Nieuws, January 2018

30 January 2018

SP Congress in militant mood: Not for the few, but for each other!

“The future is not for predatory capitalism, but for the people. The future doesn't belong to the market, but to us. Together we will fight for a world where it isn't the interests of the few which count, but those of us all.” This was the theme of Lilian Marijnissen's speech to the SP Congress, her first since she became the party's leader late last year.

18 January 2018

No Dutch weapons to belligerent nations in Yemen

Hundreds of children have died in Yemen during the past year as a result of air raids conducted by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia, while numerous schools, hospitals and mosques have been damaged. SP Member of Parliament Sadet Karabulut is urging Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra to do all he can in the UN Security Council to bring about a cease-fire by all parties in Yemen. The Netherlands is currently in the second of its two-year term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. “The bombing must stop,” says Karabulut. “The blockade must be lifted so that food aid and medicines can reach the Yemeni people. And we need an arms embargo to be imposed on the countries taking part in the bombing.”

15 January 2018

Stop the European race to the bottom

Years of struggle have gone into this: after Belgium and Germany, we now have in the Netherlands also a ban on truck drivers, most of whom come from eastern Europe, spending entire weekends in their cabs on lorry parks during their compulsory rest periods. So it's to be welcomed that transport minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of the centre-right VVD actually joined a team of people this weekend distributing flyers informing the drivers about this new ban. This is a big step forwards in two ways: better conditions for drivers and a government minister from a right-wing party willing to go out and distribute flyers.

12 January 2018

Support the Iranian struggle for bread, jobs and freedom

“Just like everywhere else in the world, the fight must be waged from below.”

12 January 2018

SP, Labour and Green Left call for halt to investments in nuclear arms

On Thursday the biggest of the Netherlands' pension funds, ABP, which caters for civil servants and teachers, announced that it was ceasing all investment in nuclear weapons. Expressing her delight at the decision, SP Member of Parliament Sadet Karabulut said: “After years of campaigning by peace activists, the ABP has now come around. The campaigners deserve not only our congratulations but also our support in the fight for a world free of nuclear weapons.”

7 January 2018

For René

René worked for 22 years at Organon in Oss, as did thousands of others in the town. In every street lived someone who worked at the pharmaceutical company, either in the research laboratories or the factory. I was born and grew up in Organon's back yard. For us, Organon was much more than just work: for a hundred years it was the pride of our town. And it was known across the world as the inventor of the contraceptive pill.

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