POVERTY, A FACTOR IN EDUCATION?

by Cliff Jones

THE Labour MP for Riverside in Liverpool does not like the report from the Tory dominated Commons Education Committee that downplays poverty as a factor in education. I taught in that constituency for eleven years. If there was a single dominant factor at work it was poverty. That had been the case for a very long time.

Local people rolled up their sleeves and began to build the then largest housing co-operative in Western Europe. I designed and obtained government approval for a Community Studies GCSE to support young people working on committees designing that co-operative. I felt so professionally happy.

The Tory government abolished it. Young people were to be taught only what government wanted them to be taught in ways that government approved and assessed only on what government wished them to be assessed. There is only one F in Ofsted.

When Tories talk about catching up they set the rules of the educational game in which young people AND teachers must participate and then tie together the shoe laces of some but not others. This is why I was a founder member of the Liverpool group of teachers examining the impact of unemployment on the curriculum. Long gone. Only for a while were we listened to.

A society that is more equal is what is needed. A society that is more equal is both healthier and happier. Alongside that must be an educational system that is fulfilling. Mere measurement of performance does not fulfil.

I admit that I have not yet read the Report that is causing all the fuss. I also admit that, as a member of the working party that produced the Report on Political Literacy in 1978, I have, since the arrival of Thatcher in 1979, failed to do enough to counter the effect of policies that have widened gaps in society. Widen those gaps and you produce poverty. It is a big factor in education.

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Trades Unionists reject Covid cuts & pay freeze!

TRADE Unionists in Greater Manchester are calling on Metro Mayor Andy Burnham and the leaders of all ten Greater Manchester local authorities to unite together with them and the city region's MPs in demanding a Government U-turn on the relaxation of the covid lockdown, planned £500 million cuts to Greater Manchester local Government coffers for 2021-22, and the mooted pay freeze for public sector workers, ahead of Wednesday's spending review by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

They are additionally calling on trades unionists and other Greater Manchester residents to e-mail Andy Burnham, their local councillors, MPs, the Chancellor and the Prime Minister, to put as much pressure as they possibly can on the Government to make an about turn on these proposed policies, which the Greater Manchester Assoc. of Trade Union Council President Stephen Hall says: '.... will result in a much higher death toll from covid 19 than it might otherwise do; lead to increased mental stress and anguish as a result of needless additional job losses, and much reduced incomes for most people, not to mention potential financial ruin, homelessness and countless other social problems which will cost us all considerably more in the long run, than the supposed financial savings from the Government's currently proposed course of action and staggering costs already borne by the public purse.

'The safety of the people is always the first consideration of any Government, so the economic cost of that principle should always be a secondary issue no matter how much it might amount to financially. However, had the Government been prepared, and acted more decisively at the beginning of the covid outbreak then much of the so far huge cost of the measures implemented by the Government would not have been incurred and we would not now be discussing the additional costs still to be borne by the Government as a result of a clearly failed on-off-on national lockdown with various tiers of restrictions in between, and a 'leaves-a-lot-to be desired' national test, track and trace system, all of which despite the advent of a vaccine, could still go on for many more months. No instead what we would have more likely been talking about is Christmas and New Year celebrations without restrictions and all of us being financially better off than we currently are.

'We believe the Government should abandon its present course, which will only prolong the covid crisis and instead immediately adopt a Zero Covid strategy as done by such countries as Taiwan, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea and China. Their success speaks for itself. A key element of it has been the protection of the livelihoods of EVERYONE adversely affected by lockdown. As a result, the overall economic impact of Covid in those countries has been considerably less than in Britain. Their Governments have also spent substantially less than the British Government has, and still has to spend as a result of not acting decisively earlier and not financially looking after everyone throughout, and by not bringing the virus under control as in those countries. Further, in this country however generous it has been claimed the Government's package of financial support has been, we have additionally seen many thousands of jobs lost, many thousands of household incomes slashed by 20% or more, many thousands of families now in huge rent arrears and facing potential eviction and almost four million people provided with little or no support at all. This latter national figure equates with around 200,000 people in Greater Manchester.

'Concerning the Government's proposed cuts to Greater Manchester local council coffers of around £500 million for 2021-22, Mr. Hall said: 'Our Metro Mayor and Council leaders, should make it clear to the Government that any proposed cuts at this time are simply unacceptable and will only pour more misery into Greater Manchester households at time when we should be investing in long term 'more-than-pay-for-themselves' projects such as building thousands of new hi-spec zero carbon council house and other social housing, insulating people's homes, and expanding local renewable energy generation, etc., all of which will help to create thousands of new jobs as others are being lost due to covid, and which will additionally allow us to intensify our fight against the even bigger threat to us all than covid, which is the threat of irreversible catastrophic climate change. This additional spending would not be wasteful expenditure burdening future generations, but on the contrary, in helping to tackle the huge housing shortage, climate change and alleviating the widespread financial pressures presently on millions of households nationally caused by the covid pandemic, possibly represent the best investment we could presently make in the interests of our children and future generations. We could also re-train people to equip them to do the increasing number of new jobs that need creating, in addition to training and employing more social care workers, mental health professionals, teachers, and nurses, etc., etc., to better look after everyone's social, health and mental wellbeing.

'What the Government are proposing won't help us to achieve anything positive at all, and will ultimately just suck money and spending power out of the Greater Manchester economy at the same time as impoverishing many thousands of households. What they are proposing is also a completely false economy, which will lead to greater financial and social costs be borne by the public purse at a later date. Local trades union councils across the city region stand ready to fight alongside residents, workers, and service users, to oppose any such cuts in Greater Manchester and to work with all those who support the fight for a turnaround in Government policy.'

'In relation to the mooted pay freeze for public sector workers other than NHS staff, who may get a paltry pay rise to help them pay to park at work, as a reward for their efforts over the last 9 months" Mr. Hall said: "It is simply outrageous to suggest that many 'key workers' such as care home staff, teachers, bin men, and school cleaners, many of whom are in receipt of in-work benefits because they are so poorly paid should see their pay frozen at any time let alone under the present circumstances. If anything we should be rewarding them all with a hefty pay rise. What the Government needs to remember, and private businesses and self-employed people need to bear in mind is that without ordinary people having money to spend they can't afford to buy the products and services they sell and the more disposable income workers' have the more money they can spend in the local economy all of which has a local economic 'multiplier' effect. Opposing pay rises for public sector workers also does not help to achieve anything for private sector workers who if they think they are currently hard done by should join a union and fight to improve their own situation. Across Greater Manchester the trades council movement stands ready to support them.'

PRESS STATEMENT ENDS

23-11-2020

Issued by Stephen Hall, President, GMATUC

Stefan Cholewka, Secretary, GMATUC

Covid 19: Pandemic Or Endemic? by Les May

THIS morning a ‘Lidl Weekly’ brochure dropped through my door telling me all the wonderful offers available in Lidl stores between 15 and 21 October. It’s just the most recent of a line of similar brochures from different retailers stretching back to long before the world had heard of Covid 19 or Donald Trump. In every case the intention of whoever promoted it, was to shape, change, manipulate, choose your favourite epithet, my behaviour so that I would spend some money with them. Before every election what drops through my door are leaflets, not asking me to spend money, but to buy into the policies promoted by one or other of the parties. So it would seem that our politicians realise that if you want to influence someone’s behaviour mailshots are quite an effective way of doing so. Or do they?

Yesterday morning I watched Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government, being asked about the new ‘Three Tier’ restrictions proposed by the Government which it hopes will suppress the dangerous rise in new infections, hospital admissions and deaths resulting from the Covid pandemic. How are we to find out which ‘tier’ we are in? Go to www.gov.uk says Mr Jenrick, and find out for yourself!

One of the things we have learned in recent months is that there has been a decline in the willingness of some people to comply with what is expected of them. Only one fifth to one quarter of people who are told they should self isolate after being in contact with an infected person, actually do so. It’s not clear that everyone even knows what ‘self isolate’ actually means.

A frequent excuse for non-compliance with this and other restrictions is that people don’t know what the ‘rules’ are. Personally I put much more reliance on the World Health Organisation’s common sense rules like meeting as few people as possible, keeping as far away as possible from anyone I do meet and disinfecting anything anyone else might have touched, to protect my wife and myself, rather than anything the government tells me. But common sense seems to be in short supply in some quarters

.

Unless the government makes an effort to cut through the fog of confusion and excuses the new ‘Three Tier’ system will not work. Restrictions like those proposed will be viewed as a massive inconvenience to many people, perhaps especially to those who feel they are a least risk of picking up the virus or becoming seriously ill if they do get it. So why expect them to go out of their way to find out for themselves just how much freedom of action they are about to lose?

My understanding, gleaned from news reports is that Rochdale, as part of Greater Manchester, is in ‘Tier Two’. Telling people to find out for themselves what the new restrictions are by visiting the web sites of national and local government seems to me a recipe for failure. Some people cannot and some people will not do it.

Since March my criticism of the government’s strategy of been restrained, not because I particularly like what it has been doing, but because I am sceptical that anyone else would have been able to do much better.

But all along it seems to have been ‘penny wise and pound foolish’. It has relied too much on technology because it appears to be a cheap short cut to getting things done. We’ve had the fiasco of the ‘world beating app’, when the money might have been better spent on old fashioned shoe leather and door to door methods of tracing contacts. Telling people to go to a website to find out the rules in their area is just another example of this.

Starmer and Johnson may spar across the floor of the Commons, each claiming they know how to cut down the number of new infections. Neither seems to have paused to reflect upon the fact that this virus is not going to go away. It is going to be with us for the foreseeable future and possibly forever. If that pessimistic assessment is correct then we have to learn to live with it by changing our behaviour to accommodate that fact.

If we are to live anything like a normal life again we have to make doing the things that will keep the virus in check, and ourselves and others safe, second nature. By not doing this we have squandered all the effort and inconvenience that was needed in Spring to get the virus under control.

As I pointed out in an article on the NV blog on 16 August the number of cases was already beginning to rise again. Instead of delaying taking action until something as drastic as a ‘circuit breaker lockdown’ was needed, the time could have been better spent in reminding everyone that public health measures like physical distancing, mixing with as few people as possible, wearing a face mask when inside buildings with people not of your household and scrupulous hand washing, were still important.

The virus is apolitical; Labour or Tory it can kill you if you become infected. Starmer and Johnson need to stop playing politics and start to look at how we can avoid once more squandering the effort and inconvenience which will be needed to bring the virus under control

.

Though I take much the same view as the economist J. K. Galbraith, that advertising is just another way of boosting consumption, hence profits, by creating demand where none would otherwise exist, it may be just what the government needs to turn to, to get the public health message across.

Seven weeks ago on 27 August I wrote something on the NV blog with specific reference to Rochdale Council, but the same applies to the government:

‘These are irksome things to do for most of us. We’ve a devil dancing on our shoulder telling us to just get on with our lives. We need constant reminders as to why these things are important. It’s got to be Education, Education, Education! A nd this is where I think Rochdale Council has failed miserably because it is "just going through the motions". Where are the large notices on every lamp post and every shop window and every billboard, reminding people of what they need to do to beat the virus? Non-existent so far as I can tell.’

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We Have A Cunning Plan

by Les May

THE sister of a friend of mine is notorious for her habit of putting things off until the last possible moment.  If reminded of something she has to do she inclined to reply that she will do it ‘When she gets round to it’.   Having heard this once too often, for her next birthday he bought her a circular ceramic plate inscribed with the word ‘Tuitt’ in large letters.   She didn’t take the hint!

I was reminded of my now deceased friend this morning whilst listening to an interview with Matt Hancock the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.  The government it seems has a plan to deal with the UK outbreak of Corvid19 and they will implement it, ‘when they get round to it’.  At present the UK has 5000 ventilators, a piece of equipment likely to be needed by about 1 in 20 of people who show symptoms of Corvid19.  Tomorrow he is going to contact manufacturers to urge them to construct more. He will tell them, ‘The NHS will buy all that you make’.  You might have felt more reassured by this if he had said it three weeks ago.

No wonder a senior government source recently found it necessary to say, ‘the perception that ministers are reluctant to make difficult and costly decisions to battle the virus is wrong’.  Oh really?  Then why are people who think they have the symptoms of Covid19 and being told to self isolate not being tested?  Testing and tracking recent contacts is the way to limit the spread of the virus.

Thankfully Hancock did say that aiming for herd immunity by allowing the SARS2 virus to infect 60% or so of the population is no longer part of the government strategy. The fact that it got so far as to be publicly discussed by medical professionals alarmed at the prospect does not give confidence that the overall strategy of Johnson’s government is well thought out.

‘The strategy of the British government in minimising the impact of Covid19 is to allow the virus to pass through the entire population so that we acquire herd immunity, but at a much delayed speed so that those who suffer the most acute symptoms are able to receive the medical support they need, and such that the health service is not overwhelmed and crushed by the sheer number of cases it has to treat at any one time.’  Robert Peston 12 March 2020.

Hancock made much of the government’s strategy for protecting ‘the vulnerable and elderly’.  Any impact that this might have had in suggesting that there really was a well co-ordinated strategy was diminished by the fact that the news had been allowed to emerge last night from a journalist.

https://www.itv.com/news/2020-03-14/elderly-to-be-quarantined-for-four-months-in-wartime-style-mobilisation-to-combat-coronavirus/

The effect of drip feeding us bits of information about ‘the plan’ merely makes the government look shambolic and secretive. My impression of Hancock’s performance this morning is that he has been promoted to one level above his competence.   We need clear information both about the government’s overall strategy and the scientific evidence upon which it is relying in making its political decisions.

Telling a significant proportion of the population they must stay indoors for three to four months for their own protection is a big ask. It is far more likely to be accepted if we are given clear information about why it is necessary and what it actually means in practice. I find it difficult to believe that I would be putting myself at significant risk if I took a stroll around the park each day and avoided being close to anyone. I think I would be more at risk in accepting a food container into my house without first wiping it over with dilute bleach and then washing my hands.

Those of us who are old enough to remember the Falklands war will recall the nightly TV briefings put out by the Ministry of Defence and read by Ian McDonald. His matter-of-fact delivery on the latest developments gave the bulletins an air of authority, something which was entirely lacking in Hancock’s answers. I’m not sure that anyone in the present government is sufficiently trusted by the public to take on the role of keeping us informed.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/04/09/ian-mcdonald-lugubrious-mod-press-spokesman-falklands-war-became/

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Johnson And The Guinea Pigs

by Les May

EARLIER this afternoon I watched the Minister for Care, Helen Whately, trying to give a reassuring message that the government had an effective strategy for dealing with the SARS-02 virus which when it infects humans causes the disease now known as Covid19.  What she did not explain is why the UK is following a strategy which differs from that being followed in Spain and Ireland, recommended as good practice by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and vigorously pursued by China.  That it works is evidenced by the massive decline in new cases in China in recent days and the fact that the it is now advising Italy about the measures to be taken to defeat the outbreak.

Following WHO guidance other countries affected by the disease are pursuing a policy of ‘contain the disease and eliminate the virus’.  That’s not easy and it is expensive.  As well as hospitalising and treating those who are suffering from the disease you have to find the people they have been in contact with and isolate them until they either show signs of the disease or you can be sure that the incubation period is over.

Boris Johnson and his government prefer the cheapskate option of letting the virus infect at least 60% of the us so that the survivors will no longer be at risk from infection and so transmission of the virus will come to an end and it will disappear. It has the grandiose title of ‘herd immunity’ which makes it sound a medically respectable strategy.

A more honest appraisal of it is that Johnson and his government are proposing to use the UK population as guinea pigs and are quite prepared to see a lot of people die as ‘collateral damage’. This is a purely political decision. If it really is ‘science based’ as is claimed then that evidence needs to be placed in the public domain so that it can be independently evaluated by people who are less close to government than Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Valance and Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty. These two seem happy to provide cover for the political decisions being made by Johnson.

As I pointed out in an earlier article if 60% of a UK population of 60 million people become infected with the virus causing the disease Covid19 that is 36 million people. The mortality rate for those infected is 1%, that translates to 360,000 deaths. Not everyone infected with the virus will show symptoms, but as the mortality rate for those who do show symptoms is about 4% we can estimate that the total number of people who will be infected and show symptoms, will be about 9 million people. Of these 80% will recover without hospitalisation, 15% will require oxygen and 5% will require to be artificially ventilated. In other words 1.8 million of those 36 million it is assumed will be infected, will need hospitalisation.

If we assume that the virus is with us for 18 weeks of the summer and the infection curve is fairly flat that means there will be a requirement for space for a 100,000 patients of which 75,000 will need oxygen and 25,000 will need to be artificially ventilated EACH WEEK. If the infection curve is not flat and is sharply peaked these figures will be much higher for a short time.

I have based these figures on the information provided by the WHO and UK government assumptions about the proportion of the population who need to be infected to produce ‘herd immunity’. If you don’t like the message don’t shoot the messenger.

If you are sceptical about whether the NHS will be able to cope with 100,000 high maintenance patients a week for much of the summer you are not alone.

When the weekly death toll starts to move into four figures Tory MPs will get jittery: when granny and grandad die gasping for breath, Johnson’s ‘Red Wall’ will be rubble.

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CWU STATEMENT:ON COURT JUDGEMENT

Royal Mail Dispute – High Court Judgement

CWU members will be and are extremely angry and bitterly disappointed that one judge has granted Royal Mail an injunction to invalidate our ballot for strike action.

We balloted over 110,000 members and they voted by over 97% in favour of strike action in a massive 76% turnout.

Not one single person out of 110,000 who were balloted complained to Royal Mail that their right to vote was interfered with. Not one single person out of 110,000 who were balloted complained to the independent scrutineers that their right to vote was interfered with. The electoral reform society who conducted the ballot confirmed it was run in full accordance of the law. And after over seven weeks since the ballot commenced, not one single person has complained to the certification officer who is appointed by the government to regulate trade unions.

Yet despite all of this – with no evidence supporting their claim from any employee – Royal Mail can come to this court in what is a cowardly and vicious attack on its own workforce – and through a witness statement of one manager can be granted an injunction to stop our right to strike in defence over 100,000 jobs and the very future of UK postal services.

We have run a fantastic modern day campaign that combines face to face meetings with use of social media to engage willing members to maximise the yes vote and turnout. Members participated and cast their vote of their own free will. To suggest otherwise is to insult the intelligence and the integrity of thousands and thousands of good hard-working people.

We will be considering the judge’s detailed reasons for this but we want to make it clear that the only thing this union, its representatives and its members have done – is to run a fantastic modern day campaign to engage and encourage workers to defend their jobs.

We want our members to know that we will not be moved and we will be doing everything in our power to oppose the company’s industry destroying plans and this decision, including appealing against the judgement once we have taken guidance from our lawyers, re-balloting and launching a huge leverage campaign with major shareholders against the company’s actions.

This injunction is not only a massive injustice to our members it’s also an injustice to every worker in the country.

We all need to wake up and recognise that this Tory government has deliberately stacked the rules against workers in favour of the constituency they were born to serve – which is big business and the establishment.

We appeal to the TUC and workers everywhere – in what is a call – to arms that it’s time for us to fundamentally shift the balance of forces in this country back to working people and remove these draconian laws once and for all.

To Rico Back and the Royal Mail Board we say you cannot face away from the reality that your victory in this court will be short-lived. You cannot face away from the reality that you have completely lost the confidence of the workforce and as a result there is no way you will ever be able to fully implement your plans for the future.

This union and our members will not be moved.

We will be communicating further on this issue directly to our members and representatives prior to the end of this week.

Any enquiries on the above LTB should be addressed to gsoffice@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward
General Secretary

Tony Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary

Terry Pullinger
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

19LTB659 – Royal Mail Dispute – High Court Judgement

View Online

Institutionalised Incompetence

By Les May

YOU may have noticed a bundle of documents dated 29 January 2018 fastened to a lamp post close to a patch of green space somewhere near you. You should have done, there were 207 of them.  They relate to a hearing to take place at the Royal Courts of Justice in London and are intended to serve notice of that hearing.

Now you might think that someone would have taken great care to make sure that everything was, as they say, ‘kosher’:  no mistakes, no slip ups! But you forget, this is Rochdale, incompetence is the order of the day. So it should not really come as much of a surprise to find that the covering letter, signed by no less a person than David Wilcock, Legal Director,  Governance and Workforce, manages to inform the reader that the hearing will be on Tuesday, 19^th February. Now, God willing, there will be a 19^th of February 2018, but sure as hell it won’t be a Tuesday.

But of course, being only the covering letter rather than the legal bit you are no doubt allowed to make a mistake, even if you do it 207 times.   But probe just a bit deeper into the legal stuff and you find a paragraph about another hearing for an interim injunction on 6^th February to allow three clear days between the service of the notice and the date of the hearing.

I can say with complete certainty that the notice I read was put up on Monday 5^th February, which by my reckoning does not even allow for one clear day before the hearing. In other words someone at Rochdale MBC did not do their job properly.

This is not the first time that I have come across a casual approach to meeting the legal niceties of giving notice to the public.   A planning application relating to land below Castleton did not appear until the final date upon which objections could be made.   A notice relating to an area near Castleton station was affixed to a lamp post on the wrong street and related to a completely different street than that named in the notice.   A temporary road closure order in the Marland area related to a different road altogether.  A lady who has far more knowledge than I of the treatment of parents who have offspring subject to child protection orders, recently described the approach in Rochdale as ‘slap dash’.  I discussed the problem of getting anyone at RMBC to take seriously the possibility of election fraud in a NV piece on 2^nd May 2017.

I don’t expect councillors to check on every legal notice emanating from RMBC but I do expect that they will ensure that those charged with managing the legal affairs of the council meet both the letter and the spirit of the law.

It is long past the time when the Leader of the Council should be having a stiff word with the Chief Executive. Or perhaps neither of them really care.

Carillion crisis early fall-out: Small firms at risk

SMALL firms working for failed construction giant Carillion on purely private sector deals will only have two days of government support, Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington has warned.

Carillion spent £952m with local suppliers in 2016 and used an extensive network of small firms, who are now waiting to learn if they will be paid.

Employers' groups are trying to assess the exposure of small firms, but said many faced financial hardship.

Critics want a review into the crisis.

Britain's second largest construction firm, which employs 20,000 people in the UK, when it went into administration yesterday.
.
Carillion's work stretched from the HS2 rail project and military contracts to maintaining hospitals, schools, and prisons.

On Monday, Mr Lidington said there would be government support for public sector contracts.
Carillion has previously said it used a wide range of small companies because 'we remain wholly committed to generating regional economic growth and development.' 

But the head of the Federation of Small Businesses said thousands of jobs and livelihoods were now at risk because those firms would be at the back of the queue for payment.

Mike Cherry said it was a situation made worse because Carillion extended its payment schedule to suppliers last year.

'These unpaid bills may well go back several months," he continued. "I wrote to Carillion back in July last year to express concern after hearing from FSB members that the company was making small suppliers wait 120 days to be paid.'

A partner at one accountancy firm, who asked not to be named, said small firms were looking at total losses stretching into hundreds of millions of pounds.

'Asset sales won't even raise enough to cover the debts of senior bank creditors, so many small firms won't see a bean,' he said.

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Snoopers' Charter & 38 Degrees team

Dear Brian,

THE government has made a law that forces companies to spy on us. It means information is stored about our telephone calls and text messages - whether we like it or not. [1] But courts have ruled that the law - known as the ‘Snoopers’ Charter’ - is actually illegal. [2]

It looks like the government is trying to avoid making the right changes to the law. [3] To delay things, they’ve launched a public consultation to get the public’s opinion on what to do. [4]
 
The consultation closes in 24 hours time. This gives us the chance to tell the government to stop forcing companies to spy on us. If thousands of us sign the petition now - telling them to listen to the court and change the Snoopers’ Charter - the public outcry could force them to listen.

We’ve not got long, Brian. Will you sign the petition now? It will be handed straight to the consultation before it closes in 24 hours time:

SIGN THE PETITION

The law was designed to help fight crime and terrorism. [5] Gathering and storing data about serious criminal activity means that the police can do their jobs better. But right now the Snooper's Charter let’s all sorts of people access all kinds of information about the calls, messages, and texts we make, whether there is any good reason to or not. [6]

The courts want the government to strengthen the rules around when our private information can be seen. [7] They also want changes put in place so we have a right to know when someone's accessed our personal data. [8] It’d be a step towards making sure our privacy is protected and the government and private companies have less power to spy on us.

We need to move fast Brian. If you want to stop the government and private companies spying on us unchecked, sign the petition now:

SIGN THE PETITION

Thanks for being involved,

Holly, Megan, Bex, Cathy and the 38 Degrees team


PS: It’s not often that the government consults the public on issues that have been decided by a court ruling. [9] But it looks like they are trying to water down the proposed amendments. So, Brian will you sign the petition to make sure they change the law and protect our privacy now? https://38d.gs/sign-the-snoopers-charter-petition

Taking Working Class Toryism seriously

by Andrew Wallace  (24/04/17)

 IN just a few weeks’ time the British working class will turn out in unprecedented numbers in order to support a right wing Conservative government, marking an apotheosis of trends in which working people of modest means have enthusiastically endorsed a party pursuing an historical agenda which would seem on the surface at least to be hostile to their interests.

However I would say that as a leftist because I have already accepted it as self-evident that a Conservative agenda is not commensurate with the interests of those at the bottom of our socio-economic hierarchy.  I have imbibed sufficient life experiences and also by way of exposure to arguments in books and articles over the years to convince me of the malevolence of their brand of free market fundamentalism.

So like many lefties I feel irked to say the least with that most heretical act of political deviancy, the perverse irrationalism of working class Toryism.  Social networks are presently going into overdrive as Corbynistas are confronted with the rude reality as many of their friends and family have the temerity to circulate a number of pugnacious right wing memes.  The echo chambers are being systemically punctured and we are being cumulatively disabused of the progressive habitats of alternative media.

And thereby hangs a dilemma for us to collectively confront, the left’s deep denial and impotence to comprehend, let alone combat, the reality of the great ‘heresy’.

‘Heresy’

Working class Toryism has a long standing history. Marx thought that the advent of universal suffrage equated with the ‘political supremacy of the working class’. 19^th century parliamentarians fretted that the Reform Acts would destroy their dominance. This of course never happened and Conservatives like Disraeli were canny in cultivating blue collar Tories.

As maverick social thinkers like Michael Collins (labelled a ‘bête noir of the liberal left’ for his ‘destructive nostalgia') have argued with increasing plausibility, the instincts and sentiments of certain traditional working class communities are often far removed from the left liberal worldview. His discussion of the costermongers of old delineates their Tory and royalist sympathies and their antipathy to anything that might constitute a bohemian socialist import.

Collins also breaks rank with liberal niceties when he talks of culture and the salience of race and the white working class. For Collins, multiculturalism has been used as a tool by a metropolitan elite to censor and marginalise the indigenous white left behind, inviting a backlash that further strengthens forces on the far right.

Powellism

Enoch Powell’s controversial Rivers of Blood speech from 1968 (described aptly by Stuart Hall’ essay as ‘A torpedo aimed at the boiler room of consensus’), was a powerful reminder of the traction and mass appeal of a right wing doyen.  Socialists of the day had no choice but to acknowledge Powell’s formidable appeal to many workers at this time, particularly when organised labour in the form of the dockers and building workers marched in his support.  As the International Socialists (forerunners of the Socialist Workers Party) conceded: The ready response to his speech has revealed the prevalence of racialist ideas among workers, inculcated by centuries of capitalism and imperialism

From Ragged Trousered bankruptcy to Vanguardism

Robert Tressell’s famous novel, The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists, is essentially an extended Socratic dialogue in the form of a novel, as the main protagonist, Frank Owen, engages with the congenital working class conservatism of his work colleagues.  The novel is actually a useful reminder as to socialism’s problematic nature with its ostensible working class base.  Owen has to go to great lengths to proselytise for the superior virtues and rationalism of socialism.  Owen’s fellow workers are highly resistant to left wing ideas and generally happy to acquiesce in the status quo.  This is surely a salutary reminder that such ideas are far from having a privileged locus and position in working class communities, there is no spontaneity or easy populist reception for socialism.  

On the contrary, socialism is now seen as a didactic radical import.  Without the hoped for organic growth of working class left wing movements, this would have to be remedied by vanguardism, thereby negating one of the original premises of socialist thought, that working class emancipation had to be the work of the working class themselves. Unfortunately as the unfolding of history goes, that innovation didn’t work out particularly world.

Acknowledging the reality of a rightist working class

We urgently need to understand the limitations of conventional leftism and the elephant in the room – how the working classes have defected on mass to the right.  There will be lots of heads banging against walls come June 9^th, but as I have argued here, this is not a new problem.   Each generation have to partake of this bitter fruit.  However we are still compounded by our collective delusions and failure to understand the reality on the ground.

How is it that the police can destroy evidence?

Ricky Tomlinson holding a copy of Northern Voices at a Conference of the FBU

YESTERDAY, Brian Reade wrote a piece in the Daily Mirror about Ricky Tomlinson's claim that Richard Whiteley was a spy for MI5.  We produce an excerp below:
'Not convinced? Neither is veteran Shrewsbury 24 researcher, Eileen Turnbull, who believes Tomlinson may have been duped: “I don’t know why Ricky is saying this,” she said.
Well, having recently spoken at length with Ricky, I think I know why. The 77-year-old realises he hasn’t got too many fighting years left, and the lack of a pardon for him and his fellow strikers in the face of overwhelming evidence that they were framed, could be driving him to distraction.
In 1973, Ricky was jailed for two years at Shrewsbury Crown Court, and 23 others convicted, after being found guilty of arcane public order offences during a national building strike against poor pay and Victorian working conditions.
For 44 years, campaigners have insisted the convictions were instigated by Ted Heath’s Tory Government who feared the rise of trade union power.
They have documents suggesting police destroyed witness statements and framed testimony to convict the activists, and that crucial papers are being withheld because they are too damaging and embarrassing to reveal.'
The Royle Family starhad said:
'... had he know of his alleged involvement in the plot when he appeared on Countdown he would have throttled him.'
It looks like Ricky is keen to get this issue of the Shrewsbury Pickets out into the public domain. 

John Spencer-Davis on the Owen Smith Bid

John Spencer-Davis July 26, 2016 at 18:32

I received an e-mail from Owen Smith MP today, and I publish it and my response below.

*****************************************************
E-mail from Owen Smith MP dated 26th July 2016 Labour’s future, radical politics

John,

I grew up in South Wales during the miners’ strike. That’s when I came alive politically.

I saw the power of politics to change lives, for better and worse. We are seeing it again with a Tory government inflicting such damage through austerity. That’s why we need a radical, united Labour Party and why I am standing for Leader.

Jeremy Corbyn has reconnected our party with its radical principles. But it’s now time for a new generation with the energy and ideas to turn those principles in to action.

Under my leadership, we will be a powerful voice for social justice.

Together we can defeat this government.

Owen

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

John Spencer-Davis:

Please be so kind as to share as widely as possible, and show to every member and supporter of the Labour Party that you can think of or reach. Many thanks, John

Reply dated 26th July 2016 to Owen Smith MP’s e-mail of the same date

Mr Smith,

No, I will not click here to watch your election video. I am not interested in your leadership challenge. You should not be running for the Labour leadership at all. The Labour Party already has a leader, elected less than a year ago with a vote so far above that of his nearest challenger, that you should be heartily ashamed of what you and your colleagues in the Parliamentary Labour Party have done. Given the ridiculous antics that you and your fellow MPs have indulged yourselves in over the past month, I am astounded that you have the temerity to e-mail the membership at all.

However, I am very glad of the opportunity to tell you exactly what I think of you and your colleagues, and why. I am also going to formally request a response to this e-mail. First of all, I would like to draw your attention to a report in the Times dated 28th November 2015, of which I am certain you will be perfectly aware, titled “Secret bid to oust Corbyn” which describes senior Labour figures and MPs as “desperate to keep Corbyn off the ballot paper” in the event of a leadership challenge, and states that the firm GRM Law has issued legal advice on the matter at the request of these senior Labour figures and MPs. Secondly, I draw your attention to a report in the Telegraph dated 3rd May 2016, titled “Revealed: plot to oust Jeremy Corbyn by using veteran Labour MP Margaret Hodge to spark leadership contest”, which includes the following: “A plot to oust Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader has emerged, with veteran MP Margaret Hodge said to have been persuaded to stand against him to spark a leadership contest…The veteran MP could be used as a stalking horse before dropping out to allow moderate MPs to remain unscathed as they launch their leadership bids”. Thirdly, I draw your attention to a report in the Telegraph dated 13th June 2016, titled “Labour rebels hope to topple Jeremy Corbyn in 24-hour blitz after EU referendum” which includes the following: “Labour rebels believe they can topple Jeremy Corbyn after the EU referendum in a 24-hour blitz by jumping on a media storm of his own making… By fanning the flames with front bench resignations and public criticism they think the signatures needed to trigger a leadership race can be gathered within a day”.

I assume that in the light of what began on 26th June 2016, you are not going to insult my intelligence by suggesting that these newspaper reports, and a number of others like them in newspapers and social media, were fantasy, and I assume that you will not likewise insult it by suggesting that you were unaware of these reports and the movements behind them. One of the two MPs who submitted a vote of no confidence to the Parliamentary Labour Party Chairman on 24th June 2016 was Margaret Hodge. A series of front bench resignations began after Hilary Benn MP deliberately invited his own dismissal in the early hours of the morning of Sunday 26th June. Among those front bench resignations was yours from the Shadow Cabinet. You participated in the vote of no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party. I will be pleased to be more specific about other similar reports if necessary.

In the light of what I have stated above, it is impossible to credit that the events of the 24th to the 26th June 2016, and subsequently, did not take place in order to force the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn from the Labour leadership and thereby assure that he was not able to garner sufficient support from the PLP and MEPs to be eligible to seek re-election, as per the legal advice provided by GRM Law in November 2015, two months after his emphatic victory in the leadership election. It is also impossible to credit that an intelligent person with your political connections and experience could fail to be aware of what was going on during those days, and therefore, whether you care to admit it or you do not, it is as plain as day to any objective observer that your resignation from the Shadow Cabinet and your participation in the vote of no confidence make an utter mockery of your assertion, as reported on 13th July 2016, that you were not part of any plot or coup against Jeremy Corbyn MP. That assertion is flatly and obviously false. I also draw your attention to the tweet by Andy Burnham MP on 26th June 2016, which honourably stated: “I have never taken part in a coup against any Leader of the Labour Party and I am not going to start now.” Mr Burnham evidently knew what was going on. Do you seriously assert that you did not? You are taking all of the members and supporters of the Labour Party, including myself, for mugs, Mr Smith, and I do not like it. I also draw your attention to the tweet by John Mann MP on 13th July 2016, which stated: “I was approached six months ago to back Owen Smith to be Labour leader. I politely declined the offer”. I quote again the Telegraph from May 2016 regarding Margaret Hodge MP: “…could be used as a stalking horse before dropping out to allow moderate MPs to remain unscathed as they launch their leadership bids”.

I don’t need to know any more about your leadership bid than I have outlined above, Mr Smith. Unlike Andy Burnham MP, you have acted in the most dishonourable and disgraceful way, and have enthusiastically participated in a wholly undemocratic attempt to deny the members and supporters of the Labour Party their right to choose, again, the leader that they overwhelmingly chose in late 2015. You have also had the hypocrisy to state that you will fight a clean leadership campaign, when your campaign has been dirty and tainted from the very beginning, for the reasons I have summarised. Your subsequent actions have also been so, but that is no surprise given the way you started, and there is no need to go into that: what I have said is enough. You should be ashamed to show your face at any leadership husting, and I urge you to do the honourable thing even now, at this late stage, and say that you will have no further part in this cynical affront to Labour Party democracy and to the members and supporters.

I will be publicising your e-mail to me and my answer to it as widely as possible, so that as many members and supporters of the Labour Party I can reach can see the sources I have cited and what an ordinary member thinks of you and your e-mail and your leadership bid. I will also be copying it to my own MP.

I await your reply.

Yours sincerely,

John Spencer-Davis

Harvey Proctor says police should resign!

FORMER Tory MP Harvey Proctor, who yesterday was formally cleared of child abuse and murder allegations declared: 

'I consider that Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, Patricia Gallan, Steve Rodhouse and Kenny McDonald should tender their resignations from the Metropolitan Police Service forthwith.'

This came as Scotland Yard's £3million Operation Midland finally came to an end.

For over a year Mr Proctor, 69, has strenuously denied historical allegations that he was part of a VIP paedophile ring that murdered three boys.

The former member for Basildon and Billericay was told that police would be taking no further action against him, and called for a public inquiry into Operation Midland, the probe that was sparked by the allegations. 

The decision to clear Mr Proctor is a humiliating blow for the Met. police, who had previously described his accuser’s allegations as ‘credible and true’.

It is also a shock to those MPs who have conducted a witch-hunt against Proctor and others. 

Speaking at a press conference, Mr Proctor said:

'I have been advised that the Metropolitan Police Service have informed my solicitors that they intend to take no further action with regard to my involvement with Operation Midland' .

'I wish to make a short statement.  I will make a longer one on the publication of my book “Credible and True. The Political and Personal Memoir of K. Harvey Proctor” on Tuesday, 29th March 2016. 

'I believe Operation Midland should now be the subject of a truly independent public inquiry.
'I consider that Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, Patricia Gallan, Steve Rodhouse and Kenny McDonald should tender their resignations from the Metropolitan Police Service forthwith.'

In another statement Mr. Proctor has had much to say about some Labour MPs:   'Those Labour Members of Parliament who have misused parliamentary privilege and their special position on these matters should apologise. They have behaved disgracefully, especially attacking dead parliamentarians who cannot defend themselves and others and they should make amends. They are welcome to sue me for libel. In particular, Mr Tom Watson, M.P. should state, outside the protection of the House of Commons, the names of ex Ministers and ex M.P.s who he feels are part of the so called alleged Westminster rent boy ring.'

For this he was criticised by the campaigner, Ian Pace, and earlier this week on a left-wing Blog which declared:
'Proctor is maliciously trying to blame Watson.  That may raise a few eyebrows, but it must be remembered that Proctor was not the most sympathetic character to grace the Commons:  his interests included being chairman of the right-wing Monday Club's "Immigration and repatriation committee".  Yes, "repatriation".'
The Blog suggested Proctor may have been bias against Watson and the Labour Party, but this is undermined by what Mr. Proctor has had to say about the Tory Home Secretary, Theresa May:
‘If Theresa May was not so interested as to how she could achieve the future leadership of the Conservative Party and was in authoritative charge of the Home Office and its responsibilities, she would have held the Metropolitan Police Service to account for their daily abuses of trashing human rights.’
Harvey Proctor further suggested the Home Secretary should ‘consider her position’.
Last night, the Home Office refused to comment on what Mr. Proctor had had to say.
From the position of someone who believes in justice and decency, Mr. Proctor's right-wing political views ought to be irrelevant to what has been happening with regard to what looks like a witch-hunt by some MPs and some elements of the media.  It is typical of some on the left to stoop to evoking these kind of things but it suggests a kind of lazy intellectual bankruptcy.
For Northern Voices based in the town of Rochdale where a crude opportunism, and some would say corrupt politics, has prevailed for almost a decade, Harvey  Proctor's stand on this matter has been a breath of fresh air.   

'Rather an illegal Budget than an immoral one'

by Andrew Wastling

' Swingeing cuts of £22 Million were agreed by Rochdale Council as its
leader dubbed the Tory's austerity drive “ morally bankrupt “. The
town will have suffered £200 Million worth of cuts by 2017 – including
£1 million next year', the  Manchester Evening News reported last week , and added that this

was to include :

'Plans put forward include cuts to HIV prevention and support
services totalling more than £2.5 million. Funding for specialist HIV
prevention & support services is set to be cut  by £110,000, while
money spent to help drug and alcohol abuse sufferers could be slashed
by £1.2 million over the next two years' ,

' Rochdale Council agrees swingeing cuts but leader slams "morally
bankrupt" Tory austerity drive' ,

[ Manchester Evening News , 24 February  2016 ,

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/rochdale-council-agrees-swingeing-cuts-10947076

].

Yes he's quite right it is a 'morally bankrupt' Tory austerity drive

- but to agree a " morally bankrupt " budget surely raises questions

of Labours role as a functioning  opposistion party ?

Lets hope Councillor Farrnel is just the first of many Labour Council

Leaders to speak out about this vile Tory government whose financial

diktats and slash & burn austerity would not be out of place in Franco

s Spain or post Allendes Chile. He at least wasn't taking  Tory slash

& burn austerity lying

down - but what happened to the rest of them ?

We already know it's the same old Tory Story from the remote

so called Tory elite in  Westminster - We never expected anything

different from them – they are after all Tories.

However local people certainly do want and expect something different from

Rochdale Labour Party .

They did not vote in Labour Councillors only to have them meekly

“rubber stamp”  Cameron & Osborne’s  policies through the back door

of Labour Town Halls .

They voted Labour to stand against Tory Policies and their pernicious

,evil right wing ideology  and their savage attacks on ordinary

workers , the frail & vulnerable in our Northern towns .

They did not vote Labour in to play role the collaborator or to act

the role of second understudy to the Blue Tories or for the Labour

Party to facilitate the most

concerted political attack on our local working class communities

since the 1930's to adopt the guise of  quisling Red Tories.

If Labour Councillors are not going to take a stand against the worst

cuts to Local Governments Public Services since 1974 when will they

finally get a political vertebrae, and at last take a principled

political stand and say enough is enough ?

" Jerusalem " ,Sir Hubert Parry's , rousing anthem for the labour

movement,has rightly been in the Labour Party song book for many years

. At home sung anywhere from a church congregation to a union picket

line this hymn encapsulates much of why the Labour movement was

founded.

The Party's very raison d’etre set to music many people feel.

Perhaps the remaining majority of those Labour Councillors who pointedly failed

to speak out , and the others who failed even turn up to the Budget

fixing meeting last Wednesday night , might like to skim over the

last verse for a timely reminder ?

I will not cease from mental fight,

Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,

Till we have built Jerusalem

In England's green and pleasant land

It will be noted that very few if any other than the hand picked

spokesmen out of 48 Labour Councillors were moved enough by righteous

anger at the " morally bankrupt "  Budget to bother to speak out in

opposition to this Tory imposed Austerity budget and instead of

attempting to defend the walls of Jerusalem they meekly collaborated

with the Tory Government in their brick by brick demolition of the

Welfare State, the NHS and Public Services – most appeared to me to

have thrown in the towel before even breaking into a few drops of

perspiration never mind a proper sweat.

A case more of demolishing - than building -Jerusalem - a more total

near - capitulation  of the hard won victories of the reforming 1945

Labour Government it’s  difficult to find.

There was very little  " menatl strife " in the Council Chamber on

Wednesday evening  and as for  " swords not  sleeping  in hands" - the

protestors looking down on the assembled Labour councillors  struggled

to hear what most said and to work out  if indeed they were even

actually awake or not ?

It was abvious to all watching from the Public Gallery that not only

were most Labours Councillors swords  " asleep "  in their hands they

were self evidently too blunt and rusty to defend Jerusalem, and

probally little use for even fighting their way out of a soggy paper

bag -   " pathetic ", " cringe worthy " and " spineless " were among

the most common words describing most Labour councillors  performance

in the post budget autopsy at the bar.

“Our hands are tied “ , bleat Labour , “there is nothing we can do to

stop them!”

“Then what is the point of voting for you  at all ? “ , the local voters

will soon start responding .

Anti austerity protesters have a few suggestions to our Labour

Councillors of what could be done by way of opposing the Tory Cuts

rather than  simply "rubber stamping" them without a struggle:

For example minutes from some Northern Councils show “ No Cuts Budgets

“ have been discussed by some Greater Manchester Councils at official

level .

If Labour councillors mounted a serious campaign alongside the other

120 Labour councils they could demand what they need to avoid a cuts

budget .The  Government couldn't find enough retired civil servants to

replace them all. Northern Councils acting in unison could force this

government with its wafer-thin majority to back down. In the meantime

they could continue to fund services using reserves, as 82% of

councils already do, and borrowing powers, especially given the

extremely low interest rates being charged currently.

Rochdale Labour Council have so we are told  £169.6million  in usable

reserves. Could these reserves not be  “front-loaded “ to keep our

communities & vital front line services from being devastated by Tory

“ slash & burn “ Austerity measures and then repaid back from

Westminster once we get a financially saner Corbyn premiership Labour

government back into power at Westminster in two years time ?

Such a course of action would not be illegal and councillors no longer

face the risk of being surcharged or banned from office But if they

really want to fight to save services this is just one course of

action open to them.

And of course as a tactic of last resort – good old fashioned

,peaceful , non-violent civil disobedience - rather than collaborate

in implementing an immoral budget those Labour Councillors still in

unions could for example ask their union reps to ask their membership

to refuse to implement cuts legislation, take industrial action ,

adopt go slow policies, walk outs and worker occupation in departments

forced to implement brutal cuts by a reluctant Labour Council.

A united front between Labour Councillors and Council workers about to

be made redundant would be a better response than just timidly rolling

over and giving up without even a struggle as many appear to have done

this week.

Those Labour councillors of faith could refuse to participate in

actively facilitating a Tory Budget that breaches their individual

consciences and runs contrary to deeply spiritual ,religious faith or

beliefs.

Christian Councillors for example could make public statements to the

effect that refuse to participate in the implementation of the Budget

on the grounds it runs in direct contradiction to the Christian

parable and Jesus ministry to the poor and vulnerable :

“Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the

needy in court”  Proverbs 22.22

I'm equally certain Muslim, Hindu and Socialist councillors in the

local Labour Party should if they are men & women of true conscience

be able to easily find a reason not to willingly participate in such a

divisive and socially destructive piece of legislation if they choose

to do so .

After all as the great Martin Luther King Jr,  pointed out in the sixties :

“An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust,

and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to

arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in

reality expressing the highest respect for the law”

In the end when  all is said and done It is surely better to

peacefully break unjust laws than to break the backs of poor and

vulnerable people  .

If our local Labour party and our elected councillors are not prepared

to take a moral lead and resist this vindictive Tory imposed Austerity

others are prepared to do so .

Yours faithfully

ANDREW WASTLING