Unite Teesside local government sends Pittsburgh motion to Stockton North

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As Steve Cooke reported last week, his branch in Stockton North CLP voted down his motion in solidarity with Jewish communities following the Pittsburgh massacre. Now Steve updates with some better news:

“I’m pleased to confirm that my motion of solidarity with the Jewish community following the Pittsburgh Synagogue attack will definitely be going to the next all-member meeting of Stockton North CLP because my trade union branch, Unite Teesside Local Government, has backed it.

“Let’s hope it is received in a more constructive manner this time round. The meeting, which is open to Labour Party members in Stockton North, will be held on Friday 16 November, 7-9pm, in the Jim Cooke suite of Stockton Central Library.

“Thanks to my union branch for their solidarity and support on this.

“For those not familiar with Labour Party processes, it was my Labour Party ward branch that voted down the motion last week. However, affiliated trade unions also have the right to propose motions to the constituency-wide party meeting and that is what has happened here.”

The motion as submitted is below.

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Unite TLG branch stands in #solidarity with the Jewish community following the tragic Pittsburgh Synagogue attack.

We have also submitted the following statement as a motion to Stockton North CLP for discussion at their all-member meeting on Friday 16 November 2018.

Motion on the Pittsburgh Synagogue attack

We condemn the terrorist attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, which killed 11 people and injured several others on 27 October 2018.

We note that the alleged perpetrator of this heinous act is reported to have had a long history of antisemitic views and held a deep hatred for Jewish people.

We believe that these murders tragically demonstrate the dangers posed by the growth in antisemitic sentiments and hate speech internationally, which has arisen in a political climate where governments and opportunist politicians have encouraged the scapegoating of minorities. This trend has been reflected in the growth in antisemitic conspiracy theories and a rise in antisemitic incidents and racist hate crime more generally in the UK, as shown in recent reports from the Community Security Trust (CST), Tell Mama UK (‘Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks’) and the Home Office.

We resolve:
• To stand in solidarity with the Jewish community around the world and send our condolences to all those affected by the tragic events in Pittsburgh.
• To recognise that antisemitism exists in society and affirm our belief that such prejudice must be confronted and eradicated wherever it arises.
• To call on the Labour Party to lead the way in opposing antisemitism and fighting racism in all its forms.
• To support political education about antisemitism so that its history, causes, manifestations and effects are better understood in the party and members are confident to challenge it.
• To publish this motion as a statement via our social media outlets.

Let us know what you think? Write a reply? theclarionmag@gmail.com

2 Comments

  1. Steve Cooke is a joyless cretin. He isn’t standing in solidarity with anyone but himself and a narrow band of bumbling amateurs, who are using the murder of 11 jews in Pittsburgh to further sabotage the committee process within their CLP, because they can’t get beyond their petty and small minded grievances with one or two members of the Labour controlled Stockton Borough Council who, unlike Steve Cooke, have actually been elected.

    Steve Cooke wouldn’t know what solidarity was if it slapped him in the face with a big wet fish — which literally everyone in Stockton North would pay good money to see happen, if it meant they didn’t have to listen to his tedious voice rambling on and on and on and on and on about whatever issue he’s latched onto this week, to the detriment of addressing issues we might actually be in a position to do something about.

    His original motion was voted down because, unlike Steve Cooke, members who live in the real world had already agreed that Stockton North CLP would be invited to attend antisemitism training already being delivered by Stockton South CLP. But because King Cooke can’t stand the idea of anyone other than King Cooke taking the credit for something, he decided to make a song and dance about it in the national and international media, dragged his Union into it by lying about the fact the original motion included condemnation of the Pittsburgh attacks when it was in-fact tabled before the attacks took place, and generally behave like a child on social media, for the entertainment of other children, who weren’t at any of the meetings he railroaded and yet apparently have greater clarity on the content of those meetings than people who were.

    If anyone thinks Steve Cooke is the hero in all of this, they’re more than welcome to go out door-knocking this weekend, to talk to actual voters about Jeremy Corbyn’s policy platform, and see for themselves that it’s people like Steve Cooke who make it all the more difficult to convince people “we” are not all mad Trots — and all because self-serving egomaniacs like Steve Cooke would rather betray people who’ve kept the red flag flying here, by spreading lies about them in the Tory press, than listen to what people are saying while he tries to talk over them. And the sooner he’s kicked out of the party AGAIN the better.

    But don’t listen to me. I only joined the party in the first place to support Jeremy Corbyn’s initial leadership bid. Which in Steve Cooke’s world makes me a Tory in disguise Blairite. Because that’s how simple he is.

  2. Not this again. I can’t be bothered to argue with Bonzo Dog’s lies and insults again but, at the risk of being a nag I must object to his continued use of vile, hateful and discriminatory language. To appropriate a term traditionally applied in a derogatory way to describe somone with marked physical and learning disabilities goes against every socialist principle that Jim claims to embody. It’s almost like he’s on a mission to bring the Labour Party into disrepute . This really isn’t a situation where anyone should be applying the maxim. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again

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