For equality, against bigotry

Anti-fascism, anti-racism, fighting anti-semitism, lesbian/gay/bisexual rights, immigration and asylum, travellers, women's rights and feminism, ...

Protests sweep the world

Black Lives Matter protests have swept the world, and not just the big cities. Fraser Andrews reports on the 6 June protest in a relatively small town, Milton Keynes. This was by far and away the most the most significant protest I’ve ever seen here in Milton Keynes. I estimate up to 1,000 gathered — in a city of 250,000. That’s five times the size of any anti-austerity demonstration here at the peak of that movement. Lots of home-made signs. A mostly young crowd, mostly black and other people of colour. Little organised socialist presence. As the “official” demonstration ended not long after...

People turn against Trump and racism

Three quarters of people in the US view George Floyd’s murder as part of a problem of racial injustice — a major shift from a few years ago. According to a 3-4 June Ipsos poll, 74% believe the killing was “a sign of broader problems in the treatment of African Americans by the police” and only 26% that it was an “isolated incident”. Six years ago, shortly after the police murders of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, 43% said they were signs of a broader problem, and 51% isolated incidents. In 2014, 60% of white Americans thought those killings were isolated incidents; today 70% think Floyd’s...

Is Minneapolis abolishing the police?

Three-quarters of Minneapolis’ city council members have pledged publicly to disband the city’s police department and introduce new systems of “public safety”. This is good news in that it shows the impact of anti-police protests and their success in shifting the political narrative. Minneapolis demonstrators booed and heckled mayor Jacob Frey when he refused to commit to “abolishing” Minneapolis PD. He deserves booing for his double-dealing attitude to the anti-police movement. But it’s also true that the council policy is in fact more tentative than the “instant anarchist utopia” it sounds...

Police in the USA: some facts

In the USA, police shot and killed 1,004 people in 2019. The comparable figure for the UK is 3, for France 26, for Germany 11. The USA has 655 people in jail per 100,000 population. The UK’s figure, high by world standards, is 140. The Netherlands, 54. The USA had 12 deaths in police custody per 100,000 arrests last year; the UK, two. US police make three arrests per year per 100 population; the UK, a more typical figure, one. Social provision in the USA is weaker than in most relatively well-off countries. In many well-off countries, even in poorer districts, generally “the state” means...

Call Starmer to account on anti-racist struggle

Momentum Internationalists has launched an open letter calling for Keir Starmer to withdraw his criticism of protesters who pulled down statue of slave-trader Edward Colston in Bristol and instead back their action. Please add your name: bit.ly/starmercolston The issue with Starmer is wider. Beyond the Colston remark and a few anti-racist platitudes, he has been largely silent in this crisis. Neither his record as Director of Public Prosecutions — for example failure to prosecute the police killers of Jean Charles de Menezes, or aggressive prosecution of people after the 2011 riots — nor his...

Diary of a Tube worker: "Black lives matter! Black lives matter!"

I was in the mess room when the shouting started. I paid no attention at first. I knew the demo in central London [3 June] had been big, but didn’t really twig whether people would be out on a Wednesday afternoon and how they would get there and get home. “Jay, I think you should come out here”, F, who is covering on another station, radios through. I get into the ticket hall. It’s not normal peak-time busy, but its busier than normal. Yeah, people are shouting, but it’s not an aggressive protest in the station. The manager obviously feels differently and is rushing to try and close some of...

Standing up for equality (John Moloney's column)

There was a discussion at our National Executive Committee of PCS about the Black Lives Matter protests in the USA. There was overwhelming support for the struggle against racism and police brutality. Some comrades did raise safety concerns about mass gatherings at a time when the threat from the virus is still high, and BAME people have been disproportionately affected. The issues will be discussed further within the union, as we want members to be able to protest safely. Racial inequality is an industrial issue in the civil service. As well as the virus disproportionately impacting BAME...

Migrant labour, racism and class struggle in Singapore

With migrant workers making up the vast majority of recent Covid-19 cases in Singapore, there are renewed calls for the government to reduce Singapore's dependence on migrant labour. On the surface, this appears to be a progressive proposal, given that it is being made in response to the cramped and unsanitary nature of the migrant worker dormitories. In reality, however, these are xenophobic demands to reduce the number of foreigners and these demands have nothing to do with improving conditions in migrant worker dormitories. Many have compared migrant labour to a drug to which Singapore is...

Tim Roache and the cabal system

On Tuesday 28 April, Tim Roache, general secretary of the big GMB union, which organises in many different sectors, stepped down, just months after his re-election. He cited ill-health. On Wednesday, following the circulation of an anonymous letter to press outlets, GMB issued a statement: “GMB received an anonymous letter, last Wednesday, in which a number of allegations have been made about Tim’s conduct whilst he held the office of general secretary.” The news of the allegations against Roach has reignited discussion of conduct in the labour movement, echoing previous incidents including...

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