It is said that in some parts of the country you could stick a blue rosette on a donkey and it would get elected. In Mid-Bedfordshire the voters appear keen to put this theory quite literally to the test...in the shape of Nadine Dorries.
Nadine first came to my attention when she intoned (in all seriousness) on BBC Question Time that Trident "isn't a weapon of mass destruction". She said it with one of those little incredulous laughs, as though the very notion was totally silly. I guess the Chiefs of Staff will now be taking the warheads back to the manufacturers, with the receipt, in order to get a refund.
Nadine's latest obsession is with "benefit scroungers", and in particular her notion that disabled people who use Twitter must be malingering. She urges us to report anyone we know who tweets alot to the DWP.
Mind you, Nadine knows alot about sharp financial practice, having had a very flexible attitude as to which home was her normal one and which her "second " home when claiming expenses.
Where do they get these people from?
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
Thursday, 30 September 2010
The people of Ecuador are on the streets to defend their democracy and their President
There are also reports that members of the Quito army barracks in the capital city occupied these barracks in open mutiny against the government. In response, President Rafael Correa went to the barracks to talk to the rebels and was attacked by CS gas which exploded near his face. The President is now in the hospital of the Quito Regiment, with minor concussions but well. The armed forces have him under their control in the Quito barracks.
In a clearly orchestrated action of open rebellion, members of the armed forces also took control and closed the Mariscal Antonio José de Sucre airport.
In response to these developments, on live TV through TELESUR at about 18 hrs (GMT) President Rafael Correa said: “It’s a coup d’etat, a conspiracy organised by the opposition.” President Correa hinted that UNASUR was likely to hold an emergency meeting to defend the democratic order that is under threat in Ecuador and also said that police officers supportive of the revolt were trying to get to his hospital room to attack him. He added that he was standing firm in the defence of the democratic order in Ecuador and there was no way he would capitulate, and that he could only lose his life.
The Foreign Affairs minister has called upon people to march to the hospital to protect the life of the President. Mass demonstrations are now taking place in the whole of Ecuador in support of the legitimate and democratically-elected government of President Correa. People are currently congregating around the Quito barracks hospital to protect the President.
President Correa and his government have won every single democratic election since his election in 2006. The government has expanded democracy and implemented policies to redistribute income to the poor, benefiting millions of people hitherto socially excluded. The country has also had a new constitution overwhelmingly approved at a national referendum, which is deemed to be one of the greenest and most progressive constitutions in the world.
Venezuela Solidarity Campaign http://www.venezuelasolidarity.co.uk/
Sunday, 26 September 2010
YOUR CITY - YOUR SERVICES! SUPPORT US ON THE 29th SEPTEMBER
On 20th October 2010 a disaster will hit this Country and our City, as the ConDem Coalition announces its ‘grant settlement’ for the public, voluntary and private sectors.
In Brighton and Hove, the Council budget will be cut by £15 million each year for 3 years - and this does not include the NHS, Universities, Police, Colleges and much more.
The ‘knock-on’ effect on the local economy – shops, employment, building industry, etc – will be devastating, as, literally thousands of jobs are lost. Many of your services will be destroyed or severely reduced. Ordinary working people will lose their homes and become dependent on state benefits.
BUT, IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY!
The richest 10% of people in this Country are worth £4,000 Billion – a one-off 10% tax on their wealth would pay off the national deficit many times over – the richest would hardly even notice!
If, as David Cameron and George Osborne constantly say “we are all in this together”, then the rich should pay more – after all, it was the Bankers and speculators who caused the crisis that we are now expected to pay for.
THIS IS THE TIME TO FIGHT!
All of us are users of public services - the NHS, Fire Brigade, schools, day centres, libraries, waste collection and much more. All of these are under threat – nothing is safe.
“We will protect front-line services” (David Cameron/Nick Clegg). UNTRUE – the Connexions Service in the City is under threat of closure as we speak.
We are fighting for these services, for jobs, for the elderly, the young, disabled, vulnerable and the very basic standard of living that we have. These are your services. Like us, you are Council/Income Tax payers; you and us want the best for our money.
Join our campaign. Tell your MP/Councillor/Media, that you reject these cuts. That you value your services. That you did not vote for the destruction of the public sector.
Join us at 4pm, on Wednesday 29th September, outside Kings House, Grand Avenue, Hove, to march to Brighton Town Hall (off East Street, Brighton).
This is the European Day of Action, when all across the Continent; ordinary people will say “NO”!
This is your opportunity to say to the Prime Minister and his Government
“WE WILL HAVE THE BIG SOCIETY, BUT ITS OUR BIG SOCIETY, NOT YOURS!!!”
Produced by Brighton and Hove UNISON
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Our benefits are under attack!
The demonisation of claimants is being obediently carried out by the Tories' friends in the press.
In reality, benefit cuts are an issue for people in work as well as those out of work, and not just because in-work benefits are also under attack. Social security benefits are part of the "social wage" which our forebears fought for, so that people would be protected if they lost their job or became sick, or retired. Workfare schemes, making people work for benefits, will drive down wages and terms and conditions by creating a vast pool of cheap labour. The next time someone in your workplace says its a good idea to make people work for their dole, ask them if they'd be happy if someone came in and did their job for £66 a week. If they are very lucky. maybe the boss would let them do it for £66 a week!
Already Osborne has announced cuts of £11 billion with the promise of more to come. Among the benefits singled out for attack is housing benefit. This benefit is crucial in keeping the poorest in society housed. As such it is arguably the one benefit which cuts across all categories - unemployed people, sick and disabled people, pensioners. lone parents and people in low-paid employment are likely to be receiving HB to cover all or part of their rent.
For private tenants, there will further reductions in local housing allowance rates. Currently these are set so that people on benefits could afford to rent about half of the properties of a given size in a given area. This is being reduced to a third. The possibility of obtaining an extra amount of up to £15 a week for renting the cheapest properties is being removed. The clear implcation of this is that people will find it increasingly hard to find somewhere affordable to live, and will be faced with having to find part of their rent from other benefits.
The picture is also bleak for people who have relatives living with them (particularly if those people are in work). Non-dependent deductions have been frozen since 2001 but the ConDems want bring the amounts up to where they would have been had they been increased every year - a process which they want to complete in just three years. This means huge cuts in benefit for people with, for example a working son or daughter living at home. It is arguable that this will not save money anyway, since will break extended families apart and put more people into the private rented market.
Of course the Tories will claim that "the market" will compensate - by forcing landlords to cut rents, but this is hightly questionable at best. The Chartered Institute of Housing estimates that 750,000 households could lose their homes.
While all this is going on, the civil service union PCS has just announced that its members working in tax offices believe that £130 billion in tax went uncollected in 2009/10.
It is vital for all working people that we fight these measures. You can make a start by coming to the Brighton Benefits Campaign Public Meeting this Thursday, 23rd September, 7pm, Friends Meeting House, Ship Street/
Reinstate Sam Buckley!
From Socialist Unity
150 - 200 people marched through Hastings on Saturday to demand the reinstatement of victimised reps at CSA Hastings and a Parliamentary enquiry into the actions of Area Management. The crowd chanted “Reinstate Sam” inbetween hearing speakers explain how a person dying of cancer was sacked for exceeding their sick days and a black union rep was sacked for asking if he was being discriminated against.
Jeremy Birch, leader of Hastings Borough Council spoke, giving his full support to the campaign and in a surprise move a message of support from the prominent Labour MP John McDonnell was read out, stating “I will do all I can to help. I will raise this at the Parliamentary Group and we will use every mechanism we can to expose what has happened and seek redress.”
John McDonnell is a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee that oversees the CSA and Chair of the PCS All Party Parliamentary Group.
Sam Buckley, PCS CSA Hastings Secretary, the latest sacked branch officer, challenged the Area Management team to support the demand for an enquiry if they truly believed their actions had been right.
The march also heard from Tony Mulhearn, former Liverpool City Councillor who said he was “proud” to support reps dismissed for fighting for their members, while other speakers emphasised the public sector cuts coming up and urged the public to attend the Trades Council’s meeting against cuts on October 7th.
Other speakers included Dave Richards and Dominic McFadden from the PCS National leadership, Eddie Fleming, the first union officer to be sacked, Alex Richardson of the student group Youth For Jobs and Corrine Lotz of the campaigning group ‘A World To Win’
Delegations had come from London, Brighton, Tunbridge Wells, Dover, Oxford, Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bristol and Newcastle as well as from Hastings and its neighbouring towns. The rally ended with a pledge to step up the pressure and build the campaign
150 - 200 people marched through Hastings on Saturday to demand the reinstatement of victimised reps at CSA Hastings and a Parliamentary enquiry into the actions of Area Management. The crowd chanted “Reinstate Sam” inbetween hearing speakers explain how a person dying of cancer was sacked for exceeding their sick days and a black union rep was sacked for asking if he was being discriminated against.
Jeremy Birch, leader of Hastings Borough Council spoke, giving his full support to the campaign and in a surprise move a message of support from the prominent Labour MP John McDonnell was read out, stating “I will do all I can to help. I will raise this at the Parliamentary Group and we will use every mechanism we can to expose what has happened and seek redress.”
John McDonnell is a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee that oversees the CSA and Chair of the PCS All Party Parliamentary Group.
Sam Buckley, PCS CSA Hastings Secretary, the latest sacked branch officer, challenged the Area Management team to support the demand for an enquiry if they truly believed their actions had been right.
The march also heard from Tony Mulhearn, former Liverpool City Councillor who said he was “proud” to support reps dismissed for fighting for their members, while other speakers emphasised the public sector cuts coming up and urged the public to attend the Trades Council’s meeting against cuts on October 7th.
Other speakers included Dave Richards and Dominic McFadden from the PCS National leadership, Eddie Fleming, the first union officer to be sacked, Alex Richardson of the student group Youth For Jobs and Corrine Lotz of the campaigning group ‘A World To Win’
Delegations had come from London, Brighton, Tunbridge Wells, Dover, Oxford, Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bristol and Newcastle as well as from Hastings and its neighbouring towns. The rally ended with a pledge to step up the pressure and build the campaign
Thursday, 16 September 2010
The Daily Mail....Pravda for the ruling class
Sometimes even the Daily Mail manages to surpass itself. On Wednesday it seized upon an Office for National Statistics report on wage comparisons to claim that public sector workers, "on average", earn £136pw - yes you read right - £136pw - more than public sector workers. Hell...some of my members don't even earn £136pw, let alone that much more than anyone else in the economy!
Do they really think we're stupid?
There is no indication of how different jobs have been compared; which jobs in the private sector have been compared to teachers, nurses or social workers? For a start if one looks at how the ONS actually defines "public sector", then many of the lowest paid people providing public services have been excluded because most of them have been contracted out to the private sector. The "public sector" also includes bank workers - on the technical basis that the Government now, in theory, owns the banks. It is well-established that the public sector contains a greater proportion of professionally qualified staff which skews the comparisons even more.
Of course none of these subtleties register with the Daily Fail (see the excellent Tabloid Watch for more examples of just how woeful their "journalism" is) - the agenda here is clear. Create the impression of a featherbedded public sector, the better to convince people of the cuts agenda.
Dont fall for it.
Do they really think we're stupid?
There is no indication of how different jobs have been compared; which jobs in the private sector have been compared to teachers, nurses or social workers? For a start if one looks at how the ONS actually defines "public sector", then many of the lowest paid people providing public services have been excluded because most of them have been contracted out to the private sector. The "public sector" also includes bank workers - on the technical basis that the Government now, in theory, owns the banks. It is well-established that the public sector contains a greater proportion of professionally qualified staff which skews the comparisons even more.
Of course none of these subtleties register with the Daily Fail (see the excellent Tabloid Watch for more examples of just how woeful their "journalism" is) - the agenda here is clear. Create the impression of a featherbedded public sector, the better to convince people of the cuts agenda.
Dont fall for it.
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