On Saturday April 24th the Labour Movement for Europe together with the UK Branches of PES sister parties (German SPD, French & Portuguese Socialists, to name but a few) & Labour Friends of Italy are going to Poplar & Limehouse to campaign and help re-elect Jim Fitzpartick MP.

With so many undecided voters that close to the elections, every door knocked, every letter delivered, every hand shook and every conversation had can make all the difference especially in three-way marginals.

Jim faces a double euro-sceptic threat in his constituency. George Galloway’s Respect Party seems to think of Europe as an irrelevance. They didn’t even field candidates in the European Elections last year. The real threat, however, is that the euro-ignorant Respect party wins enough Read the rest of this entry »

On April 24 right across Europe, progressives and activists from the Party of European Socialists (PES) will be participating in a day of action to call for an international financial transaction tax. Play your part in the London event of this Pan-European Campaign Day.

We’ll meet at 10am at 11 Market Way, E14 6AH next to Chrisp Street Market.
[It's close to All Saints and Langdon Park DLR stations - the Bus Number 15 also goes there.]
The financial crisis has already cost 7 million Europeans their jobs. The cost of the bail outs and intervention measures has been estimated by the PES to have cost each European €6,000 in extra public debt by the end of 2011.
Over the last 15 years, the number of financial transactions has increased by 450%. We are therefore calling for a financial transaction tax, (sometimes known as a ‘Robin Hood’ or ‘Tobin’ tax) of 0.05%, so that this massive flow of money, produces more social good.
A small tax on these transactions could help fund public services and help the world meet the UN Millennium Development Goals, to ensure that as we re-build our economy, we all benefit from this growth.

You can find further information on the European campaign is at: http://europeansforfinancialreform.org/

Please watch ‘The Vandal Banker’ and see where else in Europe FTT activities will take place. http://www.pes.org/en/financial-transaction-tax/pes-european-day-of-action

10:30 – 11:30 Event:

leaf letting passersby, taking pictures and recording short clips to upload to the PES Action Day website. Play your local part in a Pan-Eurpean event with a global goal.
We will be joined by Jim Fitzpatrick MP and Claude Moraes MEP and are expecting considerable media interest in the event.

To RSVP and to request further information on the social, environmental and macro-economic benefits of a financial transaction tax please email lme.lse@hotmail.co.uk or call David Schoibl on 07976 252 768.

May 9 is Europe Day and this year PES (Party of European Socialist) Day of Action on Social Europe.

Swedish Socialist and Vice-President of the European Commission Margot Wallstrom writes about Europe Day in the Independent

Further information on the PES day of Action

PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen slammed the EU for abandoning its ‘Jobs Summit’ – due tomorrow and replaced by a low profile ‘troika’ with the social partners – despite this week’s forecast that unemployment will reach almost 27 million next year.

Post sent by Desmond O'Toole - Dublin

Two hundred anxious and angry people met in a hotel in Dublin last Saturday (21st February) at a seminar sponsored by the PES and the Irish Labour Party. They were Labour members and trade union activists from across Ireland who had come together to discuss the "State of the [Irish] Nation." In a few short months Irish people have seen the Celtic Tiger become the Celtic Mouse. A once vibrant and self-confident economy has been brought to its knees by reckless banking and political corruption. Ireland is now a place of fear - for jobs, for mortgages and for just meeting everyday needs.

The seminar was opened by Eamon Gilmore TD, the leader of Labour in Ireland, who condemned the incompetence of the conservative government that had presided over this catastrophe and also their slash-and-burn solutions to the crisis of driving down wages and cutting public services. Eamon demanded a better way with better thinking that put people first and depended on solidarity between all Irish people and with our partners in Europe. The seminar then heard from a selection of economists. Intelligent people, no doubt, steeped in the discipline of counting numbers and speculating about markets, but who, with their differing analyses, proved the maxim that you can lay all the economists in the world end-to-end and they still wouldn't reach a conclusion! They all did agree that the Irish economy is facing a meltdown of unprecedented proportions. The solutions of the majority of these economists, however, perpetuated the same failed perspective that had brought the Irish economy to its knees .... cutbacks in public services, cuts in wages and rapid deflation. Sanity, and indeed hope, was restored by two politicians who have shown strong and persuasive leadership during this crisis: Joan Burton TD, Deputy Leader of Irish Labour, and Poul Nyrup Rasmussen. Joan made the important point that we could not afford to follow the path of deflation as they have done in Japan. That led to a "lost decade" for the Japanese. We could not afford a "lost decade" here in Ireland. Much better to follow the example of Scandinavian policy-makers and use the state to drive reform, to provide solidarity with those displaced by recession and to positively manage our way out of this crisis. Then Poul spoke. He had flown in from Denmark that morning and was returning immediately after the seminar. A tiring journey, but one much appreciated by his audience. Poul took the bull by the horns. Like Joan Burton, Poul is credible, personal, direct and honest with his audience. This is Poul's way with people and Dublin warmed to him. We have to do eight things Poul said, counting them off on his fingers: 1. Clean up the Irish banks. 2. Show solidarity between EU member states by issuing eurobonds that will bring down the cost of Irish government borrowing. 3. Use EU funds to keep people in work by paying for the training of those placed on short-time working or laid off. 4. Create a regulatory regime that is transparent, international and includes all financial actors. 5. Bring stability to people's pension funds and use these assets to finance long-term, sustainable economic investment. 6. Defend the rights of working people across Europe and demand that these rights are respected. 7. Address the scandal of tax-havens and liberate the funds they contain to finance growth in the world economy. 8. Create and deliver a recovery plan for jobs that leverages pan-European solidarity. This was the alternative narrative that we were waiting to hear. It was convincing, direct and carried a message of hope. Astonishingly for a Dublin audience we all rose to our feet and delivered an enthusiastic standing ovation for Poul. This is why the PES is different. This is why we are worthy of the people's trust. The hope we offer is not blind optimism. It's not a case of whistling as we pass the graveyard. The hope we offer is rooted in an intelligent, reasoned understanding of the nature of the crisis we are facing. It is rooted in the belief that solidarity between people and a commitment to use the enabling power of the State and its resources can help us manage our way out of this mess. We are not some flotsam tossed about on the stormy waves of international markets. We can, if we choose, become masters of our own futures. Poul and Joan exemplify this alternative narrative. In Dublin, last weekend, we were able to replace anxiety with confidence, fear with hope and submission to anonymous market forces with belief in ourselves and in each other.

Julian Scola