LIKE Putin’s strategy in Syria, Britain’s and the USA’s also involves double-crossing old allies and co-opting new ones. The case that Cameron made for war included a reference to 70,000 “moderate opposition” fighters, whose existence many have been far too quick to dismiss, given the likely far larger size of the Syrian armed opposition. Cameron […]
BY crushing the Syrian revolutionaries and leaving only Assad and ISIS standing, Putin hopes to force the West to accept that Assad’s regime (with or without Assad at the top of it) is their least worst option. Putin’s claim to stand for the “unity of the Syrian state” actually means restoring the rule of the […]
By Marcus Halaby A COMMON view in the anti-war movement is that the current war in Syria is effectively a repeat of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, with Syria’s as-yet undefeated revolution against the Assad dictatorship simply the product of a US-led attempt at “regime change”. But in some ways it more closely resembles the […]
By KD Tait Labour MP Sadiq Khan has secured a six point lead over Tory rival Zac Goldsmith in the battle to seize control of City Hall after eight years of Tory misrule. The campaign is a chance to build on the 2015 General Election gains and mobilise the enthusiasm generated by Jeremy Corbyn’s new […]
By Joy Macready Labour Right’s “misogyny” accusations against Corbyn are a study in hypocrisy THE Labour party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) took the correct action in suspending Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk’s party membership after revelations he sent lewd text messages to a 17-year old woman. He used his position of power to make sexual advances […]
A motion committing Labour branches to opposing local government budget cuts
£11.3 billion will be cut from total central government grants to councils by 2016 From 2010-2015 council budgets were cut by 40 per cent. In 2015 George Osborne announced a further 30 per cent cut 75 per cent of local government workers are women, meaning cuts will affect those already discriminated against in the job […]
Key extracts from the 17 December letter from Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Jon Trickett to Labour council leaders To the Leaders of Labour Councils Dear Colleague, We are writing to you as Leader of the Party, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Shadow Chancellor. Today the government has announced the […]
A local government worker responds to Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell’s recent letter setting out their policy in relation to Labour councils implementing Tory austerity OVER the coming month, councils across the UK will be setting budgets for the coming year. They will include savage cuts, with the most vulnerable (women, children, the elderly and […]
There has been no let up in the coordinated smear operation against Corbyn “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” It started in earnest in August 2015, at the point when it became obvious that Jeremy Corbyn was on course for a landslide victory in last […]
By Bernie McAdam The NHS is heading for annual deficits of £2 billion, with regulators calling it the worst crisis in a generation. Shortages Already twelve hospital trusts did not have a single bed available from 4 to 6 December. Another thirty had fewer than ten beds free. Waiting time targets are worse than last […]
The commitment of our union leaders to the new politics is under scrutiny WITH the election of Jeremy Corbyn we finally have a Labour Leader who is not afraid to identify his party with the trade unions, to defend striking workers on television and in the press and to promise the repeal of the anti-union […]
In yet another fightback against Tory NHS cuts, over a thousand student nurses marched through central London on 9 January to protest at the loss of their bursaries. Having already scrapped the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and hiked tuition fees, the Tories now have student nurses in their sights. Tuition fees for student nurses will […]
By Bernie McAdam Labour movement solidarity can stop Hunt imposing unsafe contract AS the Tories continue their slashing of NHS funding, junior doctors have quite rightly responded with a massively popular strike. Tens of thousands struck for 24 hours on 12 January, with picket-lines all over the country drawing large numbers of doctors and other […]
LONDON Underground workers are set to open up a second front in defence of workers’ right to a family life, demanding guarantees against night shifts and weekend working destroying their work-life balance. Like the junior doctors, Tube drivers, maintenance and station staff fear that the introduction of a 24-hour transport service will mean increased hours, […]
THIS year has seen some of the worst floods, with areas from Aberdeenshire down to Lancashire under water. Large swathes of Northern cities like York, Leeds and Manchester were filled with muddy brown water. Families caught up in the deluge of Storms Desmond and Eva not only had their Christmas ruined, but face months of […]
Jeremy Corbyn has made a U-turn on Trident, agreeing to maintain the orders for the nuclear submarines “to save jobs” under pressure from the unions, especially the GMB and Unite. But he has ludicrously suggested they should carry conventional, not nuclear warheads. The £167 billion it costs to run these nuclear subs – which could never […]
Jeremy Corbyn has said that there is no convincing solution to the housing crisis that “does not start with a new, very large, very active council house building project”. On this issue, as on so many others, there is now clear red water between Corbyn’s Labour party and the Tories The Tories’ new Housing and […]
Our aims RED FLAG strongly supports Jeremy Corbyn against the MPs who are daily undermining him in the Tory and liberal media and will seek to oust him the moment they think they can get away with it. Blair, Brown and Miliband halved the membership during their years in leadership, lost two general elections and […]
STEEL When Steel firm Tata announced 1,000 new job cuts including 750 at the Port Talbot steel works in South Wales, this led to loud protests from local and national union leaders. Steel union Community’s General Secretary Roy Rickhuss called for ‘meaninful action’ from the government. Of course it is right that the jobs should […]
BRANCHES & CLPs Across the country local Labour councils are implementing Tory austerity in the face of resistance from workers, youth and unemployed – and increasingly from local Labour parties. The Labour leadership’s decision to launch a national campaign against central government cuts to local authorities is welcome – and long overdue. We hope that Labour […]
PLP A clique of right wing MPs have revealed their fears that they could be victims of a “bloodbath” when local parties select MPs, following changes to constituency boundaries. Some of these MPs seem to feel that having voted to add Britain’s contribution to the bloodbath in Syria could leave them on the wrong side of […]
A 21 year old woman from County Down faces life in prison if she is convicted by a court for the ‘crime’ of attempting to bring about an abortion. This is the first prosecution in more than 40 years under the 19th Century Offences Against the Person Act. The 1967 Abortion Act, which makes abortion […]
ISLAMOPHOBIA David Cameron has smeared Muslim women by suggesting that their supposed failure to learn English and integrate into British society is a cause of “radicalism” and terrorism. In fact most of those who carried out terrorist attacks in Britain, Belgium and France were fluent speakers of these countries’ languages. He added the threat that […]
Cancel multi-billion arms spending and tax the rich to create jobs, save the NHS and build homes THEY can’t have it both ways. The Tories say there’s no money to save council services, save jobs in steel, boost flood defences and stop the bankruptcy of NHS trusts. But they’ve got billions for nuclear missiles and high […]
At 10pm Parliament will vote on whether to send British planes to join the US-led bombing of Syria. David Cameron’s drive to war has nothing to do with protecting civilians and everything to do with maintaining Britain’s status as the USA’s principal ally. A vote to bomb Syria will mean RAF jets killing civilians they […]
NATIONALISATION. It’s the Labour policy the Tories have always hated. And it’s back in the news. Newly elected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has made it a cornerstone of his new package of leftwing policies. In a popular move he has called for the renationalisation of the railways. He wants to take gas, water and electricity […]
THE BRITISH government rolled out the “reddest of red carpets” for China’s President Xi Jinping’s four day state visit. There was no limit on the pomp and pageantry laid on to impress their visitor – and no doubt pictures of his reception by the Queen and his speech to members of both Houses of Parliament […]
“ELECTIONS change nothing,” said Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s finance minister. He was responding to the election of Syriza in January. Syriza owed their victory to their pledge to put a stop to austerity which had inflicted five years of grinding poverty on Greece. Six months later Schäuble was triumphant; Syriza’s leader Alexis Tsipras capitulated in the […]
The Scottish Nationalist Party is still riding high after its almost total wipe out of Labour in the May general election. The SNP has a lot of support among the electorate. Currently in the opinion polls they have about 50 per cent of the vote and look set to win a sweeping victory in the […]