Hackney Socialist Unity October 2006

Seeing Thru The Hype

Submitted on 18 October, 2006 - 21:40

If you believe Hackney Council’s propaganda, you'd think we live under the most generous administration on the planet. Awash we are with fantastic new services.

Just the odd caveat:

Many are re-openings or replacements of facilities closed by Hackney's Labour Council in the past. Petchey Academy is on the site of the old Kingsland school; Mossbourne on the site of Hackney Downs – both closed by the Labour Council against opposition from students, parents, staff and the community. It closed London Fields lido in 1988!

Charging For Halls?

Submitted on 18 October, 2006 - 21:37

Hackney Council has a draft new policy for hiring out estate community halls, under which:

Residents will no longer be able to use their estate's hall free of charge for events such as kids’ birthday parties.
Anyone holding a one-off event must pay £150 deposit.
Groups hiring a hall would have to pay more.
TRAs will pay utility bills, currently paid by the Council.

The effects will be to:

reduce the service that TRAs provide to residents

worsen Hackney’s shortage of affordable, non-licensed venues

tie TRA reps in red tape.

Does the Council want this?! Or is it an ideologically-driven attempt to marketise a community facility? (A while ago, the Council floated the idea of forcing TRAs to charge 'market rates' for hall hire.) Or maybe they are just control freaks.

Justice for Ernesto

Submitted on 18 October, 2006 - 21:35

Ernesto Leal has won his right to stay in Britain – and the Home Office will not appeal against the decision.

Ernesto came from Chile to Britain as a child in the 1970s, fleeing Pinochet's repression with the rest of his family. After living in Scotland for years, he now lives in Hackney. His first language is English, he no longer has family in Chile.

Goodbye Green Space?

Submitted on 18 October, 2006 - 21:29

Hackney Labour’s election manifesto said that the Council would build 2000 new affordable homes. As the government refuses to pay for this without privatisation, the Council would need to defy the government and provide public housing. But don’t expect that from Hackney Council. They have secret plans of their own.

Stop East London Line Privatisation

Submitted on 18 October, 2006 - 12:11

Opposition to East London Line privatisation is growing in Hackney. But Jennette Arnold (our GLA member) says that it’s not really privatisation and RMT is scaremongering! In fact, all the rail unions oppose this privatisation, as did TUC Congress - unanimously.

Back John McDonnell!

This issue of Hackney Socialist Unity was given out at the Hackney TUC / Leabridge Labour Party meeting on Wednesday 18th October, at which John McDonnell will be speaking. Click "read more" to read it.

John McDonnell 4 Labour Leader

Submitted on 8 July, 2006 - 12:01

John McDonnell’s campaign for Labour Party leader is not only a fight against the fake-labour leaders of ‘New Labour’; it is a challenge for the entire labour movement.

100 years ago, Labour was founded as the political party of the working class. Today the middle-class politicians who hijacked Labour are governing in the interests of capital not the working class.