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Taj Ali Profile picture
Taj Ali
@Taj_Ali1
Co-editor @tribunemagazine | Cover trade unions and workers' rights | Historian of British South Asian political activism
Apr 10 • 28 tweets • 7 min read
In 1981, 12 young men in Bradford were arrested for preparing to defend their community from fascists. 4 decades on, I spoke to them about their trial & the solidarity that helped secure their freedom. The Bradford 12 case was a pivotal moment in British legal history.🧵#Defiance Image Summer 1981 had brought real fears in Bradford. On 1 July, a firebomb attack killed a South Asian mother and her 3 children in Walthamstow. Then, rumours began that fascists were planning to march through Manningham on 11 July.

tribunemag.co.uk/2022/10/self-d…
Apr 3 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
NEW: 100 Manchester artists and their helpers have gathered to remove their works en masse from this year’s @HOME_mcr exhibition in protest at the cancellation of Palestinian event, ‘Voices of Resilience’

Comes after 1000 people protested outside the venue on Saturday.


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Image Many others plan to take down their art in the coming days.

In place of their now absent artworks, the creatives put up copies of a statement signed by over 150 of their colleagues calling for an apology from Home & the reinstatement of Voices of Resilience among other demands..
Mar 27 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
BREAKING: The Foreign Office will face a legal challenge over their decision to defund UNRWA.

The challenge has been launched by Bindmans LLP, on behalf of a British-Palestinian man in a desperate bid to protect his family in Gaza, who are UNRWA-registered refugees. The complaint alleges that the government’s decision may violate its international obligations, possibly making it complicit in Israel’s apparent breaches of the Genocide Convention and Common Article 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Mar 12 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
A reminder of what the Forde report said about Diane Abbott's treatment within the Labour Party:

'The criticisms of Diane Abbott are...expressions of visceral disgust, drawing on racist tropes, and they bear little resemblance to the criticisms of white male MPs.' Very few journalists took this report seriously at the time. It uncovered widespread Islamophobia and anti-Black racism, accusing the Labour Party of 'operating a hierarchy of racism'
Mar 10 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
I've spent the past few months speaking to miners and British Pakistanis who supported them. I'll be sharing the stories of Pakistani taxi drivers and local mosques across Yorkshire who raised funds and Pakistanis from Sheffield who were there at the Battle of Orgreave.
Image A food collection leaflet in Urdu and Punjabi that was distributed across Birmingham.

Street collections on Soho Road in Handsworth were known to be amongst the best supported & miners squabbled over who got that 'patch.' Image
Dec 5, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
🚨BREAKING: Doctors in England to escalate strike action.

Full Walkout of 216 hours over 9 days.

20th December-23rd December

3rd January-9th January

@BMA_JuniorDocs say the Government has been unable to provide a credible offer. Comes after 5 weeks of talks between junior doctors in England and the Government.

This latest round of talks came after months of strike action, followed by weeks of delay by the Department of Health and Social Care in restarting the negotiations. A deal has not been reached.
Nov 10, 2023 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
BREAKING: Over 400 trade unionists have just shut down entrances to BAE Systems' factory in Rochester, Kent, which provides components for military aircraft currently being used by Israeli forces in the bombardment of Gaza.

BAE Systems is the UK’s leading arms manufacturer, which produces 13-15% of the value of Israel's F-35s stealth combat aircraft, the world's most advanced fighter jet currently being used by Israel to bombard Gaza.
Oct 26, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
NEW: Support for the Labour Party amongst British Muslims has dropped by a dramatic 66% according to a new survey of 30,000 British Muslims in 575 parliamentary constituencies across the country.

@MuslimCensus survey suggests Labour is at risk of losing over 1.5 million votes. 98% of respondents have a negative view on both the Conservative and Labour parties following their response to events in Israel and Palestine.

96% said the change in voting intention has been impacted by recent events in Israel and Palestine.
Oct 25, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
'Labour is no longer a safe space for Muslims'

25 councillors have resigned from the Labour party in the past fortnight.

Full list:

Asima Shaikh (Finsbury Park)

Mairéad Healy (Cambridge)

Usman Bhaimia (Gloucester)

Amna Abdullatif (Manchester)

(1/4)
tribunemag.co.uk/2023/10/starme… Shaista Aziz (Oxford)

Amar Latif (Oxford)

Dr Hosnieh Djafari-Marbini (Oxford)

Paula Dunne (Oxford)

Jabu Nala-Hartley (Oxford)

Duncan Hall (Oxford)

Edward Mundy (Oxford)

Imogen Thomas (Oxford)

The Party has lost its majority on Oxford City Council.

tribunemag.co.uk/2023/10/labour…
Oct 24, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
NEW: South Wales Islamic Centre, where @Keir_Starmer held a photo op on Saturday, have released a statement expressing their dismay at a social media post by the Labour leader, accusing him of "gravely" misrepresenting congregants and the nature of the visit. Image This is the social media post the statement is referring to.

In the bizarrely worded tweet, the Labour leader says he repeated his call "for all hostages to be released."

Oct 19, 2023 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
BREAKING: The leaders of one of Scotland’s largest local Labour Party branches have resigned their positions in protest at the leadership’s stifling of debate on Gaza.

9 members of Glasgow Kelvin CLP Exec Committee including Labour Peer Baroness Bryan of Partick have resigned. Resignations follow the submission of a motion calling on @AnasSarwar to press for a cessation of Israeli military action, the establishment of a humanitarian corridor and the release of hostages. The motion was due to be debated at a regular meeting of the local party tonight...
Oct 18, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
A growing number of councillors have resigned from the Labour party:

Asima Shaikh (Finsbury Park)

Mairéad Healy (Cambridge)

Usman Bhaimia (Gloucester)

Russell Whitling (Gedling)

Amna Abdullatif (Manchester)

Jessie Hoskin (Stroud)

Shaista Aziz (Oxford)

Amar Latif (Oxford) Asima Shaikh has written to her colleagues saying she is "obliged to resign from the party because of the failure of the Labour leadership and front bench to defend international humanitarian law - thereby condoning the commitment of war crimes against the Palestinian people." Image
Sep 22, 2023 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Sunak's stubbornness is costly

@RMTunion's Mick Lynch says an industry source told him the treasury spent £1.5bn on rail dispute. Would cost a fraction of that to settle.

@TheBMA say junior doctor strikes have cost the Government around £1bn - would cost that much to settle. The Health Secretary has not met with junior doctors for 140 days. No meetings with consultants for 170 days.

@ASLEFunion and @RMTunion have not had any contact from the Government since January. (Train operating companies can't negotiate without a mandate from the Government)
Sep 20, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
BREAKING: A third group of hospital doctors in England has voted to hold an indicative ballot for strike action.

Specialist, associate specialist & specialty (SAS) doctors could join junior doctors and consultants on picket lines unless they receive an improved pay offer. SAS doctors are senior and highly-experienced healthcare professionals who, for a variety of reasons, decided not to go down the traditional consultant or GP pathway.

They have seen their real-terms pay fall by more than a quarter over the last 15 years.
Sep 15, 2023 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
NEW: @CommunityUnion, the Steelworkers' union, has vowed to do whatever it takes to protect Steelworkers' jobs.

The union describes a deal between the Government & Tata Steel as damaging for the economy and steelworkers. Unions fear around 3000 job losses, mainly at Port Talbot. @CommunityUnion: “Unions should have had a seat at the table throughout this process, as it is clear the interests of the workforce have not been considered in the rush to sign off a deal to do decarbonisation on the cheap...
Aug 31, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
🚨BREAKING: For the first time in NHS history, junior doctors and consultants will coordinate strike action in a major escalation.

4 joint days of strike action across September and October alongside additional days of strike action. Junior doctors have voted by 98% to continue industrial action. Turnout in the re-ballot was 71%. This gives @BMA_JuniorDocs a legal mandate to go on strike for an additional 6 months.
Aug 7, 2023 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Mick Lynch says an industry source has told him the treasury has spent £1.5bn on the rail dispute. Says taxpayer is subsidising attacks on @RMTunion as train companies are guaranteed income from the government.

"It would cost a mere fraction of that to settle the dispute." "That's why I say this dispute is corrupt. If it was a commercial business, standing on its own two feet, with its own revenue losses, they couldn't take this level of strike action."

Says dispute has cost hospitality industry £3.5 billion.
Jul 22, 2023 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
A huge row has broken out at the Labour Party's national policy forum between trade unions and the party leadership.

Unions were proposing amendments to strengthen workers' rights.

"Fait accompli provided. Party staffers trying to tell general secretaries what to do. Pathetic." Union source: "Essentially boycotted dinner. Tables sparse with Starmer in attendance"

General Secretaries are meeting to discuss an "incompetent and duplicitous attempt to bounce trade unions."
Jul 14, 2023 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Keir Starmer is facing a showdown with Britain’s biggest unions who are demanding big pay rises if Labour wins the next election.

@unitetheunion and @unisontheunion will next week challenge the Labour leader’s stance at the party’s national policy forum.
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi… @unitetheunion will demand a commitment to restore public sector pay levels.

@unisontheunion is seeking a pledge that Labour will ensure pay “at least keeps pace with inflation”, while the @GMB_union wants a firm promise to reform the way public sector pay is set.
Jun 20, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Statement from @TheBMA: “The Covid Inquiry deserved better than George Osborne’s dance of denial today. For him to say there is 'no connection whatsoever between austerity and the unequal impact of the pandemic on disadvantaged communities’ is quite staggering... ...The removal of the social safety net, the cutting and reallocating of public health budgets, the underfunding of public services – all of this had its greatest impact on the most disadvantaged...
Jun 19, 2023 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
NEW: Church of England clergy, represented by @unitetheunion, have for the first time in their history submitted a formal pay claim, as members struggle with the cost of living.

Vicars call for a 9.5% pay rise. Unite says the Church of England has billions in the bank & can pay. Recent research by the charity Clergy Support Trust revealed that nearly one fifth of clergy households turned to them for charitable aid in 2022 to make ends meet.