End Israeli Aggression!

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined other activists from International Ukraine Anti Fascist Solidarity (IUAFS) who were making the connection between the wars waged by NATO imperialism in Gaza and Ukraine at a Palestinian rally in Parliament Square last weekend. And throughout Europe tens of thousands of other protesters were also on the street condemning the ongoing Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip. Thousands participated in demonstrations in Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Utrecht, Milan, Aarhus and Geneva. And in London in support of the Palestinian people, and to demand a ceasefire and the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Stop Israeli terror now!

by Theo Russell

Over 80,000 joined a London wide protest calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza last Saturday which ended in a mass rally outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, central London.
Millions of people across Britain have been marching every weekend for over six months now, in by far the biggest mass peace movement since the protests to try and prevent the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq in 2003. But while our imperialist masters, the global Lords of War, brushed aside those protests, since October 2023 the Palestine protests in Britain and around the world have shaken our ruling class to the core, and put them on the back foot.
Addressing the rally in Parliament Square, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told protesters that people all around the world were marching. "Let us continue and let the people of Gaza and the West Bank, the refugee camps and the diaspora, know that you are not alone. We are here with you, we will give you our support for as long as it takes until there is a free Palestine for the Palestinian people to live in. Our message to parliament over there is, 'we ain't disappearing, we'll be here, watching what you're doing' ".
CND General Secretary Kate Hudson said: "Friends, two weeks ago Israel launched its attack on Damascus, killing 16 people. This was a hugely provocative and illegal attack by Israel, but the way the media and the politicians talk about, it you'd think that it's Iran that wants to start a wider war.
“But the truth is it's Israel that wants to start a wider war, not only with Iran but in Lebanon too. Such a conflict would be terrible, how many thousands would be added to the terrible death toll in Gaza?
“But the greatest toll would be if Israel uses its nuclear arsenal, which could kill hundreds of thousands of people, and affect hundreds of thousands more through radiation burns and poisoning,  miscarriages and birth defects.
"It was Britain which in the past made it possible for Israel to develop its nuclear weapons. It was Britain which supplied 20 tons of heavy water to Israel, with no safeguards against military use".
All of those taking part last Saturday would never have believed last October that they would still be marching six months later, with the death toll in the Gaza Strip reaching over 33,000, including almost 12,000 children under 15 and over 8,000 women and girls over 14.
But millions of British citizens, the vast majority of the entire population of the UK, support an immediate, permanent ceasefire. The Tories, Labour and some Unionist parties in the north of Ireland, who call for arming Israel and support Zionist aggression, are the only ones resisting this demand and they are increasingly isolated. But the mass solidarity movement with the people of Gaza and Palestine will continue until Israel's genocide and collective punishment ends. Then the priority will be to demand a just solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict once and for all, with a genuine state the Palestinians can call their home.

Stop NATO’s war in Ukraine!

By New Worker correspondent

Simultaneous protests were held in London, Berlin and Paris on Saturday to draw attention to the links between NATO aggression in Ukraine, Gaza and Yemen. The London protest took place in Parliament Square and attracted support from many passers by and international tourists, several of whom actually joined the protestors.
While Western governments, now with the greater involvement of Britain and France, have supported Kiev regime with billions in weapons and money, they have done nothing to stop Israel committing open genocide in Gaza, with hospitals and civilians deliberately targeted over 10,000 children killed, and chaos, disease and starvation affecting Gaza's million people.
Britain, France and the US are still sending weapons to Israel, and while they condemned recent Russian missile strikes in Ukraine, they have looked the other way while Israel deliberately targets civilians in Gaza.
The whole world is witness to Israel’s war crimes, and the hypocrisy of Western governments who support, arm and finance both Ukraine and Israel, who unilaterally bomb Yemen with no UN or other international sanction, and say nothing when Israel repeatedly carries out air strikes and assassinations in Lebanon and Syria. 

International Ukraine Anti-Fascist Solidarity (IUAFS) has been campaigning for six years in solidarity with anti-fascists in Ukraine, thousands of whom have paid with their lives, torture or prison for resisting the regime installed in 2014 with the support of Britain, the USA and the European Union. Its activists have taken part  in every protest since 7th October in solidarity with the people of Palestine and the Gaza Strip.

London posties rally over pay

by New Worker correspondent

Thousands of posties rallied outside Parliament last week after walking out in their latest round of strikes in the run-up to Christmas. Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said it was the biggest postal workers’ demonstration in living memory.
    Many wore pink CWU hi-vis vests, waving flags and holding placards that read “strike to win” and “save our Royal Mail”. The union says Royal Mail has imposed a 2 per cent increase on members without consultation and that it is refusing to treat its employees with respect.
    “They’re fighting for their jobs, their livelihood, and the service that they provide to the public,” says Dave Ward, the general secretary of the CWU.

    "Postal workers want to get on with serving the communities they belong to, delivering Christmas gifts and tackling the backlog from recent weeks,” Ward said. "But they know their value, and they will not meekly accept the casualisation of their jobs, the destruction of their conditions and the impoverishment of their families”.

    The CWU says more strikes will follow throughout December if Royal Mail management refuses to respond realistically to the union’s demands.

No, we can’t pay!

 By New Worker correspondent

Protestors gathered outside Downing Street on Saturday to condemn the spiralling cost of living, with demonstrations co-organised by the People's Assembly and held in over 40 towns and cities across the UK, including Parliament Square in the heart of the capital.
    Speaker after speaker spoke out about rising energy prices at the London demonstration, including a wide range of workers involved in industrial disputes. Unite members Arshad and Arnold, from Whipps Cross Hospital, joined the protest straight from their picket line, linking their fight against an insulting pay offer from an out-sourced employer to the broader issue of rising living costs.
    The protest also heard from United Voices of the World (UVW) security guard workers at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where staff are currently on strike for equal terms and conditions. One striking worker stressed the importance of their dispute as costs rise, telling the demonstration: "I opened my energy bill the other day and I almost cried – how can I afford that?”
    We also heard from Jaz from Birkbeck University and College Union (UCU) on the 10 days of strike action planned at universities across the UK over devastating cuts to pensions and deteriorating pay and working conditions – one example of many, of workers fighting back against a squeeze on living standards.
    Whilst there were many striking workers among those speaking from the platform and some trade union banners in the crowd, it is clear that there is still some way to go in mobilising the full support of the trade union movement around the campaign. The rally did, however, receive a message from Dave Ward (CWU General Secretary), who noted the importance of the movement having the full backing of the unions as it builds towards a bigger protest later in the year.
    The demonstration also heard from Paula Peters from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), who spoke movingly on the fight for a funded social care system free at the point of need, before warning the Tories that "your time is coming to an end, we're going to evict you".
    Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke last, highlighting the need to "stop the demonisation, and enhance the solidarity" in advance of protests planned in March and April: “Let’s make March even bigger. And in April we need a spring demonstration to fill the streets of London.”

Bloody Sunday Remembered in London

 By Theo Russell

Around 100 campaigners gathered in London’s Parliament Square on 27th January at a commemoration of the 50 years that have passed since 13 civil rights activists were shot by the Parachute Regiment on 30th January 1972 in Derry.
    Speakers at the ceremony, organised by the Terence MacSwiney Commemoration Committee, paid tribute to the innocent victims of the terror unleashed by the Paras on that Bloody Sunday in the occupied north of Ireland.
    Gerry Duddy, brother of John Duddy who died on that infamous day, spoke for the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign, which is still fighting for the prosecution of the "uniformed criminals who murdered our people on the streets".
    Last year the Public Prosecution Service dropped charges against two of the Bloody Sunday soldiers after a right-wing press campaign, and Boris Johnson has told parliament he wants to end all legacy investigations, trials and even inquests.
    Duddy said the British government announced the amnesty “because they are running scared. They are scared that their soldiers, spooks and civil servants will be exposed and that their role as a combatant and a catalyst in the war in Ireland will be shown to the world. They deny us justice because they are scared to face justice".
    But he said the families wanted to send "a very clear warning to the British government" that if they pursued an amnesty: "The Bloody Sunday families will be ready to meet them head on, and we will not go away or be silenced. We will expose them for what they are – an embarrassment to any western democracy founded on the rule of law".
    Labour MPs Diane Abbott and Richard Burgon, and John Finucane, the Sinn Féin MP for North Belfast, also addressed the gathering. Finucane also spoke about his own family’s continued campaign for truth and justice to expose British state collusion in the murder of his father, human rights lawyer Pat Finucane, in 1989.
    Shelly Asquith, speaking for the Stop the War Coalition, pledged continued support for the Bloody Sunday families and an end to any more Bloody Sundays the world over.
    A message was also read out from John McDonnell, another Labour MP who is a long-standing friend of the Irish community in Britain, who could not take part in the ceremony as he was self-isolating due to a COVID‑19 infection,
    All the speakers forcefully condemned the Tory government’s amnesty proposal, pointing out that it is opposed not only by the Labour Party but by every party in Ireland.
    A contribution was also made by veteran Irish community activist Jim Curran, who was present outside Westminster 50 years ago in 1972 when London’s Irish community mobilised when the news of Bloody Sunday broke.
    After the event the organisers circulated a message thanking all those who joined them, saying: “It’s those who turn out who make the day a success. We ask everyone to keep the Bloody Sunday families in their thoughts over the weekend. We shall overcome!”

General Election Now!

People gathered in Parliament Square in London last week, showing placards as they attended a Labour Party rally calling for a general election. Jeremy Corbyn has called for a general election because, he claimed, new Prime Minister Boris Johnson has “no plan” to tackle Britain’s problems. The Labour leader said that the new Conservative Government has “the hardest right-wing Cabinet I have ever seen”.