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from James McDaid Scottish Region 11/7/2022

Dear James, I read about your strike during my attendance at the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers ( RMT) trade union Annual General Meeting in Birmingam. It is clear that mining companies in America are as determined to crush trade unions as the Rail Company and Government in the UK, This policy is in part due to Globalisation which seeks higher profits for companies at the expense of workers, a policy which the UK together with the Nationalised National Coal Board in 1984/85, a policy which they had fought and lost in 1972 and 1974 when Britain’s miners not only won their legitimate wages and jobs claim in full, but in the process forced the Government to call a General Election on the slogan ” who rules Britain” We won because we had solidarity action from workers in other industries who respected our picket line’s and in 1972 secured victory when workers in other sections ignored right wing leadership and answered a call to take solidarity strike action in spite of legislation which the government sought to use, they simply took Strike action and joined miners on the picket line in what became known as ” The Battle of Saltley Gate ” In 1984/85 miners would have won if trade unions in other industries had taken the same strike action as the workers did in Birmingam in 1972. As a result of that failure the longest strike in Britain’s history ( One Year and Two Months) ended by 98 votes to 91 votes. The three NUM National Officals, the President Arthur Scargill, Vice President Mick McGahey and General Secretary Peter Heathfield all stood firm and supported continuing the strike. As a result of that decision and the para- military police force the miners returned to work and the Government systematically closed all of Britain’s Pits, and the price is we are now in a crisis with energy prices rocketing and a panic striven government re-opened coal fired Power Stations. On behalf of the International Energy and Mining Organisation ( IEMO) and the Socialist Labour Party we send our support to the courageously miners, their partners and children and we hope that other workers in America will give you the same support the United States Government is giving to the Coal Owners. Yours in Solidarity Arthur Scargill -,- President IEMO and Leader Socialist Labour Party 9/7/2022

As with so much that the privileged, Public School educated, Boris Johnson got wrong, he used the term “herd instinct” to describe his Tory colleagues when he should have used the term “nerd instinct”. To see the forced smiles from the potential future leaders of the Party is particularly sickening. One thing that Johnson did get correct was his support for us pulling out of the European Union, but this backing was to further his own political career, not from any deep beliefs. When choosing the new Prime Minister, it was stated in the mainstream media that the Tory voters are even more to the ‘right’ than many of the Tory M.P.s (if this is possible). If this is truly the case, then there is someting fundamentally wrong with our education system. Caring for other people and not aggravating other nations into unnecessary wars should be fundamentals to education. The teaching of social studies to all children should be up at the top of any educational agenda. Unfortunately, we have in Parliament at the moment a set of people in all Parties (including Labour, LibDems, Nationalists and Greens) who go along with much of the Tory ‘nerd’ agenda of furthering the interests of the super-rich capitalists, bankers and privileged elite at the expense of the working class, forced to use food banks in their hundreds of thousands and scarmbling around for secure, affordable accommodation. The whole nerd elite needs to be turfed out from being anywhere near the running of our British society. Rob J. Hawkins, Southwest Region 9/7/2022

Arthur Scargill was an invited guest and gave the opening speech at the 2022 annual conference of the RMT. This is the text: RMT ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2022 It is an honour to be invited to attend the RMT 2022 AGM, but it is a real privilege to be invited to speak at the commencement, when your Union is taking strike action on a claim for a wage increase and no loss of jobs as a result of “new technology”. I applaud the outstanding leadership of the RMT National Officials whose advocacy in meetings and in the media including T.V. has been inspirational. The claim by RMT for a wage increase is on any test justified. In the first six months of 2022 we have seen the cost of living increase to 11.7%. The Government has repeatedly said that RMT’s claim is a matter between the Union and employers in the rail industry. Yet on Tuesday, 28 June, the Transport Secretary Grant Schapps acknowledged to the BBC that he and the Treasury had set an overall mandate which dictated how much money was available, and that he had final sign-off on what was agreed! In effect, he confirmed that it is the Government and not the employers who are dictating policies – as has been the case before including the miners’ strikes of 1972, 1974 and 1984/85. Background to miners’ strike action in 1972 As the result of the refusal by the National Coal Board and the Government to concede the NUM’s pay claim, Britain’s miners took national strike action on 9 January 1972 for the first time in 46 years. In the days that followed, mass picketing together with support from unions such as the NUR, the National Union of Seamen, ASLEF and the TGWU had an impact but unfortunately, leaders of unions with members working in power stations and in the steel industry refused to support us and respect NUM picket lines, let alone take supporting action. However, one event was to be the pivotal moment leading to the victory of the 1972 miners’ strike. It took place here, in Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city. For three days, a handful of local NUM pickets had been unable to prevent hundreds of scab lorry drivers from taking thousands of tonnes of coke from a depot at Saltley in the centre of this city. Miners from other coalfields responded to a call for help and on Saturday, 5 February several hundred NUM pickets including me arrived in Birmingham. The response by trade unions and the people of Birmingham was amazing – from the local Labour and Communist Party Secretaries to union officials Alan Law of the TGWU and Arthur Harper of the AEU. But by Tuesday, the 8th, it was clear we needed more help. On Tuesday evening arrangements were made for me to speak to local and regional leaders of key trade unions of the day, including the TGWU, AEU, NATFHE, Vehicle Builders, NUR, UCATT, the GMW, the FBU and groups of shop stewards from other unions – about 13 meetings in all. I argued as passionately as I could that what the miners needed wasn’t money or messages of support: “We don’t want your pound notes. We want you to take strike action. Will you go down in history as the working class of Birmingham who stood by while the miners were battered, or will you become immortal?” We needed solidarity action – and we needed it by Thursday, 10 February. What happened on 10 February 1972 remains a lasting symbol of what workers united can achieve. On that morning, 30,000 Birmingham women and men came out on strike and 20,000 marched to join the miners on the picket line at Saltley Gate. That day, they marched into history. The Government was shaken to the core. Today, 50 years later, they remain terrified of what the working class of Birmingham showed could be achieved by workers uniting in struggle. As Margaret Thatcher writes in her autobiography “The Downing Street Years”: “In February 1972 mass pickets…forced the closure of the Saltley Coke Depot in Birmingham by sheer weight of numbers. It was a frightening demonstration….” The battle of Saltley Gate marked the beginning of a year of historic trade union struggle. In July 1972, there was the London dockers’ strike and the incarceration of the Pentonville Five, whose release from jail was forced by massive trade union campaigning and action. In October 1972, UCATT building workers were involved in a strike against exploitation in the construction industry, organised by men like Des Warren and Ricky Tomlinson. It took nearly 50 years until the Court of Appeal in 2021 effectively admitted that the arrest and imprisonment of the Shrewsbury pickets was unlawful The events of 1972 show how powerful our Movement can be. Today, RMT needs that same support of other trade unions, who should be taking supportive or secondary strike action. It is not for me to advise any Union what it should do. The RMT leadership has conducted an outstanding campaign and you have a right to ask other unions to take supportive collective strike action against employers and the Government who are taking collective action against your members. It would not surprise me if the Government started to use legislation either to stop the RMT strike or to bring action against the Union’s leadership, as was the case with the NUM in 1984/85 – indeed, recently released papers reveal how Thatcher was indicating to the police and the judiciary ways and means of arresting Scargill and charging him with conspiracy. Only last Wednesday, three GMB Union Officials arrested on a picket line in East Sussex were brought before Hastings Magistrates Court charged with “obstruction of the highway” – exactly the same tactic deployed against me by the Government and police in the miners’ strike in 1972, in the Grunwick Dispute in 1977 and at Orgreave in 1984. Sequestration and Receivership Unions should not be intimidated by any threat of sequestration and/or receivership. The Courts appointed first a Sequestrator and, second, a Receiver against the NUM in 1984 but we were able to continue servicing our membership not just in the year-long strike but until 1989 when all legal actions against the NUM and its leaders were abandoned by order of the High Court. In 1990, in response to a media smear campaign, I had to reveal how we had functioned – in cash and an independent trust fund – during the 1984/85 strike, but by 1992, every smear story had been discredited or dismissed by the Courts. I don’t think what we did in 1984/85 can be compared to Prince Charles, who received €3 million euro in cash from Qatar’s Prime Minister – from which his Prince’s Trust donated £100,000 to GCHQ, the Government’s spy centre which had conducted surveillance on Mick McGahey, Peter Heathfield and me. The RMT and its members are facing new laws which will prevent the Union from being able to defend its members, laws which if enacted are in breach of United Nations and International Labour Organisation conventions. When faced with an attack against the right to strike, trade unions and their members should act in defiance of this unlawful legislation. I am appalled by the refusal of the Leader of the Labour Party to support RMT and its members. And I am sick and tired of listening to politicians who support the right to strike in Eastern European countries but oppose and threaten British workers who legally have the right to take action without any interference from Government. I also have nothing but contempt for the former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair who sponsored a London gathering to discuss “centrist politics” last Thursday . It was attended by former Tory Minister Rory Stewart, former Scottish Tory Leader Ruth Davidson and Labour front-bencher Peter Kyle. Other notables included Bill Clinton’s former U.S. Treasury Chief, Larry Summers and George W. Bush’s former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Blair later told BBC’s Newsnight that Sir Keir “must be clear that a Labour Government cannot afford a wave of strikes”. As a retired trade union leader and Socialist, I would suggest that all affiliated trade unions seriously consider whether it’s time to cut their ties with the Labour Party and look towards a Socialist alternative. Our Movement has historically defied unfair laws. Trade unions won the right to exist not because of benevolent politicians but through strike action. We must follow in the footsteps of the weavers of Yorkshire and Lancashire, the Tolpuddle Martyrs and the Suffragettes – and more recently the Women of Greenham Common, by adopting a policy of non-compliance with unjust laws. Today it’s our turn to emulate great trade union leaders such as Jim Larkin, James Connolly and A.J. Cook who inspired their members to fight. We have to fight back. The Movement should start by standing side by side with RMT. I have been an active trade unionist and Socialist all my working life and I will continue to the day I die to remain committed to the trade union movement and to the vision of a Socialist society. Arthur Scargill 3 July 2022

On the second day of RMT action for pay and conditions for rank and file railway staff Arthur Scargill moved on to Sheffield picket line along with his grandson. ITV were there to interview him. Arthur Scargill speaking at an RMT Picket Line outside Sheffield Midland Railway Station said the RMT strike can succeed because their case is just. Speaking to students on the Picket Line he said the support by young people like the students from Universities in Sheffield remind him of the way in which the NUM had to take strike action over the past 50 years. In 1969 NUM members took unofficial strike action to demand that surface workers should have an 8 hour day succeeded after a 3 week strike. In 1972 miners had to take strike action again as they fought for a substantial wage claim and better conditions. The strike started in January 1972 and after weeks of conflict including the famous Battle of Saltley Gate in Birmingham which saw the people and trade unions taking strike action and bringing Birmingham to a standstill the Gate was closed, the Government surrendered and the NUM won. In 1974 the NUM had to take strike action against the Social Contract  which tried to force a wage freeze. The Miners not only won an historic victory but forced a general election which saw the defeat of the Heath Tory Government. In 1981 miners again took unofficial strike action which was won following an agreement with the Thatcher Government – it succeeded by determined trade union action. In 1984/5 the NUM commenced the longest national strike ever seen in the U.K. It witnessed the famous Battle of 0rgreave and miners could have won if other trade unions had supported the strike as they had done in the unofficial strike in 1981. The greatest victory in 1984/5 was the struggle itself as is now recognised by the release of Government papers which prove that our fight was not with the National Coal Board but with the Government using paramilitary tactics which have still have to be explained. The last miners’ strike led by Arthur Scargill was in 1999 when the NUM took action against the privatised RJB Mining company. Historians overlook this strike which succeeded in winning a £20 a week increase for coal face workers and percentage increases for all other grades. Most important of all RJB Mining had to agree for the following 5 Years there would be an increase for miners based on the increase in the Retail Prices Index. Trade Unions are essential to protect British workers. UK governments over the past 50 years have been quick to support strikes in East European countries whilst introducing unlawful legislation designed to prevent strikes in the UK. The right to Strike is a fundamental United Nations and ILO law and must be upheld in the United Kingdom. If legislation is introduced which allows Companies to sack who they want and bring in Agency workers thenTrade Unions should implement a policy of Non-Compliance. Arthur Scargill President  NUM  1982-2002 Leader Socialist Labour Party

Arthur Scargill joined the RMT picket at Wakefield Station on the first day of the RMT strike on 21st June 2022. He was wearing the same cap as the one he had on when he was arrested on the picket line at Orgreave Colliery 40 years ago when picketing as leader of the NUM. 21/6/2022

I call on all Trade Unions to take Industrial Action in support of the RMT in its strikes for an increase in pay and in its defence of its members who are threatened will the loss of hundreds of jobs as Rail Operators and the Tory Government plan to reject not only RMT”s legitimate claim for a wage increase but plan to outlaw strike action in those sectors it deems nessesary. Faced not only with rejection of its pay and jobs claim the RMT and it’s members are facing new laws which will prevent the Union from being able to defend its members, a law which if enacted is in breach of the United Nations, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the European Union. When faced with an attack against its right to Strike, Trade Unions and trade union members should act in defiance of this unlawful act ! I am appalled by the refusal of the Leader of the Labour Party to support RMT and it’s members. 0ur movement throughout the ages have defied unfair laws. Trade Unions won the right to exist through taking industrial action. Not because of benevolent politicians but through strike action. Women won the right to vote not because of members of parliament but through the bravery of the Suffragettes who took direct action to force the establishment to give in. Today it’s our turn to emulate our great trade union leaders such as Keir Hardie, James Connolly, Jim Larkin and A J Cook who inspired their members to fight. I am sick and tired of listening to politicians who support the Right to Strike in Poland and in the Ukraine but oppose workers in Britain, threatening workers with fines, imprisonment and the seizure of Union funds. We have to fight back, We should start by standing side by side with RMT. Take action and the Rail workers will win. The Miners with support of other trade unions showed the way at Saltley in Birmingham in 1972. We can do it today by taking industrial action with RMT. Arthur Scargill President National Union of Mineworkers 1982-2002 and Leader Socialist Labour Party 20/6/2022

“The struggles of the past inspire the struggles of today” The following indicate either where performances of “From Saltley Gate to Partygate” will take place or there is interest in arranging one.

Lenin’s comment on a “free press” under Capitalism is demonstrated daily. For example NATO and the CIA have been secretive and in denial about the existence of 46 biolabs in the Ukraine. Suspicion was aroused after concern was raised about the possibility of any of these falling into Russian hands. This was reported in the Morning Star today (13/6/2022). John Tyrrell 13/6/2022

North Ayrshire Council Election Results – 2022 Posted on 6 May 2022 The results for the 2022 North Ayrshire Council elections have been declared. North Ayrshire Council is now made up of the following: Scottish National Party – 12 Conservatives – 10 Scottish Labour – 9 Independent – 2 The first preference votes cast for the nine multi-member ward results are: Ward 1 North Coast – 5 seats 1st pref votes Eleanor Collier (SNP) 1,724 Todd Ferguson (Conservatives) 1,633 Jane Fraser (Alba) 100 Alan Hill (SNP) 1,325 Nick Hobson (Independence For Scotland) 72 Wendy Low-Thomson (Independent) 234 Tom Marshall (Conservatives) 1,331 James McDaid (Socialist Labour) 118 Margaret McLellan (Liberal Democrats) 203 Ian Murdoch (Independent) 1,718 David John Nairn (Green Party) 392 Valerie Reid (Labour) 995 The candidates elected are: Eleanor Collier (stage 1) Ian Murdoch (stage 1) Todd Ferguson (stage 3) Alan Hill (stage 10) Tom Marshall (stage 12) Turnout – 53.9%. Rejected papers – 160. Quota required – 1,641. Ward 7 Irvine West – 4 seats 1st pref votes Kevin Blades (Independent) 133 Bobby Cochrane (Socialist Labour) 150 Scott Gallacher (Conservatives) 932 Lewis Hutton (Liberal Democrats) 72 Tristan Lindsay (Independent) 47 Shaun Macaulay (SNP) 1,274 Sylvia Mallinson (Labour) 660 Louise McPhater (Labour) 729 Chloe Robertson (SNP) 623 Colin Turbett (Scottish Socialist) 46 The candidates elected are: Shaun Macaulay (stage 1) Scott Gallacher (stage 2) Chloe Robertson (stage 8) Louise McPhater (stage 10) Turnout – 39.8%. Rejected papers – 142. Quota required – 934. Note from Nick James, Total vote Bobby Cochrane 150. Jim McDaid 118. SSP vote in same ward as Bobby 47. TUSC in another Irvine ward 40. Bobby Cochrane also significantly increased his vote. David Jacobsen. Leith Walk, Edinburgh 113 Details of results through stages of votes using single transferrable vote. Click to download result for North Coast, North Ayrshire Council Election. High time STV was used in England but politicians are dragging their feet to avoid democratic change to fair representation. First past the post is throttling the system. Congratulations and thanks to SLP candidates who stood and achieved commendable results. Results sent by James McDaid SLP Scottish Regions 7/5/2022

May Day event organised by Birmingham Trade Union Council and Banner Theatre Around 70 people gathered in Handsworth, Birmingham to marke the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Saltley Gate. Banner Theatre’s production linked the story of 10th February, 1972 with the need for solidarity in the struggle against the breaking up of the NHS, crack down on demonstrations and any resistance to government in the class war it’s stoking up.

When the leaders of governments meet to discuss the Russian v Ukraine Conflict they must agree to impose the same sanctions against Israel for its invasion and occupation of the lands of Palestine and Syria and its ongoing military attacks on the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula and withdraw from all areas it has occupied since 1967. Unless the governments who meet without taking the same sanctions against Israel that it is taking against the Russian Republic it will stand accused of being involved as the mercenaries from 14 Countries who fought against the Soviet Union in and after 1917. Arthur Scargill President National Union of Mineworkers 1982-2002 Leader Socialist Labour Party 24th April 2022

With acknowledgements to the compiler of this as it appears on Facebook

We are witnessing an unprecedented propaganda campaign coordinated by the United States of America, NATO, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Western Powers unlike any propaganda campaign since the Fascist campaign by Germany prior to and including the Second World War. All TV News channels and virtually all newspapers in the UK, USA, EU and all Western countries are subjecting its population to a non-stop 24 hours a day news media seeking to convince people that Russia started the conflict with Ukraine despite clear evidence that the current conflict was started by NATO who, over the past eight years, have been deploying troops in nearly all countries which surround Russia. In 1990 James A Baker, USA Secretary of State, agreed with the then Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev that there would be no expansion by NATO, a promise repeated by the NATO Secretary General in a speech in Brussels on 17 May 1990. Following that agreement the Soviet Union disbanded the Warsaw Pact in March 1991 and the Soviet Union became the Russian Federation. The member states of the former Soviet Union subsequently established independent states on the understanding that they would all conform to the agreement concluded by the United States, the Soviet Union and European Union in 1990 that there would be no expansion of NATO by the former member states of the Warsaw Pact. The Ukraine established an independent state subject to the agreement that it would not apply for or become a member of NATO or the EU. The Ukraine subsequently elected President Leonid Kravchuk. He was succeeded as President by Leonid Kuchma and in 2010 Viktor Yanukovych was elected President but because he conformed to the 1991 agreement was overthrown by a Coup d’état in 2014 and replaced by an unelected Oligarch as “President” to the delight of the USA, Britain, the EU and NATO. Following the Coup d’état two States, Donetsk and Luhansk established independent States following a vote by their citizens in 2014. Since the two independent States were established in 2014 they have been subjected to non-stop attacks by Ukraine using rockets, bombs and shells, yet no Western country has done anything to prevent these attacks, which are in breach of the agreement concluded in 1991 and in breach of the ceasefire agreed in 2014. Indeed, during the past eight years Ukraine has built up its army, navy and air force using soldiers from the U.S., UK and other countries “to train” the Ukrainian army how to use the armaments which the West has been pouring into Ukraine together with mercenaries who have become part of Ukraine’s army, air force and navy. It appears that the unprecedented propaganda has been swallowed hook line and sinker by Britain’s ‘left wing’ political leaders who are weeping at the Russian invasion and occupation of land yet not a whisper has been heard against the neo-fascist Israeli invasion of Palestine and Syria. Israel is bombing Palestinian civilians on an almost daily basis, yet not one suggestion has been made to impose sanctions on Israel. On the contrary the West has imposed sanctions on the victims and continued to support the perpetrators. The hypocrisy of the UK, the USA and EU is beyond belief, not a word is heard of America’s occupation of Cuba which it uses as a “Hell Hole” known as Guantanamo Bay which continues to imprison human beings without charge. Why does the International Court fail to bring the USA and its leaders and the United Kingdom and its former leader Tony Blair to court, for the unlawful invasion of Iraq, on the basis of a lie that it had weapons of mass destruction (a lie which to date has cost the lives of over a million people). Why does the International Court fail to bring the USA to court as a result of its invasion of Libya on the grounds that it wanted regime change an invasion which has resulted in deaths of hundreds of thousands and left Libya in a war torn civil turmoil. Why does the International Court fail to bring the USA and UK to face justice following its invasion of Afghanistan, an invasion which lasted 20 years and resulted in over a half a million deaths plus thousands of young soldiers from America and Britain with thousands more badly disabled? After 20 years of occupation the United States in 2021 ignominiously left Afghanistan defeated and the country left in disarray. In Britain we now face the worst economic crisis since the 1930s and yet we have a government and a Labour Party opposition agreeing to pouring £millions of armaments to Ukraine who are in a conflict which has nothing whatsoever to do with the United Kingdom. The Socialist Labour Party calls for an end to this mad policy and calls for the £250billion, which is spent on armaments and Trident missiles, to be spent on our NHS, Social Services, Care for the elderly’ and the restoration of the Triple Lock for pensioners. We are facing critical austerity and Britain should not be spending all the money it currently expends on the production of armaments, and instead use these monies for the preservation of life. Arthur Scargill President National Union of Mineworkers 1982-2002 and Leader of the Socialist Labour Party 18th April, 2022

Have people, including the media, forgotten that the elected President of Ukraine was overthrown by a Coup D’etat in 2014 and replaced by an unelected Oligarch as “President” to the delight of the USA, Britain, the EU and NATO. Have the media, politicians and others forgotten the unlawful invasion of Grenada which led to the murder of Maurice Bishop or the unlawful invasion of Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan which led to the occupation of these Countries by the United States. In Iraq alone nearly half a million lost their lives, many young men from Britain. Have the media and the “left-wing” political leaders forgotten that currently the State of Israel continue to invade and occupy Palestinian and Syrian lands with hardly a whimper from many who call themselves “Left”, and the on-going occupation of part of Cuba on which the U.S. established a hell-hole called Guantanamo Bay. We in the Socialist Labour Party do not support any Capitalist Country but understand the difference between nations particularly when both sides claim the right to that land which had been one country for over a hundred years, as in the case of Ukraine and Russia. We are tired of listening to British “left” leaders and peace campaigners protest together with forces who hate Socialism whist forgetting or ignoring that Britain has unlawfully occupied Ireland for over 700 years and continues to occupy part of that country today. The Chinese understand the situation in the dispute involving Russia and Ukraine and refuse to regard Russia’s action as an invasion. They noted that negotiations must involve the guarantee that Ukraine agreed: it would not be part of NATO or the European Union. Both have been sending arms to Ukraine and continue to do so. The Chinese understand the situation in the dispute involving Russia. They know that the United States has threatened that if China takes back Taiwan into China it will face the USA and most probably Britain. The solution to the conflict can be resolved quickly, but only if Ukraine confirm its previous agreement with Russia that Ukraine will not join NATO or the EU or allow any NATO or USA bases to be allowed on Ukrainian soil. Arthur Scargiil, Leader, Socialist Labour Party, John Tyrrell, President, Socialist Labour Party

What are British people doing fighting as part of the Ukrainian Army? The one British person who surrendered to the Russians said he and his unit had to surrender. This leads one to question “How many British People are involved as Mercenaries in or along side of the Ukrainian Army, and are they supported by the British Government (that is when they are not attending unlawful Parties!)? Arthur Scargill 15/4/2022

Emmanuel Macron believes that making charges against those in conflict in Ukraine is not helped by bringing charges against them. In the situation where virtually all main players are banging the drums of war he declines to be drawn into agreeing Biden’s charge of genocide. Once again it appears the western press is reluctant to give ensure we are allowed to read about important news stories that are accurate and factual. Who else is giving peace a chance? Socialist Labour Party 13/4/2022

Today there are report that the Ukrainian opposition leader is under arrest. Why are the main western media not publishing this? Arthur Scargill 13/4/2022

A number of people who were at Saltley in 1972 have been invited to the meeting and will speak about their experiences. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery are updating their digital collection and will film people from BIrmingham asking what the event on 10th February, 1972 meant to them. Banner Theatre will be performing in the following locations subject to confirmation. 30 April Bolton 1st May Band
1 May BTUC Saltley Gate Production – Birmingham. See above.
3 May Southampton.
10 May Coventry?
14 May East Riding and Hull
?? May/June Blackburn
8 July Durham Gala ? TBC
15 July Tolpuddle
?? September – Worcester TBC
17 Nov. Carlisle
18/19 November Dumfries More in the pipeline! The Battle of Saltley Gate and other Banner Theatre productions can be booked in locations across the U.K.

Dave Rogers Banner Theatre
Email: rogersbanner@gmail.com
Telephone: 0121 523 6581

Mobile: 0787 8848 695
websites: Banner Theatre: www.bannertheatre.co.uk

Commentary: Statement on the Ukrainian by Arthur Scargill, the current leader of the Socialist Labour Party (SLP), perhaps the only large left-wing organization in Britain that had taken a clear position in favor of Brexit (see also the joint T. Fotopoulos speech at a SLP event in favor of BREXIT) and historical leader of the miners, who were bloodied by Thatcher to introduce neoliberal globalization in England (but also in Europe as a whole). Just as all those who are supposed to be in the interest of the people should argue, so does Scargill take a clear stand against the Transnational Elite, represented by its organs (NATO, EU), showing that it is their own aggression that is responsible for the current conflict. In a bid to end the Putin-dominated regime once and for all, they overthrew the Yanukovych government in 2014, installed Nazi Ukrainians in power to purge pro-Russians in the east, and militarized Ukrainian-based territory. relevant statements by Secretary of State Victoria Newland) and military exercises (see post by J. Payat, then US Ambassador to Ukraine, from 2015 on US and Ukrainian military military exercises). Today, in a regime of complete anti-Russian hysteria, with propaganda having reached unprecedented levels, we are called upon more urgently than ever to choose between globalization or national sovereignty. And as Scargill puts it, it’s time to show that “we are opposed to globalization.” Statement by Arthur Scargill, 15.03.2022 The revelation that Ukraine had set up a military base near the border with Poland and that Ukraine and NATO had conducted joint military exercises in recent years shows that Ukraine acted in breach of the agreement with Russia that it would not join the NATO or the EU. The hysteria in NATO and the EU and the accumulation of military equipment before Russia acts and the billions of dollars / pounds and other currencies of NATO and EU countries show me that the current conflict between the two capitalist countries started with NATO and European Union. It is time for the Socialists to make it clear that we are opposed to globalization and that the expansion of the United States and NATO is not done on our behalf. This conflict can end today, provided that Ukraine abides by the 2014 agreement and states that it will not or will not seek to join NATO or the European Union and will not allow NATO or the United States to have bases on Ukrainian territory. Listening to the comments of the US generals, watching on TV the statements of NATO and the British government, and observing what is generally said in the media, that is, that the Russian side in the conflict in Ukraine has swamped, shows how stupid they are and will they had to bow their heads in shame. The Russian military has been in Ukraine for less than three weeks and has surrounded major cities, ports and airports. Compare that to the three-year invasion of Korea by the United States and Britain, where they lost and after a ceasefire the United States is actually still at war 72 years later. The US invasion of Vietnam in 1954 lasted 21 years, a war that the US lost in 1975 and: The US-British invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 lasted 20 years and ended in a disgraceful defeat for America and Britain in 2021, yet despite these defeats, the generals who led them have the audacity to criticize from above. to the Russian generals who defeated the fascists at Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad and the tank battle at Kursk in the 1940-1945 war, and then liberated Ukraine. It is time to tell the Ukrainian government to abide by the agreement in 2014 and to pledge not to join or seek to join the European Union or NATO and not to allow NATO, the EU or the US to have bases on Ukrainian soil.