Delegates and members from around the country discussed the growing push to war being led by the Trump administration and backed enthusiastically by Theresa May’s government.

The conference provided some in-depth analysis of the situation in the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, and Britain’s growing involvement in a series of wars. It also agreed that given the desperately dangerous situation, we need to strengthen and grow our organisation as a matter of urgency.

A series of action points for groups were discussed. Here are some of them.

• Make sure every group is out campaigning. Obvious things to do at the moment are to use the petition against Trump’s push to war or to end the special relationship. But be imaginative and ambitious – try organising a street meeting around breaking with Trump’s foreign policy for example.
• Put on an election hustings with your local candidates taking questions about issues related to war.
• Organise regular public meetings and briefings. Obvious subjects include No to Trump’s drive to war. A short history of the special relationship and why we should end it. Britain’s seven secret wars: Why we need a new foreign policy.
• Put on cultural/music events. Anti-war film showings are very popular at the moment. Our Stop the War film screenings at Sands Film Studios in London are a big hit. We Are Many screenings always draw a crowd. Last Friday more than 400 people packed a Drop Bass Not Bombs rave in Peckham. Upcoming in London is a night of readings of Howard Zinn and others at the Park Theatre. Put on similar events where you are.
• Recruit people to Stop the War. We need to grow our networks fast. Getting new members helps to involve new activists in organising and provides much needed resources for the office.

This event is hosted by the SERTUC (South East Regional Trades Union Congress) Race Relations Committee on Saturday 13^th May 2017. In tribute to all the Migrant Workers, we enclose a photograph of Irish Women working in a British factory in the nineteenth century.

Time: Registering at 12 midday and starting the session at 1 pm

Date: Saturday 13^th May 2017

Venue: Invision suite, TUC Congress House, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3L. It is near the British Museum and the nearest tube station is Tottenham Court Road.

Migration of labour – History of Irish immigrants to Britain

We will be roughly starting at 1 pm and lasting for at least three hours, followed by a drinks reception in TUC Congress House. We may have a social in a pub with a band afterwards.

The theme of the meeting is to start the concept of a history month of the Irish immigrants to Britain of the last few centuries. Through their mass concentration of migrant labour, they managed to make Britain the most industrialised nation in the world. This date will be the day before the anniversary of “An Gorta mor” (Great Hunger) between 1845 and 1852 that killed over one million Irish people and forced at least another million and a half to emigrate. In reference to those who immigrated to London, a number died in the poverty stricken Parish of St. Giles known as the first recorded “Little Ireland!” Many Irish people lived in this part of London for nearly two centuries through squalor and a number died of typhus. Today, this parish is prosperous and includes the great buildings of TUC Congress House and the British Museum. Such prosperity is owed to the Irish Migrant workers who built much of London. This event is a lesson from history in the way we should welcome all migrant workers, today, at a time of the re – emerging racism fuelled by the “Brexit” referendum.

Guest speakers include the following:

1. Austin Harney, Joint SERTUC Race Relations Secretary, to speak, generally, on the history of Irish migrant labour in Britain as well as its impact on the British Trade Union movement and the political transformation.
2. Dr. Sonja Tiernan from Liverpool University who will speak on Eva Gore Booth, sister of Countess Markievicsz. Eva was involved with Esther Roper, Manchester trade unionists between the late nineteenth century and the earlier twentieth century, that set up trade unions for women workers as well as campaigning, successfully, against the legal ban on women working in bars. Both were, also, suffragettes.
3. Phien O’Reachtigan, to speak on the history of the Parvee Community (Irish Travellers) in Britain.

One or two more speakers to follow.

Also, it must not be forgotten that 2017 will be 150 years since the Manchester Martyrs were executed and explosion of Clerkenwell Prison in London. The latter incident had a devastating impact on the Irish community in Britain. It delayed Ireland’s movement for Home Rule and, eventually, independence. Anti – Irish racism became rampant in Britain and the derogatory term “Mick” was, constantly, used along with the anti – Irish racist phrase, “Taking the Mick!” 2017 is a golden opportunity to build bridges between the Irish community groups in London and Manchester!

We encourage as many to attend this meeting in order to promote more forthcoming events of “Irish History Month” in the following years!

For further information, please contact:

Austin Harney, Joint Secretary of the SERTUC Race Relations Committee.

Email: au5tin67@yahoo.co.uk

There will be a Trade Union presence on the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in London. The occasion is to remember all the Irish workers who made Britain the most industrialised nation in the world. The march begins at 12 midday and we ask everybody to arrive early with their Trade Union banners if necessary.

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North London Says No to Trump –
ADD YOUR NAME HERE

We the undersigned, from across North London (namely the boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington), write to express our opposition to US President Donald Trump being accorded a state visit to this country.

Racism, sexism, misogyny, Islamophobia, antisemitism, homophobia, war mongering, climate change denial or policies designed to boost the wealth of the already super-rich should not be rewarded or celebrated – most people  here want no part of it. They do not expect our government to condone or celebrate such policies or the values that stand behind them.

Trump is, as the president of the richest and most powerful nation on earth, uniquely placed to do good or ill. His tenure in office so far shows beyond doubt that he intends the latter.

We call on elected representatives, local councils and all sections of society from across North London to express their opposition to him being accorded a state visit, and we pledge to join those who will protest against Trump’ state visit.

Please forward this email to spread the word and ADD YOUR NAME HERE

From Phil Fletcher:

Please note that the Labour MEPs will be voting on the 14 of Febuary on whether to support oir not, and not on Feb 6th, as we had previously been informed.

So that gives us more time to do something against CETA! For example a quick phone call to your MEP.

Click here to make a quick, free call to Members of the European Parliament.

I’m sure you appreciate the significance of CETA by now, so here’s the last useful action you can take.  It will only take a few minutes, but might change your future drastically!

It is now 99% likely that the final vote to start Provisional Application of CETA will be on February 15th.  The Socialist and Democrat block (S&Ds) are wavering, and are going to vote on their agreed position next Monday, February 14th.  We need to lobby those that are still persuadable.

The Provisional Application will cover 90% of CETA, but will not  initially include the controversial Investor Court System ICS.  Our government is very keen to see CETA fully applied, with ICS, as a blueprint for all future trade deals outside the EU.  (Without the protection of the European Court of Justice as well of course ! ). It will be possible for the government to fully implement CETA, with ICS, by putting a notice in the House of Commons Library for a period of 18 days.  This will mean all public services (the NHS and education ) are included from now on, by default.

Copy the email below to your local Socialist and Democrat block (S&D) MEPs.  They can be found simply by typing your postcode into: https://www.writetothem.com/

If you could also resend this to any Labour party or Trade Union contacts, that would be great! After all, we only have until Monday at the latest!

In addition to this letter, if you’re in a rural constituency, you should probably mention that the Conservative government has chosen not to protect any geographical indicators, which will obscure the origins of our food, and could risk destroying local farming practices (see this UK parliamentary briefing)