Nothing About us with us! by Andrew Wastling

Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal (1957) A magnificent classic of world cinema .The most visceral religious response to the plague we see is through the flagellants, who are so fearful of death and the plague that they turn to self-inflicted violence as a form of public penance. Death is constantly on their minds. When they arrive in the nearby town, the leader of the flagellants accosts the townspeople by reminding them that death could come for them at any time. The flagellants represent a religious extreme – piety turned fanaticism. The musical cues underscoring their arrival and the frantic camerawork make them appear horrific, almost zombie-like. Bergman aimed to bring about revulsion for this extreme response to the plague, and thus implicitly condemned religious fanaticism as a whole.

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UNISON Regional Organiser Paddy Cleary has recently stated that: “Alternative Futures Group's treatment of its care workers is nothing short of shameful. It is clear that “A Chance for Change” is nothing more than a chance to cut costs- with the burden being felt by front-line workers.

“All contractual terms are set to be reviewed, leaving open the prospect of AFG cutting their occupational sick pay scheme during a pandemic. This would pose a public health risk- putting both care workers and service users at increased risk, as care workers are forced to choose between health and hardship.”/i> (1)

At the same time Alternative Futures Group CEO, Ian Pritchard, was hit with a scathing open letter signed by 21 MPs and 63 councillors, condemning the proposals.

The letter from the MPs and councillors also criticised AFG for setting an "ambition" to pay all its staff the living wage, rather than making a binding pledge. (2)

The letter from MP’s points out that: ”It says 84 percent of commissioned providers in Rochdale accepted the increase in funds to pay the living wage.” This begs the question: why is the Local Authority still commissioning services from the 16% of providers (including Alternative Futures Group) who didn’t?

Incidentally proving the maxim that 'all publicity is good publicity' one only needs to spend a few minutes online to see the number of current adverts for new recruits to Alternative Futures Group who despite everything are obviously acquiring new residents to support across the Northwest who need new staff to support them. It’s self-evident that people with personal Budgets are being treated as ‘cash-cows’ by a diaspora of private health care providers who in some cases employ staff based on being able to use a mobile phone & drive a car regardless of any experience at all in the sector. When advertisers state (as they often do) : ‘No experience necessary‘ for Social Care jobs yet mandate a range of necessary skills & experience for shelf stacking jobs ( no that there is anything less worthy in the dignity of labour of a shelf stacker comrades ) it begs the question what value do we as a nation place on the safeguarding & care of our most vulnerable community members ?

It's highly disappointing (although not entirely surprising!) that only TWO Rochdale Councillors signed the letter from councillors given the importance of social care provision to so many of their vulnerable constituents across the Township. Particularly noticeable by its absence was Rochdale Councils Portfolio holder for Social Care, Iftikhar Ahmed, who by all accounts is a splendid chap but so obviously floundering out of his depth amid a Social Care crisis (3). Perhaps the absence of an impending election explains their reticence & lack of enthusiasm to speak out?

Urgent questions also need to be asked (but no doubt won’t be!) of Westminster decisions to cut back on Public Health as new research from the Local Government Association points out: “Public health funding has been frozen or cut for 100 councils. Those hit by public health cuts for the 2021/22 financial year include Doncaster, Rochdale and Wakefield, which have all seen above-average levels of COVID-19 cases.” (4).

The perceived wisdom of cutting funding to Public Health during a global health pandemic which places Rochdale 33 highest out of 315 locations nationally for Covid transmission also needs serious scrutiny. Clearly the pandemic is not yet over. Simply reducing the number of 'pings' from the Covid Smart phone app is the twenty-first century equivalent of removing the clappers from the handbells carried by medieval lepers so as not to alarm the local peasantry of the disease’s proximity!

Incidentally the reported news that local Tory Leader Ashley Dearnley ( and Covid-Idiot ! ) claimed making people wearing a mask was akin to adopting Socialism at a recent Full Council Meeting shows us the superstitious DNA of our forebears still courses through the veins of some less well evolved Englishmen. As we know in medieval times a cult of fanatics called Flagellants travelled from village to town beating themselves with whips & sticks to act as penitents for perceived sins

Working themselves into mad fits of hysteria terrified of the Black Death they spread the Plague around Europe! Dearnley and our local twenty-first century tory Flagellants have got it half right – only this time the pain they inflict is on the rest of us rather than themselves & instead of whips & sticks they use more subtle implements of torture in the form of austerity cuts to the poor, the sick, the old & the vulnerable.

Expectations that The North will continue indefinitely to wear a Tory cilice whilst the likes of Boris Johnson & Carrie Johnson ( previously only famous for being sacked for fiddling her expenses ! ) squander £850 on a single roll of wallpaper are doomed to failure whilst Johnson buggering off to Chequers like some latter day Henry VIII whilst the plague ripped through the slums of Tudor London show like nothing else that the ruling class are totally bereft of new ideas & offer no solutions for the long suffering working -class – whoever or whatever they might actually be in post Brexit Britain ?

You’d have thought funding cuts to Public Health locally would be a major local news story, wouldn’t you? Especially when we learn from

insider sources that Rochdale’s Director of Public Health Andrea Fallon believes it was a mistake to unlock at Christmas and as a result lives have been lost as a direct consequence.

The shocking breakdown of deaths in Britain’s Care Homes makes grim reading. The Care Quality Commission released details of Covid deaths in Care homes across the UK listing them on a town by town & home by home basis (5).

Hancock was obviously otherwise engaged in other affairs when he failed to throw a circle of steel around Britain’s Care homes!

Nothing illustrates the powerlessness of Britain’s vulnerable when their wellbeing is handed lock stock and barrel to a faceless & unaccountable State more starkly!

Riding roughshod over the views & feelings of vulnerable clients with varying degrees of brain damage, their families & their support staff should act as an alarm bell for those who believe in the oft cited mantra: “Nothing about us without us“

Our local Social Care Dystopia, it is clear, has twisted this wonderful aspiration into: “Nothing about us with us!”

It’s almost as if someone somewhere would much rather, we weren’t told what was going on?

APPENDIX:

(1).https://www.unisonnw.org/care_provider_afg_slammed_by_mps_and_councillors_for_callous_cuts_to_carers_working_conditions

(2). https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/care-firm-refuses-pay-living-21204816

(3). Please see email Attachment

(4). https://www.localgov.co.uk/Public-health-funding-frozen-or-cut-for-100-councils/52137

(5). https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/141963/people-with-acquired-brain-injuries-left-feeling-%E2%80%98worthless%E2%80%99-by-a-council-consultation-that-led-to-closure-of-lifeline-care-service

(6).https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiOGE1YTZlODItYzA2Ni00MmUxLTkyZjQtYjk3OTg0ZmYwMTIyIiwidCI6ImE1NWRjYWI4LWNlNjYtNDVlYS1hYjNmLTY1YmMyYjA3YjVkMyJ9

Corruption in Local Government? by Les May

ASKED recently on the BBC News Channel programme ‘Dateline London’ what she thought too little attention was paid to, Bronwen Maddox, director of the Institute for Government, replied ‘Corruption in Local Government’.

I have previously described the difficulties I have had in getting answers from my local council to Freedom of Information (FOI) questions regarding the ‘declarable interests’ of Councillor Faisal Rana. My conclusion was that Rochdale Borough Council is ‘Institutionally Corrupt’.

It is surely extraordinary that only after the intervention of my local MP, Chris Clarkson, have I been able to get a response to questions I first submitted in April.

Corruption isn’t only about money in brown envelopes and influencing planning decisions it’s also about a commitment to openness by council officers in the dealings with the public.

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Institutional Corruption Revisited by Les May

THE willingness of Rochdale Council officers to turn a blind eye to Faisal Rana’s apparent failure to file a list of his beneficial interests within the required period after his election in 2018; the evasiveness of officers when I questioned this in the autumn of that year; the reported willingness of the then Monitoring Officer to allow the information to be classified as ‘sensitive’, meaning it would not be available on the council website; the apparent readiness of the present holder of the post to allow this to continue; the unwillingness to comply with a Freedom of Information (FoI) request and the fact that all these things have been allowed to happen without anyone being called to account, are all signs that Rochdale Council is Institutionally Corrupt.

But in all of this there is one great mystery and that’s why anyone would go to all this trouble to keep information about the full range of business interests of Faisal Rana away from all but the most persistent of enquirers. Why indeed?

It is difficult to see that the officers concerned had or have anything to gain from their acquiescence. Nor can it be said that Faisal Rana has gained anything from it other than a reputation in some circles for being considered, what for want of a better phrase I will call, ‘a bit dodgy’. Some people might have swallowed the story that he voted twice in the belief that election law allowed him to do so, but now...?

The only plausible explanation I can come up with relies upon the truth of those stories of ‘Two Votes’ reported ambition to become Rochdale’s next Labour MP.

Consider this; during a General Election campaign Labour is attacking their opponents record on housing and some inquisitive journalist takes a look at a Labour candidate’s business interests and discovers that s/he is a ‘rentier’ with a long list of residential properties in their portfolio. Can’t you just hear the cries of ‘hypocrite’ or worse? Would the national Labour Party really want to take the risk by allowing such a person to appear on its list of potential candidates? But if no one knows… ?

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Welcome To Mushroom Town. by Les May

A FEW weeks ago I noticed that for one of our local councillors a link to the register of members’ interests was replaced by the words 'Not shown on website'. Why not I wondered; what’s the big secret?

Naïvely on 21 April 2021 I sent off an e-mail to the Chief Executive of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) to find out more. It read; I note that Section 7 Securities: contains the words 'Not shown on website'. Could you please clarify whether this conforms to what is commonly known as 'Best Practice' which is usually taken to mean a standard way of complying with legal or ethical requirements? I assume that in the interests of open government RMBC would normally wish to be seen as implementing 'Best Practice'. If there is a reason for 'Best Practice' not being followed in this case could you please inform me of the reason?

No response was forthcoming and on 5 May I sent a reminder and repeated my queries. Still no response, so on 20 May I sent a second reminder which once more repeated my queries, but this time I included the words ‘Am I to conclude from this delay that some officers of Rochdale Council have become corrupted and no longer act in a non-political manner?’

And with the speed of Zeus there came a reply! ‘The entries not shown on the website are due to the items being considered as sensitive by the previous Monitoring Officer of the Council. Any requests for such information should be submitted via the freedom of information process.’

Now my understanding is that any request for information should be treated as a request for information governed by the FOI Act even if that term is not expressly used by the requestor, so perhaps the second sentence in the reply is not quite true. Perhaps it is even intended to act as a further obstruction to enquiring minds?

I had dealings with the previous Monitoring Officer of the Council in late 2018 and early 2019 after I submitted a query about why a newly elected councillor had failed to comply with the requirement that pecuniary and other interests be registered within a set time period. Shall we just say that I found him monumentally evasive when pressed?

But what, you may ask, could possibly be so ‘sensitive’ about a councillor’s entries in the register of interests that a council officer thought it necessary to put an obstruction in the path of anyone wanting to know what they are? Was it the councillor that thought up this wheeze to avoid scrutiny or did the Monitoring Officer dream it up all by himself? Or, perish the thought, perhaps they conspired to keep this councillor’s business activities away from the gaze of prying eyes of the electorate? We shall never know! After all, this is Rochdale!

One might have hoped that a councillor from one of the other two parties would have noticed this and queried it, seemingly not. Perhaps they are hoping that they too can avoid scrutiny when the need arises courtesy of a similarly compliant Monitoring Officer?

Sadly that’s how things are in my home town. If Rochdale isn’t a town where council related matters seem to be a bit dodgy at times, it’s certainly giving a good imitation of one. The motto seems to be ‘Let them vote every few years to give a semblance of democratic accountability and between times don’t let them know too much about what their councillors are getting up to’. You know what they say about mushrooms, keep them in the dark and at regular intervals cover them with … So Mushroom Town it is from now on!

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A Matter Of Judgement. by Les May

I DON'T ‘do’ Twitter, Facebook or any other form of ‘social media’, but last evening I had an e-mail from someone who suggested that as I live in Rochdale I should take a look at a recent post by someone called Jay Beecher. It turned out to be a picture of Councillor Faisal Rana and Andy Burnham apparently campaigning together, which inevitably throws into question Burnham’s judgement as it includes a link to the original Rana vote fraud story in the Daily Mail.

Many of the ‘tweets’ which follow are frankly nasty in tone and I know that the person who sent me the link would not want to be associated with their racial element. But this should not be allowed to distract from the fact that in 2018 Faisal Rana did fraudulently vote twice in the council elections of that year.

If the re-emergence of the story causes any embarrassment to Rochdale Labour party and the Council Leader then they have only themselves to blame. Anyone with any sense of decency would have recognised that Faisal Rana should have been asked to resign and the seat re-contested. Not to do so simply brings the Labour party into disrepute.

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Civic Spaces & Uncivil Councillors by Anonymous

Begging's at epicentre of a Storm of Political Controversy!

FOR a council whose entire raison d'etre and long term strategic response for the town centre regeneration appears to be to barge their way to the front of each and every available queue for cash handouts, begging bowl in hand to everyone from the European Social Fund to Westminster freebies it rankles with me they should point the finger of accusation at others less fortunate who are effectively doing exactly the same thing. Was it Goebbels who said: accuse the other side of that which you are guilty?

As for councillor expenses - let's not go there!

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Recent media coverage of councillors calling for a Crackdown on begging so close to an election was entirely expected as it was a sickening and predictable re-hash of their previous political posturing whenever totally bereft of new ideas they opt for the easy target each & every time.

Blame someone else lest that electorate blame us is a tried and tested local mantra the world over and homeless people are seldom registered so no votes lost there then comrades.

Their views are not only repugnant but positively Dickensian. At a time when child poverty levels have been revealed to be at over 50% in some electoral wards it's nothing short of astounding that we do not have beggars on every street corner and bread riots across the Township as we did at the time of Peterloo!

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/140218/calls-for-crackdown-on-%E2%80%98criminal-element%E2%80%99-behind-increase-in-town-centre-begging-and-antisocial-behaviour

This Agenda Articles from the meeting in question are at:

http://democracy.rochdale.gov.uk/documents/s78129/Rochdale%20Town%20Centre%20Public%20Space%20Protection%20Order.pdf

The section from the RMBC Zoom Meeting can be found at :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=372kukolzdY

Perfectly legitimate working legislation already exists on the statute book to effectively challenge trafficked Begging separate to and totally independent of PSPO. The Vagrancy Act is also still being enforced locally despite Council saying it is not. One suspects they are hyper sensitive to the fact they are still having to resort to such antiquated legislation at all after their ' flagship PSPO ' was meant to be the ultimate solution to anti-social behaviour Town Centre. Clearly it is not or why else would there be a call for a 'crackdown' at all?

Local Anti Public Space Protection Order campaigners are currently liaising with Liberty ( who called Rochdale Councils PSPO 'unlawful' when it was introduced ) and The Manifesto Club (Manifesto Club) to formulate a formal legal challenge to this 'crackdown'. Vulnerable homeless people, the vast majority mentally ill, addicted, fleeing domestic violence, illegally evicted or complex variations of all have very limited support options due to Covid (though this is not limited exclusively to the pandemic and was a problem previously) face to face 1:1 support for drug ,alcohol, substance misuse virtually non-existent as is mental health support which has existed in digital form only since March 2020 - if at all! No internet connection or no phone then no support.

For example there is a local mental health charity which draws in hundreds of thousands of pounds in funding each year that has remained resolutely closed for over a year offering only digital support sessions (such levels funding should be able to afford and create Covid safe spaces for individual 1:1 mental health support pods in a few weeks never mind over a year!) No wonder people throw themselves off the tops of shopping centres in sheer anguish and despair!

The likes of Blundell should be targeting the total inability of many local support agencies to support those in need rather than those in need of support. As well as proactively advocating for the vulnerable and agitating for increased funding rather than indulging in shameless self promotion & cheap electioneering prior to May Elections. Some might recall our councillors have previous form on this bludgeoning of the publicly visible result of their abject failures to deliver a functioning welfare & Social Care system policies for the vulnerable when Blundell and Danczuk pulled this stunt some years ago - again as a diversionary Black Op when questions were being asked of the dodgy duos mismanagement of Town centre regeneration. Again Beggars were a convenient scapegoated for crass corporate failure & incompetence.

Blundell was at the time paying his landlord ( Danczuc) in gin to crash at his Westminster pad paid for by taxpayers dosh - allegedly! Whilst the former Mrs Danczuk left an unsightly and rotting empty business unit in the shape of Danczuk's Deli blighting The Walk for years with a far greater visible blight left behind by a high profile social climber than any downwardly mobile beggar waiting for a handful of small change from sympathetic shoppers cashing in their pensions or collecting their monthly Universal Credit payments.

The Majority of the Councils much publicised Covid response is being delivered by idealistic unpaid volunteers whilst paid staff remain safe 'working at home' (behind the lines via a laptop screen facility) totally disconnected from the reality on the ground totally and dangerously oblivious of the crisis levels needed on the ground.

Any visiting councillors to one of the numerous Soup kitchens across the Borough will educate all but the most stupid of our councillors that poverty, exploitation & socail exclusion are the primary driver of begging. Something they are clearly unwilling or unable to address as a council and one which is lacking entirely from any of their May 6 election promises. As a collective the council has also turned down 1,868 Covid support applications whilst having some of the highest child poverty & unemployment & low skilled /low waged local economy in GM plus consistently high levels of C19

Simultaneously our 'pro-business council' has all the largess and generosity of Croesus when it comes to business bailouts - especially just before May local elections ?

https://www.questmedianetwork.co.uk/news/tameside-reporter/thousands-across-greater-manchester-denied-500-covid-support-payments/

Instead of having another toddler stop and stamping his designer jackboots Blundell needs a 'crackdown' on his own aggressive begging from the public purse as well as independent scruiting of his political record on the failed town center regeneration leaving two empty Indoor Markets and virtually derelict Drake Street, a partially deserted Yorkshire Street and a defunct Outdoor market in his wake?

Two hundred and fifty million quid for this? We were robbed!

Perhaps if Councillor Blundell and those like him rolled up their delicate shirt sleeves or blouses and did some proper graft down at a local Soup Kitchen or Foodbank (we have a potential sixty strong workforce of councillors champing at the bit to play their part in supporting their Town during the Pandemic Response after all!) instead of angling for cheap media stunts or photo-bombing on the backs of those socially committed individuals and collectives doing the real community regeneration work people would have at least a little respect for the man?

Cllr. Blundell is not interested in Building Back Better, he is only interested in building his own councillor profile and political career and needs to be called out publicly for it.

Kicking someone when they are down is the dictionary and my own definition of bullying. Blundell is not only a bully but an ill informed braggart & clown who should be nowhere near public office or paid from the public purse for his ill informed and biggoted opinions. Replace the word beggar with jew, gypsy, traveller, black or woman and you might have a clearer insight into how repugnant and stereotyping his views are in actuality

Where Blundell a member of a charity rather than a council he would be on a suspension pending an independent investigation from the charity commission on breach of safeguarding policy - quite possibly by the police under potential Hate Crime legislation. That a councillor can seek to , and is allowed to do so by his Party colleges, aided and abetted by an entirely complicit local media commentariat, to criminalise and scapegoat an entire section of the community in such a way tells you all that you need to know about what lessons have been learnt from previous Rochdale safeguarding scandals from Smith to the Grooming Scandals. Once again we only have to scratch the thin veneer to see the ugly unvarnished truth beneath.

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We ain't got no swing; Except for the ring of the truncheon thing [1] | by Andrew Wastling

SUCCESSIVE generations of Britain's working class it would seem are destined to endure a double hammering on the anvil of Tory economic policy and the cosh of the police truncheon. This multi-generationalional masochism is in some cases entirely self inflicted by the apparent inability of elements of the working class to agitate, educate and organise at grassroots level to vote for candidates who represent their class interests (The infamous Working Class Tory voter) or to establish working models of self-government outside of, and independent to the terminally corrupt Parliamentary system ,

( The Non-Parliamentary Road to Socialism ).

This pantomime more akin to a Dario Fo farce than a mature fully functioning democracy is abley co-facilitated and enabled by a neutered Blue Labour bureaucratic class hunkered down in their Town Halls bunkers and a sycophantic & quisling mainstream media promoting a 24/7 pro-government propaganda news agenda narrative.

No one should be surprised that former Goldman Sachs banker Richard Sharp is set to be appointed the Chairman of the BBC's board of directors after donating more than £400,000 to the Conservative Party since 2001 .It should come as no shock to any of us either that a rogue Johson administration will be expecting an imminent popular backlash and is pre-rigging the courts and legislature accordingly. Johnson after all bought the three water cannon he expected to have to deploy on the streets of London when he was Mayor way back in 2014 (although they were subsequently scrapped Johnson said later: We can’t use them at the moment. That is correct. We haven’t been given a general licence for their use. We will keep these devices in reserve and should there be another occasion when they might be a useful tool of crowd control, the Metropolitan police commissioner can make another application.)

More recently the arrest and ten thousand pound fine of a pensioner for organising a socially distanced protest in support of an increase on the paltry one per cent pay rise for NHS workers in Manchester, (Has GMP been consistent in handling protests during Covid? What police, protesters and Andy Burnham have to say... - Manchester Evening News) , and this weekend's effective banning of the vigil for Sarah Everard in Clapham by Metropolitan Police shows clearly which way the wind is blowing and the chilling effect it is set to have on future protests. The 1986 Public Order Act and the 1994 Criminal Justice Bill & Public Order Bill serve as just two reminders of how a reactionary state apparatus legislates to suppress not only political dissent but lifestyle choices such as New Age Travellers (The Battle of the Beanfield) and Britain's 1990's Warehouse & Acid House Counter-culture - both seen as a serious challenge to a moribund establishment by disaffected and creative youth.

This is merely history repeating itself as the state seeks once more to silence voices of dissent and prevent the free association of people as it has done for centuries from The Diggers of St.George's Hill in 1649, through to Peterloo, Red Clydeside, the 1984 Miners strike and the Poll Tax Riots of the 1990's and beyond.

The famous quote attributed to Emma Goldman: If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution seems likely to resonate loudly in Covid ravaged Britain as a government claiming to be Levelling Up might suddenly find the Levelling process goes in entirely an unexpected redistributionary direction. Britain's youth may be willing to accept curtailments to their individual freedoms & liberties this summer as a necessary precautionary measure to combat the transmission of Covid through our communities it is difficult to see how such draconian restrictions will be imposed or widely followed next summer (or the summer after that) without some kind of culture clash ensuing later if not sooner.

Local Public Space in Rochdale & the homeless

At the local level readers might want to ask their prospective ward councillors standing for public office in May what their personal views are on the anti-democratic measures lurking in the small print of Rochdale Councils Public Space Protection Order?

Local campaigners rejected the deeply flawed legislation on the grounds that:

The Council should not fine people who are homeless if they beg for money. We also believe banning people from giving out leaflets is a serious attack on our civil liberties. The other parts of the order are unworkable and will lead people, particularly young people, to be brought unnecessarily into the criminal justice system.

http://www.rochdale.gov.uk/pdf/2018-08-22-made-rochdale-town-centre-pspo-v2.pdf

It would be interesting to see how many councillors have actually even read the locally drafted legislation they voted for which can also be readily deployed against union members on a legitimate picket line or require campaigners to ask permission before handing out leaflets on a street stall or holding a demonstration in the town centre?

If they want our votes sometime before May 6 is probably a good time to put them on the spot The price of freedom truly is eternal vigilance!

In the meantime here's a summary of organisations calling for protection of the right to associate and protest:

Netpol:

Netpol have launched an urgent petition calling on the National Police Chiefs Council to adopt new guidelines to protect the right to protest – or explain why they refuse to do so. Add your name today. A Charter for Freedom of Assembly Rights | Netpol

Liberty:

In the coming weeks, MPs will vote again on the harmful Coronavirus Act – the biggest threat to civil liberties in a generation. Email your MP today and tell them to change course, scrap the Coronavirus Act, and replace it with a rights-focused approach, such as the Protect Everyone Bill. Liberty Human Rights

Amnesty International:

Amnesty International has condemed the conviction of Spanish rapper Pablo Hasél for “glorifying terrorism” and is calling on the Ministry of Justice in Spain to change the criminal code and defend freedom of expression.

Hasel has been sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment and six years’ disqualification from employment in the public sector. He has also been convicted of insulting the Crown and state institutions. In total, he will face a fine of almost 30,000 euros.

Esteban Beltrán, Director of Amnesty International Spain, said: “No one should face criminal prosecution for expressing themselves on social media or for singing something that may be distasteful or shocking. Expressions that do not clearly and directly incite violence should not be criminalised."

“Pablo Hasél’s imprisonment is an excessive and disproportionate restriction on his freedom of expression, but he is not alone in suffering the consequences of unjust laws: many other artists, journalists or activists have received heavy fines or long periods of exclusion from the public sector. It’s a sad consequence for our society: self-censorship for fear of repression.

If the articles of th“e Criminal Code are not amended, freedom of expression will continue to be silenced and artistic expression will continue to be restricted.”

* Source: Spain: Jailing of rapper is 'unjust and disproportionate' | Amnesty International UK

Green and Black Cross :

Provide volunteers able to help with legal matters arising from protest and actions only. An independent grassroots project set up in the spirit of mutual aid to support social and environmental struggles within the UK.

Excellent demonstration Bust cards can be downloaded from : Bustcard | Green and Black Cross

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APPENDIX :

[1].London Calling : The Clash ( Joe Strummer & Mick Jones ) 1979

EDITOR'S POSTSCRIPT:

BASED ON LIBCOM ACCOUNT.

Who is Pablo Hasél? And what is happening in Spain in regards to his case and the riots that followed?

Pablo Hasél is a 32 year old Catalan1 rapper and anti-fascist. As a rapper his songs generally focus on left-wing causes, armed struggle, and are frequently critical of the Spanish monarchy.2 The Spanish state has extremely retrograde laws regarding what may be thought of as ‘freedom of speech’. These include article 491 of the Spanish Penal code which calls for fines and prison sentences of up to two years for ‘Insults to the Crown’, and Article 578 which calls for similar punishment for ‘glorifying terrorism’. These laws are used disproportionately against people on the left and anarchists, while far-right individuals and neo-nazis are rarely if ever charged or sentenced to jail time.

Pablo Hasél has repeatedly run afoul of these laws. He has refused to censor his message and because of this he has been prosecuted for the content of his lyrics, especially his references to historical armed groups such as GRAPO3, and criticism of the king and the Royal family. In 2018 he was found guilty violating Article 578 and 492 and was ordered to enter into prison two years later in February of 2021. Hasél refused to voluntarily turn himself in, instead issuing a public statement and barricading himself among supporters inside Leida University. Riot police fought their way into the university and took him into custody on February 16th. His arrest and the underlying anger felt among a large segment of mostly young people in Catalunya and throughout the Spanish state led to almost a week of rioting especially in Barcelona, but also in Madrid, Valencia, the Basque Country and smaller cities like Vic, Iruñea (Pamplona), Lleida and Granada.

The widespread nature and strength of the rioting surprised many among the Spanish status quo, however it is clear that a tension has been building for quite some time as the Spanish state continues to expose and even flaunt its authoritarian nature.

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A Not So Rotten Borough? by Les May

WHILST I think the claim that the ‘No Wrong Door’ approach, quoted by someone speaking for Rochdale Council in the original report by Nick Statham, as being ‘highly effective’, might be ready for some reappraisal after the report by Ofsted which resulted in yet another entry for the town in Private Eye’s Rotten Boroughs column, I am not unsympathetic to the problems that any town will face in trying to care for recalcitrant teenagers.

It should be noted that no one at this home, or any other, has the power to detain these children against their will. When the ‘grooming scandal’ came to light there were claims that at least one parent had been unable to control his daughter’s movements and had felt it necessary to approach Social Services for assistance. It is by no means impossible that had the parent exercised the control he thought necessary to protect his daughter, Social Services would have been expected to intervene to protect her from deprivation of her liberty by her father.

As a society we demand two sometimes incompatible things; that young people up to the age of 18 be treated as ‘children’, which by definition implies that they be given special protection, and that young people always be treated as independent agents able to make rational choices. As the case highlighted demonstrates a tension exists between what we expect and what we will allow.

Until we as a society find a satisfactory way of resolving this tension we will continue to read of many more cases like this.

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Rochdale's Return to 'ROTTEN BOROUGHS'!

by BRIAN BAMFORD

DESPITE recent efforts to sanitise the news from Rochdale, this week saw the return of the town to the ROTTEN BOROUGHS' columns of PRIVATE EYE with the revelation of a local council-run home, which Ofsted has not named owing to 'safeguarding reasons', at which the inspectors found that there had been little or no control over the residents despite the fact that according to The Eye 'it only provides care and accomodation for six young people at most'.

The Eye reports: 'Following their visit, inspectors reported one girl known to be at risk of child sexual exploitation had shown staff "significicant amounts of money" she had collected while absent from the home....Two children who had gone missing for five days phoned the home and asked to be collected. A staff member told them there was no transport available. As Ofsted reported: "the children remained missing and at risk of harm until the following day".'

Last March, Ofsted classified the home as as "good", but reassessed it in January "following police involvement". The Eye concludes: 'The home has now been barred from taking in any more children until it can prove they will be safe.'

The Eye bemoans the general war cry of the Rochdale Council which when confronted with this kind of child neglect and abuse, which has a local history dating back to Cyril Smith and the grooming of young girls, arguing: 'Haven't we heard it all before?'

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DEADLINE on complicity in Council Corruption

Rochdale Chief Exec. on Two Jobs & Milking Owd Folk!

Praise be to GOD for Corruption!

For men are Human

And Judges are Bribable

And With Corruption!

Even the Innocent may get off.

by BERTOLT BRECHT in the Three-penny Opera.

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LETTER FROM MARK BIRKETT:

To: Brian Bamford

Date: 1st March 2021

Re: Rochdale Council Vote / Huge Hike to Care Home Fees Whilst Ignoring Whopping £50k Pay Rise for Chief Executive Steve Rumbelow

Dear Brian,

You heard it here first; two days from now, on March 3rd 2021, all 60 x Rochdale councillors will be 'considering' hiking care home fees to Rochdale's elderly by 5% in order to 'save' £80,000 / year on the council budget.

Unfortunately, what they won't be considering is reviewing the second full-time job the Chief Executive Steve Rumbelow has at the NHS. This NHS job pays Continue Mr Rumbelow no less than £50,000 / year on top of the £140,000 / year he was already earning as Chief Executive, taking his salary just a fraction under £200,000 / year ... half as much again as the Prime Minister.

The money is eye-wateringly insulting enough, but the key issue here is that no-one can do two full-time jobs simultaneously. And there isn't a workplace on earth that would pay someone two full-time salaries for two part-time jobs. Yet on July 18th 2018, that's exactly what Rochdale's councillors voted to happen.

That's why - on 19th January - I wrote to each of them to suggest that they put forward / support a motion to review this indefensible situation. But not one of them has agreed to do so. Most haven't even acknowledged my letter. Our councillors don't seem to mind enabling Mr Rumbelow to trouser an extra £50,000 / year for this NHS role but it's the elderly in Rochdale that are now likely to end up paying for it. The moral horror of this 'proposal' should be obvious to everyone.

Neither the NHS and RMBC are benefiting here. And certainly not the average Rochdale taxpayer, many of whom have lost jobs and businesses (not to mention loved ones) over the last year. The only beneficiary is Mr Rumbelow. That's why there should be an immediate judicial review of this untenable and intolerable situation, with Mr Rumbelow's pay packet reduced by whatever proportion of his working day now being handed over to the NHS.

Sadly, Mr Rumbelow has turned the entire machinery of Rochdale Council into ignoring my complaints, including allowing the Borough Solicitor Asif Ibrahim to advise all RMBC councillors "not to respond" to my communications about this which, in addition to being a disgraceful interference with everyone's right to democratic representation, breaks their own RMBC Member Code of Conduct on multiple points (inc. their legal obligations re: 'scrutiny', 'accountability', 'transparency'). And he refuses to answer any further letters from me about this.

The perenially useless Rochdale Online won't cover this pay abuse. Neither will the truly pointless Rochdale Observer. Both 'media outlets' are thus a total disgrace to the town. Exactly the same can be said about Tony Lloyd MP. Another politician who refuses to respond to constituent concerns. He knows about all this and has done nothing to stop it.

The local elections are in May. So, don't forget what happened here folks. Don't waste your vote. Rochdale Council and the entire 'body politic' here is rotten to the core with cronyism, nepotism and sheer incompetence. It needs to be stopped. We urgently need caring, principled, decent and intelligent people running the Council and our town ... right now, we have nothing of the sort.

If you are horrified by this proposed care-home fee hike, or horrified by the greed of RMBC Chief Executive Steve Rumbelow who is taking home so much of your hard-earned money for an impossible-to-do second job (and who has the gall to refuse answering ANY questions about it), or horrified by the sheer incompetence of Rochdale's councillors who voted for all this to happen ...

then ... PLEASE SHARE THIS POST WHEREVER AND HOWEVER YOU CAN

Best wishes,

Mark Birkett

Taxpayer, Kingsway Ward

Rochdale

News From The Rumour Mill by Les May

EARLIER this month an article by Tom Taylor appeared on ‘The Mill’ website which contained the text of a letter from RMBC Director of Children’s Services Gail Hopper claimed that school staff had been ‘jumping the queue’ to get themselves vaccinated against Covid 19. The text is given below.

Inevitably this has been interpreted as it being teachers who are doing this and tenuously linked to Labour’s calls for these workers being prioritised over other groups.

When documents are ‘leaked’ like this it is worth asking who will gain? Certainly not the intended recipients.

This question is of more than passing interest as I am aware that the names of specific councillors who are also finding ways of jumping the queue by ‘volunteering’ at local vaccination centres have been passed to a Northern Voices editor and that at least one of the councillors named has been asked to comment on this report. Let’s hope s/he is conscientious at picking up their e-mails.

We live in interesting times!

Dear head teacher,

I am sorry to have to write to you all about this matter and hope that you will understand my purpose for doing so. It has come to our attention that a booking link sent to NHS employees to book a vaccination slot at one of the identified hospital sites, has been inappropriately shared. This was not the intention when the non-transferable link was provided and should not have happened. Not surprisingly it is now spreading widely.

This testing site in the hospitals listed are for NHS patients, staff and social care staff only. This protects community sites for the older age and high risk groups. We know that by it being shared, some school based staff (and others), who are not part of the priority groups identified by government, have booked appointments. Indeed some been [sic] vaccinated. Others are now planning to do the same. Our concern is we are fully committed, to ensuring vaccinations are directed to priority groups first. Rochdale has a tight target to vaccinate all care home residents and staff, residents over 75 years and Clinically Extremely Vulnerable residents, along with NHS and social care staff by 15th February – if sufficient vaccine supplies reach us. This is a really challenging target. For every vaccine given to someone outside the priority groups, the risk is increased of our most vulnerable residents being delayed in receiving it.

The publicity of this happening would be very damaging for the borough. It will also increase the risk that NHSE cancels future supplies until it can be assured that the borough follows the required process. This would be disastrous, given the success so far in delivering up to 1200 daily vaccinations.

I recognise that some colleagues feel unhappy that schools based staff have not been prioritised by government in the first two groups. I fully sympathise with that and if the choice was ours, schools staff would have been in the first group. We continue to lobby government about this issue. However, it cannot be right that individuals use unauthorised routes when to do so denies others with entitlement. The question that I would ask is how would any of us feel if, by one of our colleagues accessing a vaccination, our mother or father was denied.

As I’m sure you’ll recognise, we have to take action to prevent this activity. With immediate effect health and social care staff will be required to attend their booked appointment with ID and a letter that matches that ID from their employer / local authority. We have requested that anyone that cannot provide this be refused access.

We ask that you advise any colleagues who have accessed the link and plan to or have already booked an appointment not to do so. We would rather avoid the embarrassment of them not gaining admission to the vaccination site. Please ask anyone with an appointment booked to cancel it quickly, so it can be offered to those in priority groups. Could you also impress on staff the importance of not passing on this link to any others inside or outside the borough. Some may have received it from contacts in other boroughs as this link is shared with Bury, Oldham and Salford. Any such sharing undermines the efforts to ensure vaccinations are directed to priority groups first. We continue to work locally to identify how we can ensure that all schools colleagues can be invited for vaccination and will try to do this as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your assistance in addressing this difficult issue.

Yours sincerely,

Gail Hopper

Director of Children’s Services

Rochdale Borough Council

Mark Birkett's views on Rochdale's public spending

The Guilty Men: Allen Brett (Council Leader) & Steve Rumbelow (Chief Executive)

IN AN E-MAIL, which we felt was too long to publish in full, complaining to John Rooney, Assistant Director, Information, Customers & Communities, at Rochdale Council - sent on the 10th February 2021- Mark Birkett wrote in conclusion:

'Perhaps worst of all, these two men (Brett & Rumbelow) have also allowed and aided in a monstrous abuse of the public purse. There is no way on earth Mr Rumbelow can do two full-time jobs in once day. But this isn't about some radical ideology; nor is it about whether (Rochdale) MBC needs to remain competitive when it comes to retaining so-called 'executive talent'; still less is it about Mr Rumbelow being 'worth it' or not;'

'It's just simple arithmetic.'

'No-one can do two jobs at once. So if Mr Rumbelow spends (say) 25% of his day now at the NHS tasks, then his RMBC pay must be reduced by that 25%. Thats's why the councillors on July 18th 2018 who voted for this change to Mr Rumbelow's Terms and Conditions had absolutely zero right to do so. There is no workplace on earth where you get to keep two full-time pay packets for doing only two part-time jobs.

'But that's exactly what those all those councillors in 2018 were bamboozled into doing. They failed in one of their most basic tasks; to carefully steward taxpayers' hard-earned monies. Not one of them examined the small print of any reports, or considered any risks to Mr Rumbelow's RMBC role, nor the ramifications for his daily schedule. If you don't believe me, ask any of the councillors who were there. You'll get nothing beyond a shrug and a blank face, from any of them (other than Cllrs Allen Brett, Sara Rowbotham and Daalat Ali who cooked up the whole fiasco at Cabinet in 2017 of course).

Mr Rumbelow should note; you most certainly don't get to pocket that sort of exorbitant dual income and simultaneously have the gall to propose cuts to other Borough services, or cut jobs, or to hike up care home costs for Rochdale's elderly. That is all why my official complaint is now set to continue via the Local Government Ombudsman. And, even more importantly, this pay abuse at the expense of Rochdale's taxpayers will not stand unchallenged either.

Every RMBC councillor should take warning;

'If any of them vote to allow Mr Rumbelow to continue in this ridiculous NHS role (when the contract is apparently due for renewal on 31st March), and / or if they do not deal with this pay abuse at the March Budget Setting Meeting, and / or they have the nerve to dump the cost of 'savings' on pensioners in care homes, or on any other people in the Borough, then the local elections this May are going to be a very bumpy ride indeed - for every last one of them.

'Mr Rumbelow's pay abuse will remain in the spotlight. As will this appalling abuse of my democratic rights and (by implication) everyone else's. As will any councillors who think all of this is vaguely amusing. It isn't.

In case any of them hadn't noticed, the post-COVID world is going to be very different from the one they've been used to.

Sincerely

Mark Birkett

Distracting Dilemma of Deserving Councillor Class by Brian Bamford

WHO'S JUMPING JAB LINE-UP FOR VIRUS IN ROCHDALE?

NICK STATHAM of the local Rochdale democracy service, in last Saturday's Rochdale Observer delivered front-page story entited: 'Warning to Covid queue jumpers' with a byline 'Evidence some school staff have been "gaming" the system'.

On page 7 of the same Ob. issue he claims: 'A leaked emal from Rochdale council to all headteachers in the borough said some staff had been using an "inappropriaterly-shared" link intended only for NHS workers.' Furthermore, according to Gail Hopper head of children's services, this practice could 'scupper the borough's attempts to hit its vaccination targets, and even lead to doses being withheld by government.'

And Mr. Statham continues: 'The message reads: "Rochdale has a tight target to vaccinate all care home residents over 75 years and "clinically extreamely vunerable" residents, along with NHS and social care staff by February - if sufficent vaccine supplies reach us. This is a really challenging target. For every vaccine given to someone outside the priority groups, the risk is increased of our most vulnerable residents being delayed in receiving it".'

The message warns: 'The publicity of this happening would be very damaging for the borough. It will also increase the risk that NHSE cancels future supplies until it can be assured that the borough follows required process.'

COUNCIL CONFIRM COVID WARNING LEAK

A spokesman for Rochdale councile has confirmed that an e-mail was sent out to the Rochdale schools in the borough.

Their statement concluded: 'This letter was about a wider concern over the vaccination booking link being shared inappropriately, which has happening in many areas of the country. the letter is not about a specific school but an attempt to prevent abuse of the system.'

A LACK of INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM IN ROCHDALE

It is worth mentioning that local journalism in Rochdale in recent times has been notable for its lack of curiousity and penitrating investigative powers. The journalist Nick Starham himself was drafted in from Ludlow to take on the role of 'democracy service' to manage to see that local reports are circulated regularly and that the locals are informed about what's going on in their area.

It has not worked well, because the effect in the local media including the Rochdale Observer, Rochdale Online, and even the Manchester Evening News, has been that what we have got is a form of megaphone journalism in which people in power like the Rochdale Council issue press statements and the local news outlets obediently echo what they have to say. In normal circumstances Northern Voices would have welcomed the revelation of this leaked e-mail by Nick Statham. Perhaps we would have even labelled it an exclusive. But it does take much imagination to consider that this e-mail was deliberately leaked to the media by the top brass at Rochdale Council to distract the public from the fact that local councillors themselves have found a way of side-stepping the vaccination process and getting the innoculated ahead of schedule.

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It’s Part of the Job Description by Les May

IN a recent piece I quoted the response of Councillor John Hartley to someone who contacted him highlighting the fact that Rochdale’s Chief Executive, Steve Rumbelow, is being paid a salary for doing a second job whilst supposedly working full time for Rochdale MBC and that this had been sanctioned by councillors. His response was effectively: ‘you could have been at the Council meeting which did this, if you were not you have no reason to complain now’.

We seem to have a man here who fails to understand the nature of representative democracy. If you vote for a particular policy, then being asked to justify your action to that part of the electorate which think that policy is wrong, is part of the job.

Not picking up e-mails, failing to respond, querying why they have been contacted, responding with platitudes, terminating exchanges when pressed, are stock in trade for some Rochdale councillors. Nationally Governments of all political stripes come under pressure from the broadcast and print media. That pressure is absent in Rochdale because the print and on-line media in the town function in the political sphere as little more than outlets for press releases originating from publicity aware local councillors.

It wasn’t always like this in the town. In the 1970s RAP, the Rochdale Alternative Paper, edited by David Bartlett and John Walker, did hold local politicians to account. It was RAP, not Simon Danczuk, which revealed in 1979 details of Cyril Smith’s behaviour at Cambridge House. The present incumbents at Number 1 Riverside are perhaps fortunate that their antics are not subject to similar scrutiny and it appears that some of them want to keep it that way.

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MODERN TIMES & Homelesness by A. Wastling

MODERN TIMES ( Charlie Chaplin ) 1936 : The Tramp struggles to exist and retain his individuality with the aid of a homeless woman The Gamin who is fleeing the police after stealing a loaf of bread.A damning indictment on the desperate employment and financial conditions many people faced during the Great Depression . When millions were thrown on the scrapheap of mass unemployment after the Capitalist financial crash . The System attempts to crush The Tramp to the level of an anonymous and alienated cog in the production line factory system.Quite innocently The Tramp picks up a flag fallen off the back of a lorry and waves it aloft in an attempt to attract the attention of the driver only to find himself by chance at the front of a workers march and thrown in jail as a Communist agitator after a riot ensues after the cops attack the peaceful though noisy workers march. A masterpiece of silent cinema which also incorporates the Marxist Theory of alienation and imagery particularly when The Tramp becomes locked into the very heart of the machine he is tasked with operating as well as having an episode of mental breakdown due to the drudgery and repetitive nature of work on the ceaseless conveyor belt of the then novel factory Assembly lines. Some of Chaplin's earliest California friends were socialists and members of the radical International Workers of the World, the so-called Wobblies, all dedicated foes of capitalism. In some of Chaplin's earlier films the initials IWW can still be clearly seen chalked on the backs of doors on set

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Covid 19 How can you stay at home - when you have no home? - by Andrew Wastling

“There is only one way to solve this issue…crack down. Fine aggressive beggars and arrest them.”

Councillor John Blundell 2017

“Blundell’s comments are dehumanising, divisive and frankly just ignorant, only exposing his lack of knowledge and experience on the issue.

“The solution to begging, rough sleeping and homelessness isn’t fines, intimidation and social cleansing – the typical Labour way. It is fixing our broken housing system once and for all, ending luxury developments, guaranteeing genuinely affordable housing, getting people off the streets and preventing the initial causes.

“I will never understand why the Labour party seems to have such a problem with rough sleepers and homelessness – it’s just baffling.”

Former Manchester MP John Leech 2017

A 2017 Freedom of Information Request to Rochdale Council recorded 945 homelessness presentations, 205 homelessness advice presentations from people aged 16-25yrs for the same period with 65 homelessness presentations from people aged 16-25yrs recorded in the last quarter of that year. We also know also that the number of people waiting on the current waiting list for Social Housing in 2017 was 6,374 households.

Three years before the Covid pandemic began I calculated that if all of the people currently on Rochdale Councils waiting lists stood one person per step on St.Chads 122 stone steps they would have gone up and down our towns historic landmark almost 54 times with one family standing on each medieval stone step!

Moving forward to the pandemic outbreak , in 2020 B&B accommodation has been used locally for 384 clients, this includes 272 singles and 90 families.

Additionally the number of households open to homelessness fleeing domestic abuse throughout the pandemic was 159.

That there is a local housing and homelessness and domestic violence crisis there is no absolutely doubt whatsoever!

At the same time we know that Empty Homes Week (23rd September 2019 - 29th September 2019 ) reported over 216,000 homes in England have been empty for over six months. In all, over 600,000 homes are currently vacant. The latest statistics for Rochdale show that there were in 858 long term empty properties in 2017.

Rochdale Borough Housing proposals for massive urban vandalism with the potential demolition of 4 blocks at College Bank and 11 blocks at Lower Falinge, which include 395 currently occupied RBH social rented flats will only serve to remove further essential units from the Social Housing stock - or Council Houses as they were once rather quaintly referred to in certain circles!

Campaigners have long been concerned that attempts to exclude homeless people through draconian and overzealous use of Public Space Protection Orders will simply serve to criminalise and further marginalised already socially excluded individuals.The vast majority of whom should be in a place of safety receiving care for complex mental health , trauma or addiction issues rather than a magistrate courts prison cell.

Locally we know that 49 Fixed Penalty Notices have been issued since the introduction of the Rochdale Town Centre Public Space Protection Order. Consisting of Street Drinking – 7 Soliciting for money – 3 Anti-social parking – 7 Begging 32 . This was as of December 2020 as the second wave of Covid-19 began . It's also illuminating to note that nobody from the Council staff issuing these fines has bothered to record the number of people offered legal aid . Despite the fact Rochdale Council is at pains to point out that : vulnerable people will be offered support not just punishment.

Likewise although Rochdale Councils states nobody was issued notices or imprisoned under the decrepit and discredited 1824 Vagrancy Act it is not too difficult to find local homeless people who will tell you that they have spent a night in the cells under Vagrancy Act legislation just prior to Christmas. A public and significant corporate endorsement of the Christiam message at the heart season of peace & goodwill to all which even Scrooge would retch at?

With many people in the hostel environment having low or no immune systems requests from campaigners to prioritise the Townships homeless rough sleepers or sofa surfers for Covid-19 vaccinations have hitherto fallen on entirely deaf ears.

A recent written request to NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group to lobby local NHS Service Providers & GP Practices to prioritise the position of local homeless population on the grounds that:

Currently the homeless lie sixth in line for inoculation behind care home residents, health workers and older folks. They would likely be classed as, “vulnerable adults under 65” by medics, as their average life expectancy is just 45 years-of-age '. The only response to this so far has been that:

Details of the vaccine programme locally can be found on RBC Public Health site at http://www.rochdale.gov.uk/covidvaccine

In addition in response to further public questions , namely:

How many homeless people, rough sleepers, hostel residents have tested positive for Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic?

and,

Have there been any fatalities of homeless people attributed to Covid-19 in the homeless / hostel environment or on the street itself in Rochdale since the pandemic began?

There is now the familiar response that: 'The CCG does not have access to this data'.

Campaigners have also pointed out to Rochdale Council that FEANTSA the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless / Fédération Européenne d'Associations Nationales Travaillant avec les Sans-Abri has issued an international statement pointing out that:

'Homeless people are disproportionately affected by poor health with mortality rates 3–6 times greater than those of the general population. They are often at a higher risk of contracting infectious diseases and are especially vulnerable to respiratory problems due to compromised immune systems, poor nutrition and hygiene, and frequent overcrowding at shelters. Research has found that when homeless people are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, they often have problems typically associated with much older people. Homeless people are at high risk of premature frailty and geriatric conditions. There is also a high prevalence of multimorbidity in this group.Research calls for a needs-based rather than an age-based approach for homeless health and it makes the case for homeless people to be included in the priority group for vaccines based on their specific health needs rather than their age. Although they are clinically vulnerable and have complex underlying health conditions, people experiencing homelessness often face barriers in accessing health care and consequently, their medical conditions are often underdiagnosed and their health needs, while multiple, left unmet. This makes them a high-risk group for COVID-19.'

Incidentally any Northern Voices reader who'd like to send a copy to their ward councillor to urge them to get a hurry on with the priority vaccination homeless people and other disadvantaged socio-economic groups can find the full FEANTSA statement at : Vaccine_Statement_Feb_21.pdf (feantsa.org)

Though don't expect a reply or even an acknowledgement anytime from them anytime soon!

In short a forty year old hostel dweller with a history of sleeping in the damp conditions of squats of skips with a bronchial infection, a drug user with a history of intravenous drug use with an impared immune system through HIV or AIDS, or a someone in their forties with the lungs of an eighty year old due to the reduced lung capacity of COPD or low or no immune system due to years of drug alcohol or substance misuse is not best placed to avoid the transmission of Covid 19 in the comunal conditions of a hostel, bed and breakfast, hotel or squat with shared showers, toilets and baths and cramped living conditions with limited opportunities to self isolation or quarantine.Homeless people have also experienced problems in accessing NHS GP services. As FEANTSA state:

'They are often at a higher risk of contracting infectious diseases and are especially vulnerable to respiratory problems due to compromised immune systems, poor nutrition and hygiene, and frequent overcrowding at shelters.'

It is self evident also that there will be no records locally of the number of transient or itinerant individuals not registered since they are by their very nature hard to reach and mobile.What is certain however is that they will not be getting an email, text, or a telephone call asking them to come in for a Covid vaccination - since officially they do not exist. No GP registration then no vaccine unless you are fortunate to be homeless in a progressive council such as Oldham or Liverpool that is.

But it is not the homeless alone who appear to be languishing forgotten and marginalised at the back of the vaccination queue People with learning disabilities were found to be up to six times more likely to die from Covid-19 during the first wave of the pandemic, analysis shows. A report from Public Health England (PHE) found the death rate for those with a learning disability was 30 times higher in the 18-34 age group. Learning disabilities charity Mencap have said that the government had "failed to protect" a group already experiencing health inequalities.'

'The report highlighted that certain kinds of learning disabilities, such as Down's Syndrome can make people more vulnerable to respiratory infections. Adults with the condition have recently been added to the government's "clinically extremely vulnerable" list. Almost half of those with Down Syndrome who died from Covid-19 were living in a care home. The Down's Syndrome Association said priority must be given "to measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in these settings, including regular testing of care staff".

When asked if our local HMR CCG agreed with the findings of the Public Health England Report their response was:

The CCG is unable to provide opinion-based responses

Our HMR CCG it would seem are short on answers and long on the time taken in responding to them.

Whilst our Council is keener on sweeping the homeless issues out of sight and out of mind rather than dealing with the root causes. When considering the issues of local homelssness, rough sleeping, begging and the thousands of local families waiting without any realistic hope of rehousing please remember three things. Whilst this crisis is deepening local Housing provider Rochdale Borough Housing are in the process of moving ( in many instances frail & vulnerable residents ) out of their homes in three of the Seven Sister flats , Underwood, Holland Rise, and Mardyke , stating that:

'Over the past few months, we have been carrying out technical surveys, including the recent fire risk assessments, and although we still do not have the full detail of what refurbishment and modernisation work could involve, we do now know for certain that it would be extensive enough that residents would not be able to continue to live in their homes while the work is carried out.'

One can only marvel at the total lack of awareness & timing of this during a global health pandemic requiring social distancing and unnecessary travel; particularly of the elderly with possible underlying health conditions!

Secondly we should remember that just THREE people were recorded sleeping rough in Rochdale in November 2018 - a truly astounding 40% reduction from figures taken eight years earlier!

And, thirdly , we need to be mindful of the unavoidable fact that there are elements within Rochdale Council who would clearly spitefully and totally unecessarily rather scapegoat , dicriminate against , prosecute and criminalize the poor , mentally ill an marginalised than give them fully funded and functioning support services with which to treat them with basic human dignity to help them rise up out of their destitution and misery. As the great Angela Davis once said :

'Prisons do not disappear social problems, they disappear human beings. Homelessness, unemployment, drug addiction, mental illness, and illiteracy are only a few of the problems that disappear from public view when the human beings contending with them are relegated to cages.' ______________________________

Unpublished letter to Rochdale Observer & Manchester Evening News 14/01/2021

Dear Editor Rochdale Observer / MEN ,

Local Homeless People & Covid 19 Vaccine roll out

On 13 January Oldham Council teamed up with local GPs in a bid to ensure that rough sleepers and those without homes are inoculated against Covid 19. They are the first in the country to roll-out a programme specifically designed to vaccinate homeless people (1).

This progressive and humane initiative received favourable national publicity in the print media, online , on radio & television, (2), (3).

Could I please ask Rochdale Council through your Letters Page what plans there are, if any, for the scheme to vaccinate homeless people to be extended to cover homeless, rough sleepers & hostel & bed & breakfast dwellers in the Heywood, Middleton & Rochdale area?

As we know homeless people are at risk of Covid due to low or no immune systems & also at risk of transmitting it through the wider community through no fault of their own.

I am aware of one homeless person still sleeping on the streets of Rochdale & sofa surfing who should be screening because he has no Spleen and is on the NHS list for those at high risk of Covid 19. Is he a lone example or more typical of the local response to meet the needs of those without homes during the pandemic?

Founder of Homeless Friendly Dr Chauhan has pointed out that: 'As a health carer who has worked on the Corona virus front-line at care homes, I can absolutely see why older people and health workers need to be prioritised. But so too do the homeless. Each winter they face problems such as hypothermia, pneumonia and even frostbite. Does death from COVID-19 also now be added to that list of shame?'

Thank you

Faithfully,

Andrew Wastling

Park Court, Drake Street, ROCHDALE

m | 07786251801

APPENDIX:

(1).

'Homeless man gets Covid-19 jab in city council's rough sleepers vaccine drive', Daily Mirror( 13/01/2021)

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/homeless-man-gets-covid-jab-23311099?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

(2).

'Oldham launches one of the first homeless COVID-19 vaccine schemes', Planet Radio, (13/01/2020)

https://planetradio.co.uk/hits-radio/manchester/news/oldham-launches-one-of-the-first-homeless-covid-19-vaccine-schemes/

(3).

https://www.bigissue.com/latest/homeless-couple-given-covid-19-vaccine-in-oldham-world-first/

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Rumbelow in Rochdale's Problematic Top Job

by Brian Bamford

ON the 15 OCT 2014, Dan Thompson in the MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS (MEN) announced that 'Rochdale council to fill its problem chief executive post.' At the time the now disgraced Councillor Richard Farnell, the then leader of Rochdale council, described the appointment of Mr Rumbelow, a former director for Manchester council, as a ‘major coup’.

Cllr. Farnell added: “He is one of the country’s most successful and dynamic chief executives. He has a wealth of experience in other chief executive and leading local government posts in the north west."

Then the MEN declared that 'The appointment of Steve Rumbelow, who has been chief executive at Burnley council since July 2006, is expected to be approved at a meeting of Rochdale town hall chiefs tonight' and that 'Steve Rumbelow expected to become the town hall's fourth chief executive in the space of three years'.

A giddy Cllr. Farnell enthused: 'He is one of the country’s most successful and dynamic chief executives. He has a wealth of experience in other chief executive and leading local government posts in the north west.

'Rochdale’s priority is bringing new businesses and jobs to the borough and Steve is recognised as one of the most experienced regeneration experts in the region.

'He has led the transformation of Burnley, which was recently named as the Most Enterprising Place in the UK.'

In 2014, Mr Rumbelow proclaimed that he was ‘looking forward’ to taking over the reins at Rochdale Council.

He added: 'I’ve been looking hard at the current challenges and issues ahead for the council and all our partner organisations. But what I’ve really been struck by is the commitment of councillors, officers and people right across the borough to do the best for residents, and develop new opportunities and prospects.

'Rochdale is well known for its pioneering spirit and I am really pleased to have been appointed to this role, and to be able to work alongside so many committed people.'

In 2014 Mr Rumbelow became the fourth chief executive of Rochdale council in the space of three years.

Roger Ellis took early retirement in April 2012 – a month before nine men were jailed over the town’s grooming scandal – and came under fire for taking a £75,000 redundancy package, despite the town hall failing vulnerable victims of sexual abuse.

Mr Ellis was replaced by Jim Taylor, who faced controversy 2013 when Rochdale council tried to give him a £40,000 pay rise – taking his salary to £170,000 – a move that was ultimately defeated by councillors following a huge backlash.

Hence, the role of Chief Executive in Rochdale has not been a happy one over the last decade or so, it's a troubled trade and we wish 'Two-Jobs Rumbelow' all the best in his multiple roles.

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Curious World of Councillor Blundell by Les May

ON November 2019 I tried to bring something to the attention of Councillor Blundell using his Rochdale MBC e-mail address John.Blundell@Rochdale.gov.uk. Back came the response:

'This email is checked periodically due to lack of suitable access.'

Though it struck me as rather strange that a (supposedly) active councillor who, even if he did not have internet access at home, could certainly access e-mails from his Council office, should be using this as an excuse for not responding, I did not pursue the matter further at the time,

Quite by chance someone mentioned in a recent telephone conversation that they had received an identical e-mail within the last few days when they had tried to bring something to the attention of Councillor Blundell. Which struck me as rather odd.

Odd, because there hasn’t been any face to face Council meetings for some time and I think we must assume that Council business meetings are being transacted via an Internet based tool like Zoom. Which raises some interesting questions.

Is Councillor Blundell still drawing his full allowance whilst not being able to transact any Council business due to ‘a lack of suitable access’? Or is he taking part in these virtual meetings and his response to people who try to contact him using his Council e-mail is in the realms of being a bit of a ‘Porky Pie’, intended to shield him from having to answer any potentially embarrassing questions?

Over to you Councillor Blundell?

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A Nasty Smell from the Pork Barrel by Les May

ONE might have hoped that now that the anti-semitism witch hunt has begun to subside in the Labour party we might see a period of relative calm punctuated only by the ‘left wing’ and ‘right wing’ knocking eight bells out of each other and in between these bouts there might have been a focus on the things that Labour needs to put right in this country. Things like the gross inequalities in income and wealth, which are linked to both differences in total life expectancy and length of life without disability, and the lack of social housing forcing people into the hands of a new ‘rentier class’ of private landlords.

Seemingly not, judging by a tweet from Rochdale Labour Group which seems eager to sow the seeds of yet another witch hunt, this time in the name of ‘Islamophobia’.

The definition they propose to accept runs as follows; ‘Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type or racism that targets Muslimness or perceived Muslimness’. Quite how anyone got from a religious belief, which is open to anyone to adopt, or not, as they so wish, to being a form of ‘racism’ is anyone’s guess. But then again logic does not seem to be a strong point for those who like to dabble in identity politics.

Nor are we offered a working definition of ‘Muslimness’, which seems like a convenient oversight. Is it for example adherence to fasting between dawn and sunset during Ramadan so that believers can experience what it is like to be someone who is so poor that they have to go without food? Or is it cutting someone’s throat because they have been perceived as causing offence? Is it risking your life in a Red Crescent team trying to rescue someone from a collapsed building? Or is it detonating a bomb in a crowded building? As with every other religious faith some of its adherents are good and some are evil. Or as the line from the film ‘The Dynamite Man from Glory jail’ runs, ‘God uses some people, and some people use God’.

This definition has no legal status and to the extent that it can be seen as an attack on our freedom of expression, including the freedom to offend, it is unlikely that any court would offer support to any council, public body or company attempting to using it as a criterion for determining someone’s suitability for continued employment.

Rochdale Labour Group’s decision to announce this looks rather like an exercise in what our American friends call ‘Pork Barrel Politics’, intended to secure the loyalty at the ballot box of a particular group of voters. I look forward to Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews and Pagans lining up to demand similar protection from criticism. And don’t forget the Vegan who wants his dietary choices classed as stemming from a religious belief!

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Pushing Public Health Messages by Les May

ROCHDALE THE 'WORST AFFECTED' BY VIRUS!

I LIVE in Rochdale, one of the metropolitan boroughs that make up Greater Manchester. Last Saturday lunchtime I was treated to the sight of our local council leader speaking on a BBC news programme about the negotiations with the government about the financial support which would be available if ‘Tier Three’ restrictions come into force. He also raised doubts about whether the additional restrictions were necessary, citing the fact that the negotiators had been presented with ‘old data’ about infection levels.

Last Wednesday I watched the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Jonathan Van Tam, present graphics showing how in the past few weeks rising Covid 19 infections, which were substantially affecting young adults have spread initially, are now moving into the older parts of the population in my town and others like it. These of course are the people whose illness places greatest strain on the NHS and who are most likely to die.

The next day Sky News ran a piece which made the claim that my town, Rochdale, is the borough worst affected by the virus.

Now I don’t wish to suggest that Allen Brett, or Bretty as he likes to style himself, was being deliberately misleading in his comments about the infection levels in Rochdale, but I will say that I find it a little surprising that our council leader seemingly had not taken the trouble to be briefed by Rochdale’s Director of Public Health, Andrea Fallon, about the situation in the town. She’s the expert in these matters, not him. Or perhaps it’s not really so surprising.

Since March when the initial ‘lockdown’ was imposed it can hardly be said RMBC has been proactive in its approach to handling the pandemic. Residents have received precisely two communications about Covid 19, one A5 leaflet came in late March and the second a couple of months ago. No doubt the response would be that there is comprehensive information about the ‘rules’ we are supposed to adhere to on the RMBC website.

Indeed there is, but in the jargon of the computer world, this is a ‘pull strategy’. In other words if you want to get the information, which is liable to change at any moment, you have to be sufficiently motivated to go and find it. If you are a MS Windows user are you sufficiently motivated to access the Microsoft website every time you switch your computer on to make sure that your machine has the latest security patches? Knowing that you are not, MS adopts a ‘push strategy’. Each time you switch on the new patches are sent to your machine automatically; you don’t have to do anything to keep your machine safe.

Some of the money being given to local councils in the Greater Manchester area should be spent on implementing such a ‘push strategy’ to disseminate the latest information about the status of Covid 19 infections in our towns as assessed by the Director of Public Health. This could be done by running an Internet based service dedicated to doing just that. Residents would initially register an e-mail address with the service, and would receive regular updates, encouragement to continue self isolating if asked to do so and advice about infection control in their daily routine. Why should it have taken a query to a local councillor to supply evidence to support a statement she had made to unearth the fact that there was an interactive map* showing the rolling seven day number of new infections in the area I live in? How many councillors are themselves aware of this?

This virus is not going to go away quickly and we have to learn to live with it. The optimistic view of how the future is going to unfold is that at some time not too far ahead, an effective vaccine will be discovered. If we are lucky this may happen. But even if it does the first recipients will be those in involved in health care who are daily putting their own lives at risk treating Covid 19 patients and those who are particularly vulnerable due to existing conditions. The rest of us, and that includes old people like me, will have a lower priority. It may take two or more years before everyone who wants it has been given the vaccine.

The pessimistic view is that we will never have an effective vaccine or effective therapeutic drugs. This is at least a possibility which should not be discounted. Many colds are caused by coronaviruses and in the past one or two million years we humans have never evolved immunity to ‘the common cold’. So in the absence of medical methods of removing the threat to human life presented by this virus, be it for another couple of years or stretching into the future, we are left with public health interventions to mitigate its danger. This should be part of any ‘roadmap’ for the future.

In the fight against this virus it is not enough for us to be passive entities obeying rules we did no make and perhaps do not understand the logic of. Our first priority should not be to acquaint ourselves with the ever changing ‘rules’; it has to be doing whatever is necessary to keep ourselves and our families safe from infection. It is no use local politicians complaining that hospitality venues should not be closed because community transmission is highest where households mix, unless they also have a strategy for discouraging household mixing. To do this we need to have all the information available about where the infection rate is highest, where it is increasing at the fastest rate in our local area and regular reminders about why this is happening and the part our behaviour is playing in this.

Getting this information and advice on a regular basis to residents in the boroughs around Greater Manchester and similarly affected conurbations, isn’t ‘rocket science’. It simply needs a bit of imagination and effort on the part of local councils. If they cannot even manage this what makes anyone think they could run a less shambolic ‘Track and Trace’ system than the present government?

* Initially this map could be found at;

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=47574f7a6e454dc6a42c5f6912ed7076

If you go to this site you will be redirected to;

https://coronavirus-staging.data.gov.uk/details/interactive-map

This is more detailed and more informative, but the text is not so easy to read.

If the links above are not ‘live’ then copy and paste the link into your browser.

Who does Tony Lloyd MP think he is kidding?

Is ROCHDALE Becoming Queen Of The Rotten Boroughs?

EDITORIAL NOTE:

PRIVATE EYE may yet award Rochdale the prize of the 2020 Queen of the ROTTEN BOROUGHS if things carry on as they are at Rochdale Council. At least two of the town's wards have given cause for serious concern in recent years owing to the curious customs of some of the residents, and both are within the boundaries of what is Tony Lloyd's constituency of Rochdale.

Readers may be well aware of the distasteful historic nature of the politics of Rochdale stemming from Cyril Smith's terms in office first as a Rochdale Labour councillor, and later as the town's Liberal MP from 1972 to 1992; then there is Simon Danczuk's time as Rochdale MP from 2010 until 2017 when he ended up in fifth place standing as an independent candidate following his suspension from the Labour Party for what he himself called "inappropriate and stupid" behaviour in 2015, when he exchanged perverse messages with a young 17-year-old girl; thus it was that Tony Lloyd became the new Rochdale MP on the back of Simon Danczuk's disgrace. In both the earlier cases of Smith and Danczuk it was suggested that the authorities turned a blind-eye to what was taking place in Rochdale's political arena.

Now the concerns raised by Carl Faulkner in his letter below suggest that Rochdale's current MP, Tony Lloyd, may be oblivious to some strange goings on inside the Rochdale Labour Party: for example in 2018, Rochdalian Faisal Rana received a police caution after registering himself at two different addresses and managing to vote twice, he later became a local Rochdale councillor. Most decent people would regard this as disgraceful conduct, but not it seems some in the Rochdale Labour Party. Now, it seems, Councillor Rana is promoting himself as a possible heir to Tony Lloyd and a future MP for the town.

What is perhaps even more worrying is that some weeks ago Carl sent this letter to the Rochdale Observer and it has yet to be published. The Rochdale Observer, it will be recalled, was one of the newspapers that failed to report the story when Rochdale's Alternative Paper first tried to expose Cyril Smith.

The leopard, it seems, cannot change its spots!

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Dear Sir/Madam,

WHO does Tony Lloyd MP think he is kidding? He has recently raised concerns about the fairness of elections in a faraway country called Belarus. This is not a one-off. He has a long standing record of ‘concern’ about fraud in elections. Back in 2004 he stood up in Parliament and said that electoral fraudsters should know they would be sent to prison. His own website boasts of his multi-country involvement in helping to ensure fair and fraud-free elections.

So, it would be easy to assume that this man would speak out about electoral fraud wherever it occurs. Especially if it happened here in Rochdale. Anybody believing that would be wrong.

This is because in 2018, electoral fraud came to Rochdale and made the national news. It was the year a councillor in his own Rochdale Labour Party, was outed as an electoral fraudster. A man who had dishonestly registered himself at two different addresses, applied for two separate postal votes and then voted twice in the Rochdale’s local elections. Despite being caught out, the hard-faced electoral fraud councillor refused to resign. This person was not unknown to Tony Lloyd. It was someone who had been closely involved in Tony Lloyd’s 2017 General Election campaign.

At the time of the fraud, decent folk quickly and publicly condemned the councillor and called for him to resign. From Tony Lloyd there was only silence. But his hypocrisy did not end there. I wrote to him, asking that as my MP, would he make representations to the Attorney General and request a change in the law that would automatically prevent future electoral fraudsters from serving as councillors.

His initial response was to try and fob me off. He then attempted to ignore me. Eventually, he simply said it was something that I could do myself. Not quite what you would expect from an MP who likes to portrays himself as the protector and promoter of fraud-free elections.

However, his hypocrisy knew no bounds and he still wasn’t finished. In 2019 a Tony Lloyd General Election leaflet dropped through my letter box. There, staring out from the leaflet was the gurning fizog of his friend, the electoral fraudster Labour councillor.

What a shameless hypocrite of an MP we really have. Rochdale deserves better.

Regards,

Carl Faulkner

ROCHDALE

NB All the above can be verified if requested.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/councillor-who-voted-twice-rochdale-15028865