Jeremy Corbyn addressing a rally in Chignford, east London, 6.7.17, photo Mary Finch

Jeremy Corbyn addressing a rally in Chignford, east London, 6.7.17, photo Mary Finch   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Reece Lawton, Nottingham Socialist Party

300 people attended a Broxtowe Labour Party meeting in Nottingham with Jeremy Corbyn on 31 January. Labour’s Greg Marshall is seeking to unseat Tory MP Anna Soubry in the next general election.

I managed to get my way through to the meeting’s trade union roundtable discussion, to put forward the demand for trade union rights in the gig economy – and the repealing of all anti-union laws, rather than just the latest one as put forward in Labour’s last manifesto.

This met with unanimous approval, and was communicated to Jeremy Corbyn himself when he had a brief chat with the table. At the end, Corbyn gave a speech.

He had met May about Brexit on 30 January because parliament had taken ‘no deal’ off the table. He said he told her he wanted a customs union, access to markets, and rights for EU migrants.

Despite references to a general election, there was no talk of how to bring one about. The Socialist Party says Corbyn and the unions should force one by calling mass action.

The meeting was friendly, and we sold 19 copies of the Socialist.