Stop Britain aiding Ukrainian Nazis

by New Worker correspondent

PROTESTERS gathered in Whitehall, Westminster near the Ministry of Defence building to call for an end to the British military and financial support to the illegal regime in Ukraine, which includes Nazis and which idolises Stepan Bandera.

Bandera was a Second World War collaborator with the Nazi invasion. His followers in the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists eagerly set about murdering Jews and Poles to curry favour with the invading Nazis.

Now the British government, along with the United States and other NATO countries, is supplying money, weapons and training to the Ukrainian army, which includes the openly Nazi-supporting Azov Brigade.

The protest, on Thursday 28th July, was initiated by the New Communist Party (NCP) and supported by Solidarity with Anti-fascist Resistance in Ukraine (SARU), Socialist Fight, the London branch of Partido Communista from Italy and other progressive forces.

Speakers included NCP leader Andy Brooks, Stefano from the Partido Communista, Dermot Hudson from the NCP, Theo Russell from SARU and the NCP, and Gerry Downing from Socialist Fight and SARU.

They all spoke of the growing repression in Ukraine where the official government line is to teach children that the Nazi invasion was a liberation from communism, and where communism, socialism and trade unionism are being brutally repressed as are all demonstrations of anti-fascism.

This includes attacks on veterans laying flowers on memorials to Second World War heroes who died fighting fascism and vandalism to the memorials to the massacres of thousands of Jews at Babi Yar.

All the speakers stressed that it is shocking that the British government, which fought the Nazis in the Second World War, is now giving help and support to Nazis in Ukraine – at the expense of our taxpayers.

They spoke of anti-fascists, trade unionists, journalists and communists in Ukraine who have been beaten, abducted, tortured, murdered and some have disappeared.

And they spoke of the role of the European Union (EU) and NATO in fostering the destabilisation of Ukraine through the Maidan protests followed by the coup that brought the current government to power – as part of the western imperialist strategy to surround and intimidate Russia.

The noisy picket attracted a lot of attention and some important acts of support. Passers-by included some active anti-fascists from eastern Poland who expressed support and said that they were fighting exactly the same battle against Ukrainian Nazi-aggression in eastern Poland.

There was an Israeli woman of Ukrainian descent who voiced her fears for Jews in modern Ukraine and a building worker who joined in the picket.

Dozens of employees from the Ministry of Defence streamed passed the picket as they left the building for the evening. They all politely refused to take a leaflet – as we are sure they had been instructed to do. But they certainly noticed the picket and hopefully it gave them food for thought.

Those who took part agreed to do this more often.

Anti-fascists reclaim London streets

By New Worker correspondent

ANTI-fascists and anti-racists were out in force on the streets of London last Friday with a Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest that started in Oxford Circus and a Unite Against Fascism (UAF) picket in Whitehall to oppose a march by Islamophobes and neo-fascists in the “South East London Alliance” (SEA), which is one of the splinter groups that formed with the decay of the English Defence League and the British National Party.

The 100-strong protest on 29th August came amid escalating police racism in Britain and the US. Organisers spoke about the violent arrest of a young black man in London Bridge station last week.

The young man was having an argument with his girlfriend. But police jumped to the conclusion that he was trying to steal her phone and arrested him. He was thrown to the ground and pinned down while police covered his head with a “spit mask” while the girlfriend frantically pleaded with the police to stop hurting him. “Is this what happens now when people have an argument?” she cried.

In the United States police have killed 12 people in the last six days.

The demonstration was loud and undaunted by the heavy police presence, with passers-by joining it.

A young mother from France joined the demo with her children. “I want to show my children you need to fight for something real,” she said and expressed surprise that so many white people were involved in the march.

A young man joined the demonstration as it blocked Regent Street on its way to Convent Garden. He said: “This is the first protest I’ve been on since university. I used to be involved in campaigns around the Educational Maintenance Allowance and tuition fees."

Meanwhile in Whitehall members and supporters of the UAF gathered opposite Downing Street for speeches while the SEA neo-fascists deferred their march for an hour and loitered in the Lord Moon pub.

Paul Sillet of the UAF pointed out that although the fascist numbers were small it is still necessary to come out and oppose them. He reminded people that just a few years ago the EDL were attracting thousands to Islamophobic demonstrations in town centres up and down the country.

It is only constant opposition that has driven their numbers down. “Even though most of you have got something better to do on a Friday night it is important that you have come here to show that their hatred and violence are unacceptable. Without this their numbers would start to creep up again.”

Eventually the fascists emerged – just 30 of them and mainly ageing former National Front veterans.

A huge police presence kept them separate from the UAF as they marched past and into a pen the police had ready.

There followed a long and loud exchange of epithets, chants and slogans with the UAF drowning out the fascists with force of numbers and a superior sound system.

Then, seemingly out of the blue, the BLM protesters arrived to cheers and greetings from the UAF comrades and dismay from the fascists and the police as the numbers of anti-fascists present just about doubled.

After a long and noisy pause police led the BLM marchers on to Parliament Square while the SEA people gave up and left.

The BLM activists are now preparing for a big bloc at the Notting Hill Carnival on August Bank Holiday Monday.

The Victory in Korea

Prof Harish Gupta makes his point

by New Worker correspondent

Solidarity activists marked the 63^rd anniversary of the end of the Korean War at a meeting in central London last Saturday afternoon. US imperialism, flying the false flag of the United Nations (UN) and backed by its allies that shamefully included the UK, attacked north Korea on 25th June 1950.

Beaten to a standstill, US imperialism was forced to sign an armistice in 1953 and to promise to hold free elections in south Korea to lead to the reunification of the country. Sixty six years later the Americans still occupy south Korea, propping up a puppet regime that rejects all Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) proposals to ease tension on the divided peninsula.

            The meeting, at the Chadswell Centre on 30th July, was called by the Juche Idea Study Group (JISGE) and chaired by Dermot Hudson. Hudson pointed out that this was the first JISGE meeting since the historic vote by the British people to leave the European Union (EU), which was a practical application of the Juche idea and reflected the desire of British people to live independently.

            Communist leader Kim Il Sung, who had led the victorious struggle against Japanese colonialism, took up the gun again to drive the Americans and their lackeys back in this second war of independence – a point made in the key-note address by Indian academic and Juche scholar Professor Harish Gupta.

            Professor Gupta, director general of the International Institute of the Juche Idea and head of the Asian Regional Institute for the Study of the Juche Idea, gave a detailed and informative lecture on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism and its contribution to peace and sovereignty. He referred to the malevolent nature of imperialism particularly with regard to the Iraq war and exposed the double standards of American imperialism, which has ratcheted up the imperialist sanctions regime against Democratic Korea. He also exposed the false propaganda against People's Korea and explained the superiority of socialism.

Other speakers, including NCP leader Andy Brooks, said that the main factor in the Korean people's victory was their own efforts. Brooks said that the Korean people’s victory in 1953 was an inspiration to the communists and liberation forces throughout the world. The Vietnamese people, led by their communist leader Ho Chi Minh, who had kicked the French colonialists out, were double-crossed by US imperialism in 1954 and their country partitioned like Korea. A year later the people took up the gun again in south Vietnam to begin the struggle that eventually defeated US imperialism and reunified the country. Likewise the Egyptians, led by their charismatic leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, took on the might of Anglo-French imperialism, and their Zionist lackey Israel, when they nationalised the Suez Canal in 1956.

            The meeting agreed to send a solidarity meeting to DPRK leader Kim Jong Un before continuing informal discussion over light refreshments in the hall.

Revenge of the ‘cockroaches’

 TWO BRANCHES of the Byron burger restaurant chain were forced to close last week after protesters released hundreds of live insects – including cockroaches and crickets – into the premises. This was in retaliation after the company organised a fake training day on 4th July that was a trap to catch members of staff who were working in London illegally.

The Home Office now requires all employers to act as police officers in monitoring workers in case they may be illegal immigrants. But the Byron group enthusiastically took on this role and organised the bogus training day for staff that was in reality a trap where immigration officers were waiting to question them and arrest and deport some.

These migrant workers are some of the lowest paid, most desperate and most vulnerable and most exploited workers in London. Restaurant and hotel chains pay them a pittance and depend on a regular supply of vulnerable workers who are too frightened to challenge the low wages and poor conditions of employment.

Many are asylum seekers who are awaiting a judgement on their right to stay in Britain. During that period they are not supposed to take on paid work but it is difficult for them to survive without it.

Workers from as many as 15 of Byron’s branches were brought to a secret location under the belief that they were undergoing training. Within minutes, immigration officers arrived with photographs and names of migrant staff members, predominantly from Latin America.

The fact that the officers already had names and photographs suggests strongly that they had already been colluding with managers.

One manager reportedly said: “We know what’s going on and all this was prepared.” This is not training.

The Byron group may have been pressured by the Home Office. It imposes an obligation on employers to check that all migrant staff have the correct documentation. The employer can be fined.

 According to a witness quoted in El Iberico, London's only Spanish language newspaper, the restaurant chain knows this all too well – when asked for an explanation, the manager who organised the fake training exercise reportedly said “the company would go bankrupt” if it had to pay a fine for every employee in the country without correct paperwork.

Byron is not the only employer that has collaborated with the Home Office in this way. Activists have described a witness account from a member of Deliveroo staff describing how police, immigration officers and DWP officers entered the office: Police were searching for drugs, immigration and passport control were looking for undocumented migrants and DWP were looking for people “illegally claiming benefits”.

As in the Byron case, officers came armed with staff photographs and names already, strongly suggesting collaboration with staff. In both cases, it is uncertain whether the workers were paid any monies owed to them by the company before they were deported. It can be assumed that neither corporation received their fine.

The retaliation action, releasing insects into two of the restaurants, was claimed by London Black Revs and the Malcom X Movement.

Last year when Theresa May, as Home Secretary, sent UK Borders Agency snatch squads onto the streets of south London to pick up people at random to check their immigration status, they were mobbed by the public and forced to retreat.

In a joint statement published on Facebook, London Black Revs and Malcolm X Movement said the direct action was in response to the chain’s “despicable actions in the past weeks having entrapped waiters, back of house staff and chefs in collaboration with UK Border Agency”.

They added: “Many thousands of live cockroaches, locusts and crickets [have been released] into these restaurants. We apologise to customers and staff for any irritation, however, we had to act as forced deportations such as this and others are unacceptable, we must defend these people and their families from such dehumanised treatment.”

One young protester said: “Katie Hopkins called them cockroaches in an article just a few months ago. We want to show these people what cockroaches really look like, and we’ll unleash them on places like this if they don’t change their ways.”