March with UNISON on 12 May

Local elections are now over but no rest for the wicked. Big pro public services Trade Union demo next Saturday in London. If you haven't been on a London demo beforehand this video is incredibly informative. Please share as widely as possible.

Let's organise Labour branches as well as unions to attend.

Look forward to seeing you on Saturday 12 May with UNISON in Victoria Embankment at 11am

Re-elected & Newham Council Local Elections Count 2018

I was delighted to be re-elected yesterday as a Labour (and also now Co-operative) Councillor in London Borough of Newham for a 3rd term with Cllr John Whitworth & Cllr Charlene McLean.

We have 3 Councillors per ward and this time I had the highest personal vote. In the past my retiring colleague Cllr Freda Bourne always had the highest personal vote. I used to put that down to her name appearing first on the ballot paper. Now that my surname comes first, it is surely due to my hard work and personal following?

Seriously though, the Labour vote in our ward is humbling, we got about 5x the support of the nearest Conservative opponent. All 60 seats in Newham are Labour with similar massive majorities. Whilst I recognise that the "first past the post" system is outdated and needs reform, this result demonstrates the historic and ongoing support of the people of Newham for Labour. We must not take this for granted and must deliver despite the savage Tory cuts.

I was also really pleased that Rokhsana Fiaz was elected Labour Executive Mayor with a staggering 73% of the vote (note under a transferable vote system). She has increased the Labour Mayoral vote by 12% since 2014. A fantastic mandate for change in Newham. Rokhsana is the first directly elected black female mayor in the UK (and possibly Europe?) and has I think the highest percentage vote of any Executive Mayor.

When I recover I will blog further. Many thanks to our Agent, Carl Morris and all the Labour Party activists who worked their socks off for us (including my good lady wife, Gillian)

Vote Labour (& Co-operative)

In West Ham Ward, London Borough Newham. You have 4 votes

East End May Day Rally - Yiddish, Cockney & Bengali Culture mix of Labour Movement Politics & History

After we finished campaigning in our ward, my Labour & Co-operative colleague John Whitworth and I went to the "East End May Day Rally" in East Ham Working Mens Club. This was organised by the Bangladeshi Workers' Council and the Morning Star.

We were late but within minutes of walking into the hall we were singing along (badly) to the French Revolution anthem "La Marseillaise" in Yiddish!

Next there was a local (E17) "Steve White and the Protest Band" who also wanted audience participation and sang several great songs including one advising the EDL to stick their racist hatred up their a...

At the end there was also a musical performance of the "Internationale" in Bengali which we were also invited to join in and sign along.

In between there was a number of political speeches, including that of our very own Newham Cllr, Anamul Islam, who gave a nicely presented speech about how the Labour movement should unite and join the Labour Party.

I am not sure that democratic Parliamentary reformism is everyone's cup of tea but if it is, then they are more than welcome in the political branch of our movement. 

London, Newham and West Ham Labour Action team

My favourite 2018 local election campaign picture so far.

After leafletting a local school, we met up with London Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan, Newham Labour Mayoral Candidate, Rokhsana Fiaz together with the rest of the West Ham Ward Labour Action Team (John Whitworth and Charlene Mclean).

Hat tip picture Rohit

May Day Workplace Disclosure Initiative - "Improving the quality of jobs".

I went to fascinating (and packed)"May Day" meeting today as a Pension trustee asset owner on the launch of a new report by the "Workplace Disclosure Initiative" on "Improving the quality of jobs". 

One of its recommendations was that there should be as much reporting by companies on how they treat their workforce (including their supply chain) as on climate change. 

I will blog further once the local elections madness are over but I was impressed with the story told by its Executive Chair, Richard Dickinson in his opening remarks.

“A Ford boss shows a union leader around a new car assembly line made up of robots. 
Boss says he would be interested to know how union will get union dues from robots. 
Union leader relies by saying he would be interested to know how robots will buy cars"

My question to a panel debate was this:-

"As a trade union activist I had the choice today of going to this event or the traditional May Day march & rally in Trafalgar Square. Despite the beautiful weather, I am pleased with what I am hearing here. However, while the UK is clearly not as bad as many developing countries in the way they treat workers, we must get our own house in order as well. I represent workers in the UK who live in poverty, have insecure employment, awful housing and feel hopeless and betrayed. Unless we clean our own house, concern for those overseas may be seen as crocodile tears. 

My question is does the panel agree that in the long term, companies who treat all their workers well will tend to produce superior investment returns?

I was pleased that the panel was broadly supportive. Janet Williamson from the TUC said there is a  high road to profitability and a low road. In the short term you can make profits from treating your workers badly  The "high road" is better. You do need "vision". Sustainable profitability is via the high road. Decent work should be "business as usual". 

May Day West Hammers putting people at the heart of all we do

Picture collage from May Day campaigning in West Ham ward, Newham, London. Going up and down our many low rise blocks and basement flats is great for fitness (and recorded on my google fit app).

Some great sky and cat pictures!

Foxes, UKIP Switchers & New Eastenders - Forest Gate North Labour Canvass

After my Mobike UK adventure I joined comrades in Forest Gate North on #labourdoorstop.

It was interesting to be blamed for not stopping foxes getting into private gardens and then to hear a previous UKIP supporting family switching to being strong Labour supporters.

Anam and I had a great chat with a Bulgarian family who do want to participate in our democratic process and are of course they are the #NewEastenders.

The overall response was really good. So many say that the Labour Party is - their Party

Photo left to right: Me, Carel (our top branch secretary), Sasha Das Gupta (Candidate) & Cllr Anam Islam (Cllr Rachel Tripp was at a meeting with Newham Cyclists)

My First Mobike

My first @MobikeUK. #ForestGate to #WestHam. Took 5 minutes to download to phone & then ride.

Easy to unlock. Ride ok but not as stable as @SantanderCycles. (aka "Ken Bikes")

Bit small for big blokes.

No gears? Problem if hills.

"Bell" better.

Plenty of amused comments by passersby about Bike. Some thought it was free. Lots of smiles rather than grimaces.

50p for 30 mins rather £2 for Ken Bikes

but #lossleader ? Cheaper than bus, tube and taxi. Save the planet and get fit?

Final Week!

It's the FINAL WEEK... only six more days to get our Labour candidates and our fantastic mayoral candidate Rokhsana Fiaz elected. Details of dates, times and contacts are below.

There will be leafleting, canvassing and street stalls in every ward in West Ham - please join us for the final push to keep Newham Labour.

DATE	WARD	TIME	MEETING POINT	MAILTO CONTACT	ACTIVITY
Saturday 28 April 2018	Stratford New Town	10.30am-12.30pm	Plaza between Stratford Station, Stratford Bus Station and Stratford Centre E15 1XD	Josephine Grahl	Street stall/leafleting
	Canning Town North	1pm	Moka House Coffee Shop 126 Barking Road E16 1EN	Shabs Mohammed	Canvassing
	Canning Town South	11am	Keir Hardie Church E16 1PA	Rohit Dasgupta	Canvassing
	Plaistow South	11am	Plaistow Library E13 9HL	Neil Wilson	Canvassing
	Forest Gate North	12 noon	Maryland Station E15 1SA	Rachel Tripp	Canvassing
	Forest Gate South	11.30am-1.30pm	Atherton Leisure Centre E15 4JF	Mas Patel	Canvassing
	Forest Gate South	3.30-5.30pm	Atherton Leisure Centre E15 4JF	Mas Patel	Canvassing
	Custom House	12 noon	Fulmer Road/Stansfield Road	James Beckles Sarah Ruiz	Canvassing
	Plaistow North	11am	Plaistow Tube Station E13 0DY	Mehmood Mirza	Canvassing
Sunday 29 April 2018	Stratford New Town	11am	Stratford High Street DLR E15 1AJ	Karl Lewis	Canvassing
	Plaistow North	11am	Plaistow Tube Station E13 0DY	Mehmood Mirza	Canvassing
	Canning Town South	11am	Ibis 8 Silvertown Way E16 1ED	Rohit Dasgupta	Canvassing
	West Ham	11.15am	ATL cafe, Plaistow Rd E15 3ET	John Whitworth	Leafleting
	Forest Gate South	11.30am-1.30pm	Atherton Leisure Centre E15 4JF	Mas Patel	Canvassing
	Forest Gate North	11am	Forest Gate Station E7 0NF	Rachel Tripp	Canvassing
	Canning Town North	12 noon	Suffolk Road E13	Shabs Mohammed	Canvassing
	Plaistow South	2pm	Barking Road Community Centre E13 9EZ	Neil Wilson	Canvassing
	Stratford New Town	2.30pm	Maryland Station E15 1SA	Karl Lewis	Canvassing
	Forest Gate South	3.30-5.30pm	Atherton Leisure Centre E15 4JF	Mas Patel	Canvassing
Monday 30 April 2018	Stratford New Town	7.30-8.30am	Stratford International DLR (East Village side) E15 2ER	Karl Lewis	Leafleting
	Forest Gate North	8.30am	Godwin Junior School E7 0JW	Rachel Tripp	Leafleting Godwin and Woodgrange Schools
	Stratford New Town	10am-4pm	Various locations in Stratford	Terry Paul	Leafleting/canvassing
	Forest Gate North	6pm	Maryland Station E15 1SA	Carel Buxton	Canvassing
	Forest Gate South	6-8pm	Atherton Leisure Centre E15 4JF	Mas Patel	Canvassing
	Plaistow South	6pm	Plaistow Library E13 9HL	Neil Wilson	Canvassing
	Stratford and New Town	6.30pm	Tesco Express Stratford High Street E15 2NE	Karl Lewis	Canvassing/leafleting
	Canning Town South	6.30pm	TBC	Rohit Dasgupta	Canvassing
	Plaistow North	6.30pm	Black Lion Pub E13 0AD	Mehmood Mirza	Canvassing
	Custom House	6.30pm	Sullivan Avenue E16	James Beckles Sarah Ruiz	Canvassing
Tuesday 01 May 2018	Forest Gate North	8.30am	Odessa Infants School E7 9BY	Anam Islam	Leafleting Odessa and St James Schools
	Stratford New Town	10am-4pm	Various locations in Stratford	Terry Paul	Leafleting/canvassing
	Canning Town North	6pm	Moka House Coffee Shop 126 Barking Road E16 1EN	Shabs Mohammed	Canvassing
	Forest Gate North	6pm	Forest Gate Station E7 0NF	TBC	Canvassing
	Plaistow South	6pm	Plaistow Library E13 9HL	Neil Wilson	Canvassing
	West Ham	6pm	ATL cafe, Plaistow Rd E15 3ET	John Whitworth	Leafleting
	Forest Gate South	6-8pm	Atherton Leisure Centre E15 4JF	Mas Patel	Canvassing
	Stratford New Town	6.30pm	Maryland Station E15 1SA	Karl Lewis	Canvassing/leafleting
	Canning Town South	6.30pm	TBC	Rohit Dasgupta	Canvassing
	Plaistow North	6.30pm	Plaistow Library E13 9HL	Mehmood Mirza	Canvassing
	Custom House	6.30pm	Sullivan Avenue E16	James Beckles Sarah Ruiz	Canvassing
	Plaistow South
Wednesday 02 May 2018	Forest Gate North	8.30am	St Francis School E15 1HB and Maryland Station E15 1SA	Sasha Das Gupta	Leafleting
	Stratford New Town	10am-4pm	Various locations in Stratford	Terry Paul	Leafleting/canvassing
	Stratford New Town	5-7.30pm	Stratford Station E15 1AZ	Karl Lewis	Leafleting
	Forest Gate North	6pm	Maryland Station E15 1SA	TBC	Canvassing
	Forest Gate South	6-8pm	Atherton Leisure Centre E15 4JF	Mas Patel	Canvassing
	Canning Town South	6.30pm	TBC	Rohit Dasgupta	Canvassing
	Plaistow North	6.30pm	Harold Road Community Centre E13 0SE	Mehmood Mirza	Canvassing
	Custom House	6.30pm	Custom House Library E16 3JJ	James Beckles Sarah Ruiz	Canvassing