BUILDING THE RESISTANCE - AND REBUILDING THE LEFT

On Saturday at the LRC AGM Chair John McDonnell MP will be outlining our policy platform and work programme for the coming months in the run-up to the General Election. For those of you who can't make Saturday's conference, our strategy is here:

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/83153

PURNELL AND THE SHAM "LEFT" PROJECT

There aren't many media channels open to the real Labour Left but one of them is the Guardian's Comment Is Free. For those who missed it the other day, here's John McDonnell's article on the spurious James Purnell and the spurious "Open Left" project. Most doors in the mainstream media may be closed to us but, thanks to the internet, we can still make our voices heard.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/25/labour-party-norwich-left?commentpage=2

NEW LRC WEBSITE GOES LIVE.......

Parliament may have broken up for the summer but life in the LRC goes on - and the new website is a welcome development which is a vast improvement on the previous URL and thanks to all involved for their excellent work. The new site includes better access to press releases, campaign news, videos and offers LRC members the opportunity to post their opinions on events as they happen. Today, LRC John McDonnell makes his views known on the Norwich by-election and says it's time for the NEC to apologise.

SLEEPWALKING TO DISASTER.....

The pitifully small rebellion on the 10p tax rate was sadly another indication that the PLP has not learned from the mistakes of the last couple years- and most of all the dreadful results in June. Today, I received the final report from our former MEP Richard Corbett - a decent bloke who did not deserve to lose his seat to the BNP. It was utterly nauseating to hear Nick Griffin on the radio as a bona fide member of the Brussels Parliament being given time on the BBC explaining why he thought boats carrying illegal immigrants should be sunk. Why are we giving oxygen to these scumbags by ignoring the plight of the most vulnerable, and betraying our fundamental values? Reversing the 10p decision would have sent a clear message out that the Govt has listened and learned. Instead, we are, as John McDonnell puts it in the Morning Star article below, sleepwalking to "disaster." And local MPs like Gordon Prentice and Mike Wood, who were brave enough to join the rebellion, are among those most at risk as a result.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/britain/labour_on_the_road_to_disaster

CHANGE - OR FACE A CHALLENGE

John McDonnell explains the background to last week's attempted coup - and why the left is pressing for change as the only way of saving Labour from electoral meltdown

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/12/labour-change?commentpage=1&commentposted=1

MPs EXPENSES - A SOCIALIST PERSPECTIVE

LRC Chair John McDonnell spoke at length to the PCS Conference on the issue of MPs expenses - and what activists should be doing to bring about the fundamental changes we need to build a better alternative and a better society. A video of the speech is on the LRC website.

JOHN McDONNELL'S STATEMENT ON THE STRIKES AND NEED FOR SOLIDARITY

In recent days, some have accused the LRC of staying silent on the issue of the recent strike action. This is neither a fair nor an accurate portrayal of where leading people within the LRC have been stating their case. John McDonnell's own statement regarding the dispute can also be read on his blog

A VERY BRITISH PROTEST

I have spent most of the afternoon up in Keighley and worlds away from the furore over John McDonnell being suspended from the House Of Commons. But the chances are it will be an issue as I face the first hurdle in Parliamentary hustings in the next few days.

I think John's constituents in Hayes and Harlington and indeed anyone who believes in Parliamentary democracy will fully understand why he felt compelled to pick up the mace and formally hold the House in contempt in the wake of the Government decision over Heathrow. It is one thing to propose a controversial policy - quite another to steamroller it through without a vote. It is, as John said, a "national disgrace." And sometimes in life you just have to take direct action - utterly mindful of the consequences.

As I said earlier, this is an own goal by the Government and one which it will live to regret. The LRC must now unite around a massive campaign to stop this environemntal and political folly. I still believe the will is there to defeat these wrong-headed proposals.

NO SPLIT FOR LABOUR LEFT

Jon Cruddas's latest predictions that the Labour Left is set to leave Labour are way off the mark. I don't know how he has the gall to predict that our masterplan is a new left Party when it has been made clear by the LRC time and again that we do not regard this as a viable or desirable strategy.
In a webcast "conversation" with the IPPR and that great socialist Martin Kettle, he baldly states that John McDonnell and other left MPs are planning to up sticks and that the Convention Of The Left - which he played no part - was a surrogate bid to go in that direction. Which is utter nonsense. So there are two conclusions.
Either Cruddas has been wrongly informed, which is excusable, or he is being deliberately provocative in a bid to badmouth the LRC and misrepresent its policy position.
The COL was NOT, repeat not, an attempt to set up a new party. Had it been so, we would not have got involved. If he had done his research properly, he would know that. Such public statements are reprehensible and , as Vice-Chair of the LRC, I'm absolutely outraged he should make them.
The Labour Left has every right to fight its corner, win or lose, within the Labour Party. That's where we are and where we are staying. To suggest otherwise is either wishful thinking or downright malicious.

WELFARE TO WORKHOUSE- THE FIGHT GOES ON

From the Press Association........
Concern grows over benefit reform
41 minutes ago
The Government faces growing concern from backbench Labour MPs about the scale of welfare reform ahead of moves to get more claimants off benefits and into work, it was warned.
A White Paper will be published on Wednesday, which is expected to signal that claimants could have their benefits cut for failing to attend interviews aimed at helping them find work.
Lone parents could also face a stricter regime as part of the Government's drive to get more people into work, including those on incapacity benefit. Labour MPs who campaign on behalf of trade unions in Parliament said opposing the welfare reforms will be one of their main priorities in the coming months.
John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) said: "The Government has got its priorities all wrong. It has allowed the bankers to get away with extravagant bonuses and yet is turning on the poorest and most vulnerable.
"It is lunacy to force people into jobs that are not there and to force lone parents to take-up childcare which is either unaffordable or non-existent.
"There is widespread and growing dismay at the Government's dismantling of the welfare state built by the post-war Labour government. This smacks of unfairness and another 10p tax rate, which will cause revolt and revulsion across the labour and trade union movement."
Child Poverty Action Group chief executive, Kate Green, said: "The new bill should not reform an inadequate welfare state into an authoritarian welfare state. We need to create an active welfare state for the 21st century that empowers the powerless by breaking down barriers to work, increasing economic equality and enabling high-quality, self-directed skills development."
Charity group One Parent FamiliesGingerbread has criticised the Government's decision to force single parents with children aged one and upwards to get job-ready or face benefit cuts as "unnecessary and inappropriate".
Chief Executive Fiona Weir said: "We know that single parents want to work when it is right for their children, but asking them to jump through additional jobcentre hoops is not the way to help them achieve their ambitions. As the Government's own research shows, the threat of benefit cuts has a negligible impact on parents' decisions about when to work.
A Government-commissioned report last week called for unemployed people to do a 9-5 day looking for work or undertake community service-style duties such as digging gardens. Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell strongly welcomed the report, saying its "direction of travel" was the right way.

GETTING OUT OF THE ABYSS

There ARE ways in which Labour could avoid catastrophe at the next election. Many are outlined here and here . These are not the policies of what Neal Lawson so charmingly refers to as "the wilderness."
The list below also outlines some of the policies which would get us OUT of the wilderness we are heading for unless Labour changes direction - fast.
If they look familiar, that's because most formed part of John McDonnell's May Manifesto. Which many people signed.
In the light of the latest opinion polls, it needs to be said again. The Labour left does NOT want to see the Tories win at the next election ,But it is only by chaging direction that we stand a cat in hell's of avoiding disaster. As follows

• Nailing the 10p tax mistake by the introduction of a fair tax system removing the low paid from taxation and ensuring the wealthiest and corporations pay their fair share
• An increase in the basic state pension, immediately restoring the link with earnings, lifting people off means tested benefits and providing free care for the elderly
• An immediate start on a large scale council house building programme and assistance for those facing repossession
• Immediate end to programme of local Post Office closures and liberalisation of postal services
• An end to the privatisation of our public services
• A new pay deal for public sector workers to protect their living standards and tackle low pay
• Abolishing tuition fees and restoring maintenance grants for all students
• Scrapping ID cards and abandoning 42 days detention
• Introduction of a Trade Union Freedom Bill and measures to protect temporary and agency workers
• Rejecting the proposals to renew Trident

WHY JOHN McDONNELL IS BOYCOTTING THE COMPASS CONFERENCE

Here's the link - if you want to comment. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/11/civilliberties.uksecurity

And below in the italics is John's piece from today's CiF in the Guardian.

Despite pleas from groups like Amnesty International and Liberty, despite their so-called commitment to Labour values, liberty and social justice, it looks as though COMPASS MPs are going to cave in on the 42 days vote.
Rather makes a mockery, doesn't it, of the theme of their conference on Saturday "Born Free And Equal." And John McDonnell is absolutely right to boycott the event. No doubt some on the soft left will say he is being purist. I would say he's being principled. Sometimes, as John says, there are boundaries you just cannot cross.

I was due to speak at a Compass conference, but watching the way this group of MPs has followed the government on 42-day detention, I've changed my mind
I bumped into Tony Benn on Monday on his way to a meeting convened to identify the individuals in an old photo of the Labour MPs who served time in prison for being conscientious objectors in the first world war. Their role and personal sacrifice has been largely ignored by historians of the war and people have now come together to redress this wrong.
It was fortunate seeing Tony because I identified one of the MPs. It was Walter Ayles, one of my predecessors in my Hayes constituency. I rescued his portrait from the skip when local party members were having a clearout of the constituency headquarters and didn't realise who it was. The photo is now displayed prominently in my office.
Ayles was a conscientious objector and refused to fight out of sheer principle. As a result he served two and a half years in prison, some of which was a sentence of hard labour. In those days hard labour meant back-breaking physical work. Nevertheless Ayles served his time and helped organise even from prison the campaign to promote peace and reconciliation.
Ayles's story puts in perspective the role the prime minister and some Labour MPs will play today in the debate over the government's plans to detain people without charge for 42 days.
Throughout the last few days Gordon Brown has contacted Labour MPs to convince them to vote in favour of 42 days. I am pleased that so many have stood firm on principle and rejected the grovelling pleas for support.
However, it's now being reported that those MPs representing the Compass group are supporting the government on 42 days. Ominously they voted for the government throughout last night on the proposals to scrap coroners' juries and on toughening control orders.
It looks now therefore that one of our most cherished fundamental freedoms, the right to one's liberty, has been traded by a group of Labour MPs. Relatively minor policy concessions are being bartered to save the prime minister from defeat in the vote later today.
It is likely that this pleading may well work but at what cost to the integrity and personal standing of all those involved in this demeaning process?
This bargaining is no way to run a government and I believe that many will judge that those MPs who are about to cast their votes on such a critical issue of principle on the basis of what they can get out of the system are just beneath contempt.
If this does happen it destroys in my view any vestige of credibility those associated with Compass may claim to have to be part of the left or part of any project to reclaim the Labour party as a progressive force.
Compass may publish policy statements decrying the government's policies but these are not worth the paper they are expensively published on when Compass MPs go on to vote through policies like this which fly in the face of all that socialists should stand for.
I was scheduled to speak at the Compass conference on Saturday at the LRC/ Labour Briefing breakout session. I will not do so now. I do not want to be associated with those that are willing to support undermining the basic human rights that socialists have fought and sacrificed themselves to secure and protect over generations. There are some lines in the sand you just do not cross. Undermining basic civil liberties by locking people up for long periods without charge is one of

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

Just back from chairing first council meeting as official Chair/Mayor and fighting measures to cut funding to our local Arts Festival. Lost the vote. That's democracy. But I hope local people will take on board the fact that those who were on their side were the Labour Party Left.
We will continue to do our best and I acknowledge that we have a huge job of work to do. But , reading the comments on John McDonnell's article today in CiF, can I say that those who sanction us leaving Labour are missing the point utterly. We stay .We fight. And we're not giving in and heading off into political oblivion. Here's the link to why the LRC has exactly the right answers. The answers which will inspire people to support Real Labour -whatever happens tomorrow night in Crewe and Nantwich.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/john_mcdonnell/2008/05/beyond_prudence.html

SIGN JOHN McDONNELL'S MAY MANIFESTO

Earlier today I launched a tirade against the hopeless policy direction New Labour is taking us in. Well , the Labour left is clearly up and running and on the offensive as I have just been e-mailed with details of a May manifesto and petition calling for the following policies to be implemented. You can sign on-line here . These are the measures LRC Chair John McDonnell is calling for:

• Nailing the 10p tax mistake by the introduction of a fair tax system removing the low paid from taxation and ensuring the wealthiest and corporations pay their fair share


• An increase in the basic state pension, immediately restoring the link with earnings, lifting people off means tested benefits and providing free care for the elderly


• An immediate start on a large scale council house building programme and assistance for those facing repossession


• Immediate end to programme of local Post Office closures and liberalisation of postal services


• An end to the privatisation of our public services


• A new pay deal for public sector workers to protect their living standards and tackle low pay


• Abolishing tuition fees and restoring maintenance grants for all students


• Scrapping ID cards and abandoning 42 days detention


• Introduction of a Trade Union Freedom Bill and measures to protect temporary and agency workers


• Rejecting the proposals to renew Trident

WILL McDONNELL CHALLENGE GORDON AGAIN?

It's not often that the Left is front-page news but today's Mail On Sunday is seething with speculation that John McDonnell is to mount another challenge to Gordon Brown. The piece , alleging that "friends of the MP" have said he will try to topple Brown in the next few months, is curiously at odds with others alleging there will be no challenge from the Left MP as it's mathematically impossible to get the 70 or so MPs. So maybe the Mail is misinterpreting events.

But what is in no doubt is that Gordon Brown has been so damaged by the local election results it seems impossible he can continue until the next General Election. And the next few months are going to be absolutely fascinating politically - particularly for those of us who support the LRC.

Basically, around 100 or so MPs now know they have had it unless there is a change of leader - and policy direction. The prospect of redundancy can sharpen minds wonderfuly and Ken Livingstone's demise in London will also have been a wake-up call to MPs hitherto , as John puts it, "sleepwalking to disaster." I rather suspect that next Saturday's Labour Briefing AGM, at which John McDonnell is due to speak, may atttract rather more media attention than we would have thought possible just a few days ago.

GORDON CAVES IN BUT WHAT'S THE DAMAGE

Caught this late but here's the link to John McDonnell's article today on Comment Is Free. Yes, it's good the Government has caved in but the 10p tax rate should have been reinstated. The fight continues.....

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/john_mcdonnell/2008/04/this_will_cost_darling_dear.html

BRINGING YOUNG PEOPLE BACK TO LABOUR....

Reports of the Socialist Youth Network conference on Saturday can be found on Union Futures and John McDonnell's blog

JOHN McDONNELL'S TAKE ON BUDGET

This is pinched from the Independent's Open House blog........... and is also on John's blog

"In 1999 the Government said it would halve child poverty by 2010 - taking 1.7m children out of poverty. To date it has missed its targets and only removed 600,000 children from poverty. In the pre-budget briefings pouring out of Number 10 and the Treasury we were all led to believe that the Chancellor would make a major announcement today to get the Government back on course to meet its target.
Instead, the Chancellor has admitted defeat in the war against child poverty and has confirmed that the Government will not meet its 2010 target - and will leave over 2.5m children still living in poverty in the fifth richest countries in the world.
The measures announced today will only remove at most a further 250,000 children from poverty by 2010. But on analysis the situation is even more disappointing. In calculating child poverty the Government has massaged the figures by removing housing costs from the calculation. If these costs are put back the real assessment of child poverty confirms that in fact 3.5 million children will remain in poverty in our society.
At the same time the Chancellor has done virtually nothing to tackle the unfairness of our tax system. Big business benefits from the lowest corporation tax in this country in decades, which is to be cut further on 1st April. Proposals to tackle the scandal of non doms, some of whom are paying less tax than their servants, have been watered down and there are no measures to address the £97 to £150 billions the Treasury now admits to losing each year from tax avoidance.
If after eleven years in office, a Labour Government cannot meet such a basic aim of lifting our children out of poverty, many will judge this period of government as the greatest missed opportunity in the history of the Labour party. There is a growing feeling that the Government is running out of both time and ideas.

WAR CRIMES -WHY WASN'T THIS REPORTED?

As a journalist, I pride myself on being media savvy. Unfortunately, like everyone else, I have to scour the internet to by-pass the mainstream media and sometimes miss stuff. So s I wish to now report the press conference held with John McDonnell MP and members of the Campaign to Make War History who briefed MPs and the media on allegations of war crimes committed against the people of Iraq by Britain's former Prime Minister and the former Attorney General.
Officers from Scotland Yard have started a criminal investigation into the deaths of Iraqi citizens killed during the armed invasion and occupation of Iraq.
The Metropolitan Police are also acting in response to crimes reported by peace activists from We Are Change UK and The Campaign to Make War History. In an unprecedented step, the case was handed to the War Crimes division of the Counter Terrorism branch who are now investigating allegations of 14 criminal offences committed by Tony Blair, Lord Goldsmith and others. The offences are under the International Criminal Court Act 2001, which came into effect under English common law, just two days before 9/11.
Evidence was provided to the police relating to the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and conduct ancillary to these crimes under Sections 51 and 52 of The International Criminal Court Act 2001.• a crime against peace and complicity in a crime against peace under Articles 6 and 7 of The Nuremburg Principles.• murder, incitement to murder and conspiracy to murder under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.• conspiracy to commit genocide, a crime against humanity and war crimes under the Criminal Law Act 1.You can watch the press conference on You Tube.Here's the linkhttp://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wPx9QsXqXBI