Ben T Profile picture
Apr 9 12 tweets 9 min read
John Moloney, Asst General Secretary of @pcs_union, on the #UnionsStandWithUkraine march, condemning the UK government's appalling treatment of refugees fleeing Putin's invasion of Ukraine, and fleeing persecution and destruction around the world. #RefugeesWelcome
Labour MP @NadiaWhittomeMP says Russian antiwar protesters are heroes and "will go down in history". She, too, highlights the British government's hypocrisy in obstructing, vilifying and mistreating refugees. It's not good enough to wave flags if you won't waive visas.
Solidarity from Hongkongers and @labsolidarityhk on the #UnionsStandWithUkraine protest
Solidarity from Russian antiwar dissenter Irina #UnionsStandWithUkraine
President of @ucu @zenscara reads a statement of support from @sarahwoolley01, @BFAWUOfficial General Secretary
Comrade @Pete_Radcliff speaks about the ruling class of Russia - "when the soviet union bureaucracy fell, they took off the uniforms of the KGB and put on the business suit of the CEO". They re-solidified their power with the help of the City of London.
And @Pete_Radcliff likens Putin's partition of Ukraine to the British partition of Ireland - partition can only fuel reactionary nationalism and sectarianism #UnionsStandWithUkraine
Now @panny_antoniou speaks for @OpenLabour - "Peace is won by Ukrainians defeating Putin". He brings our attention to Putin's past crimes from Grozny to Aleppo. And demands welcome for *all* refugees - "Johnson and Patel don't care - we must force the government to help".
More from today's #UnionsStandWithUkraine protest - @workersliberty placards
Ruth Cashman, a leader of @LambethUNISON, reads messages from our fellow trade unions in Ukraine. Workers' solidarity around the world!
Finally, Chris Ford of @ukrainesol says Russia "invaded with all the arrogance of colonialists", but their expectations of a swift, easy victory were dashed by the Ukrainian people's resistance as well as the non-cooperation of antiwar Russians and Belarusians.
Chris Ford of @UkraineSol calls for the expropriation of London's oligarchs to help fund the rebuilding of Ukraine after the war.

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More from @IrateBen

Mar 30
So @wesstreeting, you can pander all you like to rightwing bigots like Hartley-Brewer, but don't dress it up snidely as a pseudo "biology lesson" you are evidently unqualified to give.

You sound like homophobes who lecture "it's just science, only men & women can make babies".
The kind of smug performance put on by @wesstreeting here is vacuous nonsense that fundamentally misunderstands what science is. It is not possible for a "biology lesson" to tell you definitively where the boundaries of "man" and "woman" are. Science is not a dictionary.
"Man" & "woman", like pretty much all categories, are concepts humans lay on top of reality, trying to pick out rough patterns and simplify it into something that our heads can work with. Categories don't have rules written into the fabric of reality that can simply be revealed.
Read 8 tweets
Mar 14
Denys Pilash of Sotsialniy Rukh speaking from on the ground at the @UkraineSol rally now, slamming the hypocrisy of the UK govt posturing over the war but not opening its borders for refugees.

He hails the squatters who seized the oligarch's mansion in London today. Image
Another Sotsialniy Rukh activist, Vitaliy, speaks about their call for seizing the wealth of Ukraine's own oligarchs, and put it to use defending, feeding and healing the Ukrainian people. "The war does not cancel the class struggle," he says. @UkraineSol
Vitaliy explains how Ukraine's capitalists continue to attack workers, even as workers fight to defend Ukraine.

One MP has taken the opportunity of the war to propose repealing trade union rights, while ministers refuses to request cancellation of the country's debt.
Read 8 tweets
Feb 25, 2021
First @Pete_Radcliff kicks off by explaining the foundation of @labsolidarityhk - motivated by the need to raise the voice of the left and the workers' movement in support of democracy, distinct from the right-wingers using the issue to attack socialism.
Pete: The Chinese state is not socialist. This is an oppressive system, overseen by an exploitative ruling class, including a bunch of billionaires.

Highlights extreme exploitation of workers, long hours - and the strikes and protests with which they fight back.
Read 25 tweets
Aug 21, 2020
A cowardly, dishonest take. You can't tell people that ending western wars can simply "stop refugees". Not only will the damage already done (and climate change) continue to force ppl to move for decades, but there will still be other tyrants, imperialists & exploiters to flee.
There is no way out of the reality that the coming decades will see huge numbers forced to move. The left has to win the argument that we can and must offer the safe harbour, security and equality. Anything else is dogshit pandering to racists.
And my Iranian socialist comrades might have something to say about @PeoplesMomentum @future_we_need putting up Dar to talk about this, as a politician who has repeatedly celebrated the brutally oppressive, anti-worker government that forced them to seek safety here in exile.
Read 5 tweets
Apr 14, 2020
Hodges has a point, just not the one he thinks he does.

In general, the problem with this government (and its predecessors) isn't that it's forgetful, or stupid, or misinformed.

The problem is they *consciously* choose to prioritise capitalist profit at the expense of life.
The Tories weren't too stupid or too misinformed to know that a pandemic (or even a bad flu season) could exceed the capacity of the NHS.

They simply calculated that the benefit to their class of cutting all spare capacity (and then some) was worth the hit we would take.
They aren't too stupid to understand that they could get more medical equipment and PPE produced if they requisitioned manufacturing capacity instead of begging business owners on social media.

But they place the maintenance of private property above saving lives.
Read 4 tweets
Sep 28, 2019
The idea that scientific innovation requires the profit motive is detached from reality. Pharma capitalism is totally reliant on the basic research done by academics in universities, funded by the state and charities.
BUT @francesweetman has some points about the pharma companies' need for exclusive rights if they want to maintain both R&D and profit (though they could be squeezed further than presently). But the obvious problem here is profit. Corbyn's proposals *don't go far enough*.
Beyond setting up a generics manufacturer to participate in the market, we need to take big pharma itself into democratic ownership. Integrate it w our university research sector and the NHS. Give direction of R&D to scientists, health workers & patients, not shareholders.
Read 8 tweets

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