Notts Workers Join National Strike
Indymedia UK - 25 Apr 2008
On April 24, teachers, further education lecturers and civil servants took coordinated national strike action against the public sector pay freeze. The decision by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) to call the first national teachers’ strike in twenty-one years, attracted the most interest, but they were also joined by the University and Colleges Union (UCU) and the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).The strikes follow a central government directive to keep annual cost of living pay increases below 2% at a time when the Retail Price Index places inflation at over 4%, meaning in effect that public sector workers are expected to take a pay cut.In Nottinghamshire, dozens of schools were closed by strike action, with many more partially closed. While their were few pickets of schools, there was a presence at a number of colleges and outside government offices in the city. A march from the Forest Recreation Ground to the Congregation Hall, Church Gate for a rally was well attended despite the inclement weatherNewswire: Photos of April 24 Strike in Nottingham | Strike to close one third of Nottingham schools | Interview with NUT activist | Notts Indymedia Worker’s Movements Topic PagePrevious Features: Public service workers out to protect pensions | All-out unofficial strike at Cottam Power Station near LincolnLinks: Nottingham City NUT | Nottinghamshire NUT | NUT | PCS | UCU

Europe is Closing Its Doors to Iraqi Refugees: Where Will They Go?
AlterNet: War on Iraq - 25 Apr 2008
In Sweden, one town alone has welcomed more Iraqi refugees than the U.S. since 2003. Not for long.

Dog Whistles and Guard Dogs
UKWatch.net - 25 Apr 2008
?I opposed the idea of a directly-elected mayor,? wrote Ken Livingstone in 1998, because it tends to personalise debate and thus obscure the issues at stake.? Ten years on, Mayor Livingstone is engaged in a bitter battle with Boris Johnson that comes straight out of Have I Got News For You. It is a fight that Johnson could win. And while the image of buffoonery can be endearing, his politics are less so: in favour of the war on Iraq, railway privatisation, nuclear power, public schools and staghunting. The left-leaning Compass pressure group labelled Johnson ?a type of Norman Tebbit in clown?s uniform?. They are right. Behind the casually racist turn of phrase that has seen Johnson describe black people as ?picanninies? lies a more consistent playing of the race card, orchestrated by his campaign strategist Lynton Crosby. Crosby was behind the 2005 Conservative campaign that denigrated immigrants, then asked voters ?Are you thinking what we?re thinking?? Thankfully, they weren?t. But this same style of ?dog-whistle politics? has been successful elsewhere. The trick is to speak in a code that chimes with racist assumptions, without making ostensibly racist statements. In this case, the Tories are building on a discourse established by the Evening Standard, the Daily Mail?s London stablemate, which has vilified Livingstone for lavishing money on anti-racist groups. Crosby may or may not have orchestrated these attacks, but his campaign message feeds off the racist fantasy that Ken ?gives all the money to minorities? just the same. And it is not just Johnson who benefits: come 1 May, there is a strong chance that the BNP could gain seats on the Greater London Authority. The mud slinging also comes from a neo-con ?left? that sees Livingstone?s engagement with Muslim groups as a threat. Martin Bright of the New Statesman came to this position off the back of writing a report on Islamism for the Cameronite think-tank Policy Exchange. Nick Cohen has also taken a break from Iraq war cheerleading to argue that ?Ken Livingstone is not fit for office?. These claims are backed up by accounts of Livingstone?s bullying advisers. ?Vote Ken Livingstone, get Socialist Action,? as Bright put it. But the real scandal is not that a left- wing mayor has left-wing advisors or that they oppose racism. The problem, as any left or anti-racist activist who has encountered Livingstone?s guard dogs will tell you, is that they have consistently denigrated community struggles, grassroots activism and anything that veers from whatever they deem politically correct or opportune. Socialist Action does not represent ?the most successful Trotskyist entryist operation since Derek Hatton?s Liverpool?, as Bright argues, but the futility of entryism itself. The state is far better at transforming entryists than vice versa ? although what remains unchanged, in this case, is a distaste for democracy in line with the worst of left traditions. The problem is exacerbated by the flawed structure of London government. Livingstone once denounced the mayoral system as ?barmy? because it concentrates power without accountability. His advisers have set out to prove him right. The resulting politics are highly contradictory, as was dramatically embodied in the aftermath of the 2005 London bombings. Livingstone admirably steered clear of inflammatory rhetoric by referring to it as an attack on all of London?s ?diverse communities?. Two weeks later, Jean Charles De Menezes was killed by the Metropolitan police, and Livingstone offered unblinking support to the police chief who sanctioned a ?shoot-to-kill? policy. On the economy, Livingstone?s positive endorsement of a London ?living wage? contrasts favourably with Johnson?s rejection of even the minimum wage. But this has to be set against his extended love- in with the Corporation of London, whose ?trickle down? economics have proven so successful that the gleaming towers of London?s finance district back onto some of the poorest neighbourhoods in the country. Despite this, Livingstone continues to project London as a ?world city? built on finance capital. In January, he went to the World Economic Forum to hawk an Olympic Games that will distort development prospects in the east end way beyond 2012. In February, Livingstone attacked the government?s plan to tax millionaire tax-evaders 30,000 a year for fear that it might drive away investment. Such policies have effects beyond London, as the City is a key node of global neoliberalism. Livingstone, like Johnson, supports it. So whichever way you vote, the mayor always gets in. But sometimes there really is a lesser of two evils, and the electoral system makes this a relatively simple choice. A first preference vote for the Greens? Sian Berry would send Ken a clear and progressive message. But a second preference for Livingstone remains an important signal that Johnson?s dog- whistle racism has no place in London politics. This article is reposted from the Red Pepper website. They have a lively debate on the elections at this page