#TUSC21 thread!

#TUSC21 Jared Wood asks "What force in Parliament is prepared to free the trade unions today?"

450 in the conference now!

Good point by Jared, having real respect for those sincerely fighting for a left in Labour. But he does say we cannot wait for Labour to shift left to actually represent workers. SocDem parties like Labour have been smashed across Europe. The need for #TUSC21 is clear.

Hannah Sell's first point - a truly gigantic number of Covid deaths, horrendous poverty in Boris' Britain. The Tories can't and for millions won't be forgiven.

Corbyn's election to leader in 2015 was very positive, but "there was still a big powerful Blairite wing in the Labour Party"

Hannah add that Corbyn did enthuse hundreds of thousands of a new generation of young people, who for the first time heard in mainstream politics the ideas of nationalisation and of anti-austerity. 2017 gave a glimpse of how so many could be won to socialist ideas.

This May will -or should- be a massive set of local elections. Labour has the political power in councils to really push back against austerity and against Boris' agenda. But sadly it isn't doing that, and Starmer won't push Labour councils to fight back.

Again why #TUSC21 is necessary. We do not exaggerate our forces, we do not claim TUSC can be THE solution right now, but at the moment there aren't bigger forces fighting Labour at the ballot box. We are still at early stages, we want to get more unions and left groups on board.

#TUSC21 candidates will stand on a minimum programme to oppose cuts, privatisation, and all forms of oppression. This programme allows great flexibility for candidates of different key interests to stand under the same banner https://www.tusc.org.uk/17426/22-11-2020/tusc-sets-out-core-policies-for-may-2021-local-elections

Independent members' rep Pete McLaren points out he has been in a few left unity projects previously, only TUSC has represented independent members properly. And now we have a unique opportunity to build local TUSC groups and make them permanent to campaign and debate.

Pete addresses that having large Socialist Party branches where we seek to build TUSC groups could be straining on the SP, and so the role for independents in #TUSC21 is so important.

Pete points out Starmer's first policy speech was in the Mail, where he said we need to tackle "government waste", that we must support those who are "proud to be British" and we need "stringent immigrant controls". He says it is clear hints to racism.

TUSC is a stepping stone towards a new mass workers party, which can be built by getting more trade unions and reps involved and by building those permanent local TUSC groups.

Dave Roberts, director of Resist - Movement for a People's Party next. He begins by saying they are made of a big variety, Williamson spent 40 years building Labour while he had opposed Labour for most of his life.

Annnd I lost internet. Coming back in to Dave saying that Corbynism was under threat from when Ken Livingstone was removed for speaking out. Question of what we do next in terms of Labour.

Dave ended up chairing his local Labour Party because he joined and then saw the right wing assaulting the left, and he sought to back up the left. Now we need to convince a good portion of the 300k who joined after Corbyn to get involved.

Clive Heemskirk -TUSC election agent- talking through our role in the local elections. Can councils really fight cuts? "The simple answer is yes they can". Councils are due to have 30% less funding than they had even in 2015!

[We're at 480 people in #TUSC21 now] Clive says councils still have big powers to create jobs, build homes, support education. In 2016 he explained what Labour councils could do now - they have a bigger budget than 16 EU countries including Portugal https://tusc.org.uk/txt/355.pdf 

We've had TUSC councillors who have put forward arguments against austerity in their councils. Councils can set needs budgets; it is a matter of political will. Even under Corbyn, no Labour council had that will and even many councillors helped undermine Corbyn.

@NancyTaaffe first floor speaker at #TUSC21 pointing out the giant inequalities in London, exaggerated by Covid. Construction companies forced workers to come in by tube, thousands of jobs have been lost, apparently 1 million have left London

Sadiq Khan is a mini Starmer, passing on austerity, attacking trade unionists, keeping schools open. We need to challenge him for mayor, and need to challenge Labour in the London assembly.

Jim McFarlane next with greetings from Scottish TUSC. Independence remains the biggest issue. Pro independence parties likely to get a majority in Scotland, and this will bring the national question to the forefront. Labour has shown getting that wrong is electorally lethal.

We can't allow the SNP to get away with using their lead on independence to get away with cuts and privatisation. There is a massive fight building there.

Declan Clune next talking about the Covid deaths for transport workers. 58 deaths in London most being bus drivers. They are still fighting today for PPE, they only just got temperature tests for staff attending sites.

Next is Deji Olayinka who made fantastic and well-received speeches at BLM demos in Brum and Cov. There is mass support to fight racism, but Starmer has shown racism is welcome in Labour with bullies of Diane Abbott allowed back in.

He says Labour assumes it can get the black vote. Their MPs and councillors are landlords who have interests in keeping tenants down. Starmer's flag waving is a 'blow horn' to reactionary instincts, it does not represent a real move to unity of workers.

Next I didn't catch the name, but a rep from the Grey Swans campaigning for equal and decent pensions. "if you want help slaughtering Labour for what they did ... I'm your person"

Roger Bannister in Liverpool talking about the situation there. Since Joe Anderson left, Labour has been in disarray there with 3 trying to get Labour's candidacy. Mayors concentrate power in one person, councils need 2/3 majority to oppose them.

Michelle Francis from Bangor uni talking about the rent strike campaign there after horrendous rip off of students there. Students are campaigning not just for their rent back but for free education and to transform the university system on a socialist basis.

Nick Chaffey talking about the work of anti-cuts councillors in Southampton, saving a swimming pools and more and presenting a no-cuts budget which could use the combined power of unions and locals to oppose cuts and bring a bold needs budget. This is what #TUSC21 will stand for.

Andy Walker from Redbridge Trade Union Party. He says councillors should hold monthly meetings and calls on TUSC to support that.

Suzanne Muna from SHAC calls for more housing policies for Covid safety and to build tenants' powers.

Paul Reilly from the RMT and from Nuneaton local to me. We recognised Corbyn and Corbynism was vulnerable in Labour. We have to say there is still an alternative to the right wing of Labour in TUSC. [also called the Labour leader Stier Karmer :P ]

Some RMT wanted to re-affiliate to Labour, now we can see that would have put the RMT in a worse position. Labour is not representing the trade unions.

Onay Kasab spoke about how Labour is the employer in Croydon has enabled privatisation and refused to support striking school workers. All Labour figures have done there is make non-political statements.

Covid has adversely impacted the black and Asian community, Labour is failing to act on this and some are denying it. Fire and rehire was carried out by Labour 10 years ago in Greenwich. He asks, rhetorically, should we tell workers to vote for Khan or vote for a trade unionist?

Hugo Pierre from the SP and UNISON, final floor speaker at #TUSC21. In his area the Tower Hamlets council have used reserves to pay redundancy pay for cuts rather than to build a fight!

Annnd my internet's cutting out again, so I get just half of Hugo's speech. Luckily, TUSC is recording #TUSC21 and will upload the conference so anyone can rewatch it!

Makis Katsaitis, a European citizen working as a chef who has faced zero-hour contracts. "There is no future in front of us" post-Covid because of risk of hospitality sector facing mass redundancy.

Ted Woodley from the RMT, SP, and Brum! Stood as a TUSC candidate several times. A lot of workers gave broad support for our policies before Corbyn but honestly thought it was far off. Corbyn changed that with a platform for socialist ideas.

He adds that Labour won't let that mistake happen again! Elections give a platform for socialist politics. Last point, 62k railway workers will not get a pay rise. And Labour isn't opposing it, they aren't demanding a real pay rise.

Clive replying on the conference. The discussion will go back to the #TUSC21 steering committee [which I'll be on as a #Napo NEC member in personal capacity] to confirm that minimum platform and discuss the additions and amendment put forward to TUSC.

The purpose of the minimum core policies is to encourage as many candidates as possible to join a fighting anti-austerity programme. There will be further discussions throughout TUSC.

His final point, its time to "shake off the mothballs" and get building TUSC again. #TUSC21 is part of the solution to the crisis of working class political representation.

Dave Roberts coming in, says Corbyn's manifesto was spun by the right wing media as an unaffordable Marxist nightmare. Mostly young people with hope for radical change joined Labour under Corbyn. The task of this generation is to bring about progressive socialism.

He also asks TUSC steering committee to amend a core platform point on social enterprises, which comprise of not just groups interested in privatisation but also community groups formed on a social and community basis.