National News
Culture cuts
by New Worker correspondent
PLANNED JOB CUTS at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in leafy Kensington will see the fine arts and design museum lose “1,000 years of expertise”, according to Prospect, the union representing its curators, despite management rowing back on some of its plans.
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
On the buses
by New Worker correspondent
THERE HAS BEEN somewhat mixed news from the transport front. On Monday, Unite the union hailed as a tremendous victory the news that Manchester-based bus company Go North West had abandoned plans to impose ‘fire and rehire’ on drivers.
A mass meeting of the 400 Unite drivers at the company’s Queens Road depot was speedily followed by a workplace ballot in which Unite members voted overwhelmingly to accept the agreement, ending 85-days of industrial action that began on 28th February. Had Go North West won, drivers could have lost thousands of pounds per year.
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
Scottish Political News
by our Scottish political affairs correspondent
SEVERAL ELECTIONS have taken place recently, after the main event was done and dusted.
First the Scottish Parliament elected a new Presiding Officer, a post similar to but not as dignified as the Speaker of the House of Commons. The one chosen for the post was a Green MSP, Ms Alison Johnson.
Her past presence in the Scottish parliament was distinguished primarily by her introducing a measure to grant protected species status to the mountain hare last year and by her September 2019 observation that: “We have every confidence in the SNP Government’s world-leading ability to set targets, but when it comes to meeting them, it is another matter.” A remark that counts as great rhetoric by the abysmal standards prevailing at Holyrood.
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
Glasgow belongs to me…
The working class has made its presence shown on the streets of Glasgow
on four occasions over the last week.
Celtic’s famed ‘Green Brigade’ showed their solidarity with the besieged victims of Israeli aggression in Gaza by draping ‘their’ stand with Palestinian flags on the eve of the tribute match for retiring captain Scott Brown. Sadly, the powers that be in Celtic Park were not amused and all the banners and posters were taken down before the game.
Meanwhile hundreds of other Glaswegians prevented the deportation of two Sikhs, who were rescued from a Home Office Immigration Enforcement van by a crowd of neighbours and supporters of refugees from all around Glasgow who had been alerted by social media. One activist wedged himself under the van, preventing its departure. Eventually they were released from the trapped van and escorted to the local Sikh temple, much to the embarrassment of the Home Office.
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
Downing Gowns
A group of hard-pressed workers have been forced into industrial action after the SNP Government refused to accede to their demands. These were the Legal Aid solicitors who refused to appear in court on Monday when they would normally be defending the Saturday night drunk and disorderly cases, leaving the cases to duty solicitors.
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
UK faces reality of dumping Huawei
by Svetlana Ekimenko
AMID THE FALLOUT from the ongoing trade war between the US and China, numerous countries including India, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Sweden, and the UK have bowed to Washington’s pressure and banned the Chinese telecom giant Huawei, citing national security concerns rooted in allegations its 5G kit could be used to spy for Beijing.
Despite being estimated to be both costly and time consuming, while also potentially fraught with delaying Britain’s 5G rollout, the UK is embarking on the daunting task of Huawei ‘rip-and-replace’ as a consequence of the US-led campaign against the Chinese tech giant.
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
Stand by Gaza now!
by New Worker correspondent
OVER 150,000 people marched in support of the Palestinians in central London on Saturday. The march was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and was one of the biggest demonstrations seen in the capital for many years.
A spokesperson for the organisers, which included the PSC, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Stop The War Coalition, CND and the Muslim Association of Britain, said: “It is vital that the UK government takes immediate action. It must stop allowing Israel’s brutal violence against and oppression of the Palestinian people to go unpunished.”
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
Southampton solidarity with Palestine
by New Worker correspondent
IN SOUTHAMPTON, about a thousand people marched from the historic medieval Bargate to rally in Guildhall Square.
Organised by the local branch of Palestine Solidarity, a range of speakers, including John Ellis from Southampton Palestine Solidarity and representatives of the local Muslim community, condemned the recent aggression by Israel. Speakers also called for support for a Palestinian state and for Britain stop arming Israel.
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
International News
The return of barbarism
by Ed Newman
HUMAN BEINGS are the most contradictory species in our world – a view shared by the majority of experts – because we are capable of making the purest and most selfless acts of love for our fellow men and women but also of committing the cruellest of crimes.
The dividing line lies in the principles, ethics and education that each one of us receives in the social environment to which we belong.
Unfortunately, these days the darker side of our behaviour prevails, as shown by the events in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
Good news from China
by Deirdre Griswold
AS THE COVID-19 epidemic continues to ravage many countries, including the USA, China has announced that it will make millions of doses of its Sinopharm vaccine available for free to the hard-hit countries in the developing world. The announcement came as the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the Sinopharm vaccine safe and reliable in fighting the coronavirus.
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
Spirit of self-reliance boosts China’s Mars probe
by He Fei
CHINA’S MARS probe Tianwen-1 successfully landed on the surface of the red planet on Saturday, leaving a Chinese footprint on Mars for the first time.
The exciting landing has made China a new member amongst the world’s pioneering Martian explorers. The sprit of self-reliance has played a key role in China’s scientific development over the decades despite foreign attempts to block China’s technological progress.
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
Ballymurphy victims and families vindicated
by Caolán McGinley
INNOCENT: Last week a court vindicated 10 people murdered by the British Army in Ballymurphy between 9–11 August 1971.
The Coroner found that the victims – which included a Catholic Priest and a mother of eight – were “all entirely innocent of any wrongdoing”.
Justice Keegan said she hoped the findings would bring some peace to the Ballymurphy families.
Speaking after the findings were revealed, Michelle O’Neill, the Joint First Minister of Northern Ireland, said today is a day for truth for the Ballymurphy families.
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
Roger Waters says Israel must end its war on Gaza
by Ed Newman
WORLD governments must cease all military aid to Israel and demand an end to its “ferocious” assault on the Gaza Strip, Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters told RT, amidst a sharp escalation of violence in the Palestinian enclave.
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
Features
Gaza Report: Families under fire flee homes
by Sanaa Kamal and Emad Drimly in Gaza City
AS THE confrontation between Palestinians and Israelis entered its the sixth day on 15th May, 60-year-old Najah Abu Salem and her family had to flee their home in the Gaza Strip.
“I am worried about my children and grandchildren. The Israelis are bombing heavily. It is the fiercest violence since the 2014 war,” said Abu Salem who lives in the eastern part of the besieged coastal enclave bordering Israel.
“We only took our personal belongings … there is no safe place in Gaza, but the west of the city is much safer,” she said before jumping into a car to take shelter in her relative’s house in the western neighbourhood.
Abu Salem’s family is not the only one forced to flee. The main streets in northern and eastern Gaza are crowded with Palestinians escaping Israeli airstrikes.
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
Revolutionary Cuba: Continuity and Change
by MA Baby
THE SPECTACLE of the whole world petrified by the COVID-19 pandemic and of little Cuba confidently engaging with it has drawn the attention and admiration of humanity.
Now Cuba is again in the news with the so-called ‘end’ of the ‘Çastro era’ as the outcome of the 8th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba (CPC). The change of guard in the Cuban Party from the revolutionary heroes of the Cuban struggle from 1953–1959 to the new generation of communists is indeed historic. But it is equally important to note that the change also ensures continuity of the communist tradition in Cuba.
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
First peoples of Australia come last in human rights protection
by Xin Ping
THINGS WITH a longer history tend to be more precious. This common sense doesn’t seem to hold however, when it comes to the Indigenous peoples in Australia, the first peoples on the land. They have suffered from colonisation, genocide and oppression in the past. Their life and rights are left unprotected even to this day.
[Read the complete story in the print edition]
