"Our Lives Are Worth More Than Your Profits" - A Week in Politics in Cardiff

RH Tawney once quipped, 'What thoughtful rich people call the problem of poverty, thoughtful poor people call with equal justice a problem of riches.'

Over the last 7 days, our two Cardiff RESPECT candidates standing as The LEFT Party - Joe 'Red' Redmond, Adamdown & Karen Tyre, Butetown - have been out campaigning against war, racism, privatisation and poverty.

This is a record of the final few days of our campaign. We have encountered huge disillusionment with mainstream politics and politicians. In Butetown we met some of the poorest communities in Wales, surrounded by luxury apartments, next door to the Welsh Assembly. If we have in a small way helped empower people to organise at the base of society against the rich and powerful, then our campaign will have been a success

Thursday

A day of strike action all over South Wales meant an early start and plenty of picket lines for Respect activists to visit before joining a huge teachers’ rally for in Cardiff. After chatting with members of the NUT and other unions, Joe and Karen were interviewed by Radio Wales, who asked whether today’s strike signalled the rebirth of the trade union movement – we told them “having been on civil servants’ and postal workers' picket lines we know there is already a mass movement against Gordon Brown’s attack on public sector pay and conditions. We applaud teachers for joining the struggle and will continue to build links between all unions.”

“Inflation and the cost of living are spiralling out of control at the same time as New Labour enforces the abolition of the 10p tax rate and hands billions of pounds in public money to Northern Rock. The government keeps telling us there is no money for workers in the public service to earn a fair wage and clearly this is a lie!”

Teachers also seemed very interested in Saturday’s demonstration against the St Athan, especially as several schools in the area are discussing investment from private companies which will underwrite the curriculum and groom pupils for the Military Academy.

Friday

A quiet day as far as canvassing goes – all our energy is focussed on making sure there is a strong turnout for the weekend’s two major events. Like every other day for the past few weeks though there are always more leaflets to be posted!

Saturday

Joe & Karen join March against £14 billion being spent on a huge Military Academy being built near Cardiff run by private companies like Raytheon who manufacture cluster bombs. We think this is a massive waste of public money - why are we told there's no money for pensions and public services, but there's always money for war? There are lots of young people on the march and a big delegation from the PCS trade union, many of whom we have met on the picket lines in the last year.

Police serve Public Order Act on the demonstration to prevent us marching in the City Centre where people can see us - it seems the political establishment in Wales is rattled. The highlight of the day is an impassioned speech from Davy McAuley from the Derry Raytheon 9 campaign; he talks about meeting a family in Lebanon who lost 20 family members to a Raytheon bomb, and seeing children with their limbs blown off. Later in the bar, we have a long conversation about socialism, setting up an organised trade union faction and the living wage campaign.

Sunday

With many of our members up in London joining thousands at the LoveMusicHateRacism Carnival against the Nazi BNP, the rest of us canvass a couple of neighbourhoods in Adamsdown.

It's good to see a local shop with our election leaflet up. On the doorstep a major issue seems to be lack of youth facilities and anything for young people to do in the area. People complain about politicians making promises to the local community but not delivering, the local park for example needs work. We try and connect the local issues to the big issues of privatisation and the government’s refusal to tax the rich to fund public services, and the lack of decent council housing.

We also challenge those who want let our politicians off the hook by blaming immigrants for bad housing and the state of the NHS - we defend our multicultural society.

Monday

Joe and Karen visit Butetown Community Centre to hear a presentation from the Local Health Board on the future of health services in Cardiff and specifically the future of Butetown Community Centre which has been threatened with closure. There is a great turnout - local people are extremely worried about the disruption to services and question why other parts of the city are getting a better deal. One woman says she’s been seeing men in hard hats outside her window every day for 25 years – but all that gets built is luxury flats.

After the meeting we speak to community leaders who believe the council wants to force residents off the land so they can sell it to property developers. Just like people in Adamsdown they are angry about the lack of investment in leisure facilities. They blame lack of amenities for contributing to rising tension between young people from different cultures – creating rivalries rather than cohesion. We meet some really passionate people who are extremely sceptical about promises from politicians and interested in hearing what Respect has to say about offering something new and not just looking out for big business.

Tuesday

Karen attends a public meeting organised by Cardiff Trades Council to mobilise people to defend public services. A small meeting, after all, it was competing with election canvassing and the Champions League semi-final! During the discussion, we talk about how different ways of trying to reach people need to be used, relating to people enthused by the anti-war movement and anti-racist work. We've made a start at getting new forces involved in this campaign, lets hope we can keep up the momentum.

Meanwhile, our other candidate is getting the message out in the Adamdown ward, he says "I'm visiting the people in my block and surrounding streets – make sure they know the name!"
Other supporters are at the anti-Military Academy campaign meeting.

Wednesday

Karen and Joe have been invited to Red Sea House (home of the Butetown Elders’ Centre – an important meeting place, particularly amongst Somali men). We’re visiting after evening prayer so there should be plenty of people there and we’ll also be doing more canvassing locally if we have time.

Thursday Election Day

On the ground in both wards!

March against the Military Academy

Wales recently recently received its biggest ever award of taxpayers money: £14 billion. Unfortunately the 4 main parties in Wales have supported this money not being spent on hospitals, schools and public services. but instead on war, in the shape of a huge, privatised military academy being built at St Athan, near Cardiff. RESPECT - The Left Party is proud to be the only political party in Wales speaking out against the Academy in the upcoming elections.

Stop the War NOW: MARCH TO STOP THE UK MILITARY ACADEMY

Mass demonstration called by Stop the St Athan Military Academy Campaign
Supported by UK Stop the War Coalition

Assemble 1.30 pm, Cathays Park
(opposite Museum/City Hall, Cardiff
Saturday 26 April

In the summer of 2006, hundreds of people protested in Cardiff against the war on Lebanon. The Israeli military dropped half-a-million cluster bombs on Lebanon supplied by arms companies like Raytheon. Now Raytheon has been invited to Wales by the Welsh Assembly Government to help run a huge, privatised military academy near Cardiff. It's time to get back onto the streets! Anything we can do in Wales to prevent the State waging war on its terms can only be of help to those resisting in the frontline in the Middle East and beyond.

Stop the St Athan Military Academy Campaign supporters include:

Aberystwyth Peace & Justice Network, Bangor Peace & Justice GroupCaernarfon Peace & Justice Group, Cardiff Anarchist Network, Cardiff Justice & Peace Group, Cardiff RESPECT/Left Party, Church Action Against Poverty, CND Cymru, CND (Swansea), Communist Party of Wales, Cymdeithas y Cymod (Fellowship of Reconciliation Wales), Cymdeithas yr Iaith (Welsh Language Society), Cynefin y Werin, Green Party (Wales), Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign, Penarth Justice & Peace Group, Permanent Revolution, Quakers (Caerleon), RESPECT/Left Party, Socialist Labour Party (Wales), South Wales Anarchists, Stop the War Coalition (UK), Stop the War (Bristol)Stop the War (Cardiff), Stop the War (Swindon), Stop the War (Wrekin), Women in Black (Abergavenny), Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Wrexham Peace & Justice Centre

To add your name or organisation to the list of supporters or for more information about the campaign, email: no2militaryacademy@inbox.com

Imagine a world in which the armed forces are trained by arms dealers.And we subsidise their profits.

That world will become reality unless we stop the proposed school of death at St Athan.The creation of a military super-academy at St Athan, between Cardiff and Swansea, was announced as a done deal in January 2007. Despite the fact this represented the biggest PFI in history, involving £14 billion of taxpayers' money, there had been no debate in either Westminster or the Welsh Assembly (Senedd). A promise of 5500 local jobs was trumpeted loudly by an uncritical news media and presented as a great victory for Wales.

No wonder the politicians didn't want any debate. The new super-academy, replacing many smaller centres, means that military training will now be in the hands of shameless profiteers.The winning bidders for the project were the Metrix consortium. This consortium includes Qinetiq, the privatised research and development wing of the MoD. Qinetiq was recently the subject of intense criticism by the National Audit Office. Its privatisation was proposed by MoD managers – who then saw their shares rise 10,000% on the day of the sale! 33.8% of Qinetiq was also bought by the US-based Carlyle Group, a sinister lash-up of politicians and arms dealers with a vested interest in promoting war.Former members of its board include one George W. Bush.

Then there is the US arms manufacturer Raytheon. Raytheon make the missiles which deliver cluster bombs, the horrendous weapons which are estimated to have killed 100,000 people – 98% of them innocent civilians. The world can also thank Raytheon for the depleted uranium weapons which have led to thousands of horribly deformed babies and large increases in cancers in war zones and beyond.Raytheon, Qinetiq and friends will not just be training UK armed forces at St Athan. They will train any soldiers, sailors and air force personnel that are willing to pay for the privilege. And like all PFIs, the St Athan academy will be subsidised by the taxpayer, and if necessary, bailed out with public money.There has never been a detailed breakdown of the jobs the academy will bring. However, even Metrix admit that many of the military trainers will relocate from elsewhere. Every PFI has secured profits by cutting costs. St Athan will mean less MoD jobs overall, and the poorest pay and conditions for lowskilled workers.

In any case, imagine what else could be done with £14 billion! With hospitals and schools closing throughout Wales and the UK, with a desperate need to improve social facilities, create sustainable sources of energy etc, such public money could be invested in socially useful projects rather than the preparation for future wars of occupation like Iraq.

If this development goes ahead, 21 st century Wales will be become a militarised, security-obsessed nightmare. If you want to stop the war profiteers in their tracks, support the campaign and raise it in your union, student union, workplace and community.

South-East Wales Respect Election Launch

SOUTH EAST WALES & CARDIFF ELECTION LAUNCH

Against privatisation, racism, war & the destruction of the planet:

Building an activist alternative to the established government in Wales

Wednesday 6 February 6th at 7.30pm,

Roath Community Centre, Ninian Road, Roath, Cardiff

The meeting will include election of a steering committee for S.E. Wales and selection of wards and candidates for the May council elections where RESPECT plans to provide an alternative to the parties of inequality and big business.

If anyone wants to put themselves forward please let us know by email at respect.wales@gmail.com

The meeting will also have a report back from Respect National Council giving members a chance to hear about how things have been developing nationally.

Please spread the word of this meeting to anyone you know who's interested in getting involved in the campaign!

ANOTHER WALES IS POSSIBLE!

We want a Robin Hood Economy: Take from the Rich and give to the Poor!

Gordon Brown and Adam Price MP have one thing in common: Both believe in an economy founded on massive tax breaks to multinationals, only Plaid want to cut corporation tax to even lower levels than even Thatcher, Blair or Brown!
As outlined by Adam Price MP Plaid's economic strategy for rebuilding Wales is based on massive tax breaks to multinational coporations in order to attract foreign companies into Wales. Corporate globalisation means that multinationals race around the world looking for whichever country offers the lowest paid workers with worst conditions, Plaid's economic strategy can only mean the continuation of the low wage economy.
Adam Johannes from Roath RESPECT outlines a socialist alternative.

Once upon a time, sections of the Labour Party spoke of 'taxing the rich until the pips squeaked', of 'howls of anguish from those rich enough to pay over 75% on their last slice of earnings' - but that was a very long time ago! Since 1979, the burden of taxation has shifted decisively from the rich to poor. RESPECT believes that we need to tax the rich to rebuild the Welfare State: Join our fight to make the rich pay their fair share as part of the bigger crusade to combat poverty and inequality in Wales!

Shift in tax

There been a fundamental shift in tax in Britain over the last 30 years. The Tories and now New Labour have increased increased indirect taxes that hit the poor the hardest. When Thatcher's Tory government was elected in 1979 one of its first acts was to slash income tax on the rich and radically increase VAT on consumer goods. It radically cut the top rate of tax on the rich.

At the same time it doubled VAT from 8 percent to 15 percent, forcing up the price of many basic goods.

When the Tories were forced to abandon the poll tax in 1991 they hit back at working people by raising VAT to 17.5 percent. The Tories also introduced the nastiest fuel tax of all. They imposed a special 8 percent VAT tax on domestic fuel in 1994, and planned to increase it further.

The tax added 8 percent to people's gas and electric bills and hit pensioners struggling to keep warm in the winter especially hard. New Labour reduced this tax to 5 percent but refuses to scrap it. Since New Labour was elected in 1997 it has done nothing to change the Tory shift from direct to consumption taxes.

New Labour refuses to increase the top rate of income tax. And it has cut taxes on business profits even more than the Tories did.

There's an urgent need for a fight against the pro-rich, pro-business agenda of Tories, New Labour and Plaid. It should be based not on higher consumption taxes, but on a major increase in income tax on the rich. There should also be a massive increase in tax on corporate profits.

This should go hand-in-hand with price controls on basic goods to stop business protecting their profits by forcing up prices paid by ordinary people.

Let's recap: Under the first 8 years of the Thatcher government, the richest paid a rate of 60% on excess earnings, under New Labour this has sunk to 40%. Under James Callaghan the rich paid over 80% and under Harold Wilson almost 90%. If the government were to tax the rich at the same rate as Thatcher - hardly a socialist! - we could scrap student fees, rebuild the NHS, keep our schools open and provide for our pensioners. Instead New Labour have cut corpoaration tax again to the lowest rates of any major economy, lower than America, Germany and Japan. Incredibly, Plaid Cymru argue that corporation tax should be cut even further! In Wales, in contrast, RESPECT argues that we need to take on corporate power not extend it.

Scrap Council Tax - For a Local Service Tax

The policies of the mainstream parties in promoting tax breaks for the rich have mean council tax bills for working people have rocketed. The richest 20% of the Welsh population also pay a lesser proportion of their income on council tax than the poorest 20%. Council Tax is obscenely regressive. Other parties moan about the Council Tax: we demand its abolition. A local service tax based on income could actually generate more money than the current council tax!

Cardiff RESPECT will be campaigning in May for the scrapping of the council tax in Wales. We wish to see it replaced with a local service tax based on income. Under our scheme three quarters of people would be better off, while the rich would have to pay more. Low income houses would save more than £20 a week. We would campaign for those whose income was below £10,000 a year to be exempt from the tax.

To spread this system fairly across Britain you would have to continue redistributing wealth from councils in richer areas to those in poorer areas. Otherwise in areas where there were fewer people with high incomes, there would be less money to spend on services, or workers would have to pay more.

'The language of priorities' . . .

Aneurin Bevan called socialism, 'the language of priorities'. If this is the case, then the priorities of the two ruling parties in Wales are very far from socialism.

New Labour, Plaid Cymru, the Tories and LibDems have supported over £14 billion being spent on war in the shape of a huge, privatised, UK Military Academy at St Athan's. This money could have been spent on eliminating child poverty, on keeping schools and hospitals open, on creating jobs based on renewable energy and socially useful activities. Instead, New Labour and Plaid showed that while we are told that there is no money for vital public services, there will always be money to fuel the military-industrial complex.

Cardiff RESPECT is proud to stand against the tide of militarism and to have been the only party in Wales to have campaigned against the school for slaughter in the recent assembly elections. We believe that there is enough money in Wales to create a very different society, the problem is that it is concentrated in the hands of the few. We aim to build a party of the millions rather than the millionaires to build a society based on principles of equality, social justice, peace and sustainability. To get involved email: respect_yourself_cardiff@hotmail.co.uk

ANOTHER WALES IS POSSIBLE!

Cardiff RESPECT calls for

* A massive cut in military spending. Disband Britain’s weapons of mass destruction and scrap nuclear weapons. Decommission Trident. No to £14 billion being wasted on a military academy at St Athan's in South Wales.
* Transfer resources from military to useful production.
* Tax currency speculation.
* Abolish VAT and replace it with increased direct taxation.
* Raise the top rate of income tax.
* Raise the tax threshold to ensure that no one on the minimum wage pays income tax.
* A big increase in corporation tax, with an additional tax on the super-profits of the oil companies and the banks.
* A turnover tax on multi-nationals doing businesses in Britain.
* Raise the top rate of inheritance tax whilst putting higher duties on other transfers of wealth and financial transaction.
* Increased stamp duty on stocks and shares.
* A crack down on tax evasion by big companies and action against offshore tax havens.
* Abolish the ceiling on National Insurance contributions.

Dreaming of a Red Christmas! Seasons Greetings from Cardiff RESPECT

Another year gone. Good friends we've lost.
As we march out of 2007 and onwards into a new year, let's hope that 2008 will be a red hot year of protest and action to save the planet, reverse neoliberalism and build a better world.
Across the universe, empire is facing cataclysmic defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan, but when a rat's in a corner it doesn't just give up the fight and die but rather becomes more nasty and vicious, so expect to see an escalation of racism against asylum seekers and the demonisation of muslims, and the stepping up of agression towards Iran.

One sign of hope is on the continent of Latin America where rejection of neoliberalism is profound, we extend our fraternal greetings to our comrades across the world aiming to build "socialism in the 21st Century".

In this season of nativity plays our hearts are in Bethlehem where our brothers and sisters will spend Xmas under the heel of occupation.
Throughout this year Cardiff RESPECT has been active in the struggle on jobs, against Trident and war, trying to build a movement to save the planet, and in the frontline in the battle to resist and thwart the globalisers and their henchmen in Downing Street, Cardiff Bay and Washington.

If you are against war, racism, privatisation and the destruction of the environment and want to spend 2007 helping to build a socialist alternative to the 4 capitalist parties in Wales - New Labour, Plaid, LibDems and the Tories - email: respect_yourself_cardiff@hotmail.co.uk

"In a dark time, the eyes begin to see"
ANOTHER WALES IS POSSIBLE!

Feedback from Student RESPECT

To read RESPECT's vision of what the NUS should be, see here

NATIONAL UNION OF STUDENTS
NEC - MONDAY 13 AUGUST

Monday was an unusually tame meeting but one that still marked an important moment for NUS with a near unanimous vote to affiliate to the Stop the War Coalition.

Affiliation to Stop the War and support for the Communications Workers Union (CWU) was voted through less then an hour after the NEC accepted a priority campaign without any campaigning, and the most significant points need to be discussed more widely.

STOP THE WAR COALITION

Over the last few years NUS has done more and more work with the coalition. Both Gemma and Veronica King have spoken at recent demonstrations and Gemma is speaking at the relaunch of Stop the War’s student work on the 8th.

Stop the War has mobilised thousands of students repeatedly in numbers that no other campaign has reached and maintained a level of visibility and influence on far less money then the NUS spends in a month. Joint work around broad slogans between the NUS and StWc can and will be of huge benefit to both organisations.

NUS will be helping with a “Troops Out” tour featuring comedian Mark Steel and ex-SAS veteran Ben Griffen that will be among the biggest meetings to take place at any university this year. This year’s campaign will be discussed at the Stop the War activist meeting on the 8th with Tony Benn.

STOP THE WAR - REPORT OF STUDENT ORGANISING MEETING WITH TONY BENN, GEMMA TUMELTY & LINDSEY GERMAN

The only attempt to derail affiliation came from Sophie Buckland of Education not for Sale (ENS), the one organisation of the “left” not to call for an end to the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

ENS attempted to exploit Wes’ cheap demagogy about the right of Israel to “defend” itself to derail the discussion and succeeded in passing an amendment marking out NUS as on the rightwing of the coalition.

The vote on the amendment was close with many abstaining and others pressured into voting for by the emotive (and dishonest) posturing of Labour Students and ENS, and the main thrust of the motion remains an overwhelmingly positive desire to put NUS at the heart of the anti-war movement.

EDUCATION

Wes attempted to sell the education priority campaign with the twisted logic that “it’s very easy to campaign but it’s far harder to have breakfasts and lunches with important people.”

The campaign will be formally launched on the 4th of September and loath though I am to spoil the surprise there are some things that need discussing now.

The concept of the campaign is based around two basic points:

1) We need to “keep our powder dry.” It is argued that it is unwise to run any public campaigns until 2009 because campaigning “puts students off” and furthermore that organisations like the NUS should model themselves on Amnesty International and call on our members for set piece actions every now and again (like turning on and off a tap.)

2) We can’t “pre-empt the review” by proposing what we believe in at this stage as that would stop the government listening to us. Instead we must brown nose officials and gather data to put forwards a pragmatic alternative later which will be considered as a serious option.

The fact that this is deeply flawed on many levels was raised only by the left on the NEC. The comparison between NUS and a lobby group like Amnesty is one of the most worrying aspects of the campaign. It is a marked difference from the idea of a union of students.

Our strength is based on the fact that we collectively organise students at the point where they engage with their education and the world around them.
To successfully develop that strength we need to be involving them in understanding our education system and attempting to change it. This has to be through a consistent series of activities and events to engage our members with our activists and the NUS.

It simply won’t work to expect people to suddenly engage en masse with NUS in 2009 unless we have done the hard work of building up a base.

The second point is the changing nature of universities themselves. It simply isn’t true that the “debate on HE” is actually very narrow and directed. Since New Labour’s theory of “the knowledge economy” the government has systematically accelerated the drive to subvert Universities to the interests of the neo-liberal economy.

It isn’t possible for NUS to tinker around the edges and expect a better deal for students - we need to fundamentally challenge the direction the government is moving in.

We need to be open about our principles to our members and potential supporters and politically win them to the need for a free and fair education.

SOLIDARITY WITH THE CWU - SUPPORT THE POSTAL STRIKE!

Almost unanimously the executive voted to show our solidarity with the post workers strike.

Scott Cuthbertson spoke well in favour of encouraging a sense of Trade Union solidarity amongst our members. The strike may currently be suspended but the prospects of wider public sector strikes to defend public services are very much on the horizon.

Other motions included unanimous support for the BMA’s organ donation campaign and work to lower the age of consent to 16 across the board.

Solidarity with the Posties!

As Postal workers enter their third bout of strike action, many pickets lines have seen solidarity visits from other workers.

Karen Tyre, who was a RESPECT candidate in May and is a Unison union steward in the Vale of Glamorgan council took some muffins down to the picket line at the mail centre in Cardiff.

She told RESPECT,

“The pickets were very positive. I was very warmly welcomed and we discussed the need for united action across the public sector.

I have done two collections round my building which I have taken to different post workers. The second collection I did was for the counter workers who work in the post office next to the office where I work. I spoke to them in the morning and they seemed a bit down about the dispute, so I took a petition and collection around my office – most people gave money – and took it back that evening. It was a real boost for the post workers.

The collections boost the post workers’ morale, but its also been really good for people in my office to feel part of the fight back. We have our own issues in the council so it has been good to build links.”

George Galloway IS Spartacus!

At last a politician has been suspended for their role over the Iraq War. You'd have thought it would have happened before now, and you might have thought when it happened, it wouldn't be the politician most prominently against the war!

Galloway cites Spartacus, the ultimate heroic tale of the oppressed underdog rising up to glory, as his favourite film. "It has inspired me," he says with hushed reverence for the story of Kirk Douglas as the slave who takes on the Roman Empire. "Its message is that to be right, rather than to be popular, is what counts. I am moved by the scene where all of the slaves stand up and say 'I am Spartacus' to protect him - although under New Labour it would be: 'He is Spartacus.'"

George Galloway MP writes:

"Once more and yet again I have been cleared of taking a single penny or in any way personally benefiting from the former Iraqi regime through the Oil for Food programme or any other means.

The Commissioner's report states that unequivocally no less than six times. The Commissioner further states that it would be a "travesty" to describe me as a "paid mouth-piece" and that my actions on Iraq stemmed from "deep conviction."

This is therefore an argument about the funding of a political campaign to lift non-military sanctions on Iraq, which killed one million people, and to stop the rush to a war which has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands more.

The Committee appear utterly oblivious to the grotesque irony of a pro-sanctions and pro-war Committee of a pro-sanctions and pro-war Parliament passing judgment on the work of their opponents, especially in the light of the bloody march of events in Iraq since this inquiry began four years ago.

They describe that as questioning their integrity and bringing Parliament into disrepute. The House would do well to honestly calibrate exactly how its reputation on all matters concerning the war in Iraq stands with the public before deciding who precisely has brought it into disrepute.

After a four year inquiry – costing a fortune in public funds – the report asks me to apologise for not registering consistently the Mariam Appeal I established (the Commissioner concedes that I did so, but randomly) and for using House of Commons resources allocated to me to campaign against the policies of those now sitting in judgment on me.

The Committee of MPs acknowledges that "had these been the only matters before us, we would have confined ourselves to seeking an apology to the House."

However, in a surprisingly thin-skinned rejoinder, the MPs complain that because I questioned their impartiality and made trenchant criticisms of evidence and witnesses (which, incidentally, they don’t attempt to refute in most cases) I am to be suspended for 18 days.

I reiterate that the Commissioner is right to state that he found no evidence that I benefited personally in any way from any Iraqi monies and moreover I never asked any of the Mariam Appeal's donors – the King of Saudi Arabia, the Emir of UAE, or Fawaz Zureikat, the chairman of the Appeal – from where they earned the wealth from which they made donations to a campaign to end sanctions and war."
For a point-by-point refutation of the commission, see: http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=12487

Your RESPECT Candidates - Vote RESPECT tomorrow!

KAREN TYRE - South Wales Central

A lifelong socialist, Karen has been active in many campaigns against war, sexism, racism & privatisation from the anti-poll tax movement to the Stop the War Coalition. Karen is a UNISON rep for the Vale of Glamorgan Social Services workers who has played a key role in fighting against staff cuts and attacks on public services.

Karen says:

One of the crucial issues for me as a union rep is linking up the RESPECT campaign with the issues of the public sector wage freeze and the assault on public services. Resistance to these was seen yesterday on May Day, when civil service workers went on strike and other trade unionists held protests.

I organised at work for us to show solidarity with civil service workers on that day and collected money to donate to the PCS strike fund.

People are really hungry for an alternative to the major parties and RESPECT is that alternative. We want to lay down roots in this campaign.

PAUL LYNCH - South Wales West

I'm 40 in August. I was born and raised in Swansea. After leaving school I served a four year apprenticeship to become a carpenter and joiner, and at the age of 30 I studied social sciences part-time.

In 2000 I was diagnosed with ME/CFS. I was virtually housebound for two years but I have been slowly recovering over the last three years.

Whereas going to an anti-war demo was a major achievement just a few years ago, I now chair the very successful Swansea Defend Council Housing campaign which recently saw 72.1% of tenants in Swansea vote a resounding 'NO' to housing stock transfer.

I have also been a campaigner for disabled people since 2001.

I am a traditional Labour voter, except, like millions of others in this country, I can't vote Labour anymore because they have gone over to the right.

I was strongly opposed to Blair's wars even before they started, so I became involved with Stop the War Coalition. I also want to defend our public services from Gordon Brown and that's why I became chairman of Swansea Defend Council Housing and have pledged to continue campaigning to defend our public services.

I am also proud to be a member of Unite Against Fascism.

AHMED AL-JEFFREY - South Wales West

Ahmed has lived in Swansea for the past 14 years and has been one of the most active anti-war campaigners ever since 2001.

A musician and MC, and student at Swansea University, Ahmed recently came second in the elections for Student Union President fighting the election on an incredibly political and progressive platform for RESPECT.

He has played a key role in bringing Swansea's Muslim community closer to the movement and the RESPECT campaign

We won a minimum wage - Now we need to fight for a living wage

Many RESPECT activists & elected representatives are signatories to this petition - why not add your name?

Hi

I am an activist and a public sector worker from Merseyside. I am running a petition on the 10 Downing Street website in support of a living wage, which has 380 signatures so far. Please can you take a minute to read my e-mail and if you wish to sign, click on the link below and fill in your personal details.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/living-wage-2007/

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to take steps to replace the national minimum wage with a living wage based on the level of pay and conditions that enables a full-time worker to make ends meet for themselves and their family. Official regional living wage figures should be announced such as the one given by Mayor Livingstone for London (and increased by the GLA in April 2007 to £7.20 an hour).

I have also now started a blog to run alongside it, which will be regularly updated and expanded over the coming months, with useful information including what the living wage campaign is about, who supports it, and details of recents news stories and events :

http://livingwageuk.wordpress.com

The information below is copied from my blogsite :

Why a living wage?

The national minimum wage does not allow many workers to escape poverty. The Low Pay Commission do not take into account peoples actual needs in setting the NMW. In the UK 4¼ million adults aged 22 to retirement were paid less than £6.50 per hour in 2006. Two thirds of these were women and a half were part-time workers. A living wage could ensure that no workers receive poverty pay or have to rely on benefits, and could allow contract workers to lay claim to the same pay and conditions as staff directly employed by government and local councils.

Some would say that a living wage would actually harm poor people by losing vital jobs. This is exactly the same argument that was trotted out innumerable times against the introduction of the NMW. And what was the effect of the NMW ? According to the government's own evidence last year to the Low Pay Commission, "UK academic research to date has not found any firm evidence that the adult minimum wage has reduced employment rates or raised unemployment; this is consistent with the available international evidence."

Why now?

In the USA since 1994, over 120 city and state governments have passed living wage ordinances following pressure from local campaigners. Living wage campaigns have raised levels of pay and provided benefits like health care for thousands of workers. Studies there have shown that the living wage has had no significant adverse impact on jobs, business or the economy.

Following pressure from campaigners, London mayor Ken Livingstone has given his backing to a living wage in London. A living wage unit has been set up in City Hall, through which figures for the London living wage are calculated and published. Implementation has so far proved a thornier problem, but the publication of the figures has already started to change the pay bargaining landscape. It follows on some notable victories for low paid workers, in particular cleaners in East London Hospitals and cleaners in Canary Wharf and the City of London, thousands of whom have secured a living wage. Last year QMUL became the UK's first first living wage campus :

The college council committed itself to making Queen Mary the first "living wage campus" in the UK. This means no one will be paid less than a living wage (currently set at £6.70 an hour), or receive fewer than 28 days' holiday and 10 days' sick pay. Crucially, the change includes all staff on campus, not just those directly employed by the university. Queen Mary's cleaning staff are going to get a rise.

For Christine Martin, cleaning supervisor at Queen Mary for 12 years, the living wage will make a huge difference. Martin is employed by the university's cleaning contractors, KGB, and receives £5.20 an hour - the £5.05 minimum wage plus a pitiful 15 pence an hour as supervisor. "It is difficult to survive in London on this kind of money. Sometimes you think you might as well not work for what you earn," she says. "I do a second job and have to claim housing benefit just to make ends meet, so the living wage really has given me something to look forward to."

Guardian April 11, 2006

London's problems are not unique. Everywhere you go around the country, there is poverty pay, and there is a need for a living wage. A living wage in every region in the UK would be a huge boost to millions of low paid workers.

Jean Lambert (Green Party MEP) said in support of my petition

British people work some of the longest hours in Europe yet 7 out of 10 people working over 48 hours per week say they would like to work fewer hours. For many however this is impossible as they simply cannnot afford to do so. It is currently possible for someone to work more than 60 hours a week and still be paid less than £11,000 per year. The number of people living below the poverty line in the UK is higher than the EU average and continues to increase. The long hours culture is endangering our health and acting as a detriment to our family life. We can't have a culture that says you can not rest. We need a national living wage immediately to ensure this changes and everyone can make ends meet without working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Labour Party councillor Richard Bertin (Vale of Glamorgan) added these comments

Yes we have now thankfully got the minimum wage, and yes it is helping thousands of low paid workers. But with the economy doing so well there are repercussions one of which is the rising house prices. Unfortunately, the gap between the rich and poor continues to grow and this needs to be addressed now ! - How ? By rightly establishing a national living wage to ensure that we improve the lives of those on low pay and also do our bit to remove poverty from the 4th largest economy on the world - Great Britain. We need a living wage and we need it now!

Thanks for your time

Nick Wall

STRIKE!

TUESDAY 1ST MAY - INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY

Gordon Brown has given the Ministry of Defence a blank cheque.
He has set aside billions to wage war while telling public sector workers to accept a wage freeze.

In Britain, hundreds of thousands of PCS members of the civil servants workers' union will be striking against job cuts that will devastate services and against privatisation and low pay. Many other trade unions will be joining the protest.

Show solidarity with fellow working people by joining the Cardiff protest:

PCS Rally and Picnic
11 am - 12 Noon
Tuesday 1 May
Steps of Assembly Building
Cathays Park
Cardiff

Labour have betrayed socialist values and the trade unions.

RESPECT offer a new, better home for fighting trade unionists, a party that will fight to always put workers interests above business interests. We back the Trade Union Freedom Bill and want all anti-trade union laws scrapped. Labour have been in power for 10 years and the anti-union legislation is still in place.

RESPECT have emerged in the last three years as the natural home for socialist trade unionists, with leading members of leading unions joining the party and RESPECT's members at the forefront of trade union and industrial action.

RESPECT is absolutely opposed to job losses in the civil service, and such cuts are an attack on both service provision and trade unionism.

RESPECT rejects any further privatisation of public services and the provision of services at the convenience of the free market.

RESPECT strongly supports national pay negotiations and opposes the divide and rule strategy used by the government in splitting up pay negotiations into separate deals.

PCS members can fight back in three ways:

1. Unity in action on May Day in a mighty strike. Build unity with other workers and trade unions to maximise pressure on Gordon Brown.

2. Build a rank and file movement of trade unionists in every workplace to organise resistance to Brown and Blair on both economic questions and political questions such as war, racism and destruction of the planet. Elect a fighting, democratic and socialist leadership to the union NEC - one that stands up for members, not for upper management accountable to rank and file members. Build unity across trade unions to oppose the government.

3. On May 3rd vote for the one party, the ONLY party in Wales, which has unreservedly supported the PCS members fight for jobs, pay and conditions and is dedicated to building fighting trade unions:

RESPECT - The Party of Trade Unions

Former Plaid Councillor joins Respect

Neil Sinclair, Local historian, author of several books on the Tiger Bay/Docks area of Cardiff, and one time Plaid Cymru councillor, has recently joined the RESPECT Party.

Mr Sinclair has stated that he does not feel any ill will towards his former party, but that he views RESPECT as "part of the resistance"; as it was created out of the anti war movement.

Mr Sinclair has long been recognised as a source on the life and times of the Tiger Bay community, and has often been cited in the media. His books include "The Tiger Bay Story", "The Cardiff Bay experience" and "Endangered Tiger; A Community under threat"

South Wales Central Election Campaign Meeting

RESPECT - THE UNITY COALITION

South Wales Central Election

Campaign Meeting

WELFARE NOT WARFARE!

Get up! Get into it! Get involved!

Thursday 5th April at 7.30 pm, Riverside Community Centre, Brunel Street (off Ninian Park Road), Riverside, Cardiff

Speakers include -

COUNCILLOR OLIUR RAHMAN

One of the youngest councillors in Britain. Oli paid his dues as a PCS trade union branch secretary prior to election & has earned a reputation in Tower Hamlets as a mighty fighter for tenants rights and Defend Council Housing campaigner.

MARIANNE OWENS, WALES REGIONAL VICE-CHAIR, PCS (Personal Capacity)

A young workplace militant, Marianne has addressed many picket lines and demonstrations, and recently visited Colombia as part of a solidarity delegation of young trade unionists.

KAREN TYRE, RESPECT CANDIDATE, SOUTH WALES CENTRAL

A lifelong socialist, Karen has been active in many campaigns against war, sexism, racism & privatisation from the anti-poll tax movement through to the Stop the War Coalition.

Respect is dedicated to building resistance to neoliberalism in every sphere of society from the ballot box to the workplace, therefore the meeting will include reports from activists from the trade union, anti-racist, climate justice & anti-globalisation movement and struggles.

ALL WELCOME!

Directions to community centre from town: Head down Wood street (in front of Bus station), follow the road past the stadium onto Tudor Street and then onto Ninian Park Road. The community centre is situated on the corner of Brunel Street & is in a converted church building.

Meeting open to anyone against war, racism, privatisation and climate destabilisation: Refugees are welcome here!

PEOPLE NOT PROFIT!

Swansea votes NO to council house sell-off!

Note: Grassroots campaigner, Paul Lynch, Chair of Swansea Defend Council Housing will be a Respect candidate in the May elections, heading up the list for South Wales West, campaigning for new sustainable council houses to be built & for welfare not warfare.

With councils attempting to privatise and sell off council housing this is a blow against neoliberalism - not won through politicians - but fought for at the grassroots by ordinary working class people. It was one of the highest NO votes in one of the highest turnouts of any votes that have taken place in the UK and is already having massive repercussions across Wales.

Council tenants in Swansea have delivered a resounding no to the council's plans to transfer their entire housing stock to a private limited company.Some 13,800 homes were up for grabs, and on a 56 percent turnout 72 percent of tenants voted no to the Lib Dem council's plans.

Chair of Swansea Defend Council Housing Paul Lynch says, speaking in a personal capacity,

“I am absolutely delighted that the overwhelming majority of tenants throughout Swansea have seen through the council's one-sided pro-transfer propaganda.

Tenants deserve to be congratulated for standing up to the bullying, and for effectively telling the council, the Assembly and Gordon Brown that we will not be blackmailed into privatisation.

Well done to all those who have supported the Swansea Defend Council Housing campaign in achieving this crucial No vote. The strength and unity we created as a broad coalition of different groups just goes to show how effective we can be when we unite behind a common cause.

Being involved with this campaign has inspired me to continue defending our public services. I have recently been selected as a Welsh Assembly candidate for Respect, along with my colleague Ahmed Al Jeffrey, in the South Wales West region.

I look forward to campaigning to defend our hospitals, schools and pensions – and to working to secure direct investment to improve council housing.

I hope political representatives from all parties will now join with tenants and other interested parties in lobbying the Welsh Assembly and the Westminster government to secure a level playing field for council housing. This should provide the same level of debt write-off and gap funding that was on offer under the Tawe Housing privatisation scheme."

Government Climate Bill doesn't go far enough!

Jonathan Neale, Author, Respect member & National Secretary of the Campaign against Climate Change writes that the Climate Change Bill doesn't go far enough and urges the movement to step up the pressure

Gordon Brown is in competition with David Cameron as to which party takes global warming more seriously.

While neither is prepared to break with the neoliberal policies which fuel climate change, the government’s draft bill, unveiled last week, should not be dismissed.

The fact that there is a bill in the first place is an important victory for all those who have been fighting to get government action.

Despite having some important defects, the bill has won qualified support from leading figures in the environmental movement.

It sets a target of reducing Britain’s carbon emissions by 60 percent by 2050. This might sound impressive, but cuts of at least 80 percent are required by 2030.

The reason we need such a rapid and big cut is to prevent unpredictable changes in our climate that will result from the “feedback effect” – which occurs when the increasing temperature of the planet causes still further carbon to be released.

Research into the Greenland ice pack shows that a rise in temperature of above 2 or 3 degrees could be the trigger for the effect.

The other big problem with the bill is that there are a lot of get out clauses – one such clause says the emissions target can be ignored if the cuts are “hurting” the economy.

The bill also focuses on carbon offsetting, in which rich countries obtain the right to pollute by buying carbon credits from poorer countries.

These forms of carbon trading are attempts to get out of reducing this country’s emissions.

It is also unclear what forms of carbon emission will be covered – for example air travel is not covered. Some estimates say targets set by Europe and Britain are only applicable to 50 percent of the emissions they produce.

The bill calls for an independent body to oversee emissions cuts which will include six business people, one scientist and one other (perhaps someone with a social conscience).

But there is no room for an environmentalist, a trade unionist or a climate change activist.

One of the main demands of Friends of the Earth and other climate change campaigners has been for binding annual targets on emissions.

The bill prefers five-year targets, with a gap of 18 months after the deadline for the figures to be looked at, followed by three months for the government to respond. Even if the first target were set tomorrow no one would be held responsible until 2014.

Carbon account

So far everything I’ve said is negative but the fact that we have got this far means that there is a real possibility of a political fight with the government.

The government has stated that the bill will now have a long consultation period – it is unlikely that it will be put to parliament before March 2008.

We should use that year to organise a national campaign that concentrates on forcing annual targets on emissions to be included.

New Labour’s David Miliband talked recently about individual carbon accounts – in which every citizen would have their own personal emissions quota. It is an idea that is very popular with a lot of climate justice activists.

These accounts attempt to sound like Second World War rationing, where everybody had an equal ration, and where the poor ate better than they had done before war.

But key to that system was the inability to sell your ration. With the proposed carbon accounts you can sell your share, enabling the rich to buy the right to carry on living as they do now.

This is not just unfair – it undermines the whole process of reducing emissions. We should force the government to step in.

Manufacturers should not be allowed to make electrical goods with standby buttons, and instead of short haul flights there should be cheap and efficient railways right across Europe.

We should stop people flying halfway around the world for a business meeting, or a one-day shopping trip.

The government should be pressurised into putting money into building and researching alternative methods of power generation.

If research into renewable energy received even a fraction of the funding and subsidies enjoyed by the nuclear industry, the way we produce our power would look very different.

Immediate action from the government is required on sustainable city planning, tough action against corporate polluters and increased investment to make homes energy efficient.

People who cannot imagine a government putting the planet before the economy see carbon credits as a solution.

I can understand their reservations, but we should remember that we have already forced the government to concede more than it wanted to. Now we need demonstrations and public campaigns to gain much more.

Reclaiming the legacy of a South Wales MP

In 1893, Keir Hardie entered parliament. He created a scandal when he insisted on wearing working clothes and a cloth cap instead of the regulation frock coat and top hat.

His choice of dress was deliberate. He wanted to send a clear message to the establishment that he was a workers' MP representing working people and their interests unlike the other MPs who represented the powerful and vested interests.

Just as Labour Party activists have broken away from New Labour to join Respect, so people then were breaking away from the Liberal Party to create a party that would represent working people - the majority of society.

In 1900, Keir Hardie was elected in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales on a platform of abolishing the House of Lords, granting votes for women and home rule for Ireland. He was the first Labour MP.

His election address denounced militarism, imperialism and the use of the army against strikers.

Today, Respect not New Labour are the true heirs of these early fighters for working class representation. We will be standing in South Wales as True Labour against New Labour.

The need for a party of the millions not the millionaires is greater than ever.

In 2005, for the first time in 60 years, a party standing to the left of Labour gained a seat in parliament with the election of the first Respect MP.

Get up! Get into it! Get involved!

Join Respect today!

www.respectcoalition.org

Bridgend LoveMusicHateRacism gig - Easter Saturday!

Full details here:

www.lovemusichateracism.com/events/2007/04/07/876/
In this election socialists will be going forth into battle with the Shield of Unite against Fascism and the Sword of Respect.

Respect will be working in a united front with supporters and members of mainstream political parties, trade unions, community groups and ordinary working people to build MAXIMUM unity against the Nazis & expose the BNP as a Nazi party.

But we also need to go into working class communities with a programme that offers an alternative to the Nazis false solutions to the problems caused by thirty years of neo-liberalism

Dealing with the rats is not enough. You have to rip up the sewers where the rats breed.

Since 1997, New Labour have pursued a neo-liberal domestic policy and a neo-conservative foreign policy. The results have been a disaster for ordinary people at home and abroad.

The despair and anger caused by these policies runs deep, New Labour and the media are trying to deflect this despair and anger on to immigrants, asylum seekers and Muslims.

The 4 main parties in Wales are all wedded - to a greater or lesser degree - to neo-liberalism, that is why Respect aims to build a grassroots alternative to fight neo-liberalism in every sphere of society from the workplace to the ballot box.

In South Wales, Plaid sometimes claim to offer an alternative to New Labour. Yet their leader, has openly argued for a coalition with the Tories, their deputy-leader in the Assembly has called for a coalition with New Labour, while Adam Price MP supports a coalition with the LibDems!

How can you provide an alternative to the mainstream parties if you are in coalition with them?

Huw Williams, a Respect candidate in Wales in 2004 comments on Plaid:

Socialists do need to take on their arguments with regard to their solutions for Welsh workers. This is the weak link for Plaid. It accepts all the arguments of the free market and its consequences. It talks of the need to encourage Welsh businesses, which they see as more progressive than 'foreign capital'. At the same time it states that it would continue to encourage US and Japanese firms to invest. This implies the continuation of a low wage economy and huge tax handouts to the multinationals. These are the very policies which turn people against New Labour in the first place. Only grassroots-based, locally responsive socialist politics can provide a real alternative.

http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=8345

TEN REASONS TO JOIN RESPECT:

1. To End low pay and demand a living wage for all workers.

We call for a minimum wage of £8 per hour.

2. To tax the rich not working people to fund public services.

3. To fight for free education for all. We call for the restoration of a full living grant, abolition of all student fees and defend comprehensive education.

4. To defend council housing and build more sustainable council housing. We stand for cheap, affordable housing for all workers, close to their place of work.

5. To repeal the Tory anti-Trade Union laws.

6. To defend pensions and fight for a massive increase.

7. To stop attacks on asylum seekers, immigrants & Muslims.
We oppose prejudice of any kind, including racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia and discrimination on the basis of disability.

8. To build opposition to Bush/Blair oil wars and international solidarity with workers of all countries.

9. To put people and the environment before profit and build a massive, grassroots movement to save the planet.

10. To end privatisation and re-nationalise all the privatised industries and utilities.