Breaking with Labour…?

After the TUC demo…Breaking with Labour?

The crisis of working class representation & the need for a new party of the left

 Speaker: Fred LePlat

Tuesday 23rd October, 7.30pm at the Briar Rose, 25, Bennetts Hill, Central Birmingham, B2 5RE

Five years into the biggest economic crisis of capitalism, there is no end  in sight. The traditional parties of the left and right both offer austerity as the way out. New Labour tell us that cuts are necessary, but not so deep and fast as those by the Tories. A movement of resistance is essential.

Hillsborough- working class tragedy, ruling class shame

By Andy Richards

I was driving (don’t remember where) when news started filtering through the car radio about what became known as the Hillsborough Disaster on that April day in 1989.  In that pre-Internet age news travelled a little slower than it does now, but I remember sitting there aghast as each bulletin raised the death toll a little higher. Six….fifteen….twenty…..fifty. I remember wondering how horrendously high it would go.

 

The Council’s devolution policy: empowering communities, or just localised service delivery?

‘Devolution and localisation is at the heart of our vision for Birmingham. Delivering that vision will be one of our principal objectives when we take control of the City Council.’ That’s what Labour’s Council election manifesto said. What has made the news since then has been a row over the decision to hold the District Committee meetings – these are the renamed Constituency Committees which hold devolved budgets for some Council services (see list at end) – in the Council House rather than in the constituencies.

Birmingham Labour Council: The first hundred (and 38) days

What is the balance-sheet of Labour’s first 138 days?

What attitude should the left take to the new Labour Council?

Are they no better than their Tory-LibDem predecessors, making the same massive cuts in services and jobs?

Is their policy for economic growth and jobs nothing more than an employers’ agenda? And how realistic is it anway?

Is their devolution policy a step towards public participation in policy-making or is it just a sham?

Are there other Council policies which are actually or potentially progressive, at least in part? Can they be made more radical/

What alternatives should we argue for? What alliances can be built with who over what?

Socialist Resistance invites you to join us in a discussion on Tuesday 18 September in the Council House, Committee Room 1, starting at 7.30pm

New parties of the left in an age of austerity

Organised by London Socialist Resistance
Saturday 29 September
10:30am – 5pm
ULU, Malet Street, WC1
Five years into the biggest economic crisis of capitalism, there is no end in sight. The traditional parties of the left and right both offer austerity as the way out. New Labour tell us that cuts are necessary, but not so deep and fast as those by the Tories. A movement of resistance is essential. The TUC demonstration on 20th October is a welcome step towards escalating the action to force back the Tory attacks.
But we also need a political alternative against austerity in the ballot box and in parliament. The election of George Galloway for Respect in Bradford shows that the space to the left of Labour is huge.

Labour’s Birmingham Youth Unemployment Commission – why no union, youth or community reps?

 Albert Bore has announced the launch of a Birmingham Youth Unemployment Commission to tackle the city’s youth unemployment. The youth unemployment rate across Birmingham is almost 30 per cent for the age group 16 to 24, the worst of any major city in England, with more than 2,500 young people on Job Seeker’s Allowance for more than a year.

DPAC & UK Uncut target paralympics sponsors ATOS

DISABLED ACTIVISTS AND UK UNCUT TEAM UP TO TARGET PARALYMPICS SPONSOR ATOSUK Uncut [1] has today announced a joint action with Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) [2], dubbed ‘The Closing Atos Ceremony’. The two groups have vowed to shut down Atos’ HQ at Triton Square in Central London during the Paralympic Games; promising direct action, creative protest and ‘plenty of surprises’. The action will be taking place on Friday 31st August at 12:45pm.

Salma: Galloway ‘disappointing and wrong’ on rape

Terry Conway and Susan Pashkoff write:

The recent comments by George Galloway on rape are  extremely offensive and misogynist. Galloway, in seeking to defend Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange not only against the US government and threats of extradition from Britain but from allegations of rape by two women in Sweden, made a series of indefensible statements in his weekly online broadcast, Goodnight with George Galloway.

Galloway trivialises women’s experience of rape and sexual violence by speaking about bad manners and sexual etiquette. He claims that consent is not necessary every time someone wants to have sex.

WHEN IT’S GONE, IT’S GONE: FIGHT TO DEFEND THE NHS

John Lister, Health Emergency

The phony war is over. With Andrew Lansley’s Bill now on the statute book, the gloves are off, and the extended standstill in the process of cuts in pursuit of the £20 billion “efficiency” target has come to an end. 

But don’t be fooled: this is no cock-up. It is all planned to happen.

One after another, desperate hospital trusts are revealing glimpses of their real financial situation. And accident and emergency units are at the top of their list as they start to close and cut – not because much can be saved by simply closing them – but as a crucial first step to dismantling and closing whole hospitals.

The Smart City Commission – smart for business but not so smart for citizens

‘Improved services, supporting the growth potential of businesses and laying firm foundations for Birmingham to be more innovative, vibrant and entrepreneurial are the key aims of the Smart City Commission’ launched on 26 July by Cabinet Member  Councillor James McKay.

 

The council wants economic growth and business wants a cutting edge information technology environment, so it is not surprising that big business is strongly represented on the 17 member Smart City Commission. (See the list below.)

 

Why no representatives of citizens and communities?