An anthropological introduction to YouTube

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPAO-lZ4_hU

Sent from my iPhone

http://solomonsmindfield.net
http://twitter.com/solomonsmfield

Mutiny presents...Money on Trial

I am very pleased to be involved in this brand new project. My son has been working hard already and is getting all his mates on board. If you too want to climb aboard the ole ship Mutiny get in contact with us HERE and in all the usual ways. TweetTheMutiny, MutinyTV and more coming...

See more about this cultural event HERE

For some reason we can't add a Paypal widget to our Wordpress site so I have added it here on the right. Get your tickets soon as we expect to be very busy. 

Here is a bit of blurb about what we are. Welcome me hearties.

Mutiny presents a series of carnivalesque evenings providing live entertainment and meaningful debates. We are a network of activists who have come together to create an exciting, safe space for discussion, critical theory and alternative media.

We want to change the world. We want to see an end to the carbon economy, to the global dominance of the American military complex and sweatshops abroad and call centres in the UK. At the same time we want to spend an evening with friends, enjoying a drink and the spectacle of alternative films and documentaries, performances and poetry, comedy and art instillations.

We have booked the avant-garde Resistance Gallery hidden away under the railway tracks in London's Bethnal Green for a series of On Trial events. The intimate space will host a stage for live performances, a mezzanine for photography and art and a central table for interviews and contributions from the audience. We have 150 tickets and one of them has your name on it.

We are completely open to new ideas. So if you are a political performer with talent and a message drop us a line now. If you are a gang of mates who want a good night out without being bombarded with naked women, football commentary or half-baked reactionary comedy you know where to come. If you are an activist with a stack of flyers for an up-coming direct action bring them along.

Our debut event, Money on Trial, takes place on Thursday, September 24.

Climate Camp 2009

I arrived at Climate Camp and spent the whole day talking to people about their main concerns. It was pleased to see such a good range of active people, for many of whom this was their first engagaement with anything political.

Climate Camp media team have done a fabulous job with their website and Climate Camp TV. You can follow regular updates from the blog HERE

I haven't yet announced the launch of our very own Mutiny TV because I am still playing around with it but 1) we are working with ClimateCampTV to upload vids to their site and 2) you can see some of ours HERE

I made a piece of bunting to add to this stream with 'Bail out Vestas not Banks' on it.

It's going well so far. Really creative and nice vibrant atmosphere.

Tower Hamlets college strikes are top of the agenda at Climate Camp. I will report more on this when I go back later today (I'm not actually camping)

More soon.

Netanyahu war criminal protest-more photos & videos soon

Today's protest called at less than 24 hours notice was lively, vibrant and determined. Mutiny TV was there recording protesters, police and general passers-by. Following the murder of Ian Tomlinson by police being caught on camera the police were clearly on their guard although some of them still acted like idiots.
I cant quite work out youtube channel for Mutiny TV but HERE is the link to Elly getting arrested. Originally they tried to charge her with 'unlawful protesting' which didnt hold any weight because we had permission to protest (I KNOW, having to get permission to protest is bad enough). They then charged her with obstructing the highway. She is to appear in court next week. Will keep you posted.


A little later on, after the protest had dispersed, loads of Israeli supporters turned up with Israel flags. The remaining protestors started up again. Anika, who you can see HERE, and her sister were also arrested. Not sure what their status is at the moment. We managed to get them all solicitors immediately.


Ian, who is visiting from China, came along to add his voice to the support for Palestinians. His video will be uploaded soon. As will a great interview with Rabbi Elgahan Beck.

More on all this soon. And if you are a wizz at Youtube/Ustream/Livestream/Qik etc please get in contact. Mutiny TV is looking for more people to jump on board.

Press release: Climate Camp reveals Swoop positions for Wednesday!

Sorry it has taken me so long to correct this post including all details of how to get involved. With the governments hypocritical spending of £35BILLION pounds recently on and yet not wanting to engage with the fight over the closure of our only windturbine factory at Vestas we need as much pressure and creative campaigning as possible.

So pleased to see the excellent use of ICT tools. And the website is slick. The whole event looks really well organised. We really need to collaborate. HERE is the press release. Sign up for regular email updates HERE.


Personally, I am going to the Silver-east meet-up. Will be taking camera and uplaoding videos immediately as I did today from Netanyahu protest. See above post.

See you there climate campers...and this fabulous video says more than I could write. No thanks Mr Police, we do not need your assistance or protection (protection from whom exactly?)

Ramadan Mubarak to my friends both known and far

In these long summer days I wish you inner peace and strength with your fast.

InshaAllah, this beautiful poem by the master Rumi will guide you through til sunset.

You don't know how hard it's been,
to find you a gift.
Nothing fits.
Why bring gold to the seam, water to the sea?
Every idea of mine seemed like hauling spice to the East.
No good to give you my heart, soul,
you own both already.
So I got you a mirror.
Look at you.
Think of me.

—-Rumi

You are more than yourself, my friend, you are the sky and the deep sea.

Smash sexist sushi

I really enjoyed this article by tansy on the shitty sexist sushi bar that has recently opened in London. 

When the (male) owner Nigel Carlos says "It's nothing like a strip club or nothing along those lines" she asks why, if that's the case, are the only naked people in the room women who have been paid to be naked and why do they have to be "basically beautiful girls"?

And how much of the £250 per head charge goes to the women who have to subject themselves to this rubbish.

Tansy relates this to the same storyline to be found in Sex and the City on which Samantha has a go but finds herself disillusioned.

Whatever next? £250 Human hotdogs? Would this be such a seller?  

Read the rest of the brilliant article at http://counterfire.org 

Sent from my iPhone

http://twitter.com/solomonsmfield

Protest Israeli PM Netanyahu meeting Gordon Brown

Sent from my iPhone

>
>

> STOP THE WAR COALITION
> Email office@stopwar.org.uk
> Tel: 020 7801 2768
> Web: http://www.stopwar.org.uk
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk
>
> Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet British
> prime minister
> Gordon Brown tomorrow in Downing Street.
>
> PROTEST 1.30-3pm TOMORROW, Tuesday 25 August opposite Downing Street
> (nearest
> tube Westminster)
>
> Please come to send a clear message to Gordon Brown:
> # Israeli settlements block peace – they must be dismantled, not jus
> t frozen
> # End Israel's siege on Gaza
> # End Israel's ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem
>
> If you are unable to come to the protest, write to Gordon Brown to
> insist that
> real peace means delivering justice for the Palestinians. The British
> government must act to ensure Israel ends its numerous violations of
> international law.
>
> # Fax a letter to 10 Downing Street : 020 7925 0918.
> # Email David Miliband at the Foreign Office reaquesting his office
> convey your
> message to the Prime Minister: msu.correspondence@fco.gov.uk
>
> ****************************--
> To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank e-mail to stwc-unsubscribe@lists.riseup.net

Attack on Ken Loach in Guardian [Monday 23-August]

I got sent this on facebook by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Haven't yet been able to find the link in the Guardian-please link me if you do...

Tomorrow’s (Monday 23-August) Guardian is going to give space to the Director of the Melbourne International film Festival to attack Ken Loach for taking a stance on Palestine by withdrawing his current film from the Festival there (after it accepted Israeli Government money).

It will be a personal attack with NO mention of the Palestinian appeal for a cultural boycott or the reasons for that appeal.

**Please reply after reading the piece by posting a reply / writing a letter in support of Ken, who has been second to none - in his support for Palestinian human rights.

Cyberspace Lenin...absolutely

Thanks to Luna 17 for his well presented argument HERE

Following on from my continuing calls for better use of the new technologies that are at our disposal, in the implementing of the Internet for Activists conference that I helped set up in March, and also from the way ICT was employed in the recent occupations I am currently writin a paper on the political uses of the internet vis a vis the revolutionary paper for Historical Materialism conference in November.

Please add any useful links and advice below.

So relevant is the 'quote of the day' below to our situation today that I want to flag it up as a post as well...

Solomon Quotes Marxists (and friends)

Quote for the Day: 22 August 2009

any army which does not train to use all the weapons, all the means and methods of warfare that the enemy possesses, or may possess, is behaving in an unwise or even criminal manner. This applies to politics even more than it does to the art of war.

Lenin, Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder (1920)

Honduras - Solidarity Greeting - Juan Barahonas

This is an urgent call for more solidarity from all of us to help
raise the morale.

The American government is explicitly blamed for facilitating the
recent Coup D'etat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N9naWEqsxg

Sent from my iPhone

http://solomonsmindfield.net
http://twitter.com/solomonsmfield

U can't claim benefits if your skint

(This post is being updated in the comments below as and when i receive more ridiculous information from the benefits 'helpline')

For one reason or another i am having to claim benefits again.

As a full time student, full time mother of a full time student son this is not as easy as some may think. Having changed the rules yet again on how to claim benefits one can no longer just pop into your local, friendly job centre; you now have to claim online or phone the help line.

This is the automatic text message i received after going through the grueling online process:

Please call 0906 664 7058 for UK benefits support. Lines open 0800-2200hrs www.BenefitsHelpline.com Cost £1.50/min ADMIN:08444153905 18 ONLY

..but is not the point of claiming benefits that the claimant has no money? And at £1.50 PER MINUTE I certainly don't have the credit to call. And to add insult to injury the slightly cheaper 0844 number cuts you off immediately forcing you to phone the more expensive line.

Last year when I applied for Housing Benefit, I was sent to 3 different job centres just to find a free phone to use because I was told at the time that you could only use the internal phone if a claim had already been submitted. Exasperated by this thirst-enducing mission I begged them to allow me to use the phone. The final place let me (in fact it turns out that the other two places had given me incorrect information). I gave them all my details over the phone. Then I received by post a 58 page form to fill out and had to produce about 9 seperate pieces of documentation. I don't quite understand why because most of the details they should, or at least could, have on a centralised system because they were for proof of, for example, Child Benefit which is claimed through another Government department.

After sending them off I was then called to an appointment at the job centre. There I was kept waiting for ages even though it was fairly quiet with counter staff mainly twiddling their thumbs [plz see comments below on this point-I don't know how to correct this appaling use of language without re-writing history]. I spoke to a kind women (most of them are really friendly, if not disillusioned) and asked why the whole process seems so bureaucratic and complicated. She spoke about new management rules and outsourcing and was clearly as cheesed off as I was.

Upon being called I was given 3 more sets of forms with all very similar but substantially different questions. Seemed like trick questions to me. Questions like; Do you think you may be claiming benefits illegally? (reminds me of the American airline green entry forms which ask 'Have you ever commited Moral Turpitude?' which, by the way, none of the air stewards knew what it was. I asked because I was terified of lying! Or 'Have you ever or do you intend to commit any acts of terrorism?' erm, not sure if the correct answer would have been 'let me just check if my bomb is ok'...)

You need a degree to be able to fill out these forms correctly without shooting yourself in the foot. Me 'ADHD' does not help either. God help you if English is not your first language.

And the temperature in the benefits office keeps getting hotter and hotter both in terms of moneysaving lack of airconditioning and from the increasingly frustrated claimants and staff.

I can't remember the exact details but was eventually told that i couldn't apply for Unemployment benefit but possibly could claim Housing Benefit. But this is done at a different office. So, the whole process started again.

At the Housing Benefits office (and I'm trying to spare you more of the mundane details here like, for example, there being no letter box and not being able to hand them to counter staff because I had arrived one or two minutes after closing time) I reached another impasse. Apparently you can't claim HB if you have no income. My advisor said that I could pretend someone had lent me money, and in fact a mate had in fact lent me £200 to get me through. So, we went ahead.

Long story cut short, I finally received notification in February 2009; I started this process in August 2008 at which point I received 21, yes TWENTY ONE different letters, all in different stamped envelopes all stating different amounts for different weeks!

And, to top it all off, the £200 loan had been deducted from my overall entitlement of £45 per week.

Now, call me cynical if you may, but I would like to propose that there are some people who do not want to help out those that need it the most.

So, here I go again. Can any one give me the money to make the phone call ( We can't say loan because they may dock me for it!)

I will write analysis of this soon-i just wanted to vent my anger somewhere first!

I know I have plugged this poem before but it is so relevant that I'm sure it will shed light on my plight.


Sent from my iPhone


http://solomonsmindfield.net
http://twitter.com/solomonsmfield

Tony Benn-out the way. Naming the dead of 203 dead soldiers in afghanistan

Trying to take picture of this guys wonderful jumper and Tony bloomin
Benn gets in the way

It's a thin blue line-no, really, it really is

Lowkey - Stop the War gig in Metro

Isn't he just fabulous. Cheers Lowkey. x

Lynddie England, the face of the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal, talks to Newsnight tonight at 10.30pm on BBC Two.

> Tweet from BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight)

> http://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/3288856030
>
> "
> - BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight)
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>
> http://twitter.com/solomonsmfield

Euston PCS new blog-Save Our Support Services

Comrade Anna shows off her Web2.0 skills. And what an excellent use of them. Good luck with the campaign. We are right behind you.

Follow their campaign on the new blog HERE.

Afghanistan war resister needs/would like books sent to him in prison...

196 is the death toll of British soldiers in Afghanistan. Victor Agusto is yet another soldier who is refusing to return. Based on their previous experiences, these soldiers are joining the growing calls for an end to war, for the troops to be pulled out in what many are calling an 'unwinnable war'.

In a message i received this morning from his facebook group he says he is 'ok for money' but would like some books to be sent to him.

Victor returned to Fort Hood, Texas after a 13-month deployment in Iraq and became active with Iraq Veterans Against the War. Victor has been stop-lossed in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan. In May, he told his unit command he would not go. He has refused to follow any order which would support the occupation of Afghanistan, an occupation he considers immoral, illegal, and dangerous to the citizens of the U.S. He faces a summary court-martial and incarceration for 30 days very soon.

For more information on Victor's struggle, visit http://underthehoodcafe.org/victor_agosto_links.html

HIS MAILING ADDRESS IS (for letters and books)

Victor Agusto - B1C

Bell Co. Law Enforcement Center

113 W Central

Belton, Tx 76513

Join his Facebook group HERE

More police outside DECC anticipating Vestas solidarity protest

More to come-more police probably but more phots definitely

Egyptian TAX COLLECTORS lead the wave of militancy

The most unlikely of striking workers show that militancy should/could come from any quarter.

Egyptian TAX COLLECTORS rally for their Free Union. Previously in Egypt all unions were connected and organised by the State. Last year in a wave of occupations, strikes and protests the Tax Collectors won the right for a Free Union. But now this is under threat due to the Government awarding a commison to the State-backed union.

This from Arabawy, where you can get regular updates (his blog is linked at the bottom of mine under 'IST blogs' for easey finding)

Egypt’s property tax collectors are starting an open-ended strike on Tuesday, protesting the Finance Ministry’s decree by which a project for a social welfare fund was commissioned to the state-backed union instead of the independent union that enjoys the support of the majority of the ministry’s civil servants.

There are also many many links to other similar posts on his blog. Look for his automatic 'Bookmarks' on his blog or on his Delicious account.

The Mirror reports well on Joe Glenton

It's not often that I want to report what is being said in the red top Daily Mirror but I couldn't resist this one. The last line is great...

Why Joe Glenton should not be facing a court martial

By Paul Routledge 7/08/2009

If you’re a deskbound general continually demanding more men, more weapons and more money to subdue Afghanistan, you get endless air time, a peerage and a gold-plated pension.

If you’re a humble squaddie with service in theatre, whose doubts about the war are so serious you go Awol for two years, you face disgrace, a court martial and possibly jail.

Lance Corporal Joe Glenton, 27, of the Royal Logistic Corps, has been charged with desertion for refusing to return to Afghanistan, and faces extra charges for speaking out about a war he (and plenty of his mates) say is unwinnable.

When MoD top brass say the same thing it makes headlines, not a charge sheet.

Rarely has the class distinction between officers and men been so clearly defined.

Breaking news: Vestas workers re-enter factory site

No quite in the building yet. More news as soon as I get it

UPDATE: they have been forced back out again but are in fighting spirits.

They are all now building for the National Day of Action for this Wednesday.

See my post below for some of their suggestions.

Well done anjd solidarity from London and SOAS Occupiers

Vestas occupier calls for down tools next Wednesday.

What a great idea.

I'm at the Right to Work campaign mtg where we are listening to
speakers from loys of different occupations. Really inspirational

Seb from Vestas called for us all to make banners, hang them outside
ur cafes, offices, bars or wherever u work and stop work for an hour
or so.

Even occupy if u can!

All ideas welcome he says...

Protesters send MSG of solidarity to Ssangyong.

Occupations in the UK, whilst not on the scale or levels of violence experienced at Ssangyong, have taken centre stage in the fightback against government cuts and employee cutbacks. We are seeing a new generation of natural leaders emerge from these struggles and want to push this method of resistance out, to generalise the message that if we fightback we can win. But only if united.

We send you our strongest message of solidarity in the hope that our united campaigns will one day win the battle.

We support you and salute your courage. Keep up the fight comrades.

To the South Korean Embassador,

We would like to register our deepest anger at the treatment of the Ssangyong workers who have been occupying their factory to prevent

redundancies.

We are particularly anxious about the treatment of the hundred protesters currently under arrest and call for their immediate release.

The use of psychological warfare and industrial strength tear gas as well as withholding medical treatment is morally reprehensible and is a denial of human rights.

We call for an end of brutality and for the nationalisation of the

Ssangyong car factory.

Concerned,

SOAS students

Clare Solomon NUS LGBT committee (pc)

Brendan Montague-NUJ

Tom Walker-NUJ & NUS

Will Taylor

Gong Gimm

James Nolan

Sandy James

Andy Lawson PCS (pc)

Sent from my iPhone

Right to Work mtg at SOAS. Support occupations and fightback

Caution: this meeting is NOT at our main campus but at the Kings Cross one. Click on the image to enlarge for a map.

Fight for the Right to Work.

6.30pm, Friday 7 August,

Room V211, School of Oriental & African Studies,

Vernon Square, Penton Rise

WC1X 9EW

WWW.RIGHTTOWORK.ORG.UK

SoliDarity with VeStas

Learning from the fightbacks for jobs and justice

London Vestas Rally 6.30pm Thursday

London Vestas Rally

Start: 06 Aug 2009, 6:30 pm

Where:

Outside DECC, 3 Whitehall Place

Thursday 6th August at 6.30 pm,

Outside the Dept of Energy and Climate Change, 3 Whitehall Place.

Speakers to include Michael Meacher MP (ex-Secretary of State for the Environment, Labour party), Jenny Jones, GLA member (Green party), a speaker from the RMT and a worker from the Vestas factory

An eviction order has been granted to end the occupation of the Vestas Newport plant. Now is the time for us to send a loud and clear message in support of the occupiers and their cause - to save the 600 jobes at Vestas, maintain the skilled work pool, keep the factory producing wind turbines and initiate as fast as possibe a massive expansion in wind energy and other renewables. Bring on the Green Energy Revolution !

URGENT PROTEST : SOLIDARITY WITH THE SOUTH KOREAN WORKERS IN OCCUPATION

URGENT: Hundreds of workers have been occupying the Ssangyong Motors factory against layoffs - Now the South Korean state unleashes a wave of violence to crush them.

SOLIDARITY PROTEST 5.30- 6.30pm tomorrow @SouthKorean Embassy in London. Nearest Tube : St James Park. Map: tinyurl.com/skoreaembassy

Simple text msg to fit in ONE text:

Flash protest outside SKorean Embassy in solidarity w occupying workers. TMRW, Thurs, 5.30-6.30pm. Nr St James Pk tube, SW1. Bring banners & people. Plz forward

PLEASE FORWARD TO EVERYONE YOU CAN AND IF YOU CAN MAKE IT SEND A FB MESSAGE OR RSVP.

Photos:
http://tinyurl.com/skoreaprotest
http://tinyurl.com/skoreaprotest2

Articles:
Counterfire: When 'Class War' is not a metaphor http://tinyurl.com/kjskpt

Socialist Worker: Day of fierce fighting at occupied South Korean car factoryhttp://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=18715

Videos:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8185341.stm

Counterfire video
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8183023.stm

Video of police breaking Thomas Cook occupation. Smashed Windows to enter

"This is a non-violent occupation." Stealth Videoing. Comrade Donal must have slept outside all night. Awaiting updates.

Thomas Cook Breaking news: Irish police raid Dublin shop, arrest protesting workers

'The World is changing'. Brilliant video explaining why they are occupying and what they want us to do. They've had messages of suport from Vestas and are in constant communication with them.

Sent from my iPhone

In a scene all-too-familiar to people living under dictatorship, the police choose the early hours of the morning to break down the doors.

But what happened this morning didn't take place in North Korea or Burma.

It was Irish police who chose to raid the Thomas Cook shop in Dublin at 5 AM today to forcibly remove workers engaged in a peaceful protest.

Some 20 workers and officials of their union were taken out one by one, including at least one pregnant woman.

According to newspaper reports, the defiant workers clapped and cheered as they were taken out.

As one union official put it, this morning's removal of workers from the Thomas Cook store as "a dark stain on the history of industrial relations in Ireland ... These are ordinary working people standing up for their rights. They have a right to be treated with respect."

For full coverage of this breaking story, go here:

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Ireland&langcode=en

The union's website is here:

http://www.tssa.org.uk/

Please spread the word -- forward this email to your fellow union members.

Thank you.

Eric Lee

Help Thomas Cook sit-in protesters against police

From Facebook group (is there a blog anywhere where it would be easier to access info from?)

Just been sent LINK to LIVE streaming from inside the shop. Well done for the creative reporting.

Workers occupying the Thomas Cook shop in Dublin today defied a High Court order, requested by the Company, to vacate the shop. They have now been told that the police will arrive and arrest anyone who is still in the shop. They will have to appear in court and be given a prison sentance.

After an emotional discussion when solicitors told the mainly female workers, two of whom are pregnant, the workers decided that they would remain in the shop and not be bullied by Thomas Cook.

A rally was held this morning with supporters ranging from the Lord Mayor to striking Dublin dockers.

We are now asking people to come to Grafton Street when they can to protect the workers inside in case the police turn up.

We will be holding another rally at 10am outside the shop. It is vital we have as many people as we can- please spread the word.

We are headline news and need to keep up the momentum!

Also, please phone in any talk radio shows to tell them that Thomas Cook are behaving dispicably by threatening to jail innocent workers.

Adrian Kennedy's Talk Show is on (0044) 1 67 97 104

Our contact is (0044) 7894 587 845

Thanks

Feminist Friday Friends

Well done to London Student Feminists for organising this fab action.

Whilst I am not in favour of a blanket ban on porn, these mags do nothing other than feed into sexist stereotypes of what a woman should look and behave like and feed the pockets of the rich owners.

Capitalism and the rapidly increasing (can it increase any more?) consumerism that it uses to control us recreates the notions that women should be subserviant and sexualised in order for men to find us attractive. Male dominance perpetuated in these mags provides men the excuse to carry out offensive actions against us against our will. Two male members of staff put the covered mags "down their pants and told our activists to pointed to his crotch and said come and get them". Fucking cheek. They have been reported to the police.

So, well done Feminist Friday, long may it continue. Please let us and others know when you're doing more action and we can help build for it and let people know after.

Read excellent reports on Lad's Mags HERE at Object website.

Testing video upload

Me and Steve being big kids at the Latin American festival.



Sent from my iPhone

Home Office: 'Support our wars or you'll be denied a UK passport'

New rules on citizenship could bar immigrants who use the ancient British right to protest

By Jane Merrick, Political Editor, the Independent, Sunday, 2 August 2009

http://tinyurl.com/l3whtf

Immigrants who take part in protests against British troops could be denied citizenship of this country under controversial new Home Office rules.

The Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, will launch a consultation tomorrow on a new points-based system for would-be migrants according to their behaviour, as well as skills and qualifications.

Mr Johnson, writing in the News of the World, said: "Bad behaviour will be penalised, and only those with enough points will earn the right to a British passport."

While he did not explicitly point to those who take part in anti-war demonstrations, the newspaper reported that this would be included in examples of "bad behaviour".

But there was confusion over the policy last night, as the Home Office appeared to backtrack on whether protesters would be penalised.

An aide to Mr Johnson said the Home Office was consulting on what constituted bad behaviour, but refused to comment on the issue of protesters.

Earlier this year, troops on a homecoming march in Luton were jeered by Muslim protesters carrying placards that read "Butchers" and "Animals". However, there was no suggestion that the protesters were, in fact, immigrants, so the alleged rules would not apply in any case.

While inciting hatred is a crime, the suggestion that taking part in an anti-war protest could be a bar to a British passport would be highly controversial and draw accusations of pandering to the right.

The new rules would also see the period for which foreigners have to work in the UK before becoming eligible for citizenship doubling from five to 10 years. Applicants from outside the EU are already subject to a points-based system that covers skills, but the tougher rules would sever the "link between temporary work and becoming a permanent UK citizen", Mr Johnson wrote.

"Already we require that people earn the right to become citizens by paying taxes, speaking English and obeying the law," Mr Johnson added. "Tomorrow I will go even further, unveiling my new citizenship proposals which will require that people earn points for, among other things, their skills, their job and their qualifications."

As Mr Johnson risked charges of playing tough on immigration, the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, stoked the row over the Conservative Party's new alliance with the far right in Europe. Mr Miliband issued a thinly veiled attack on a Polish politician accused of anti-Semitism.

The Foreign Secretary said David Cameron's decision to support Michal Kaminski as leader of the Tories' new Euro-grouping had provoked "real cause for concern" among Britain's Jewish community. Mr Kaminski, a member of the far-right Polish Law and Justice Party, has denied claims that he opposed an apology by his countrymen in 2001 for the massacre of hundreds of Jews in Jedwabne in July 1941.

The Foreign Secretary, the son of Jewish refugees of the Holocaust, said: "David Cameron has shown little appetite for tough decisions in his career to date. On this rare occasion, he has decided to expend some serious political capital. And on what? On supporting a man like Michal Kaminski for a position of influence in the European Parliament over a moderate and loyal member of his own party.

"It has given key communities in Britain real cause for concern. Against the best advice of foreign leaders and British business, he drove the Tories out of the mainstream and into the right-wing margins of Europe. This reversion to the right-wing extremes of his own party should give people a strong sense of what both he and his party believe in, and it has nothing to do with the best interests of Britain."

Mr Kaminksi has insisted he is not anti-Semitic, and claims he has spent "a lifetime of work supporting Israel and the Jewish community in Poland".

Sent from my iPhone

PUBLIC MEETING SOLIDARITY WITH CLEANERS IN STRUGGLE

Labour Representation Committee    

PUBLIC MEETING

SOLIDARITY WITH CLEANERS IN STRUGGLE

In recent years brave union organising efforts have been mounted by migrant

workers to demand basic rights and a living wage. A number of cleaning

companies have responded by sacking union members and activists; they

have colluded with the Border Agency in immigration raids to break organised

workers. This is an urgent issue for the whole labour movement – come and

discuss what should be done.
TUESDAY 4THAUGUST, 6:30PM 

SOMERSTOWN COMMUNITYCENTRE

150 Ossulston Street, NW1 1EE (close to Euston and Kings Cross stations)

Speakers:

ALBERTO DURANGO, (victimised UNITE cleaner activist),

CLARA OSAGIEDE (Cleaning Grades Secretary RMT),

SOAS UNISON cleaners rep,

JOHN MCDONNELL MP,

JEREMY DEAR ( NUJ General Secretary),

GILL GEORGE (Unite Executive Council (pc)

Sent from my iPhone