Last
Saturday the fascist organisation Britain First once again targetted
Derby. Their 'Midland Division' descended on our city and about 10-15 of
them handed out rabid, racist anti-Islam leaflets. We cannot allow this
disgusting organisation to gain a foothold in Derby so please
join a peaceful protest vigil this Saturday from 10am - 11am outside St
Peter's Church on St Peter's Street (the site of the BF stall last
Saturday).
We
will be handing out leaflets and talking to the general public about
why we need to counter Britain First wherever they appear.
It
is highly unlikely that Britain First will return this Saturday but if
they do we need to make sure there are many more of us than them so that
we can occupy the space and show them how unwelcome they are. Please
come, bring friends, family and placards - spread the word and let's
show these people they are NOT WELCOME IN DERBY.
Hello everyone,
Welcome to this week's update from Derby Socialist Workers Party. What's going on? Find out below!
Branch Meetings
The
SWP is a party of activists who know that we need to understand the
world to be effective in our actions. Our meetings have a discussion
about key issues: economic, political, historical and cultural; as well
as planning for events and activities.
In the wake of the killings in Paris and the attempts of the right
both within and without the ruling class to stir up anti-Islamic
sentiment and justify a further drive to the wars that created ISIS in
the first place, we have decided to change our next branch meeting to: After Paris killings: no to racism and war.
What
should our response to these events be? How can we prevent a drive
towards racism and war from the right and the ruling class? Join the
discussion and help plan our course of action!
Thursday November 26th, 7 pm, West End Community Centre.
It is becoming ever more clear that the ruling classes of the world, left to their own devices, will simply work in the short-term interests of their class - and that means untold destruction for the climate and the lives of millions, if not billions of people. There is another way: join the campaign for climate, justice and jobs. There is at least one coach going to London on the demonstration on the 29th November.
This has become even more vital as the French authorities have used the horror of the murders as a fig leaf to ban the demonstration planned for the 12th December.
Join us in London on the 29th!
Can't make our meetings?
If you want to find out more about us, meet some of our comrades, sign up
to any of our petitions, find out about campaigns we are involved in,
buy our paper or get hold of some of our other literature, why not come
along to the campaign stall on Saturdays?
Yesterday junior doctors in Derby petitioned the public to support them in their dispute with the Department of Health. Campaigners from 38 Degrees and the NUT joined them, as did comrades from the SWP. It was a very popular petition! At some points there were queues to sign or take selfies. There was a media presence too so it got a good amount of publicity.
On our campaign stall we also collected signatures to support them and presented them to the doctors to add to their collection. Comrades' support was warmly received by doctors present and it was generally a really positive event that showed what unity can achieve.
The strike ballot was really impressive. It would have allowed national action even under the Tories' new laws that attempt to repress trades unionists and suppress our efforts to take action to defend ourselves. At last week's Unite the Resistance conference, junior doctor and BMA activist Yannis Gourtsoyannis spoke to explain the reasons for the action and the urgent need for solidarity:
The campaign was very popular with the public and at times there were queues to sign and take support selfies for Twitter. Unless the DoH backs down, the junior doctors' plan of strike action is as follows:
Emergency care only – 8am, Tuesday1 to 8amWednesday 2 December 2015
Full withdrawal of junior doctors' labour – 8am to 5pm, Tuesday 8 December 2015
Full withdrawal of junior doctors' labour – 8am to 5pm, Wednesday 16 December 2015
It is important for comrades to show solidarity on picket lines if at all possible - details will be posted on the blog as soon as they are known.
This fight is only the latest provoked by the Tories as they seek to dismantle our public services in order to open them up to be run for profit - it is not enough for them that working people are paying for the crisis they and their class caused by having our wages held down, epidemics of underemployment and the cutting of the services which we rely on, they want themselves and their cronies to be able to profit from whatever services we are able to use. This is a fight that needs our full support - it will be a real victory for working people across the country and expose the weakness of this nasty party that managed to get the support of less than a quarter of the population in the election this year.
In the wake of the killings in Paris and the attempts of the right both within and without the ruling class to stir up anti-Islamic sentiment and justify a further drive to the wars that created ISIS in the first place, we have decided to change our next branch meeting to: After Paris killings, no to racism and war.
What should our response to these events be? How can we prevent a drive towards racism and war from the right and the ruling class? Join the discussion and help plan our course of action!
Thursday November 26th, 7 pm, West End Community Centre.
Hello everyone,
Welcome to this week's update from Derby Socialist Workers Party. What's going on? Find out below!
After Paris - SWP Statement
The horrific murders in Paris were a shock to everyone. Yesterday was a day of intense sorrow and sympathy for the victims of these awful attacks.
Unfortunately the reality is that the right will attempt to use these deaths for their own vile ends. The SWP has put out a statement following these events - read it here.
Branch Meetings
The
SWP is a party of activists who know that we need to understand the
world to be effective in our actions. Our meetings have a discussion
about key issues: economic, political, historical and cultural; as well
as planning for events and activities.
This week is our district aggregate, open to members only. Public meetings resume the following week.
Next public meeting:
As revolutionary socialists we are committed not just to equality, which can simply mean equality of oppression, but liberation. Our next meeting will be:
From post-feminism to the new sexism - how can we fight for women's liberation?
Thursday November 26th, 7 pm, West End Community Centre.
It is becoming ever more clear that the ruling classes of the world, left to their own devices, will simply work in the short-term interests of their class - and that means untold destruction for the climate and the lives of millions, if not billions of people. There is another way: join the campaign for climate, justice and jobs. There is at least one coach going to London on the demonstration on the 29th November ahead of the Paris climate conference. Join us!
Can't make our meetings?
If you want to find out more about us, meet some of our comrades, sign up
to any of our petitions, find out about campaigns we are involved in,
buy our paper or get hold of some of our other literature, why not come
along to the campaign stall on Saturdays?
Unite The Resistance pamphlets are available from us - come to our branch meetings or find us on St Peter's St at our campaign stalls Saturdays from 12 pm!
Report back by Kieran, branch secretary.
This Saturday was the annual conference of Unite The Resistance (UTR). UTR is a united front organisation that aims to bring together trades union activists to fight austerity and the divisive, bullying Tory government. The conference shares success stories, perspectives on the Tory attacks on the working class and how to fight it.
I always look forward immensely to the UTR conference. There are lots of organisations which oppose austerity, and which we as a party are proud to be a part of, such as the People's Assembly and TUSC. What makes UTR special is that it offers us not only a concrete and powerful way to build an effective fightback, being based where our class has power - in the workplaces, but also welcome success stories. It can be easy to believe, if you rely on the mainstream media coverage for your news, that strikes are rare and ineffective, but in fact there have been some fantastic examples of solidarity and victories from across the various sectors of the economy. UTR is also a great way to learn about ongoing fights and how to support them.
Morning Session
Yesterday we heard from Candy Unwin and Sandy Nicholl, victimised reps who won reinstatement because of solid support from their members. Candy was one of the leaders of the fantastic strike at the National Gallery, which won significant victories in their battle with management against privatisation, and Sandy's colleagues took unauthorised strike action that had their management at SOAS backtracking almost immediately. Conference also sent support to Andrew Mootoo, victimised rep at Royal Mail in Bridgwater, whose managers again are frantically retreating after wildcat action when they attempted to sack him.
Speakers were from across the trades union movement, but there were also comrades from campaigning organisations such as DPAC (Disabled People Against the Cuts) (amazing speech - IDS should be very afraid of DPAC!) and political parties (most notably Natalie Bennett, the Green Party leader, who gave an excellent speech).
John Burgess, candidate for UNISON General Secretary, was brilliant about the need to fight the bill and break the law collectively.
Of course, the horrific events of Friday in Paris cast a pall over proceedings. Conference began with a statement of solidarity with the victims and many speakers also offered statements of support, particularly Natalie Bennett of the Green Party. The Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, who is a longtime supporter of UTR and was scheduled to speak was unable to attend as the Shadow Cabinet were in session following the attacks. The SWP has put out an excellent statement in response to the murders, which you can read here. After the initial session I and some other local comrades attended a session which we thought was especially relevant that day: Don't let them divide us.
This session included speakers on the Prevent agenda and the Justice for Cleaners campaign as well as the general drive by the Tories and other elements within the ruling class, particularly the right wing media, to use racist bile against Muslims and migrants to divide our class wherever they can.
I was struck by the Justice for Cleaners campaigner, who spoke of the ways that bosses try to divide migrant workers, trying to pit 'documented' against 'undocumented' and Spanish against Latin American. This is the kind of hatred upon which the bosses thrive.
Repeatedly speakers emphasised the need to unite now to prevent the right from trying to capitalise on the murders in Paris to promote their racist, Islamophobic agenda. UTR is about sharing ideas and success stories, not just listening to speakers, and there were some fantastic contributions from the floor. One point which was made more than once is that the right will attempt to use the murders to attack migrants, and we need to continue to say that migrants are people fleeing exactly the sort of horror which the people of Paris experienced. One practical thing which we will need to do is continue to defend migrants and promote the Stand Up To Racism campaign to welcome refugees, especially as winter approaches and thousands are in danger from the cold in makeshift camps in Calais and elsewhere. Find out more about Stand Up To Racism and donate to the Calais winter appeal here.
Afternoon Session
In the final session we heard from speakers on the environment and climate (or as David Cameron calls it: 'green crap') and the People's March for Climate, Justice and Jobs on the 29th November in London. From Derby there will be at least one coach going to this vital demonstration - come if you can!
For me there were two particular highlights of the afternoon session. The first was the speaker from the BMA who spoke very well on the dispute between junior doctors and the Department for Health.
He got a well-deserved standing ovation in his call for solidarity and his promise of solidarity in return.
Finally, Ian Hodson of the bakers' union BFAWU, who I always look forward to. He is a passionate and animated speaker, and I will remember particularly two lines. The first from the fallout when he compared Cameron's policies towards trades unions to Hitler's: "if you don't want to be compared to a fascist dictator, don't use policies out of Mein Kampf!" The second was one of my favourites, and I know one of his (it's not the first time he's used it :) ) and it's from Nye Bevan, architect of the NHS:
