Labour Party

Jeremy Corbyn: On Human Rights Day, the UK government must reflect on its own inaction and complicity

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Jeremy Corbyn MP, former leader of the Labour Party

JEREMY CORBYN warns that on Human Rights Day Britain is trying to jettison its obligations under international treaties and turning its back on the most vulnerable

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/human-rights-day-government-must-reflect-its-own-inaction-and-complicity

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If we walk away from the European Convention and human rights legislation, we will leave a terrible legacy for future generations.

There has been a resurgent pushback against human rights around the world. Let us not be part of it; let us go in the opposite direction.

Human rights have to be universal. They do not mean going to war with somebody. They do not mean abandoning or demonising the most vulnerable.

They mean engagement to try to achieve a more peaceful, caring and compassionate world for us all.

Continue ReadingJeremy Corbyn: On Human Rights Day, the UK government must reflect on its own inaction and complicity

The solution is resistance

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Now is the time to be joining demonstrations, occupations and the picket lines writes JOHN MCDONNELL MP

(Socialist) Labour MP John McDonnell Image: John McDonnell, Shadow Chancellor 21-25 September 2019
Brighton by Socialist Appeal at Wikimedia  Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/blackrock-power-behind-throne

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We need to be out there in the streets, taking every opportunity we can to hold this government to account and linking up all the forms of resistance taking place.

As well as the large numbers of people taking industrial action to try and secure decent wages, there are renters campaigning against eviction, people with disabilities campaigning to ensure their benefits are not cut, climate justice campaigners and a whole range of social movements saying no to the Tories’ agenda.

So, what way forward for our movement? The solution is deepening this resistance at all levels, and that means joining demonstrations, occupations and the picket lines — and it also means discussing the alternatives we need around a socialist policy programme.

This programme must be based on redistributive taxation that will fund our public services and address the poverty and inequality that scar our society. And it must include securing stable, long-term investment in our infrastructure and in our people — including through extending public ownership — so we can mobilise our whole economy to tackle the challenges ahead and the rising challenge of climate change.

Follow John on Twitter @johnmcdonnellmp.

Continue ReadingThe solution is resistance

Labour plans to democratise Britain incompatible with purge of left, campaigners warn

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/labour-plans-democratise-britain-incompatible-purge-of-left

LABOUR’S plans to democratise Britain by devolving political and economic power from Westminster are incompatible with the party’s ongoing “purge of the left,” campaigners warned today.

Grassroots group Momentum largely welcomed Sir Keir Starmer’s proposals to “unbind the country from a centre that has not delivered,” but stressed the move must happen within a “pluralistic party culture.”

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The Scottish Greens argued the concession would “do nothing to halt the momentum for independence” north of the border, while Plaid Cymru slammed the report for failing to tackle “inequalities across the UK.”

Momentum tweeted: “Reforming Britain’s antiquated and unequal democracy is the right goal — that must mean abolition of the House of Lords.”

However, the group stressed the need for a “pluralistic party culture,” adding: “You can’t democratise Britain while purging the left.”

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Continue ReadingLabour plans to democratise Britain incompatible with purge of left, campaigners warn

Labour leader Keir Starmer under pressure to commit to higher taxes for super-rich as Tory government prepares spending cuts

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https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/nov/03/labour-mps-press-keir-starmer-to-set-out-wealth-tax-plans

The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, is under pressure from campaigners, unions and his own MPs to set out plans for “wealth taxes” on the richest in society in order to support public services and help the poorest through the cost of living crisis.

As the government prepares to cut spending to fill an estimated £35bn black hole in the nation’s finances, calls are growing for higher taxes on the super-rich, many of whom have seen their fortunes soar during the pandemic.

Richard Burgon, the Labour MP for Leeds East, said: “While living standards are plummeting for most people, it’s been boom time for the super-rich, whose wealth has soared to record highs in recent years.”

Starmer, who is trying to position his party in the centre ground, has avoided committing to higher taxes on private incomes as Labour seeks to woo the City and businesspeople angry at the damage caused by the Conservatives’ mini-budget. But that approach is causing concern on his backbenches and more widely, with the Greens calling Labour “timid” on wealth.

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Molly Scott Cato, the Green party’s spokesperson on finance, said: “The Tories have created a big hole the public finances but there is an obvious place to look to fill it: taxing the super-rich. Not only do they have the broadest shoulders but they also increased their wealth during the pandemic because of enforced savings.

“What is more surprising is to find Labour being so timid on wealth taxes. Their proposal to abolish non-dom status will only bring in a few billion while a proper wealth tax could yield tens of billions. We’ve now got two weeks for Labour to remember their egalitarian roots and support loud and growing calls for a wealth tax. Otherwise they will be colluding in the devastating cuts to public services that are being cooked up by the millionaires in Nos 10 and 11 Downing Street.”

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https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/nov/03/labour-mps-press-keir-starmer-to-set-out-wealth-tax-plans

Continue ReadingLabour leader Keir Starmer under pressure to commit to higher taxes for super-rich as Tory government prepares spending cuts

just Stop Oil respond to Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s threats

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A response to home secretary Suella Braverman

UK Home Secreatry Suella Braverman is proceedng with the Public Order Bill introduced by the previous Home Secretary Pritty [23/10/22 Priti, apologies] Patel. It includes a new amendment so that secretaries of state can apply for an injunction  ‘in the “public interest” where protests are causing or threatening “serious disruption or a serious adverse impact on public safety”.’ It appears that the government has accepted Labour Parly leader Keir Starmer’s suggestion. The Labour Party has since attempted to position itself as pro-green e.g. with the slogan “fairer, greener future” at it’s 2022 conference.

I’m struck than many of Just Stop Oil’s activists are so young. These are the people that destroying the planet are really going to affect. It could literally be a death sentence for them, wtf are they going to see? We already have serious weather events on a regular basis at 1.1/1.2C increase in global temperature. We’ve seen devestating temperatures, flooding and fires. Despite such devestating effects, Liz Truss’s bonkers UK government is accelerating climate destruction.

It is unfortunate that protests are disruptive but these protestors are certainly not selfish as claimed by Braverman. They’re not the government supporting and indistinguishable from those destroying the planet for profit. I can fully sympathise that climate activists have no choice other than to protest disruptively.

Continue Readingjust Stop Oil respond to Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s threats