Solidarity 607, 22 September 2021

Democracy, war and the scruples of generals

We already knew that US military chief Mark Milley had told his associates, as he observed the build-up to Donald Trump’s 6 January Capitol riot, that he feared Trump was seeking a “Reichstag moment” (after the fire at the German parliament in 1933 which Hitler used as leverage to complete Nazi control). “They’re not going to succeed”, Milley told his military colleagues. His argument: “you can’t do this without the military... the CIA... the FBI. We’re the guys with the guns”. He would block moves by Trump to bring troops onto the streets. We also knew that between November 2020 and January...

Kino Eye: Putting Blair "on trial"

In June 2003, Reg and Sally Keys sit down to watch the news on TV. Six British soldiers have just died that day in Iraq and one of them is Tom, their 20 year old son. Reg is told by Tom’s commanding officer that prior to the fatal operation his unit had been “descaled” (vital equipment had been removed). Reg then hears that the so-called “weapons of mass destruction” do not exist, and he decides to stand against Blair in the 2005 general election, to expose the war that was “based on a lie”.  Jimmy McGovern adopted Reg’s story for the BBC with Tim Roth playing the bereaved father. The film Reg...

Royal Parks out from 1 October (John Moloney's column)

We’re preparing for a month-long strike by outsourced cleaners and attendants in Royal Parks, which will begin on 1 October. That’s a significant escalation, so we’re also launching a new drive to fundraise for the strike fund. We’ll need active solidarity from our own branches, especially in London, and from the wider movement to help the strike win. Strategic discussions are ongoing within our branch at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) complex in Swansea. There’s a strong resolve to launch a new ballot, but detailed discussions are taking place about exactly how that ballot...

GKN workers launch all-out strike

Workers at the GKN Drivelines factory in Birmingham, which produces parts for cars, will launch an indefinite strike from 27 September, in an attempt to resist the closure of the plant. The closure, which is slated to take place in 2022, would see the loss of 500 jobs. A Unite statement said: “Due to the ‘just in time’ nature of the automotive industry supply chain, strike action will very quickly affect production at several of the UK’s car plants, primarily Jaguar Land Rover, but Nissan and Toyota will also be heavily affected.” In 1976, workers facing job losses at Lucas Aerospace produced...

Barnoldswick workers to vote

Workers at the Rolls Royce plant in Barnoldswick will vote on a new proposal from management, following further strikes by a section of the workforce in July, and a subsequent vote by the entire workforce for further action. It looks likely that the workers’ union, Unite, will not recommend acceptance of the proposal, as it does not include one of the workers’ key demands, for a five-year no-compulsory-redundancies guarantee. The last phase of the dispute at Barnoldswick began after Rolls Royce announced it was reneging on an agreement, secured following extensive strikes in 2020, to guarantee...

Push for action on NHS pay!

Members of the main health unions have overwhelmingly rejected the government’s 3% NHS pay award. RCN rejected by 91.7% (in Wales 93.9%), Unison by 80%, and GMB by 93%. Unison and GMB included willingness to take industrial action in their informal ballot. These votes show the activist base of the unions is ready to take action. The decisive figure for action, under the anti-trade union laws, was always going to be the turnout. There, the news is not positive. RCN turnout was 25.4% (29.3% in Wales), and Unison, 29%. GMB have not released their turnout figures, presumably meaning they did not...

Momentum Internationalists Labour conference briefing

Thanks to Momentum Internationalists for this briefing on Labour Party conference (25-29 September, in Brighton) Who are Momentum Internationalists? Momentum Internationalists was formed by activists from the left anti-Brexit campaign Labour for a Socialist Europe, L4SE , in early 2020 to continue the fight for left-wing and internationalist politics after the Tories finally forced through Brexit. We ran candidates in the Momentum NCG elections of 2020 and promoted motions in the Momentum policy priorities ballot of 2021. We are not just a caucus within Momentum. We have been active on the...

Common ownership is key for climate

On 13 September, BBC Newsnight asked shadow business and energy secretary Ed Miliband about Labour for a Green New Deal’s Labour Party conference motion calling for public ownership in energy, water, transport and other sectors: “We’re in favour of common ownership… Keir Starmer said in his leadership campaign he was in favour of public ownership in those areas. We haven’t changed that commitment... And why is that? Let me just explain this to you. Because in particular, in relation to natural monopolies, if we’re going to make this green transition, then public ownership is the right way to...

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