SOAS 9: Home Office protest

Rosa, one of the SOAS 9 cleaners, was deported today. Marina is the only cleaner left in the hateful racist Serco run Yarl’s Wood. There was an attempt to blockade the vans from leaving carrying people to be deported. Unfortunately, the protesters didn’t succeed. One person was arrested. Hopefully there will be more blockades and actions against deportations.

One of the cleaners who was deported on the Sunday to Colombia, was still in the same clothes from the Friday (when forcibly detained by the immigration officials) when she arrived in to Bogotá. All the woman had was 75 pence and was miles away from her family in Cali.

The money these cleaners earned has been frozen by the government so they can’t get access to it. They have no money; exploitation, deportation and now the government steals their money!

I listened to speakers outside the Home Office tonight. Unison and PCS members, along with other union activists (myself a member of the GMB), students and activists overall all showed, vocally, our anger at this form of state racism. An activist was on the phone to Amelia, one of the hunger strikers in Yarl’s Wood. Her message was simple: keep on fighting!

Someone mentioned the appallingly latest racist slogan from Gordon Brown ‘local homes for local people’ (remember ‘British jobs for British workers’), which goes against Harman’s Equality Bill btw!! More pandering to racism by NL as opposed to fighting against it. When I heard this slogan on the news the other night it sent one big shiver down my spine.

So NL is tough on immigration by deporting some of the most exploited workers. Showing their mighty iron fist by degrading, humiliating and vilifying some of the most powerless in this society. When profit determines pay and conditions. And when migrant workers fight back they are punished.

For concrete and practical things to do look at the SOAS cleaners website.

El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!!

Activist on the phone to Amelia who is at Yarl's Wood

INQUEST briefing into the death of Ian Tomlinson

This is a briefing from Inquest into the death of Ian Tomlinson.

Important observation about the initial actions of the IPCC:

The fact that the IPCC was unable to take immediate control of the potential crime scene or indeed to have any input at all during the golden hours and early days of the investigation means that the suspicion of a cover-up will always linger. This is detrimental to public confidence even if that suspicion is ill-founded. There are ongoing concerns about the seizure and preservation of evidence and the need for prompt interviewing of witnesses, in particular of police officers.

 Concluding comments:

It is imperative that the conduct of policing in England and Wales is demonstrably compliant with the law, including human rights law. Police officers in England and Wales cannot operate with impunity. The level of public disquiet about the conduct of some police officers during the G20 protests was directly related to the public availability of visual evidence. However for groups who have been subject to repressive policing such aspeople from BAME communities, trade unionists and protesters, allegations of police harassment and misconduct and excessive use of force come as no surprise.

The role of politicians and their constituents is to scrutinize and ultimately make informed decisions regarding the policy framework in which the police make vital operational decisions. It is undemocratic and sets a very worrying precedent for the police to be allowed to perform those functions unchecked. Concerns about police accountability mechanisms still exist thirty years after the death of Blair Peach. INQUEST will continue to raised critical concerns, insist on rigorous scrutiny of police conduct and supportthe family of Ian Tomlinson in their quest for justice.

Women’s tennis: it’s about the ‘babe factor’…apparently!

I like tennis, one sport where I am a bit of an aficionado. Have watched it religiously since a kid and even played the sport as well. When I watch a game, I am interested in the skill, strategy, expertise and the overall joy of the game. I don’t give a damn what they look like.

But it seems that the All England Club does, indeed so does the BBC, when it comes to choosing which women players get the spotlight on Centre Court.

And yesterday the All England Club admitted that physical attractiveness is taken into consideration, with spokesman Johnny Perkins adding: “Good looks are a factor.”

The paper suggested attractive players were placed on Centre to titillate TV viewers – and a BBC source agreed it helped ratings.

“It’s the Wimbledon play committee, not us who decides on the order of play,” the source said. “Our preference would always be a Brit or a babe as this always delivers high viewing figures”.

Charming…. a woman tennis player is reduced to a mere ‘babe’…. How enlightening!

 And it seems on evidence that players like Serena Williams has been relegated from Centre Court to No. 2 Court in favour of other women players.

So lets get this straight…. it’s all about ratings, gratification and titillation. Nothing about skill or expertise. Just pretty white women. This has the distinct stench of misogyny and racism.

And thankfully, some of the women players are appalled by this blatant discrimination and have spoken out. Oh, and the fact these chaps admit to it say volumes about the All England Club and the BBC. Methinks, as well, that it is men who are selecting (ranking, perchance?) these women, and attractiveness is probably high up the ranking….

It demeans, devalues and degrades the sport, women are being objectified and reduced to their physical looks. So if you are a good player but not fantastic to look at (by their interpretation) then you don’t get a fair crack at Centre Court….?

Is this happening with the male players? No chance! ‘Cos it is all about skill, expertise and strategy. Looks don’t come into it.

Sexist double-standards? You bet!!
Btw: Complain here.

Hat tip: F Word

Coup in Honduras

Couple articles about the coup in Honduras.

There will be a protest today. I can’t make it as I will be lobbying the Home Office regarding the SOAS cleaners.

Obama’s First Coup

 

Honduras: Old Coup Strategy, Different Stage

 

Day 2 of the Coup in Honduras

Emergency picket the embassy

Down with the reactionary coup!
Bring back Zelaya!
Solidarity with the people of Honduras!
Emergency picket of the embassy of Honduras
Tuesday, June 30 5pm,
115 Gloucester Place
London W1U 6JT
(Tube: Baker Street / Paddington)

EDM 1764

“That this House deplores the military action that has been taken in Honduras to remove the democratically-elected government; believes that only the Honduran people have the right to determine their government through a democratic process and that this action against democracy should be condemned throughout the world; and therefore calls for the immediate reinstatement of the democratically-elected government in Honduras.”

Chavez Calls for Continent-Wide Protests against Honduran Coup

 

G20 protests: a few inexperienced rookie cops…

An example of a scared inexperienced rookie cop

So it seems like the Commons home affairs select committee inquiry into the G20 protests of April 1 has experienced the ‘assistant bosun’ syndrome which means pointing the finger of blame/culpability to people down the chain of command. Usually people who don’t possess a great amount of power.

In this case:  The report by the cross-party group of MPs says they “cannot condone the use of untrained, inexperienced officers on the frontline of a public protest under any circumstances”.

The logic being that if ‘untrained and inexperienced’ cops weren’t used at the protests then everything would have been hunky dory..?

If that’s the case, then why were ‘inexperienced’ cops put in the front line? Who gave the orders? What kind of training were this cops given as there’s supposed to be different levels of training when it comes to policing protests/public order? ‘Inexperienced’ cops using excessive (as opposed to more polite ‘inappropriate’) force to control people….well, where were their supervisors keeping a watching brief? Where was the accountability and responsibility over those days? Why were cops hiding their numbers, who told them to do that?

And the role of the thuggish TSG, who are a law unto themselves (see comments by BristleKRS who gives an excellent and comprehensive overview of the G20 protests and demolishes the ‘inexperienced and scared’ cop theory as the evidence contradicts!)

Well, it is a shame (though not surprised in the least) that the inquiry doesn’t wholeheartedly condemn and demand that kettling is banned. Instead the committee:

…also calls for the police to seriously consider whether they can continue with the use of tactics such as kettling.

Yes, but somehow I doubt the cops will reconsider the use of this obscene form of social control.

Furthermore:

The select committee stops short of commenting on the death of the newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson or the case of Nicola Fisher, who was struck across the face by a police sergeant.

So no robust condemnation? Instead they will argue it is not in the remit of their inquiry. So this was one luke warm exercise, at the usual whitewash temperature, along with spin and cover-up finishing .

But hey, in many ways this was a large protest which passed off remarkably well. Well, that makes it ok then…doesn’t it!

And did the committee actually interview any of the ’scared, inexperienced’ cops or was it just senior cops…?

It is alluding to the ‘few bad cops’ mentality nothing about ideology of the police or even the basic tactical instructions cops were given that day, who said what and at what level? So is this going to be filed away under ‘better training’? And that’s what it was all about, lousy training and rookie cops?

But it went beyond that, systematic brutality and violence, along with frenzied beatings (or should that be clubbings?). And interesting how the report stops short of commenting about the death of Ian Tomlinson or the attack on Nicky Fisher.

And these tooled up Kevlar wearing paramilitary-style imperial stormtrooper rookies…..scared..??!! Really, what of?

If they were ’scared’ then it doesn’t begin to describe the fear the protesters felt and for good reason.

And I know the inquiry doesn’t comment about the death of Ian Tomlinson (and was that cop a rookie…?!?!) or the assault on Nicky Fisher… and the cop who violently attacked her was a…. TSG sergeant… not a rookie cop.

So to reiterate, it goes beyond a few ’scared rookie inexperienced cops’ … Though as we know it is a simpler and easier conclusion to make.

And I can’t wait for report by Denis O’Connor, the chief inspector of constabulary, who recommends that senior police officers must use “reasonable discretion” when containing large numbers of protesters.

And what exactly does ‘reasonable discretion’ mean? It is ambiguous and elastic in terms because it can mean ….well anything….

Some informative articles

Marxsite has some interesting and informative articles. Terry Eagleton’s piece on Culture and Socialism is very thought provoking, and I agree with the analysis of the LGBT movement put forward by Peter Tatchell.

Oh, and John Pilger ‘de-coding’ the speech made by Obama earlier this month in Cairo.

A4e: ‘more for greed, less for need’…

This is what happens when NL contracts out public services…it becomes an issue of maximising profit, greed…and fraud…

Step forward A4e

The Observer found that A4e, one of the government’s biggest private contractors, is at the centre of the Department for Work and Pensions inquiries. It is understood that at least two other recruitment companies have been probed by the DWP. Last night Yvette Cooper, the work and pensions secretary, confirmed that investigations were under way and said she could cancel multimillion-pound contracts if widespread fraud was uncovered.

Well, fraud isn’t unexpected, is it now…?! But I bet NL will soldier on with chucking public money at private companies involved in the Flexible New Deal contracts…

The slogan for the Flexible New Deal ought to be:

‘More for greed, less for need’….

Labour Briefing AGM report

Jeremy Corbyn

So Jack Duckworth (Coronation Street to the uninitiated) believes along with his friend Conniethat the railways should be re-nationalised . Well, they slipped that shockingly subversive line in before the watershed!

When Jeremy Corbyn at yesterday’s Briefing AGM said that basic demands like public ownership, anti-war, anti-privatisation are simple yet popular. He also spoke about the shocking and heartbreaking experiences some of his constituents have faced when up against the welfare benefits system, and where a good proportion of his time is spent writing to the DWP. And with the Welfare Reform Bill sailing through Parliament things can only get worse…

John McDonnell

It then made me think that how do NL clone MPs deal with constituents attending his/her surgery with similar problems with their benefits? Do they just go through the motions, perhaps doing what they can while separate the fact that they were one of the MPs who has pushed welfare reform legislation through Parliament? Certainly, I reckon my own NL MP is like that. Their legislative decisions have an enormous impact on some of their constituents…but do they care, I doubt it…

Andrew Fisher

Corbyn’s constituency has one of the largest Labour  membership yet that has fallen dramatically in the past 12 years. He also explained to James Purnell that people needed more decent social housing, amongst other demands and that Housing Associations should be under some kind of regulation as they operate like an oligarchy.  Corbyn, rightly argued, at the AGM that there needs to be judicially led proper open public into the iraq war where there’s culpability and a process for war crimes investigation.  And that we shouldn’t forget the ongoing war in Afghanistan, which he described as Obama’s Vietnam.

Maria Exall

Overall, the discussion we had was how do we organise in the next 10mths as part of the Labour left? Also, lately people like Alice Mahon have left the LP, was that right or wrong? Obviously during the discussion there were different perspectives on how we orientate towards the party. Is there a point to be in the LP? Some people in the room had left the LP. I agree, largely, with Jeremy Corbyn that we still need to organise within the LP structures. And what is there outside the LP which can articulate the voice of the working class. I can understand perfectly why people have left but I don’t think this is, tactically, it’s the right time to get out.

Chris Knight hit the nail on the head when he accused NL have stole the brand Labour and now the brand is burnt. And we have had example after example during the past 12 years that NL prefers to carouse with the banksters and the rich as opposed to representing the interests of the working class. And lets face it, people didn’t vote for New Labour in 1997 as resounding support for Blairism but as a way to kick the Tories out.

Chris Knight

We shouldn’t forget the despicable behaviour of the trade union bureaucracy, certainly not representing the interests of their members and now challenging the neoliberal agenda . And as we have seen since the start of the year, union activists organising and fighting back leaving the bureaucracy behind. Maybe this grassroots activism has put the bureaucracy on the spot and put them under pressure especially with the speech by Dave Prentis ‘feeding the hand that bites them’ regarding funding to the LP (And the letter to the Guardian written by Jon Rogers is excellent in reply to the Simon Jenkins article).

Christine Shawcroft

Without going on, as I want to keep this short and I keep continue, I think the way forward is broad based alliances, to be able to organise where we can challenging and fighting the neoliberal agenda as NL is crashing and burning the ideology that galvanises it hasn’t (I won’t go into detail what John McD. said as pretty much similar to the dicussion we had last week at the Morning Star conference). And in the LP, there are things to be done to challenge the decisions taken at conference 2 years ago by Brown when he stifled debate and democracy aided and abetted by the trade union bureaucracy. And again, the trade union bureaucracy can’t get away with their appalling sell-out behaviour either. Also, put forward progressive motions at the National Policy Forum. Just being able to seek ways of working within the structures of the LP doesn’t counterpose working alongside broad based alliances and campaigns.

On the issue of Compass, I agree that we need to engage with the membership as opposed to the leadership as Jon Cruddas has consistently voted with NL, this has continued with voting for the government on the disgusting Welfare Reform Bill. To sum up Cruddas, he ‘talks left, votes right’… (an exception that proves the rule).

And a magazine like Briefing is the vehicle to do that (and to finalise and organise the website!).

If we don’t organise then as Jeremy Corbyn says, the result will be further ‘disillusionment and the BNP’…

Indeed.

Labour Briefing AGM – pix from today

(l to r) Andrew Fisher, Christine Shawcroft, Maria Exall, Jeremy Corbyn

I attended the Labour Briefing AGM today, we had a very good discussion about the current political situation and the way forward for the Labour left  especially as there’s an election in maybe 10mths time.

(l-r) Christine Shawcroft, Susan Press

Anyway, I will write a fuller report tomorrow but here are some pix from today.

‘There’s gotta be something better than this’…

‘I’m gonna get up, I’m gonna get out, I’m gonna get up, get out and live it! …’

I grew up watching musicals and Harold Lloyd short-films….

Love this piece of choreography, my favourite, from the bittersweet film Sweet Charity (another famous scene is Hey, Big Spender). I saw this film as a kid and was totally mesmerised by the energetic dance routine (it beat the boring and mundane dance routines I was taught..) and wonderful music, still marvel at it now (and Shirley MacLaine was, and still is, a great actor… and Wilder’s The Apartment is still up there with the greats). There are two different endings to Sweet Charity…for some reason..

Also the camaraderie and the solidarity between the women is integral to the story. And the lyrics reflect a desperation to break out of their existence.

Bob Fosse when on to direct Cabaret in ‘72.