THE NEW WORKER

The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 16th November 2018

Lead story

'Shambolic Negotiation's '

by New Worker correspondent

THE PRIME Minister told parliament that Britain is “significantly closer” to delivering on the result of the Brexit vote as she struggles to win back-bench support for the draft withdrawal agreement. Mrs May told the Commons it would give the UK control of borders, laws and money, and protect business and jobs.

But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “Given the shambolic nature of the negotiations, this is unlikely to be a good deal for the country.” Corbyn said that the country would be stuck in an “indefinite half-way house without any real say” over the rules. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, the Labour leader said Mrs May was putting a “false choice” before Parliament, between her “botched deal and no deal”.

Meanwhile a leaked diplomatic note from a meeting between European Commission officials and ambassadors from the European Union’s 27 countries reportedly indicated that the bloc will retain all controls under the May deal. According to the Daily Mail, the EU’s deputy chief negotiator Sabine Weyand told EU ambassadors that: “We should be in the best negotiation position for the future relationship. This requires the customs union as the basis of the future relationship. They must align their rules but the EU will retain all the controls. They apply the same rules. UK wants a lot more from future relationship, so EU retains its leverage.”

Read the full story here >> SHAMBOLIC NEGOTIATIONS

Don’t axe guards!

by New Worker correspondent

THE RMT rail union is calling for an immediate halt and reversal of plans to axe guards from trains as a Government minister admitted in a letter that guards are in the front line in the fight against crime and specifically the battle against county lines drug gangs.

In a letter from Organised Crime Minister Ben Wallace to John Woodcock MP, the minister openly admits that driver-only trains would undermine the fight against ‘county lines’ gangs from trains.

“Home Office officials will liaise with the Department of Transport to consider this issue further and to determine whether there is any additional action that we can take in this space, working alongside other partners including the British Transport Police (BTP).

Read the full story here >> Don’t axe guards!

Editorial

General election now!

THE MAY government has, at last, published its plans for Brexit — a mealy-mouthed compromise with the European Union (EU) that reflects the deep divisions over Brexit within the British ruling class. Some MPs will welcome the commitment to remain in the EU customs union. For others, whose campaign for a second referendum has been boosted by the collapse of UKIP and the relentless equivocation of the Blairite back-stabbers in the Parliamentary Labour Party, it doesn’t go far enough. And it still leaves the country within the ambit of the economic controls of the EU

Two years ago millions of people voted decisively to leave the EU. Brexit would mark a significant shift in the balance of power between capital and Labour in Britain. It would leave a Labour government free to trade with any country around the world and free to invest in British manufacturing industry. It would be a government ready to restore trade union rights and in so doing reverse the yawning wealth gap between rich and poor in Britain.

Read the full editorial here >> General election now!