Stand by the hunger strikers!

 by New Worker correspondent

Demonstrators were outside Downing Street last week in a show of solidarity with the Palestine Action prisoners on hunger-strike in British jails. Eight of the 32 political prisoners for Palestine in the UK are on hunger strike – now in its fifth week. This is the largest hunger
strike since 1981, yet the mainstream media says nothing and the Government says nothing. The protest picket in Whitehall, led by the London Irish Brigade, wants a response from the British Government. They want the hunger-strikers demands met. Palestine Action told Sky News that all eight hunger strikers, who have been denied bail, are accused of offences occurring before the group was banned and will have been in prison for well over a year before they are tried. A judicial review challenge to the proscription has concluded with judges reserving their decision until a later date.
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Independent Alliance bloc in Parliament, says that the Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, David Lammy, has rejected his invitation to meet to resolve the matter by saying "considering the ongoing proceedings, it would not be appropriate for me to meet with you to discuss the situation" while claiming that "the safety of those who live and work in our prisons remains our paramount concern".
Corbyn, who visited one of the hunger-strikers this week, describes Lammy’s refusal as “astonishing… given the extremely serious and time-sensitive nature of the situation”.
Amu Gib, one of Corbyn’s constituents, is being held at Bronzefield jail in Ashford, Surrey.
Corbyn said that Lammy’s response failed to address “the very serious allegations of inconsistent and unequal medical treatment” of the detainees and repeated his request for a meeting.
And in the House of Commons Labour MP John McDonnell criticised the lack of engagement from the government saying that the justice secretary had failed to respond to previous letters on the matter. He said "this is a matter of urgency and I would've expected at least the courtesy of some response even if he's not willing to meet us". Forty-one MPs have
signed an early day motion calling on Lammy to intervene “urgently to ensure the treatment
of the prisoners is humane”.