Korean art for British eyes

NCP leader Andy Brooks and other friends of Korea met members of the art world at the Democratic Korean embassy in London last weekend at the opening of an exhibition of modern Korean paintings, panoramas and posters to mark the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the Workers Party of Korea in October 1945.
The exhibition was opened by Pak Chang Sop, a People’s Artist and President of Korea Paekho Trading Corporation, a Kim Il Sung Prize winner, the highest award for an artist in the DPR Korea. Earlier in the month Pak Chang Sop had taken part in the 16th International Panorama Conference in Plymouth. Korean giant 3-D panoramas are known throughout the world and the draft of one covering the historic struggle against the sea building dams in Holland ran for some 35 metres down the side of the embassy grounds. Korean artists have produced historical panoramas in Syria, Kuwait and Mali but perhaps the most famous is the October War Panorama in Cairo which commemorates in dramatic detail Egypt’s victorious offensive across the Suez Canal against Israel in October 1973.
Also on display were works created by the new Korean technique of jewel-powder painting. The paintings are covered in jewel dust which then keeps the
artwork from decaying in any way. Even immersion in water
cannot affect it. Others on show were many oil paintings and posters demonstrating the vitality and strength of Korean art. In Democratic Korea all artists work in teams to produce art that serves the people. This brief two-day exhibition high-lighted some of their best and it certainly was a vivid demonstration of the superiority of the socialist system in arts and culture.

Struggles in south Asia

COMRADES and friends gathered in the Marchmont Community Centre in north London last Thursday to discuss the complex struggles taking place now in South Asia at a New Worker meeting, organised by the New Communist Party London District and chaired by Neil Harris.
Speakers included Pakistani trade union and civil rights activist and campaigner against bonded labour Mukhtar Rana, north London Labour Councillor and Third World Solidarity representative Mushtaq Lasharie, Kumar Sarkar from the British South Asia Solidarity Forum, Theo Russell from the New Communist Party and Suresh from the Nepali Samaj Society.
Mushtaq Lasharie began speaking about the current situation in Pakistan in the run-up to the coming presidential election. “President Musharraf is the most powerful man in because he is in uniform; he is the head of the army.” Musharraf has agreed to take off his uniform and quit the military in order to improve his chances of returning to power in the election.
“This presents a dilemma for the people of Pakistan,” said Lasharie, “the people don’t want to accept Musharraf in or out of uniform but they are afraid of putting up a candidate against him because this will legitimise the election. The alternative is to let Musharraf be returned unopposed. Supporters of a boycott could end up being excluded from the political process.”
Mukhtar Rana explained that Musharraf had taken power in a military coup accusing the former President Sharif of corruption. Sharif, a big landowner, had attacked the Supreme Court while the army – dominated by landowners – stood by.
“Musharraf claimed the credit for defending the court, putting an end to corruption – but he was the most corrupt of all.
“President Benazir Bhutto of the People’s Party promised good things for the working class. She fooled them; promising land reforms that would limit land holdings to 25 to 30 acres. Now there are giant estates of thousands of acres. The land reforms were not implemented. Benazir did not implement the reforms because she is a big landowner herself.”
He went on to explain that currently the United States is supporting Benazir Bhutto in the election while the British government is supporting Sharif to return, “but they are all corrupt”. Kumar Sakar spoke of changes in Indian society where a new middle class is emerging among the intelligentsia and those with well paid jobs in the IT sector who lived in comfortable enclaves with security guards.
“The new India is emerging as a super power,” he said, “but the other side of the story, the Dalits or untouchables and other disadvantaged groups like building labourers, women, Muslims and so on.”
He went on to give a history of effects of British imperialism – and now American imperialism – on developing Indian society.
Comrade Suresh explained that the monarchy in Nepal is only 250 years old. Most people are landless and were born into landlessness. But over the last couple of decades Maoist revolutionaries have taken over the remote areas and implemented land reforms.
They have brought of lot of social advances, for example illiteracy has been reduced from 33 per cent to five per cent. “The Maoists led a military struggle that forced the King to return power to the parliament and became part of a ruling coalition and were in charge of five ministries. But the government has come under pressure from the United States to suppress the Maoists and the people.”
The Maoists have been forced to quit the government because of corruption.
Theo Russell introduced a Marxist-Leninist slant on the reports already given. He said that US plans to dominate the world had failed through the Iraq War and that imperialism’s hopes of imposing a New World Order were “now a distant memory”.
There followed a deep and constructive discussion of all the issues raised.

London news round-up

NUJ photographer challenges police
SOLICITORS Hickman and Rose have served papers on Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police for “battery” (assault) and breaches of the Human Rights Act, relating to freedom of expression and assembly, on behalf of the photojournalist and NUJ member Marc Vallée. Vallée, who is also a member of the International Federation of Journalists and the British Press Photographers’ Association, was taking photographs of the “Sack Parliament” demonstration protest in Parliament Square on 9th October 2006.
He received injuries further to action by Metropolitan Police officers, which resulted in an ambulance attending to give urgent attention and then treatment at St Thomas’ hospital.
The Metropolitan Police have yet to apologise for or offer any explanation of the actions taken by officers.
Chez Cotton of Hickman and Rose said: “This is a significant case because freedom of speech is one of the cornerstones of democracy and safeguards afforded to the press are particularly important.
“Mr Vallée was lawfully present to photograph a political protest outside parliament, yet received injuries at the hands of Metropolitan police officers.
“In these circumstances it is hoped that the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police will swiftly confirm that neither he nor his officers have any legal power or moral responsibility to prevent or restrict what the media record, and resolve this case urgently.”
NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said: “We are delighted to be supporting Marc’s case. He has been treated disgracefully and it is important that such behaviour is challenged and proper amends made.
“Key democratic principles are at stake here and we are determined to do everything in our power to make sure that Marc gets justice.”

New anti-terror jail
THE GOVERNMENT is to build a new maximum-security jail to hold up to 30 terrorism suspects to replace the notorious Paddington Green police station, which was built in the 1960s and is now considered out of date.
Counter-Terrorism Minister Tony McNulty told Parliament last week that it was “well accepted” that the office-block-style Paddington Green has had its day.
The high-tech replacement will be designed to hold suspects for much longer as the Government hopes to bring in before Christmas a new Counter-Terrorism Bill that would allow suspects to be held for significantly longer than the current 28-days limit. When Paddington Green was built the limit was three days.
The new police station will allow High Court judges to authorise continued detention of suspects by video link without the suspects having to be brought to court.
The Government claims this will prevent the disruption of London traffic caused by security convoys carrying suspects around the capital.

NCP leader Andy Brooks and other friends of Korea met members of the art world at the Democratic Korean embassy in London last weekend at the opening of an exhibition of modern Korean paintings, panoramas and posters to mark the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the Workers Party of Korea in October 1945.
The exhibition was opened by Pak Chang Sop, a People’s Artist and President of Korea Paekho Trading Corporation, a Kim Il Sung Prize winner, the highest award for an artist in the DPR Korea. Earlier in the month Pak Chang Sop had taken part in the 16th International Panorama Conference in Plymouth. Korean giant 3-D panoramas are known throughout the world and the draft of one covering the historic struggle against the sea building dams in Holland ran for some 35 metres down the side of the embassy grounds. Korean artists have produced historical panoramas in Syria, Kuwait and Mali but perhaps the most famous is the October War Panorama in Cairo which commemorates in dramatic detail Egypt’s victorious offensive across the Suez Canal against Israel in October 1973.
Also on display were works created by the new Korean technique of jewel-powder painting. The paintings are covered in jewel dust which then keeps the
artwork from decaying in any way. Even immersion in water
cannot affect it. Others on show were many oil paintings and posters demonstrating the vitality and strength of Korean art. In Democratic Korea all artists work in teams to produce art that serves the people. This brief two-day exhibition high-lighted some of their best and it certainly was a vivid demonstration of the superiority of the socialist system in arts and culture.

London news round-up

Safety protest on the tube

TUBE DRIVERS last week refused to operate trains on the Central Line after brake parts fell off a train on to tracks. The incident led to a safety check on the line with 85 trains being inspected and maintenance staff working through the night.
The check revealed a separate fault on another train and an investigation has been launched.
The RMT transport union says that passengers are being put at risk because corners are being cut. Union spokesperson Derek Kotz said: “We believe the public private partnership has undermined safety.
“There are serious fault lines and our members are always vigilant. We have to ask ourselves how something fell off a train – there are supposed to be protocols.
“We will not compromise on safety. This could have caused a derailment. If any of our members were disciplined for refusing to drive their trains we would ballot for a strike.”

Tower Hamlets gardeners to strike?

MEMBERS of the GMB general union employed as gardeners by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are considering strike action following a pay dispute with a private contractor.
Fifty gardeners are being balloted by the GMB in the row with grounds maintenance firm Fountains and the ballot results are expected later this month.
Union officials accused the contractor of using taxpayers’ money in other parts of their business instead of meeting their members’ demands.
GMB official Bert Schouwenburg said: “Tower Hamlets Council is sitting on its hands and watching Fountains divert the borough’s taxpayers’ money to prop up their business elsewhere.”

A Good Day at Turnham Green

by New Worker correspondent

HOME-MADE marmalade, second-hand books and home-grown plants all sold well at last Saturday’s traditional peace market on Turnham Green in West London.
In just a few hours the New Worker stall had made a profit of £60. This contribution to our paper’s fund is of course very welcome.
But better still were the many conversations with people visiting the stall and the interest shown in the New Worker and New Communist Party literature.
Copies of The Communist Manifesto, our own The Case for Communism and other titles were sold.

Wembley protest against Palestinian team ban

MEMBERS and supporters of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, in conjunction with the Boycott Israeli Goods campaign and Jews Boycotting Israeli Goods are planning a Day of Action this Saturday, 8th September against a Euro 2008 qualifying match between England and Israel.
There will be events and actions throughout Britain but the most significant will be a protest demonstration at the match at Wembley.
This follows a decision by the Home Office last month to ban a Palestinian under-19s team from a planned tour of friendly matches against youth teams in Britain.
The Home Office refused visas to all the players on the spurious ground that they might abscond and become illegal immigrants here.
The Palestine National Youth Football Team was to have spent three weeks touring Britain and playing English football teams including Chester City, Tranmere Rovers, and Blackburn Rovers.
The tour had been organised by the University of Chester along with the Palestine and English Football Associations.
Rod Cox, spokesperson for the organisers said: “I regret to tell you that the tour has been terminated, not by a hostile blow from a distant enemy, but by our own government.
“The Consulate in Jerusalem has refused visas to every single one of the team and its support staff of coaches and officials.
“They have produced a written reason for the refusal but will not show it to us,” he said. “I cannot imagine the disappointment of the boys selected to play in the team. The chance to escape the most densely populated, and seriously deprived, part of the world, Gaza, and show the world that you can compete with the rest, if only the chains are taken from around your neck, well, its gone.”
The Entry Clearance Officer at the Jerusalem Consulate said: “The refusal has been taken at the highest level in London. It is in line with current immigration policy.” incredible
Cox described the decision as “incredible”, adding: “Only a few months ago Britain’s Foreign Office was considering funding this scheme under the ‘Engagement with Islam’ programme.
“They recognised that the positive nature of engaging people in sport both in Palestine and in the UK helps to keep young men out of the hands of the gunmen. But the ‘Engaging with Islam’ programme has been completely terminated, and no grants will be given this year,” he said.
The American-born Palestinian striker Morad Fareed expressed his disbelief at the Home Office decision, saying: “Football is one of the very few institutions that Palestine has to compete, to show our statehood, to be on the world stage.” siding with the enemy
The chairperson of Truce International, Nancy Dell’Olio, offered her support for the team, noting: “This decision will be seen in Gaza, where most of the team originate, as siding with the enemy. To refuse a national team admission solely on the grounds that they are too poor and deprived will not do Britain any good abroad.
“The lives of these boys, who have worked so hard to achieve the position they are in, are just being thrown away.”
A spokesperson for War on Want commented: “The refusal stands in marked contrast to the welcome given the Israeli national team, due to play England at Wembley on 8th September. This is despite calls for that match to be cancelled in protest of continuing Israeli assaults on Palestinian towns, including the bombing of the national football stadium.”
War on Want is under investigation by the UK Charity Commission for allegedly violating its charity status through political campaigning.
Palestinian football teams have been dogged by a lack of support from those in power. In 2005, Israel prevented the Palestinians competing on the world stage by detaining players in Gaza during a world cup qualifier.
They also prevented the entire team leaving Gaza for an Asian Cup qualifier against Singapore in 2006, and barred the team from re-entering Gaza for over a month after they competed in Jordan in June of this year.
On 31st March 2006, Israeli army artillery shells left a large crater in the centre of the field at Gaza’s national stadium, claiming this was in response to Qassam rocket attacks.

Metronet strike victory

STRIKE ACTION by more than 2,300 Metronet maintenance workers was suspended late on Tuesday night after more than eight hours of talks between RMT, the failed company, its administrator and Transport for London (TfL) yielded significant progress on the issues involved in the dispute.
But the transport union’s planned action for next Monday remains on, pending the outcome of further talks with the pension trustees’ board meeting, and pending consultation with the union’s reps on Friday.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said on Wednesday: “We now have in writing from the employer that the originally proposed pension-scheme rescue is withdrawn, and that a full scheme rescue will be placed before the TfL pension trustees’ board today, and is expected to be in place by Thursday.
“This means that our members will now actually have their pensions restored to them, which is rather different than promises from a man in an expensive suit.
“Further to the existing assurance that there will be no job losses or transfers during the period of administration, we also now have written commitments that any subsequent proposals will be subject to proper discussions through the existing negotiating machinery and the code of practice agreed at the time the PPP was introduced.
“This means that the threat of 691 job losses, tabled before Metronet’s collapse, and postponed by the administrator, has been withdrawn entirely.
“As a result of the detailed talks last night, the RMT executive suspended the current industrial action, although the action scheduled to begin next Monday remains on, pending the successful outcome of today’s pension meeting and consultation with our reps on Friday.
“Our members are to be congratulated for their rock-solid action, and can return to work with their heads held high after sustaining their strike in the face of enormous pressure and hostile media.
“It is their unity that has given their union the strength it needed to hold its position in this difficult dispute.
“The dispute has underlined the need to bring the maintenance of London Underground back into the public sector, and that is what our members and the vast majority of Londoners want,” Bob Crow said.
The strike closed two-thirds of the Tube network and affected 10 lines. London’s financial centre was hard hit as office staff struggled to get into work by other means. Many arrived several hours late; others gave up trying and stayed at home.”

Livingstone apologies for slavery

LONDON Mayor Ken Livingstone last Thursday at the capital’s City Hall on the Thames made an emotional apology for the City’s role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Livingstone was overcome as he read an account of the brutal tortures suffered by slaves in Britain’s Caribbean colonies.
He angrily denounced the role of the City’s corporations in financing the trade. “You can look across there to see the institutions that still have the benefit of the wealth they created out of slavery,” Livingstone said, pointing through a huge window at the skyscrapers across the river.
“As mayor, I offer an apology on behalf of London and its institutions for their role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.”
The Reverend Jesse Jackson praised the statement, saying Livingstone broke important ground with his remarks. The American civil rights leader said apologies should lead to reparations.
Livingstone did not explicitly mention restitution, but his tearful expression of remorse went further than a statement in March by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair on the 200th anniversary of the law that ended the slave trade. Blair expressed his deep sorrow, but did not make a direct apology.

annual day

He used the occasion to call for an annual day of commemoration timed to coincide with the UN’s International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, held every 23rd August.
London played a central role in the slave trade, outfitting, financing and insuring many of the ships that ferried living cargo to plantations in the New World. Revenue from the trade helped fund the construction of London’s docks.
London is not the first city to apologise for the trade. The port of Liverpool, one of the largest European slave-trading ports, formally apologised in 1999.
Livingstone was joined by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, the London Community Gospel Choir, union leader Gloria Mills, Diana Abbott MP, Dawn Butler MP and R&B legend Beverley Knight.
Contributions included readings from the accounts of Oluadah Equiano who was one of the first slaves to produce an autobiography accounting for his life as a slave.
Lee Jasper read the passage that gave details of the way Oluadah was treated as a slave by his slave-masters, as the ship he was held in visited some 15 islands in efforts to offload the slaves to new masters.
Hopefully this event will be the catalyst for other cities and countries to follow suit and hold their hands up in similar style – the tragedy that is the slave trade was referred to as the African Holocaust.
Over a 400-year period, slavery statistics vary from a conservative 15 million slaves up to more realistic quote around 25-30 million Africans trapped and forced into slavery. At least 10 per cent of these people died in transit on the slave ships.

Tfl bids for Metronet

Transport for London is bidding to bring Metronet, the failed private consortium contacted to carry our maintenance on most of the London Underground, back into public ownership.
The Mayor of London’s transport authority last week announced that it had lodged an expression of interest with Metronet’s administrator and would make a formal offer by the end of next month.
TfL said that it “was in the best interests of all parties for an exit from administration as quickly as possible”.
The move follows the collapse last month of Metronet, which ran more than £2 billion over budget on repairs and refurbishments to nine London Underground lines, including the Victoria, District and Circle lines.
TfL would state only that it wanted to take control of the contractor on a “temporary basis”. But sources said that TfL executives were preparing to operate the business for two years, given the scale of inefficiency in the Metronet business and the time they believe that it would take to restore it to full health.
The decision would create a rift between Livingstone and Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who pushed through the public private partnership that put Metronet in charge of maintaining most of the Tube infrastructure.
The Government refused to hand control of the Tube network to the elected mayor until after the contracts had been signed.
Livingstone had always opposed the privatisation and was elected on that basis.
When Metronet called in the administrators last month Brown insisted that the PPP was working. He said: “If Metronet pulls out, then another private company will be found to take its place.”
Metronet was four years into a 30-year, £17 billion work programme, split into two contracts. It was attacked for vast cost overruns and a system under which work was handed out among its five shareholders rather than awarded by competitive tender. The latter approach is used by Tube Lines, the other London Underground contractor. TfL set aside £750 million last month to ensure that maintenance and repair work on the Metronet lines did not grind to a halt, putting a further strain on London taxpayers. Tim O’Toole, the London Underground managing director, said yesterday that TfL wanted to put in place a “stable, economic and efficient structure” at Metronet as quickly as possible. He added: “We strongly believe that the best and most effective way to achieve our ultimate goal is for an early exit from the administration process.”

Fund raising in Charlton

COMRADES and supporters of the New Worker came together last weekend in Charlton, south-east London, for a fundraising garden party.
After two weeks of cool, damp weather the event was blessed with hot sunshine and a good attendance.
The back garden of a political activist receives little human time and attention but provides a secluded refuge for wildlife and a relaxing environment for weary campaigners to enjoy good food, drink and conversation.
Those attending included local members of CND, Palestine Solidarity, Greenwich Council for Racial Equality, the Labour Party, the Red Green Alliance, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and of course the New Communist Party.
A collection raised £76.91, which added to £16 donated the week before, made a total of £92.91 for the New Worker 30th Anniversary Appeal fund.

Metronet workers vote for strike

NEARLY 3,000 members of the unions RMT, TSSA and Unite have voted by massive margins for strike action to defend jobs and conditions at failed Tube privateer Metronet. In the three unions’ ballots, which closed last week, Metronet workers voted by a total of 1,369 to 70 to strike.
The strike votes were sparked by the failure of the bankrupt company’s administrators to provide guarantees that there will be no job losses or forced transfers as a result of the company’s financial collapse.
RMT and TSSA members also voted to strike over the failure to guarantee that there would be no cuts in pension entitlements.
Jennie Bremner, Unite assistant general secretary said: “This ‘yes’ vote gives Unite the mandate to take strike action against Metronet’s shameful plan to cut hundreds of jobs and outsource a further 1,000.
“These proposals come from the same management that were responsible for running Metronet into the ground. Unite is calling on the administrator to take firm action to put the Tube back on track and to cease operating the same policies that led to Metronet being taken into administration in the first place.
“We are available to meet with the company to thrash out a deal that will avoid industrial action. However this vote demonstrates our members’ willingness to take the company on to protect jobs and the future of the Tube.”
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said, “Our members have said with a single, united voice that they are not prepared to be made to pay for the failure of the PPP with their jobs, conditions or pensions.
“The work our members do is crucial not only to the day-to-day operation of the Tube but to the urgent upgrades that are slipping further behind schedule, and any further fragmentation of the workforce is out of the question.
“If we are to have the world-class Tube that London needs in time for the Olympics the only sensible answer is to bring the work back into the public sector.”
TSSA general secretary Gerry Doherty said: “Metronet shareholders may be able to walk away from this PPP fiasco but it is our members who are being asked to pick up the bill with lost jobs, transfers and pension cutbacks.
“They have sent a clear message today to the Administrator and the Mayor that they will not stand for it. The long-term solution must be to bring this work back in-house to the public sector.” In the RMT ballot, there were 1,123 (98.3 per cent) votes to strike, with 20 votes (1.7 per cent) against, on a turnout of 51 per cent.
In the TSSA ballot, there were 127 votes for strike action (77 per cent) and 38 votes (23 per cent) against, on a 48 per cent turnout.
In the Unite ballot there were 119 votes for strike action (90 per cent) and 12 votes against (10 per cent).

Jack Shapiro still going strong!

by Robert Laurie

Last Saturday saw veteran communist Jack Shapiro honoured by the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) at a meeting in Southall's Saklatlava Hall chaired by Harpal Brar.

Jack Shapiro was born in 1916 in the middle of the First World War into a Jewish family in the East End of London. His political career began in the Young Communist League. The nineteen-thirties saw the rise of fascism at home and abroad. London's East End was a major battleground. Jack was one of those communists who mobilised the people against Mosley's blackshirts at the 1936 Battle of Cable Street and on many other occasions.

He was also active in the rent struggles of that period sometimes erecting barricades to prevent landlords evicting hard pressed tenants. The housing struggles were an important part of the anti-fascist struggle because by taking a firm class line of opposing all slum landlords equally, including Jewish ones the anti-Semitism peddled by the fascists had a much reduced audience.

His contribution to anti-fascist struggles included assisting with rescuing Jewish children from Europe and taking over the bomb shelters in London's Savoy Hotel to highlight the poor provision for the less well off. Long before it became fashionable Jack supported the rights of the Palestinian people and opposed Zionism. In addition to opposing the British Road to Socialism Jack supported the Chinese side in the Sino-Soviet split of the 1960s. Apart from his directly political work Jack was heavily involved with the Royal National Institute for the Deaf and in promoting the interests of the disabled in China. When the British establishment offered him an Order of the British Empire he rejected it on the grounds that he spent his life fighting to overthrow the British Empire. To this day his letters enliven the correspondence column in the Morning Star.

Jack's life was closely paralleled by his brother Michael who became a Communist councillor in Stepney. During the Korean War he lectured British prisoners of war helping them write letters home. For his pains he was denounced as a traitor in the House of Commons and forced to spend the rest of his life in China where worked for the Xinhua news agency. He also helped translate the works of Mao Zedong.

Appropriately tributes to Jack's work came from the London embassies of both China and People's Korea both of whom presented with small gifts to mark is services to proletarian internationalism.Keith Bennett, a friend of the Shapiro family, praised Jack as an outstanding Marxist-Leninist throughout his seven decades of political activism.

In replying to these well deserved tributes Jack responded by welcoming the growing resistance to United States imperialism even in the most unexpected places. He remained confident that while Britain had the oldest and most cunning bourgeoisie in the world they will be eventually defeated.

photo: Jack Shapiro, Harpal Brar and Keith Bennett

HEATHROW PROTESTS -- Heavy Handed Policing Backfires

by Daphne Liddle

THE GOVERNMENT is planning to use its most draconian anti-terror legislation against a broad coalition of groups – under the umbrella organisation Camp for Climate Action – who are assembling at a campsite close to Heathrow Airport for a massive but peaceful demonstration this weekend.
Estimates of the number of protesters expected from all over Britain and Europe vary from 1,500 to 3,000 – a modest number for a national demonstration. But around 1,800 police will be deployed who have been told by the Government to use powers under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 against the demonstrators.
These powers include stop and search even if police have no reason to suspect a person.
“That’s unbelievably heavy handed,” said camp spokesperson Anna Jackson, “They’re using the most draconian legislation on the statute book, and I hope they can be embarrassed out of it.”
Protesters include members of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, a variety of environmental groups and local villagers whose homes are threatened by plans to expand Heathrow and build a fifth runway.
The camp is supposed to be a model of eco-friendly communal living, with electricity supplied by solar and wind power.
Some papers claim to have infiltrated the campers and have published scaremongering leaks. In particular the London Evening Standard front page carried a banner headline claiming: “Militants will hit Heathrow”.
A Camp for Climate Change spokesperson responded saying: “This story did not contain a single source or even attempt at a source. smear campaign
“We don’t know who is feeding them this stuff and the suspicion is that we are the subject of a smear campaign. We are challenging BAA [the airport operator] to come clean.”
BAA denied planting the scare story but expressed anger that the protesters’ plans might disrupt the airport at the height of the holiday season.
No one yet knows exactly what form the protest will take. The campers assume they are infiltrated and are therefore delaying finalising plans.
Anna Jackson said: “We really can’t say what the direct action will be – there are no leaders in this camp. It’s 100 per cent democratic, run through consensus.
“It will be down to individuals’ judgement as to what they think is the best way to take action.
“It’s inevitable that the authorities are going to be in these meetings, coming into the camp and infiltrating – we can’t stop them coming in. But the camp is a lot more than just mass action.”
Clearly the intent of BAA, the police and the Government is to be as intimidating as possible to discourage people from taking part in the protest.
But this is proving counterproductive as the media – at the height of the silly season and little else to fill news bulletins – has been giving the protest a lot of coverage before it has even begun, ensuring that awareness of the issues involved is being raised all around.
The protesters point out that 20 million litres of fuel are consumed at Heathrow every day and 31.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide are generated there every year. joining
One of those attending will be the chair of Bournemouth and Poole Greenpeace, Richard Hillyard. He says he will be joining the Heathrow campaigners on Friday.
“Heathrow and BAA are being targeted because it’s a major UK airport and campaigning there will get a lot of attention, but it is really a statement against the expansion of many local UK airports, Bournemouth included,” he said.
“If aviation expands at the rate the Government wants, then every other industry would have to be zero carbon, which in reality has no chance of happening.
“Greenpeace is trying to mobilise the focus on binge flying, trying to get the message across that there’s no need to fly internally in this country just because it’s cheap.”
He says public transport needs to be drastically improved to give people a real alternative.
And they hope that this is the message that makes the news, rather than a battle with the police.
But at the same time the state is delivering another message – ordinary peaceful protesters are the real targets of anti-terror legislation.

The Horror of Agent Orange

Len Aldis of the Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society talks about Agent Orange.The American War on Vietnam was the most devastating war yet known. Although it ended in 1975 it left a terrible legacy which has travelled down the years to the present day for the people, its forests and its land. Despite this the country has made remarkable progress in many fields since and despite the international embargo that ended in 1994. However, it will take many more years of support, and international aid to overcome the legacy of Agent Orange one of the chemicals used in that war.Our campaigns seeking justice for the victims of Agent Orange has led to Len Aldis being invited to speak at a number of universities in the UK and in Vietnam. He has also spoken on the issue at public meetings in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France and Vietnam.In addition, we have shown international award winning documentary films on Agent Orange such as Battle’s Poison Cloud, produced by Tambuti Films of London. Path to Justice, Vietnam Film Centre and in which Len appeared. Another film, Agent Orange, a personal requiem” by Masako Sakata has recently been released as has The Last Ghost of War by an American company, Janet Gardner Group. Mention should be made of the support given by Labour MP Harry Cohen, who has tabled a number of Early Day Motions in support of the Vietnamese victims

London news round-up

High Court bans Heathrow protest

A HIGH COURT judge last Monday granted an injunction to the British Airports Authority (BAA) banning a climate change protest that could have disrupted the working of the airports for a while.
But the Mrs Justice Swift refused BAA’s application for a blanket ban on all protests there and left both sides claiming a victory.
BAA, owned by Spanish construction and services group Ferrovial, went to the High Court in London to prevent up to 5,000 people setting up camp between 14th and 21st August in a demonstration against climate change and a proposed third runway at Heathrow.
BAA was ordered to pay the costs of the three groups who challenged the attempt to impose the most wide-ranging restriction on the right to protest ever used in Britain.
The injunction bans three people – John Stewart of the Heathrow Campaign Against Aircraft Noise (Hacan), Josh Garman and Leo Murray of the anti-aviation group Plane Stupid – from interfering with the running of the airport.
The injunction was also applied to the Plane Stupid organisation and to “anyone acting in concert” with it in any illegal activity.
The umbrella group Airport Watch – which includes the Woodlands Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Campaign to Protect Rural England – was not included in the injunction.
Organisers of the Camp for Climate Action said they would go ahead with the protest camp: “The Camp for Climate Change is not covered by the injunction that was that was granted at the High Court today, and will be going ahead as planned,” they said.
“The final injunction provides no additional powers of arrest, and covers a much smaller geographical area, which will not include the camp. Everyone, including the named injunctees, is therefore free to come to the camp.”
BAA had claimed that a blanket injunction was necessary because of the threat of terrorism. They sought to include not just Heathrow but Paddington Station, Piccadilly and parts of the M25 and M4.
But as she restricted the range of the injunction Mrs Justice Swift said: “Police will be deflected from their ordinary duties, including protecting the public from terrorist attack. There is a risk that a terrorist group might use the disruption by protesters to carry out an attack.”
London Mayor Ken Livingstone opposed the blanket injunction and hired a team of lawyers to be in court for the hearing. London Underground and Transport for London were awarded costs as Mrs Justice Swift said it was “extraordinary” that BAA had not consulted them.
On the same day in a separate court Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips dismissed an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions that could have ended the Parliament Square anti-war protest picket of Brian Haw. The Lords also ruled that the current restriction of his picket were “unclear and unworkable” but they urged Haw to reach an agreement with the police on the limits of his protest.

Justice4JeanFamily Campaign

THE INDEPENDENT Police Complaints Commission report published on 2nd August is a damning indictment against the Metropolitan Police Service, say the family of Jean Charles de Menezes. The young Brazilian was shot and killed by anti-terrorism officers at Stockwell station on 22nd July 2005.
After a distressing two year wait, the family welcomed the fact that the report exonerated Jean of any allegations of suspicious behaviour which had been fuelled by the misinformation circulating in the media from police sources. A spokesperson for the Justice4Jean campaign said: “This report exposes the Metropolitan Police Service to a crisis of public confidence in their honesty and integrity. The report identifies Andy Hayman as having misled the public and the IPCC have said that this is clearly an example of misconduct.
“The IPCC recommendation to merely issue him with a letter containing ‘strong words of advice’ is not the appropriate response – this report has made his position untenable.
“Regarding Sir Ian Blair, the report’s findings make it seem unfeasible that he was not aware that they had killed an innocent man until the next day when so many people, including senior officers, government officials and even the Met Cricket team were aware of that fact. If it is true that he did not know, then it raises serious questions about his ability to be in full command of the Metropolitan police.
“How can he effectively manage the Metropolitan Police if he is not privy to this vital information? His account about not being aware of this information is even challenged by one of his own senior officers. It raises the suspicion that there has been a cover up. This report has also raised very grave concerns about the Metropolitan Police Authority's role in the aftermath of Jean's shooting.
“This brings into question their ability to hold act independently and impartially and to hold accountable those officers named in this report.”
A spokesperson for the Menezes family today said: “After two years, every institution of justice has failed us and we are left with the impression that the police are above the law. We call on Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to meet with us to explain how she will redress this complete lack of a credible investigation.
“This only makes us even more determined to keep fighting for justice.”

Give us toilets or prepare for strike!

LONDON BUS workers staged a series of protests at key London Transport and local government offices on Thursday 23rd August to protest at the lack of toilet facilities on bus routes and in general.
The campaign has taken a new turn with the capital's bus workers, all members of the Transport and General Workers’ Union section of Unite – the union, threatening a full strike ballot if Transport for London (TfL) and London's local authorities don’t act.
In a hard-hitting newsletter to members the bus workers leaders say some drivers have been so desperate for a toilet break they have had to relieve themselves in public places and been arrested.
Three vital issues will be put before London's transport and local leaders:
· Lack of toilets equals lack of respect for drivers and their health
· Serious health problems arise from not being able to go to the toilet when you need to, especially bladder, kidney and prostate conditions.
TfL says it wants to attract more women into the industry. How can it be serious about this when it cannot even provide adequate toilet facilities for staff? Perhaps it expects these women to bring their own bottles to work!

RMT warns another 130 stations face cuts to ticket-office hours

ANOTHER 130 London Underground stations face cuts to ticket-office hours, says the RMT transport union.
London Underground’s cull of ticket offices is far worse than originally feared, as Tube bosses deliberately create longer queues to drive people away from ticket offices, the network’s biggest union reveals today.
RMT has learned that LUL has a hit-list of 130 stations where further "changes" to ticket office hours are proposed, on top of 39 ticket offices already earmarked for complete closure, 32 scheduled to lose some or all weekend opening, 16 to lose afternoon peak services and 13 facing other major hours reductions.
The union has also learned that Transport for London (TfL) has a deliberate strategy to lengthen queues and frustrate people into going elsewhere, and that its ticket office closure plan is based on predictions of the lower future use that it will help to bring about.
RMT has already warned that it will fight the planned cuts, with industrial action if necessary, and is seeking public support for its campaign to maintain station staffing levels and to keep booking offices open.

North Korean art in London

Londoners can see the finest examples of modern artwork from Democratic Korea at an exhibition in the heart of the capital. Works by north Korean People's Artists can be viewed for the first time in Britain at La Galleria in Pall Mall. The exhibition entitled Artists, Art and Culture of North Korea includes paintings, ceramics and wood-cuts plus a display of original posters from the Korean War.

La Galleria is in Pall Mall, at the entrance of the Royal Opera Arcade, one of the earliest arcades in London and just minutes away from Trafalgar Square and the West End. The exhibition runs until 3rd September 2007 at:

La Galleria

5b Pall Mall

Royal Opera Arcade

London SW1Y 4UY

Full peace, justice and equality only possible through Irish unity

by Theo Russell


Michelle Gildernew, Sinn Féin minister for agriculture and rural development in the Northern Ireland, told friends and supporters in London last week that the meeting of the North-South ministerial council on 16 July in Dublin had been highly successful and constructive.

It was the first real meeting of the council with the Northern Ireland executive fully in place and not beset by crises, attended by 12 northern and 14 southern ministers.

Just after the meeting Dublin announced it was spending €650m on cross-border road links and restoring the Ulster Canal between Monaghan in the republic and Fermanagh in the north. Sinn Féin welcomed the news as a boost to the economies and tourism both in the north and in the Republic’s neglected and deprived north-west.

Speaking at Sinn Féin’s summer reception, Michelle said that almost 10 years since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement many issues still need to be delivered with much work still needed in the crucial area of policing and justice, due to be transferred to Belfast next spring.

Other issues requiring a major effort are the equalities and human rights agendas, aimed at tackling decades of social and economic discrimination against catholics and nationalists in the north, a key aspect of the Good Friday and Saint Andrews agreements.

Michelle pointed out that the two states were still duplicating work on health, education and many other areas, and said “the only way we are going to bring full peace, justice and equality to the island of Ireland is through Irish unity.”

She added “the best people to govern Ireland are the Irish themselves. Whether they are of unionist persuasion or nationalist persuasion they are the best people to decide Ireland’s destiny.”

Michelle told the New Worker correspondent that despite Gordon Brown’s promised £51 billion “peace dividend” for the north, “they aren’t giving us buttons”.

The package not only includes contributions from Dublin and money already allocated by London, but the proceeds of selling British bases to private developers. She said Sinn Féin wanted these bases to be handed over for use by local communities in the north.

New Communist Party celebrates 30 fighting years!

MEMBERS, friends and supporters of the New Communist Party gathered in south-west London last Saturday evening to celebrate the founding of the party in 1977.
Among the speakers was Jong In Song from the Embassy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, who delivered a message from the Korean Workers’ Party, retired MEP Richard Balfe, Ella Rule of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist), Keith Bennett and a Young Communist from Poland. There was a message of support from the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist).
Jong In Song spoke of the current struggle of his party for direct talks with the United States. The armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953 was just that – an armistice, a temporary halt to the fighting – signed between the government of the DPRK and the US and leaving them still technically at war. The DPRK is seeking a permanent peace and normalisation of relations.
On the issue of nuclear weapons, Jong said: “We seek the denuclearisation of the whole of Korea – the whole of Asia and the whole world.” And he spoke of the system of socialism that delivers peace, social justice and an end to humiliation for all workers.
Richard Balfe spoke of the early days of the NCP and his friendship with NCP founder Sid French through their joint work in the Royal Arsenal Cooperative Society.
NCP President Eric Trevett spoke of the party’s history of struggle against revisionism and he paid tribute to members, including past members now deceased who gave their lives in the struggle for peace and communism.
A collection raised £778.10 – along with promises of another £1,800 to launch a special appeal for £30,000 for the New Worker.

photo: Andy Brooks at the celebrations

London news round-up

Boris to run for London Mayor

TORY MP Boris Johnson has decided to run as a candidate in the London mayoral contest next year. He has not yet been formally nominated by his party and will have to go through a selection procedure.
But it seems likely he will be chosen for his high celebrity status and well-known face to mount a challenge to Ken Livingstone’s hopes of winning a third term.
Johnson is known as an upper class jovial buffoon – not someone who is likely to be competent at running a vast and complex city like London.
But with disaffection with the Labour government running high and some of Livingstone’s policies – like support for London running the Olympics – very unpopular in some quarters, complacency would be a mistake.
Pensioners in particular would be in danger of losing their precious and hard-won freedom pass if Johnson became London Mayor – or for that matter of the mayorship fell into Liberal Democrat hands.
There is no evidence that Johnson has any clue what the freedom pass is or why it should be maintained.
His party is very much in favour of privatisation and would be likely to use London tax payers’ money to bail out the Metronet Tube company, which got its sums wrong when tendering for a Government contract to take on the repair and renewal of three major London Underground railway lines.

Don’t bail out Metronet!

THE RMT transport union is urging London mayor Ken Livingstone not to waste more public money on failed London Underground privateers Metronet and has called for the controversial public-private-partnership (PPP) contracts to be brought back in house. As the PPP arbiter announced that Metronet was likely to get an interim extra £121 million of the £551 million it has asked for to cover “cost overruns” on the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria lines over the next year, RMT renewed its call for the PPP contracts to be brought back in house.
Metronet is seeking £992 million for overruns for the first seven-and-a-half years of the BCV contract alone, and is expected to file a similar claim for its sub-surface lines contract.
“One-hundred-and-twenty-one-million is still £121 million too much, even if it is nowhere near the £2 billion more of taxpayers’ and fare-payers’ money that Metronet is looking for,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said last Tuesday.
“Even if the PPP was delivering everything expected of it, it would still be less than LUL delivered when it controlled infrastructure work in the public sector, and it would still be costing billions more.
“Metronet, and the PPP scam that has already allowed them to siphon millions out of the Tube network, have clearly failed and it is clearer than ever that these contracts should be brought back in-house before any more damage is done,” Bob Crow said.

Friends of Korea rebut media lies

LONDON’S Marchmont Centre filled up last Sunday as friends of Korea along with others simply curious about life in Democratic Korea took part in a forum last Sunday evening that followed a debate on north Korea at the main Marxism 2007 festival of resistance earlier in the day.
NCP leader Andy Brooks, Ella Rule and Michael Chant all focused on the nuclear issue in their opening remarks but the meeting rapidly broadened into a discussion on Korean-style socialism as members of the audience who had been to Democratic Korea gave eye-witness accounts of what they saw to rebut some of the popular misconceptions about life under socialism raised by some of the audience.
Friends of Korea Chairman, Harpal Brar, welcomed the frank and open discussion, which included at least eight people who had personally visited north Korea, that hopefully opened the eyes of those who simply believe the lies and nonsense of the bourgeois media while encouraging others to take an active part in future Korean solidarity events. This was the first fringe meeting organised by Friends of Korea but it clearly won’t be the last!

photo: Andy Brooks, Michael Chant and Harpal Brar