New Worker Banner

The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain

Lead story

Israel: now the blame game begins

by our Arab affairs correspondent

An uneasy calm hovers over Gaza. Hamas police and resistance fighters are back on the streets as Palestinians return to the rubble that once was their homes. The cease- fire agreement came into effect on Sunday, enabling the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners by Israel in exchange for 33 Israeli prisoners held by Hamas.

Read the full story here >> Israel: now the blame game begins

On the shelves

by John Marion

Although this is the time of year when thoughts turn to diets, industrial action in the food industry is taking place. The mountains of Austria have become the unexpected backdrop to an ongoing industrial dispute in Lincolnshire. The dispute in question is that being presently undertaken by hundreds of Unite members at the Bakkavor food factory in Spalding, Lincolnshire. Strike action has been going on since September because real wages have decreased by 10.6 per cent over the last three years. The factory produces soup, salads and dips for major UK supermarkets, including Tesco, M&S and Sainsbury’s.

Read the full story here > On the shelves

Editorial

Defend the right to protest

Scores of protesters were arrested in London last weekend in what many fear is the beginning of a new crackdown on demonstrations in solidarity with the Palestinian people. The arrest of the Chief Steward as well as the Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the cautioning of Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader who now heads the Independent Alliance in Parliament, was an outrageous attack on democracy and the right to free speech.

Read the full story here >> Defend the right to protest