John McDonnell

I have written along with many of my colleagues urging the government to take emergency action to address the nightmare situation facing Palestinians in Gaza as a result of the floods. This is a desperate tragedy with lives being lost already. caabu.org/news/news/75-uk-pa…

Quick reminder of our meeting tonight at 7.30 pm at St Mary’s Church in Harmondsworth to discuss the latest news on the threat of Heathrow’s plans for a 3rd runway and responding to the airport’s consultation. @StopHeathrowExp

This morning we held our Remembrance service at St Mary’s in Hayes and laid our wreaths at our local war memorial. A large turnout of local residents and young people from the uniformed groups and Gurkha community stood for the 2 minutes silence. I later went on to join our local Gurkha veterans at their remembrance ceremony in West Drayton cemetery. All extremely moving.

Happy Diwali. Lovely to join the families in West Drayton at the Diwali celebrations at Heathrow Primary school organised by the Hillingdon West Drayton and Uxbridge Cultural Society. (HWUC)

Way back in September Randi Weingarten, the President of the American teachers’ union the AFT, sent a letter to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who chairs the Financial Stability Oversight Council, urging an immediate investigation into serious financial risks from the artificial intelligence sector’s rapid debt-laden expansion. The letter from the head of the 1.875 million-member union called for swift action to address the existential threat these dangers carry for AFT members’ retirement security and the U.S. economy as a whole. AFT members’ deferred wages sit in pensions and retirement funds with over $4 trillion in combined assets and include investments in AI-related firms. Weingarten’s letter followed concerns expressed by members of the AFT Trustee Council who help oversee those funds.   “The alarm bells could not ring any louder,” said Weingarten. “If President Donald Trump won’t act to protect working people’s deferred wages from the dangers AI poses to the U.S. economy, public officials need to act. Educators, nurses and public employees didn’t create this AI bubble, and they shouldn’t be the ones who pay for it if it bursts.” The same concerns clearly apply to the security of pensions in the UK. That’s why as trade unions here we need to work with government to ensure protections are in place.

Please do come along to our public meeting on Monday 9 November at 7.30 pm at St Mary’s Church in Harmondsworth to discuss the latest news on the threat of Heathrow’s plans for a 3rd runway and responding to the airport’s consultation. @StopHeathrowExp

Inspired by UK sanctions on Israel, US Democrats want to work with Labour middleeasteye.net/news/how-u…

The US results should give confidence to progressives everywhere. People have rejected the racism displayed by Trump and his supporters and in many states have cited his brutal treatment of migrants as a factor in their decision to reject the politics of Trump.

For years tax justice campaigners, especially Prem Sikka, one of my advisers when I was Shadow Chancellor, have called for the closing of the tax loophole in which members of Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) classify themselves as partners and not employees, with the result they pay less tax. At last it’s reported that HMRC is cracking down on this large scale tax avoidance scheme. Hopefully it’s a start to tackling the tax gap of avoided tax that HMRC conservatively puts at £60 billion.

It’s welcome that the government has had to concede to the Unison campaign to protect social care workers on existing work visas to prevent the collapse of social care in this country. However, Shabana Mahmood has just confirmed that if someone comes here via an “illegal method such as by a small boat” they will have to wait 30 years before they can apply for permanent settlement. Her argument is that these refugees must come by new, safe, legal routes. The problem is that these routes barely exist and as a result many desperate people are forced to resort to other routes. The new rules announced today means that many people, including many children, will have to live with the insecurity of not having settled status for 30 years. We are in danger of witnessing the creation of a generation of unsettled and insecure young people.

100,000 signatures secures a debate in Parliament on this. Please add your name to support this critically important initiative. petition.parliament.uk/petit…

This is the statement issued by the Met Police about the Defend Our Juries demonstration today. Commander Adam Slonecki, from Scotland Yard, said: “All those intending on coming to this event know that supporting a proscribed organisation is unlawful – they are essentially meeting to purposefully commit a crime.” This is a remarkable contrual of the law and extent of police powers. Surely it cannot be right that someone protesting against the Government’s decision to proscribe an organisation is automatically interpreted by the Met Police as supporting that organisation and is therefore committing an arrest-able offence. This is especially the case when the proscription is being challenged in the courts. I believe the government and parliament made the wrong decision in proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation and I continue to call for its deproscription by the government. If the people turning up today to demonstrate against the proscription of Palestine Action are to be arrested for simply turning up, are we all to be criminalised for suggesting the government got this wrong?

The health impact of ultra fine particles from Heathrow’s operation is the health scandal that will be on a par with the consequences of asbestos use if we don’t recognise and address it effectively now.

Please come and join us at the meeting I have convened on 9th November in St Mary’s Church in Harmondsworth for local residents to discuss how we can respond to the consultation by Heathrow airport on the proposed 3rd runway. The meeting is in the heart of the villages that would be wiped off the face of the earth if the government allows the runway to be built, forcing 17,000 people out of their homes.