Mohammed Zulfikar

This is not deportation. It is murder.

2010-08-23T16:40:00.001+01:00

Mohammed Amin Khawaja is about to be forcibly deported on 24 August from the detention centre in Dungavel, Lanarkshire through Edinburgh Airport. Why should we care?

Mohammed Amin Khawaja is 18 years old and was seized by UK Border Agency officials immediately after his birthday. He spent over a year trying to reach Britain from his home in Ishkamish in the Takhar province in North Eastern Afghanistan. He was trained from the age of 11 by the Taliban for whom his father and uncle were commanders. His father and sister were killed by NATO forces and he was betrayed by his uncle, who seeks his inheritance. At 15, Khawaja was arrested by Afghan police and NATO forces and tortured, suffering loss of vision, hearing, seizures, psychiatric distress and loss of mobility. He was to be sent to Bagram air base, the notorious prison complex near Kabul. Khawaja escaped and discovered that the Taliban had placed a price on his head while in a refugee camp in Pakistan.

He came to Britain after harrowing hardship and has prospered. He spent weeks in the Turkish mountains eating grass to survive. Upon reaching Manchester, he studied at Manchester College for two years, winning the Principals Merit classification for his studies. He has lived with a Christian woman who he calls ‘mum’ and has recently been harboured at the Farghana Institute in Whalley Range, Manchester, where he has learned much of the peaceful nature of Islam.

It is evident that Khawaja is at serious risk from both sides in the Afghan war and should be granted asylum. The Afghanistan war is a product of U. S and British adventures and we have a responsibility to help its victims.

He is an example of how those brought up in violent conflict can turn away from violent doctrines. It is a scandal that politically motivated deportations and cuts in funding for immigrants to make their case in court are increasing under the Con Dem government.

Khawaja’s life and case are the very meaning of the term ‘political asylum’.

What can you do?

1. Contact Immigration Minister, Damian Green, MP

House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

Tel: 020 7219 3518
Fax: 020 7219 0904

greend@parliament.uk

c/o Hardy House, The Street, Bethersden, Ashford, TN26 3AG

Tel: 01233 820454
Fax: 01233 820111

2. Contact Gerald Kaufman MP

If you live in GORTON CONSTITUENCY, contact GERALD KAUFMAN at his office on 0161 652 6326 to leave a message.

House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 5145
Fax: 020 7219 6825
kaufmang@parliament.uk

Constituency
Tel: 0161-248 0073
Fax: 0161-248 0073
searsb@parliament.uk

3. Contact Tony Lloyd MP
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

Tel: 020 7219 6626
Fax: 020 7219 2585
lloydt@parliament.uk

Constituency
Tel: 0161-232 0872
Fax: 0161-232 1865
contact@tonylloydmp.co.uk

Lansley’s Sick Lullaby

2010-07-14T14:44:00.001+01:00

Andrew Lansley, the Conservative Health Minister, has blown the trumpet call for the privatization of the National Health Service. Using the fear that has been well-stoked by the ConDem government, a major attack on the principles of free health care in the UK has been announced. Without an ounce of shame, Lansley declared a complete dismissal of the promises made by both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats during the general election campaign. In other words, no-one voted for this but the government wishes to do it anyway.

After 13 years of New Labour changes in the NHS, including creeping privatization, the very last thing needed was a new re-organization. Lansley has confirmed that General Practitioner (GP) practices will be expected to take on planning and commissioning of health care over the next four years, thus removing the role of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in planning.

Dr Kay Phillips, a practicing GP and National Chair of the Respect Party, was not impressed by the changes. ‘GPs are trained in clinical diagnosis not financial planning or management. Most GPs do not want to be finance managers; they just want to be left to treat patients. This re-organization will put GPs at the forefront of making cuts and bringing in private companies.

‘We have suffered 13 years of Labour government meddling in the NHS that has led to partial privatization and cost huge amounts of money. Now, the ConDems want to drive this ideological attack on the NHS further. The basic fact is that they hate the idea of a state run, free health service at the point of use. Drug companies see big profits from breaking up the NHS and the ConDems do their bidding.’

The plans amount to an invitation to privatization by making GPs form companies and tender out NHS services. With the break-up of a national service, the pensions and national pay bargaining of NHS staff will be destroyed.

An illustration of the cost of bringing the private sector to healthcare is that Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs) has saddled the British people with £200 billion of debt in the form of repayments to private contractors, according to the Office of National Statistics. Another is the recent revelation that £26 million was handed to a private company by Greater Manchester PCTs for operations that were not performed. This occurred because of a contract for 9,000 operations between 2005 and 2009.

Naturally, Andrew Lansley has huge experience of the lives of the poorest in our society for whom free health care is essential. He went to a private school, Brentwood, and worked as a senior civil servant for Norman Tebbit. His qualifications for dealing with health include his claims that obesity will be increased by seeing obese people and stating in 2008 the recession would be good as more people would spend time with their families. What a shame he has not taken his own advice.

The Respect Party believes this is a completely unnecessary attack motivated by free market fundamentalism in the government. We welcome the declared opposition of the major trade unions in the NHS, UNITE and UNISON. These unworkable and destructive plans can and must be stopped.

Blackhearted Love: ConDems and the public debt

2010-07-05T17:30:00.002+01:00

Are we all in the same boat together? Gideon Osborne, our aristocratic Tory Chancellor, insists that the level of ‘public debt’ means we all have to tighten our belts and make hard choices. He fails to mention that a very small group on British society created this huge debt with banking speculation. He also ignores the twenty year period of continuous tax cuts and evasion for the richest that explain so much of the debt.

While the majority has faced wage freezes and job losses since 2008, there is one group of wage militants who have seen their income rise dramatically. UK top executives receive an average of £3.1 million per year as a salary, according to figures released today. This represents a 5% wage rise since 2008. This seems obscene enough in a period of mass unemployment created by the very executives paying themselves such huge amounts.

However, the bosses have moved towards annual bonuses to supplement their meager income. These bonuses will reach up to 300% of annual salary and, even in smaller companies, will get to 100%. Of course, we all understand bonuses that relate to company performance or ‘performance related pay’ which companies tried to introduce across British industry. This is not what executives mean by it.

Cliff Weight, director of MM&K (one of those leading the study), explained that ‘many performance-related pay schemes appear designed to satisfy the Chief Executive Officer and in fact offer little incentive for anything above just 'adequate' performance’. In other words, the bonuses are almost inevitable for these executives but just do not appear as salary for tax purposes.

Most of us never experience such wealth in a lifetime yet alone a year. Why has there been no freeze for chief executives? Why are they not paying back the money lost in the recession or taken from the public finances?

The public schoolboy government of the ConDems is not about necessary cuts or hard choices. It is starting an austerity programme designed to break the modern notion of the welfare state. This attempt to shrink the public finances is about abandoning the safety net to the poorest caught in the recession. It is about refusing to accept responsibility for the lost jobs and refusing help to those without the right home or enough money to look after their families. It is about ending the very limited wealth redistribution in taxation and benefits.

This government intends to change the role of the state away from helping the poorest and relieving the tax burden on their rich friends, in whose name they govern. By the way, did you know that David Cameron is a direct royal descendant of King William IV? So, another aristocrat who hides it and another pretending to promote fairness in society from a position of privilege and without hard choices as we know them.

A Sympathetic Noose: Gideon shows his colours

2010-06-22T17:09:00.003+01:00

The ConDem government claims to be ‘progressive’. It is nothing of the kind. Led by no less than three public school boys in Cameron, Clegg and Osborne, this is rule by bankers and the rich in the interests of bankers and the rich. Gideon Osborne, the 18th baronet of Ballentaylor (old Anglo-Irish aristocracy), has unveiled an ‘emergency budget’ that strangles the poor while delivering handouts to the rich.

Sympathetic

This budget is sprinkled with minor measures that seem to help the poorest. State pensions are to be linked to earnings or rise by 2.5%. This is welcome but goes nowhere near addressing the poverty that pensioners are in after more than 20 years of pensions getting smaller. Those earning under £7,475 per year will now be exempt from income tax.

The only way that these can be considered ‘progressive’ is by reference to the appalling record of New Labour in tackling poverty while in government.

The noose

The reality of this budget for working people is that we will be expected to pay for the bailout of the banks. VAT is to rise to 20% - this is regressive taxation as it will affect everyone regardless of income so hits the poor hardest. It is the taxation model of the poll tax. This rise alone will wipe out any gains in state pensions.

Public sector workers are to suffer a pay freeze for two years, when most are already underpaid. For those earning under £21,000, there will be a flat £250 pay rise (again this does not cover the rise in VAT alone). There will be 25% cuts in most government departments, which signal more job losses, so raising the welfare needs in society.

While we suffer a housing crisis, the ConDems will not help. Instead, Gideon the aristocrat will put a cap on housing benefit with no recognition that the lack of council houses is the factor pushing private sector rents up and raising the cost of housing benefit. Child benefit is to be frozen for three years in a country with the highest level of child poverty in Europe. The general linking of benefits to the Consumer Prices Index is designed to stop benefit rises so contributing the extending poverty in Britain.

Paying the hangman

While there are cuts for the poor, the rich are given even more tax breaks. Capital Gains Tax is an instrument for taxing wealth which is created when selling stocks, bonds or property. It taxes speculators. Yet the ConDems have decided to increase the loophole that allows the rich to only pay 10% on the first £5 million. Before 1998, it was normal to pay 40%, the same rate as income tax for the rich at the time.

Corporation Tax is a tax on profits, which have risen for the richest in the recession. The banks were recording multi billion pound profits even as they demanded bailouts. New Labour started cutting this tax for the rich and the ConDems have gone further reducing it to 24% over the next four years.

The Chancellor has proposed a banking levy from January 2011 but this will only be £2 billion and it is unclear whether it will be a ‘one-off’ levy. When set against the banking bailout, it is ridiculously small and ineffectual. The National Audit Office puts the actual cost at £850 billion, including £76billion given to Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds to buy their worthless shares, £200 billion to increase credit (a measure that failed), £250 billion to guarantee bank borrowing, £40 billion in loans to failing banks and £280 billion to insure banking debt (which could be as high as £2 trillion).

This is a budget that cuts the services, jobs and pay of the poorest while handing out tax breaks and handshakes to the rich.

Respect’s alternative

The public debt is £903 billion. Most of this is a result of the banking bailout and the increased cost of unemployment to the state. There need to be more jobs not less. Respect would start a programme to convert Britain to environmentally friendly power with the aim of creating 1 million jobs. It rejects the idea of cutting public sector jobs.

Respect would launch a council house building and renovation programme which would create jobs, homes and relieve the rent burden on housing benefit.

The banks and energy companies are getting away with huge rip-offs. Respect would raise Corporation Tax back to 30%. This would bring in over £6 billion per year - enough to double spending on higher education. This money could scrap tuition fees and introduce universal student grants. And a 'Robin Hood tax' of 0.5% on financial dealings in the City would bring in an estimated £250 billion. Respect would also clamp down on tax evasion by the richest, which cost the UK more than £100 billion per year. And if there must be cuts we would start by cancelling Trident and ending our costly wars abroad.

There is no need to cut public services or benefits. There is no need to tax the poor.

RELEASE THESE HEROES NOW

2010-06-01T16:14:00.000+01:00

The Respect Party is calling on the British government to act urgently to secure the release of 28 British nationals who are confirmed missing after the Israeli assault on the Gaza aid flotilla. These were members and supporters of Viva Palestina, the Free Gaza movement and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. So far, the Foreign Office has failed to reply to urgent requests for information regarding the fate of these heroic volunteers.

All were aboard ships taking 10,000 tonnes of construction materials and human assistance to Gaza in defiance of the illegal and inhumane Israeli blockade. The flotilla was attacked in international waters and so far 19 aid volunteers are known to have died. This was an act of piracy and murder.

All five ships were boarded, commandeered and towed to Ashdod port in Israel . The aid was confiscated and all the aid volunteers were arrested. The Israeli government has failed to release any information on their whereabouts or health so they are missing at this time. The full list of those who we know are missing is below.

Among them is Kevin Ovenden, the international coordinator and leading force in the creation and development of Viva Palestina. He has led three aid convoys to break the siege of Gaza since March 2009 and is the epitome of tireless heroism and sacrifice in support of Palestine .

Kevin is a hugely influential and cherished comrade in the Respect Party. He is a member of the Executive Committee, the National Council and a leading figure in Tower Hamlets Respect. He led the Viva Palestina group that joined the Gaza aid flotilla this week and carries the pride and passion of our entire party and movement with dignity and intelligence in this daring mission.

We demand the immediate release of Kevin Ovenden. The Respect Party has firm information that Kevin was unharmed in the assault on the flotilla and we expect his unharmed release from detention forthwith.

We demand the release of all those detained in this murderous attack. These people are heroes who have risked everything to help Palestine . They will be honoured upon return. In particular, we draw attention to Ahsan Shamruk, who travelled with Viva Palestina and was injured in the attack. He is reported to be in a stable condition and we send our thoughts and wishes for his safe return home.

The full list of British nationals (provisional) is as follows:
Laura Macdonald Stuart
Ebrahim Musaji
Jamal Sayed
Parveen Yaqub
Baboo Adem Zanghar
Ahsan Shamruk
Mustafa Cengiz Ahmet
Tauqir Sharif
Boudejma Bounoua
Mohammad Bounoua
Sakir Yildirim
Kenneth O'Keefe
Ali El-Awaisi
Mohammed Bhaiyat
Lort Phillips Alexandra Mary
Sarah Nancy Colborne
Ismail Adam Patel
Nader Daher
Mahi Mohammed Abid
Nur-E-Azom Choudhury
Kevin Ovenden
Peter Venner
Clifford Gardner Hanley
Muzzammil Layth Chogley
Jamaluddin Mohammad Farid Elshayyal
Hassan Al Banna Ghani
Lazrag Salah
Ali Altan

Lib-Dems show their true colours

2010-05-12T19:50:00.002+01:00

For many years, the Liberal Party and then the Lib-Dems were known by working class people as 'yellow Tories.' They were rightly distrusted as a party that could always be relied to side with the rich against the poor, with big business against trade unions. Yet, Labour's failures and, above all, Blair's wars abroad allowed the Lib-Dems to pose as a progressive alternative. On 11th May 2010 the Lib-Dems returned to type, ushering the Tory government so feared by working people.

"All those who vote Lib Dem in the belief that they represent a ‘progressive’ voice in British politics will be scratching their heads this morning." writes Salma Yaqoob, leader of the Respect Party. "Thanks to the Lib Dems we now have a Tory government. Working class communities, like the ones I represent in Sparkbrook, are fearful of a Tory government. And for good reason. Many remember what the Tories did last time in power. They remember mass unemployment, attacks on public services, growth of inequality, riots on our streets, and they do not want a repeat. Well, the Lib Dems have made that Tory threat real again. We will suffer for that because the Tories will swing the axe in a more brutal way than Labour would have done.

"But the Lib Dems will suffer too, " continues Salma. "This will prove toxic for the Lib Dems at the ballot box and they will bear the brunt of the backlash to the cuts from the electorate. I expect to see Lib Dems advances over the last few years in inner city Birmingham, advances made on the backs of the anti-war movement, to be wiped out in the coming period. The Liberal Democrats have shed any right to claim progressive credentials. It is only right they suffer the backlash from those who mistakenly thought otherwise of them."

After the Elections - The discussion

2010-05-10T23:30:00.002+01:00

Manchester Respect Branch meeting - Thursday 13th May

Starts 7.30pm @ Basement Meeting Room, Saffron Restaurant, 107 Cheetham Hill Rd

After the Elections - The discussion

Manchester Respect would like to welcome all those who participated in the election campaign to the meeting to take part in the post-election discussion and debate.

What next for Respect? What lessons are there to learn? What did we do well? Can we build a genuinely progressive alliance? What does the future hold for politics in Britain?

Results for Manchester Gorton

2010-05-07T16:37:00.001+01:00

Gerald Kaufman Labour 19,211 50.1%
Qassim Afzal Liberal Democrat 12,508 32.6%
Caroline Healy Conservative 4,224 11.0%
Justine Hall Green 1,048 2.7%
Mohammed Zulfikar Respect-Unity Coalition 507 1.3 %
Karen Reissman Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition 337 0.9%
Peter Harrison Christian Party 254 0.7%
Tim Dobson Pirate Party UK 236 0.6%
Majority 6,703
Turnout 38,325 52.8%

Thank you to all our supporters

2010-05-06T22:36:00.003+01:00

The polls have now closed and we await the results. Respect would like to say a big thank you to all our members and supporters who have worked so hard over the last few weeks to give people a real choice at the election.

We will publish the results as soon as we are able. You can get results of left candidates as they come in at Liam Mac Uaid's blog here.

MEN reports on Manifesto launch

2010-04-27T18:37:00.001+01:00

"The Respect party have launched their manifesto. They sent a delegation to the MEN offices yesterday to make sure we didn’t miss it.

"Their policies include protecting public-sector jobs, the immediate end of military action in Iraq, taking more public services into public ownership, replacing VAT with direct taxation, and a fully proportional voting system."

Read David Otwell's election blog report here

Manchester Respect launches Manifesto

2010-04-26T21:49:00.000+01:00

"Respect have set out their conditions for supporting a Labour government in a hung Parliament.

"As they launched their manifesto the party said they would not back a Tory government "under any circumstances".

"But they would support Labour if troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan, more council houses were built, there was electoral reform and an end to cuts.

"The anti-war party is hoping to gain up to three MPs on 6 May, which could leave it holding the balance of power."

BBC report on Greater Manchester Manifesto Launch - read full story here
Brian Wheeler's Manifesto Watch - read story here

LONDON LAUNCH with George Galloway - Tuesday 27th April

You can download the full manifesto here

Respect candidates back 'I am England' campaign

2010-04-22T23:11:00.004+01:00

'Whoever you are, wherever you're from, whatever your faith, or none, we are all England," explained campaign organiser Mark Perryman at the launch of the 'I am England' campaign on St George's Day.

And backing the message Respect election candidate Martyn Lambert added '"Throughout the World Cup Longsight in Manchester will be full of England flags, the I am England message is brilliant, England for all. The England team is a powerful symbol of how this country has changed, not just the players, but increasingly the fans, of all races, faiths and backgrounds, something to welcome and be proud of."

The 'I am England' message celebrates the extraordinary diversity of today's support for England. Mark Perryman explained ' I am England is very positive and simple. We can all be England, if we choose to be, no qualifications are required to become a fan, no exclusions demanded to determine who can and cannot be a supporter.'

The campaign by Philosophy Football and backed by Kick it Out, football's equality and inclusion campaign, is launched today with an 'I am England' You Tube film.

Martyn was joined in Manchester by Respect election candidates, Mohammed Zulfikar, Marie-Angelique Bueler, Alice Searle and Ibrahim Ali to celebrate England's multicultural diversity.

George Galloway on the Daily Politics show

2010-04-12T18:47:00.001+01:00

George appeared on Andrew Neil's Daily Politics and predicted Respect will collect three seats and could have a crucial role in a hung Parliament.

You can watch the video on the BBC website here

George Galloway: The fight is on

2010-04-06T22:42:00.001+01:00

Labour is soft on the bankers. The Tories are the bankers.

So it’s not surprising that each of them is planning massive cuts to public services if they win the next election. The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, promises cuts that will be “deeper and tougher” than those carried out by Margaret Thatcher in the early 1980s.

Those cuts, we should remember, led to city after city in Britain becoming industrial ghost-towns, as millions were thrown on the scrap heap of the dole. Meanwhile from Toxteth to St Pauls, Brixton to Handsworth our inner cities burned as riots erupted out of anger and frustration.

So we have Labour’s manifesto in a nutshell. ‘A future fair for all’ translates as vote for us and we’ll deliver cuts deeper and tougher than the axe woman herself.

And the Tories promise the same – only they won’t wait a few weeks before they get cutting but will begin joyfully wielding the axe on day one.

My Tory opponent in Poplar and Limehouse sums up everything about David Cameron’s old Etonian Tory party. He’s a banker who’s taken time out to try his hand at becoming MP for one of the poorest constituencies in Britain. There’s a huge housing crisis in east London, with 23,000 people on the waiting list while only one in five of new homes is affordable.

There’s no crisis for the Tories or their candidate. He owns three properties in the constituency.

Labour poured tens of billions of pounds into the banks. But it’s left them in private hands, even though the public now have decisive ownership of many of them. That means the scandal of even more bankers’ bonuses while working people fear for their jobs, their homes and their futures.

Now all the establishment parties are dancing to the bankers’ tune. Their plans for slashing spending threaten to plunge us back into an even deeper recession and are based on economic illiteracy.

The deficit in Britain is not exceptionally high by historical standards. And the way to reduce it is through investment, not cutbacks which will leave more people out of work and less spending, which both result in less money paid in tax and a HIGHER deficit.

Britain’s deficit was higher throughout much of the nineteenth century, when it expanded to be the workshop of the world. It was much higher in 1945, when the country was devastated after six years of war, and in every year through to the 1960s.

Yet this was the time when real Labour policies led to the creation of the National Health Service and the building of 200,000 council houses a year. Millions of people who had endured slum conditions in the 1930s moved into decent housing for the first time.

The collapse of the free-market policies the Tories and then New Labour have followed over the last 30 years should be a time for radical change in how we run our society. Instead, the establishment parties want to get back to the greed is good years as quickly as possible.

In these elections, local and national, Respect is arguing for something different. And we stand a chance of winning more seats in parliament and local councils, where we can make those policies a part of the political picture, as we have in east London and Birmingham over the last five years.

With the possibility of a parliament where no party has an overall majority, Respect’s presence could prove critical. If just three Respect MPs are returned from our strongest areas, we will have an impact way beyond our numbers.

Respect will never prop up a Tory government. A Respect vote is the clearest possible way to stop the Tories and their policies, so many of which are shared by Labour.

And we have minimum conditions for helping to keep any other government in office.

Respect is demanding a massive programme of council house building to solve the housing crisis. Construction is also one of the best ways of creating jobs and stimulating the economy.

Across the industrialised world, it is those economies that have invested that have escaped the worst of the recession. The Chinese economy has increased investment by 7 percent of its total output and is growing strongly. In Britain, investment has fallen by 1 percent and we are teetering on the brink of renewed recession.

Much of the Chinese investment has gone into less polluting technologies. In Britain, this government has allowed the only manufacturer of wind turbines in the country to close.

Investment in cleaner energy, well insulated modern homes and cheap public transport could produce a million green jobs.

We will also insist on setting an early date for withdrawing British troops from the bloody and pointless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that Tony Blair plunged us into.

There’s one area where we could and should save billions. Replacing the Trident nuclear missile system will cost £96 billion. We’ve spent £8.5 billion on the Iraq war and £12.5 billion on the Afghanistan war. The cost of these wars is now running at £4.5 billion a year.

That’s all money that could go into schools, hospitals, universities and homes.

Respect has a track record of fighting for these policies. In local government in Birmingham and Tower Hamlets, we’ve successfully defended public housing, championed the concerns of local residents and fought to keep open services.

As we’ve done so, we’ve brought people together across our diverse communities against those who would seek to divide us one from another.

Can we make a difference nationally? That depends on you. Every success for Respect at the next election will puncture the complacency of the establishment parties and force the demand for change into the political debate.

One thing’s just as sure. A vote for the parties of cuts would be an invitation for them to come and take a hospital, school, university or nursery in your area.

Respect will work with all those who want to defend living standards and services against those who want to make working people pay for an economic mess that is not of their making.

If you want to bring some fairness to a grotesquely unequal Britain and to change the political system that has become so discredited, then helping to get Respect elected will be a major step in that direction.

George Galloway is the Respect Party parliamentary candidate for Poplar and Limehouse in east London.

Islamophobia is a threat to democracy

2010-03-25T15:37:00.002Z

We are concerned by the rise of Islamophobia, the negative coverage of Muslims in the media, the violent street mobilisations of extreme rightwing organisations like the English Defence League, and the rising electoral support for the British National party (The battle for Barking, Weekend, 13 March). Following Channel 4’s recent inflammatory documentary, Britain’s Islamic Republic, which saw concentrated attacks on the East London Mosque, the English Defence League marched through central London with placards including the demand “Close the East London Mosque now”.

The East End of London is not new to having its communities attacked by fascists and the media. The 1930s saw the Battle of Cable Street when Oswald Mosley's blackshirts attempted to march into the Jewish community in the area. We cannot allow this terrible history to repeat itself. Further, the documentary, and articles since, have attacked the participation in politics by the Muslim community. We cannot stand by and watch this continue without remark or action.

In the runup to the general election, all parts of the population should be actively encouraged to exercise their votes. That is democracy. We welcome the work of organisations who work to this end. We call for solidarity and support for those organisations that work to encourage political participation from all sections of society, including Muslims, and condemn those who seek to undermine it.

Ken Livingstone, Bonnie Greer, Dr Abdul Bari Secretary general, Muslim Council of Britain, Brendan Barber General secretary, TUC, Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC, Dr. Edie Friedman Executive director, Jewish Council for Racial Equality, Diane Abbott MP,Neil Jameson Executive director, London Citizens, Jagtar Singh Sikh Secretariat, Tony Woodley Joint general secretary, Unite the Union, Bruce Kent, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Professor Eric Hobsbawm, Louise Christian, Christian Khan solicitors, Billy Hayes General secretary, Communication Workers Union, Rabbi Lee Wax, Anas Altikriti Spokesperson, British Muslim Initiative, Caroline Lucas MEP, Professor Avi Shlaim, Lord Nazir Ahmed, Kate Hudson Chair, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Andrew Stunell MP, Ismail Patel Co-ordinator, YouElect, Claude Moraes MEP, Rev. Alan Green Chair, Tower Hamlets Interfaith forum, George Galloway MP, Musleh Faradhi Central president, Islamic Forum Europe, Jean Lambert MEP, Salma Yaqoob Leader, Respect party, Jenny Jones AM, Steve Hart Regional secretary, Unite London Region, Andrew Murray Chair, Stop the War, Bell Ribeiro-Addy NUS black students officer, Sabby Dhalu Joint secretary, Unite Against Fascism, Dave Prentis, General Secretary UNISON

Salma Yaqoob on the Budget - "What a waste"

2010-03-24T22:54:00.001Z

The best thing you could say about today's Budget speech from Chancellor Darling is that at least George Osborne wasn't delivering it.

New Labour has attempted to distance itself from Tory plans to immediately begin cutting public spending if they win the next election. They have even provided a tiny amount of stimulus to the economy to offset some of the worst effects of the recession. But these measures are pathetically small by international standards - any smaller and they wouldn't have registered at all.

But the really bad news is still to come. Over the next 5 years today's Budget plans to reduce public spending by one quarter compared to the expected growth in the economy. That means as our classrooms and hospital needs grow, New Labour intends to provide 25% less of the spending for those real needs. Disastrously, when the economy is already reeling from a collapse in investment, it also intends to reduce its own investment by over £10bn this year.

The strangest thing of all is that the Budget shows that stimulus works. The limited measures taken previously such as the VAT cut had the effect of boosting the economy and the tax revenues. The government deficit actually came in nearly £10bn lower than forecast. And the the interest rate paid to the financial markets was also lower than forecast- so much for the foolish idea that cuts are needed to 'reassure the markets'.

But look what is happening to that windfall. Just £200mn of it is going to prop up the economy, the rest is going to pay down debt. This is a windfall that could have been used to really get the economy going again and people back to work, spending and paying taxes. Instead, it's a windfall for the bond market. What a waste.

Policies for a fairer society

2010-03-22T22:43:00.004Z

Investment NOT cuts

Slashing public spending will only deepen the recession. Instead of the obsession with cuts we need to invest for growth. This will allow Government income to rise and cut unemployment. That is the best way to reduce the national debt.

Fairer Taxation

Too many people on average or low incomes are paying too much tax. Meanwhile the super rich employ an army of accountants to avoid paying their fair share. We cannot afford to allow the richest in our society to get away with tax dodges when services are being cut.

Affordable housing

Our housing waiting lists are a scandal. We need a massive house building programme to reduce waiting lists and overcrowding.

One Society, Many Cultures

We should be proud of our diverse and vibrant city. Everyone is equal no matter their race, religion or lifestyle. We are different, but we are one society. We should not be divided by racism and intolerance.

Free School Meals

Many parents struggle to find the money for school meals, yet worry about providing a healthy lunch for their children. We could provide free meals for every child for a tiny fraction of the cost of the banking bailout - ensuring every child has a well-cooked, nutritious meal at school every day.

New Green Deal

We need to save the environment and we need to create jobs. The UK could create up to 400,000 jobs in new green industries. Instead of wasting tens of billions of pounds on new Trident nuclear weapons, we should invest in green technology to save our planet.

Troops out of Afghanistan

Too many lives have been lost. Escalating the conflict can only make things worse. We need to find a peaceful solution. We need to bring the troops home now.

You can vote Respect unless you are registered

2010-03-06T22:37:00.000Z

There will be a General Election and local council elections in 2010.

The Respect Party opposes the public service cuts proposed by the three old parties. We do not believe that ordinary people should be forced to pay painful price for the mess the bonus-hungry bankers have made of the economy.

We will be calling for an end to privatisation, public investment with an environmental job creation programme, pulling the troops out of Afghanistan and defence of our multi-cultural society against racism and Islamophobia.

We obviously hope you will vote for Respect. But whoever you wish to vote for your name must first appear on the electoral register. Unless you are registered you will not be able to vote in any of next year's elections.

For more details about registering to vote please visitwww.aboutmyvote.co.uk where you can fill in an online form which you can then print off, sign and send to your local council.

If you live in Manchester you can phone the Manchester City Council Electoral Services unit on 0161 234 3145 / 3146 for more information about registering to vote. If you live in Salford you should phone the Salford City Council Elections Unit on 0161-793 3195.

Remember, you can’t vote for anyone unless you are registered.

Contact Mohammed Zulfikar

2010-03-03T21:57:00.000Z

Contact Mohammed on 07715 907 919 or by email CLICK HERE

Donate to Mohammed's election campaign

2010-01-24T22:59:00.003Z

Donations to Mohammed's election campaign can be made online using a debit or credit card or a Paypal account. Donations will be processed via the Respect Party Paypal account and forwarded to Mohammed's campaign in Manchester.

To comply with UK laws please read the statement below before making a donation. Thank you.

Terms and conditions - please read carefully
In compliance with party funding laws, if I am donating more than £50, I understand that my details will be checked to ensure I am registered on a UK electoral register (this applies to overseas residents as well as UK residents). If I donate more than £7,500 to Respect nationally in the course of a calendar year (or £1,500 to a single Respect branch) I understand that my name and the amount of the donation will be reported to the Electoral Commission for publication on their public register of donations to Respect.

Events

2010-01-24T22:49:00.000Z

About Respect

2010-01-24T22:47:00.001Z

The Respect Party was set up in January 2004. It was formed because of the need for a left-wing alternative to the three established parties - New Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats.

None of those parties represent the interests of ordinary working-class people or those who want a fairer, more equal and just society.

When millions marched against the invasion of Iraq, the government ignored us.

When workers and communities take strike action or protest against privatisation, job losses and cuts to our services, they are criticised by the New Labour government and the other parties.
The Respect Party is opposed to war, privatisation and unemployment.

The Respect Party stands for peace, publicly owned services and a decent future for all.

We want a world in which the democratic demands of the people are carried out; a world based on need not profit; a world where solidarity rather than self-interest is the spirit of the age.
We want to reach out to all those who share our views, to build a new party for change in the interests of ordinary people.
Election Successes
Respect has made progress since it was set up in January 2004.

In the 2005 general election Respect got impressive results despite the 'first past the post' electoral system, which makes things difficult for a new party. We were able to win results in a clutch of inner-city working class constituencies which no other left party had achieved for a very long time.

Expelled Labour MP George Galloway stood for Respect in the east London constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow and overturned a 10,000 majority held by the New Labour pro-war MP Oona King.

In two other east London constituencies, East and West Ham, Respect came second to Labour. In another east London constituency, Poplar and Canning Town, we came third.

In Sparkbrook and Small Heath in Birmingham Salma Yaqoob won 27.5 percent of the vote - only 3,000 votes short of winning the seat.

We now have six councillors on Tower Hamlets council, a councillor in the London Borough of Newham and three councillors on Birmingham City Council.
If you would like to find out more then get in touch or join us.

Register to Vote

2010-01-24T22:44:00.001Z

There will be a General Election and local council elections in 2010.

For more details about registering to vote please visit www.aboutmyvote.co.uk where you can fill in an online form which you can then print off, sign and send to your local council.

If you live in Manchester you can phone the Manchester City Council Electoral Services unit on 0161 234 3145 / 3146 for more information about registering to vote.

Remember, you can’t vote for anyone unless you are registered. You have until 20th April to register to vote on the 6th May.