Selma James
NGO crimes go far beyond Oxfam
We were so incensed by the way the scandal of Oxfam was being presented, and how the issue of the money collected and whether it reached people was not mentioned, that some of us wrote this letter to The Guardian. It gave us a chance to focus public attention on the way that Haitians in…
Read MoreMedia statement – Thailand must respect and promote human rights, end harassment and suppression of rights of “We Walk…Solidarity/Friendship” participants and supporters.
Dear Editor, Please find enclosed a Joint Media Statement by 52organisations, trade unions and groups, and also two individuals, from many countries including UK, US, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, Netherlands, Myanmar and Bangladesh entitled, THAILAND MUST RESPECT AND PROMOTE HUMAN RIGHTS, AND END HARASSMENT AND SUPPRESSION OF RIGHTS OF “WE WALK…SOLIDARITY/FRIENDSHIP” PARTICIPANTS AND SUPPORTERS. Revoke summons…
Read MoreOnly the Rich are Unemployed
I’m so tired of hearing Tories brag about how unemployment has gone down dramatically. We must remind them that under slavery there was no unemployment at all (except for the Masters class). The difference between slavery and wage labour is, they may remember, the little matter of the employed getting wages. But the wages of…
Read MoreOn the Centenary of Our Revolution Against the Russian Empire
Today is the centenary of the Bolsheviks taking power. We asked Giorgio Riva from Payday Men’s Network to write from memory some idea of what happened 100 years ago today. (He is in Venice for his uncle’s funeral, and his books are not with him.) The attack on that revolution has been almost unanimous in…
Read MoreLetter: Protest against the attack on homeopathy by NHS England
Camden New Journal 19 October, 2017 • NHS England is threatening to remove homeopathic and other complementary therapies and supplements from the list that doctors can prescribe. Anyone can send their objections directly to them www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/items-routinely-prescribed/ Six million people in the UK, including the Queen, use homeopathy, and many more take supplements. To remove them from…
Read MoreLori Nairne, Presente!
I’m addicted to reading obituaries, especially of people I knew or know about. You find out important things about them that you could not imagine, and how people felt about them. But you also find out about the times in which they, we, lived, and can look again at how it was for us during…
Read MoreTories – the Blue and the Red
Towards the end of a long interview with Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell on the Andrew Marr Show last Sunday 16 July (BBC One), he was yet again asked to take back his statement that people at Grenfell Tower were “murdered by political decisions”. The corporate media was so used to getting away with labelling social murder…
Read MoreBurning All Illusions at Grenfell
The Grenfell fire was a watershed. Speaking in a debate about whether democracy is broken at Glastonbury the day after thousands serenaded Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell drew a line under the soft phrases from mealy-mouthed politicians that hide deep truths. “Is democracy working? It didn’t work if you were a family living on the 20th…
Read MoreGrenfell: Burning Fury
People in Grenfell Tower lost their lives because those who are to keep them safe didn’t think they were worth spending money on. Those put in tower blocks, which are hazards – and it turns out many of them are tragedies waiting to unfold – are treated as a liability, an unprofitable expense rather than…
Read More“This is Our Chance”
Kilburn walkabout, 7 June 2017 A member of Kilburn Labour Party called for a walkabout to follow the boundaries of the Kilburn ward, as used to be the tradition before elections. About 60 people turned up and cheerfully walked together with placards and chants, backed by a mobile sound system playing Liar Liar and Get…
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