Spain are using DNS blocking against the Catlan regional government in an effort to suppress their independence referendum, which the central government and Constitutional Court have declared to be illegal. Time for peer-to-peer DNS. …
I picked up this morning’s Yellow Pages and spied an article by Hassan Ahmed, the original Vice Chair of Labour’s Black Sections, an unofficial organisation which was a precursor to Labour’s BAME organisations. Hassan was suspended and then expelled for organising a BAME section; he was at the time a city Councillor in Nottingham. Fortunately, although in his words reluctantly, he took the Labour Party to court and won. They had to pay £100,000 in court fee and that was in 1994. He finishes the article,
… Those were the bad old days. Under Jeremy’s enlightened leadership the mistakes of the past will not be repeated.
Let’s hope he’s right! …
I got to Conference early today to watch the debate on finance and the rules. This article talks about the rules debates, the balance of forces on Conference floor, what I hope is the end of the debate on racism in the Labour Party and a footnote on the continuing arguments about expulsions, purges and justice. …
I went to Stand Up for Labour tonight, who need money; it was very funny and very right on. Jim Jefferies, not performing, in his stand-up routine on abstinence uses the phrase “a hint of a boo”. Ian Stern, who is very funny, he made me laugh, with the help of my neighbour who was laughing throughout, raised a “hint of a boo” by mentioning Progress. He raised a cheer when slagging off Brexit. There were a couple of hundred people present. The Labour Party’s membership, its new membership, opposes Brexit, and so do the majority of its voters. The old left are playing with fire. …
Today, Labour Conference debated the International Report of the National Policy Forum and a statement on Brexit from the National Executive Committee. I believe the NEC statement was issued to delegates only, on the morning of the debate, which while not unusual is unacceptable. A campaigning comrade, Sacha Ismail posted the words to his Facebook timeline, and I have posted them below. Kier Starmer summed up the debate, and I have posted a video of his speech, which I then comment on. It was a weak speech, which disguises the weakening of Labour’s policy and moves it towards a pro-Brexit position. …
As the results from the German election trickle through, it’s not good news for many. The headline results are that the “at best” right wing populists, the Alternative for Germany has entered the Bundestag. Merkel’s centre right alliance, CSU/CDU and their government partners the centre left Social Democrats (SPD) both lost seats with the latter announcing that despite the arithmetic working that they would look to return to opposition. This leaves Merkel looking to form a “Jamaica” coalition with the Free Democrats & Greens. We’ll see. I wonder if this like the wake up call in the UK, at the 2014 European Parliamentary elections is a signpost of worse to come. …
There’s been a bit of a fuss over the Labour Party’s decision not to prioritise i.e. choose to discuss motions submitted by the membership and affiliates on Brexit. There were proposals to support the single market/customs union and to support free movement of labour. The Trade Unions agreed to ensure debates on the economy, Grenfall and industrial policy took place and it was left to the CLP delegates to determine if Brexit would make it to Conference floor. CLPD & Momentum, claiming to be supporting the Leadership, asked that four, admittedly important, subjects were debated and not Brexit. Many of my friends argue that the Brexit debate was being engineered by Corbyn’s opponents to embarrass him. It’s not true of all who argue for Labour’s current policy, defined in Lab16 Composite 1, of defining red lines and obtaining a second mandate if those lines were not met, are looking to embarrass the leadership. … …
Some comrades, mainly it would seem from Brighton, where suspensions and expulsions are still in place protested about McNicol’s continued employment calling on him to resign.
Joanna Baxter, an ex member of the NEC, raised a point of order complaining that it was abusing staff.
I just asked the CAC to get protest against our Gen Sec removed - party staff are workers with rights. #lab17 pic.twitter.com/CgyWjLzyar
— Johanna Baxter (@JohannaBaxter) September 24, 2017
He isn’t staff, he is an Officer of the Party and holds office “at the satisfaction of the NEC and Conference”. This is an important distinction. There’s no recall, no means of subjecting him to the rules and there’s no term limit. …
I am travelling down to Brighton, where I plan to attend Labour’s 2017 Conference and fringe. I hope to report on it here and on my other blog. …
Just re-seen Margin Call. What a fabulous film. Wll I say that, it took a second watching to come to that conclusion. It opens with an HR raid on a Bank’s trading floor, and of course they take their phones. It’s one reason why I have two. I don’t depend on my employer to phone a cab home.
It is a fabulous, well informed script, possible except their concentration on current packages and not the severance packages, although the first guy out’s package seems not so generous, although he gets to keep his options. His boss, gets offered a lot more, as do the Traders that perform the fire sale.
There’s a lot of paper and notebooks. The boardroom scene has some fabulous acting. The economics is shite, if you want a film that explains it, see the Big Short or Rogue Trader. …
