Hi guys,

I’d just like to ask you all to sign our online petition to cut VAT on condoms across the EU. The campaign is really important because as we approach World Aids Day, we want to remind governments that AIDS is still an issue, and within the EU it remains as much of a problem as elsewhere. The common tariff for VAT on condoms would be a step closer to getting a common, unified policy for dealing with AIDS.

Please, please take 2 minutes to sign our petition!!! I will be delivering it personally to the ECOFIN Council which gathers all 27 finance ministers from across the EU. Your contribution is important.

Simply log onto: http://www.socialistgroup.eu/gpes/petition.do?lg=en

Thanks

Niamh

P.S. Thank you to those of you who have already signed!

SDLP Youth have expressed their sadness at the death of Wendy McAteer, a 17 year-old girl from Limavady.

Liam McNulty, an SDLP Youth Executive member from Limavady stated, “This murder has shocked the whole community, especially as it took place near two of our secondary schools, places where students and young people should feel safe. We in SDLP Youth would like to pass on our condolences to Wendy’s family and we would appeal to anyone with any information to contact the PSNI immediately.”

“This is not the first time a life has been lost around this general area and something needs to be done to make it a safer place for the whole community. Limavady is a small town and unfortunately it has had more than its fair share of grief in the past number of years.”

SDLP Youth Vice Chair Peter Armstrong has expressed concern at the University of Ulster’s Student Union after they began distributing Sinn Fein press releases from their website.

Peter said: “It would seem that Sinn Fein press releases can now be found un-edited on www.uusu.org . The UUSU claims to represent all students no matter what their political belief, but this practice goes against its own Diversity Statement.

“On Tuesday the NUS-USI organised a demonstration outside Stormont against student fees. Members from UUSU attended the demonstration which was addressed by Mark Durkan MP MLA, Dolores Kelly MLA and Alex Attwood MLA. It was also addressed by Anna Lo MLA and a Sinn Fein representative.

“Although it received this cross-party support, and although the UUSU had lots of their own spokespeople there on the day, they decided to simply cut and paste a press release from Sinn Fein HQ onto their website.”

SDLP Youth has backed a demonstration against variable tuition fees which was held today at Stormont.

SDLP Youth Chairman Gary McKeown said: “SDLP Youth has been opposed to tuition fees for several years now- as far as we are concerned they amount to a tax on learning. Now students are going to be faced with an even more inequitable system.

“SDLP Youth activists attended the protest at Stormont today to show our opposition to the idea that people should have to pay to learn. Tuition fees are forcing students into a lifelong spiral of debt, and now many people are deciding to avoid third-level education because they just cannot afford to go to university.

“We believe that people who want to go to university should be judged on their ability- not on their bank balance or the amount of cash their parents can afford to fork-out to help them.

“Society benefits from an educated workforce- if it becomes too difficult for talented people to go to university, then we all lose out. SDLP Youth demands free education for all.”

ENDS

Newry SDLP Youth activists were joined by party Vice-Chairman Cllr Colin McGrath on Saturday to distribute leaflets to shoppers in the city alerting them to the fact that the clothes they are buying may have been made using slave labour.

SDLP Youth Chairman Gary McKeown said: “Shoppers in Newry might think they are getting a bargain when they buy something from a high street retailer for a low price, but with these multinationals making massive profits each year, it is the people who manufacture such clothes who often lose out.

“SDLP Youth has uncovered evidence that a number of major clothing retailers are paying people in countries such as Bangladesh next to nothing for making clothing items. Suppliers for some highstreet fashion companies pay workers as little as £1.13 for a nine-hour day. Others pay 5p an hour to employees who have to work for up to 14 hours a day.

“It is easy to turn a blind eye to this because these unfortunate workers live on the other side of the world, but every time we buy an item that has been manufactured in this way, we are stamping our seal of approval on the use of slave labour.

Mr McKeown concluded: “We aren’t calling for a boycott of retailers, but we are asking shoppers to question where their clothing comes from and to pressurise major chains into making sure that their clothes are manufactured ethically. The only way to do this is through buyer-power.”

ENDS

The SDLP 36th Annual Party Conference took place at the Armagh City Hotel from 2nd to 4th November 2007.
Conference was a resounding success, with a large attendance, lively debate and lots of socialising in the bar on both nights.

>> Irish Student - SDLP Conference Special Edition (pdf)

>> Party Conference Photos (more coming soon!)