Internatinal Workers Day demonstration - Oxford

It is important to turn up to this -- not just because war and pensions are important issues -- but because we need to keep a presence on the streets of Oxford and show that we will not be intimidated or harassed.

Notice that you've got Defend Council Housing down as one of the groups who'll be there. Will they be represented by Emma Goodall, who was the contact for Defend Council Housing, and who is now standing for Labour in the County Council elections? If so, might come along and give her a piece of my mind. Is it sheer stupidity or just utter hypocrisy to stand for the party that wants to privatise council housing when you've been fronting a campaign against that very thing...?

Is Emma Goodall's position be any different from the Green's and Liberals who campaigned against the war, while their parties support the ongoing war and occupation in Iraq (though they would put the soldiers in UN uniforms)?

Cos clearly only *your* opinion on the future of Iraq is the true 'anti-war position', and anyone who opposed the war at the time and now has a different opinion to you on the way forward must be a hypocrite - rather than just disagreeing with you.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure this accusation at the Greens was answered on this newswire a few months ago - they support the immediate withdrawal of UK/US troops. If you disagree with any form of UN peacekeeping operation, then that is fair enough, but why do you have to stereotype anyone who disagrees with you as imperialist?

The Green position is quite clear - immediate withdrawal but recognising that given the current climate some UN support would improve the security situation (consisting of forces from other countries in the region). The Green Party has actively campaigned against wars in Iraq (1990 and 2003); Kosova, Afganistan... and so on.


Whereas the only war the LibDems claimed to be against was the most recent Iraq invasion. But they have displayed their usual skill of facing 2 ways at once - they never actually said they were anti-war (see quotes below) only that they would have supported invasion after a second UN resolution. Once the troups were sent in, they supported military action

"This conflict has one of the strongest moral and ethical mandates since the second world war. It is a just war which we know to be right." - Emma Nicholson, LibDem MEP for the South East Region (including Oxford).

"We are not the anti-war party. The UN is the proper place to make the decisions." - Charles Kennedy, LibDem website, 2003 (wanting UN backing for the invasion).

Nuff said!

Elise (Green & proud!)

The poster does not say where the march will go.

Will it be along the High St and St Clements (as before), leading to Fun in the Parks at South Parks with stalls and entertainment, music and food, or is there a different agenda and if so what?

Please tell us the details including times. Thank you.

Erm..wasn't talking about the war - there are other issues you know...

Anyway, not really much of a defence to say, "Well everyone else is a hypocrite too", is it? BTW, is it true she only joined the Labour party 18 months ago, round about the time anyone with any sense had long since left/was leaving...? Doesn't really inspire a great deal of confidence now, does it? (Just to be clear, I've never met the woman but this does extremely wind me up, especially making a deal about it on her election leaflets.)

I've found myself making this point on this site before. Why do people have to snipe from the sidelines at those, like Emma, who are actually doing something? To read the above posts it would seem that a Labour Party member should not be allowed to campaign against government policy! Clearly some people would prefer it if Labour councillors spent all their time enthusiastically ripping people off, so they (the psoters) can feel cosy in their own little preconceptions.

Problem is, had Emma and other good people, many of them Labour councillors and activists, got organising to defend our council housing we'd now be well on the way to privatisation. So I think Emma was quite entitled to mention the fact on her election literature. It was a great shame such a principled trade union and community activist didn't get elected.