Author: ourbulgarianlife

On Monday, the 6th of May a Gaza Solidarity Encampment was set up at Bangor University. Kathrine Jones and David Lloyd Jones, of the Socialist Labour Party, Wales, supported by visiting on the Thursday, and today; Friday the 17th of May. Kathrine Jones, Socialist Labour Party, Wales 17/5/2024

From Theo Russell, New Communits Party 14/5/2024

Socialist Labour Party members stood in 4 wards in the recent elections for Gloucester City Council. In Baron and Treadworth Akhlaque Ahmed got 296 votes on a crowded selection of candidates representing around 14% of the poll. Another candidate in the same ward had 164 votes, around 8%. Toriqal Islam stood in Coney Hall, Kazol Ahmed and Aswaial Islam Fardeen stoof in Matson, Robinswood and White City and Foujia Sultana Metaly in Quedgeley Fieldcourt gaining a total of 572 votes for the Party in a turnout of 30.8%. This was the first attempt in this area and we look forward to them building on this achievement. John Tyrrell, President, Socialist Labour Party 10/5/2024

Join Socialist Labour Party East Midlands Region and enjoy day out. Meet other Socialist Labour Party members.

We are concerned that there are members of the Socialist Labour Party we don’t know about. For a time we urged members to pay by Standing Order rather than Direct Debit. The Bank sends notification of money paid in, but particularly with this group the Bank of Ireland only notifies us of “a member” without any further details. Please send us a message on this site if you think it applies to you giving name and contact details. We deeply regret this has happened. We are planning to organise SLP presence at events up and down the country. Today was a May Day Rally in Chesterfield and soon Tolpuddle will be celebrated. We plan to have a presence. Come and join in and celebrate Socialism! Above Mel Hepworth and Terry Robinson from Yorkshire Region; Paul Liversuch and Peter Dean, East Midlands; Shangara Singh, Bhagwant Singh and John Tyrrell (behind the camera!) West Midlands. We are hoping that members can join us at Tolpuddle later this year. Rob Hawkins of the South West Region will be organising this. You can find his details in the regions shown on the website.

David Jacobsen of the Socialist Labour Party in Scotland has sent pictures of the Gaza Solidarity encampment in the grounds of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood. They are protesting about the Scottish and UK governments’ complicity in the genocide proceeding in Gaza and vow to stay until their demands are met. This includes a permanent Ceasefire. https://news.stv.tv/east-central/gaza-solidarity-camp-set-up-outside-scottish-parliament Hi John, Thanks for the message. Good progress. This is student/local communities work on the ground with  international solidarity from US  and Palestinian peace activists’ fight to free Palestine. Great determination to sustain the picket of Scottish Parliamentary representatives for as long as it takes. The Scottish government has signed up to the false definition of anti-semitism and has a yet to test it with a prosecution in Court. In Solidarity, David PS rained out this morning. Morale high. PPS Saturday a new encampment established in University of Edinburgh Balfour Quadrangle. Good two way communication between the two groups. PPPS Today 6.5.24 morning report, to be verified) Israel State IDF has ordered evacuation of Eastern Rafa. David Jacobsen, Socialist Labour Party Scotland 5/5/2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8wNKLkszBA Arthur Scargill gave evidence to the Trade and Industry Committee of the British Parliament as leader of the National Union of Mineworkers on 10th December 1998. The discussion includes the decimation of the deep coal mining industry since the Miners’ action in 1984-5 with the continuing importation of coal from abroad, include Europe and Australia, use of gas in place of coal and alternative sources of energy, including nuclear and renewable sources such as wind and solar power. Although the latter is seen to be a major player in future provision, taking into account the need for environmental protection, the reality is that coal is still being used. Not only is it imported but in Britain open caste mining is still an alternative which not only scars the landscape but is itself a major source of pollution. In the video link Scargill makes the case, as he had done over decades, for a sensible balanced argument taking all factors into account rather than relying on uninformed arguments fuelled by self-interest and misinformation. Given the energy crisis playing out now in 2024 how much have the arguments changed. Importation of cheap energy has been closed down with Western Governments seeking war to solve international disputes. Eyes have been on the rich resources of Russia and the Ukraine has been sacrificed to the end of acquiring resources as colonial powers practiced over centuries. As a consequence populations have suffered shortages of energy and food along with other essential commodities as prices shot through the roof. Who has benefitted. The Socialist Labour Party Policies reflect the arguments made be Scargill as you can see in the Manifesto on this site. This is currently being updated, but I think the new one will retain a similar position. John Tyrrell, President SLP, 30/4/2024

The news that steel-workers at the Port Talbot steel works in South Wales are prepared to take strike action to save 2,800 jobs should rouse support from the entire British trade union movement. In 2015, Arthur Scargill warned steel-workers at Port Talbot that the intention of both the Tory Government and the Labour Party was to further run down Port Talbot and what remains of Britain’s privatised steel industry with the false argument that the industry was uneconomic and out-dated. At a packed Socialist Labour Party public meeting held in the run-up to the General Election, Scargill recalled how in 1980 the National Union of Mineworkers had given full support to striking steel-workers.  In Yorkshire, the NUM had brought mass picketing to the Hadfields plant in Sheffield and Scargill had warned the workforce at  the Llanwern steel plant in South Wales of what the future would bring if they didn’t fight back. In 1980, Bill Sirs, then leader of the steel-workers’ union (ISTC), promised Britain’s mineworkers he would never forget their support.  However, during the miners’ strike of 1984/85, Bill Sirs refused to call on his members to stop work (including those at Scunthorpe steel works and the Orgreave coking plant) – a refusal which was a monumental sell-out. When the NUM took strike action against pit closures in 1984, the Tory Government was terrified of a potential threat to Britain’s steel industry, a fact admitted by Margaret Thatcher. In her memoirs she wrote that when the miners’ strike began in March 1984, steel plants including Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Ravenscraig in Scotland had only three weeks of fuel stored. Port Talbot steel-workers who take strike action to protect jobs deserve and will need all the support – including solidarity industrial action – that the trade union and Labour movement can give. Socialist Labour Party, 13 April 2024