Forty-five years of progress

by New Worker

Pham Binh Minh welcomes the guests

 correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined diplomats, businessmen and solidarity workers at a celebration to mark the 45^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Britain and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The lobby in the upper hall of the Central Hall, Westminster was packed on Tuesday for a welcoming reception for Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Bình Minh on the first day of an official visit to Britain. This was followed by a performance by artistes from the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet of songs and dances that reflected the diverse ethnic backgrounds of the Vietnamese people.

British–Vietnamese friendship has been reflected, over the years, through the regular exchange of high-ranking delegations, sound bilateral trade and robust cooperation between enterprises from both sides.

Earlier in the day the Vietnamese minister had a meeting with Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for International Trade, during which the two sides acknowledged the good growth of trade-investment ties between the two countries in recent years.

Deputy Premier Minh said he believed Brexit would not create negative impacts on the trade-investment ties between Vietnam and the UK. He asked the UK to continue backing Vietnam in enhancing ties with the European Union (EU) and advocating the early signing of the EU–Vietnam free trade agreement.

The Vietnamese minister thanked the British government for providing development aid for Vietnam for more than 20 years, assisting with Vietnam’s socio-economic development and international integration. He asked the British government to continue helping Vietnam access capital from its Prosperity Fund to improve the business environment and cope with climate change.

Liam Fox appreciated Vietnam’s role in the Asia-Pacific, and expressed the wish to maintain and expand economic-trade relations with Vietnam. He affirmed that in its Global Britain strategy announced in 2017, the British government gives priority to enhancing economic cooperation with important partners, including Vietnam.

More than 10,000 Vietnamese students are currently studying in Britain. Two-way trade reached US$6 billion in 2017, up 11 per cent from 2016, whilst total British investment in Vietnam climbed to $3.71 billion, putting the UK in 15th position amongst the 129 countries and territories investing in the country. In the first 4 months of this year, two-way trade hit more than $2 billion.

When Londoners stood up to Mosley

Italian comrades opening the ceremony

By New Worker correspondent

Comrades from Britain, Greece, Italy and Israel gathered at the Cable Street memorial in Shadwell on Saturday to remember that epic day in 1936 when Sir Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts were stopped in their tracks on 4^th October 1936. Communists played a major part in the mobilisation along with members of the Independent Labour Party and the Jewish Ex-Servicemen’s Association, and their efforts were recalled by British, Italian and Greek communists at a ceremony in London’s historic East End last weekend.

NCP leader Andy Brooks and comrades from the Communist Party of Italy’s Pietro Secchia (UK) branch, along with members of the Greek communist party (KKE) and the Communist Party of Israel, paid tribute to the East Enders’ heroic stand against fascism.

On that day some 3,000 Blackshirts and thousands of police were met by a hostile crowd who had erected barricades to stop the fascists marching. After hours of clashes with the police and many arrests, the police told Mosley that the march would have to be abandoned.

The massive mural, painted by a number of local artists, was started in 1979 and finally completed in 1983. The work has been vandalised by fascists several times but it was substantially restored in 2011.

The design was based on original photographs of the battle and the buildings of the day. Some of the people who took part in the battle are depicted in the mural, along with others who symbolise the people of the East End today.

• Islington Tribune

Standing up to fascists at the Old Bailey

 By New Worker correspondent

Hundreds of racists turned up outside the Old Bailey in London last week to support Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the “English Defence League”, who is trying to overturn a contempt of court conviction.  But a small band of anti-fascists defied the degenerates in a counter-demonstration called by Stand Up to Racism and Unite Against Fascism to oppose attempts by Robinson and his crew to spread their racism in London.

            The Robinson supporters included a number of hard-core Nazis, UKIP supporters  and the usual “football lads” thugs whose racist threats and jeers only ceased when the police intervened to prevent violence. The City of London police later said they had made one arrest, connected to the demonstration, for a breach of the peace.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennox, was originally jailed for 13 months in May, but this was overturned last month and he was released on bail. His retrial has now been adjourned until 23^rd October to give lawyers more time to make written submissions of their legal arguments. The judge will then decide whether to have a full hearing of the case.