Pensioners protest against winter fuel cuts

 Pensioners gathered outside Parliament in London and the Northern Irish legislature in Belfast on Monday to protest the government's plans to scrap winter fuel allowances with banners that read "Defend the winter fuel payment," "Tax the rich," "Don't let us freeze" and "Reinstall the winter fuel pay".
The demonstration, which was organised by Unite the union together with the National Pensioners Convention and the Scottish Pensioners' Forum, called on Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer to not "be cruel — give us back our winter fuel."
Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said Unite’s retired members were "furious and making their voice heard" outside Westminster in London and Stormont in Belfast, the seat of the devolved northern Irish parliament.
"They have to reverse the decision, it's really clear. We're the sixth richest economy in the world and we are picking the pocket of pensioners. It's totally and utterly wrong," she said.
Sputnik

End Israeli aggression!

by New Worker correspondent

Activists from International Ukraine Anti Fascist Solidarity (IUAFS) joined the National Palestine march in central London on Saturday with placards making the connections between the wars waged by NATO imperialism in Gaza, Ukraine – and now Lebanon, the latest Arab country to be burned by the flames of war with the Israeli war machine insolently issuing diktats to civilians to move or face being killed or maimed.
Over 300,000 people took part in the march through the capital last weekend. It was clearly the largest for many months, almost certainly because the great majority of the British people have been horrified by the indiscriminate Israeli bombing which has so far killed over 1,100 Lebanese civilians and injured far more, including hundreds of women and children.
The IUAFS protest received an overwhelmingly positive response from the protestors, with dozens taking photos, and many showing heart signs and clenched fist salutes.
Increasing numbers of people in Britain, the US and the rest of Europe are finally beginning to see the connections between NATO weapons supplies to Israel and to Ukraine, and are questioning the insane sums being spent on a war which they see as impossible to win, when people at home want more money spent on schools, hospitals, housing and transport.
At the last national protest one speaker from the organisers said "We have a new Labour government in Britain, but they are telling us there's no money to solve the massive problems our country faces. There's no more money for housing, there's no more money for hospitals, there's no more money for schools and no more money for prisons. But there's always enough money for Israel, and there's always enough money for Ukraine".
And now victims of the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in the USA are demanding to know why their government has just found $8 billion for Ukraine – on top of the $65 billion already given since 2022 – but can only cough up $750 each for the people who lost their homes.
The impact our small campaign is now making was confirmed recently when the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign (USC) – a pro-NATO group which supports the imperialists’ puppet regime in Kiev – published an article attacking us, and naming some of our activists. We have also discovered that the two men who aggressively harassed our last protest, on 28th September, were also members of the USC. Such attacks simply prove the effectiveness of our solidarity with Ukrainian democrats and anti-fascists, and they will not stop us from continuing our work for as long as it is needed.

No more arms for Ukraine!

Piers Corbyn joins the protest

By New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined demonstrators in Whitehall demanding an end to British military aid to the fascist regime in Kiev last weekend while Scottish anti-fascists made similar demands in a protest in the heart of Glasgow. The pickets were organised by the International Ukraine Anti Fascist Solidarity campaign to call for an end to British arms supplies to the illegitimate Zelensky regime in Kiev and against British demands for Storm Shadow missile strikes deep into Russia.
The London protest opposite the Prime Minister’s official residence in Downing Street came under sustained abuse from two Zelensky supporters for almost an hour. One of them, who said he was Portuguese, said he visited Kiev last month where he has friends but didn't see a single Nazi, then he claimed to be an anarchist. They were crazed fanatics, just like the Zionists who attack the pro-Palestinian marchers. But many passers by came to give us support including the maverick campaigner Piers Corbyn, the brother of the former Labour leader, then joined the picket along with his friends who had just left a local Palestine solidarity event.
The world is now facing the possibility of two major regional wars: one in Europe, a possible Russia-NATO nuclear war, and another which could engulf the entire Middle East as a result of Israel’s relentless aggression. Both Ukraine and Israel have the support of Britain and the United States, who have designated the enemies of Ukraine and Israel “terrorists”.
Both of these wars are the result of years of aggression and expansion by NATO member states, through their puppet government and Nazi battalions in Ukraine, and through Israel, the war machine they have armed and financed in the heart of the Arab world.
The British government and 'free' media have not told people in Britain that Storm Shadow missile strikes from Ukraine have to be programmed by British military personnel on the ground in Ukraine, making British armed forces de facto at war with Russia. They have not told people in Britain that the only thing stopping Britain from the madness of "going it alone" with missile strikes on Russia is that they need permission from the Americans, who control the satellite data and software used by Storm Shadow missiles.
Every day we hear condemnation of alleged civilian victims of Russian attacks in Ukraine, but for ten years we've heard nothing about civilians being killed in Eastern Ukraine by Ukrainian forces.
Britain and the USA have refused to officially condemn the genocide against civilians in Gaza, and for ten years have almost completely ignored the thousands of victims of the bombing, starvation and disease in Yemen. Now they are silent about the deaths of hundreds of civilians in Lebanon, and have declared the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah a success against “terrorism”. But there have been no open doors and red carpet welcomes for Palestinian or Yemeni refugees!

Gaza – Yemen – Ukraine! Ceasefire Now!

by New Worker correspondent

Activists from the International Ukraine Anti Fascist Solidarity campaign (IUAFS) joined the national Palestine march in Central London on Saturday with placards making the connections between the wars waged by NATO imperialism in Gaza, Ukraine and Yemen. They received a warm welcome from the protesters and dozens of people took photos and videos.
Theo Russell, the IUAFS organiser, said that "only four states in Africa, Asia and Latin America, if we don't include small island territories, support the NATO-led sanctions against Russia or send weapons to the Zelensky regime in Ukraine. It is Britain and its allies from the minority of rich, powerful countries who have dominated the world since 1945, who are out of step with the global majority.
"Far from being an 'isolated pariah', as British mainstream politicians and the BBC love to claim, the Russian Federation enjoys wide support in the 'Global South', and it is the BRICS alliance which is leading a historic transformation towards a multipolar world. That alliance, including the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China, is rapidly expanding and pushing for a world based on development and growth rather than never-ending wars, and is firmly behind the cause of justice for the people of Palestine.
"One of the speakers from the protest platform near the Israeli Embassy made the same connections today, saying 'We have a new Labour government in Britain, but they are telling us there's no money to solve the massive problems our country faces. There's no more money for housing, there's no more money for hospitals, there's no more money for schools and no more money for prisons. But there's always enough money for Israel, and there's always enough money for Ukraine'.
"Since February 2022, according to official figures, the UK has promised £12.5 billion in military and economic support for Ukraine. That is roughly equivalent to 1.8 million desperately needed hospital beds.
"We are saying Enough is Enough! No more British weapons for Ukraine! No more economic, military and diplomatic support for Israel! Stop bombing the people of Yemen!"

Stop Banking on Genocide!

by New Worker correspondent

Activists from Palestine Solidarity Campaign branches in Camden and Islington marched from Camden Town to the Sadler's Wells Theatre in Islington, North London, to call on the theatre to stop taking sponsorship from Barclays Bank while a very small counter-demonstration of around ten Zionists was largely ignored by the public. Last weekend’s protest was part of the ongoing Boycott Barclays campaign which has targeted the bank for its major lending, investment and business interests which help to support the Israeli economy and its powerful military machine. The campaign slogans are "Stop Banking on Genocide – Stop Banking on Apartheid". Camden Palestine Solidarity Campaign stated "We do not have anything against the theatre, other than their sponsorship from Barclays". The date of the protest was changed at the request of the theatre as many disabled visitors were expected on the original date.

Stop the massacre in Gaza!

Around 800 people joined an emergency protest opposite Downing Street on Monday evening in response to the horrific Israeli triple missile strike on a school in Gaza City which killed at least 80 Palestinian civilians. The attack coincided with morning prayers and started a fire. About 6,000 people were sheltering in Tabeen school, all of whom have already moved several times to different parts of Gaza on the advice of the Israeli forces to avoid military operations. The director of al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, Dr Fadel Naeem, described the situation at the hospital as catastrophic, with a severe shortage of medical supplies and resources. Al-Ahli hospital is managed by the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem  and it is the only Christian hospital in Gaza.

No arms for Israel!

photo: Rana Aria, Hammersmith & Fulham Unison

By New Worker correspondent

Hundreds of thousands of Palestine solidarity supporters took to the streets across the country on Saturday to demand an end to genocidal war in Gaza and an end to British arms sales to Israel. In London demonstrators marched through the heart of the capital to call on the new Labour government to stop arming the Zionist state.
The Starmer government has reportedly suspended the processing of arms export licences for sales to Israel pending an official review. But this is not enough.
Stop the War national convener Lindsey German said “a temporary suspension of the processing of arms export licences to Israel, while David Lammy ponders what to do that won’t hurt his friends in the defence industry or the UK’s relationship with the US and Israel, means little. There must be an immediate ban on all arms sales. Every hour this decision is delayed, more lives are lost. The government must stop facilitating genocide immediately”.
The UK’s deadly arms trade with Israel includes its contribution to the F-16 and F-35 warplanes that Israel is using in its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. 15 per cent of every F35 that Israel is using to bomb Gaza is made by British industry. 
The government’s own Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, under which all arms exports are assessed, states that export licences should not be issued if there is a “clear risk” arms exports might be used in a “serious violation of international humanitarian law”. The Arms Trade Treaty, to which Britain is a State Party, outlines that a State must not export arms if there is “potential” that they could be used to commit violations of international human rights or humanitarian law. It is inconceivable that after over 75 years of Israel’s regime of military occupation and apartheid, and nearly 10 months of Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza, with over 40,000 killed, that the government’s legal advice has adjudged that such a risk does not exist.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, together with the Campaign Against Arms Trade and War on Want is calling on the British government to abide by its domestic and international law obligations by immediately introducing a comprehensive military embargo to end the two-way arms trade with Israel and end all further military assistance to Israel, including through the RAF base in Cyprus.

End arms exports to Ukraine!

 

London anti-fascists were back in Whitehall demanding the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners at a picket by Downing Street last week. The protest called by the International Ukraine Anti-Fascist Solidarity campaign (IUAFS) called for the restoration of full political and media freedoms in Ukraine and an end toBritish arms exports to the Zelensky regime.

Free Ukrainian political prisoners!

By New Worker correspondent

Activists from International Ukraine Anti Fascist Solidarity (IUAFS) and the newly created Scotland Against NATO Action Committee (SANAC) held protests in Glasgow and London last week calling for the release of thousands of Ukrainian Political Prisoners, many of whom have been falsely convicted of acting on behalf of the Russian and Donbas forces, beaten or tortured, and sentenced to years in prison with confiscation of all property. The protesters also called for the restoration full political and media freedoms in Ukraine after almost all political parties and dozens of media outlets have been banned. The British government has routinely ignored this repression taking place on a massive scale and continues to send hundreds of millions of pounds in arms and other support to Ukraine, at a time of acute shortage of housing in Britain, a health service in deep crisis, prisons and schools in shocking condition, 30 per cent of UK children living in poverty and almost two million people suffering undernourishment.

Selling the Family Silver

 by New Worker correspondent

 London’s Great Russell Street is the address of two major institutions: the British Museum and the TUC HQ, Congress House. But not for much longer. While the classical nineteenth century Museum is staying put the 1950s modernist Congress House is up for sale. 
This little noticed decision is a damning reflection on the state of Britain’s trade unions which now represent less than a quarter (22 per cent to be precise) of the workforce. 
After the TUC’s Finance Committee decided it is no longer viable to keep the building its General Council agreed that point in early June. It is claimed that essential refurbishment will cost around £20 million.
Congress House was opened in 1958, some 14 years after the 1944 TUC called for a new building. It is the grandest purpose-built labour movement building in Britain, although the nearby British Medical Association’s Tavistock House and the National Education Union’s Hamilton House are equally impressive. 
 In 1946 David Du Roi Aberdeen won the design competition against 180 rivals, but it was not until 1958 the building finally opened.
 The competition brief was to provide a building which would be “fitting to the dignity and propagation of the great ideals for which the Movement stands”. 
 It is centred on a large semi-basement conference hall surrounded with offices, smaller meeting rooms, it had a library (now at the University of North London), a catering hall, with a well-lighted entrance hall. The panelled rooms are the result of timber donated by unions from across the globe. All the construction workers had to have a union card. As the TUC is very respectable the Royal Horse Guards played at the opening ceremony.
Modernist architecture is not to everybody’s taste, being rather plain, but the building has important unique features. Its internal courtyard is dominated by Sir Jacob Epstein’s 1957 sculpture of a mother carrying her dead son, a striking anti-war monument. This was designed specifically for the building. At the front the plain Cornish granite slabs frontage looks down the bronze “Spirit of Brotherhood” showing a strong man helping a weak one, by communist sculptor Bernard Meadows. Being a Grade II listed building such important features will have to be retained, which be certain to put off buyers. A mysterious Ministry of Defence building at the back enabled the spooks to know what was going on.  
The TUC claims it needs a “modern fit-for-purpose” building. But this is something which they already have. It is near three major railway stations connected the north of Britain. The building is used by other trade unionists. As a humble trades union council delegate this correspondent recalls sitting in the top floor council chamber listening to both fiery and long-winded speeches.
Parts of the building are already rented out to sympathetic bodies such as law firm Thompsons. Its large hall has been rented out to all and sundry including for large company AGMs, which bring in cash, albeit at the cost of generating controversy. 
Forty jobs, largely of catering workers are at risk from the TUC’s planned move. TUC General Secretary Paul Nowack said the decision was “an incredibly difficult one” but was as in the movement’s best interests. 
 In some respects this is like a twenty-strong congregation struggling to keep a Victorian church built for hundreds water-tight. But things are not as bad as that for the TUC. Given its location the TUC could clearly do more to exploit the building rather than simply throw in the towel, even if that meant hiring its soul for corporate AGMs. The  alternative will likely be a suite of offices occupying a couple of floors in an expensive nearby office block. 
The planned sell-off is definitely a retreat at a time when trade unions need to go on the offensive. There is a petition against the sale focusing on the risk of lost jobs at:   https://www.change.org/p/save-congress-house-jobs.

Camden Action for Palestine!

By New Worker correspondent

Activists from the Camden Palestine Solidarity Campaign marched from Camden Town to a Barclays Bank in Central London to demand it ceases its massive loans and investments to the criminal Israeli state. The protest came ten days or so after the then US president, Joe Biden, approved the resumption of deliveries of 500 pound bombs to Israel, followed shortly afterwards by Israeli attacks on two schools and a hospital in which dozens died. While Biden and Sir Keir Starmer reacted with outrage to Ukrainian lies about a Russian strike on a children's hospital in Kiev, promising more air defences for Ukraine, they had nothing to say about Israel's atrocities in Gaza in which hundreds of civilians are dying every week. On a more positive note, for the past three weeks the assortment of Zionist fanatics, EDL “football lads” types and Iranian monarchists have given up on their counter protests.