SOCIALIST UNITY

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=302907136405&ref=ts

Bristol Convention of the Left welcomes you to a day of decentralised discussion in Easton Community Centre.

The Convention will be about participation not top-down platforms, and hopes to develop agreement on the Left about policies around which we can all unite.

We will be holding workshops on:

-War and Peace - Palestine, Afghanistan and Iran
-Defending Public Services
-Solidarity with Latin America
-The Environment and Climate Change
-Fascism, Racism and Islamophobia
-Defending Civil Liberties
-Gender Equality
-Unemployment and the Economic Crisis
-Electoral Strategy- Builiding a Movement

These workshops will be about creating agreement on campaign strategies across the Left and will be co-run by groups within the movement.

Our Sponsors So far:

In Personal Capacity:

Tim Lezard (NUJ)
Jerry Hicks (UNITE)
Katie Buse (Bristol Green Party)
Jeremy Clarke (Bristol Stop the War)
Steve Mills (UNISON)
Paulette North (NUT)
Jo Benefield (Bristol Respect Party)
Mark Baker (PCS)
Tom Baldwin (Socialist Party)
Paul Smith (Labour Party)
Julie Boston (Campaign for Free Public Transport)
Ed Hill (Bristol Computers for Palestine)
Dave Chapple (CWU)
Karina Watkins (People and Planet- Bristol)
Paul Saville (People and Planet- UWE)
Dan Iles (Bristol Left)
Gus Baker (Bristol Labour Students)
Sophie Bennett (Bristol Uni Feminist Society)

and Ken Loach - International Film Maker!

Party, Union Branch and Campaign group Sponsors:
-UNISON UWE Branch
-CWU Bristol Branch
-Socialist Worker Party
-Bristol Stop the War
-Bristol Unite Against Fascism
-Youth Fight For Jobs
-Green Left
-Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign
-Bristol Defend the Asylum Seekers Campaign
-plus more to be confirmed

If you or your group also wants to sponsor this exciting event, contact us on leftconvention@gmail.com

**********************************************
Please invite all who you think will be interested!!
*************************************************
Easton Community Centre
Kilburn St
Easton
BS5 6AW

http://www.eastoncommunitycentre.org.uk/p_Contact_Us.ikml

The Conservative party’s calls for immediate cuts to the economy have been met by a growing chorus of criticism, warning that this risks sending the economy back into recession (Report, 8 March). The government was right to stimulate the economy with a variety of measures last year and so offset some of the worst effects of the recession. Yet, as some of the world’s leading economists have pointed out, the fragile nature of the recovery means that fiscal stimulus is still required. However, according to the IMF, Britain is one of only two G20 countries not currently planning any such fiscal stimulus in 2010.

A programme of government investment would not only stimulate the wider economy in the short term, but would increase long-term growth, thereby lowering the debt levels through a higher tax take. To this end, we encourage the chancellor to use the forthcoming budget to announce a second fiscal stimulus – especially in housing and transport, where investment has fallen most, and with a focus on developing a low-carbon economy – which would both help to secure economic recovery and create much needed jobs.

Colin Burgon MP

Alex Smith, Editor, Labourlist

Austin Mitchell MP

Anne Cryer MP

Alexandra Kemp, Chief Executive, West Norfolk Women and Carers’ Pensions Network (personal capacity)

Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy, NUS National Officer

Billy Hayes, General Secretary, CWU

Byron Taylor, National Trade Union Liaison Officer, Trade Union & Labour Party Liaison Organisation (TULO)

Cat Smith, Vice Chair, London Young Labour

Chris Edwards, Senior Research Fellow, UEA,

Chris McCafferty MP

Chris McLaughlin, Editor, Tribune

Christopher Cramer, Professor of Political Economy of Development, SOAS

Clifford Singer, Director, The Other TaxPayers’ Alliance

Colin Challen MP

Compass Youth Executive

Dave Anderson MP

David Drew MP

Dai Havard MP

Dave Prentis, General Secretary, Unison.

David Hamilton MP

Diane Abbott MP

Denis Murphy MP

Edward O’Hara MP

Ellie Gellard, Labour blogger

Grazia Ietto-Gillies, Emeritus Professor of Applied Economics, Director Centre for International Business Studies, London South Bank University

Glenda Jackson MP

Gerry Doherty, General Secretary, TSSA

Gordon Prentis MP

Prof. George Irvin, Univerity of London, SOAS.

Professor Ian Gough, Professorial Research Fellow, LSE

Hugh Lanning PCS Deputy General Secretary

Hywel Francis MP

Harriet Yeo, Labour Party NEC

Hilary Wainright, Co-Editor, Red Pepper

Ismail Erturk, Senior Lecturer in Banking, Manchester Business School

Janet Dean MP

Jeremy Corbyn MP

Jim Cousins MP

Jim Sheridan MP

Jon Cruddas MP

John Austin MP

John Ross, Editor, Socialist Economic Bulletin

John Weeks, Professor Emeritus of Economics, SOAS, University of London, and former director of the Centre for Development Policy and Research.

Jonathan Rutherford, Professor of Cultural Studies, Middlesex University

Katy Clark MP

Karen Buck MP

Keith Norman, General Secretary, ASLEF

Ken Livingstone

Kevin Maguire, Associate Editor, Mirror

Kelvin Hopkins MP

Martin McIvor, Editor, Renewal

Malcolm Sawyer, Professor of Economics, University of Leeds

Mehdi Hasan, Senior Editor (politics), New Statesman

Michael Connarty MP

Michael Meacher MP

Mick Shaw, President, FBU

Mike Wood MP

Michael Burke, Economist and contributor to Socialist Economic Bulletin

Neal Lawson, Chair, Compass

Neil MacKinnon, Chief Economist, VTB Capital

Paul Kenny, General Secretary, GMB

Paul Truswell MP

Paul Sagar, New Political Economy Network.

Pat Devine, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester

Peter Kilfoyle MP

Peter Willsman Labour Party NEC

Prem Sikka, Professor of Accounting, University of Essex

Richard Ascough, Regional Secretary, South Eastern GMB

Richard Murphy, Director, Tax Research UK

Roger Berry MP

Robin Murray, Fellow, Young Foundation, Author of Danger and Opportunity:Crisis and the New Social Economy

Roger Godsiff MP

Ronnie Campbell MP

Sam Tarry, National Chair, Young Labour

Sunder Katwala, General Secretary, Fabian Society (personal capacity)

Susan Himmelweit, Professor of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, Open University

Terry Rooney MP

Tim Roache, GMB Yorkshire Regional Secretary

Tony Juniper, environmentalist

Tony Woodley, Joint General Secretary UNITE

Will Straw, Editor, Left Foot Forward

The tragic suicide of a family of asylum seekers in Glasgow last Sunday, who after being informed that their application for asylum had been denied and told they must vacate their accommodation in the Red Road high rise flats in the Springburn area of the city, jumped 15 storeys to their deaths, throws into focus the inhumanity and sheer brutality of the treatment meted out to asylum seekers in this country.

Witnesses have reported that immigration officers were banging on the door of the family’s accomodation just before they jumped to their deaths, and with this and further evidence of harrassment of families awaiting decisions on their status, along with the continuing shame of families, including young children, being kept in detention awaiting deportation or the results of appeals, a full and independent public inquiry into the current asylum policy along with its implementation by the UK Borders Agency, is called for.

On Tuesday a protest took place at the site of the tragedy by local residents, voluntary organisations, and concerned citizens. The following information from SACC (Scotland Against Criminalising Communities) provides a report of the protest on Tuesday, information regarding a further planned protest and march this Saturday, along with a letter from Robina Qureshi, director of Positive Action in Housing, to the YMCA over their treatment of an Afghan refugee who joined the protest.

FROM SACC

For pictures of Tuesday’s protests over the suicide at Red Road flats, Glasgow of a mother, father and son who had been seeking asylum, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/duncanbrown/sets/72157623464369683/

Also in this email
*** Treatment of asylum seekers at YMCA accommodation *** Red Road Residents March and Rally, Sat 13 March

Following the protests, Positive Action in Housing circulated a letter addressed to the YMCA regarding the treatment of aslyum seekers in Glasgow. PAIH says the letter “is self explanatory and causes sufficient concern for us to share these concerns so that they may be brought out in the open and addressed.” The text of the letter follows:

10th March 2010
FAO Joe Connolly
YMCA Glasgow
William Harthouse
25 Daba Street
Glasgow G51 2JA

Dear Mr. Connelly,

TREATMENT OF ASYLUM SEEKERS AT YMCA ACCOMMODATION

Last night, while attending a candlelit vigil in memory of the Serkhi family alongside over 200 residents of the Red road flats, myself and representatives from the Scottish Afghan Association, Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees were approached by a young Afghan man, Saeed. He explained that he had left his YMCA flat on the 21st floor to join the other residents at the vigil. After about an hour, he returned to the flat whereupon he found that his room completely cleared of his belongings and was told by the YMCA staff cleaning out his room that his stuff was gone and he couldn’t return to the flat because the room was “for someone else” He asked us for help and was clearly distressed. When we were approached by the young man, a crowd of people gathered round around 25 to 30 who were clearly distressed and upset and angry for the young man. There was a small police presence of around three officers and we were in a potentially flammatory situation.

We took him aside and went with him to his flat. It was empty as if he had never been there. The cleaners hoover and cleaning materials were in the flat. He looked in cupboards, drawers, all his things were gone. We witnessed this first hand and were quite shocked and went with him to speak to your staff at reception. Saeed was casually told that his belongings were in the bin. Saeed was stood before us at eight o clock in the evening with a set of keys he could no longer use, the clothes he was wearing, and a letter from the YMCA telling him to leave. All his papers and personal belongings were ‘probably in the bin’. He had no money, papers, clothes and no means to support himself. This man was treated worse than an animal. For someone to just come into his flat and throw out all his personal belongings while he steps out for a few minutes displays a complete lack of respect, compassion or humanity, and particularly at such a sensitive time in the Red Road community.

It is my understanding that Strathclyde Police deliberately reduced the numbers of police officers to ease tensions within the community and particularly amongst vulnerable people in the depths of despair about their asylum cases. If this is the YMCA’s standard practice when treating asylum seekers, then it is nothing short of flammatory to the Red road community and a disgrace to civilized society.

On a separate note, we would be grateful to know the following:

1. What level of cooperation does the YMCA afford to the UKBA enforcement removal team seeking to remove asylum seekers from the YMCA flats?

2. How much money does the YMCA receive per asylum seeker for its UKBA contract at the Red Road flats?

3. We suspect many asylum seekers are being driven to desperation by the combination of inhumane practices being perpetrated by the UKBA and the YMCA to the point they have said firsthand that they fully understand why the Serkhi family threw themselves from the 15th floor of one of your flats. Will the YMCA be evicting any more asylum seekers during this troubled time at the Red Road when so many people are in the depths of despair and hopelessness?

I would be extremely grateful for an immediate response.

Yours sincerely, Robina Qureshi
DIRECTOR

——————————————————————————–

RED ROAD RESIDENTS MARCH AND RALLY
11 AM SATURDAY 13 MARCH 2010

STARTING AT RED ROAD FLATS, 63 PETERSHILL DRIVE, SPRINGBURN GLASGOW

PLEASE BRING BANNERS AND FLOWERS
ALL WELCOME

Please join residents of the Red Road flats, Charities, churches, faith groups, Quaker groups and trade unions at 11 am on Saturday 13th March from the Red Road flats in Springburn, Glasgow to a rally in George Square.

The march, organised by Red road Residents, the Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees and the Unity Centre, will begin at the exact spot of upturned grass where a family of three asylum seekers, the Serykh family, fell to their deaths on Sunday 7 March.

The purpose of the march and rally is to:
a) Remember the Serykh family and call for an immediate end to any further enforced removals of refugee families in the Red road area by the UK Borders Agency (UKBA) ; and

b) Call for the immediate return of Stephanie Ovranah and her twin six year old sons, Joshua and Joel, to their friends, neighbours and local church in Glasgow’s Cranhill where they have lived for past five five years. (The family were detained at Brand Street reporting centre without warning last Friday with the children still in their school uniforms. They are currently in Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre and the children are understood to be terrified of being returned to Africa which they do not know or remember).

Messages of support to home@paih.org

Take 60 seconds to contact your Parliamentary candidates and ask them their views on Cuba!
Go to www.britainandcuba.org
Enter your postcode
Send the email off to Prospective Parliamentary Candidates in your area
Forward the responses to campaigns@britainandcuba.org
Ask your friends & colleagues to do the same

A new book with a radical approach to Christian engagement with Islam is being launched at the Queens Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education on Monday 15th March 2010 at 6pm

A Heart Broken Open – Radical Faith in an Age of Fear is the moving and insightful reflection by an Christian Minister of his grassroots engagement with Islam through relationships built from inner-city parish ministry in Leeds to the streets of Karbala, Iraq at a time of rising Islamophobia and the ’war on terror’.

The author offers a way of witnessing to Christ’s peace whilst entering into the faith of ‘the other’ with humility and love, allowing the way of Islam and the practice of Muslims to touch, challenge and inspire his Christian faith and feed his hunger for God. In so doing he offers us inspiration in finding our own ways to walk with confidence in Christ’s love amongst neighbours of many faiths and none.

Ray Gaston was in parish ministry in inner city Leeds for 12 years. He is now Inter Faith Studies Tutor and Enabler with The Queens Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education and The Birmingham District of the Methodist Church. He lives with his family in Sparkhill, Birmingham.
Praise for A Heart Broken Open

“This book is deeply personal and moving … I recommend it as of real value at grassroots level where the real action lies. It counters Islamophobia on behalf of radical Christianity ”
Revd Dr Frank Whaling, emeritus Professor in Religious Studies, Edinburgh University

A tour de force of radical spirituality
Revd Donald Reeves, Director, Soul of Europe.

Ray’s story is a profound and uplifting one … By acting as an agent of change and at the same time being open to change himself, Ray exemplifies a powerful alternative to the polarizing discourse which views difference as a threat
Salma Yaqoob, Chair, Birmingham Stop The War Coalition and Birmingham City Councillor. Leader of The Respect Party and Parliamentary Candidate for Hall Green, Birmingham

As Christians we need to be in the marginal, unexpected and controversial places so that our witness can be heard clearly and the heart put into our interfaith efforts. This is a book of love for God and our Muslim sisters and brothers; witness is the light shining from Ray’s heart which has been opened so powerfully.
Julian Bond, Executive Director Christian-Muslim Forum

This book is a beautifully written spiritual adventure that will resonate with all those who are seekers of a spiritual path, and at the same time it is scholarly, courageous, honest and deeply earnest in asking the questions most will not ask and in sharing the journey of a heart seeking peace.
Firdaws Khan, Community Activist

Ray’s journey alongside Muslims is an exhilarating read. It is a journey of vulnerability that risks the discovery of God beyond the confines of the church, is shaped by Christian worship and scriptural reflection, and is politically engaged. In short, it is a testimony of discipleship for our times.
Richard Sudworth, author of Distinctly Welcoming – Christian Presence in a Multi Faith Society

To see extracts of the book follow this link http://www.ionabooks.com/New-recenttitles/9781905010615-A-Heart-Broken-Open.html 
A Heart Broken Open - Radical faith in an age of fear
Ray Gaston
ISBN 978 1 905010 61 5

from the Morning Star

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has risked a general election disaster by launching a vicious new attack on the pay of public-sector workers and civil servants.

In a speech to City bigwigs, he promised a “tough approach” to pay right across the public sector for years ahead.

His proposals would slash the living standards of millions of civil servants, health workers, teachers and local government workers.

Mr Brown also made the astonishing claim that he had forged “a contract between the government and the British people” to impose swingeing cuts in public spending.

He boasted that this people’s “contract” provided for a halving of Britain’s deficit over four years.

He failed to mention that the legislation imposing these draconian cuts over four years was rushed through Parliament in just a few days with hardly any debate.

Foreshadowing ruthless pay curbs, Mr Brown told his well-heeled audience: “Last week I said that the parliamentary and ministerial salaries of all paid government ministers would be frozen.

“We must take an equally disciplined approach to pay and benefits right across the public sector.

“So today I can announce that after the reports of the review bodies we will also freeze the pay of senior staff in the Civil Service, senior staff in the military, the judiciary, senior managers in the health service and the pay of consultants, GPs and dentists.”

The Senior Salaries Review Body recommended a general pay freeze on Wednesday, but it did propose a 2.25 per cent rise for NHS managers earning less than £80,000, plus a rise in the minimum pay rate for senior civil servants to £61,500.

However, Mr Brown insisted that the pay freeze must apply across the board, and he rejected the exceptions proposed by the review body.

Left Labour MP John McDonnell reacted furiously to Mr Brown’s rant.

“Under his leadership people will continue to pay for the economic crisis for years to come with job losses, pay freezes and cuts in public services,” protested Mr McDonnell.

“He has referred to a legally binding contract between the government and the people to reduce the budget deficit by half over four years.

“In effect the real contract he has entered into is a contract between the government and the banks that under new Labour the filthy rich are safe to start playing the casino economy again.”

Civil Service union Prospect general secretary Paul Noon attacked the government for failing to honour the third year of a three-year pay deal agreed for senior civil servants.

Senior civil servants’ union FDA general secretary Jonathan Baume complained: “It is simply untenable for the government to continue freezing the pay of senior civil servants as a political device year after year.”

In his speech, Mr Brown also said the government would today be unveiling proposals for investing in high-speed rail.

He declared: “I believe in Britain’s future. Broadband Britain can be a world leader, so too can creative Britain, biotech Britain, Nobel prize-winning science Britain, Olympic Britain, and high-speed rail Britain.”

Swindon Tories admit Lord Ashcroft has financed their campaign in South Swindon to the tune of £32000

From Progress:
Introducing our David versus Goliath candidate of the day, Anne Snelgrove. For more information on Progress’ campaign and for a full list of candidates visit our David versus Goliath page.

‘In his response to a letter from me, Tory candidate for South Swindon Robert Buckland has revealed that his campaign has received funding from Lord Ashcroft, the disgraced Tory donor. Mr Buckland admitted that his campaign has received financial support from the Tory Party Marginal Seats Fund that is bank-rolled by Lord Ashcroft, who does not pay full tax in the UK.

“I am glad that Mr Buckland has come clean about how he is paying for his glossy leaflets with the dodgy donations from Lord Ashcroft. He needs to know that the people of Swindon will not let this election be bought by someone who dodges his tax bill.

“In my letter to Mr Buckland I asked him to pay back any money that came from Lord Ashcroft, unfortunately he refused to answer this question. My leaflets are paid for by small donations from local people in Swindon and all donations to the local and national Labour Party are declared with complete transparency.Why should a billionaire who does not pay full taxes in this country be allowed to buy the election in places like Swindon?

“Lord Ashcroft has donated over £5,000,000 to the Tory Party and plays a key role in their election strategy. He also regularly accompanies leading Tory MPs on trips abroad. It is estimated that Lord Ashcroft has avoided over £100million of tax in the UK.

“David Cameron has proposed banning any ‘non-doms’ in the Houses of Parliament but It seems that he is happy to accept money from Lord Ashcroft to bank-roll his campaign.

Donate to Anne’s campaign in Swindon South 

From the website of the Reut Institute, which describes itself as a policy group providing advice to the Israeli govt and people in positions of power on matters of Israeli security and economic policy.

The Delegitimization Challenge: Creating a Political Firewall

This report analyzes and provides a conceptual response to the erosion in Israel’s diplomatic status over the past few years, which reached its peak with the Goldstone report . This attack possesses strategic significance, and may develop into a comprehensive existential threat within a few years.

Executive Summary: Background and Introduction

1. In the past few years, Israel has been subjected to increasingly harsh criticism around the world, resulting in an erosion of its international image, and exacting a tangible strategic price. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict serves as the ‘engine’ driving this criticism, which peaked with and around the Goldstone report on Operation Cast Lead. In some places, criticism has stretched beyond legitimate discourse regarding Israeli policy to a fundamental challenge to the country’s right to exist.

2. Two forces and dynamics link these phenomena and the frustrating outcomes of the Second Lebanon War (07/06) and Operation Cast Lead (01/09):

(more…)