No aid to Ukrainian Nazis!

Gerry Downing, Theo Russell and Andy Brooks on the line

by New Worker correspondent

The call for solidarity with the anti-fascist resistance in Ukraine one again echoed across Whitehall at a protest picket last weekend. NCP leader Andy Brooks and other London comrades joined the picket opposite Downing Street on Saturday to denounce British support for the puppet regime in Kiev and stand by the Ukrainian anti-fascists and the Novorossiyans who took up the gun to drive the nazi gangs out of eastern Ukraine.

Theo Russell and Dermot Hudson from the NCP and Gerry Downing of Socialist Fight regularly took the mike during the early evening protest called by the NCP with the support of Solidarity with Anti-Fascist Resistance in Ukraine (SARU) and Socialist Fight. Others leafleted the passers-by with demands to end British and other NATO support for the fascist regime in Kiev.

British imperialism gives military and financial support to the illegal regime in Ukraine, which includes Nazis and which idolises Stepan Bandera, a Second World War Nazi collaborator whose followers in the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists eagerly set about murdering Jews and Poles during the German occupation and became a willing tool of the CIA to spread terror across Soviet Ukraine and People’s Poland during the Cold War.

There is absolutely no democracy in Ukraine, and its working people are being ruthlessly crushed. The Kiev regime, which includes Nazis, has outlawed left-wing movements including the Ukrainian communist party and the Marxist Borotba movement.

The picket, the fourth in Whitehall over the past six months, attracted a lot of sympathetic attention on the street that links Trafalgar Square to the Westminster Parliament as well as the support of the Novorossiyan media which relayed a photo-story of the action via the Donbass News Agency (DONI) on Monday.

• DONI report of the picket

Underground staff face sack for self defence

THE RMT rail union is fighting the case of Lee Cornell, who was sacked by London Underground (LU) for defending himself from an abusive and aggressive fare-dodger at London Bridge Underground station. Two of his colleagues who came to his aid have also been disciplined.

The union says that LU disregarded the fact that Cornell and two other staff were physically and verbally assaulted by the customer whom Cornell is accused of accosting. Cornell was punched twice and had his glasses stolen by this person.

The Jubilee line branch will be requesting a ballot for industrial action to defend Cornell, Saed Souissi and Dave Sharp if necessary.

The three Customer Support Assistants (CSAs) have been sent to a Company Disciplinary Interview (CDI) following an incident with a fare evader in November 2016.

The fare evader assaulted three members of staff, one was pregnant. She was pushed in her stomach. This evader also stole a pair of glasses from a CSA who needs them to drive to visit his sick mother.

Cornell, who was punched twice and whose glasses were stolen, was sacked by LU for preventing himself being hit and for getting his property back.

Saeed Souissi was given a suspended dismissal for defusing the situation no less than three times when this evader wanted to punch and head butt other members of staff.

London Underground said he should have reported the incident on his iPad and watched his colleagues being assaulted.

Dave Sharp has been accused of "inciting or provoking an incident”. He asked a customer if they had touched in with an oyster/card or had a ticket.

Senior union reps have stated this is the worst case of punitive disciplinary they have ever seen. The fact the workplace violence forum agrees that staff are entitled to take reasonable steps to protect themselves and their property was disregarded.

RMT says workplace justice must be seen to be done. Failure to deliver justice to the London Bridge Three will result in Industrial action.

Pollution charge on London vehicles

LONDON Mayor Sadiq Khan plans to introduce a £10 charge on the owners of the most polluting cars that enter the congestion charge zone from next October.

Confirming he would press ahead with the fee, known as the T-charge, Sadiq Khan said: “It’s staggering that we live in a city where the air is so toxic that many of our children are growing up with lung problems. If we don’t make drastic changes now we won’t be protecting the health of our families in the future.

“That is why today, on the 14^th anniversary of the start of the congestion charge, I’ve confirmed we are pressing ahead with the toughest emission standard of any major city, coming to our streets from 23^rd October.”

The announcement came after fresh warnings this week about the poor quality of London’s air. The mayor spoke as he launched an online vehicle checker on the Transport for London website so drivers can check whether their vehicle will be affected by the T-charge, whose introduction coincides with the start of the autumn half-term.

The levy is expected to affect up to 10,000 of the oldest, most polluting vehicles every weekday – it will apply to motorists who own vehicles that do not meet Euro Four standards, typically those diesel and petrol vehicles registered before 2006.

It will operate on top of, and during the same times as, the congestion charge, meaning it will cost £21.50 per day to drive a pre-Euro Four vehicle in central London between 7am–6pm Monday to Friday.

London joins a growing number of cities around the world taking action against rising air pollution. In Paris, older more polluting vehicles are now banned between 8am–8pm on weekdays.

Khan launched a consultation on the T-charge proposals last July at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, whose chief executive, Dr Peter Steer, said at the time: “The mayor’s drive to clean up the capital’s air is fantastic news for our patients and staff. Children living in highly polluted areas are four times more likely to have reduced lung function in adulthood, yet improving air quality has been shown to halt and reverse this effect.”

Air pollution is believed to cause almost 40,000 premature deaths every year in Britain and was in April labelled a “public health emergency” by a cross-party committee of MPs.