Britain

New international push against nuclear weapons, but nuclear states resisting

Nuclear weapons are in the news again, for all the wrong reasons. But the adoption of a new United Nations treaty could kickstart a re-energised effort to abolish these expensive, dangerous and immoral weapons.

On July 7, the UN General Assembly adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the nuclear ban treaty. It was voted in by 122 countries, with only one country voting against.

However, all nine nuclear weapon states, and most nuclear umbrella states, failed to attend the treaty negotiations and boycotted the vote.

Britain: Momentum steps up organising to transform society

Disparaged and smeared by the Labour Party machine and corporate media for almost two years, Momentum 鈥 a grassroots group of Labour members committed to the socialist politics of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn 鈥 came out fighting during the campaign for the June 8 general elections.

Spurred on by a sense of idealism, this campaign came close to sweeping Labour into government on the most transformative manifesto for a generation.

Britain: Disability activists blockade parliament in protest against cuts

Disabled people faced off with armed police at Parliament on July 19 as they were told their T-shirts exposing the savage nature of Tory cuts were off-limits, the next day.

The campaigners were there to lobby MPs over the horrendous toll the Conservatives鈥 austerity and blitz on essential benefits has had on disabled people. The rally was part of a week of action organised by Disabled People Against Cuts to flag up the brutal nature of the attacks.

Corbyn urges May to let trans people self-identify their gender

Labour leader J聽has challenged Prime Minister Theresa May to allow people to self-identify as transgender without having to go through medical checks, on July 19.

The socialist politician pledged that Labour would support any government attempt to change the law.

Jeremy Corbyn with Naomi Klein.

Jeremy Corbyn speaks to Naomi Klein about creating a better world

"Social justice isn't copyrighted," British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn told Naomi Klein聽in an聽聽published at聽The Intercept聽on Thursday.

DUP deal discussions expose British ignorance of Ireland

In Northern Ireland 鈥 the partitioned statelet made up of the six Irish counties still claimed by Britain 鈥 the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is the largest unionist party (supporters of an ongoing 鈥渦nion鈥 with Britain).

Grenfell survivors still not offered adequate housing

Survivors of the Grenfell Tower disaster are not being offered suitable accommodation by Kensington and Chelsea Council, on July 6, as British Communities Secretary Sajid Javid announced yet another taskforce would be sent in to cover the calamitous Tory local authority鈥檚 failings.

Britain: Firefighters slam job cuts

Nearly one in five frontline firefighter jobs have been cut since 2010, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said, the on July 6.

The union has warned that continued 鈥渟avage鈥 cuts seriously threaten public safety. It said a post-war record of 11,000 jobs had gone in the past seven years. The cuts include almost 8000 full-time firefighters and nearly 3000 鈥渞etained鈥 (on-call) workers.

Football fan groups vote to back 鈥楾he Sun鈥 boycott

鈥淪upporters of around 70 English football clubs have vowed to boycott聽The Sun聽over its coverage of the Hillsborough disaster,鈥 on July 3.

The decision by the fan groups comes after six people 鈥 including the senior police officer in charge on the day 鈥 were arrested over the infamous disaster in which 96 Liverpool fans were killed. Coverage by The Sun infamously blamed Liverpool fans and included insulting lies about their alleged behaviour since proven to be entirely false.

'Not One Day More': Large London march says no to austerity, privatisation

Tens of thousands marched through central London on July 1 to protest privatisation and austerity that has led to cuts in spending for education and public services.

Many carried signs reading: "Austerity Kills," "Cuts Cost Lives," "Not One Day More," and "Tories Out."

After holding a minute's silence in honor of the victims of the deadly Grenfell Tower fire in London, which killed at least 80 people, those in the crowd also staged a round of applause for the emergency services.

In Britain, there's a sense of a growing rebellion against austerity

Few would have predicted, until recent times, that the biggest act at the Glastonbury music festival would be a 68-year-old socialist reciting .

Yet Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn鈥檚 June 24 speech at Glastonbury attracted what was likely the largest crowd in the festival鈥檚 history, said.

In Song of Gulzarina, racism, imperialist and terror converge in a Pakistani migrant's tale

Song of Gulzarina
By Tariq Mehmood
Daraja Press
November 2016

鈥Sing to the Western wind the song it understands.鈥

Song of Gulzarina, by British-Pakistani filmmaker and author Tariq Mehmood, stands out as a unique piece of literature that intertwines personal issues such as migration, identity crisis and romance, with the impact of racism, Islamophobia and Western imperialism in the Middle East.