Tuesday, July 02, 2024

Rubbish will pile up without improved pay offer, union warns

Nick Forbes, PA Scotland
Tue, 2 July 2024

Edinburgh faces a repeat of the 2022 bin strike unless workers receive an improved pay offer, a union has warned.

The capital is one of 13 councils in Scotland where waste and recycling workers affiliated with the GMB union have voted in favour of industrial action.

GMB Scotland said no meaningful talks with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) had taken place since May, when the latest pay offer was rejected.

It said Cosla was “counting down the clock” on pay talks, and accused it of “blocking” Scottish Government intervention in the dispute.

It called on the body to return to the table with an improved offer, warning that a failure to do so could result in bins overflowing in Edinburgh at a time when tourists are flocking to the city for the annual Festival Fringe.

Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser for public services, said: “Year after year, these talks have been needlessly drawn out. That leaves our members – typically the lowest paid working on the frontline of our services – without the pay rise they need. Inflation may be stabilising, but can anyone say they feel the difference?

“Council leaders refuse to have meaningful talks – all while blocking the Scottish Government’s intervention to deliver a pay offer that matches our members’ value. They are counting down the clock while our members go without.

“We hear time and time again that Scotland does public services better, but that’s not the case when the Conservatives down south have already beaten Cosla’s offer. If Cosla can’t do better, it’s time for them to bring the Scottish Government to the table to fund an improved offer.

“If not, then it’s likely that the same disruption during 2022’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival will happen again this year. Hundreds of millions are poured into the city during the Fringe, but political leaders claim they can’t find enough money to value frontline service workers.

“Council leaders have wasted months and they’ve wasted opportunities. Our members have no time for waste which is why rubbish will pile up in councils across Scotland if a suitable offer isn’t received. We have no interest in political games when so many are struggling.”

GMB Scotland said it had also received mandates for strike action from waste services workers in Aberdeen, Fife, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Aberdeenshire, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, and Stirling.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Local government pay negotiations are a matter for local authorities as employers and unions – the Scottish Government has no formal role.

“The Scottish Government urges all parties involved to work together constructively and reach an agreement which is fair for the workforce and affordable for employers.”

Cosla has been contacted for comment.

Union warns of Fringe festival rubbish pile up repeat with summer strikes

The union claims a repeat of strike action during the Fringe is 'likely again' this year.

GMBScotland said its members in waste services in 13 councils have achieved a mandate for strike action.

Matthew Fulton

A union has warned of a repeat of bins overflowing with rubbish at the Edinburgh Fringe festival this year after refuse workers secured a mandate for summer strike action.

GMB Scotland said its members in waste services in 13 councils have achieved a mandate for strike action in their dispute over pay with COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities).

Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Fife, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Aberdeenshire, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, and Stirling are all affected.

The union claims a repeat of strike action during the Fringe is “likely again” this year.

The last bin strike in 2022 saw rubbish pile high in the streets of towns and cities across the country following a dispute with refuse workers belonging to the Unison, Unite and GMB trade unions.

GMB said COSLA’s two part offer that would see workers receive a 2.2% increase for the first six months and an extra 2% for the next 12 months “falls short”.

Unison, Scotland’s largest local government union, also confirmed that thousands of waste and recycling workers will consider action in their dispute over pay.

Earlier this year, 91% of workers consulted voted to reject the offer.

Cleansing workers will stage a mass walkout in August if the action goes ahead.

Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser for public services, said: “Year after year, these talks have been needlessly drawn out.

“That leaves our members – typically the lowest paid working on the frontline of our services – without the pay rise they need.

“Inflation may be stabilising, but can anyone say they feel the difference?

“Council Leaders refuse to have meaningful talks – all while blocking the Scottish Government’s intervention to deliver a pay offer that matches our members’ value.

“They are counting down the clock while our members go without.

“We hear time and time again that Scotland does public services better, but that’s not the case when the Conservatives down south have already beaten COSLA’s offer.

“If COSLA can’t do better, it’s time for them to bring the Scottish Government to the table to fund an improved offer.

“If not, then it’s likely that the same disruption during 2022’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival will happen again this year.

“Hundreds of millions are poured into the city during the Fringe, but political leaders claim they can’t find enough money to value frontline service workers.

“Council Leaders have wasted months and they’ve wasted opportunities.

“Our members have no time for waste which is why rubbish will pile up in councils across Scotland if a suitable offer isn’t received.

“We have no interest in political games when so many are struggling.”

COSLA and the Scottish Government have been contacted for comment.

Spirit Aero to be broken up as Boeing agrees $4.7 billion stock deal

By Tim Hepher, Shivani Tanna and Mike Stone

July 1, 2024

Summary

Companies

Airbus to take on some Spirit operations related to its planes

Spirit made 737 MAX door plug involved in mid-air blowout

Boeing had spun off the fuselage supplier in 2005

July 1 (Reuters) - Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab agreed to buy back Spirit AeroSystems (SPR.N), opens new tab for $4.7 billion in stock and Airbus moved to take on the supplier's loss-making Europe-focused activities, sending shares in all three companies higher in a rare transatlantic break-up.

The near-two-decade independence of the world's largest standalone aerostructures company ended in a carve-up between its largest customers after the latest Boeing 737 MAX crisis, sparked by a mid-air door plug blowout in January, brought to a head doubts over the resilience of fuselage manufacturing.

Boeing, which spun off Spirit's core Wichita and Oklahaoma plants in 2005, said it would repurchase its former subsidiary for about $37.25 per share, as reported by Reuters on Sunday, giving it an enterprise value of $8.3 billion including debt.

"Bringing Spirit and Boeing together will enable greater integration of both companies' manufacturing and engineering capabilities, including safety and quality systems," Spirit CEO Pat Shanahan said in a statement.

Spirit shares rose 3.6% in early U.S. trading, while Boeing gained 2%
The Wichita, Kansas-based company said the deal offered a 30% premium versus the day before Boeing and Spirit announced talks to bring the struggling supplier back in house on March 1.

Boeing has long pondered buying back its former subsidiary, which analysts say has struggled to thrive independently despite diversifying into work for Europe's Airbus (AIR.PA), opens new tab and others.

The decision to go ahead comes as Boeing tries to resolve a sprawling corporate and industrial crisis that has engulfed one of the industry's key suppliers.

Boeing is trying to move past months of difficulties sparked by the Jan. 5 blowout of a door plug on a virtually new Alaska Airlines (ALK.N), opens new tab 737 MAX 9 jet that exposed quality problems.

Those issues have led to a substantial slowdown in output at Boeing, rippling across the global commercial aviation industry.

Rating agency Fitch said the deal should be "operationally beneficial" to Boeing, allowing it to better plan and control future 737 MAX production.

The U.S. planemaker has announced the planned departure of CEO Dave Calhoun in the wake of the crisis, with industry executives and analysts pointing to Spirit's Shanahan, a former senior Boeing executive, as one of the possible replacements.

It was not immediately clear how long he might be tied to Spirit, with the Boeing deal not due to close until mid-2025.

A Boeing 737 MAX-10 lands over the Spirit AeroSystems logo during a flying display at the 54th International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, June 22, 2023. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

In a note to investors, Bernstein analyst Douglas Harned said the deal "should add clarity ... potentially for the Boeing board’s attention to move to the decision on the next CEO".

AIRBUS DEAL

Spirit had been spun off from Boeing in one of a series of moves that critics say were emblematic of a focus on cost-cutting over quality.

Boeing made the decision to buy it back in the aftermath of the door plug blowout, in what it described as an effort to address its safety problems and shore up its production line.

That raised questions over the future of work that Spirit carries out for Boeing's arch-rival Airbus, prompting the CEO of the European giant to warn in April that it stood ready if necessary to veto changes in control of Airbus-related plants.

On Monday, Airbus said it would take over core activities at four of the supplier's plants in the United States, Northern Ireland, France and Morocco as reported by Reuters last week.

It will also take over minor work currently carried out in Wichita. The separate Airbus deal was triggered by talks between Boeing and Spirit and was loosely coordinated between the three companies, sources said. It is subject to due diligence.

Airbus shares rose about 3.3% on Monday.

Since Spirit's Airbus-related operations are in the red, industry sources had said the planemaker was pressing for up to $1 billion in compensation in return for taking over the plants, which make strategic parts for its A350 and A220 airliners.

Airbus said it would receive $559 million in compensation from Spirit, depending on the final outlines of the deal, while it would pay the supplier a symbolic $1 for the assets.

That echoes its decision to buy the Canadian-designed CSeries small jetliner program for just $1 from Bombardier (BBDb.TO), opens new tab in 2018. It later renamed the jet the A220.

Until the latest shake-up, Airbus had not envisaged taking control of the loss-making A220 wings manufacturing carried out in Belfast, which Spirit bought from Bombardier in 2019.

Monday's deal lifts doubts over the future of part of Northern Ireland's top industrial employer, though sources have said Airbus may need to invest significant sums to increase output and make the wings more affordable to produce.

Spirit said it planned to sell operations in Prestwick, Scotland and in Subang, Malaysia that support Airbus programs and those in Belfast that do not support Airbus programs.

Reporting by Mike Stone and David Shepardson in Washington, Allison Lampert in Montreal, Tim Hepher in Paris and Shivansh Tiwary, Abhijith Ganapavaram and Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; editing by David Gaffen, Shubham Kalia, Jamie Freed and Jason Neely

Future of UK factory in doubt after Boeing deal puts 2,400 jobs at risk

Story by Christopher Jasper • 19h •

Spirit AeroSystems - Handout© Provided by The Telegraph

The future of a major British aerospace plant is in doubt with up to 2,400 jobs at risk following a carve-up of owner Spirit AeroSystems between Boeing and Airbus.

A chunk of Spirit’s operations at the facility in Belfast have been left without an owner, putting the long-term future of the entire factory in danger.

Boeing is to buy Kansas-based Spirit for $4.7bn (£3.7bn) in order to gain control of a key supplier to its troubled 737 Max jet, while offloading operations that provide components for Airbus to its European rival.

This means Airbus will be taking control of a part of the Belfast factory that oversees wing and fuselage production for the Airbus A220 regional jet.

Boeing said an alternative buyer is being sought for the other parts of Spirit’s Belfast business that neither manufacturer is prepared to take on.

But if this deal falls through, it is feared the entire facility – the biggest manufacturer in Northern Ireland – will no longer be commercially viable.

Spirit is the biggest manufacturer in Northern Ireland - Spirit AeroSystems

© Provided by The Telegraph

George Brash, regional officer for the trade union Unite, said: “This deal provides no clarity whatsoever about the future of the majority of employees at Spirit Belfast.

“Our fear is that there will be a dismantling of the site and that jobs will be put at risk. We’re talking about a huge number of jobs in the context of Northern Ireland.”

Related video: Boeing Buys Back 737 Max Supplier Spirit Aerosystems (Cheddar News)
Duration 1:18 View on Watch

We condemn the failed military coup against the Bolivian people -International statement

1st July 2024Bolivia, International, Latin America, Luis Arce, SolidarityLeave a Comment

“We call for the international solidarity of our sisters and brothers around the world with the Bolivian people.”

By Wiphalas Across The World

Wiphalas Por El Mundo/Wiphalas Across The World condemns the failed military coup against the Bolivian People on Wednesday June 26, 2024.

We call for the international solidarity of our sisters and brothers around the world with the Bolivian people, calling to defend:

• Democracy, the Constitutional Order and Self determination of Bolivia.

• Respect for the Popular Vote that elected as President Luis Arce Catacora with more than 55% of the votes.

• The defence of Social Organizations, the Movement towards Socialisma Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the People MAS IPSP and its leader Evo Morales Ayma.

• The complete rejection of coup attempts by the military and any attempt at military insurrection, orchestrated by imperialism.

We want to alert the peoples of the world of the clear intentions of imperialism to reactivate a new Condor Plan in our Abya Yala (Latin America).

Jallalla the Plurinational State of Bolivia! The people united will never be defeated!

This statement was published by Wiphalas Across The World on 28th June 2024 – you can follow them on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
You can also follow Friends of Bolivia on Twitter/X and Facebook and the Labour Friends of Progressive Latin America on Facebook and Twitter/X.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner says she will ‘fight every day’ to give carers real living wage

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner used to be a care worker

(Andy Buchanan/PA)

By Rhiannon James,

PA Political Staff

Today

Labour’s Angela Rayner has said she will “fight every single day” for carers in England to receive the real living wage as she recalled her own experience as a care worker.

The party’s deputy leader said she remembered the feeling of people looking down on her during her time working in social care, which she described as a “special job”.

During the Citizens UK’s General Election assembly, Ms Rayner also revealed that she had found parts of the General Election campaign “nasty”.

There were some people who didn’t always respect us for what we didAngela Rayner

Speaking at the event held in Westminster on Monday, Ms Rayner said: “I was a home help, I know how special that job is.”

She added that it is “unacceptable” that carers are not paid a fair wage for the job they do.

Ms Rayner said she would “fight every single day” to bring carers real living wage pay “as quickly as possible”.

She added: “You save so much money by having a skilled care workforce.”

Recalling her time as a care worker for Stockport Council, Ms Rayner said: “I worked day and night on the frontline of our public services.

“It was tough work, but I loved the people I worked with and the people I cared for. It’s a special job.

“But I noticed something too, something I’ve gotten used to throughout my life, there were some people who didn’t always respect us for what we did.

“Looked down on us for living in a council house or being a single parent. And the wages and the conditions were not what they ought to be.”

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer

(Stefan Rousseau/PA

Elsewhere in her speech, Ms Rayner pointed to politics being a difficult industry. She said: “I know that politics isn’t always the most enjoyable business. Bits of this election campaign have been nasty.

“And if we win this Thursday, being in government won’t always be easy either.”

She added that Labour is “under no illusion” of the “mountain” the party has to climb if elected later this week.

She told the assembly: “For too long, the people running our country have not just had the wrong ideas but the wrong priorities too.

“They’ve lost sight of what’s important. The basic things in life that we all need.”

Ms Rayner added: “Standing in front of you today I am under no illusion about the mountain we have to climb.

“But I take comfort in knowing I am one voice in a movement. A movement which is greater than any politician’s promise.

“We seek power so we can hand it back to you – the people.”

Ms Rayner also said she is “determined” to give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote, if elected.

UK’s Labour, Tories should face consequences for stance on Gaza, Arab voters say

July 1, 2024

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – : Protesters take part in a rally in Whitehall in solidarity with the Palestinian people and to demand an immediate ceasefire to end the war on Gaza on the 76th anniversary of Nakba in London, United Kingdom on May 18, 2024. Nakba, also known as Palestinian Catastrophe, refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of over 700,000 Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. ( Wiktor Szymanowicz – Anadolu Agency )

Almost all Arab voters believe the Conservatives and Labour should face consequences for their stance on the war on Gaza, a survey from the Arab Voice Campaign has found.

Asked if they “believe that the Conservatives and Labour should face consequences for their stance on the war on Gaza”, 92 per cent of respondents said yes.

Of the 539 people surveyed, the majority said they follow their representative’s position on key issues, with 75 per cent knowing how their member of parliament voted on the Gaza ceasefire in November 2023.

Almost 67 per cent said they believe the Arab and Muslim vote was important and influential, just under 23 per cent said it had limited influence and almost four per cent said it is not important or influential at all.

Asked who they plan to vote for, almost 20 per cent said they were undecided on 24 June, when the survey was carried out. Only one per cent said they’d vote for the Conservative and Reform, while 12 per cent said Labour would get their vote.

The party that received the largest backing from respondents was George Galloway’s Workers Party, with 38 per cent of those contacted by the Arab Voice Campaign saying they planned to back them in the 4 July ballot.

The general election was called by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 22 May and it is widely expected that his Conservative Party will suffer a resounding defeat in favour of the Labour Party. However many younger voters have called for electoral reforms as the UK’s first past the post voting system means smaller parties are unlikely to get significant seats in parliament even if they receive a large percentage of votes.

In UK, Muslims threaten electoral damage on Labour Party over support for Israel

A number of parliamentary seats, once considered safe bets for the Labour Party, could be lost as Muslims organize around Gaza.

People walk on Westminster Bridge in London, Monday, July 1, 2024. The United Kingdom will hold its first national election in almost five years on Thursday, July 4, with opinion polls suggesting that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party will be punished for failing to deliver on promises made during 14 years in power.

(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

July 1, 2024
By Catherine Pepinster

RELIGION NEWS SERVICE

LONDON (RNS) — A few days before the British go to the polls on Thursday (July 4) to elect their national government, political pundits and polling companies are predicting a landslide for the Labour Party, ousting the Conservative government after 14 years in power.

But there are a number of parliamentary seats, once considered safe bets for the Labour Party, that are under threat as thousands of Muslim voters organize to unify their votes around support for Palestinians and a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.

The Labour Party under its current leader, Sir Keir Starmer, once under fire for its inability to tackle antisemitism, is embroiled in a fresh row over its attitude toward Israel and the war in Gaza, following the attacks by Hamas on kibbutzim last October. Debate over whether Labour has been supportive enough toward Palestinians has cast its shadow over many inner city seats that Labour might otherwise have confidently expected to win, with campaigners urging Muslim voters to reject Labour and opt for other, often independent, candidates.

Around 6.5 million Muslims live in the UK, according to 2021 census data, and most tend to be clustered in specific neighborhoods in London, Birmingham and several northern cities. In the past six weeks since Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the election, Muslim organizations have been rallying followers of Islam to vote. The Henry Jackson Society, a think tank, claims there are 17 constituencies where the Muslim electorate is substantial enough to affect the outcome of the ballot.

According to Zara Mohammed, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, speaking at a Religion Media Center briefing on May 15, there has been “voter apathy and a disconnect between voters and politicians,” in recent years.

But now this is changing, she said, thanks to voter registration drives of organizations like hers and “a lot of charged emotion” — much of it concerning Palestine and the situation in Gaza. With half of Muslims being under 24, the registration drive will see additional younger voters casting their ballots — and they are among the most distressed over Gaza.

Britain’s Labour Party leader, Keir Starmer, speaks on stage at the launch of The Labour party’s 2024 general election manifesto in Manchester, England, Thursday, June 13, 2024. The election will take place on July 4. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

“Big political parties have quite strained relationships with Muslims,” she said. “There is a real feeling of disenfranchisement right now. People are saying that their votes are taken for granted. A lot of trust needs to be repaired.”

Mohammed said conversations with Muslim voters indicate they are considering switching away from voting for Labour, which would mark a distinct change in Muslim voting patterns.

Paul Bickley, head of political engagement of Theos, a British religion think tank that researches religious voting patterns, confirms that “Muslims voted substantially for Labour in the past.” Research into voting preferences conducted a year ago showed Muslim support for Labour was at 58% (compared to 35% among the general population).

But these figures were compiled before the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023 and the ensuing Israeli advance on Gaza, which has left 35,000 people dead, according to U.N. figures, of which just over half are women and children.

According to Bickley, Theos does believe support for Labour will shift now within Muslim communities — a belief shared by the team at The Muslim Vote, an umbrella organization set up by several Muslim bodies to help unify Muslims as a voting bloc, specifically around “peace in Palestine. Equality in the UK,” according to its website.

Abubakr Nanabawa, the organization’s spokesman, says these are the primary priorities of British Muslims right now.

“Gaza is among the top four issues for Muslims,” he said, with the others being the cost of living, the state of public services, and the future of the National Health Service. “A lot of Muslims not only use the NHS, they work in it,” he said.

According to Nanabawa, The Muslim Vote is not a partisan political organization.

“We say to people you are casting votes not just for a party, but for an individual,” he said.

The Muslim Vote argues that with the vast majority of Muslims in Britain living in 80 constituencies — almost all of them in London, the east and west Midlands, Greater Manchester and Lancashire, and west Yorkshire — they can have a clear impact.

“We will no longer tolerate being taken for granted. We are a powerful, united force of 4 million acting in unison,” reads the organization’s website.

Just how much of an impact Muslims can have — particularly when they are angered by an issue like Gaza — was highlighted by the Rochdale parliamentary by-election in March, when George Galloway, standing for the Workers Party, had a landslide victory after making his campaign about Gaza.

A similar trend was notable in the May local elections. According to Professor Will Jennings of Southampton University, there was an 18% drop in the Labour vote in areas where more than a fifth of people identified as Muslim, which led to the party losing control of Oldham Council in Greater Manchester and losing ground in Blackburn in Lancashire. The BBC said that — compared to 2021— Labour support among Muslims was down by 21% in 58 local council wards.

“We know that we’ve got a great deal of work to do to rebuild trust with Muslim communities,” said Ellie Reeves, a Labour MP and the party’s deputy national campaign coordinator.

At the time, Ali Milani, the national chair of the Labour Muslim Network, told The Guardian that “Muslims don’t think that the Labour Party broadly values Palestinian and Muslim lives as equal to others,” a view shaped by Labour’s record on a cease-fire in the Palestinian conflict.

In November, 56 Labour MPs defied their own party’s orders and voted for a Scottish National Party’s motion for a cease-fire. Then, in February, MPs approved a Labour motion calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” — but influential voices in the Muslim community remain unconvinced of Starmer’s commitment to a cease-fire.

The Muslim Vote website includes information for voters about constituency candidates and with some, recommendations for whom to vote for or against. No Conservative candidate has been recommended, says Nanabawa, “because they have destroyed infrastructure, the NHS, and young people cannot afford housing.”

Some Labour MPs are not recommended according to their track record on Gaza and on local issues, he said. In other seats, The Muslim Vote remains neutral.

Among the seats where the Muslim electorate is substantial are Ilford North, where Wes Streeting, Labour’s shadow secretary for health and social care, is defending his seat. Muslims make up 43.6% of the vote, according to the Henry Jackson Society. The Muslim Vote organization is urging people to vote instead for an independent candidate.

In Leicester South, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, faces a similar battle, where Muslims make up 37% of the vote and The Muslim Vote recommends another independent.

Meanwhile, polling of Christian voters suggests churchgoers in England and Wales are more likely to vote for centrist or left-wing parties. A Bible Society panel, consulted in the first weeks of June, showed 70% of those questioned said they would not vote for right-wing parties. Of them, 40% said they would vote Labour, while 23% of them said Liberal Democrat and 7% Green.

From Labour leader to independent, Jeremy Corbyn vows to work in the UK and Europe for a ceasefire in Gaza

Former Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn (C) joins pro-Palestinian supporters preparing to march through central London, on May 18, 2024, at a demonstration to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the Nakba and call for an end to arms sales to Israel.

[BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP via Getty Images]

by Muhammad Hussein
June 30, 2024

Rises and falls are all part and parcel of the life of many a political figure, often in numerous occurrences and often at the hands of forces too big to be beaten. Jeremy Corbyn is no exception to that rule. Having served as leader of the UK’s Labour Party from 2015 to 2020, to being exiled from that very same party, he now stands as an independent candidate for his parliamentary seat of Islington North.

The former prime ministerial candidate, if anything, is known for his adherence to certain principles – long-held over many decades but untested by national leadership – which include proclamations of justice, accountability, security reformation, and an opposition to war and conflict.

Speaking to Middle East Monitor, Corbyn recalled his avid involvement in local politics from an early age, having first become active in his school years over issues such as the Vietnam war and environmental sustainability, as well due to an interest in tackling injustice, poverty, and discrimination.

He then worked as a trade union organiser in London in his twenties, before becoming a councillor and then an MP for Islington North in 1983. With his worldview and interest in history having been significantly influenced by his early years in the Caribbean, he stated that his decades representing his local community have “been a learning journey, learning from people from all over the world who’ve made their homes here and trying to speak up for them in parliament”.

Corbyn stressed that “I hate war and the violence that goes with it, so I started life campaigning against the Vietnam war”, highlighting his advocacy for justice and his anti-colonial stance as prominent focal points in his political mission. “It’s also about global solidarity, and I have always spoken up on issues such as apartheid in South Africa, the cause of the Palestinian people, and the cause of people which are denied representation around the world”.

Having been a member of the Labour Party since the age of 16, in which he held multiple roles and positions throughout the decades, his leadership and candidacy for prime minister of the UK – after the defeats in the 2017 and 2019 elections – ended in 2020 when he stepped down, and culminated in his brief suspension from the party that same year over his interpretation of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

He was reinstated three years later, and “that could and should have been the end of the matter”, but the party’s new leader Keir Starmer “decided I should be suspended from the parliamentary party and that dispute has gone on ever since.”
An independent focus on the constituency’s challenges

The new Labour then debarred from being a candidate in this year’s upcoming general election, to take place on July 4, as well as debarring Islington North “from selecting anybody else, or even having a chance to choose me, if that’s what they wanted to do. Then when they tried to impose a candidate I attempted to put my name forward they denied it and told me the rules of natural justice did not apply to the Labour Party”.

Jeremy Corbyn MP addresses demonstrators gathered at a rally in Whitehall in solidarity with the Palestinian people and to demand an immediate ceasefire to end the war on Gaza on the 76th anniversary of Nakba in London, United Kingdom on May 18, 2024. [Wiktor Szymanowicz – Anadolu Agency]d

Now running as an independent candidate to maintain his seat as the constituency’s MP, he said his campaign has been “getting wonderful levels of support and enthusiasm from volunteers” and from the wider community. That campaign “is not about me”, Corbyn insisted. “It’s about the issues. It’s about peace, it’s about justice, it’s about social justice and equality in Britain”.

With his own community and constituency at the forefront of his campaign, he said that Islington North “contains all the problems and joys of modern British society. It’s a diverse community, there are 70 different languages spoken in the constituency. It has, sadly, over 40 percent of our children living in degrees of poverty within society”, in addition to “some very rich people living in very big houses in certain parts of the constituency”.

Ming vase politics: UK Labour and purging the Corbynistas

Amongst the main issues facing that community are “poverty and housing”, Corbyn said, highlighting the high mortgages, rent increases, low security of tenure, and bad energy efficiency that many in the constituency have suffered, despite the council’s best efforts to tackle such challenges. The high numbers of rough sleepers and homeless people are also a constant issue, he said, as elsewhere in the British capital.
Securing peace in the Middle East

Saying he is “passionate about the cause of peace in the Middle East”, Corbyn recounted that “I’ve been nine times to Palestine, to Israel, to the refugee camps, and all of the neighbouring countries – Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and so on.” Those trips have been a key factor in his long-held stance on the urgency of a resolution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the failure of which has led to the current ongoing Israeli offensive on Gaza and the destruction of the Strip, now entering its tenth month. “I’m just horrified, every day, as more horror stories of what went on and is going on now in Gaza on top of the events of October 7, and so I’m campaigning on that.”

His plan to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, if re-elected, would include “working with colleagues in parliament”, which would reportedly be a continuation of his efforts during his past term. “For the whole of the last parliament, I’ve been a member of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe… and I’ve constantly raised the issues of Gaza there. I will continue that work at the European level”.

He insisted that he would also continue to raise his voice at pro-Palestine demonstrations, as well as to further work with allies from various other parties in the UK “to demand an immediate and complete ceasefire, but above all, recognition of the State of Palestine”.

Read: UK carried out 200 spy missions over Gaza in support of Israel

A key factor facilitating the Israeli genocide in Gaza which Corbyn particularly highlighted, however, is the UK’s own complicity in supplying arms and military assistance to Tel Aviv. He plans to use “the platform in parliament to expose the arms trade, British military participation, the use of RAF Akrotiri [the British airbase in Cyprus], the supply of arms from this country to Israel, and also, of course, legal issues.” Corby insisted that “I won’t stop until we get a ceasefire, until we get justice for the Palestinian people”.

If he is re-elected back into parliament, he said, “I will be working with anyone in parliament that agrees with the need for immediate recognition [of Palestinian statehood], which would in turn encourage a peace process.” Recalling the recent recognition of Palestine by Ireland, Norway, and Spain, Corbyn stated that such a step was “very important, because having a significant bloc of European Union member states recognising Palestine makes it much harder for the other countries not to do so. The biggest stumbling blocks are Britain, France, and Germany at the present time”.
Labour’s fall from Palestine’s grace

With regards to any possibility of the Labour Party – as well as its leader Keir Starmer – reforming its stance on the Gaza conflict and recognising Palestinian statehood, Corbyn said “I would like to be optimistic and say they will”, but he reserves doubts that would be the case due to the party’s stance that recognition of the State of Palestine is part of a peace process. “No, it has to be an unconditional and immediate recognition of the state of Palestine”, he stressed. “The vast majority of the world’s nations have done that, in some cases many years ago.”

Throughout the past year, Labour’s weak stance on the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and its reluctance to recognise Palestine has disappointed many long-time members and supporters of the party, disillusioning them and leading significant voter blocs to refuse further support for Labour in this election.

Jeremy Corbyn (c), Independent candidate for Islington North, stands with supporters holding posters in Archway before a canvassing session in support of his General Election campaign on 29th June 2024 in London, United Kingdom. [Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images]“It’s done enormous damage to the Labour standing”, Corbyn stated, lamenting that the party has ridden back from its pro-Palestinian stance when he held the leadership. “They are wrong. They’re wrong to put caveats on it [Palestinian statehood] and they’re wrong to…not to recognise in any sense that it is always completely illegal to deny people access to water, power, food, and medicine. Those are war crimes if you deny people those things.”

Emphasising the need for “real security” in international relations, which include rights to food, clean water, and other necessities, Corbyn said that “the issues facing this planet are inequality, poverty, environmental disaster, are the wars created in the greed of trying to get minerals”.

He further added that “real security comes in this world if you have food, you have education, you have a health service, and you have clean air and a clean environment. Those are the issues that we have to be concentrating on, not encouraging more wars by the development of the arms trade, and ensuring that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights means what it says, and children don’t get bombed in Gaza, in Yemen, in the Congo, or anywhere else in this world.”

Starmer’s ban on Corbyn may mean “irreparable” damage to Labour in Islington

29th June 2024Jeremy Corbyn, Labour, Labour Party DemocracyLeave a Comment

“The impact across the borough Party of the leadership’s persecution of Jeremy Corbyn has been profound. The Council & Party are both very divided & unhappy.”

From LabourHub

Over 70 members of Islington North Labour Party are today asking voters to vote for the independent candidate Jeremy Corbyn, including the overwhelming majority of the CLP’s executive committee. Further below we reproduce their letter in full. First, we publish an exclusive article from a group of Party activists who are bitterly angry at how have they have been treated.

This is a strange election, but for some of us it is even stranger. We have been Labour Party members in Islington North for decades, and have loyally turned out to campaign for all sorts of deadbeats, no-hopers and right wingers. But this time, like most of the members of the constituency, we are not.

In May Cllr Anjna Khurana was elected Mayor of Islington for this year. Anjna represents the best of us: hardworking, principled and brave, she took legal action, challenging the sale of local GP surgeries to an American health care company. It’s convincing proof of how Islington Labour defends the vulnerable and sick, great to mention on the doorstep, as one of those surgeries returns to the local GP Federation at the beginning of July. Well, we are not on the doorstep and we doubt anyone who is canvassing for Labour is mentioning it.

Everyone knows what has happened to our MP of over 40 years, and that Jeremy Corbyn is now standing as an independent. Islington North members were presented with a shortlist of two by the NEC, and then told that even that ‘choice’ was denied them, and someone called Praful Nargund was to be the Labour candidate in this hitherto safe seat.

Most residents had never heard of him, but we Party members had. There were rumours about his ambitions to be an MP, ever since he was elected as a local councillor two years ago, after a ‘selection’ in which, unusually, only those selected stood, in a ward in the neighbouring constituency. He is alleged to have employed a PR or lobbying firm to further his ambitions, soon after buying a house in Barnsbury (a terraced house there will set you back over £4m today).

So who is Praful Nargund? According to the Daily Mail, he is a multi-millionaire private healthcare entrepreneur, who was educated at the now £25,000-per-year King’s College School in Wimbledon and holds more than £9.4million worth of shares in his family’s holding company. He is reported to have been a director of a US-owned private healthcare company, which made £16million profit in just nine months, from UK patients, and only left his role just prior to being publicly announced as Labour’s imposed Islington North candidate.

In spite of all those resources, however, he has been undistinguished as a councillor in the London Borough of Islington where he sat on only two council committees – the minimum. Unsurprisingly, Praful Nargund is refusing to take part in election hustings or talk to the local press, skewered by his comments in favour of the privatisation of health services.

His candidacy is in stark contrast to the hugely popular and hardworking MP whom he seeks to replace. Many local councillors and branch and constituency officers have chosen not to campaign for him, despite pressure to do so. Scores of activists have left the Party in disgust, including many branch organisers, chairs and even the chair of the CLP.

The constituency has had no access to Organise or Contact Creator for several months, making it difficult to organise campaigning for Sadiq Khan during the mayoral campaign. Seemingly, Sadiq’s victory was less important to some in the Party bureaucracy than the need to stop the local Party functioning. Yet we overcame the problems and turned out to campaign for him in spite of it. The shutdown was supposedly because of a data breach which prevented branch and constituency meetings. But miraculously now we can all get Party emails, and one of the first was from Nargund, asking for campaign donations.

The impact across the borough Party of the leadership’s persecution of Jeremy Corbyn has been profound. The Council and Party are both very divided and unhappy. As members leave, there is demoralization and drift. Beyond the Party, there is confusion and dismay among ordinary voters that a much-loved MP no longer has the official Labour label.

Whoever becomes the MP for Islington North, the damage to the local Party may be irreparable. Many of those who left may not return to a Party that is so tainted and is fast becoming home to a small group of bumptious, entitled right wingers and where what was once a pioneering progressive council is losing its values and its touch.

In the circumstances, it is important that those on the left who are staying in the Party do not dance to the tune of the right and seal themselves off from those who felt they had to leave. Member and ex-members, the left inside and out, need to work together and prepare for the battles to come.

—

Media outlets are reporting today that 72 members including most CLP executive officers have signed an open letter calling on voters in the constituency to back Jeremy Corbyn, who is now standing as an independent. But few are publishing the letter in its entirety with all its signatories. Labour Hub reproduces this below.

A plea from resigning and former members of Islington North Labour Party: vote for Jeremy Corbyn, Independent

Dear voters of Islington North,

We have been proud members of Islington North Labour Party for many years. Together, we have campaigned on a wide range of issues, from defending the local Number 4 bus route to saving the local hospital’s A&E. These campaigns have united members from all sides of our Party, and we are proud of the collegiate atmosphere that we have created. In many ways, Islington North CLP was the genuine broad church that the Labour Party claims to be.

This year, we have been denied the right to choose our own candidate for the General Election. Not a single person in Islington North has had a say. We believe in democracy – and the people of Islington North deserve an MP who believes in democracy too.

Jeremy Corbyn has dedicated his life to this constituency. We hear on a regular basis from people how Jeremy has been there for them in their time of need, whether that is housing, education or anything else. He has always worked in partnership with our progressive Labour Council, both as a Labour MP and as an Independent MP.

We have been proud to stand alongside Jeremy over the course of ten General Elections. This year, we will be campaigning for him as an independent candidate for Islington North. Many of us have already resigned or been expelled from the Labour Party as a result. Those of us who are still in the Party know our support for Jeremy will

result in the termination of our membership. We do not take this decision lightly, but it is time to take a stand in the name of democracy and justice.

We will campaign on the same principles we have always had. That includes ending all privatisation of our NHS in order to restore the principle of free, public and universal healthcare.

Jeremy has always been an honest, brave and principled voice. We need that voice now, more than ever. We implore Labour voters to support Jeremy Corbyn as an independent candidate, and vote for him on the 4th July.

Signed,

Alison McGarry (CLP Chair)

Bisi Williams (CLP Vice Chair Membership)

Gill Lawton (CLP Vice Chair Membership)

Ruth Clarke (CLP Women’s Section Secretary)

Steph Linkogle (CLP Vice Chair Campaigns)

Sarah Doyle (CLP Secretary)

Oliver Durose (CLP Assistant Secretary)

Martin Franklin (CLP Environment Officer,

Tufnell Park ward delegate)

Michael Rowan (CLP Communications and Social Media)

Simon Hinds (ex-CLP BAME Officer)

Terry Conway (CLP LGBT Officer, GM

delegate Unite LE 00014 branch)

Karen Shook (Finsbury Park Ward Executive Committee)

Nadine Finch (Union delegate from Unite LE 790 Branch, Chair of Arsenal Ward)

Mumtaz Khan (Union delegate from Unite LE 00014 branch)

Talal Karim (Union delegate from Unite LE 525 branch)

Gillian Dalley (Tollington Ward Chair)

Diane Reay (Vice Chair Tollington Ward)

Kate Buffery (Junction Ward GM delegate, Local Campaign Forum)

Peter Murray (Treasurer, Junction Ward)

Jonathan Gore (Ward Organiser, Highbury)

Cassie Mayer (Hillrise Ward GM delegate)

Sophie Maisey (Hillrise Ward GM delegate)

Ginette Williams (Hillrise GM Ward delegate)

Jan Whelan (Hillrise Ward GM delegate)

Mica Nava (Tufnell Park Ward GM delegate)

Dr Azhar Malik (Tufnell Park Ward GM delegate)

Jeremy Maher (Tufnell Park Ward GM delegate)

Annette Thomas (Tufnell Park Ward GM delegate)

Tony Graham (Highbury Ward GM delegate)

Stelios Foteinopoulos (Finsbury Park Ward GM delegate)

Minda Burgos-Lukes (Highbury Ward GM delegate)

Nick Davidson (Highbury Ward Treasurer, GM delegate)

Jan Whelan (Hillrise Ward GM delegate)

Dr Zohra Malik

Dr Rohi Malik

Sive Malik

Reem Abou-El-Fadl

Jan Pollock

Celie Hanson

William Murphy

Jenny Howell

Judy Garton-Sprenger

Tom Cockcroft

Juliette Mullin

Joei Silvester

This was originally published by LabourHub here and we reproduce in full for information purposes.

NHS relies on overseas workers just like Windrush era, says nursing director

Despite demand for their skills stories of overseas nurses receiving racial abuse from patients are still common

THE NHS is still heavily dependent on overseas workers just like during the Windrush-era, a leading director of nursing has said.

Dionne Daniel, Director of Nursing for the Fundamentals of Care at Epsom and St Helier Hospitals, says that a large number of job vacancies exist in the healthcare sector and staff shortages have made it crucial to recruit nurses from overseas, particularly from regions such as the Caribbean.

This international recruitment strategy has become an essential component in efforts to build and sustain the NHS workforce ensuring that patient care standards are maintained.

She said: “There are still huge vacancies today and we are dependent on international nurses to work for the NHS.”

Daniel was speaking after the launch of a new app launched by St George’s, Epsom, and St Helier hospitals aimed at providing overseas nurses with more support after they arrive in the UK.

The ‘Ask Aunty’ app pairs newly arrived staff with a colleague who can help them settle into life in the UK. Through its innovative platform, the app facilitates invaluable connections between experienced colleagues, affectionately referred to as “Aunties,” and those embarking on their journey in a new country, offering a wealth of knowledge and practical advice to help newcomers navigate the intricacies of life in the UK.

According to Daniels, although the demand for overseas health professionals is high, many still encounter significant discrimination which not only affects their professional experiences but also poses challenges to their ability to settle into life in the UK.
Racial abuse

She says this echoes the experience of people like her aunt Yvonne, a member of the Windrush generation, who was trained in both nursing and midwifery, and came here from the Caribbean to work as a nurse.

Speaking about her aunt’s experience as an employee of the NHS she said: “Over the years, she’s shared with me some of her experiences including patients refusing to be cared by her and racially abusing her, as well as when she bought her house, as the first Black person on the street, people in the area moved away.”

She added: “Sadly some of the stories she has told me, I still hear similar ones these days from new starters in the NHS.”

Support

Daniel said she was pleased to see the launch of the Ask Aunty app.

“As we remember those who came here many years ago, it is encouraging to see initiatives – such as Ask Aunty – to support those health care professionals who are still coming to work in the NHS” she said.

The healthcare specialist shared fond memories of her aunt including “Caribbean people coming together for parties and supporting each other through difficult times.”

“When she wasn’t working in the NHS, she was very much involved with her local church and community.

“My aunt served in the NHS for several years and raised her family in the UK, and is now enjoying time with her grand and great-grandchildren.”

She added: “My aunt and her generation made a very positive contribution to the NHS and society, and I hope that we never forget this.”

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Starmer’s ban on Corbyn may mean “irreparable” damage to Labour in Islington

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