Pictures from the Education not War demo

Liverpool students Join with Lancaster on the demo
Man Met join the front of the demo at Allsaints
Manchester students talking to the streets as over 300 students leave Manchester Students Union to join the demo.

Kicking into Freshers Week

The next two weeks see 70'000 students settle into Manchester and two (hopefully massive) demonstrations against the war and for a free education. For more information visit here and check out UMSU's new website on line shortly.

23rd Sept - students assemble 12 noon Students' Union - Tell Blair its time to go.

27th Sept - assemble 5pm UMSU - Education Not War, Unite for a Free Education!

And here is a plug for a good blog

A spine in the TUC?

Shockingly the TUC discover some backbone when Blair's almost finished. If our Union leadership had a real determination to back their policy and members they'd be campaigning for Mcdonnell alongside the NUJ.

John McDonnell's Manchester campaign launch was an interesting affair for the faces it brought together; including our own labour Students, the Bennitte left and older Trotskyists. McDonnells only hope is playing to the younger generations in the social movements if he hopes to gain any public momentum seeing as half his campaign is outside the Labour party these days.

The sight of the Labour left brushing itself off and going up against the New Labour machine was almost to much to Blair. One thing you can say for the Labour left is that they're all extremely nice...

Tackling the Racist backlash

The issue of racism is raising its head again in the student movement. The two Manchester students removed from a plane at gun point for flying with dark skin are unlikely to be the only ones to feel its effect. Already the government is putting pressure on NUS to line up with it in “facing down extremism on our campuses” a sign that its war on “terrorism” abroad is coming home in a big way. The signs are that NUS is willing to accept the framework of Bush and Blair’s rhetoric and from there the only way is down. Gemma Tumelty’s guardian article is a case in point.

After the NUS fiasco over Lebanon it’s record on opposing the Bush/Blair “war on terror” is already poor and we could be about to see that translate into a failure for our students at home. What is needed now more then ever is an organised force within the student movement that can put forwards an alternative strategy on fighting the racist backlash against our students. We need a response based on an understanding that imperialism is creating an “enemy at home” and raising racial tensions as a result. If we are to successfully break the backlash we need a united campaign against racism which rejects that framework of “terrorism and civilisation” and stands clear on the point that the issue is racism.

The starting point must be a campaign based on radical students in the anti-war movement, Muslim communities and the NUS. A starting point that lines us up against Bush and Blair’s wars at home and abroad.