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Speaking up for Londoners

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IN MY SCHOOL DAYS, during very turbulent times in the ‘80s, I went to the opening of the Thames Barrier at Woolwich. It is the best legacy the old Greater London Council left to Londoners - protection from floods for the foreseeable future. It is the kind of thing that needs to be done in London today, particularly during a climate emergency. Getting back into the Greater London Assembly (GLA) and representing Londoners is one way of promoting critical infrastructure like this for London again and why I am so keen to get back onto the Assembly.

I have a proven track record at the GLA until 2016 of working against austerity and privatisation. Working with unions like the CWU, FBU and local Labour groups I have helped save fire stations from austerity cuts and post offices from closure and privatisation.

I also want to continue working with all the campaigns I have been involved with on environmental issues - against the expansion of Heathrow airport, and for improvements in air quality and reductions in noise pollution.

My strong opposition to austerity from the beginning was one of the reasons why I was the first GLA member to speak out in support of Jeremy Corbyn for Labour leader, and I have continued to do this since 2015, speaking at #StandwithCorbyn rallies across London this spring and summer. I have also been at the forefront of anti-Trump marches, particularly against his warmongering, as chair of the Stop The War Coalition. We will continue these protests every time he comes to our shores, including next December when he comes for the NATO conference.

With the election of Boris Johnson as leader of the Tory Party, we can beat his ‘no deal’ Brexit stance and his continuation of austerity, and get Jeremy Corbyn into number 10. We can use the London Assembly at City Hall as a base for an alternative London for the many and not the few. Please give me your support.

  •  Follow Murad at https://twitter.com/ muradQureshiLDN and his campaign at https://www.facebook.com/ MuradQureshiLDN/  

 

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Beware the media 'consensus' on Corbyn

Liz Davies writes: Labour MPs started with the most personal assault on their leader ever seen in British politics, in the hope that Jeremy Corbyn would resign. A lesser person would have done but Corbyn really does have nerves of steel.

Had he resigned, my guess is that we wouldn’t have had a leadership contest. The PLP would have ensured that only one candidate obtained the requisite number of nominations. There would have been a coronation.

For the full article, click here.

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How we got here

"We had nothing to lose in 2015 and we need that spirit now. " Alex Nunns, author of The Candidate: Jeremy Corbyn’s Improbable Path to Power, addressed a recent Labour Briefing Readers meeting. Here’s an extract of what he said.

 

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How we got here
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"The biggest challenge is strengthening our collective power"

Malia Bouattia, ex-president of NUS, was one of the contributors to For the Many: Preparing Labour for Power, a new book analysing Labour’s 2017 general election manifesto, writing the chapter on ‘A more equal society’. She spoke at the recent launch of the book in Parliament and below we publish some of her speech. 

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"The biggest challenge is strengthening our collective power"
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Remain Labour

“We need to mobilise our membership as we have never been able to before, both around our positive socialist policies – and around a clear position of opposition to Brexit (because any conceivable Brexit would stand in the way of all of those positive policies).” Jon Rogers, Chair of Brighton Pavilion Constituency Labour Party and of the Sussex Labour Representation Committee, writes in a personal capacity.

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Remain Labour
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Where next for Momentum?

Aghileh DjafariMarbini, Harrow West CLP, argues that the largest group on the Labour left now needs to turn outwards and put down deeper roots in local communities

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Where next for Momentum?