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 […]
“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 […]
THE TORIES’ response to the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War is to allow a mere 20,000 Syrians to settle in the UK over the next five years – an average of 4,000 a year. It will take nearly a year for the first refugees to arrive, so bureaucratic are the rules governing […]
Ian Townson, a Lambeth housing activist, traces the contours of a housing crisis made worse by Tory policy AT THE last election, all the mainstream parties issued their usual shopping list of measures to deal with the chronic housing crisis. The one thing they all lacked was a strategic plan for it. Having relied for 30 […]
TORY plans to reduce tax credits have been defeated in the House of Lords. This is a welcome setback for Osborne, but he is still determined to grab £4.4 billion from low paid workers and the self-employed. The Lords’ vote will delay Osborne’s plans by three years, but his Autumn Statement will reveal fresh […]
British steel is in crisis. While cheap Chinese is steel being “dumped” on world markets, three body blows have been inflicted on steel production. The SSI steelworks in Redcar is going into liquidation, with the government refusing to offer any lifeline. A mothballing operation will now see 2,200 jobs go, in a devastating blow to […]
Jeremy Corbyn won Labour’s leadership election by mobilising hundreds of thousands with his call for Labour to break with the austerity consensus and lead opposition to cuts, privatisation and war. The comprehensive nature of Corbyn’s victory has opened up a serious struggle over the Party’s future direction. The Blairite right have been quick off the […]
Marc Dauncey interviewed a returning Labour Party member in South Wales THESE are tumultuous times for the Labour Party after Jeremy Corbyn’s dramatic win and a huge influx of activists. Nowhere is that more evident than at the grassroots, local level – constituency and branch meetings. But how are these new activists finding the experience? […]
Matt Hale from Sheffield Central CLP (pc) spoke to Red Flag about the local Corbyn4Leader campaign RED FLAG: HOW DID JEREMY’S CAMPAIGN GO IN SHEFFIELD? MATT HALE: We initially started with an open organising meeting, inviting both Labour Party members and trade unionists, where we planned a series of events. We ran numerous phone banks and put […]
DAVID Cameron is threatening to put a series of votes to the Commons that would radically up the tempo of the war drums. First there is his stated aim to expand the UK’s theatre of operations in the Middle East to include bombing Syria. Labour has already, two years ago, thwarted this aim, when the intended […]
100,000 people who signed up to Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign over the summer, ticked the box to indicate they wanted to keep in touch and get active after the election. Many are new activists or returnees to the party. Now the team behind Jeremy4Leader has decided to launch Momentum – a new movement to encourage them […]
THE TORIES have wasted no time. More anti-union laws, less social housing, new wars. Cameron and Osborne are railroading Bills through Parliament. The Tories have launched a class war against ordinary people. So the labour movement has every right to respond by placing ourselves on a war footing. And now we have an anti-austerity leadership […]