Lib Dems respond to Centre for Cities study

Centre for Cities: High debt levels in North leave people badly prepared post-Coronavirus
 

THE Liberal Democrats have responded to a Centre for Cities report warning that high debt levels in Northern England and Wales will leave people poorly prepared for the post-coronavirus economic downturn.

Their new research maps debt levels in England and Wales and found that in Northern England and Wales’ cities, people have the highest levels of debt relative to their incomes.

On average, for every £5 people earn in Warrington, Swansea, Sunderland and Wigan, they owe around £1. This compares to Oxford and Cambridge where people owe just 35p for every £5 they earn on average

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the North John Leech said:

“Report after report and analysis after analysis shows the North hit hardest. From schools to busses, pensions to child poverty, and now debt.

“Let’s be absolutely clear: this is another example of the undeniable and devastating result of decades of overinvestment and relentless focus on London and the South, and it cannot be solved overnight with warm words.

“It’s time to take the North/South divide and its impact on people’s lives seriously.

“Ministers, MPs and councillors must listen and commit to investing in the North, and they must do it with real urgency to guarantee real equality across our region.

“Only the Liberal Democrats are standing up for the North. We will continue fighting to rebalance our regional economies, making sure those in the North are not continuously left worse off and build a brighter future where everyone gets their fair share, no matter where they live.”

ENDS.

Careless Talk Costs Votes

by Les May

I RECENTLY described how Labour MP Chris Williamson had been given a platform for his ‘Democracy Roadshow’ and was given a standing ovation at the end of his talk.

My assumption was that an attempt had been made to deny him a platform at the recent event to remember those killed at St Peter’s Field in August 1819 for much the same reasons that are detailed in the Wikipedia entry at;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Williamson_(politician)

These boil down to the fact that some Jewish groups object to him speaking.

Having listened to him speak I am more inclined to accept that the only other reason mooted, that he is ‘divisive’, may have some merit. Although he made it clear that he is a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn and I accept he was ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’, I was not convinced he was singing quite the same tune.

I see Corbyn’s approach to domestic issues as being in the same mould as Clement Attlee, someone who was never mentioned by Tony Blair. Williamson’s concerns seemed more in the mould of Tony Benn with some vague ideas about worker’s co-operatives and some ideas about finance which did not seem to have been worked out. He also found time to criticise Denis Healey’s Chancellorship, Ed Millibrand and shadow Chancellor John McDonnell. (The Wikipedia entry on Healey’s stint as Chancellor is well worth reading https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Healey)

Many of the Fleet Street scribblers are old enough to remember Labour in the days of Tony Benn, but too young to remember what the Atlee government did for people like my parents, and hence for me and my siblings. So it’s easy, very easy, for them to frighten voters into accepting the story that Corbyn is part of the ‘extreme Left wing’ of the Labour party.

When I sat and reflected upon what he said I came to the conclusion that Chris Williamson was trying to convince his audience that the socialist millenium was just around the corner, if only we followed his nostrums. I don’t think it is. The pressing issues I want Labour to put right before we start thinking about anything else, including arguing over Trident, are the obscene inequalities in income and wealth in this country, the lack of council houses with affordable rents, the rise of the ‘rentier’ class, lack of job security, the no pay/low pay cycle which means the ‘poor’ stay poor. As Denis Healey pointed out in the 1970s these have to be paid for, and it’s the very rich who are going to have to do some of the paying. And they are not going to like it.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/30/wealth-banks-google-facebook-society-economy-parasites

******************

Feral Councillors!

by Durruti Column

IT's deeply worrying to hear that Greater Manchester has one of the highest rates of hospital admissions with malnutrition* in England, 1.5 times higher than the national average. Learning that there were 588 hospital admissions in our area with a primary or secondary diagnosis of malnutrition in 2015/16, a rate of 21 per 100,000 people, compared to a rates of 15 per 100,000 across England.  These shocking statistics naturally drew me to the scandalous plight of many of our councillors, many of whom are forced to seek out alternative sources of nutrition to bulk out  their obviously insufficient tax payer subsidised post meeting buffets.   Persistent reports that councillors near delirious with early onset malnutrition  have resorted to scavenging from local restaurants to prevent starvation keep surfacing on social media. '

'You can hardly move at the local soup kitchen for councillors pan handling for a bowl of soup and a roll - where are they all flocking from ?, reported one regular Food Bank user who did not want to be named , adding '   It's time the government or Bob Geldof stepped in with another Live Aid!  Shocking reports of aggressive town centre begging by councillors without portfolio has led some to believe that the councillors expenses are quite obviously inadequate and need an immediate public inquiry and recalibration.  'You can see the poor souls staggering out of local public house racked with exhaustion and overwork.  One of them does a whole three hours work every other week .  The lovies are so tired that they keep falling asleep in meetings.  If it wasn't for the expenses form being passed round and waking them up at the end of the meetings some of them would be there all night.   I don't know how they manages to keep going?   ‘Some of the poor dears barley manage to get into a restaurant more than four or five times a week it's a wonder they aren't forced into spending their own money sometimes', said a town centre zero hours contract cleaner.

One shamefaced councillor who wish to remain anonymous described an ugly incident behind No.1 Riverside last week when a pack of feral councillors intimidated local beggars away from the closely located supermarket food skips.   ‘There's  just not enough dustbins and food skips in the town centre to supply demand any more.   It's a ghetto out there - it's us or the street beggars !', she added through clenched teeth. Few people realise just how difficult it is becoming for our poor local councillors to survive in a such a highly charged and  toxic competitive environment.  It's been reported that some town centre street corners have two , three , sometimes more, individuals cynically competing in trying to extort more money from the public purse.

'Your average professional parasite hardly get a look in any more because of these new arrivals.  Councillors cornered the market on conning the public out of their hard earned cash for decades and we deeply resent these newcomers stealing our pitches', complained another tearful and near destitute councillor of twenty years standing.  'Peoples priorities have all gone astray.  I've three full time jobs , remuneration from a dozen committee posts and the lucrative income from housing benefits on several dozen properties to scrape by on yet the local proles would still far rather donate to feed the hungry kids of a frozen single mum sitting in the rain who's been sanctioned for being two minutes late at the job centre than subsidise meals for us decent hard up councillors!  What's wrong with 'em !  It's a diabolical liberty!    Some of us have been using the same sob story to voters for decades without any public scrutiny and we don't see why just because the towns social fabric is collapsing around us that our personal gravy train should be jeopardised.   It'll end in communism you mark my words!'.

Distressingly reports that some of our local councillors have been forced by dire circumstances and near destitution into working for a living although highly unlikely can not be discounted altogether.   A recent public service announcement warns locals not to give cash to any hungry or dishevelled councillors who may wander into the town centre delirious with hunger.   'Don't give public handouts to councillors', said a spokesperson , ‘It will simply feed their addiction.  They can't help themselves - Universal Credit and destitution is good enough for the majority of our hard working dedicated town centre beggars.  Councillors are no different and it really is time they started contributing to our local economy rather than expecting repeated public handouts'.

If you see a councillor aggressively demanding more money from the public purse in a public area.  Do not approach them - and most certainly do not vote for them since this will only encourage their recidivist anti-social behaviour - Keep calm and remember that a new Public Space Protection Order is in force to protect innocent members of the public from serial scammers & fraudsters.

* malnutrition

NOUN: lack of proper nutrition, caused by not having enough to eat, not eating enough of the right things, or being unable to use the food that one does eat.

Rochdale MBC & threat to 'Criminalise Poverty'

'LIBERTY' (the Civil Rights group) has written to Rochdale Borough Council urging it to abandon proposals that could criminalise the town’s most vulnerable people and curb residents’ civil liberties – with no public consultation.
The council is considering using a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) to introduce 10 separate criminal offences. PSPOs are disturbingly broad powers that let local authorities ban a huge range of activities.
The authority has proposed a ban on people “placing themselves in a position to beg or solicit money” at any time – effectively criminalising poverty when homelessness in England is increasing at an alarming rate.
The council also hopes to place a curfew on under-18s between 11pm and 6am – a measure usually reserved for a national emergency – and criminalise the unauthorised distribution of printed materials, which could violate residents’ freedom of expression and cause significant harm to local businesses.
A further ban on “foul and abusive language” has already been recorded widely in the press – and ridiculed across the globe.
If introduced, the PSPO would give police and council officers the power to issue on-the-spot penalties of up to £100. If unable to pay, those in breach could face prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000.
Liberty believes several of Rochdale’s proposed bans, if implemented, risk breaching residents’ fundamental rights, protected by the Human Rights Act. The Act requires the council not to behave in a way which would disproportionately affect  residents’ rights.
The council does not intend to consult the public on the plans.

Discriminatory and unworkable

In today’s letter, Liberty’s Legal Officer Lara ten Caten advises Cllr Mark Widdup that:

• The proposed ban on begging will punish vulnerable members of society by imposing financial penalties they cannot afford – cruelly forcing them to pay a fine using what little money they might have saved from the charity of others.
• PSPOs are extremely blunt instruments incapable of addressing complex social problems or sensitively dealing with targeted groups. PSPOs can only lead to fines, and are therefore likely to draw vulnerable people into both the criminal justice system and a cycle of debt.
• The proposed curfew on under-18s is disproportionate, discriminates against young people and is practically unworkable.
• A ban on the unauthorised distribution of leaflets would constitute an unjustified interference with the right to freedom of expression, which includes the right to impart and receive information. Such a ban would curtail the rights of citizens to campaign on political or social issues, and could also harm local businesses which rely on leaflets for promotional purposes.
• The proposed swearing ban is unworkable and represents a clear violation of the right to freedom of expression.  

Lara ten Caten, Legal Officer for Liberty, said: “These proposals are a staggering misuse of power. The council is seeking to limit the rights and freedoms of Rochdale residents without providing any evidence of a need to do so – or even bothering to consult them in the first place.
“This PSPO would make criminals of the homeless and vulnerable, the young, the politically-engaged and businessmen and women alike.
“Criminalising those most in need is no answer to rising homelessness, while the swearing ban is so vague no one could possibly know whether they risk breaking the law or not.
“Rochdale deserves better. For the good of its residents, the council must abandon these plans now.”

Red Cross to distribute food parcels to hungry Brits!

GUESS WHO'S NOT GOING HUNGRY?

Cameron and Osborne dine out at Puccini's Pizzeria
e Ristorante, Swinton, Manchester, in September.

The international humanitarian organisation the British Red Cross, which helps people in crisis, recently announced that it plans to distribute food aid to the needy in Britain for the first time since WWII.

The number of people turning to food banks as emergency aid to feed their families, has more than tripled following the squeeze on benefits in April. The country's biggest food bank operator, the 'Trusell Trust', announced that they distributed food aid to 355,985 people, including nearly 120,000 children, between April and September compared with 113,264 during the same period in 2012. The Trust said that they had distributed more food aid to hungry Brits during those six months than in the whole of  2012. According to the Trust, increases in food and energy prices, pay freezes, the bedroom tax, cuts in council tax benefits and welfare changes in April, along with changes to the rules governing crisis loans, have all led to an increase in demand for emergency food aid. More than 650,000 people were referred to food banks over the period because of benefit changes - a fourfold increase - and another 117,000 were referred because of delays in paying their benefits.

The Trust told 'The Independent' newspaper that people using food banks, had started to return food that needed to be warmed up because they could not afford to switch on their electricity. The Trust, which operates around 400 food banks is calling for a public inquiry into the level of food poverty.

The one party state of Tameside in Greater Manchester, falls within the most deprived quartile counties of England. The fact that there will soon be at least 11 food banks, is a stark indicator of the dire financial difficulties which many people find themselves in. Members of the Tameside East Foodbank, are now a regular feature in many local supermarkets where they can be found handing out tickets asking customers to purchase items of food, such as milk, pasta sauces, tinned rice pudding, biscuits or snack bars, to help "local people in crisis."

Why so many people in Britain both in and out of work should find that they are unable to feed themselves when we live in the seventh richest nation on the planet, is absolutely diabolical and scandalous in the extreme. When people are facing homelessness and destitution in Britain due to welfare cuts and  the bedroom tax, this Tory government is far more concerned with bankers' mega-bonuses and in giving tax cuts to multi-millionaires. The taxpayer has already bailed out failing banks to the tune of £1.162 trillion.

Former Labour minister, Frank Field, who was appointed by Tony Blair to "think the unthinkable" regarding welfare reform, is now David Cameron's own Poverty Tsar. Although Labour laid the foundations for much of these Tory reforms, Field has spoken out about the danger of food banks becoming an "institutional part" of the welfare state. He told 'The Independent':

"Clearly something very serious is happening to people at the bottom of society which isn't picked up in the offical data. If you had said to me ten years ago that we would be discussing the use of food banks, I would have led you to a dark room to recover."

Although the Tory government claim that there is no robust evidence that welfare reforms are linked to the increased use of food banks and the government welfare adviser, former merchant banker, David Freud, has stated publicly that there is always infinite demand for a free good, Chris Mould, the executive chairman of the Trussell Trust, told the newspaper:

"The level of food povery in the UK is not acceptable. It's scandalous and it's causing deep distress to thousands of people. As a nation we need to accept that something is wrong and that we need to act now to stop UK hunger getting worse."

Solihull single mother commits suicide over 'bedroom tax". She could not afford to live!

Amid all the brouhaha about Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement and Michael Gove's call for a referendum on Britain's continuing membership of the European Community, the tragic suicide of 53-year-old Stephanie Bottril from Solihull, was squeezed into a three minute slot on Sky TV.

Last Saturday, Stephanie left her home on Meriden Drive - Solihull, where she had lived for the past eighteen years - and walked to Junction 4 of the M6 motorway, where she threw herself under a lorry. Before killing herself she told neighbour's that she "simply couldn't afford to live anymore" and posted her keys and a suicide note through a neighbour's door, blaming the government's 'bedroom tax' for her death. "I don't blame anyone for me death expect (sic) the government" she wrote.

Under 'bedroom tax' rules, Stephanie was facing a welfare cut in her housing benefit because she had two spare rooms and she could not afford the extra £20 per week she was required to pay in order to retain her home. She told neighbours that she was 'tortured' about how she could afford the extra £20 per week and knew that she would have leave the home she loved, after losing a quarter of her £320-a-month housing benefit when her 23-year-old daughter, left home to live with her partner. Shortly before her death, a neighbour had taken her some barbecue food because she had not eaten for three days.

Mrs Bottril suffered from an auto-immune system deficiency condition known as Myasthenia gravis, which impacted on her ability to work but she was not receiving disability benefit. In a letter to her 27-year-old son, Steven, she said:

"Don't blame yourself for me ending my life, it is my life, the only people to blame are the government."

Although Mrs Bottril had been offered another property, she felt this was unsuitable because of poor transport links and she felt this would have isolated her from her family. Following Stephanie's death, the family issued a statement. Her son Steven told the Sunday People:

"She was fine before this bedroom tax. It was dreamt up by people living in offices and big houses. They have no idea the effect it has on people like my mum."

At a time when this verminous Tory government are taxing poor people for having so-called spare bedrooms, they have cut taxes for the rich and corporation tax for their business chums. As from April, anyone earning over £1 million-a-year will get an annual tax cut of at least £42,295.00. Yet there has been a five-fold increase in food banks since this government came into power in May 2010. The Labour MP Luciana Berger, recently told Parliament that 350,000 people had accessed emergency food aid this year in Britain.

While the government pursues its billionaires agenda of less tax for the rich, less regulation for business, less spending by the State and no cap on bankers bonuses, children are going hungry in Manchester. It is estimated that 91,000 children are living in severe poverty throughout Greater Manchester.

In the local authority area of Tameside, which according to figures published by the trade union UNISON, is one of the hardest places to find work in the North West, the registered social landlord New Charter Housing Trust Ltd, has already started to send out letters to their tenants who are in arrears with their 'bedroom tax', threatening legal action. These 'recovery proceedings' are being made in spite of comments made by New Charter boss, Ian Munro, that the tax should 'axed' and that it is both 'unfair and incompetent'. The housing boss has also stated that the housing company is in no position to rehouse many of its tenants, who are being forced to downsize. It is estimated that two-thirds of people affected by the bedroom tax nationally, are disabled.

In Solihull, the council Labour group leader, David Jamieson, said he was 'appalled' by the death of Stephanie Bottril and he urged the government to reconsider its 'bedroom tax' policy. Figures released earlier this year, show that UK suicide rates have markedly increased since the Tory government came into office. Just how many suicides it will take, before this government scraps this vile and iniquitous tax, remains to be seen.