Marxist. Trade Unionist. Socialist-feminist. Author. Poet. Speaker. Tutor. RMT ex-Exec. Workers' Liberty. Autie. Bi. PUFC fan.
A bourgeois workers’ party, Lenin called it.
On Thursday 12 May, author Janine Booth and foreword-writer John McDonnell MP spoke at the launch event for ‘Autism Equality in the Workplace: removing barriers and challenging discrimination’, with contributions from two autistic workers and a parent of an autistic … Read more
Labour excludes another socialist, from Solidarity 400, 13 April 2016 I joined Labour as a teenager in the 1980s and was expelled in 2003 for standing against Labour when the local Labour council was privatising housing and closing nurseries and … Read more
Zac was smart and Zac was cool Zac had learned at boarding school That boys like Zac were born to rule His minions said, “Oh Zac, in May Be lord of all that you survey” Just one small thing stood … Read more
Campaign updates: TUC Manifesto for Disability Equality is gaining support: unions are encouraged to endorse it and promote it. We will press the Labour Party to endorse the Manifesto and include its demands in its own manifesto. There is a … Read more
At RMT’s Annual General Meeting in June 2015, I proposed an emergency motion for the union to back Jeremy Corbyn, then an outsider in the Labour Party’s leadership election. These are the notes of my speech. It is very exciting … Read more
by Janine Booth, co-Chair, TUC Disabled Workers’ Committee For several years, disability rights has seemed the most intractable of issues to fight on. A population soaked in Daily Mail outrage and Jeremy Kyle cartoon characters seemed determined to … Read more
This is the speech I gave on 11 March, moving RMT’s motion to TUC Women’s Conference about sexual assault on stations and trains. TSSA submitted an amendment which RMT opposed. The amendment was defeated and the motion passed. One of … Read more
Janine will be speaking about the 1920s Poplar Rates Rebellion to introduce a session on Radical Councils. John Burgess from Barnet Unison will also speak, and there will be plenty of time for discussion. Event organised by Lewisham, Lambeth & … Read more
Respect for war dead is not proved By the depth of bow you’re showing But by the mountains you have moved To stop their numbers growing. ​This poem was included in the anthology Poems for Jeremy Corbyn (Shoestring Press, 2016) … Read more
I vote Conservative – That’s the last time I tell you. The reds would wreck the country. I don’t believe that Austerity is wrong. Scroungers and skivers Are the real Problem. The Conservatives Will tackle the economic Mess Labour left. Taxing the rich … Read more
I have a question It’s from Janine of Hackney How low can you sink?
A prized plot of land is the centre ground Where a sizeable crop of electors is found Fierce turf wars are waged for its title deeds For the rights to the lease and to sowing one’s seeds On the centre … Read more
Janine giving a speech at the Sussex Labour Representation Committee (LRC) fringe meeting at TUC Congress 2015. The subject of the meeting was fighting austerity and defending trade union rights.
They’re cutting help to those in need – What case to vote against? This is a tricky one indeed I’m staying on the fence Scrap targets for child poverty? My mind is wracked with doubt Perhaps, no – maybe, probably … Read more
Sussex Labour Representation Committee fringe meeting at TUC Congress in Brighton. Janine will be one of the speakers at the meeting, which will be focusing on the key issues of resisting Tory austerity and defending trade union rights. Brighton Friends Meeting … Read more
If you don’t want a Blairite bottom-feeder If you want to fight cuts not give in to greed or Tack your policies to a Daily Mail reader If you want to back a winner and not a conceder Vote Jeremy Corbyn … Read more
A sonnet written on the occasion of Lord Alan Sugar’s resignation form the Labour Party: So who invited that spiv to the party? No, we don’t want his cut-throat sort round here His anti-social manners are so nasty He’s nicking … Read more
This article was published in Solidarity 360. By Janine Booth, co-Chair, TUC Disabled Workers’ Committee (personal capacity) Over the last five years, the Tory-led government has targeted disabled people with cuts in benefits, closure of services, and attacks on … Read more
An article published in Workers’ Liberty no.66 in 2001, which turned out to be a precursor to my 2009 book, Guilty and Proud Of It. In Hackney, east London, the Labour/Tory coalition administration – the first in Britain since World War … Read more
I drafted this several years ago, for a discussion at a Workers’ Liberty branch meeting on the first and second Labour governments. I found it useful to tell the story, then ask people to discuss some questions: the ‘timeline’ and discussion questions … Read more