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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