions and against privatisation. It is vital, in the teeth of a recession, that public services and jobs are not slashed. The message was unanimous – why should we pay for the bosses’ crisis?

Bob Crow of the RMT deplored the Tories anti-trade union laws, which are even more draconian under New Labour. He said that it was in the best traditions of the trade union movement that workers have stood shoulder to shoulder alongside each other in struggle, and that it was a crying shame that the postal workers have been left to fight alone. Determined, united action by trade unionists across the public sector, who are facing job cuts and privatisation could have brought the government to its knees. The occupation of the Vestas factory had exposed the lies of the government when it came to investing in green jobs and showed that workers would trample over the anti-trade union laws if they were forced to fight for their livelihoods.

Tracey Edwards of the PCS union representing young members, said it was vital that young people fight for jobs and spoke of the scandal of 600,000 school and university leavers without a prospect of employment. If the government can bail out the banks to the tune of billions of pounds, then why can’t it bail out failing companies and provide jobs for all.

Glenn Kelly and Yunus Baksh of UNISON (in personal capacities!) railed against the hypocrisy of trade union leaders in witch-hunting left activists, whose only crime was to organise and stand up for their members. Glenn Kelly said that UNISON should go further than simply stopping donations to its Labour-sponsored MPs, and respect the majority of its members who refuse to give anything to New Labour. As Dave Nellist said, donating to New Labour is like buying a pair of Doc Martens for your boss to kick you with!

Lastly, there was a very moving contribution from one of the Shrewsbury pickets, who included Des Warren and Ricky Tomlinson. He reminded us of their campaign (still ongoing) to get an exoneration for the frame-up by the state, who jailed decent trade unionists for fighting for their jobs. He said that it was sad that Des was no longer here at this rally, otherwise he would be still be fighting the good fight.

I don’t know what the few BNP supporters who were skulking in the sidelines made of it all. Their absence showed that they are opposed to trade unionism and do not stand for working class people. Keith Gibbons, one of the leaders of the Lindsey Oil Refinery dispute spoke about the far right being ejected from the picket lines when they tried to intervene and about how the Socialist Party was able to undercut their lies of “British jobs for British workers” by organising British and Italian workers, to get a fair deal for all.

Altogether an excellent and inspiring rally – but the fighting talk now needs to be matched by action from the major trade unions. They need to stop funding New Labour and begin funding genuine, working-class struggles.

Campaigning against the far right in Codnor

Last weekend, the BNP held their annual so-called “Red White and Blue Festival”. I went as part of a coachload of protestors from Leicester to help make it clear that their racist policies are not welcome in Britain, wherever the BNP go.

Groups such as Notts Stop the BNP, Derby Campaign Against Racism and Fascism, and Amber Valley Against Racism and Fascism had worked hard to ensure the protest was successful. The UAF, like last year, threatened to split the march, putting some people at unneccessary risk. However, the event was in the end very united and we got within spitting distance of the “festival” itself.

The police wasted £500,000 patrolling the festival, with a helicopter and remote-controlled drone camera (which looked like one of those miniature helicopters you can get in the Gadget Shop, except that whoever was controlling it was obviously a professional, as it didn’t crash constantly). I hoipe the council tax payers of Derbyshire are angry at having to fork out for this and demand that the council refuse to allow the BNP’s festival to go ahead next year.

However, wherever the BNP campagn to spread their lies and hatred, it is important that we answer their policies and show that they do not represent the working people of Britain – their policies would only divide people, when we need to unite to fight to save our jobs, for decent council housing and for investment into our public services. The best chants were “Where were the BNP when Vestas Blades workers’ occupied their factory? NOWHERE!” and “Jobs and Homes not Racism – Stop the BNP”.

A moving contribution was made by a veteran anti-fascist campaigner, who was active in forcing Mosley’s blackshirts off the streets of East London during the Second World War. Around 1,500 people marched, sang and generally made our presence felt.

I chatted to one BNP supporter about how he had been let down by his trade union UNISON and how he had joined the BNP, because, as he saw it, foreigners were taking our jobs. We answered that it was the government who should take the blame for mass unemployment.

I couldn’t help feeling that with a decent fighting trade union leadership and a left wing party fighting for working-class policies for people of all backgrounds, he would not have been deluded by the false propaganda of the fascists, but could have been on the other side of the barricades. He seemed like a decent enough bloke, but the leadership of the BNP are Nazis, just as they were in the days of the National Front.

When the BNP claim to have changed their spots and be a democratic party, they are lying. As the fascists did in Nazi Germany, they would deport all foreigners and ruthlessly clamp down on any opposition. Wherever they rear their ugly head, we need to oppose their lies and build a new party to answer the far right politically.

Campaigning against the BNP

I had a busy weekend – on Saturday I went to Lincoln for an anti-fascist protest. It was supported by the NUT, PCS, Socialist Party and Lincoln Trades Council. 100 people turned up and we marched through the city centre to voice our opposition to the BNP, chanting “jobs and homes not racism, stop the BNP”.

A grand total of 6 football hooligans made fascist salutes and unfurled a St George’s cross with “BNP” on it. We pointed out that St. George was Turkish. Another slight disturbance happened when a BNP supporter grabbed at our banner, but he was arrested – presumably for mouthing off at the police who were having a word with him.

The demo was a huge success, building on the public support shown for earlier LARF (Lincoln Against Racism and Fascism) demos. We are also holding a Rock against Racism gig at the Duke of Wellington later in the month.

On Sunday, I went over to Nuneaton to leaflet for Steve Gee the Socialist Party candidate in a ward where we are standing for the first time, against the BNP. It was very positive to hear someone say that he would vote for us, but if we weren’t standing he may have voted for the BNP. It is an indication of the lack of a mass, working-class alternative to the three main parties of sleaze and corruption that the BNP can pose as a party of the left in some of its propaganda. We had an excellent response in Nuneaton and I am going back there on Thursday to help get our vote out on polling day.

Jigsaw Puzzle

For some reason, this one has got Mandelson completely stumped. Can you help him out?

Child’s play

Give him some motivation to complete the puzzle – download a petition to renationalise our railways. Which bit of “integrated public transport system” doesn’t New Labour understand?

UNISON – still donating to New Labour?

Dave Prentis’ big speech at UNISON conference was full of fine words about “no more blank cheques for New Labour” and he promised to suspend funding to UNISON-backed Labour MPs. This is far too little, too late. When New Labour are carrying out a 15% cut in NHS funding – meaning tens of thousands of jobs being lost and yet more cuts to an already overstretched health service. I am writing about the NHS, as that is where I work, but elsewhere in the public sector 350,000 jobs are under threat.

I think this underlines the need for a new party to represent ordinary people. I think UNISON should give money to a political fund, not to feed the New Labour hand that bites workers, but to build a real alternative voice for working people.

In the meantime, how much will Prentis’ speech actually represent? Around £100,000 a year. This is a drop in the ocean, compared to the massive funding given by the major trade unions to New Labour.

There is good news, however – many unions have an opt-out clause – all you have to do is email them saying you don’t want to give to New Labour. Visit Plaid Cymru’s page here for a simple form (I am not a Plaid Cymru supporter by the way!).

Vote No2EU Yes to Democracy on June 4th

I think the video speaks for itself. The only real alternative to the main parties of sleaze and hypocrisy is No2EU Yes to Democracy.

Cast a protest vote on June 4th. Vote for a genuine, trade-union based alternative to the lies and spin of New Labour, Tories, which is not xenophobic or racist like the far right.

Letter sent to my local Lib Dem branch

It is the Lib Dems’ fault for putting a freepost address on their leaflet . . .

Dear Sirs

I recently received with some interest a newspaper from the Lib Dems in Leicester. It claimed that you had been campaigning to stop the closure of post offices. In fact, the Lib Dems are championing the European Union which has driven through the privatisation of our postal service, which has led to the closures. I was on a campaign to save Bishop St Post Office, which comprised of the Socialist Party, the Green Party and the International Workers of the World. We gave leaflets out to all post offices affected and raised a petition with thousands of signatures. I did not see the Lib Dems campaign on this issue once.

I was also involved with the Save Our Schools campaign in the Leicester South bye-election in 2004. It was the Lib Dems, in partnership with the Tories, whom you (rightly) say are the “dirtiest party” that pushed through the closure of vital schools. If you had any principles, how could you co-operate with your political enemies in this fashion, or are you just careerists like the other main parties, with no real concerns for your constituents?

Your newsletter also fails to mention the recent expenses scandal, where Lib Dems were just as embroiled as Labour and the Tories. I think that all three main parties are morally and politically bankrupt of ideas. I think we need a new workers’ party to represent ordinary people. That is why I am supporting the RMT’s NO2EU Yes to Democracy initiative in the European elections, as it is an historic step forward in this direction – the first time since 1906 and the founding of the Labour Party that a major trade union has put forward the need for real political representation for ordinary people. I am surprised that the person who put the paper through my door failed to notice the A3 poster in my window!

I also noted the fact that, if you give a £10 donation or more, then you automatically become a member of the Lib Dems unless you opt out. I think this is a disgraceful attempt to inflate your membership figures.

Andrew Walton
Leicester Socialist Party