Emergency Motions

There were a large number of Emergency Motions tabled. The key rules are that it relates to an event occurring after the closing date for motions which is the end of January.

In this blog post, I identify what I consider the important emergency motions, two because they are important statements of policy and one because it managed o raise an issue nearly 50 years old. This is an important issue to me as I sought to get an Emergency Motion tabled on the basis of an event two months old and was told that it wasn’t an emergency.

EM6 dealt with the scandal of the forced adoptions for single mothers that occurred in between 1949 and the eighties. The issue had become live due to a Parliamentary Education Select Committee where the Government had raised the issue of an apology. The debate is on the feed, and I have posted the motion to this blog.

The Union debated the issue of Trans-rights in the light of the updated EHRC guidance. The text of the motion is posted on this blog, perhaps its central piece, is

The new guidance is discriminatory, unworkable and effectively excludes trans, non binary and gender diverse people from swathes of public life including working life the Lords. The law must be changed.

The motion notes that the law not only oppresses trans people but also places a duty on managers and workers that may breach their free speech rights. It also noted that the advice becomes law after a scrutiny period and called for action to oppose its passage in Parliament. The debate is on the video feed.

On the 9th June, riots broke out in Northern Ireland where the victims/targets were immigrants. Further protests occurred in Glasgow, Scotland and Southampton. At Congress, one of the delegates present made a fabulous and well received speech expressing the Union’s intolerance of racial hatred and solidarity with the communities effected. (I am looking for the video feed URL). We also debated an Emergency Motion, the text of which is on this blog. A critical quote is,

We say no to racism, we say no to violence incited by those who do not live in or care a one bit for our communities.

Due to the high number of EM’s neither the agenda document nor the time tables were amended, and there is no single document containing the emergency motions. I hope to take better notes next year if fortunate enough to be elected a delegate.  …

International Solidarity at GMB 25

many national flags strung accross a path

As is traditional the GMB debated international solidarity on Thursday morning although since a GMB workplace in Northern Ireland had been attacked, a delegate from that Region addressed Congress. He is followed by an address from Tariq Pollard, from the Teamsters in NY an organiser in Amazon and his full time officer,  Antonio Rosario. The organisation in Amazon grows.

The CEC chose to present a special report on International Solidarity to Congress. The paper was moved by Barbara Plant. Special report debates are longer than others because each region gets to speak. The report covered trade and the EU, middle east again, and international solidarity mainly Latin America but also including Ukraine.

After the debate on the special report, Congress was addressed by video by the Palestinian Ambassador, Dr. Husam Zomlot who thanked us for our solidarity and promised that with our help Palestinian voices will not be silenced. See also the 2024 statement on the Middle East.

We also heard, by video from the Deputy PM of Spain, Yolanda Diaz, who holds the Minister of Labour and Social Economy portfolio, and presented a  beacon of hope from one of the few social democratic governments in the world. Even though their confrontation with the far right is more acute and still massively socially divisive the Spanish government is pursuing policies of humanity, anti-poverty and anti-racism.

The video links in this article are the start points of each section I describe.

This article has been back dated to approximately the date of occurrence.

Image Credit: By Nick Fewings from unsplash using the unsplash licence. …

Living with the Troubles

Living with the Troubles

I went to the IWM on Friday and visited the "Living with the Troubles" exhibition. I was 14 when the Government sent in the Army presented as protecting the civil rights marchers from a sectarian and violent police force and 43 when the Good Friday agreement was signed; I lived in London, also working in government buildings for much of that time. This exhibition though is about NI and the experiences of those who lived there and participated in, or tolerated and survived the Troubles. The article allows me to reminisce, consider the poverty and sectarianism of the time. I finished watching a contemporary video, consisting of landscapes and quotes, which shows that despite nearly 40 years of an “absence of war" the sectarianism behind the politics is not over and peace and co-existence yet to become the reality. The Good Friday agreement entrenches the sectarian divide into NI’s constitution. It maybe that this settlement has reached its end but the video suggests large elements of the population may not yet be ready to move on. Our hope must be with the young, noting that the census results of 2021 have 50% of the population being under 40. Sadly, the old men of violence and the ultra-expressive sectarians seem still able to recruit to their cause. Let’s hope that the young can over come this and build a political leadership interested in inter-community peace. For more, Read More ....

Eire is an independent country!

I was pointed at this article, in the Guardian, by Ireland’s President, Michael Higgins, foreshadowing the 100th Anniversary of the Anglo-Irish Treaty that established Eire as an independent state. Given the lethal violence that has occurred ever since those that came to be called British arrived in Ireland, this is a remarkable piece. This is a remarkably gentle offering recognising that both the British & Irish peoples are victims trapped by their own history, a history rarely studied in the Great Britain, at least not by me. It is more urgent than at any time since 1997 due to the growing inter-state animosity between the UK and the EU over the issues of the Irish Border resurrected from its resting, and it was only resting, place by Brexit. The full article says more ...

Campaigning

A quick trip around the Lewisham Deptford constituency canvassing for the Labour Party. A couple of accusations about getting Brexit wrong, i.e. the nuance in Labour’s front bench position upsets i.e. pisses off London remainers. Labour’s candidate for re-election, Vicky Foxcroft , voted against the Article 50 notice bill, twice! It makes life easier for people like me; I am glad I don’t live in Vauxhall.

I am surprised at the large number of EU citizens I meet who cannot vote in the general election. Mistakes were made; it’s wrong that people who’ve been here for more than 5 years, in employment, paying tax can’t vote in the general election; nor in the referendum.

One issue came up which I had missed and not expected. The Tories have abolished the council tax support for those on the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). Councils have had to develop ways of making up the shortfall, by either cutting (discretionary) services or levying council tax on ESA claimants. There are other laws that stop councils levying the council tax on the wealthier residents, if they have them…. It’s another Tory cut ensuring that Labour councils and the Party take the blame.

I’ll finish by stating that there were a few who say they’ve left Labour because of Corbyn. It’s sometimes hard to determine if this is actually about Brexit, or about other aspects of his politics, but I met one person from Northern Ireland who can’t support him over his record on that subject. Someone else did the talking, but I think these conversations have to start with whether they support the Good Friday agreement or not. From my point of view, the anti-corbynism on the doorstep is less frequent, if more vitriolic,  an occurrence then those who couldn’t support Ed Miliband because they didn’t like the way he ate a bacon sandwich, or something!. Labour supporters who repeat these damaging slurs need to remember the way that Ed was attacked as not being up to it and let’s not forget the attacks on Kinnock either.

A final note, Vicky is well known, although some still ask where Joan’s gone! …

You can prove innocence

justice #2I was reading an article in the Guardian, that was inspired some of the #wikileaks documents relating to the murder of Pat Finucane, a solicitor in Northern Ireland. He came from a Republican family and acted for Republican defendants in the Northern Irish courts.  This happened in 1972 and a lot of time has passed.  Lord Justice Stevens looked into the events surrounding the death due to the persistent allegations that UK security forces were involved in the murder and he said among several things in 2003,

“The failure to keep records or the existence of contradictory accounts can often be perceived as evidence of concealment or malpractice. It limits the opportunity to rebut serious allegations. The absence of accountability allows the acts or omissions of individuals to go undetected. The withholding of information impedes the prevention of crime and the arrest of suspects.”

This is a lesson we can all learn. It is possible to prove (judicial) innocence in all walks of life, if you prepare for it. …