UAF demo

The anti-fascist demo was vibrant though disappointing with the actual numbers marching while over at Liam’s blog he estimates around 2,000 and he’s right.

Lots of union banners such as FBU, RMT, PCS, Unison, UCU, NUT, Unite/T&G, CWU and have probably missed some out. Lots of young people there as well.

We marched from Tooley Street to Trafalgar Square. The cops tried to crack jokes as opposed to crack heads and didn’t see one imperial stormtrooper……

Kinda positive day, shame about the numbers.

 

More pics on my Flickr account.

Andy Burnham: Why sorry seems to be the hardest word

Funny how Andy Burnham can’t bring himself to vote for the government when it does something progressive like over removing the “need for a father” in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill (but he will argue conscience!). And yet he votes with them on an authoritarian and draconian measure like 42 days.

But that doesn’t satisfy Burnham. Instead he indulges in tittle tattle and smears against the director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti. It is pretty nauseating and the underlying, in my opinion, sexist notions about how women work with men. We get all emotional and use our womanly wiles, apparently.

And that’s what Burnham reduces it to. If Chakrabarti was a bloke, would he have used the same language? Unfortunately, Burnham just aint big enough to apologise instead he says, I have been genuinely taken aback at an interpretation placed on my remarks by others that I did not intend. Me thinks the man doth protest too much.

A strong dynamic woman like Chakrabarti is attacked with nasty sexist gossip and innuendo that will lead to distress. And when he is challenged he gets all mealy mouthed. It exposes again the low level gutter tactics of NL.

And as she rightly says: These remarks coincided with a relentless campaign of Westminster gossip that could only distract from serious issues and discourage young women from entering public life.