London
Urgent call goes out for support at picket of Royal Society of Arts Israel fundraiser
Staff walk out in protest but need support
An urgent call has gone out from staff and activists for supporters to join them outside the Royal Society Of Arts (RSA) building at 8 John Adam Street, next to Charing Cross station.
According to sources at the demo, the RSA organised a fundraiser for Israel, without notifying staff, with Israeli president Isaac Herzog and far-right Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely, who this week dismissed the idea of Palestinian statehood. Staff walked out in protest to mount a picket but need support to bolster their numbers.
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As Gaza burns, Labour organises ‘Keir-aoke’ to raise party funds
Starmer’s party isn’t satisfied with making us cringe through billionaire donations, support for war crimes and contempt for Palestinian suffering
With more than 20,000 slaughtered in Gaza by Israel – around half of them children – and many more maimed, Keir Starmer is rightly facing jeers and heckling everywhere he goes, because of his support for Israel’s ‘right’ to ‘defend itself’ by the mass murder of civilians and the razing of schools, hospitals and homes.
Labour’s response? A fundraiser titled ‘Keir-aoke’ – not to raise funds for oppressed Palestinians facing an illegal occupation and an apartheid system that treats them as lower than animals, but for whatever purposes the party thinks fit:
Despite donations from billionaires and corporations, Labour is still telling its members that it depends on their donations to survive – but clearly the regime’s numerous begging letters aren’t getting a good response and the party machine is somehow deluded enough to think mutilating language to name an event after Starmer is going to be more, not less appealing.
The lowest price for a ticket to this cringe-fest is £16.96 (but only for ‘concessions’), though people can save money by not going and instead buying – seriously – a ‘solidarity’ ticket for a mere £15:
Labour has already had to cancel one event because of protests by human rights supporters outraged by Starmer’s and local MP Steve Reed’s enthusiastic support for genocide, but the party is clearly not inclined to think, let alone learn, and its delusion runs deep.
Meanwhile, people with actual human feeling will be marching in their hundreds of thousands, in London and around the country, for justice, a ceasefire and an end to the illegal occupation of Palestine:
Check here for the actions near you – but be aware that at the time of writing, the PSC event page appears to be under an attack that is suspiciously affecting only that page on the PSC’s website.
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Galloway re-elected as Workers GB party leader, will stand for London mayor
Former MP has more than the required nominations to enter contest
Former Labour and Respect MP George Galloway has been re-elected as leader by members of the Workers GB party – and has confirmed he will be standing for election as mayor of London.
Galloway told the party’s national conference today that he has double the required nominations to be able to stand.
Andy Hudd
Chris Williamson
Peter Ford
Former Labour MP Chris Williamson, former UK ambassador Peter Ford and the Aslef union’s Andy Hudd were elected as deputy leaders.
A Workers’ Party GB member present at the conference told Skwawkbox:
The party has had fully democratic elections for the twenty positions of the “national members Council”, open to all members. The positions of leader and deputy leader were unopposed. Contrary to the smears of its critics, WPGB is not the Galloway show and there is a full and democratic structure.
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Photos/video: pro-Gaza ceasefire march floods London’s streets again
Husan Zomlot, Apsana Begum, among speakers at huge gathering
Hundreds of thousands have again peacefully flooded the streets of London and other cities in support of the besieged people of Gaza and to demand a proper ceasefire in Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing in the tiny Palestinian territory. Speakers included Palestinian ambassador Husam Zomlot, Poplar and Limehouse MP Apsana Begum – a victim of the Islamophobia of the Labour right – Bell Ribeiro-Addy and others.
Israel, meanwhile, is said to have breached the terms of its ‘pause’ in fighting, delaying the latest release of Israeli captives, according to a Hamas spokesperson. There is nothing humanitarian about a pause. Ceasefire now.
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Newham independent Naqvi trounces Labour in by-election
Labour loses yet another council seat in London borough party fears is becoming ‘another Tower Hamlets’ – and party didn’t even bother to turn up at polling stations
Newham Independents candidate Sophia Naqvi has trounced Labour to win the Plaistow North by-election, giving the Independents their third councillor in the East End borough.
Naqvi won 1286 votes to Labour’s 750 after a clean and well-supported campaign by the independents that saw Labour barely able to muster canvassers for party-imposed candidate Aktharul Alam. Locals have told Skwawkbox that there were no party representatives in sight in at least two polling stations, suggesting Labour knew what was coming from the reactions it received on the doorstep.
Newham has seen a string of resignations of senior party officers over Keir Starmer’s assault on democracy – and this week saw Cllr Zuber Gulamussen and several party officers resign over Starmer’s support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. With Independent Group leader Mehmood Mirza already having hammered another imposed Labour candidate in May, Labour figures fear that Newham will become ‘another Tower Hamlets’ – the London borough that the party lost catastrophically to the Aspire group run by Lutfur Rahman, the former – and again current – mayor ousted after a racist smear campaign by the Labour right.
Based on tonight’s result, those fears appear to be coming true. Congratulations Sophia Naqvi and the Newham Independents.
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Video: Newham councillor quits Labour on live TV to join independent group
Cllr Zuber Gulamussen resigns over Keir Starmer’s support for Israeli genocide and also issues withering resignation statement
Newham councillor Zuber Gulamussen has dramatically resigned his membership of the Labour party on live television – and issued a withering resignation statement to go with it, condemning the Starmer regime’s betrayal of millions of Gazans by supporting Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza and his refusal to call for a ceasefire.
Speaking at a rally covered on the Islam channel, Gulamussen said he could no longer bear to be associated with Starmer’s party and was joining former Labour councillor Mehmood Mirza’s independent group:
Mirza was hounded out of Labour by the Starmer machine – then trounced a Starmer staffer in Newham’s Boleyn ward by-election in July, despite a mass Labour campaign to try to defeat him.
Gulamussen’s statement adds more detail, accusing Labour of ‘giving cover for Israel to commit heinous war crimes’ and of ‘irreparably damag[ing] its relationship with Muslim communities’:
Two Newham branch party chairs also resigned their membership in solidarity with Cllr Gulamussen. Chair of East Ham ward Tariq Hussain and Green Street East chair Parvez Sheikh announced their decision after his speech. East Ham’s long-serving secretary Syed Taqi Shah and women’s officer Sophia Naqvi have also resigned:
Starmer’s party fears that Newham will become ‘another Tower Hamlets’ – the London borough that the party lost catastrophically to the Aspire group run by Lutfur Rahman, the former – and again current – mayor ousted after a racist smear campaign by the Labour right. Those fears may well be coming true.
Labour has shredded its standing with not only Muslim communities. Millions are now appalled and marching for Gaza, seeing the Labour right for what it is.
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Conservative councillor quits party over Tory support for Gaza genocide and far-right swing
Cllr Jamal Chohan’s blistering resignation letter comes as Labour co-author of a letter demanding a ceasefire is smeared by right-wing pro-Israel ‘usual suspects’
Kingston upon Thames Conservative councillor Jamal Chohan has dramatically resigned from the party over the Tory government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza – and its continuing swing to far-right politics. Chohan was ordered to apologise for an email he did not write – but was the co-author of a letter, with a Kingston ex-Labour councillor, to Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer demanding their support for an immediate ceasefire in the slaughter of civilians in Gaza. The letter has now been signed by more than five hundred councillors from across the political spectrum.
Cllr Chohan, who will now sit as an independent, announced his resignation with a blistering letter to the Conservative council group and Conservative head office (CCHQ):
Dear Group Leader, Association Chairman and CCHQ
I have been given an ultimatum that I must apologise in a public statement for an email that I did not write, or otherwise I will be suspended from the Conservative Party. A deadline of 10am on Tuesday 21st November was set by you. Despite you acknowledging that I did not write the email in question, I was told to apologise anyway as a matter of ‘public perception’.
Ironically, the issue that you had with this email is that it contained a perceived threat, so you responded to that by threatening me instead. The perceived threat was that the views of each councillor on a ceasefire in Gaza would be published. This was later clarified by the author as not the intention, but this is of course being overlooked by those that simply want to detract from the overarching question. I would usually say that it is not the role of local councillors to engage in foreign affairs, but when the Conservative Councillors Association is persistently encouraging motions by us in support of only one side in the conflict rather than advocating for peace, it invites dialogue and opinions that should all be respected and considered.
I have reflected on your offer to apologise. I am writing to you in advance of this deadline to advise that I will not apologise for something that I did not do and I am not prepared to represent the Conservative Party under its current administration. Please therefore accept my resignation with immediate effect.
You have touched on technicalities about the status of my £39 per annum Party membership in a futile attempt to try and discredit me but this is clutching at straws when you have accepted my considerable donations, endorsements for candidates and notwithstanding the fact that I have actively served as elected Deputy Leader for the Party in Kingston. It simply points to disorganisation in the administration of memberships by CCHQ. Other democracies would laugh at the fact that this has even been raised as a point of contention at this stage.
The wider and more pertinent context and the motivations behind the Party’s futile attempts is that the email in question encloses an open letter advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza and encouraging peace through mediation for a two-state solution. I have co-signed this letter along with 500+ other councillors from across the UK, including many Conservative councillors. Are you going to demand apologies from all of them? We have already established that I did not write the letter with the ‘threat’, so it is clearly the pro-ceasefire stance that is offending you. Why else did MP Paul Bristow get the sack?
It should be noted that the Party Chairman has since written to councillors warning them not to sign the letter as it would be ‘divisive’. This is a clear attempt to silence advocates for peace as it contradicts the Party’s position and the public should question the underlying motives for this stance. There is no sign of compassion towards the 5000 innocent children that have died in the process and the 1.6 million people that have been displaced as a result without access to basic amenities.
Any efforts that I have made to engage on this topic within the Party have been met with total disregard. This is what has led me to engage in cross-party initiatives on this issue. Is our Party’s objective to bring peace to the World and protect innocent civilians, or to offer unequivocal support to only one side in a long-standing conflict that both sides have undeniably contributed to over the past 75 years?
The Conservative Party professes that it has always stood for personal liberty, democracy and rule of law. I regret that this is not the case in 2023. I have not been allowed the personal liberty to advocate for peace whilst remaining a Conservative, and neither has the general public when their democratic right to protest is undermined and dismissed as ‘hate marches’.
The Party has adopted policies which are extending to the far right. Whether that be aggressive anti-immigration rhetoric that has since been ruled to be illegal, to suppressing freedom of speech by denouncing legitimate protests, and plans to rewrite human rights laws to persist in a deportation strategy that lacks compassion. The Party looks very much like a sinking ship which is losing its dignity in the process. Something the Party should know all about given that it leaves refugees in the same predicament.
I cannot continue to associate with this type of politics and find that I am far too often having to apologise for representing the Conservative Party. It is not the apology that you tried to extract from me, but it is the one that the public will get.
In this day and age of character assassinations, I can anticipate the Party machinery will make some attempts to discredit me. The reality is that I have been regularly invited by the Party to interview as a potential MP candidate. It was me who was reluctant to pursue this and for good reason. I respect the Party Whip but that should not extend to silencing advocates for peace.
I will continue to serve the residents as an independent councillor and maintain my optimism for a World in which all faiths, cultures and races will live harmoniously side by side. That is modern Britain and that is the politics that we should be promoting in the Middle East. Instead, we are regressing under your Party’s stewardship.
Councillor Jamal Chohan
In a statement, the councillor said:
Whether it be aggressive anti-immigration rhetoric that has since been ruled to be illegal, to suppressing freedom of speech by denouncing legitimate protests and plans to rewrite human laws to persist in a deportation strategy that lacks compassion. The party looks very much like a sinking ship which is losing its dignity in the process.
I cannot continue to associate with this type of politics and find that far too often I am having to apologise for representing the Conservative party.
Meanwhile Cllr James Giles, who co-wrote and promoted the letter, has been the subject of a smear campaign by pro-Israel right-wingers, who have tried to suggest that he had stood down from his role on the Local Government Association (LGA). Cllr Giles has refuted the smears, which will be covered in a separate article.
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OCISA opens applications for candidate to contest Starmer’s seat in next general election
Left-wing group has been campaigning against friend of genocide in Holborn St Pancras constituency – and is now inviting potential candidates to apply
A Corbyn-inspired group of left-wing activists is inviting applications from would-be candidates to stand against the figure at the head of what used to be the Labour party – ‘Labour leader’ would be inappropriate – in the Holborn St Pancras seat he currently holds.
Labour’s polling lead over the Tories has slumped dramatically in the last few weeks as outrage has grown over Keir Starmer’s support for the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza and for Israeli war crimes and apartheid – and as awareness sinks into the voting public’s consciousness that he represents a continuation and potentially even a worsening of Tory policies and attacks on human rights and civic freedoms. Many Labour MPs in once-secure seats now fear the consequences, among Muslim and ethnic minority voters, of their collusion in the slaughter of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.
A press release from the group this morning explains:
An effort to change British politics enters its final phase. OCISA will be advertising for a democratic, progressive, and community-focused candidate to stand against Sir Keir Starmer in Holborn St Pancras at the general election.
For 9 months OCISA has been surveying the electorate in HSP. The overwhelming opinion is voters feel excluded from the political process, 50% want more face-to-face access with an MP who listens and prioritises their concerns.
The candidate selection process will be open and democratic. Several people have made it
known they are interested, but applications are sought from anybody with a commitment to representing their community, regardless of their previous political experience.HoIborn St Pancras is one of the most diverse areas in the country. The electorate is mostly
under forty, cosmopolitan, and progressively minded. OCISA hopes to find a candidate who
can represent their ideals, aspirations, and demands.OCISA wishes to make clear that the UK has a representative parliamentary democracy, and that a political party may win a majority in parliament without their leader in place. The UK does not have a presidential national election between leaders of the two main parties. The electorate has real political power in their hands if they use it locally to choose an individual to represent them, rather than accepting that politics only happens at the national party level where they are entirely powerless.
OCISA is not a political party and has no intention of becoming one. It solely exists to choose a candidate and provide them with campaign !funds and advice from experienced
organisers.Advertisements will be going out to a range of publications in print and on line. Applications should be sent to ocisacampaignshsp@gmail.com with a CV and an
explanation of what you can bring to the role. Deadline for applications is December
11th, 2023.A shortlist of potential candidates will be chosen by a selection panel elected from and by
the membership of OCJSA, with diversity requirement and a built-in bias towards
residents in the constituency. The final choice from the shortlist will be by a democratic
vote of all OCISA members. To find out more, to join OCISA and take part in the selection
process, or to donate to the campaign fund, go to ocisa.org.uk.Members of the news media wanting further information please email ocisacampaignshsp@gmail.com or telephone Eric Jarvis on 0207 733 5997 to arrange an
interview with one of the OCISA Steering Group.
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Video: Camden council admits destroying homeless tents after first denying it
Keir Starmer’s local council tried to deny that it was behind the removal and destruction of tents used by homeless people to shelter from the weather – but has been forced to admit it after bystanders recorded its contractors doing it:
Original video by Streets Kitchen
The council all too eagerly complied with a Met Police dispersal order, after then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s order to target homeless people’s tents, claiming homelessness is a ‘lifestyle choice’. After denying involvement, the council then said that an ‘initial investigation’ had shown its ‘operational involvement’.
Camden is run by the Labour party.
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Paddington
Waiting for my train
I’m sat here at Costa Coffee in Paddington waiting for the 10:30 to Totnes.
I walked a good few miles yesterday exploring the back-alleys, greenways, footpaths and canal paths from Muswell Hill through Hornsey and down along the Regent Canal. I just love walking in London or any city of culture and contrasts. Once I started to wain in the arvo I took a break in Manchester Square and had a look at the Wallace collection. I remembered stumbling across it about 30 odd years ago back when I was a lazy art student.
Mayfair, like much of London was festooned with union jacks and coronation shite. I really dislike Mayfair. Wall to wall with moronic object shops for the ultra-rich. A ridiculous Ferrari, matt-black with huge rhinestone tyres blatted their engine up to the back bumper of another car. I suspect any damage or injuries they caused would be blamed on the victim. That soured my mood a little. King Charles the turd and his rich prick hangers-on can go hang.
Daunt bookshop on Marylebone High St restored my faith in humanity and I picked out a Susan Coopers Greenwitch. It is never too late to finish reading the Dark is Rising Sequence. That’ll keep me distracted on the train to Totnes which I really should go catch …