Labour Friends of Iraq

Labour MP Ann Clwyd says she welcomes the guilty verdict in the trial of Saddam Hussein, although she is against the death penalty herself. The LFIQ Joint President added “The hundreds of thousands who have died, (been) tortured, disappeared and their families who will today be very pleased ..the vast majority of the people of Iraq will be very pleased that a verdict has been reached.”

The democratically elected government of Iraq has asserted its power over the American forces presently attempting to restore peace to the nation. In a move that is not normally consistent with the actions of an occupying army, the US forces were commanded by Prime Minister Maliki to terminate their attempts to besiege a part of Baghdad. An increase in the number of
Iraqi security forces has also been widely reported.

The United Nations has announced that a major meeting will take place within six weeks with the intention of pursuing the political, economic and social development of Iraq over the next five years.

How a London School of Economics student who frequently attended the vigils outside South Africa House in Trafalgar Square became Iraqi Ambassador in Canada. He also kindly praises LFIQ: Ziad also spoke highly of the British organization Labour Friends of Iraq, which builds international support for Iraqi trade unions. “What we need is that kind of support, frankly, because the terrorists are actually targeting trade unionists.”
But support like that is difficult to muster in an age when peace rallies have taken the place of effective and meaningful internationalist solidarity, and a reflexive anti-Americanism has mutated into a surrogate for analysis. Where does that all end up?
“Well, you look at issues purely through that prism, and it leads to supporting fascist theological movements and people who never think about the rights of women, or civil liberties, or trade unions,” Ziad said.

The Department of Health has announced a five year plan for health and medical research. World Health Organisation figures have demonstrated that since the invasion there has been an increase in both live births and surviving infants. The, immunisation programme has resulted in a significant reduction in cases of measles, pertussis (Whooping Cough) and rubella for the same period. These vaccines were available during Saddam’s rule but he chose not to instigate such a programme.

Progress Westminster Fringe Series
2020 VISION: LABOURS FUTURE CHALLENGES
After our largest-ever annual conference in September, Progress launches a new series of seminars which seek to continue the debate on the challenges of the next decade. The first two events are:
‘Labour’s foreign policy: Is liberal interventionism dead?’
Professor Brian Brivati, Kingston University; Gary Kent, Labour Friends of Iraq; Denis MacShane MP; Gisela Stuart MP; Oona King (chair).
Tuesday 7 November – 1800-1930 – House of Commons: Committee Room 15
If you want to come along, please register with Tom Brooks Pollock, by supplying your full name and email address to tom@progressives.org.uk or 0203 008 8180.

The TUC has set itself a target of equipping every one of the thousand trade union organisers within Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan with a mobile phone. This Autumn the TUC is also planning to bring a delegation of transport union representatives to Britain for meetings, training and to develop solidarity links.

LFIQ Vice President Harry Barnes has produced an extended written version of a speech he has recently delivered to the Ruskin Fellowship and the Exeter University Labour Students. He covers matters about the invasion and the call for the troops to be withdrawn, before concentrating on a third big issue, the role of the Iraqi Trade Unions in seeking to build towards democracy and a secular State. He concludes “… whose side will we be on when the troops leave? If the answer includes the Trade Unions, then shouldn’t we be active at their side already?”

Dave Anderson MP recently took part in a Commons debate on a possible strategy for the removal of British troops from Iraq. He criticised the opinions of “armchair theorists” who would leave Iraqi workers in a vulnerable situation, and cited Iraqi union leaders opposing a premature withdrawal. He said: This year, I led a delegation to Kurdistan on behalf of Labour Friends of Iraq. The people there were clear that our intervention was positive and that we were giving them a chance to rebuild their country and their infrastructure and to develop an industrial base from which to grow. Although they ultimately want us out of their country, we were told by a group of 22 trade unionists from Baghdad and Basra that it was not safe for us to leave yet, and that was the view of most of the people we met, who included trade unionists, workers and representatives of local and regional government in Kurdistan. Yesterday, I checked with the international representative of some of those people in this country, and they still have that view.

In response to a question today from Dave Anderson who asked the Government to do all in its power to persuade Iraqi ministers to rescind restrictions on Iraqi unions, the Prime Minister said that his ministers and the Special Envoy on Human Rights to Iraq, Ann Clwyd, were making these points and that there should be no inhibitions on free and fair unions in Iraq. He praised the TUC pamphlet on the life and times of murdered Iraqi union leader Hadi Saleh and said that the TUC book showed the tremendous transformations that had taken place and that this was an antidote to those who say nothing has improved in Iraq.
The full transcript will be published as soon as possible.
Gary Kent