White Helmets Statement on Grenfell
To the London Fire Brigade from the Syrian Civil Defence [White Helmets] in Daraa, Southern Syria:
We were saddened to hear about the loss of souls in the Grenfell Tower fire, including Mohammad al-Haj Ali, a Syrian from our home of Daraa who had fled to London seeking safety from death and destruction.
We appreciate your efforts to search for bodies for days in a row and we feel your pain because this horror is our daily reality. In Daraa, we’re under the heaviest attacks we’ve ever seen in this deadly war. Hundreds of airstrikes have destroyed entire neighbourhoods and fires are everywhere. Just like you, our teams are rushing towards the blazes and we do all we can to rescue the injured.
The past 16 days have seen 88 people killed and nearly 35,000 civilians displaced from their homes.
A civil defence centre was targeted and destroyed, and 5 volunteers were injured in the bombing -- as you know it’s a terrible thing to see your teammates suffer.
You have been so generous to us, donating equipment to our teams when you met with our teammates in London. We’ve received trainings from British experts in search-and-rescue and firefighting. Who knows, we might have been trained by the same people. And who knows we might also be saving the lives of the friends of Mohammad al-Haj Ali here in Daraa.
We feel we have so much in common. We all risk our own lives to save as many lives as possible as fast as possible. Our hearts are with you and we wish we could help you in your search for victims.
We send you strength for your mission and we hope to meet you one day.
The Syria Civil Defence [White Helmets] of Daraa
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- Published: 02 July 2017
Grenfell Tower Residents - You Are Not Alone
“When society places hundreds of proletarians in such a position that they inevitably meet a too early and an unnatural death, one which is quite as much a death by violence as that by the sword or bullet; its deed is murder just as surely as the deed of the single individual."
"These words were written by Friedrich Engels in 1845. Over 170 years later, Britain remains a country that murders its poor. When four separate government ministers are warned that Grenfell and other high rises are a serious fire risk, then an inferno isn’t unfortunate. It is inevitable. What happened wasn’t a "terrible tragedy" or some other studio-sofa platitude: it was social murder."
The above statement is from the Grenfell Action Group's (GAG) website from 22nd June 2017, and one we wholeheartedly support.
Also from their website, as we can’t say it any better "the many who lost their lives in this catastrophe were our friends and neighbours. We tried to speak for them in life and we will continue to speak for them now. We share the sense of anger and injustice that has troubled this community for years."
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- Published: 26 June 2017
Another Election - Will Voting Make Things Better
Theresa May called an election supposedly so she can deliver us a 'strong and stable' future with Brexit. But isn't the biggest concern for most people just how unstable our lives and communities have become since the Tories introduced austerity in 2010?
The Tories brought in austerity supposedly to reduce the country's deficit, claiming public spending was too high. But much of the debt came from bailing out the failing banks. "'We're all in it together", they said, as the rich got richer while our wages went down and benefits were slashed.
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- Published: 05 June 2017
Rough Sleeping Is Not A Crime
Over the last few months, the police and Home Office have been systematically arresting, detaining and deporting European Economic Area (EEA) national rough sleepers.
In May last year, the Government adopted the legally dubious position that rough-sleeping is an “abuse” of EU Citizens’ right to freedom of movement”. The “abuse of right” law is intended to allow the deportation of EU citizens convicted of crimes, but the Government is using it to crack down on migrant rough sleepers who’ve committed no crime.
Cash-strapped local councils are being bribed to support these actions through access to a new pot of money - the Controlling Migration Fund - available to councils that identify rough sleepers to the Home Office or bully homeless migrants into returning home voluntarily.
Over half of the rough-sleepers in London are migrants. This is largely because of unfair laws that restrict migrants’ ability to claim benefits. As such, people who have lived, worked and paid tax in the UK for years can find themselves homeless with no safety net.
Even when councils have a legal duty to house migrants (such as when they have children), they do all they can to wriggle out of it - in one case claiming that a mother and her children had a “network” they could rely on because she was staying with a stranger she’d met at the bus stop.
They end up in a Catch-22 situation - unable to pay their rent, but being faced with arrest and deportation if sleeping rough.
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- Published: 01 May 2017
The Great Housing Swindle
Years ago, Margaret Thatcher got elected. Her and her gang nicknamed 'The Tories' conned loads of us to buy our council houses.
At the time people said, “Don’t do it, it’s a con”. Yet many fell for it. Some wanted to make a quick buck. Others saw it as “protecting” their housing security. Not trusting local authorities, buying seemed the best option. When huge repair bills arrived and interest rates hit the roof, many were evicted for mortgage arrears or left with huge debt.
Now, these homeowners who took housing out of the council’s stock are again realising they were conned by 'The Tories'.
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- Published: 16 July 2016
Abolish Universal Credit
The introduction of Universal Credit, which replaces many state benefits, will have a damaging effect on millions of working families, leaving the poorest running up the down escalator.
Under Universal Credit low-paid workers will be required to work with DWP job coaches to seek more work hours, higher pay, or an extra job as a condition of receiving benefits. If claimants fall short of targets agreed with coaches, they may face financial penalties.
Now this appalling government has introduced this policy in Haringey with a clear intention to sap money from the poor and making victims of anyone who needs benefits. The programme is a perfect example of the government's heartless policies.
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- Published: 13 July 2016
Death by a thousand Cuts
We hear politicians claim “the NHS is safe in our hands” but do any of us believe these lies?
Go into any A&E. Try and get a GP’s appointment. If you have drug or mental health problems try and get help. Ask anyone with care needs how they cope. We all know the results.
Money won’t solve it all but cuts are killing our health care slowly. When I say “ours” I mean workers and claimants. People like politicians and “the rich” have private health care. They don’t use the NHS.
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- Published: 08 July 2016
Refugees: what crisis?
For the last two years, politicians and the media have been telling us that we are in the throes of a refugee crisis. Whenever those with power use language like this, it is worth scratching the surface in order to see the bigger picture.
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- Published: 02 July 2016
North London Hospice pulls out of workfare
Following nine months of protest from Haringey Solidarity Group, North London Hospice (NLH) has agreed to stop taking part in workfare and exploiting people on benefits. This is a victory for the anti-workfare movement and a blow for workfare provision in Haringey.
Until this month NLH was using Community Work Placements, a kind of workfare, to staff its charity shops. Under Community Work Placements any jobseeker who hasn’t found a job for two years can be forced to work for free for six months or be sanctioned - losing their benefits.
We know that sanctions leave people unable to pay for basic things like food and electricity, and we know they’ve caused deaths. Telling someone they must work for half a year, for free, or have all their money taken from them for up to three years - that’s downright exploitation, and it’s only right that NLH have pulled out.
Over the last months we have been in talks with NLH, picketing their shops to let passers-by know what they’re doing. Recently we had a few occupations of their charity shops (you can read more about this here and here), resulting in a lot of disruption for NLH and one of their shops being forced to close.
The pressure must have worked because this month their CEO, Pam McClinton, got in touch to tell us that NLH is dropping workfare. She said,
“The Board have decided that North London Hospice will no longer initiate any new placements through the CWP scheme. We are committed to honouring existing placements… The last of these placements concludes in December 2015.”
We’ll be keeping an eye on NLH to make sure they keep their word and completely leave the scheme by December. We’re disappointed that they haven’t decided to end all the placements this month, as it means they’ll still be benefiting from people’s free, forced labour until the end of the year. But their commitment to not taking any new placements on from now onwards is a major step towards ending workfare in Haringey.
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- Published: 29 July 2015
Demonstration against Workfare at Finsbury Park Wednesday 17th June
Activists from Haringey Solidarity Group and Boycott Workfare today held a demonstration against the use of workfare by the Finsbury Park Business Forum. Under the Tories workfare initiative recipients of benefits are being forced to work at least 30 hours a week of unpaid labour as community wardens or face harsh sanctions. Workfare placements last up to six months and refusal to take part in such unpaid labour can lead to the suspension of Jobseekers Allowance for up to two years. Community wardens are facing tough monotonous work, having to be out in all weathers and risk assault as unpaid security. Additionally as Islington council no longer allows workfare schemes many community wardens do not come from the area, and so struggle to be able complete basic duties such as giving directions. Ultimately the Finsbury wardens have become nothing more than window dressing, giving the illusion of security whilst being untrained for the task at hand. Workfare schemes such as this one take potential jobs away from people who need them and allow companies, charities and other groups to unfairly profit from this labour.
Activists gave out leaflets at all entrances of the station as well as running a stall at the main Station Place entrance and had positive reactions from both passengers and passers by. Tomorrow (Thursday 18th of June) there will be a communications blockade of Finsbury Park Business Forum between 12pm and 3pm (numbers/addresses below) to protest about the use of workfare. Such blockades and publicity campaigns have been successful in the past in forcing companies to withdraw from workfare schemes.
A representative from Haringey Solidarity Group said "The use of workfare exploits and preys on some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. All voluntary work should be voluntary, not forced. Finsbury Park Business Forum should withdraw from the workfare scheme as soon as possible and pay all their employees a proper living wage."
The event has been reported in Freedom News
Haringey Solidarity Group can be contacted on the twitter handle @__HSG__ and by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
The Finsbury Park Business Forum can be contacted to complain about their workfare scheme on 0207 527 5172, by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and on twitter @FPBusiness.
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- Published: 17 June 2015
Stop Workfare: Picket & occupation of North London Hospice
Last Sunday, 7th June 2015, about 10 of us met at North London Hospice in Turnpike Lane, to picket the shop in our ongoing campaign against Workfare and Community Work Placements - the use of unpaid and forced labour (see Boycott Workfare web site). We fully support the work North London Hospice are doing, but are trying to persuade them not to replace genuine volunteers with people on benefits who risk loosing benefits through sanctions if they do not put in 30 hours unpaid labour a week at their shops. (For more info, see our article 'Why North London Hospice should keep its word and pull out of workfare').
To increase the pressure on NLH, as well as our usual picket outside the shop, this Sunday, 6 of us also went into the shop with a banner and leaflets, to inform customers of the campaign to keep volunteering voluntary. Others talked to people who were coming in to shop, most of whom changed their mind after a brief chat.
The manager asked us to leave, saying we could not demonstrate inside the shop, only outside. When we stood firm she said she would call the police. Meanwhile we chatted to the guy at the till, he did not say if he was a genuine volunteer or workfare victim, but he seemed sympathetic to our point of view. The manager told us it was useless occupying the shop, the real managers weren't there - they were in downing street, that is where we should demonstrate. She would not let us take film or photos inside the shop. She was firm but not aggressive.
After some 20 minutes, two boys in blue turned up. They asked the manager to ask us to leave, which she did, they then told us that we would be committing the crime of trespass if we did not leave, we did so calmly. Outside the police asked to talk to our leader, we explained we were a collective with no leader. We refused to give them our names, contact details, or the name of any organisation we might belong to. They explained if we went back into the shop we were to leave immediately if asked to by the manager or we would be committing trespass, this would be true the following day as well.
We continued our picket outside the shop for a further 30 or 40 minutes. It was a lovely early summer sunny day, Wood Green High Road was busy, many people took leaflets, and some stopped to chat and even to share their own experiences of the dole.
We will keep up the pressure on NLH: the best way to beat Workfare is if no organisation is willing to take part in the scheme - as many have already pledged (see kvv.net)
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- Published: 08 June 2015
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