In Labour CND’s latest podcast, Andrew Murray discusses the wages not weapons and Gaza motions on the Congres agenda, as well as the lack of action on defence diversification and the state of the TUC.
Labour CND podcasts are published on Spotify, YouTube and FB. Give us a listen, give us a like, give us a follow – and please tell you friends about Labour CND’s new venture into podcasting!
If this is the first time you’ve come across Labour CND podcasts, Alex Gordon on the defence jobs myth, and Samantha Mason on the military bootprint astride the climate crisis are also worth a listen. And what Defence Economist Ron Smith had to say about military spending at the time of the Chancellor’s spring statement is just as relevant as the autumn budget approaches.
There’s a lot the media isn’t telling us about US and Israeli relations with Iran. Carol Turner traces Trump’s approach, the controversial history of snapback sanctions, and demands an end to nuclear hypocrisy.
The fragile ceasefire that followed the US and Israel’s military assault on Iran is holding, for now at least, while Benjamin Netanyahu’s attention is focussed on his endgame for Gaza. The western media lens, which shifted away from Iran after the 12-day military campaign in June, recently returned with the announcement that Britain, France, and Germany (E3) are initiating snapback sanctions.
During the 12-day attack, Trump and Netanyahu claimed their aim was preventing Iran’s imminent development of nuclear weapons. President Trump has repeatedly insisted Iran is a few weeks away from having a nuclear bomb. Throughout the 12 days, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) insisted there was no evidence Iran was developing nuclear weapons. He told the UN Security Council: “The IAEA can guarantee, through a watertight inspections system, that nuclear weapons will not be developed in Iran.”
US and Israel’s strategic goals
Though militarily weakened by this and other recent attacks, and despite the economic strain caused by international sanctions, Iran is still a powerful obstacle to Trump’s strategic goal in the region. Trump’s goal being to normalise relations between Israel and its regional neighbours. Iran is also a chief obstacle in the way of Netanyahu’s attempts to quell Palestinian opposition and strengthen Israel’s grip on the Middle East.
Israel is explicitly seeking regime change, quietly supported by the United States. On day one of the June attack, Netanyahu appealed to the people of Iran to rise up against the regime, and he continues to do so.
The breadth of targets in June not only included nuclear research facilities, fuel enrichment plants, and nuclear power plants, but also Iran’s air defences, and other military and civilian facilities. Israel’s Defence Force (IDF) assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists, politicians, and military leaders. Images broadcast by Iranian state media have exposed Israel’s covert operations inside Iran before the attacks – showing the deployment of Israeli agents and extensive use of small drones in the opening hours of the June offensive.
The Israel-Iran ceasefire may be holding, but the shadow war with Iran continues. In a StW-CND webinar during the military bombardment, General Secretary of the TSSA rail union Maryam Eslamdoust, speaking in a personal capacity, explained what this means. The bombardment, she said, was not only a military campaign but also a psychological and propaganda campaign.
Trump’s objectives
Trump’s so-called nuclear talks go deeper than Iran’s potential for a nuclear weapons programme. They seek to further limit the development of a civil nuclear power programme (which all nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signatories are entitled to pursue), end Iran expanding drone and ballistic missile capabilities, and its support for a network of regional proxies. Within weeks of taking office in January this year, Trump signed National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 (NSPM2) which turned those objectives into a directive to all offices of state.
Trump also announced a campaign of ‘secondary sanctions’ aimed at countries buying oil and gas from Iran, suggesting US businesses will not be allowed to trade with these countries. This campaign is mainly aimed – with little success – at China which accounts for around 90% of Iran’s oil exports. In April Trump also imposed secondary sanctions on countries importing oil from Venezuela, again aimed at China.
Trump’s approach to Iran’s nuclear weapons potential contrasts with that of President Obama, which resulted in the Iran nuclear deal – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), widely regarded as a successful arms limitation agreement. It lifted nuclear-related sanctions on Iran in return for a commitment by Iran to restrict its civil nuclear programme and permit rigorous International Atomic Energy Association (IAEL) inspections. Germany and the five permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council – US, UK, China, Russia, and France – as well as Iran were signatories to the JCPoA.
The agreement was codified in UNSC Resolution 2231 of 2015. However, Trump effectively killed the JCPoA in his first presidential term by withdrawing the US from the JCPoA in 2018 and de-certifying UNSC 2231, claiming Iran was developing nuclear weapons.
Snapback sanctions
Multiple IAEA inspection reports at that time confirmed Iran was adhering to the terms of the agreement. These reports were universally accepted, including by US authorities. In 2020, however, even though the US was no longer party to the JCPoA, Trump invoked a ‘snapback’ mechanism in UNSC 2231, claiming Iran was failing to honour the agreement and calling for the UN to reimpose sanctions.
The UNSC president at that time blocked Trump’s attempt to activate snapback, citing a lack of consensus in the Security Council, after which Trump imposed US sanctions on Iran. A year later the E5 followed suit. Unlike the US, however, they remained parties to the JCPoA and UNSC 2231. Despite objections by other P5 Security Council members, a year later Britain, France, and Germany followed suit and reimposed sanctions.
The above events, in outline, are the basis for continuing claims by Russia and China that sanctions on Iran are illegal – a position they reiterated as recently as March this year. A joint statement by China, Russia, and Iran, called for restraint not escalation – emphasising their support for UNSC 2331 and the need to uphold the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Iran’s right to civil nuclear power as a signatory, and calling for the removal of unlawful sanctions on Iran.
Iran responded to the US and E3 sanctions imposed during Trump’s first term by exceeding the agreed limits on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium and enriching uranium in higher concentrations. It must be noted that these higher levels of uranium enrichment were not high enough for their use in a nuclear bomb, as the IAEA and other experts have pointed out. Nonetheless, increasing uranium enrichment has become the basis of current claims by the US and its allies that Iran is in breach of the JCPoA and on the verge of possessing nuclear weapons.
Under the terms of UNSC 2231, the JCPoA terminates on 18 October this year, at which point all nuclear related sanctions against Iran are due to end. However, on 28 August this year, the E3 notified the UNSC they were initiating snapback sanctions on the grounds of Iran’s ‘significant non-compliance’ with the terms of the JCPoA, These are due to kick in 30 days after notification of snapback, unless the UNSC adopts a resolution against snapback.
In a statement to the IAEA’s Board of Governors on 8 October, Grossi confirmed he had “continuously and systematically” reached out to restore the “indispensable cooperation” with Iran, and that “progress has been made” during ongoing discussions. It remains to be seen if this is likely to influence the imposition of snapback.
Iran’s response
Throughout Trump’s election campaign and his second term in office, Iran has repeatedly called for nuclear negotiations with the US to be resumed and, until the military attack in June, continued to permit IAEA inspections. The latter were the basis on which the IAEA Director General confirmed to the UNSC that there were no credible indications that Iran has a nuclear weapons programme.
After the June attack, Iran halted IAEA inspections and threatened withdrawal from the NPT – a clear hint that a nuclear weapons programme might be pursued. This was widely reported in the western media. Since then, and noticeably less reported in the west, Iran has opened talks with the IAEA and remains a member of the NPT.
Limited military exchanges between Israel and Iran had already taken place in April 2024, and more extensive exchanges in September-October after an Israeli airstrike killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others. Leaked US classified documents suggest CIA involvement. The Fars News Agency, controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) released footage suggesting Israel was targeting Iran’s air defences in preparation for future attacks.
Against this background, talks between Iran and the Trump administration, which began in early March hosted by Qatar on behalf of the Gulf States, have floundered. Netanyahu’s relentless onslaught against Palestinians across the Occupied Territories have so far proved insurmountable in Trump’s attempts to gain Gulf state support for his campaign to lever Iran into an agreement which goes beyond nuclear weapons. On the contrary, there has been limited signs that the actions of Trump and Netanyahu have resulted in a partial thaw in relations between Iran and the Gulf states.
The military attacks of 2024-25 have by and large seen the Iranian opposition retreat from the streets. As with Iraq in 1991 and 2003, and many other examples across the world, the Iranian people have united for now against their foreign invaders.
End the nuclear hypocrisy
The mendacity of Israel, the US, and the E3 is clear from the events described above, and by and large, the abject failure of western media to report the full story surrounding Iran nuclear negotiations. It should come as no surprise that the events of 2024-25 have strengthened the voice of Iranian hawks calling for withdrawal from the NPT and the development of a nuclear weapons programme.
Most breathtaking of all perhaps, is the hypocrisy of the United States and Europe in failing to acknowledge that Isreal has possessed nuclear weapons since the 1960s. Israel has never acknowledged it has nuclear weapons, and has never signed the NPT.
Isreal’s nuclear weapons were disclosed by Mordecai Vanunu, an heroic Israeli whistle-blower at the Dimona nuclear plant. Vanunu spent 18 years in Israeli jails, mostly in solitary confinement, for his disclosure. He was released in 2004, but his movements are still severely restricted.
Israel’s nuclear weapons are unacknowledged by the US and its allies, and rarely mentioned by a compliant western media.
The double standards applied to the treatment of Iran by Israel, the US, Britain, and Europe compared to the disregard of Israel’s nuclear armoury should be challenged as fiercely and as frequently by the anti-war movements across Europe and North America, as Netanyahu’s actions against Gaza have been.
Removing Israel’s nuclear weapons is every bit as important as preventing Iran from acquiring them, and indispensable to the long-term stability of the Middle East.
Read Maryam Eslamdoust’s description of the shadow war in an earlier Labour CND post here.
* This article was first published on Stop the War Coalition website, 10 September 2025
We reproduce below a speech by Maryam Eslamdoust, General Secretary of the TSSA transport union. Speaking in a personal capacity, she describes the impact of the US-Israel ‘shadow war’ on her father and the Iranian people. An update on the situation in Iran is available on our website here.
Hello everyone and thank you so much for being here today to discuss Israel’s attack on Iran. I am the General Secretary of TSSA. But today I’m not here in my official capacity. I’m speaking as a British Iranian woman and a daughter.
I haven’t heard from my father who’s in Iran for over 48 hours. The last time we spoke, he told me the roads out of Tehran were gridlocked. Millions of people were trying to flee the city. Petrol was gone; he couldn’t fill his car to leave the city. Millions were trying to escape Tehran. It was near midnight and I haven’t been able to get hold of him since.
That’s because Iran’s telecommunications infrastructure have been attacked by Israel. People can’t make phone calls. They can’t connect to the internet. They’re being cut off from the world. All the while missiles continue to fall, cars are being blown up in daylight and civilian neighbourhoods are attacked.
I’m hearing now that the Iranian banking system has been hacked. So overnight people’s savings have disappeared.
This is not just a military strategy by Israel or Donald Trump. It’s a strategy of collapse – to paralyse Iran, its infrastructure, and the morale of its people. And it’s not just physical, it’s psychological.
Yesterday Iran state TV was hacked live on air. Viewers across the country saw their screens cut to unfamiliar visuals and messages delivered in Farsi encouraging Iranians to rise up to revolt, misusing ‘women, live, freedom’ slogans. The day before that, at the state TV News building in Tehran, the same network was bombed while a woman presenter was live on air.
This is not just an air strike, it’s a message ‘we can get inside your buildings, your screens, your minds’. It’s an attempt to intimidate and destabilise – not just with force, but with fear.
Israel’s illegal attack on Iran is not about self-defence or security. This is about making Iran collapse as a state politically, economically, and socially. We have seen this before in Iraq, Libya, Syria. It’s the same script: isolate, destabilise, dehumanise, destroy.
And what is more alarming, it is unfolding on today’s media without any challenge. Twenty years ago, some journalists and some editors still had the courage to question war narratives. Today, far too many are simply repeating the government’s briefings and anonymous intelligence sources. This is no critical interrogation of the story. Sadly, the press is not holding power to account, it is echoing it.
There is a propaganda war, an information war. In recent days, I’ve seen social media flooded with posts in Farsi from IDF accounts using the Iranian language and the language of Iranian protest movements from two years ago, especially the slogan ‘woman, life, freedom’ to call for regime change. Those slogans were never meant to justify bombs. They were meant to highlight the suffering of civilians, Iranian women. Those who shouted them wanted dignity and justice, not war.
What I’ve seen from Iranians – both inside the country, and the diaspora – is a remarkable unity. This isn’t political unity, there are still very real debates about Iran’s future, its leadership, its systems. But right now, across the political spectrum, Iranians are united on one fundamental idea: foreign bombs won’t liberate us. Iranians don’t want their futures dictated by missiles, invasions, or destabilisation campaigns disguised as solidarity.
Let me speak about the issue that’s constantly weaponised by the western media, Iran’s nuclear programme. We’re being told once again that Iran is on the verge of developing a nuclear weapons programme, but the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, has been clear there are no credible indications that Iran has a nuclear weapons program. That was their official assessment before these escalations even began.
What has Iran done in response? It’s reduced, not stopped, voluntary cooperation with the IAEA. That was originally agreed as part of the JCPoA, the nuclear deal that Donald Trump tore up in 2018. For years after that, Iran continued to comply with the deal’s core provisions. But eventually Iran said if the deal’s dead, then why should we keep making concessions? Even so, Iran remains signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the IAEA still monitors its nuclear sites. There is no legal evidence of weaponisation.
There is one country in the Middle East known to have a nuclear arsenal, and that’s Israel. It has hundreds of warheads. It has never joined the NPT. It allows no international inspection and yet it is presented in the west as a responsible actor. That is double standards of the highest order.
The demands being made of Iran right now are surrender to compliance, to regime change. These are unrealistic and dangerous. There is no military solution to this crisis. Iran will not, and cannot, surrender to conditions it knows will only bring more pain.
So what’s the path forward? Diplomacy, but real diplomacy. Iran has repeatedly said it’s willing to accept limits on its uranium enrichment programme, allow extensive international monitoring, engage in regional security talks. That has to be mutual. It means an end to the sanctions the US has imposed that are strangling the economy and civilian living standards. and restoring Iran’s full participation in global, political, and economic life – ending the policy of permanent isolation.
If the West is serious about peace in the region, it must also hold all states accountable, including its allies, and that means finally addressing Israel’s illegal wars, its undeclared nuclear weapons, and its current actions in Gaza which the UN’s own experts have said may amount to genocide.
So what do we do now. We keep speaking up. We’re not just neutral, if we stay silent we are complicit. I’m asking you – whether you’re trade unionists, policy makers, academics, journalists, or just someone who believes in justice, please do three things.
Speak up. Say clearly that bombing Iran into collapse is not a path to peace.
Demand diplomacy. Press your government to stop fuelling war and start pursuing a deal, and challenge the narrative. Don’t let our slogans be co-opted; don’t let another war be justified on false pretences.
The Iranian people want peace, they want dignity, and they want the right to shape their own future. Free from bombs, free from fear, and free from foreign coercion. Thank you.
* CND’s webinar, No War on Iran, is available in full here * Maryam’s speech was first reproduced on London CND website
Christine Shawcroft calls for support for CND’s demonstration in opposition to Trump’s nukes in Britain, arguing we are no longer a sovereign state. Britain looks more and more like a puppet of the United States. Never forget, she warns, from Washington, no one can hear you scream.
A national demonstration outside ‘RAF’ Lakenheath in Suffolk has been called for Saturday, 20th September, against the suspected deployment of US nuclear weapons – Trump’s nukes! Actually, the title ‘USAF’ would be a more suitable name for the base, as it is run by the US Air Force and, at the moment, only hosts USAF units and personnel.
Our own government attempts to keep activities at the base shrouded in secrecy, and we only found out about the US government’s plans when campaigners saw a US Department of Defence document which included the UK on a list of nuclear weapons storage locations in Europe.
Since then, observers in July tracked a transport plane flying from the US main nuclear storage site in New Mexico to the Suffolk base, and it is believed that B61-12 nuclear bombs have now been deployed at Lakenheath. This is the first time US nukes have been stationed here since 2008. The base had previously hosted US nuclear weapons for more than 50 years, starting in 1954. Not only does the return of US weapons of mass destruction to British soil ramp up international tensions and make south east England into a target in the event of the war with Russia on which NATO seems so keen, the local community is also in danger from the risk of accidents involving the nukes.
Lakenheath has previous on this. In 1956 a B-47 bomber on a routine training mission crashed into a nuclear weapons store, killing four servicemen. Both the US and British governments tried to cover it up, but official US documents were eventually found which stated that it was a ‘miracle’ that none of the bombs exploded, and that part of eastern England could have become ‘a desert’. In 1961, a plane with a nuclear bomb on board caught fire. The bomb itself was scorched by fire, and scientific investigators found that it could easily have detonated. And those are just two accidents that we have found out about, as the governments concerned admitted them – but only in 1979 and 2003, respectively.
There may have been other serious incidents which have yet to come to light, and even more worryingly, CND has discovered that US forces have been given a blanket exemption from major safety regulations when operating in the UK. They are not legally bound to have plans to deal with emergencies involving radioactive material and nuclear weapons. Yet there are several population centres in the region which could be put in deadly danger by any accidental leaks of radiation, not to mention the risks of larger nuclear accidents.
Over 60% of British people are opposed to US nuclear weapons returning to British bases. A government which puts out documents stating that their main objective is the safety of the population and ‘national security’ should be expected to come clean about what is happening. Unfortunately, our government prefers secrecy and will neither confirm nor deny developments when campaigners attempt to shed light on the risks they are running. Needless to say there has been no debate in Parliament, and certainly no vote.
It is the definition of a sovereign country that it should have an independent foreign policy. By this measure, Britain is no longer a sovereign state and looks more and more like a puppet of the United States. Never forget – from Washington, no one can hear you scream.
* You can find information about the demonstration, including transport arrangements here. * This article was first published in Labour Outlook
Big thanks to Bell Ribeiro-Addy for standing for Deputy Leader – the only candidate to call for Peter Mandleson’s sacking – and to everyone who joined Labour CND, Momentum, and the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy in supporting her in the short time she had to solicit PLP nominatinos.
When the PLP ballot closed on Thursday 11 September, only Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell had received enough votes to make it onto the members ballot. A list of who nominated whom is available on the Labour Party website.
The undemocratic selection process has robbed party members and affiliates of Bell’s strong and important voice in the election – someone who speaks out against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, welfare cuts, trade union rights, and Reform and the rise of the far right. A Deputy Leader genuinely committed to internal democracy and pluralism is needed now more than ever.
When the PLP ballot closed on Thursday 11 September, only Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell had received enough votes to make it onto the members ballot. A list of who nominated whom is available on the Labour Party website.
They are the only candidates members and affiliates can choose as the next Deputy Leader. In the short election period that follows, we must interrogate their policies carefully and hold them to account.
The timetable for the election is as follows:
Sign up to Labour CND’s newletter here and keep abreast of what’s happening in the Deputy Leader campaign
Labour CND, along with CLPD and Momentum, are calling on party members to urge their Labour MP to nominate Bell Ribeiro-Addy as a candidate for Deputy Leader. You can write to you MP using Momentum’s online email. All you have to do is enter your postcode, name and email address, and it will be forwarded to your MP.
This is urgent as there are only 2 days to do so – Tuesday 9th to Thursday 11th September. She must have 80 nominations from the PLP to get on the ballot.
Labour CND believes it’s crucial that a left wing voice is represented in the Deputy Leader contest. Bell is a principled socialist who’s unafraid to champion real Labour values, from migrants’ rights to wealth taxes. She is asking the party to examine why the Labour government is losing so much support, not to Reform UK – a false claim that’s often made – but to those parties which oppose the politics of Reform UK. If elected, she will be the first black woman Deputy Leader.
The government is spending more on warfare by shifting resources away from welfare and overcoming austerity Britain. This isn’t what Labour MPs were elected for. This agenda is losing Labour support and helping to strengthen the arguments of the far right.
We needs a progressive agenda that benefits benefit the people of Britain. We believe it’s also what the majority of party members want.
Please contact your Labour MPs today and urge them to make sure the Deputy Leadership contest is inclusive of Labour’s broad church.
With Labour Party Conference just weeks away, Labour CND is asking supporters to put forward our recommended Contemporary Motion, calling for increased accountability and debate on Britain’s nuclear weapons policy.
With the number of nuclear warheads in the UK stockpile no only published and no accountability on the decision to return US nuclear weapons to the UK at RAF Lakenheath, it is vital that these issues receive the scrutiny the public would expect in the House of Commons.
The deadline for submitting the motion is 5pm on Thursday 11 September. If you need any support in making your submission you can contact Labour CND – labourcnd@gmail.com
The text of the motion is:
Accountability and transparency of nuclear weapons policy
Conference notes a) the 9 August Guardian report that a confidential inspection report by Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) revealed a leak of radioactive material into Loch Long earlier this year, from the Royal Navy armaments depot at Coulport which holds the nuclear warheads for the Trident submarine fleet
b) inspection reports reveal other radioactive leaks at Coulport in 2010 and 2019
c) SEPA and MoD sought to prevent journalists accessing these reports, claiming national security until Scottish Information Commissioner David Hamilton said disclosure threatened ‘reputations’ not security, and ruled their release
Conference further notes UK governments have become increasingly resistant to releasing nuclear information not only to journalists but also to both parliament and public, including:
d) the 2021 Integrated Review decision that nuclear warheads and missile numbers would no longer to be published, coinciding with an increase in the cap on warhead stockpiles in breach of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and
e) Minsters have not answered MPs questions about sit US nuclear weapons in Britain.
Conference believes:
f) the SERPA report highlights continued risks to people and environment from nuclear weapons programmes, and
g) it is completely inappropriate for the government to maintain silence about major escalations in nuclear dangers.
4 Conference therefore calls on the Prime Minister to hold a parliamentary debate on the major change in Britain’s security arrangements which hosting US nuclear weapons represents.
Labour Party Conference is taking place later this month, and as usual Labour CND will be in Liverpool speaking to party members, MPs and others about our current campaigns. We’ll also be supporting a number of fringe meetings taking place throughout the week.
CND Fringe: Britain’s nuclear expansionism – Who pays the price?
Sunday September 28, 5.30-7pm Chair: Sophie Bolt, CND General Secretary // Eddie Dempsey, RMT General Secretary // Asad Rehman, Chief Exec, Friends of the Earth // Bell Ribeiro Addy, Labour MP // John Foster, Advisor to the Alternative Defence Review // Dr Louise Arimatsu, Distinguished Policy Fellow, LSE // Jess Barnard, Labour NEC
Albert 3, Hilton Hotel, Liverpool Central. Refreshments will be available
Labour’s drive to raise military spending and deploy new nuclear-capable fighter jets makes the world more dangerous and our populations poorer. It worsens global security, accelerates the climate crisis, and strips funding from health, housing, education, and other essential public services. At this crucial event, we’ll draw on the Alternative Defence and Security Review to present a bold, people-first vision of security — tackling the real threats: poverty, climate breakdown, and inequality. There is a better way. Join us to demand a security policy that addresses the real challenges: poverty, climate crisis, and public health.
Palestine – the Defining Issue of Our Time
Saturday September 27, 4:30pm. In-person central Liverpool event. Register here for full info / FB here / RT here.
With H.E. Husam Zomlot, Palestinian Ambassador // Richard Burgon MP // Kim Johnson MP // John McDonnell MP // Steve Witherden MP // Hugh Lanning, Labour & Palestine // Jess Barnard, Labour NEC // Mick Whelan, ASLEF General Secretary // Maryam Eslamdoust, TSSA General Secretary.
On the eve of Labour Conference, join us in-person in Liverpool in solidarity with the Palestinian people & discuss the next steps in building our movement. Refreshments provided including tea & coffee.
Open to all. Hosted by Labour & Palestine & part of the ‘Arise – a Festival of Left Ideas’ Solidarity Hub. Free event but solidarity donations here essential to hosting costs. Thanks to the 100s of you who donated to make this event happen.
Party Democracy – The Key to Labour’s Success in Government
Chair: Rachel Garnham Speakers: Richard Burgon MP // Bell Ribeiro Addy MP // Mick Whelan – GS ASLEF // Ruth Hayes – Labour Women’s Committee // Jean Crocker – CAC candidate // Kathy Bole – Disability Labour // Jess Barnard – NEC :: Gemma Bolton – NEC // Delegates’ Briefing: Rachel Garnham – CLPD Co-chair £3 or £1 unwaged
We CAN tackle poverty & inequality – the case for universalism, the welfare state & taxing the rich
Sunday, September 28, 12:30pm, The Racquet Club Hotel, 5 Chapel Street Liverpool L3 9AG. Register here // Share on FB Here & X Here.
With Ian Byrne MP // Neil Duncan-Jordan MP // Sarah Woolley, General Secretary, BFAWU // Simon Fletcher, Political analyst & campaigner // David Wilson, DGS, NEU & Free School Meals for All // Ruth Hayes, Labour Women Leading // Gawain Little, GS, GFTU // Ellen Morrison, Labour NEC, Disabled Members’ Representative.
A vital event in the context of the cost-of-living emergency – & the campaigns around disability benefit cuts, free school meals, the Winter Fuel Allowance & the need to scrap the 2-child benefit cap. Find out about the alternatives to never-ending cuts & spiralling inequality – we CAN end poverty!
Public event – open to all. Refreshments provided. Part of the ‘Arise Solidarity Hub’ during Labour Conference 2025. Presented by ‘Arise – A Festival of Left Ideas’ & the Labour Assembly Against Austerity. All events free but contributions to the costs of hosting the ‘Arise Solidarity Hub’ here essential.
¡Viva la solidaridad! Stand with Latin America Against Trump
Monday September 29, 18.30, Ziba Bar, Racquet Club Hotel, 5 Chapel St, Liverpool L3 9AG.Register here // FB share here // RT here
With special guests from Latin America: Martina Pesce, Argentinian campaigner against the far-right // Dr. Francisco Dominguez // María Perez Ramos, MORENA supporter, Mexico. Plus: Richard Burgon MP // Jess Barnard, Labour NEC // Louise Regan, National Education Union // Gawain Little, General Federation of Trade Unions // John McDonnell MP.
Join guests from across Latin America in solidarity – where the left is proving a better world is possible, and standing up to Trump’s militarism & xenophobia.
Refreshments provided, including wine & hot food. Public event – open to all. Presented by Arise – A Festival of Left Ideas, Labour Friends of Progressive Latin America, NSCAG, Mexico Solidarity Forum, VSC, Argentina Solidarity, Justice for Colombia, Brazil Solidarity Initiative.
With thanks to hundreds of you who donated, Thompsons Solicitors & the National Education Union. Part of the ‘Arise Solidarity Hub‘ during Labour Conference 2025. Free event but solidarity donationshere essential to hosting costs.
Co-Chairs: Ollie Hill Momentum/Rachel Garnham CLPD. Speakers: Jess Barnard NEC // Richard Burgon MP // Yasmin Dar NEC // Brian Leishman MP // Gemma Bolton NEC // Cllr Minesh Parekh
Christine Shawcroft peeps behind the curtain of democratically elected governments and asks whose interests are actually represented by cutting welfare to increase military spending.
In the golden olden days of the Daily Mirror under the leadership of Hugh Cudlipp, the paper used to specialise in front pages entirely consisting of huge black headlines saying things like, ‘Are we all bloody mad?’. One could be forgiven for thinking that they were several decades ahead of their time.
We no longer have even the shreds of a left-leaning daily press, the Mirror having been consumed by celebrity gossip long ago, and the Guardian having more recently completely capitulated to the British establishment. But if ever an independent media were needed to question the sanity of what is going on worldwide, that time is now.
It is being accepted as normal for multi-national corporations to run the world in their interests, having subverted democracy by the simple expedient of purchasing all the political parties. An American observer recently commented that the US is back in the 19th century, when there was no semblance of democracy and the country was run by the powerful.
Here in Europe, we seem to have been catapulted back into the feudal Middle Ages, when the peasants were kept in line by the aristocracy. We may have the appearance of democratically elected governments, but a close look at what they actually do shows that they certainly aren’t operating in the interests of those who elected them.
The Labour government’s welfare cuts in order to spend more on the military are a case in point. Wildly unpopular, with 71% of Labour members opposed to their measures, the government insists that military spending will benefit the economy and create jobs. And who told them this? Why, the arms manufacturers, of course. The same ones who gave them large donations in the run up to the general election.
Fortunately, we have research done for the Scottish government to back us up. Military spending does not create jobs. The armed forces can kill people more easily at a distance with drones; the role of boots on the ground is rapidly becoming obsolete. Spending on public services creates far more jobs than military spending, and spending on health services creates two and a half times more jobs. So clearly, although the government pretends their focus is on job creation (all the while making cuts which can only lead to job losses), clearly something else is going on.
Keir Starmer insists that the defence of the country has been run down, so he has to commit huge sums of money to national security. Europe is in danger of a Russian invasion, so we all have to spend more and more on weapons.
He seems to think that assuming a leadership role in this new Cold War will enable him to strut around the world stage like Winston Churchill. Yet NATO already vastly outspends the Russians on armaments. Our own country has enough nuclear weapons to destroy the planet five times over.
Add up all the nukes held by all the nuclear powers and there’s enough to destroy the solar system. If we really needed more military spending, we could fund it via a wealth tax, which even Tory voters back. But it is opposed by the wealthy.
Some of the wealthiest are arms firms CEOs. So, they make shedloads from government spending, then hang on to their sheds by lobbying the government party (to which they made huge donations) not to increase their taxes.
Are we all bloody mad?
This article first appeared in the May 2025 edition of Original Labour Briefing
In an exclusive blog for CND, Diane Abbott MP argues the government is making all the wrong choices, implementing austerity whilst significantly increasing military spending. Concern is not confined to peace activists. Two national newspapers have made the link, with one ‘splashing on its front page that the government is creating a warfare state’.
Abbott’s Early Day Motion, EDM 925 says the billions spent on Trident are a waste of public funds and calls on the government to reverse plans to increase defence spending and redirect funds into public ser vices, international development and climate action. Ask your MP to sign.
