Solidarity 475, 18 July 2018

Unions must oppose far right

While the 14 July mobilisation of anti-fascists to oppose the rally in support of former EDL leader Tommy Robinson was significantly better than that on 9 July, it was still smaller than that of Robinson’s supporters. Some 5,000, many part of an organised far right gathered in Whitehall. Around 3,000 anti-fascist marchers were initially split into two contingents, the majority meeting at the starting point organised by Stand Up to Racism. Others congregating near Waterloo were organised by London Anti-Fascists. The two groups merged on Parliament Street (the approach to Whitehall). However the...

Eurostar strike over dangerous conditions

RMT members working for Eurostar will strike on 28 July. Station workers at the company’s St. Pancras terminal in central London say they have been forced to bear the brunt of “corporate failures” as the station’s small concourse has become increasingly overcrowded. A union statement said: “The international terminal at St. Pancras has been reduced to chaos, with staff left to bear the brunt of public anger, following a spate of service problems that have dumped thousands of passengers on the cramped concourse at St Pancras as the season heads towards its summer peak. RMT has repeatedly...

Mixed outlook in DOO strikes

RMT members are currently voting on a proposed settlement of their Driver-Only-Operation dispute at Greater Anglia that would see a second safety-critical member of staff (i.e. a conductor or guard) on all trains that currently run with one, with some of the operation of the train doors passing to the driver. Drivers at London North East Railway have also recently accepted an offer to operate the new "Azuma" trains currently being prepared for introduction. This agreement includes drivers releasing the doors on arrival at station stops, with the guards then taking over and carrying out the...

On Labour’s new guidelines for dealing with antisemitism

The Labour Party is right to engage with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) guidelines as a living document (something to be engaged with, discussed, analysed, interpreted and expanded upon), and indeed this is what it would appear was intended by the writers of the IHRA guidance. It does not read as something intended to be a code of conduct, but rather as the basis for raising awareness and deepening understanding of modern antisemitism. Even the short 40-word definition (which is really the working definition according to the IHRA) is described within the guidance as...

Understanding racism in Scotland

No Problem Here — Understanding Racism in Scotland challenges “the conventional ‘race-blind’ narratives that Scotland and its elites have crafted over many years,” according to which “Scotland does not have a serious racism problem.” This “now powerful myth that there is ‘no problem here’” has put down even deeper roots in recent years as a result of “the new common sense of Scottish politics, the dominant story that has been forged by the SNP and others.” In fact, argues the collection of essays which makes up the book, “everyday racism remains a deeply structuring force distorting the lives...

Seize chances of Tory chaos! Labour can stop Brexit!

Left Against Brexit committees and campaigns are being launched across the country along with organising efforts for the Left Against Brexit speaker tour ( anothereurope.org/tour ). They are organising street stalls, debates, and speakers and motions to labour movement organisations. With the Tories in trouble — even more trouble after Donald Trump told them that their Brexit plan would block a trade deal with the USA — an active Left Against Brexit campaign has a real chance of shifting the axis of debate. Many people oppose Brexit. The demonstration on 23 June for a “people’s vote” on...

A split in Iraqi socialist group

Nadia Mahmood of the Worker-communist Party of Iraq spoke to Martin Thomas about a split within her organisation. Nadia: The resignation of our comrades Muayad Ahmed and Yanar Mohammad was announced after the central committee’s decision to take away Falah Alwan’s membership of the party. MT: There must have been some political issues behind it, like the referendum? Nadia: We always have different political views in our party. We always take decisions based on votes. That is basic. As regards the referendum, we had our differences but we set them out. So it wasn’t an issue. And the referendum...

How the German state let Nazis get away with murder

A Munich court announced its verdicts last week at the end of the five-year long NSU (National-Socialist Underground) trial. Beate Zschäpe, the only surviving member of the Neo-Nazi “NSU trio”, was sentenced to life imprisonment for her role in the ten murders, three bombings and 15 armed robberies carried out by the NSU between 2000 and 2007. Zshäpe had claimed that she had known nothing of the activities carried out by Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Böhnhardt, the two other members of the trio who had committed suicide after a botched robbery in 2011. A neo-Nazi all her adult life, Zschäpe claimed —...

Football is a sport, and is neither progressive nor reactionary

Knowing all the words to an aria by Puccini or being obsessed with the poems of Chaucer are much less likely to invite political analysis onto its possible progressive or reactionary implications than supporting a football team in the World Cup does. And it would be silly to ignore the at least superficially progressive or inspiring things that come about every four years when a World Cup is on. This time we saw countries whose football teams have historically been laughing stocks doing incredibly well thanks to their immigrant players — think Belgium or Switzerland. We saw small countries...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.