Angry scenes at Wormwood Scrubs

by New Worker correspondent

Police officers shoved protesters to the ground and kettled them outside Wormwood Scrubs jail in London last weekend during a demonstration in support of a Palestine hunger striker. And 86 people were arrested for refusing “to leave the grounds when ordered to do so”. The Palestine campaigners allegedly “blocked prison staff from entering and leaving, threatened police officers and a number managed to get inside a staff entrance area of a prison building”. Those arrested were detained under suspicion of aggravated trespass, the police said.

Remand prisoner Umer Khalid, 22 , was on hunger-strike demanding bail and protesting against British complicity in Israel's genocidal war against the Palestinian Arabs of the Gaza Strip. He had been on hunger strike since November, briefly pausing in December due to severe ill health. Gravely ill he’s now in hospital ending the hunger strike after his health deteriorated rapidly on Sunday with fears he was at high risk of a heart attack.

Khalid told Al Jazeera TV that “the only thing that seems to have any impact, whether that is positive or negative, is drastic action. The strike reflects the severity of this imprisonment. Being in this prison is not living life. Our lives have been paused. The world spins, and we sit in a concrete room. This strike reflects the severity of my demands”.

Umer Khalid is among a group of five activists accused of breaking into the RAF base at Brize Norton in June and spray-painting two Voyager refuelling and transport planes. The group has pleaded not guilty.

The Palestine Action campaign says two of its members were involved and red paint “symbolising Palestinian bloodshed was also sprayed across the runway and a Palestine flag was left on the scene”. Within days Palestine Action was banned under the anti-terrorism laws, adding it to a list that includes ISIS and al-Qaeda. 

Seven other protesters have been involved in rolling hunger strikes since November. But Khalid was the only one still refusing food after three members of the group ended their protests this month. They said one of their demands had been met after a UK-based subsidiary of the Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems was denied a UK government contract.

“Our prisoners’ hunger strike will be remembered as a landmark moment of pure defiance; an embarrassment for the British state,” the Prisoners for Palestine Group said.

The group’s list of demands includes bail, the right to a fair trial and the de-proscription of Palestine Action as well as the closure of all the Elbit plants in the UK. They’re seeking an end to what they call censorship in jail, accusing the prison authorities of withholding mail, calls and books. And they are calling for an inquiry into alleged British involvement in Israeli military operations in Gaza and the release of surveillance footage from RAF spy flights that flew over Gaza on 1st April 2024, when British aid workers were killed in an Israeli attack.

We will remember them

by New Worker correspondent

On Tuesday 27 January Russian diplomats together with Russian ex-pats living in the United Kingdom laid a wreath and flowers at the Soviet War Memorial at the Imperial War Museum in south London to mark the 82nd anniversary of the lifting of the Nazi siege of Leningrad.
Members of the Russian community in Manchester also held a flower-laying ceremony at a plaque unveiled in 2020 in honoured memory of the Soviet soldiers who gave their lives liberating Europe in the Second World War and in recognition of the brave people of the besieged Leningrad.
On the eve of this date, the Russian diplomatic mission's staff conveyed the greetings of the Governor of St Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) Alexander Beglov to the veterans of the Great Patriotic War as it is known in Russian who currently live in the UK.
The Nazi German blockade of the city stands as one of the most tragic yet heroic chapters in the history of the Soviet Union. It lasted from 8th September 1941 to 27th January 1944 – 872 days of extreme hardship, hunger and deprivation. Historians estimate that no more than 800,000 of the three million inhabitants of Leningrad and its surrounding areas survived the siege.
The feat of Leningraders has become a symbol of unbreakable will, courage and self-sacrifice. The memory of those who died in the blockade will remain in the hearts of the Russian people forever.

Go-ahead for China's new London embassy

by Feng Gan

Royal Mint Court -- soon to be the new embassy

The Starmer government has approved the plan for a new Chinese embassy in London, a decision that has brought to an end years of delays driven by pressure from some US and UK politicians. Steve Reed, the Housing Secretary, announced on Tuesday that Beijing's application to build on the former Royal Mint site in east London has been approved. The decision comes at a sensitive time for Anglo-American relations, after Donald Trump threatened Britain and other European countries with tariffs for defending Greenland against his ambitions to take it over.

The process ending this week started in 2018 when China paid £255 million for the site of the Royal Mint Court near the Tower of London, on which to build a diplomatic complex that would be its biggest in Europe.
Ahead of the expected decision junior foreign minister Seema Malhotra had sought to reassure MPs on Monday of the involvement of Britain's security services in the process of the new embassy project. She said "resolutions" had been reached over concerns about public access to the embassy and the consolidation of China's diplomatic buildings across London into the single site.
he decision regarding the 20,000 square metre site at the historic Royal Mint Court had been delayed twice. The saga reflected a UK government that was "hot and cold on China", according to the Guardian, quoting Prof Kerry Brown, the director of the Lau China Institute at King's College London, "What was originally a relatively straightforward issue has become symbolically quite difficult," he said.
China, Prof Brown said "felt they had an understanding that they bought this £250 million place to use as an embassy … if there were going to be issues, they could have been told then".
The newspaper also cited voices from within the UK intelligence community, noting that while politicians eager to raise concerns about China's proposed "mega embassy" near the Tower of London, the espionage community quietly takes a different view, arguing that concerns about the development are exaggerated and misplaced.

Boycott Barclays now!

by New Worker correspondent

Palestine solidarity activists were out on the streets of Lewisham in south London last weekend  to demand Barclays stop financing Israel's genocide against Palestinians. Barclays bank provides £8.1 billion to companies supplying Israel with weapons used to kill Palestinians. 
Barclays also has an agreement with Israel to act as a “primary dealer” for its government bonds. This means Barclays helps Israel directly to raise money to fund its crimes against Palestinians.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is calling on all concerned people to boycott all Barclays services. In 2024 5,000 people closed their Barclays accounts as part of our mass account closure days. Barclays has acquired ownership of Tesco Bank. PSC are therefore calling on all Tesco Bank customers to shut their accounts, and join the next mass account closure day.
Palestine Solidarity is asking everyone who holds a Barclays account to pledge to close it on the next mass account closure day, Thursday 19th February 2026, to have the most impact. 

Stop Trump’s Wars!

by New Worker correspondent

Protesters gathered  outside Downing Street in London, condemning the US strikes on Venezuela on Saturday. This marked the fourth such action in London after the American raid on Caracas on 3rd January. One of the supporters of the mass picket in Whitehall, the British Chapter of the Anti Fascist International, said it stands in firm solidarity with Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution and totally condemns “the complicity of imperialist Britain.The Labour government is an accomplice in this war. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has refused to condemn the US bombing and abduction, stating  he will ‘shed no tears’ and that ‘the UK has long supported a transition in Venezuela’.The former human rights lawyer was unable to answer whether or not Trump had broken international law. The Bank of England continues to hoard 31 tonnes of stolen Venezuelan gold in its coffers. The RAF, British bases and Ministry of Defence intelligence have aided in the seizure of Venezuelan linked oil tankers – this is imperialist piracy!
“This is not only a war on Venezuela, this is a war on Cuba, on Nicaragua, on Colombia, on Mexico on all progressive movements in Latin America and beyond. It is an attack on solidarity with Palestine, targeting the nations who have defied the Zionist genocide in Gaza. Labour’s refusal to condemn the US illegal action is not out of cowardice, but because they represent the interests of the British multinationals; Britain, like the USA, treats the whole of Latin America as a place to be robbed of its natural resources. This is also an attack on the ordinary people of the USA and Britain, who have far more in common with Venezuelan workers than they do with the ruling class of their nations. This is an attack on all who struggle to put people before profit, who fight for socialism, who fight to build a better world”.

Palestinian embassy opens in London

by New Worker correspondent

The Palestinian embassy in Britain officially opened on Monday  – a piece of  Palestine on British soil; a symbol of peace, dignity, steadfastness and the Palestinian people’s enduring pursuit of justice and freedom.The United Kingdom announced the recognition of the State of Palestine in September last year.The embassy, formerly the Palestinian mission in Britain, is located in the Hammersmith area of west London.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony the Palestinian Ambassador to Britain, Husam Zomlot, said the establishment of the embassy was a “historic moment” that  “marked a profound milestone” in British-Palestinian relations.

Free Maduro Now!

by New Worker correspondent

London comrades joined thousands of others in Whitehall to protest against the American raid on Caracas and the kidnapping of President Maduro and his wife. At the rally speakers denounced Trump’s blatant disregard for international law and called for the people of the world to stand together against this latest example of imperialist aggression. Speakers were also calling for Starmer to condemn these breaches of international law, but frankly that’s a long way away at the moment.
Starmer has refused to condemn the seizure of Maduro who has been taken to New York on trumped up charges that include drug-dealing and “narco-terrorism”. But former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who now heads the Independent Alliance bloc in the House of Commons, says “I am not alone in finding the UK government’s response utterly pathetic. The failure to stand up to the United States is not just symbolic. By refusing to stand up for international law, the UK has given the green light to the United States to act with impunity. Venezuela first. Who’s next? Is there anything the United States could do that would warrant condemnation from our government? Unfortunately, given that the UK and the US have spent the past two years enabling the genocide in Gaza together, I am not sure there is any point appealing to hypothetical limits of morality.
“As Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico, said this week, ‘The history of Latin America is clear and compelling: intervention has never brought democracy, never generated well-being, nor lasting stability. Only the people can build their own future, decide their path, exercise sovereignty over their natural resources, and freely define their form of government.’
“The story of US-led foreign interventions is a story of chaos, instability and misery. How many more of these catastrophic failures do we need before we learn the lesson?  And what will it take for the UK to finally defend a consistent, ethical foreign policy based on international law, sovereignty and peace?”.

DLR cleaners in sick pay protest

by New Worker correspondent

RMT cleaners on London’s Docklands Light Railway walked out on New Year’s Eve in a dispute over sick pay following earlier strike action in late November and early December. The cleaners work for the contractors Bidvest Noonan who have only been willing to discuss the limited possibility of one week’s full sick pay for certain serious or terminal diagnoses, which RMT has branded an insult to its members. 
 RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said “Bidvest Noonan have behaved appallingly and are continuing to fail in making any acceptable offer on company sick pay. Cleaning staff on the DLR do a vital job keeping London’s transport network safe, clean, and presentable. 
 “Transport for London, which oversees outsourcing contracts, must bring these services back in house, and pay workers proper sick pay, if we are to avoid these kinds of disruptions in 2026”.

Support the Hunger Strikers!

by New Worker correspondent

Two Palestine Action hunger-strikers on the brink of death have called off their protest but six others are still refusing to eat. The Palestine Action hunger strike began on 2nd November. The prisoners who are refusing food are: Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gib who are on day 46 of hunger strike, Heba Muraisa who is on day 45, Teuta Hoxha on day 39, Kamran Ahmed on day 38 and Lewie Chiaramello on day 24. They are all refusing food as they await trial for their direct action protests in support of Palestine. 
In Parliament Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Independent Alliance bloc, was once again ignored by Starmer & Co. He told the media that “the hunger strikers are at risk of death. I asked the minister if he would do the bare minimum and meet their lawyers – a demand shared by over 50 MPs and Peers. His response? “No”. MPs laughed along. They should be ashamed of themselves”. 
Meanwhile another Corbynista MP has staged a protest outside a Surrey prison demanding urgent medical care for a hunger striker there. Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana said Qesser Zuhrah was critically ill with an immediate risk of dying after refusing food for 46 days. The MP called for an ambulance and the prisoner was transferred to hospital. Ms Zuhrah is on remand at Bronzefield jail awaiting trial on charges linked to the activities of the banned Palestine Action direct action group. 
Protesters staged a banner drop in front of the BBC office in Glasgow to call on the Corporation to end its silence regarding the pro-Palestine political prisoners on hunger strike in the UK prisons. The ‘No Pride in Genocide Glasgow’ group said they were calling on the BBC to end its silence about the hunger strikes. In a move as unsurprising as it was shameful, rather than end its silence the BBC chose to quietly remove the banner, without mentioning it or the political prisoners it supported, in its news coverage.
The silence of the BBC and most of the other bourgeois media on the hunger strikes, and the wider issue of the Starmer government’s internationally-condemned political imprisonment without trial of the ‘Filton 24’ anti-genocide activists, is part of an evident campaign of ‘omertà’ on the topic of Starmer’s campaign on activists and journalists who speak out or act against Israel’s slaughter of innocent Palestinians, many of them women and children. Despite the inclusion of many journalists, often Jewish, among his targets, the voices of the ruling class that pose as the “independent” media refuse to cover it.

Racist Christmas stunt flops

by New Worker correspondent

Last weekend little more than a thousand people turned up to hear Tommy Robinson and his kind put “Christ back in Christmas” – a far cry from the 100,000 or so who supported  Robinson’s “unite the kingdom” rally in September. Hymn sheets were handed out to the crowd while other sold England flags and Santa hats. But Rowan Williams, the retired archbishop of Canterbury, warned of the potential “weaponisation” of events, and said the Church of England must be “absolutely clear” that the true Christian message was one of compassion and welcome to all.
The man who calls himself “Tommy Robinson” – who has recently returned from a Zionist propaganda tour of Israel – is trying to introduce American-style “Christian” nationalism into the UK.  At his carol service in central London his told his followers that this involves "drawing attention to unchecked immigration and the fading of our cultural heritage". Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, told the crowd he used to “hate the church” but says he met a pastor in prison who taught him about the Bible. 
Stand Up to Racism (SUTR) said “Robinson’s event got nowhere near the big numbers he predicted today. While there is absolutely no room for complacency, it shows that Tommy Robinson's momentum can be broken. Now let’s go all out to build a massive ‘Together against the far right’ demo on Saturday 28th March”.
One of the SUTR leaders, Weyman Bennett,  said, “We have to oppose fascism and what the Nazis stand for”. Slamming Robinson’s “false Christianity”, he said, “Robinson is closer to Satan than he is to Christ. Growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness, I was told Satan comes into the world full of lies and division.
“When they come with lies, we will stand up and resist. They told me to turn the other cheek. But I’ve run out of cheeks. I have to turn to resistance to walk the streets. 
“We have to learn from the Anti Nazi League. Nazis can’t pray and they can’t dance. They have no culture, they have no history – we have that, we are the majority
“We have to remember those lessons. That’s why I’m proud of the Together Alliance for calling the unity demonstration on 28th March. We are going to fill London”.

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”.

Boycott Coca-Cola

by New Worker correspondent

Coca-Cola's famous Christmas truck is driving around towns and cities across the country in December to spread festive cheer, but the American soft-drinks corporation has only brought pain and violence to Palestinians through its complicity in Israel's land grabs in the West Bank. That's why we're tailing and confronting the Coca-Cola truck, to expose the truth about Coke's complicity in Israel's military occupation and apartheid. 
Coca-Cola operates facilities in the illegal Atarot Industrial Zone, based on stolen Palestinian land around occupied Arab Jerusalem. Through this, Coca-Cola is providing the economic underpinning for Israel's illegal occupation and apartheid. 
Palestinians living under Israel's military occupation in the West Bank are facing an escalation of Israel's military assaults, land grabs and settler violence, with over 220 Palestinians killed by the Israeli military and settlers in 2025 alone. By operating facilities in an illegal settlement, Coca-Cola is fuelling this horrific violence. 
The call to boycott Coca-Cola is a part of the Don't Buy Apartheid campaign which asks all individuals and shops to boycott all Coke products and Israeli produce.  
By taking these two key actions, and organising in our communities to get others to do the same, we can break the ties of corporate complicity that uphold Israel's genocide, military occupation and apartheid against Palestinians. 

Palestine will be free!

by New Worker correspondent

Over a 100,000 people marched through the heart of London on Saturday to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people, calling for an end to Israel’s occupation and for the UK to halt arms sales to Israel. The protest was called by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and its allies to demand the enforcement of the ceasefire agreement and to condemn the ongoing blockade on Gaza. The protest also called for an end to UK arms exports to Israel and highlighted the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where thousands have been affected by military operations. 
In 1977 the UN designated 29th November  as an international occasion to express support for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them the right to self-determination, national independence, sovereignty, and the return of refugees to the homes from which they were displaced in 1948.
Ben Jamal, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s director, said that the day was established by the UN to highlight that Palestinians “did not have their right of self-determination realised” and were living under “a system of brutal occupation”. He said the day had come to symbolise “the complete failure of the international community” to act. In 1977 there were “12,000 illegal settlers in East Jerusalem (and) the West Bank,” the figure is now “close to 750,000”.
Jamal said that granting “impunity” to Israel for “occupation and apartheid” had led “inevitably to the genocide we have all been witnessing”. He also criticised the recently passed UN Security Council resolution on Gaza, saying it “doesn’t support the implementation of international law … gives governance of Gaza to the United States and gives the Palestinian people no say in how they are to be governed”. And the Palestinian Mission to the UK in London posted a message of thanks on social media, saying “we would like to thank all the freedom-loving people in Britain for standing with us … Palestine will be free with your unwavering support and dedication”.

Prisoners for Palestine!

by New Worker correspondent

Six of the 32 political prisoners for Palestine in the UK are on hunger strike - now in its fourth week. This is the largest hunger strike since 1981, yet the bourgeois media says nothing. 

As their health deteriorates, it is fundamental we escalate with our presence.  On Tuesday campaigners  mobilised outside BBC HQ in London to demand coverage of the hunger strike campaign. BBC content gives 33 times more coverage per Israeli fatality than Palestinian. While 85 per cenrt of Israeli weapons used for genocide comes from Elbit Systems. BBC, where is your so-called non-biased reporting?

We stand with the people of Palestine, the hunger strikers and their demands, including shutting Elbit, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, down in the UK. Spread the word!

On the road to progress

Xin Changxing

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined businessmen, diplomats and solidarity activists for an economic briefing on the latest developments in People’s China on Monday. And the meeting room in the Bank of China in the City of London was packed to hear Xin
Changxing, a member of the  Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) give an overview on China’s 15th Five-Year Plan and China’s endeavours to push high-quality development and advance high-standard opening up in the coming years. Xin, who is also the Secretary of the CPC Jiangsu provincial committee, also outlined the developments in Jiangsu, China's second largest provincial economy by GDP. It's also one of the most commercially powerful and export-oriented provinces, supported by advanced manufacturing strengths, efficient logistics, robust innovation capabilities and a deep tech talent pool. Other speakers included Zheng Zeguang the Chinese ambassador, Fang Wenjian, who is the Chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce and general manager of the Bank of China London Branch, as well as Lord Sassoon the President of the China-Britain Business Council, Sir David Quarry the Group Head of Public Affairs HSBC and Peter Bennett, the Chief Executive of the China-Britain Business Council.