Notices and statements

Rashmikant Joshi (left), Keith Vaz (centre) and friends Immediately upon being told he would not be allowed to restand as a Labour councillor, former Leicester lord mayor Rashmikant Joshi defected to the Tories . Through whatever mix of ideology and opportunism, Joshi is a supporter of the Hindu right in India. When the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won re-election in 2019, he spoke at a Leicester event to celebrate , in front of a life-size cut-out of Narendra Modi. Joshi is one of 19 Labour councillors – just over 40% of the total – told they will not be allowed to restand. More here . It...

Live in or near London? Come along to our monthly socialist feminist reading group in Brixton, hosted by our South West London branch. Each time - currently the first sunday of the month - we have an informal discussion about a book, which might be a new release or a classic from the movement. Recent titles include Berlin’s Third Sex , by Magnus Hirchfeld; The Right to Sex , by Amia Srinivasan; The Transgender Issue , by Shon Faye; and Rape , by Mithu Sanyal. For more information write to: womensfightback@workersliberty.org

The National Committee of the AWL welcomes the report produced by the Working Group, and thanks its members, and the external individuals they consulted and who contributed to the production of the report, for their work on it. This report has concluded that the AWL lacked an adequate understanding of issues and procedures around safeguarding, and were guilty of serious collective and individual failures of duty of care, on the part of some members, including, in particular, some members of our elected committees. We place on record our regret at our collective and individual failings, at the...

A recent anonymous blog said that the author, an ex-member of the AWL, was sexually assaulted by another ex-member in 2005. The incident has never been made the subject of a complaint to the AWL. We have responded to the blog with an initial assessment which says: “It is our understanding that, at the time, the [few] individuals to whom the writer disclosed these events felt they were acting not only in accordance with the writer’s wishes [to keep disclosures confidential] but also appropriately. That was a serious mistake. He was a sixteen-year old and the incidents should have been reported...

On Saturday 3 February, the AGM of London Young Labour took place at University College London. The conference was attended by about 350 young Labour members from across London, and passed good policy about defending free movement and working with the Labour Campaign for Free Movement, on social housing, and on creating the role of a trans officer on the committee. The conference also discussed a motion relating to a recent anonymous claim of sexual assault on an ex-member of Workers′ Liberty by another ex-member which took place in 2005 when the victim was 16. This is an issue which Workers’...

On this page you will find our response to a reported sexual assault and updates on the process we put in place to investigate our actions on this matter. The working group we set up to investigate reported on 4.4.18, Please click here for a PDF copy. Our National Committee's statement on the Working Group report is at the top of this page. Our annual conference on 24-25 November 2018 discussed the recommendations of the working group which looked at our responses to this report and case. We voted on a new code of conduct, complaints procedure and safeguarding policy and this can be found here...

Unison United Left, a left-wing grouping in the public sector union Unison, has recently split, with some of its leading figures planning to form a new organisation. A statement announcing the split is online here . AWL supports this move, but believes more clarity is needed about the reasons for the split and the basis of the new organisation. In a spirit of comradeship and support, we have written the following statement. WHY AWL SUPPORTS A NEW RANK-AND-FILE INITIATIVE IN UNISON For many years, AWL members active in Unison have said that Unison United Left (UUL) has been a completely...

(For this statement in printable/copyable form, with a model motion of support included - see here .) Next year restrictions on migration from European Union member states Bulgaria and Romania are set to be lifted. There is growing right-wing agitation for Bulgarian and Romanian workers to be excluded from Britain, treated as second class citizens without the right to remain, or denied access to services and benefits. We oppose this bigotry, and say that migrants – from the EU or outside – should be welcome here. We support freedom of movement and equal rights for all. We deny that migrants...

Workers’ Liberty members in Unite will be critically supporting Len McCluskey, the candidate of Unite United Left (in which we are involved), in the forthcoming general secretary election. There have been some positive improvements within Unite under McCluskey’s leadership. A culture of greater democracy and debate has been encouraged, and the move towards industrial reorganisation and workplace branches is positive. On the whole the union is more prepared than in the past to back its members in taking action, and providing resources to help organise direct action in support of industrial...

It would be better if the individuals and groups who define themselves as left in the Union could agree to support common candidates in national elections. It will be important in the period ahead to consolidate the small majority the left has gained on the national executive and avoid the prospect of Broadly Speaking regaining either the Executive or the GS or DGS positions. Just as important is the need to build a clearer, sharper, more determined left which acts collectively on the key issues facing members, particularly those which require us to mobilise members for action. It would have...