Welcome to issue 12 of the Transform newsletter. Twelve months on from October 7th, the horror continues unabated in the Middle East. We refuse to be silenced in our demands for peace and justice.

Israel is a terror state

Transform’s EC have issued this statement:

No platform for Tommy Robinson

Tommy Robinson has announced plans to lead a rally in central London. Anti-racist groups have organised a counter-demonstration:

Numbers matter. On 27th July, when thousands of self-styled “patriots” marched with Robinson to Trafalgar Square, anti-fascists who opposed them were outnumbered. The event was a big confidence boost to racists and to the hard right. Three days later, far right agitators who’d been on the march in London were involved in the riot that broke out at Southport mosque.   And let’s not forget what brought those people to Southport: the false claims, cynically circulated by (among others) Robinson and his supporters, that the horrific mass stabbing the previous day was carried out by a Muslim and an asylum seeker.

Robinson welcomed the riots, which he said were voicing “legitimate concerns”. In his words, “There’s a revolution brewing in the United Kingdom.”

The riots exposed the odious lie that this is all about “free speech”. Incitement to hatred, harassment, violence or arson isn’t just words: it spreads fear, and has real life consequences.

Robinson supported Farage’s Reform in the recent elections. Across the pond, all of America’s fascists are rooting for a Trump victory. There can be no doubt that victories for politicians such as Trump and Farage would unleash some very dark forces within our society.

Transform is planning to have its own contingent on the counter-demonstration. Please let us know if you can join us, and if you’d be interested in convening our group.

Whether Robinson himself will be on the streets of London that day remains to be seen. He’s been in hiding overseas since July 28th, after breaching a court order by screening a film at his London rally repeating defamatory claims about a Syrian refugee, Jamal Hijazi. Tommy Robinson, who’s had a long series of court convictions, may yet find himself back behind bars on his return to the UK.

Pensioners Protest

Our correspondent Joseph Healy reports:

“Sizeable numbers turned out on October 7th for the Winter Fuel Protest outside parliament organised jointly by UNITE and other unions and the National Pensioners Convention. Sharon Graham of UNITE gave a barnstorming speech referring to the recent motion adopted at Labour Party conference, saying “They tell me that it would take too long to set up a wealth tax but they can tax workers within weeks. What is the point of a Labour government if they attack pensioners?”

John McDonnell, the only Labour MP to speak, gave a grim warning that with Covid still about and many pensioners in cold houses and suffering respiratory illness as a result, many would not survive the coming winter, and many would clog up the already overburdened NHS already busy from winter infections. He said that activists had three weeks before the budget to turn the tide, but he still believed that it could be done.

Many of the pensioners were furious with Labour and asked if this was the change that Labour had promised in the recent election.”

Transform Conference

Transform is proud to announce that Matt Kennard, Head of Investigations at Declassified UK, will be speaking at our conference about the real stories behind all the bombs and the bloodshed in the Middle East.

Here’s the full agenda for the conference on October 19th:

10am Registration

10.30 Chair’s introduction

10.40 Alan Gibbons, Transform Principal Speaker

10.50 – 12.20 FORUM: The Future of the Left with Pamela Fitzpatrick, Audrey White, Solma Ahmed and Anwarul Khan. Questions and Discussion.

12.20 Yiannis Bournos, Vice President of the European Left

12.30 – 1.30 Lunch

1.30 Matt Kennard, Head of Investigations at Declassified UK

1.40 – 2.50 WORKSHOPS

·        No Pasaran! How we fight Fascism

·        A roof over your head. How do we address the housing crisis?

·        Women in Politics

·        How can we achieve peace in the Middle East?

2.50 – 4.00 POLICY SESSION: Climate Crisis and Green Transition

4.00 – 4.10 Tea Break

4.10 – 5.20 POLICY SESSION: Inequality & Poverty

5.20 Dawn Sanders, Transform Principal Speaker

5.30 Close of Conference

It’s not too late to register. You can do so via this page – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/transform-conference-tickets-1006617047687?aff=oddtdtcreator

Registration is free. Allies and supporters of Transform are welcome to attend in a non-voting capacity. This is a hybrid conference and the Zoom link will be sent by email to all who’ve registered.

European Left

Some exciting news just in advance of our conference: Transform’s application to join the European Left has been agreed. We now have observer membership status.

Towards a greener socialism

Last weekend Transform Principal Speaker Dawn Sanders was invited to address the annual conference of the Alliance for Green Socialism (AGS). This is her report.

She says in it “I proudly stressed – at Transform, we’re not just ‘talking about’ we’re ‘doing it’ – forming/thrashing out policy, working groups and spearheading external campaigns in reaching out to the wider communities.

Lastly, I simply invited them to ‘join us’ reiterating: At the end of the day, our strength in any new emergence on the left will be an array of nuanced but focused perspectives – a solid green initiative which puts people and planet before profit; an economy based on cooperation and a more equal and just society where, people, both young and old, are not locked up for drawing attention to environmental degradation, while injustices both at micro-personal level and macro-political scapegoating go unchecked.”

The case for caucuses

Dawn Sanders in her role as Transform DEI Officer writes:

“Not so long ago I asked for those identifying as LGBTQ+ to come forward if they were keen for a caucus representing the rainbow flag within Transform, however I only got five  interested members.

The previous government and this one aren’t doing anything to counter homophobia, so I feel strongly that Transform should provide a voice and positive representation for people identifying within this diverse group. Of course there are plenty of charities and organisations representing LGBTQ+, but when it comes to political parties, who declares they are standing shoulder to shoulder?

We’re also short on numbers for a women’s caucus. In my earlier survey I asked why more women did not come forward for key positions within the party. Most cited either work commitments, caring for sick loved ones or even lack of info on what was required for roles being advertised.

Given this feedback I feel it’s even more crucial that women feel they have a safe place of encouragement and empowerment within Transform.

The two main parties have forums for women, but this could easily be considered window dressing, as misogyny is still prevalent and, let’s face it – leadership roles in politics are still male-dominated.

So, If any more members would like to be involved in an LGBTQ+ or women’s caucus, just get in touch with me at fieryred.dawn@gmail.com.”

Website Working Group

A website working group has been set up to coordinate updates and improvements to the Party website. If you’re interested in getting involved, and particularly if you have website design skills or other relevant experience, please contact Mandy Parry at mandyparrytraining@gmail.com.

Transform shop

We have NEW merchandise available to help you get the word out about Transform.

Our T-shirts are stylish and good quality. They currently come in the following sizes: Medium, Large, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 5XL.

Enamel badge (NEW): This high quality badge has a pin back and looks discreet and classy.

Tote bags, notebooks, pens, luggage labels (NEW): Brightly coloured and a lot of fun, these items are sure to get people talking about Transform.

Business Cards and stickers: The business cards are great for networking (just write your own contact details on the back before giving out) and the matching stickers are a useful campaigning tool to spread the word.

If you want merchandise, please contact Mandy by email at mandyparrytraining@gmail.com stating what you would like and your address.

Merchandise and postage is free to members, but If you can, please make a donation through our website – find the black ‘Donate’ button at the bottom of the page and give what you like!

We want to hear from you

Please send any questions, comments or editorial suggestions to us at info@transformpolitics.uk, marking your email for the attention of the Newsletter Team.

In solidarity,

Transform Newsletter Team