I have just got back from a 40-strong demonstration outside Colchester Barracks at the trial of Joe Glenton, the soldier who spoke out against the war in Afghanistan and refused to return. Joe was sentenced to nine months in a military prison for going AWOL. This is clearly an attempt to send a message to soldiers that such things will not be tolerated. Joe apparently left the court with his fist raised in salute. This is only the beginning of the campaign. Pictures and reports to follow.

See: BBC, Guardian, Times, Socialist Worker.

The Government has a problem. It is obsessed with integration, yet seeks to deligitimise one of the greatest examples of genuine intregration of recent  decades. I was reminded of this fact when I came across the above photo  from the recent Troops Out demonstration in London. This picture shows a number of things, the least important of which is that I’m getting a bit old for this sort of thing. It shows students from Essex University, of a range of ages and from diverse backgrounds, united in  their rage at what is happening in Afghanistan. The reality is we would not have known each other had we not been collectively involved in anti-war campaigning. I would not have discovered that one of the people pictured is an incredible political organiser, who half-filled a coach to the demonstration on his own. The fact is that over the past 7 years the anti-war movement has given me the opportunity for genuine engagement with the muslim community.

But the Government wants to suggest that what is happening here is the very opposite of integration. Rather, me and the other white people in the photo are ‘domestic extremists’, and the others are ‘radicalised’. For them the anger against injustice which unites us is something to mistrust. Obsession with defending their wars has meant Labour has sought to delegitimise the movements that have brought young Muslims and non-Muslims closest together. This is very sad.

Around 2000 students, activists and trade unionists demonstrated in front of the Labour Party Conference in Brighton yesterday. Led by workers from Tower Hamlets College, whose all out strike has won major victories, it marched under the slogan Jobs, Education and Peace. It was supported by the UCU, NUT, CWU, PCS and NUJ unions, as well as by the Stop the War Coalition and Right to Work Campaign. A vibrant student section chanted ‘students and workers unite and fight’, and the final rally heard workers from the occupations at Vestas and Visteon, and Tower Hamlets college talk about their inspirational campaigns, and the possibility of building future resistance.

A Nifty T-Shirt produced by the National Union of Teachers, ably modelled by Alex

There’s no doubt it could have been bigger, and perhaps lenin is right that the Labour Party is such a lame duck that it’s tough to get people even to lobby it. A Sunday trip to Brighton is a big ask for anyone North of London as well. But the demo was in embryo the sort of thing we will need in the coming years. The Tories, Labour (and not to be left out the Lib Dems) are committed to making the public sector pay the price for the recession, and the sorts of alliances forged in an event like this will be priceless. The broad union backing was important, as were the examples of the key recent disputes. A week later and there could have been double the number of students (with many freshers fayres this week or next) but the solidarity between students and workers will be of growing importance.