Following the anouncement by Michael Wills, the thoroughly useless New Labour justice minister, that he would not be contesting the next election, the constituency party selected Victor Agarwal on the first ballot on Saturday.

Victor is an active GMB member, and was supported vigorously by the union in the selection, and also gained the support of other affiliated unions in his campaign. GMB interviews perspective candidates quite carefully to ensure that the nunion is only supporting candidates who share the core values of the union.

The Labour Party in North Swindon is not in a healthy condition; some ill feeling still remains from the original imposition of TV producer Michael Wills onto the constituency in favour of the constituency party’s own choice, Jim d’Avilla. Wills is a public school toff, a former diplomat and TV producer, who has been like a fish out of water in his predominantly working class constituency, where he spends very little time despite having been MP for 12 years now.

Wills has worked to build an independent base of electoral support as an individual, by-passing the local party, and I understand his office staff are not even party members. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the war on Iraq, and was the architect of Gordon Brown’s “Britishness agenda”. He won’t be missed, or even remembered.

However, the constituency party now has very few members, and mainly older people who will not be active in campaigning. Victor will be defending a majority of only 2000 against a Tory candidate, Cllr Justin Tomlinson, who has built a strong personal following.

Back in September 2001 we held a number of protest events in Swindon opposing the proposed attack on Afghanistan.

The very first event was an impromptu march organised by someone who had no connection with the left or peace movement, and was attended by about 100 people. There were three local Muslims there, Khan Nawaz, Azim Khan and Abdul Latif. The three of them later worked with me, and others on the left, to organise a series of lobbies of our two pro-war Labour MPs.

They have all been active supporters of the Stop the War Coalition, and I have also worked with Latif in a charity that provides advice for people who don’t speak English as their first language. Indeed Latif was due to come around to my house this morning to discuss some business connected to the charity, but we had to reschedule due to the snow.

So I was very interested to see Latif pictured and quoted in today’s Swindon Advertiser, the local paper that covers Wootton Bassett.

The Adver reports from yesterday’s repatriation ceremony that passed though Bassett: “Among the mourners were Muslim pensioners Abdul Lati 65, and his wife Samina, 52, who have lived in [Wootton Bassett] since 1995 and branded Islam4UK as “extremists”.

“Mr Latif said ‘I’ve been to these repatriations about 13 times now and we have great sympathy with the families who have lost their children at war. they are fighting for all of us, not just their religions but for all of us”

“We have great respect for everyone that passes through here. We sit here in peace and harmony while they fight for us. That is why we come here to show our respects. Although we believe in Islam we do not support Islam4UK. they are a minority of Muslims. they are extremists and we will not support them walking through Wootton Bassett”

On the same page in the newspaper, Farasat Latif, of the Call to Islam Centre in Luton , is quoted as saying he and other British Muslims would join a counter demonstration against Anjem Choudary if the Islam4UK march goes ahead. Farasat Latif said: “Islam is about peace and respect, neither of which will come from this action. this is Britain and British people have a right to grieve for their war dead without this insult. Yes, many in Afghanistan have died and we grieve for them but through prayer as is taught in Islam. this is a political statement and Wootton Bassett is not the town for political statements”

Firstly, congratulations to the Adver reporter Scott McPherson for a good story that helps to puncture the climate of anti-Muslim hysteria that is building up over Islam4UK’s proposed march.

But we also have to acknowledge that there is a very strong pressure building on British Muslims to keep quiet about opposition to the war in Afghanistan, a pressure that of course Anjem Choudrey is seeking to increase in order to polarise and inflame opinion still further.

But this also means that the left needs to urgently consider how to impose the issue of Afghanistan further up the mainstream political agenda. The government are currently having all the running in the media, despite the fact that a majority of the public oppose the war.

The convenient Mr Choudrey deserves an MI5 pay check for continually associating opposition to the war with his brand of moonbat extremism. Of course I have no evidence that actually he has an association with the security services, but “the labourer is worthy of his hire”, as the Bible says.

But the issue exposes a raw nerve, and the left needs to raise its game to help to give expression  to the majority opposition to the war.

From Guardian Comment is Free

The debate beyond Wootton Bassett

Ignore Islam4UK’s self-serving provocation. Instead, let’s have the open public discussion we need on the war in Afghanistan

When I was invited to appear on Question Time at Wootton Bassett, I did feel a hesitation because of the programme’s location. I was very mindful of the fact that this is where every soldier who has been killed is honoured and where respects are paid. Regardless of where you stand politically, their loss is a very real and human tragedy for their families.

But these are more than personal tragedies. Our soldiers and military families put their trust in the politicians who send them into battle. They trust them to tell the truth. The political tragedy is that, once again, we are fighting a war that is based on lies and that will not make us safe.

So it is necessary to hold our politicians to account for their decisions. And that debate should not be silenced. There is a subtext that if you support our troops, then you have to support the war itself; because if you question the purpose of the occupation, then you are accused not only of being unpatriotic, but also even of endangering the troops by undermining morale. That silencing of debate leaves a huge vacuum in our politics, because all three parties back the line that we have to get behind the troops and “finish the job”.

There is also a double standard also about deaths in Afghanistan. On the one hand, with the parades in Wootton Bassett we congratulate ourselves that we’re so civilised that no loss goes unmourned; yet, if you’re Afghan, no one even counts your death. From British politicians there’s absolutely no acknowledgment of Afghan people’s suffering, or the fact that their lives are not better-off because of the west’s intervention – although that is the lie that continues to be told. Thousands have been killed and seven million made refugees, but that’s not on anybody’s radar.

This dignified and serious debate is the last thing on the mind of Anjem Choudary and Islam4UK. He is a bigot whose goal in life is to provoke division. He engages in these provocations because he is deeply hostile to any coming together of Muslims and non-Muslims. For him, the fact that a majority of the British people – Muslim and non-Muslim – oppose the war in Afghanistan is not something to be celebrated, but is something to be feared.

If we are genuinely concerned about the troops, as we are about the Afghan people, we must have an open debate about why we are in Afghanistan and whether we should pull out. Instead, the airwaves are dominated by the rantings of a marginal provocateur.

My experience on Question Time confirms to me the need for a genuinely open political debate, conducted with seriousness and sensitivity. I wasn’t surprised to be received at first in silence, given the programme’s pro-war bias, but by the end, people were saying that the majority was behind me. I do trust the conscience of ordinary British people, even if I am cynical about our political leadership.

From the BBC. As an anti-war activist living just 5 minutes from Wootton bassett, I can say that this march - if it goes ahead - would be disastrous for the movement, and disastrous for community relations in Swindon (which is only a 5 miles from Bassett)

Islamic group plans Wootton march

People in the town have lined the streets for the repatriation processions An Islamic group said to have links to an extremist movement is planning to march through the Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett. The town has become famous for honouring British war dead returning from Afghanistan. Islam4UK pledged the protest would be peaceful with symbolic coffins representing Muslim victims. Wootton’s former mayor Chris Wannell has called on the group’s leader not to hold the march. ‘Brutal crusade’ North Wiltshire MP James Gray said: “I’ve seen in the past assorted groups threaten to march, but they don’t actually do it. “I wouldn’t think they’d get permission from the police.” Islam4UK is said to call itself a “platform” for the extremist movement al-Muhajiroun. Leader of Islam4UK, former lawyer Anjem Choudary, said the march would not coincide with a repatriation ceremony. Everyone has the right to protest, but it’s not a very tactful place to do it Councillor Jenny Stratton On its website the group said it was “totally unacceptable” to honour servicemen who had contributed “directly or indirectly” to the deaths of “well over 100,000 Muslims in Afghanistan in the last 8 years”. “We at Islam4UK find this totally unacceptable and as a result have decided to launch the ‘Wootton Bassett March’ to highlight the real casualties of this brutal Crusade,” the website states. Mr Wannell said the townsfolk did not come out to honour the soldiers “for any political reason at all” but to pay their respects to “those who have given their lives for our freedom”. Wootton councillor, Jenny Stratton, said: “Everyone has the right to protest, but it’s not a very tactful place to do it.” A spokeswoman for Wiltshire Police said: “Under the Public Order Act the organiser must inform the police of the date, time and route of the proposed procession, and the name and address of the organiser. “If the march or procession is believed to be likely to result in serious disorder, disruption or damage, then the police can impose conditions upon the organiser. “In exceptional circumstances, police may apply to the local authority for an order prohibiting such a march.” To date there had been no contact from Islam4UK or any other group wishing to arrange such a march in Wootton Bassett,” the spokeswoman added.

The National Front are certainly a force to be reckoned with in the West Country. Their 2008 newsletter boasted of their highlight of that year’s campaiging, a press release to the Wiltshire Gazette supporting Dame Judy Dench’s call to save Lacock Post Office.

Emboldened by this success they have moved on to bigger and better things, submitting a motion to Haydon Wick parish council calling for a referendum on the Lisbon treaty. Sadly this major step forward in the campaign for a sovereign and racially pure Britain was thwarted when the secretary of the parish council ruled it ultra vires,, and contacted the police to warn off NF activist, “Mike Matthews” from attending. On his blog “Mike Matthews” complains:

This was the opportunity for true democracy to take place; however, the local councillors have gone against their duty- ie, provide the local people with a voice, be them on a local or national issue- and have called the police to ensure that I do not turn up tomorrow to hold this very important meeting. They have also failed to contact me concerning this, and have left the police banging on my door to tell (warn?) me not to turn up tomorrow. To be honest, if they didn’t want me to hold the meeting they could of told me, either by phone, post or email, since I provided them with all three details.

This has forced me to cancel the meeting. The council are refusing to hold this meeting and in essence are against giving the people of Haydon Wick a voice. But don’t threat, this certainly will not deter us from what we aim to achieve- true democracy!

After discussing this with other local committee members, we have decided we will hold a parish meeting in January when we have found an appropriate location in the parish, since the parish council will not allow us use of the public building.

Some of you may recall an arson attack on Swindon’s Broad Street Mosque in 2006, carried out by Mark Bullman, at that time the treasurer of Wiltshire BNP; and who used a BNP leaflet as the fuse for a molotov cocktail. “Mike Mathews” was recently overheard admitting that he was the person responsible for this “highly juvenile incident”, so Sherlock Holmes might conclude that Mike Mathews and Mark Bullman might be the same person. Bullman has previously used the pseudonym Mark Bullock.

From the Times.

  The Wiltshire town famous for its old rail works and Honda car factory is to be the first twin town of the Florida-based Walt Disney World.

It was chosen thanks to the efforts of Rebecca Warren, 20, who lives in Swindon. She produced a winning video slideshow extolling the virtues of the town, and will fly to Florida to unveil a “Walt Disney World Twinned with Swindon” plaque. Miss Warren said: “I still cannot believe my entry has been selected. What a great opportunity for Swindon.”

The Swindon Advertiser is the local paper covering Wootton Bassett where British casualties are repatriated from Afghanistan, via RAF Lyneham. The BBC’s flagship “Question Time” programme is to be broadcast from Bassett on Thursday 10th December.

Last week I attended a film-showing put on by Swindon Climate Action Network (SCAN) of the documentary “Yes Men Fix the World”. There were about 36 people there, and the film was to build the demonstration on 5th December. (There seem to be two coaches going from Swindon, and our GMB branch has donated £100 and is sending a delegation with the banner).

As far as the film itself, we have been here before. This is Michael Moore and Mark Thomas territory, except that the “Yes Men” pull off slightly more ambitious stunts, helped by being more anonymous. They pose as representatives of Dow Chemicals, speaking to the world’s media, and admit responsibility for Bhopal; they organise a well attended talk at an oil industry trade fare, pretending to be spokespeople for Exxon, announcing that human beings wil be used as the basis for the next generation of fuel; and they get organise a platform along with the Louisiana state govenor, and the mayor of New Orleans, where they spoof a federal announcement of prioritising social housing to the press .

You have to admire their chutzpah, and it is amusing enough. But both artistically and politically, it is unsatisfying.

Their stunts to expose the venality of capitalism, and the way that greed makes people stupid are well done, but the tedious contextualisation that they give it means that the audience have the joke explained to us before it happens, which robs the events of any real satirical bite; and instead of being shocking and thought provoking, we are left with just a smug satisfaction that we identify with the clever scammers, not the dumb capitalists.

Politically the problem is even more obvious, these media stunts do not “fix the world”. There is a difference between opposition to capitalism being expressed in art and popular culture, and anti-capitalism being packaged as part of the entertainment industry. Where we stray into the latter territory then it is arguable that the effect is to professionalise social protest and to disempower ordinary people to only being cheerleaders and spectators.

If anyone doubts that a Tory government would be worse than Labour they should look at the recent behaviour of Leeds, Brighton and Swindon councils regarding equal pay.

GMB and UNISON have just won a stunning victory over Leeds council after a 12 week strike by refuse workers. The council had responded to the statutory requirement for equal pay by seeking to reduce the wages of male workers, in some cases by up to £6000. Brighton and Hove council are now doing the same thing, and are also facing industrial action.

We can see how this work in practice by looking at Swindon Borough Council’s approach in detail. Swindon Borough Council under the Tories has one of the highest paid management teams in the country. The chief executive earns more than the Prime Minister, and several SBC directors earn more than government ministers. Nevertheless, Swindon also has one of the lowest paid workforces,, with large numbers of mainly women staff on barely more than minimum wage. Nor is it a high achieving local authority in terms of service provision. Frankly, this model doesn’t work, which makes its inherent injustice even less justifiable.

Equal pay consultations to resolve the gender discrimination in the pay structure have been dragging on for some 12 or 13 years, and a formula was agreed; but last year the Tory councillors and the senior management realised that if single status was implemented according to that formula, and if management pay was brought into line with market comparators then several senior staff would be facing substantial pay cuts.

So instead they are ring fencing senior pay, and are seeking to impose a solution that will see around 70% of the workforce have a pay freeze, around 20% have a pay cut and very few have a slight increase. According to their own figures the pay differential between men and women will only marginally improve; so whereas women staff currently get about 81% of male wages, it will on average only increase to 82%.

The unions dispute that even this is the case, as this 1% improvement would only be achieved as women workers move up the incremental scale, while male comparators do not. On the council’s own figures it will be about 5 more years before this massive 1% improvement in equal pay is achieved. In reality it will never be achieved, because another wheeze of these Tory councillors is to say that staff can no longer count on an automatic incremental pay increase, as these will now be performance related.

In another bold move, Swindon wishes to exploit the measure that allows councils to pay higher than agreed pay scales where they are having trouble filing a position, in the bizarre world of Swindon’s Tories this means they should also be allowed to pay LESS than agreed pay scales if that matches market conditions. So Swindon Borough Council will be directly competing with the worst employers to push wages down.

Swindon Borough Council are embarking on a course of action that seems outside both the spirit and the letter of equalities legislation. Throughout the consultation process they have treated trade union negotiators with contempt, and they are probably seeking to impose the deal by January. Swindon BC already have some 1500 equal pay claims in process against them, it is likely they will be facing thousands of grievances in January over this new issue, quite aside from any industrial response.

At the current moment, it is not clear which sections of workers will lose out, and they will probably mainly be UNISON members. Over the last year or so, GMB and UNISON have forged a good and constructive spirit of cooperation on Swindon Borough Council. The council is relying on the fact that most staff will not be actually worse off than they are now. They may well have miscalculated; however the union response will need to be worked out when we have seen more detail.

What is clear from the examples of Leeds, Brighton and Swindon is that the Tories are ideologically opposed to the spirit of equal pay and equality; and contemptuous of the interests of the workforce. A Tory government would have the same appalling attitude, but on a national scale.

It is GMB strategy to seek to seek to shift Labour Party policy towards the interest of working class communities and families, and to make it clear that while GMB is as committed as ever to the Labour Party, this support is not unconditional. We expect to see benefits for our members in exchange.

As a result, in my capacity as branch secretary of GMB Wiltshire and Swindon W15, I have been in discussions with the local Labour Party, seeking to shape policy in exchange for our branch committing itself to support for Labour in the local elections. This has been quite a fruitful exercise, and in a number of policy areas the union is on the same wavelength as the Labour group.

However, the big idea we put to them was that we would really like to see a council house building programme proportionate to the scale of the waiting list - i.e. a sufficiently substantial prgrammme of council house building to make a real difference to people’s lives.

They said yes. This is a page from our next branch newsletter, currently at the printers. We print off 5000 copies, enough for every member, and some surplus for distributing around workplaces.