This event is taking place next weekend - National Demo: Refugees Welcome Here: Stand up to racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism & fascism! It is listed as a UN Anti-racism Day demonstration scheduled to take place Sat 19 Mar 2016, London, with the hashtag promotion of #M19. It is vital that people who are able to do so attend this demo although many of us will be there only in spirit. One group of people who will be represented on the day is the Corbyn 50yrs+ supporters group which you can find on Twitter and Facebook. Advertising the event on their Facebook page the admin team writes: ALERT: Our Corbyn 50 yrs plus banner is to get another outing on March 19th at the Anti-racism and fascism march 'Stand up to Racism: Refugees Welcome here'' in London. Please Assemble 12 noon at Portland Place W1A 1AA. Our lovely and very politically active member Gill Kennard is asking 'I will have to be in my wheelchair and Mike will have to push - are there any volunteers to hold our banner please'?? PLEASE let us know if you are willing to go and help carry the Banner [The above two images are from previous demos]
The Corbyn 50yrs+ group was formed after Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party in September 2015. Mr Corbyn has endured attacks from the mainstream media, people in other political parties and people within Labour with claims that his style of politics does not appeal to older voters. The Corbyn 50yrs+ group is just one organisation that disproves that claim. Facebook membership continues to rise and the group are politically active, hence notice of the event and the banner holding appeal. The Stand up to racism and fascism demo list of speakers includes; Vanessa Redgrave Actor, Diane Abbott MP, Claude Moraes MEP, Jean Lambert MEP. You can download the demo leaflet here And check out the Stand up to Racism website here
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Happy International Women's Day 2016. With Europe very much the focus of debate as we approach the referendum in June, I thought I'd share a few examples of how the EU works to protect women's rights - not just inside EU but right across the world, something I'm very much involved in now as Chair of the European Parliament Committee on International Development. EU laws underpin national laws - any government is free to give more rights - but EU rights provide a legal minimum for all women. Thanks for reading and please share with friends and family. Ten ways the EU works to protect the rights of women and girls
Women's fundraising dinner 2016: March 17th ...last chance to book This year I am raising much-needed funds for Tasibeh Girls School in Pindi, Pakistan. In 2004, Khalida Luqman from Rotherham visited Pindi and found there was no proper provision for educating girls. Since then she and her family have worked with local communities across South Yorkshire to raise funds to build a school which now provides education for nearly 100 girls, as well as giving additional practical and financial support for many of the girls’ families. It costs £11,000 per year to run the school and we've already held a Fairtrade cake sale in Brussels and a women’s lunch last week in Rotherham to raise funds. The proceeds of the women’s dinner I am hosting on March 17 will also go to the school. You can also donate to the Tasibeh Girls School fund through here. Linda McAvan MEP Yorkshire and the Humber It is not conducive to political party unity for supporters to take part in a slanging match but when Labour MPS continue to voice their negative opinions on the party's election chances a response is needed. The latest to push her political opinions forward is Jess Phillips MP. Yes her again! Phillips is or was something of a darling of the party and could be popular with her constituents but does that give her carte blanche to bad-mouth the current party leader and downgrade Labour's election chances in the MSM? These days Phillips is usually making news headlines by choice but in the weeks following the 2015 General Election the Birmingham Mail reported "A new Birmingham MP has employed her husband as her office manager, funded by taxpayers. Jess Phillips (Lab), MP for Birmingham Yardley, pays husband Tom Phillips to be her Constituency Support Manager from her Parliamentary allowance. The employment began on June 7, a month after she won the seat for the first time in the general election on May 7.The arrangement is revealed in the register of members’ interests, published by House of Commons authorities. Mrs Phillips said: “I am in the process of setting up my office and I need somebody I can trust to do that. “He has all the skills I need to do that. “It’s about setting up the office, making sure the IT works and I need someone with the skills to do that.” She is not the only politician that pays a family member to work for them in such a way. But the media tide turned for Jess Phillips post the election of Jeremy Corbyn as party leader when she began feeding the press with a series of opinions. In September days after Corbyn was elected the Huffington Post went with "Labour MP Jess Phillips told Diane Abbott to “fuck off” during a heated row about a lack of women in the top shadow cabinet jobs." Abbot is a longstanding supporter of Mr Corbyn Phillips is not. Abbot began her political career in 1982, Phillips was elected as a Member of Parliament in 2015. Phillips kicked off after Mr Corbyn announced his new shadow cabinet, angry that the ratio of men to women was unevenly balanced. She does however need to bear in mind two senior women who are Labour veterans, Liz Kendal and Yvette Cooper, refused to work alongside the new leader. Other MPs also ran for the backbenches. Perhaps she thought she should be sitting on the front benches? However most women do not want a female to represent them at any price; we want one fit for purpose. But either way she is playing divisive political games and ultimately it is we the people who will lose out. Many of the politicians unhappy at the election of Jeremy Corbyn declined to stand in the party leadership race including Dan Jarvis who some now tout as a likely candidate to stage a Labour leadership coup in the future. Those who attack Mr Corbyn's record as party leader should bear in mind that verbal attacks in the workplace undermines your performance and wrecks efficiency. Those in parliament seeking to fulfil their own agenda will make the party unelectable and not the party leader. In December Phillips said if ‘the general election were called now’, she could not see the opposition doing better than in May. That report in the Guardian continued saying she "has spoken of her determination to see Labour win the 2020 general election, saying she would knife Jeremy Corbyn “in the front, not the back” if it looks like he is damaging the party’s chances of electoral success." But you have to wonder what Jess Phillips says on the election campaign trail after "Labour MP Jess Phillips rules out party's chances of winning 2020 election" Sunday less than three months after that supposedly determined stance. That was published yesterday, mothering Sunday in the UK, along with "Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Won't Win 2020 Election And He Doesn't Want To Be PM, MP Jess Phillips Says" in the Huffington Post" and maybe in some ways backed up by a pro Phillips piece in the Guardian titled "Jess Phillips: someone to believe in" and written by Rachel Cooke. Corbyn certainly rattled her cage last week after reports that he said "Decriminalise the 'sex industry'; note however that was a non-parliamentary debate not a policy announcement, Mr Corbyn answered a direct question with a direct answer as he always does and the word decriminalise does not mean the "legalisation of sex work." He is not allowed to express an opinion but Ms Phillips runs off at the mouth time and time again. But “Jess Phillips: someone to believe in?” That boat has sailed. Phillips has had a busy old week feeding the mainstream media leaving this person wondering when she finds time to work and if in reality she is working for the Tory party. One thing is sure - with friends like Jess Labour does not need enemies. Check out the video below also from last week. [She seems to like her honest approach but dislike it in people such as Jeremy Corbyn. Telling Diane Abbot to f**k off and then announcing it to the media is however not being human. What about being professional? Various emails and letters have been sent to Phillips on the back of her MSM post about the un-electability of Labour in 2020 and we will update if and when we receive replies-Eileen Kersey] As a lifelong Labour supporter, even in the womb my allegiance was decided; Dad was a fisherman, one grandad a dock worker and the other a bargeman. My mother worked in the fish houses and so did my sisters. They called the bosses 'gaffers' when they were respected and the establishment when they were detested. In those days the gaffers had to work hard for respect, they had to earn it and it was the same in the Labour Party. The MP’s and or delegates had to earn the respect of the members; they too came from working class roots and they knew what to stand for because they had experienced the hardship, the poverty but still had the drive to make life better for the jobless, the vulnerable and the working poor. They went into politics for the right reasons, that’s what Labour was all about. Along with the Unions they fought the battles and won. The battles were never easy but the good things in life don’t come easily. Thanks to these pioneering men and women, British workers got a five-day working week, paid holidays and sick leave and the country got a welfare system that was there to help those most in need. The NHS was the best there was offering care from the cradle to the grave and all thanks to these people. Fast-forward to 2016 and it is a different political story. These days Labour MP’s are mostly careerist; some have had privileged childhoods and many have never had to fight for anything. These people do not know or understand the day to day turmoil everyday people go through. For whatever reason we cannot sack these people but we have to hope in some cases that their CLP’s will deselect them. These people do not belong as representatives of the Labour Party. They have no idea what democracy is but are simply waiting in the wings to trip up and stab the man voted leader of the party, by ordinary members, in the back, because they do not want him to spoil their nice little earner. But what Labour party members can do is vote the right people on to the NEC and the NCC. When we get our vote we must make sure that we are voting for someone who respects the member’s choices and is not there to just feather their own nest. An example of which, in my opinion, is Luke Akehurst. I asked him on twitter out right “Who would you represent - the vast majority of members that voted JC as leader or your own agenda” his reply was: “ @lukeakehurst @Karendarlau @NEWTEKWORLDNEWS @joannesinton1 I'm running on a platform of disagreeing with Jeremy, that's how democracy works. “ So his own agenda then? I find this worrying, as here is a man who claims to be a Labour party supporter but is not willing to listen or even try to listen to what members are saying or want. Please don’t vote for him. We [the party] are already entrenched with people who still cling to the Blair ideology; they will not or cannot see that is what lost us the last two elections. We need the party to come together in UNITY and SOLIDARITY. We need the PLP to listen. The NEC is a small step but it is something we can actually have a say in. Karen Meanwell Supported by Eileen Kersey British Home Secretary Theresa May is pushing ahead with her plan to get into law the investigatory power's bill popularly called the snooper's charter and she is doing this in spite of opposition. The Home Office claims that the 'majority' of concerns have been addressed but there is still stiff parliamentary opposition. Tuesday as May gets on with sacrificing what freedoms are left and introducing legislation which will extend powers to police enabling them to hack computers and phones and force Internet service providers and mobile phone companies to maintain records of each user's internet browsing activity the Open Rights goup has issued the following press release: Open Rights Group has responded to the publication of the Investigatory Powers Bill: Executive Director Jim Killock said: “The Home Office is treating the British public with contempt if it thinks it’s acceptable to rush a Bill of this magnitude through Parliament. MPs and peers need sufficient time to consider the fundamental threats to our privacy and security posed by the Investigatory Powers Bill. Many have their minds elsewhere, dealing with important decisions about Europe.” “On first reading, the revised Bill barely pays lip service to the concerns raised by the committees that scrutinised the draft Bill. If passed, it would mean that the UK has one of the most draconian surveillance laws of any democracy with mass surveillance powers to monitor every citizen's browsing history.” Eric King, Director of the Don't Spy on Us coalition, said: “Rather than a full redraft, we've been given cosmetic tweaks to a heavily criticised, deeply intrusive bill.” “Reshuffling safeguards, without meaningfully improving protections, authorisations or oversight does nothing to address widespread concerns about mass surveillance. The unsettling absence of a robust, technical detailed, evaluation of those bulk powers means the case still hasn't been made, and Parliament won't have the information it needs to do it's job.” “There simply isn’t time for proper scrutiny of all these powers in the timeframe proposed. More than 100 experts called on the Home Office to put on the brakes. The government must think again.” Experts call for delay Over 100 people and organisations have signed a public letter calling for the Government to stop rushing the Bill through Parliament. The signatories include MPs, academics, lawyers, human rights activists representatives from the tech industry: Telegraph Report to MPs The Don’t Spy on Us coalition have published a report for MPs, summarising the flaws that experts have identified. About Open Rights Group Open Rights Group is the UK’s leading voice defending freedom of expression, privacy, innovation, creativity and consumer rights on the Internet. Founded in 2005, we have over 3000 paying supporters and a movement of 36,000 activists. Winner of the Liberty Human Rights Campaigner of the Year Award 2012 |
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