Solidarity 419, 12 October 2016

Some lessons can be learnt from the press “exposés” about the Labour left and Momentum during the Labour leadership campaign. First, it is worth restating, the press is not interested in representing the views of the left fairly. The media are not just gunning for the Trotskyists, they have the whole left in their targets. Many Momentum activists have rightly expressed frustration and exasperation at the press’s treatment of Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour left. Sometimes the clamour for fair treatment by the press comes from a position of forgivable naivety. Many are new to the left and have not...

I agree with Martin Thomas’s article (‘Jackie Walker, Momentum and Anti-semitism’, Solidarity 418) but I would like to make a few comments on the call, by the Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, for a boycott of the Jewish Film Festival which Martin briefly mentions. Of all the areas for the “boycott Israel” movement to focus on, a Jewish film festival seems the least appropriate. Many Palestinian films have received support of one kind or another from either individual Israeli filmmakers and technicians or Israeli organisations. In fact in some cases these films simply would not have been made if it...

In 2005, a live microphone picked up Donald Trump chatting on a bus with journalist Billy Bush (who is a cousin of George and Jeb). Trump is now the Republican candidate for US president in voting due on 8 November. There were seven other people on the bus, two camera crew, the driver, a producer, a production assistant, a security guard and a PR person. Trump told the bus about how he tried and failed to “fuck” another journalist, Nancy O’Dell, and then boasted that he did sexual assault whenever he felt like it. “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything… Grab them by the...

On Sunday 2 October, Hungarians voted in a referendum over whether to accept their EU migrant quota of 1,294 refugees. The referendum posed the question “Do you want the European Union to be able to mandate the obligatory settlement of non-Hungarian citizens in Hungary without the approval of the National Assembly?”. It was itself part of a long running campaign by Viktor Orbán and his government to retain popular support by positioning as the “defenders” of Hungary against foreign interference. Orbán explicitly opposes liberal democracy in favour of “illiberal democracy”. The government...

On 8 July 2016, a young Kashmiri commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) was killed by the Indian Army. The killing of Burhan Wani has become a symbol of Indian repression in Kashmir, the major Muslim-majority area kept by India in the 1947 India-Pakistan partition. The HM receives much of its support from the Pakistan government and has strong links to the Pakistani secret service ISI and the Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami. Unlike the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, HM is for Kashmiri secession to Pakistan and promotes the further Islamisation of Kashmir. Wani had a strong social media...

The government’s higher education reforms include plans to raise university tuition fees. And Durham, Royal Holloway, Goldsmiths and Kent have all announced a £250 increase for next year. This, although the government’s tool for doing this — a Teaching Excellence Framework — has yet to even come into operation. Additionally, some universities, such as Manchester Metropolitan University, have announced £9,000 fees for 2017-18 while also stating in smaller letters on their website that “these fees are regulated by the UK government, and so may increase each year in line with government policy”...

Jeremy Corbyn’s cabinet reshuffle has caused the kind of faux shock and horror we have come to expect from the Labour’s right and the press. It was inevitable that following Corbyn’s re-election a new shadow cabinet would have to be constructed, not just to replace those who staged their resignations to try to oust Corbyn, but also — for Corbyn and his allies — to show some level of “unity” in the Party. Whatever the result of the reshuffle, it will be down to the Labour membership to push for policy to be decided democratically and not at the diktat of Shadow Ministers. In that spirit the...

On 6 October, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid gave the green light to plans to drill for shale gas near Blackpool. Javid, who has received money from fracking companies, overruled the (Labour) Lancashire county council, which, thanks to a large environmental campaign across Lancashire, had blocked the necessary drilling permissions. Javid’s ruling comes following similar approvals for exploratory drilling wells in North Yorkshire in May this year. GMB, one of the unions which organise in the gas industry, has stated its support for the government’s intervention. More promisingly, hundreds of...

An open letter to those on the left who support the Progressive Alliance. Okay, your pals in the SNP have just announced official support for a third runway at Heathrow. Yes, I know what you’re going to say: “It’s only been reported in the MainStream Media. ‘The Canary’ hasn’t confirmed it. And even if it is true, the third runway could be a Mossad-inspired false-flag operation.” But take my word for it: it’s true. And I think we can safely rule out any involvement by Mossad. The timing of the announcement simply couldn’t be better. Only five days ago the leaders of the SNP, the Greens and...