Dismissal and Re-engagement, Indeed

Durham County Council has suspended the notices of dismissal and re-engagement that it had issued to its Teaching Assistants. It will now be engaging in talks aimed at resolving the dispute. Tomorrow's strike has therefore been called off.

There is still a lot of fighting to do. But a victory march at next year's Miners' Gala ought to feature every re-elected Lib Dem and Independent, and everyone who had taken the seat of a Labour councillor who had voted against the TAs. Without wishing to speak out of turn, at least one of their remarkable organisers ought to speak from the platform, as their stalwart supporter, Jeremy Corbyn, has already promised to do for the third year running.

The Most Important Industrial Dispute In Britain Today

Durham County Council’s Teaching Assistants will strike again this week, on Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th November. Theirs is the most important industrial dispute in Britain today. When was the last time that two thousand people in this country went on strike, and that twice in three weeks? They face being sacked at Christmas, and reappointed on a 23 per cent pay cut. Meanwhile, the Council has written off its loan to Durham County Cricket Club, which provides the most powerful Councillors and Officers with a private box.

Durham County Council was the first local authority of which Labour ever won Overall Control. That has never been lost, in more than 100 years. The Labour Group on that authority is the largest in local government. But that Council is now the Mike Ashley of the public sector, and the twenty-first century version of Margaret Thatcher’s National Coal Board. This coming May, it can be, and it should be, taken to No Overall Control.

Very large numbers of Labour Councillors have absented themselves from the votes on this issue. But enough of them have attended to ensure that the Teaching Assistants have been betrayed. The Councillors, all of them Labour, who have thus voted ought all to lose their seats to whoever was best placed to remove them, very preferably activists in the Teaching Assistants’ remarkable campaign. The Liberal Democrats and the Independents have been, and remain, stalwart supporters of the Teaching Assistants. Therefore, they deserve to be re-elected. That leaves only the Labour absentees, plus a mere four Conservatives who all sit for two adjacent wards. 

Whoever the new Leader and Deputy Leader of Durham County Council were to be, they must not be members of the Labour Party. The Teaching Assistants’ flag, which is now ubiquitous in County Durham, must fly from County Hall every day for the following four years, at least.

This victory will rank alongside the election of Ken Livingstone as Mayor of London in 2000, the election of George Galloway (a strong supporter of the Durham Teaching Assistants) as MP for Bethnal Green and Bow in 2005, Galloway’s election as MP for Bradford West in 2012, the election of Jeremy Corbyn (another strong supporter of the Durham Teaching Assistants) as Leader of the Labour Party in 2015, Corbyn’s re-election as Leader of the Labour Party in 2016, and his election as Prime Minister in 2020.

David Lindsay, 2017 council candidate and 2020 parliamentary candidate, Lanchester, County Durham; @davidaslindsay

George Galloway, former Member of Parliament for Glasgow Hillhead (1987-1997), Glasgow Kelvin (1997-2005), Bethnal Green and Bow (2005-2010), Bradford West (2012-2015); @georgegalloway 

James Draper, writer, broadcaster and activist, Lanchester, County Durham 

John Mooney, writer, broadcaster and activist, Lurgan, County Armagh; @FitzjamesHorse 

Adam Young, writer, broadcaster and activist, Burnopfield, County Durham; @JustALocalSerf

In Tutela Nostra Limuria

Despicable.

Always apply the Chagos Test to anyone who professes to support the Falkland Islanders.

Unless they also support the Chagos Islanders, and with the same amount of vigour, then dismiss them with contempt and derision.

Rank Alongside

Durham County Council was the first local authority of which Labour ever won Overall Control. That has never been lost, in over 100 years. The Labour Group on that authority is the largest in local government, with a whopping 94 members, out of a total of 126. But this coming May, that council can be, should be, and, I believe, will be taken to No Overall Control.

Via certain institutions that had better not be named due to the involvement of Labour Party members, the Teaching Assistants, who are complete political novices, have established from scratch the connections on the wider Left necessary to bring that about.

If the immediate beneficiaries include Lib Dems, more or less Tory Independents, and even a few overt Conservatives, then so be it. The Hillary Clintons in County Hall will have been Trumped. The several former striking miners who have scabbed for them will have got what scabs have always got.

Whoever the new Leader and Deputy Leader of Durham County Council are going to be, they are not going to be members of the Labour Party. That council is no longer going to be the Mike Ashley of the public sector. It is no longer going to be the twenty-first century reincarnation of Margaret Thatcher's National Coal Board. The Teaching Assistants' flag will fly from County Hall every day for the following four years, at least.

This victory will rank alongside the election of Ken Livingstone as Mayor of London in 2000, the election of George Galloway (a strong supporter of the Durham Teaching Assistants) as MP for Bethnal Green and Bow in 2005, and his election as MP for Bradford West in 2012.

This victory will rank alongside the election of Jeremy Corbyn (a strong supporter of the Durham Teaching Assistants) as Leader of the Labour Party in 2015, his re-election as Leader of the Labour Party in 2016, and his election as Prime Minister in 2020.

A Basket of Deplorables

The American Democratic Party has been defeated in the person of the most economically neoliberal and internationally neoconservative nominee imaginable. From the victory of Donald Trump, to the Durham Teaching Assistants’ dispute, the lesson needs to be learned. The workers are not the easily ignored and routinely betrayed base, with the liberal bourgeoisie as the swing voters to whom tribute must be paid. The reality is the other way round. The EU referendum ought already to have placed that beyond doubt.

There is a need to move, as a matter of the utmost urgency, away from the excessive focus on identity issues, and towards the recognition that those existed only within the overarching and undergirding context of the struggle against economic inequality and in favour of international peace, including co-operation with Russia, not a new Cold War.

It is worth noting that working-class white areas that voted for Barack Obama did not vote for Hillary Clinton, that African-American turnout went down while the Republican share of that vote did not, and that Trump took 30 per cent of the Hispanic vote. Black Lives Matter meant remembering Libya, while Latino Lives Matter meant remembering Honduras. 

The defeat of the Clintons by a purported opponent of neoliberal economic policy and of neoconservative foreign policy, although time will tell, has secured the position of Jeremy Corbyn, who is undoubtedly such an opponent. It is also a challenge to Theresa May, to make good her rhetoric about One Nation, about a country that works for everyone, and about being a voice for working people.

David Lindsay, 2017 council candidate and 2020 parliamentary candidate, Lanchester, County Durham; @davidaslindsay

George Galloway, former Member of Parliament for Glasgow Hillhead (1987-1997), Glasgow Kelvin (1997-2005), Bethnal Green and Bow (2005-2010), Bradford West (2012-2015); @georgegalloway 

Neil Clark, journalist and broadcaster; @NeilClark66 

Ronan Dodds, writer, broadcaster and activist, Newcastle upon Tyne; @RonanDodds 

James Draper, writer, broadcaster and activist, Lanchester, County Durham 

John Mooney, writer, broadcaster and activist, Lurgan, County Armagh; @FitzjamesHorse 

Mietek Padowicz, writer, broadcaster and activist, Newcastle upon Tyne; @scurvytoon 

Aren Pym, writer, broadcaster and activist, West Cornforth, County Durham; @arenpym 

Adam Young, writer, broadcaster and activist, Burnopfield, County Durham; @JustALocalSerf

Equal Pay Day?

Not for the Durham Teaching Assistants, most of whom are women, it isn't. But there is, of course, money for a cricket club that furnishes senior Councillors and Officers with a private box. Councillor Simon Henig CBE? Clearly, CBE stands for Cricket Before Education.

Oh, well, Donald Trump won the Rust Belt. So kicking out enough triangulating Third Way throwbacks to take Durham County Council to No Overall Control should be a doddle. Call that Equal Payback Day.

Swings and Roundabouts

From the Durham Teaching Assistants' dispute, to the victory of Donald Trump, the lesson needs to be learned, and learned the hard way.

The workers are not the easily ignored and routinely betrayed base, with the liberal bourgeoisie as the swing voters to whom tribute must be paid.

The reality is the other way round.

Support The Teaching Assistants Tomorrow

Support the Teaching Assistants at County Hall from 9am tomorrow.

And then march to the Miners' Hall at Redhills for a rally at 12 noon, to be addressed by the President of the ATL and by the General Secretary of Unison.

A Strategic Dispute With A Hostile Employer

Lanchester people, get yourselves to the EP School (if you're from round here, then you know) for 8am tomorrow, to join the Teaching Assistants' picket of the school of which Ossie Johnson is a governor. Media expected.

Everyone, get yourselves to County Hall for 9am on Wednesday, and then to the Miners' Hall at Redhills for a rally at 12 noon, to be addressed by the President of the ATL and by the General Secretary of Unison.

Unison has released £150,000 from its Industrial Action Fund to support the Durham TAs, describing this as "a strategic dispute with a hostile employer." The largest Labour Group in local government, massively dominating the longest-standing Labour council of them all. With the Leader of the Labour Party openly and publicly on the other side, the side of the workers.

As am I. And as I shall remain. Up to, through and beyond next May's elections.

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