Austerity and Policing

Since the 2010, the government have been making cuts in police funding. First it was called “efficiency”, then it was called “saving resources”. The Neighbourhood  police teams were reduced and  the desk sergeants removed in order to to save £260m. After the Conservative  government was elected, they changed the 6% savings into 23% cuts. This meant no more Community Patrol Officers, cuts in admin staff and cut in station police officers. They pushed for  another £450m by selling off police hostels and section houses.
Overall there has been a loss of nearly 20,000 police staff. When she was Home Secretary, Theresa May was asked what she would do about the deaths of young people from knife and gun crime, she told the Police Federation to stop scaremongering.
… Read on ...

A FAIR DEAL FOR GUYANA – A FAIR DEAL FOR THE PLANET

“A Fair Deal for Guyana – Fair Deal for the Planet” is a campaign by concerned citizens from Guyana and around the world.

Lawyers acting for the Guyanese campaigners are to lodge the latest challenge in a court in Guyana this week. They are funding the battle against oil giants Exxon Mobil, Hess Corporation and Nexen, a subsidiary of Chinese national oil, through the crowdfunding site CrowdJustice.

Major oil reserves have been discovered off the coast of Guyana.  The government and the oil companies have talked about ‘unimaginable wealth’ for the country. However, there is widespread fear that this is a bad deal for Guyana and a disaster for our planet.… Read on ...

A modest success…

… but one that proves the value of solidarity – so thanks to all of you who signed the petition

Deportation-threat academics allowed to stay in UK

Two Durham University academics, members of UCU, and their daughter who were ordered to leave the UK within 14 days have been told they can stay in the UK.
Dr Ernesto Schwartz-Marin, Dr Arely Cruz-Santiago and 11-year-old Camila faced leaving the country by Saturday 24 March.
The Home Office said the couple breached rules by spending too much time abroad during their visa period.
But it halted proceedings following the intervention of their local MP.… Read on ...

Help University of London outsourced workers fight for equality – donate to the strike fund

Over 100 University of London cleaners, porters, security officers, gardeners and others are preparing for the biggest-ever outsourced workers strike in UK higher education, and they need your help.

These workers, who are demanding for an end to outsourcing, an end to zero-hours and for pay rises, are close to a historic victory that could end years of discrimination at the university.

After a near-unanimous ballot in favour of strike action, the IWGB has announced strikes for 25 and 26 April. But sadly, for these workers going on strike means that they lose out on two days’ pay.

That’s why we need your help.… Read on ...

An audience with Bernard Coard

A joint meeting of UNITE the UNION London and Eastern BAEM Committee and Caribbean Labour Solidarity

27 March 2018 – 6:00 pm for 6:30 start
Ron Todd House, 33-37 Moreland Street, London EC1V 8BB
Tube: Angel Islington (Northern Line)

Programme:

  • Introduction
  • An Audience with Bernard Coard & A Launch of
    The Grenada Revolution: What Really Happened?
  • Alan Scott will present his analysis of documents released under the 30 year rule which disprove the justification for the American invasion.
  • Caribbean Labour Solidarity Reports
  • Questions & Answers
  • The Way forward …
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‘Indefensible’ that Londoner living in UK for 44 years was told to pay upfront for treatment

Albert Thompson, 63, arrived in the UK from Jamaica as a teenager in 1973, and has lived here continuously ever since. He is currently not receiving the radiotherapy treatment he needs for prostate cancer because the London hospital where he was due to be treated told him he needed to provide proof of residency or pay upfront for treatment.

Politicians, doctors and cancer charities have responded with outrage to the case of a Londoner asked to pay £54,000 for cancer treatment because he was unable to provide evidence of residency, despite having lived here for 44 years.

Read the full story….… Read on ...

A revolutionary legacy Haiti and Toussaint Louverture

The Asahi Shimbun Displays
A revolutionary legacy: Haiti and Toussaint Louverture, a temporary spotlight display at the British Museum, opening on February 22nd (until April 22nd).

The display highlights the history and legacy of the Haitian Revolution, and the man who emerged as its foremost leader: Toussaint Louverture (1743-1803). At its heart is a newly-acquired portrait of Louverture by the African American artist Jacob Lawrence (printed in 1986 after a painting first made in 1938). Paired with this imposing, boldly-coloured image is a Haitian Vodou boula drum, on show for the first time since entering the Museum’s collection in 1930.… Read on ...

NGO crimes go far beyond Oxfam

In 2008 some of us had written to Barbara Stocking, then Oxfam chief executive, objecting to a report that it sponsored, Rule of Rapists in Haiti, which labelled Haitians as rapists while hiding rapes by occupying UN forces. The year before, 114 soldiers had been sent home for raping women and girls, some as young as 11. No one was prosecuted. We wrote: “NGOs like Oxfam have known about rapes by UN forces, as well as by aid and charity workers, for decades. It’s the pressure of victims, women and [children] in the most impoverished communities, who had the courage to speak out that finally won … public acknowledgement.” There was no reply.… Read on ...