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Indian Farmers have been on strike fro over a year opposing the Modi Government wish to put control of farmers and farming in the hands of the multinationals. Globalisation has seen the rise and rise of neoliberalism designed to increase the profits of big business while seizing land and exploiting labour on the cheap. Hundreds lost their lives in the ensuing drawn out battle. Birmingam Trades Union Council organised a meeting where those involved tell their story on Sunday, 21st November 2021. Watch it here. Press report: Morning Star; Hindustan Times Posted by John Tyrrell 30/11/2021

50th Anniversary, Battle of Saltley Gate, 10th February 1972 Birmingham Trades Council are planning celebrations to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Saltley Gate in 1972. It is planned to kick off with the unveiling of a plaque on the Unite Trade Union office in Birmingham which is in the area of Saltley Gate on 10th February 2022. Arthur Scargill will be a key speaker and Banner Theatre will perform songs from current productions on major issues. You will be welcome to attend and bring Union banners and banners relating to key issues affecting us, including the NHS, education funding and inequality, homelessness etc. Further details will be announced shortly. Banner Theatre are creating live and on-line programmes. This will be available for booking around the country. Details here: https://bannertheatre.co.uk/portfolio/banner-theatres-international-may-day-celebration-2021-2/ DONATIONS. We are asking the Labour and Trade Union movement and their supporters for donations towards making taking the 50th anniversary of Saltley Gate of Saltley Gate as a sign that great victories are possible through solidarity and determination. These can be sent to Birmingham Trade union Council. A Message from Arthur Scargill On 9 January 1972, Britain’s miners went on national strike for the first time since 1926. Miners had fallen dramatically down the wages “league table” whilst terms and conditions had reached a point at which they were no longer prepared to accept pennies instead of pounds. The NUM’s Areas commenced picketing at power stations, docks, ports – wherever road transport could deliver or collect coal; the Tory Government, determined that our claims should not succeed, was importing coal together with what was termed “cheap” oil and using nuclear power to keep energy supplies going. The trade union and Labour movement was by and large supportive – yet, despite messages of solidarity from individual unions and the TUC, national trade union leaders in the energy sector weren’t calling on their members to support us, while in road transport, scab drivers were transporting imported coal and oil to power stations. Faced with this, miners deployed flying pickets to the power stations, ports, wharfs and non-union transport companies, confronting self-employed scab drivers. Whilst picketing was in many cases proving successful, miners were still having to battle in all parts of the country. Against this background, I certainly wasn’t expecting what happened in the early afternoon of Saturday, 5 February. As a member of the Yorkshire NUM Executive Committee and picket organiser for the Barnsley Area, I received a phone call requesting help in closing down a coke depot in the centre of Birmingham, Britain’s largest city. Within two hours, 400 Yorkshire miners were on their way by coach, with me and my fellow-Branch Official Alvin Philips following in my car. On reaching Birmingham and we realised that the term “coke depot” didn’t convey the reality of Saltley, with stocks that looked to me as high as Mt. Everest! We were warmly welcomed by Birmingham’s working people; the Trades Council, local Labour Party, Communist Party and Co-operative Party; hundreds of families came forward with accommodation and meals, and looked after us over the coming days. At 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, what had been a handful of local NUM pickets, reinforced by miners from Yorkshire closed down the Saltley depot for the rest of the day. We were able to do that because the pickets were in the majority – however, on the Monday morning we were met by over 1,000 police determined that Saltley would be kept open. Yes, there was violence: it came from the police and resulted in substantial numbers of injured pickets. By Tuesday, 8 February, it was obvious we needed more assistance from the trade union movement. With the help of Frank Watters of the Communist Party, Moira Symons of the Labour Party, Dick Knowles of the Co-op. Party and the Trades Council Secretary, arrangements were made for me to meet with local and regional leaders of key trade unions of the day, including the TGWU, AEU/AUEW, NATFHE, Vehicle Builders, the GMW, the EEPTU and the FBU. All the union leaders and representatives I met listened to my heartfelt argument that what we needed wasn’t money or messages but strike action – and they agreed one by one to organise to ensure that we would get the support I was asking for on Thursday, 10 February. The morning of 10 February1972 realised an event which I believe will symbolise forever what trade unionists united are capable of achieving. On that day, 20,000 women and men marched to join the miners on the picket line at Saltley Gate, and in so doing they marched not only into the history of the British trade union and Labour movement but into the international pantheon of working class struggle. That day is also seared into the collective memory of our class enemies. The Tories in particular remain terrified that the working class of Birmingham proved in 1972 that workers had the power to determine events. I’ve always savoured the memory of then Home Secretary Reginald Maudling’s declaration – on 10 February – that the Saltley depot would remain open; two hours later, word reached Maudling and the Tory Government: Birmingham’s working class had closed Saltley Gate. Arthur Scargill President, National Union of Mineworkers 1982-2002 (4 October 2021) Posted by John Tyrrell, 29/11/2021

These last decades have seen movements with revolutionary potential hit the headlines. Greens began to make some impact, I seem to recall, about fifty years ago, mainly in Germany; the black and women’s liberation movements a bit earlier. So we get the “rainbow alliance” idea, with its [apparent ?] successes, as in South Africa. Still, at least some of these promising aspirations have been less than clearly “progressive” , the Peter Tatchell tendency, for example, being, so far as I know, very much a minority among “gay rights”, and the Tory C-in-C {Clown in Chief} posing as a greemlin [he’d lie down in front of the earth-movers to stop another Heathrow runway, joined by Mr Goldsmith, no doubt !] All the more important, then, for socialists to insist that red is the colour not only of the month but of our present and future. The colour which gives light to all the others [Greens know, in their heart of hearts, that only socialism can save the human and physical environment, and that dallying with the neo-liberals is dangerous and even fatal to this aim] Even infra-red can help us see in the dark of the capitalist murk; we can detect their tricks and avoid being picked off by their snipers. Give me some light !! Let it be Red !! David Marchesi, Southwest Region 11/11/2021

“Demonstration in support of the Indian farmers struggle and protesting Indian PM Modi’s arrival in Scotland in George Square today. Excellent contributions all round. We also met a few of our SLP comrades from south of the border a couple of whom were speakers at the rally.”. James McDaid, SLP Scotland and Bhagwant Singh, SLP West Midlands at COP26 in Glasgow “We are here demonstrating in solidarity with Indian farmers fighting in defence of historical rights, for dignity and for the right to provide food for the people and a decent standard of living for their families and communities against a reactionary government intent in selling out to the highest bidder amongst the band of transnational agribusiness pirates interested only in maximising private profit. We in SLP Scotland are proud to be here to sho support for that struggle. We are in George Square, Glasgow on the eve of COP26. Look around you, George Square is a square of ornate buildings, buildings built on the backs and misery of cheap and slave labour from around the British empire, an empire renowned as one on which the “sun never set”! But also one on which the blood never dried. Look at the statues around the square, Titans of British imperialism, slave owners and murderers of millions. Concurrently with that story is the story of mass working class deprivation and poverty in this same city, deaths again of untold numbers from malnutrition and preventable disease. These things are fact. But there is another story of this place, great anti-imperialists spoke to great demonstrations here in George Square, Paul Robeson, Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela and others. This square seen an insurrection in 1919 that then Home Secretary Winston Churchill sent tanks and troops to suppress. We here now are standing in that tradition. The elites worldwide are intent in turning back the clock to the days of empire and colonial exploitation, of the subjugation of working people, of super exploitation and meaningful democracy. The Indian farmers fight is a national struggle to defend rights but it is also an international fight against the transnational corporations intent on maximum exploitation and profit at all our expense. We are proud to stand in solidarity with Indian farmers. Victory to your struggle.”. James McDaid SLP Scotland 1/11/2021

The Budget hailed by the media and by right wing economists as positive will result in local authorities increasing rent and council tax, transport yet again increasing and pensioners will lose £17,78 per week as a result of the government breaching the Triple Lock, added to which workers will suffer a severe decrease in wages which should be at least £15 an hour. All this and yet not a word about the £250 billion being spent on Trident Nuclear Missiles and Defence; spending which over the years has seen over a million men, women and children die in Afghanistan, Libya, and Iraq . The answer is not woolly speeches in the House of Commons but in the Trade Union Movement taking action to force the government and the Labour Party opposition to demand that the multinational companies pay 85% of their profits; organisations such as Amazon, Apple; Google; Facebook; and Microsoft. Arthur Scargill President National Union of Mineworkers 1982- 2002. Leader Socialist Labour Party. 27.10.2021

Free Julian Assange meeting 26/10/21 at St Pancras church, about 100 people present. Main speakers. 1.Former MP Chris Williamson. Said Julian an inspiration to the world.He was betrayed by politicians,journalists and judiciary. Chris was particularly critical of lack of Labour MPS support for Julian Chris says Julian exposed war crimes of Britain and America throughout the world. Also the evil arms trade, and corporate control over governments. 2.Dereck Summerfield. Chair of Psychiatrists at Freedom from Torture Stated that Julian was on trial for exposing war crimes of UK and USA , particularly executing innocent civilians. 3.Andrew Feinstein former South Africa ANC activist and member of South Africa parliament. Stated Julian was an inspiration to the whole world. He said Julians arrest and trial was a travesty of justice. Julian is on trial for exposing Western powers war crimes throughout the world, also for exposing national security state being used against political activists. Russia Today interview with John Pilger warning of implications of action taken against Julian Assange and consequence treatment to not only journalists but any citizen who decides to be a white blower against injustice and criminal acts of those holding power. GETTING JULIAN ASSANGE: THE UNTOLD STORY. John Pilger Kevin O’Connor, London Region 27.10.2021

Google has recently surfaced on a beach in Cornwall with what is described as a subsea internet cable named “Grace Hopper” after an American computer scientist. The start of the cable is in New York and one end of it has emerged in Bilbao, Spain whist the British end has come ashore later. GCHQ, Bude Wikipedia The site of the the Cornish beach is Bude, North Cornwall quite near to the border with Devon. A Google spokesperson, Jane Stowell, was quoted as saying that it was an “ideal, nicely protected beach and adjacent to a lot of terrestrial infrastructure needed”. The BBC with its own slant proceedings reported that the beach was facing in the directions that was required. It seems rather strange that it is necessary to be nearly up in Devon before you find a beach facing in the necessary direction. Having said all this, isn’t it a strange coincidence that the British regime has a satellite ground station and eavesdropping centre operated by British signals intelligence service known as GCHQ Composite Signals Organisation Station, Morwenstow. The alternative name for this station is GCHQ Bude. Rob J. Hawkins, South West Region 25.10.2021

The decision by China to boost coal output in order to avert power cuts is a common sense decision which will help it’s population to have warmed as it approaches projected severe winter. If Britain had not stupidly closed it’s coal mines we would not now be facing massive Electricity; Gas and Fuel costs. It’s time the so called experts stopped regarding Global Warming with Climate Change. We can extract CO2 from coal and gas by Carbon Capture but both Tory and Labour Parties have and are continuing to blame coal for what we are really facing namely Climate Change which the earth has faced for millions of years. If Britain’s Coal Mines had not been closed politically we would today be self sufficient in energy and be able to provide our country with all the power it needs. I welcome the common sense policy of China and call for its example be followed by all countries who have coal reserves to follow China’ example. Arthur Scargill President NUM 1982-2002. 9/10/2021 Notes 1. Gazprom raises forecast for gas export prices by over 10% in 2021 Governments need to take action to combat fuel suppliers taking the opportunity to ratchet up prices as market prices soar. One way of doing this is to cut dependency on importing energy and using what is available at home, as China has decided to do. This does not mean stopping work towards developing sustainable energy. In the U.K. a coal mine that was making great progress in developing carbon capture was closed shutting down the means to develop the technology that is needed. 2. Lebanon in COMPLETE DARKNESS after 2 power stations shut down, blackout will ‘continue for few days’ 3. India faces a power crisis as coal stocks decline – Delhi chief minister

One of the great problems facing today’s Britain is the lack of decent jobs as a result of decades of closing of our basic industries. Two of the main driving forces for these closures have been the European Union and its German industrial core which along with French agriculture formed the basis of the origins of the initial structure. German industry, which had tremendous American investment after WW11 (The Marshall plan) to modernise, may be compared to British industry which was left on its knees, often dependant on Victorian buildings and industrial equipment to keep struggling along. The second big attack upon our Industry came from the Thatcher regime (and subsequent ‘Thatcherite’ Labour and Tory/Lib Dem regimes). When we delve into the Thatcher regime which followed The Callaghan attacks upon the British working classes, we find that one of its most pernicious aspects was asset stripping. In this process, viable industries were shut down with their work forces thrown onto the scrap heap. The shells of the industrial buildings remaining were then sold off to property redevelopers. One of the most notorious of these asset stripping organisations was Slater-Walker securities. Peter Walker, one of those at the head of the organisation, was a Thatcher ‘blue-eyed boy’ and politician who, like his son became an M.P. in Worcester. He later entered the House of Lords. His son, Robin Walker is now a member of Boris Johnson’s Tory regime. It is frightening to think that his latest posting is as Minister of State for school standards. If the sort of standards that you wish for in state schools include a total disregard for the quality of the lives of your fellow members of the working class, then this appointment seems ideal. After all, a future scenario might be the closure of state schools, with the sacking of all the educators. The buildings, themselves could be converted into Victorian themed workhouses where the underfed children could be kept ‘fit’ on purpose-made treadmills while their parents get ‘on their bikes’ looking for insecure, hire and fire, underpaid and in-built ‘bullied by the bosses’ work. Oh what a delightful prospect the Tory regime presents for the British working classes of the future! Rob J. Hawkins, SLP South West Region 8/10/2021

You may have seen the disabled man complaining to Reece Mogg about having his life destroyed by being made redundant due to Tory cuts. Both the GMB and SLP were involved in a campaign to keep the disabled centre open in St Helens.This was an organised factory staffed by disabled producing concrete products like paving stones etc. Remember the song by the Bachelors “I don’t want to go to work on my bike in the rain”? The Convenor told me that these workers actually enjoyed going to work. For some it was the only contact they had with other people and not a dreary lonely existence. They also had their pride and produced a useful product .The Tories took that away because it wasn’t profitable enough. That disabled protester did more than the whole of the Labour opposition to expose this rotten capitalist system. Well done! Tories seem to have stolen Labour’s clothes. Out of Europe and promises of rebuilding Britain. HGV drivers on £14 per hour in Manchester and no doubt same most places.If they are serious about rebuild then they need to train and start producing at home .It’s not beyond the wit of man even Boris. However Labour is now looking foolish as it just complains with no thought of rebuilding.They should reopen the disabled production centres if they are serious about rebuilding. Ron Sinclair SLP Executive Member, Northwestern Region 5.10,2021