unions

Police admit destroying files in Spycops inquiry

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/police-admit-destroying-files-spycops-inquiry

POLICE destroyed files relating to anti-war campaigners, unions and several individuals ahead of the undercover policing inquiry, it was heard today. 

The Metropolitan Police Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) spied on campaigners for decades.

A public inquiry was set up when it was revealed that the SDS spied on the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.

It has already heard testimony from victims of the SpyCops, including women activists with whom undercover police officers had relationships with and fathered children without revealing their true identity.

The interim report found the SDS should have been wound up almost as soon as it was established in the 1970s.

The new revelation, released by the inquiry today, shows that the Metropolitan Police deliberately destroyed secret files before they could be seen by the inquiry.

These included reports on the Stop the War Coalition, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Fire Brigades Union, the National Union of Mineworkers, the building union Ucatt, the Jean Charles de Menezes campaign, as well as former MP Dave Nellist and top KC Mike Mansfield.

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/police-admit-destroying-files-spycops-inquiry

Continue ReadingPolice admit destroying files in Spycops inquiry

Zack Polanski meets unions in attempt to get them to switch party funding to Greens

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https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/30/zack-polanski-meets-unions-in-attempt-to-get-them-to-switch-party-funding-to-greens

Zack Polanski has said he wants the Green party to replace Labour and is already building links with trade unions. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

Leader understood to have spoken to 10 trade unions after party claimed working class voters are turning to them

Zack Polanski has kicked off a charm offensive designed to convince trade unions to stop funding Labour and throw their weight behind the Green party, as he delivered the first in a series of speeches to union conferences.

The Green leader has had “good conversations” with 10 trade unions, including some affiliated to Labour, according to party sources, and is due to address the University and College Union and the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, not affiliated with Labour, in the coming months.

The UK’s largest unions – Unite and Unison – were among those that denied negotiating with Polanski and said they remained affiliated to the Labour party. However, Unite is holding internal discussions about its future relationship with Labour before a special conference in 2027 at which it could potentially decide to disaffiliate.

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The Greens have enjoyed a huge boost in polling since their first national byelection victory in Gorton and Denton, and the party’s membership has tripled in England and Wales since last September to about 200,000.

A Green party source said: “When Zack became Green party leader he said his goal was to replace Labour – and building strong links with trade unions is a central part of that plan.

“Working class people are increasingly looking to the Greens as the only party which will tackle the cost of living crisis and stand up for their rights. Zack’s first priority is to push unions to stop funding the Labour party – a party which in opposition made huge promises to workers and is now watering down and U-turning on those promises.”

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https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/30/zack-polanski-meets-unions-in-attempt-to-get-them-to-switch-party-funding-to-greens

Continue ReadingZack Polanski meets unions in attempt to get them to switch party funding to Greens

‘Draconian crackdown on our rights’

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/draconian-crackdown-our-rights

 Elizabeth Tower, part of the Palace of Westminster, is seen between two Metropolitan Police officers in Parliament Square, London

More than 45 civil society groups oppose plans to give police sweeping new powers

MORE than 45 civil society groups including the TUC and Palestine Solidarity Campaign today opposed “extreme” and “dangerous” government plans to give police sweeping new powers to restrict protests in England and Wales.

Greenpeace, Amnesty International UK, Liberty, Quakers in Britain and unions also denounced the “draconian crackdown on our rights to freedom of expression and assembly.”

Police will be required to consider the “cumulative impact” of repeated protests in the same area when imposing conditions on demonstrations under an amendment in the Crime and Policing Bill introduced in the House of Lords.

The size of an area is not specified and police would not be required to take into account whether the protests are for the same cause or involve the same people, the statement warned.

“Although government statements make clear these powers have been brought forward in response to the mass national marches for Palestinian rights, the impact of this change of law would be wide-ranging,” it said.

“An anti-racist march could be blocked from Whitehall because of a previous farmers’ protest, or a Pride march restricted because a far-right demonstration was recently held in the same town.

“Clamping down on peaceful protests will not protect anyone’s rights or safety, and we reject cynical attempts by government to present this repressive proposal as protection for vulnerable groups.”

It said that the Suffragette and anti-apartheid movements in South Africa all relied on the “cumulative” impact of protests in an area.

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/draconian-crackdown-our-rights

Image of the original Fascists Mussolini and Hitler.
The original Fascists Mussolini and Hitler
Continue Reading‘Draconian crackdown on our rights’

John McDonnell calls for grassroots leadership challenge to Starmer government

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The original article at the Guardian is recommended. I can’t help missing important parts by only quoting excerpts.

John McDonnell in central London protesting against redundancies and education cuts. McDonnell was among seven Labour MPs suspended last July for defying the whip on a Commons vote to end the two-child benefit cap. Photograph: Krisztián Elek/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

John McDonnell: Starmer and co are trashing Labour’s legacy. We must take back control of our party – before it’s too late

The suspended Labour veteran John McDonnell has called for a grassroots leadership challenge to the Labour government, warning that unless party members, unions and MPs “stand up and assert themselves to take back control of our party”, Labour risks losing not just its power: “We could lose a party.”

The former shadow chancellor accused Keir Starmer’s government of “callousness and political incompetence”, criticising its hesitance in abolishing the two-child limit on benefits, and what he calls a “brutal launch of an attack on benefits of disabled people”.

Writing for the Guardian five decades after joining Labour as a young trade unionist, McDonnell said the movement he had devoted his life to had “instigated a series of policies that fly like a knife to the heart of what we believed the Labour party above all else stood for when we joined the party”.

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“Unless the party members, our affiliated unions and members of the parliamentary Labour party stand up and assert themselves to take back control of our party, in the next period, in the Labour party’s history we may not just lose a government, we could lose a party”, he said.

The original article at the Guardian is recommended. I can’t help missing important parts by only quoting excerpts.

Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel's Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don't do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
Continue ReadingJohn McDonnell calls for grassroots leadership challenge to Starmer government

Campaigners demand full nationalisation of British Steel after government seizes control of Scunthorpe plant

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-demand-full-nationalisation-british-steel-after-government-seizes-control

A general view of British Steel in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, April 12, 2025

LABOUR has been urged to catch up with public support for nationalising services “just as strategically important” as British Steel.

Campaigners and unions have continued to call for the full nationalisation of the company after the government passed an emergency law on Saturday to seize control of its Scunthorpe plant.

The legislation was passed in a single day, empowering ministers to save the last plant making “virgin steel” direct from raw materials from imminent closure, as well as thousands of jobs.

But Labour’s action was likened to an expensive public bailout today amid growing calls for the government to stop the private sector from running other services into the ground.

We Own It founder and director Cat Hobbs said: “The government has sprung into action to protect British Steel as a strategically important industry, with nationalisation on the table.

“In 2020, Keir Starmer promised public ownership of rail, mail, energy and water — as well as ending outsourcing in our NHS and local government.

“These public services are just as strategically important as steel, as drivers of economic and social development.

“Since Thatcher’s sell off, many of our key public services have been handed over to foreign states, offshore funds and billionaires.

“If Starmer is looking to take back control of our economy, this would be a good place to start.

“The UK public overwhelmingly supports public ownership and it’s high time our government caught up.”

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-demand-full-nationalisation-british-steel-after-government-seizes-control

Continue ReadingCampaigners demand full nationalisation of British Steel after government seizes control of Scunthorpe plant