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Back to the future
No-one would have wished for the unfortunate divisions that have occurred over the last four months but, nonetheless, we have reached the year end in very optimistic mood. Gordon Brown s brief bounce has ended in a dramatic splat with his government now trailing the Tories by 15 percentage points. Meantime doubts remain about Old Etonian bully boy David Cameron and about the anonymous clone Nick Clegg. Polls continue to show enormous opposition to the war in Iraq and any threat of war against Iran. Privatisation remains deeply unpopular. Even the Financial Times is calling for the nationalisation of failed bank Northern Rock and there is a lot more economic trouble in the pipeline. This is the context in which there remains an enormous space to be filled to the left of New Labour.

Following the terrific Respect Renewal conference in the middle of November which had 371 people attending over the day, we have held a very successful meeting in Tower Hamlets in the last four weeks, selecting our candidates Councillor Abjol Miah and George Galloway MP to fight the two Tower Hamlets seats in the next General Election - now not likely by the way until May 2010. We have also held a very successful meeting in Newham with our three councillors and George Galloway. In Birmingham selection of candidates is under way for the May elections when we are very confident we can elect at least one more councillor to the council chamber, making it a clean sweep in Salma Yaqoob s Sparkbrook ward. Elsewhere there have been Respect meetings of members more optimistic now than they have been for many months. And we have attracted some very important students to our ranks.

We also produced the first edition of a new monthly Respect paper which has gone down tremendously well and of which we sold over 200 on the Climate Change demo in the pouring rain! We have an excellent new website under development. Both of these are the product of the new enthusiasm and energy we have begum to tap from our previously neglected members.

We are now drawing up plans for a comprehensive speaking tour with George Galloway, Salma Yaqoob, Ken Loach and others to tour key cities and universities in the New Year. And we are going to thoroughly review all our options for the Greater London Assembly elections in May.

It is for these reasons and more that we are therefore looking forward to putting our recent problems well and truly behind us and making dramatic progress in 2008.
 

News and articles of interest

Here are some articles and news reports we think are worth looking at

From Triumph to Torture by John Pilger
Two weeks ago, I presented a young Palestinian, Mohammed Omer, with the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. Awarded in memory of the great US war correspondent, the prize goes to journalists who expose establishment propaganda, or "official drivel", as Gellhorn called it.

SATs school tests criticised by official report by Harvey Thompson and Linda Slattery
In May, millions of school children throughout England undertook their Standard Assessment Tasks (SATs) in English, mathematics and science. The statutory tests are widely considered to be flawed and almost universally reviled by teachers and children alike.

Health: Who asked for choice? - Morning Star
IF Health Minister Ben Bradshaw believes that there is political capital to be made by taking on our NHS doctors, he will quickly come unstuck.

Afghanistan troop deaths outnumber those in Iraq by Angela Balakrishnan and agencies
Militants in Afghanistan killed more US and Nato troops than those in Iraq in June after a fresh spate of rebel attacks that highlighted the growing strength of the Taliban.

Iran legally entitled to develop nuclear energy, says UK MP
Iran is legally entitled to develop nuclear energy under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, according to a British MP visiting Tehran for the first time. George Galloway, who was expelled from Britain's ruling Labor Party for his outspoken opposition to the Iraq war, also criticized the hypocrisy of Israel's belligerence towards Iran, which has its own illegal stockpile of nuclear weapons.

In the Cause of Fear and Ignorance by John Pilger
Muslims are alone as they watch the British state, with its "obstinate incomprehension" of their faith, do to them as it would never do to those of other faiths. Imagine Jews treated this way. You cannot imagine it; the profanity is too great. The silence of British Jews, who have the history, is also great.

Migrant Myths by Adam Ford
As part of her degree course, Kurdish migrant Filiz Celik researched the conditions that workers from overseas face in the United Kingdom. The full text of her study can be read here, but this summary by Adam Ford gives some idea of the reality behind the media-generated myths.

Tesco shareholders reject TV chef's chicken welfare call
Tesco shareholders today voted against a resolution from TV cook Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall which called for the retail giant to improve its chicken-rearing standards.

Academies expelled 10,000 pupils
Academies have been accused of excluding disproportionately high numbers of students after it emerged that they excluded nearly 10,000 pupils for poor behaviour last year.

Let companies run state schools for profit, says Sir Simon Milton
Private companies should be allowed to run state schools at a profit and be free to dismiss teachers who are not up to the job, the head of the Local Government Association (LGA) said yesterday.

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