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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Extremists And Deniers by Les May

JUST as I don’t think it is would be particularly helpful to refer to the author of the recent article about the proposed new coal mine in Cumbria as a ‘climate change denier’, I don’t think it is helpful for him to refer to people who have opposed this new mine as ‘climate change extremists’.

Unfortunately the one substantive issue here, the fact that coal is needed as a source of carbon in the production of steel, is lost in this use of emotive language and the desire to turn this into an attack on the Labour party, along with a passing reference to Margaret Thatcher.

Providing jobs does not trump every other consideration. We would think it absurd to argue that we should not reduce the number of plastic bags being used because it will mean fewer jobs manufacturing them or that we should still be burning coal to heat our homes to keep miners in work. In both cases we recognise that there are wider issues to be taken into consideration Ditto the production of coking coal.

At present there is no viable alternative to the use of coal as a source of carbon to combine with the oxygen which is chemically bound to

iron in ores and liberate the free metal. The manufacture of iron and steel is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions and the dumping of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is the major cause of the increase in global temperatures. A warmer atmosphere and warmer oceans means more energy in the global weather system which is the driver of climate change. Nor is it just about weather; an increase in ocean temperature will cause the water of the oceans to expand resulting in a rise in sea level.

But the present lack of a viable alternative does not mean that we should not be doing all we can to mitigate the effects of this.

Producing coke from coal for use in blast furnaces is a very dirty process with a high potential for producing pollution. It is also wasteful compared with iron smelting by means of, for example, direct gasification of coal. This and similar processes would reduce the demand for coal in the production of iron, and as a consequence reduce both the amount of carbon dioxide dumped into the atmosphere and the number of mining jobs.

We live in a liberal democracy so anyone who wants to attack the Labour party is free to do so. But I don’t think it is a good idea to gloss over the long term effects of carrying on dumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from burning coal when doing so.

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Bullying & Arm-Twisting Halts Cumberland County Council Approval of a New Mine

by David John Douglass

I AM so disappointed that the Woodhouse Mine which had passed every test and been approved by the County Council has been suddenly pulled to a halt. This Labour Council had considered the question three times over three years, with a bevy of expert witnesses and public intervention and open debates and approved it three times by substantial majorities.

Every aspect of the application had been examined in forensic detail and no fault could be found in it. Climate extremists had kept up a nonstop campaign to stop the mine. Despite a mass public consultation which overwhelmingly backed the mine, the ‘greens’ would not accept any democratic decision of the council or the locals. First, they sought a Judicial Review, and this was withdrawn by the courts as having no grounds. Then it went to the High Court on the absurd claim that the Council hadn’t considered their arguments, the court struck it down. Then they kicked and screamed and set up a national petition to get people, mainly from the middle class and from the south of England who had never seen a mine or even knew where Whitehaven was to demand a stop to the jobs. They expected Jenrick the Communities Secretary, being a Tory with no love of coal miners or coal mines to block it. They lobbied the Prime Minister to override the Council. They failed, after every obstacle had been overcome and all that was needed now was for the Council to engage in the formality of approving the application (again).

Today Council leaders came to the shocking decision that the judgement will be referred back to their Committee 'after advice from Climate Advisers' obviously with a view to reconsidering the previous overwhelming approvals of the full Council.

So what happened? There has as said been a three-year campaign of bullying, and lobbying against all of the Councillors, XR and Greenpeace moved their full time agents into the area and full time Press Officers have ensure that their friends in the TV and Radio and National Press kept up a nonstop and one sided barrage against the mine and against the Councillors. Doorstepping them, ambushing them on the street, filming outside their houses and through windows of Council meetings.

But there is not the slightest doubt in my mind where this rapid application of brakes comes from and that is the Labour Party PLP and Shadow cabinet.

Firstly, we had Catherine West MP Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Shadow Minister. Brought onto the TV news channels to discus the election of Biden and British American relations she instead launches into an attack on the new mine! Nothing to do with her brief, nothing to do with the programme but Starmer had obviously given the steer to oppose the mine and win votes from the nice liberal greens in the London elections. West was of course the PA to David Lammy who was next in line to carry the torch on Any Questions. Admitting he knew nothing about the mine and nothing about steel making he argued that it should be cancelled because ‘we don’t need coal in this day and age’ and thus proving the point he in fact didn’t know anything about steel making or the need for this mine. But the Prime Directive undoubtedly came from Ed Miliband the Shadow Energy Minister on the Marr programme on Sunday. Once again, this topic had not been on the agenda or Marr’s script but Miliband was determined to let the country in general and Cumberland Council in particular know that Labour wants Dole Not Coal. Obviously, some senior Labour Party Council leaders have been got at and warned to pull the approval. To be a fly on the wall of the calls that must have come thick and fast from London labour Party HQ would have been a great illustration of political duplicity.

Its literally physically and politically sickening. We have yet to discover the date of the Committee Meeting and whether it will be public or we will get to find out who the mysterious ‘Climate Advisers’ are and what they have said that hadn’t already been said in the last three years.

The Committee isn’t bound to withdraw consent, and the full council isn’t bound to agree with them if they did, but it all adds an impossible mental and political strain on decent Councillors men and women who had been trying to the best for their community.

I will be writing to the Council with a view to urging them to hold their nerve and stand their ground and approve the mine. I hope you will join me and do so yourselves.

So next time we think back in anger when they try to unveil the statue of Thatcher and we turn up to protest at the slaughter of our mines and robbing the miners and our families of secure futures. We should also remember that Starmer and Labour have just banged a stake through our hearts to ensure we don’t come back to haunt them. With a Labour Parliamentary Party like this who needs bloody Tories?

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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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Has Animal Farm Come To Rochdale? by Les May

IT would seem that my puzzlement about Councillor Blundell’s standard response to messages sent to his council e-mail address has been clarified and we now know we are in the land of ‘porky pies’. The fact that he has been allowed to get away with this for so long does not reflect well on either the Council Leader or the council officer responsible for Governance. Perhaps one of these people will be kind enough to tell us just how residents are supposed to raise with this councillor matters which are of concern to them; by snail- mail?

It’s not just Blundell who doesn’t want to be troubled by awkward questions. This is what someone received when he tried to raise questions about 'Two Jobs Rumbelow' with Councillor John Hartley:

Dear Mr ****, Sorry I missed your call today as I was giving my services as a volunteer at the vaccine centre which I think was far better use of my time than speaking with you on the telephone. Now regarding your constant emails, all I am going to say is that the council decision was made in an open and transparent manner and you could have been at that full council meeting as a member of the public to check it out had you of wished to do so. I am not your councillor and do not wish to make any further comment on this matter and I will not responding any further.

Regards XXXX.

A borderline rude response from someone who seems to have an inflated sense of his own importance.

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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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Further to those Mark Birkett and Les May articles by Andrew Wastling

'TWO-JOBS RUMBELOW' - A GIANT AMONG PYGMIES

or is he MILKING the MASSES in the Land of Gracie Fields?

SOMETIME in the future, the city of Metropolis is home to a Utopian society where its wealthy residents live a care free life. One of those is Freder Fredersen. One day, he spots a beautiful woman with a group of children, she and the children quickly disappear. Trying to follow her, he is horrified to find an underground world of workers who apparently run the machinery that keeps the Utopian world above ground functioning. In Metropolis the citizens are sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

In one of the film's most memorable scenes ( one of many ) Freder Fredersen sees an exhausted worker in overalls desperately struggling with the mechanical hands of the clock measuring the passage of long and arduous shifts. In a scene redolent of recurring memes in literature such as , The Prince & The Pauper, or A Tale Of Two Cities, when Sydney Carton’s sacrifice of his own life on behalf of his friends Charles Darnay on the guillotine of Revolutionary France, Fredersen asks to swap places with the worker to give him some respite from his torturous labours and the brutalisation of long repetitive shifts seemingly without end.

Freder arduously working a ten-hour shift on the clock machine. Freder is like a Christ figure, crucified on the clock. From Fritz Lang's sci-fi silent classic.Metropolis (1927).

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Free the Riverside One!' Further to Mark Birkett & Les Mays articles by Andrew Wastling

LIKE all readers of Northern Voices I have also been following the issue of Steve 'Two-Jobs' Rumbelow with growing disbelief and anger. Some might argue that in a town where a councillor is allowed two votes it was surely only a matter of time before a subtly illogical extension of this Orwellian Double-Think culture would eventually mean we were always destined to arrive at a situation where the Councils Chief Executive Officer would have two full-time jobs, draw two full-time salaries and presumably have twice the number of holidays of your typical worker whilst achieving only half the expected outcomes.

Steve 'Two-Jobs' Rumbelow can sometimes be seen in the background of our local NHS CCG Zoom meetings resplendent in his natural habitat of silent participant in yet another interminable online meeting where anything of value is not discussed until the cameras and microphones are switched off and the Public Excluded from what very little remains of the democratic process. The online meeting remains nonetheless by far the best environment in which to see him exhibiting the superhuman powers which enable Steve to hold down two full time jobs at one and the same time . His masterful grasp of both of his employment remits and Zoom meeting technology can be clearly observed to maximum effect each time he remembers to unmute his laptop to share his valuable pearls of wisdom with the assembled participants. You only have to observe him in action to see that he is worth so clearly worth every penny of both his salaries.

I pride myself as something of an advanced multi-tasker myself I can generally deal with obstructive Council sycophants via email , make a mental note of the kick-off times of the away day match, remember to test the fire alarms, keep all my case notes in (more or less) order all whilst mopping the office floor and singing a happy song as I go along but even I'm forced to admit defeat and acknowledge that Steve's innate prowess leaves me merley lumbering along on the hard shoulder of life. In fact we are all left running on the spot in the starting blocks as Steve effortly transcends life's many insurmountable hurdles.

When work ethics and motivation was being handed out to the rest of us humble members of the British proletariat Steve was clearly out there at the front of the queue - a pole position he has endeavoured with very fibre & sinew to maintain ever since. He is after all clearly an elite member of Britain's famed meritocracy. Whilst many local workers struggle to meet ends meet and are forced onto the charity of foodbanks & mutual aid food networks despite juggling several part time or zero-contract jobs Steve's Patrician countenance it seems bareley needs to break into a sweat.

Like so many of us, I naturally assumed at first the whole thing was a scam reflecting the very worst elements of the local nepotism & cronyism we have all come to expect. How wrong I was!

I have been informed on good authority that Mr.Rumbelow has been gifted the necessary personal qualities and transferable professional skills which us lesser mortals can only dream of. He is one of the select few. Why else would he be in Rochdale after all?

His inscrutable Zen -like online demeanor was simply Steve approaching the nirvana of Bureaucratic Enlightenment as he silently mentally calculates his rate of pay per hour whilst doing two appointed tasks simultaneously whilst deducting precisely any personal expenses which might impact on his personal yearly tax rate minus anything he can possibly avoid under Gift Aid legislation - that or he'd fallen asleep through sheer exhaustion!

One can only marvel at the mathematical genius needed to calculate the mileage allowance whilst performing two different job descriptions for two seperate job roles whilst driving to two different meeting destinations in the same car . . . or is it two-cars?

The man is nothing short of inspirational! He presumably prepares for two Monthly Target Reviews with his employer(s) and completes two sets of yearly Continuing Professional Development training courses and contends with double the hangover from two Office Christmas parties. One wonders how he finds any time left to run the Council?

That is the spanner in the works for poor old Rumbelow.

I have only recently been reliably informed of the Gulag conditions Steve endures whilst incarcerated in No1 Riverside, his tortuous hours ,the selfless separation he is forced to endure from his family and loved ones whilst he slogs through his brutal work life balance in his ascetic near monastic isolation. One can only marvel at his strength of character, his enduring stamina and dedicated selfless commitment to Public Service he exhibits in his daily working regime?

I can only suggest Steve joins a union as a matter of urgency to avoid the need to work such excessive hours to feed and clothe his family and we as socially concerned citizens and trade unionists launch a 'Free the Riverside One!' campaign to see this cruel exploitation of a fellow worker is not allowed to continue an hour longer than absolutely necessary.

After all comrades we would all I'm sure do the same for any other victim of indentured or sweatshop labour brutalized into slaving away for eighty plus hours a week anywhere else on the planet? Quite how Steve will be able to join us on two separate picket lines at the same time should he go on strike and withdraw his labour simultaneously from two separate employees to improve his working conditions in two seperate locations remains anybody's guess?

Workers of the world Unite !

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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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Shrewsbury pickets’ case in Court of Appeal,

ON 3-4 February 2021

Posted on Jan 30, 2021 in News

We are delighted to confirm that the pickets appeal will be heard on 3 and 4 February 2021 at the Court of Appeal in the Royal Courts of Justice, London.

The Campaign represents twelve pickets including Des Warren, John McKinsie Jones, Ken O’Shea, Malcolm Clee, Michael Pierce, Terry Renshaw, Kevin Butcher, Bernard Williams, Alfred James, Roy Warburton, Graham Roberts and John Seaburg.

Two other pickets, Ricky Tomlinson and Arthur Murray, withdrew from the campaign and the legal case in 2017 when the Criminal Cases Review Commission turned down our application. The remaining original eight pickets never gave up. With the support of the Campaign and trade unions we successfully challenged the CCRC in a judicial review in April 2019. The CCRC reviewed the case and finally, in March 2020, referred the eight pickets’ convictions to the Court of Appeal. Our success won the right for all the remaining convicted pickets to apply to the CCRC to be added to our case. The families of four further pickets asked the Campaign to support them and we were delighted to submit their applications, which were accepted.

On the back of our success the two who withdrew from the case in 2017, Ricky Tomlinson and Arthur Murray, were able to reapply to the CCRC and had their case referred in May 2020. They have chosen not to re-join their fellow pickets and are represented separately in the court, though their lawyers base their case on the Campaign’s evidence.

The appeal has two grounds based, upon evidence discovered in the National Archives by the Campaign’s Secretary and Researcher, Eileen Turnbull:

(i) original witness statements had been destroyed by the police and this fact had not been disclosed to the defence counsel or the court;

and

(ii) the broadcast of a highly prejudicial documentary on ITV during the first trial, Red under the Bed, the content of which was contributed to by a covert agency within the Foreign Office known as the Information Research Department.

Terry Renshaw, a convicted picket who has campaigned tirelessly for over 40 years, speaking on behalf of the pickets, said,

“We are looking forward to finally having our day in court to show that we were victims of a miscarriage of justice. Without the Shrewsbury 24 Campaign we would not be where we are today. We owe a great debt of thanks to them for the tireless work that they have carried out.”

The Campaign’s Chairperson, Harry Chadwick, took part in the strike in 1972, picketing building sites in the North West. A retired carpenter and longstanding member of UCATT/Unite, he paid tribute to the support that the campaign has had from the labour movement,

“We have had tremendous support from all the trade unions, the TUC and the Labour Party. We will never forget the warm welcome and solidarity shown to us at the events that we have travelled to during the past 15 years. On behalf of the pickets and campaign, a heartfelt thank you.”

From Mark Birkett further to Les May's article:

WHILST it's important that everyone in Rochdale hold their respective ward councillors to account for their WHOLESALE lack of oversight regarding Rochdale MBC Chief Executive Steve Rumbelow's pay abuse, it's important NOT to end up in cul-de-sac arguments about whether he Mr Rumbelow 'worth it' or not. Though public-sector pay at the higher echelons of Rochdale Council and elsewhere in the UK is pretty clearly out of control, that is a SEPARATE and ultimately distracting argument.

The TRULY SALIENT points regarding Mr Rumbelow's paypacket in Rochdale are:

1) NO-ONE can do two full-time jobs at once, not even Mr Rumbelow. Yet that is PRECISELY what Mr Rumbelow is being paid for. TWO full-time jobs.

2) Yet on July 18th 2018, the entire Labour and Tory councillor groups VOTED IN FAVOUR of Mr Rumbelow doing these two FULL-time jobs without giving the slightest consideration to the real ramifications of the sheer impossibility of such. Rumbelow is paid £140,000 per year as a FULL-TIME CEO, and a further £45-50,000 / year as a FULL-TIME 'Accountable Officer' in the NHS.

3) That Mr Rumbelow refuses to answer what PROPORTION of his working day is now spent working for the NHS (and thus demonstrably NOT spent on his full-time role as RMBC Chief Executive). That is a TRAVESTY of democratic accountability

.

4) Most damaging of all for Rochdale Council's tattered reputation, is that we now know that Rochdale MBC's 60 x councillors have been TOLD by the Borough Solicitor "not to respond" to constituent queries about the matter. Instead of the Borough's most senior legal advisor keeping his advice within a LEGAL remit, he has interfered with DUE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS. No explanation has been provided for him singling out THIS issue for councillors 'not to respond' to, nor even what time limit might apply to this absurd advice to them all, despite him being asked (twice).

This advice to Rochdale MBC councillors is one the key reasons no-one can get any straight answers from ANY councillor regarding their failure to scrutinise this executive pay package and associated dual duties properly, and is perhaps also why Mr Rumbelow feels ZERO obligation to tell taxpayers what he does all day long. Let's be clear: neither the NHS nor Rochdale MBC are benefiting from the so-called 'efficiencies' due to the integration of health care commissioning and social care. The ONLY person benefiting here is Mr Rumbelow.

To add insult to injury, Mr Rumbelow just received a WHOPPING 25% pay rise to the NHS element of his vast income, yet as we speak Rochdale Council is seriously proposing that care home fees to the vulnerable elderly in the Borugh be hiked by 5% next year ... all in order to 'save' the Council £80,000 per year -ironically almost exactly the same sum Mr Rumbelow has trousered since July 2018 for this impossible second role at the NHS.

It MUST be stopped.

The Budget Council meetings on 3rd and 10th March 2021 are where this appalling abuse of the public purse COULD be called into question and reviewed from scratch. But that will only happen IF councillors are all pressured to do so.

By you. Today.

And they WILL listen to you. After all, the local elections are coming soon enough (vaccines permitting). So it is VITAL for Rochdalians to threaten not to vote for ANY councillor who refuses to stop this pay abuse, or who refuses to call a motion to review Mr Rumbelow's ridiculous dual role, or who continues to take part in refusing to provide answers to legtimate queries form constituents on this matter.

Remember:

This is YOUR money at stake here. Thousands in Rochdale have lost their jobs, their businesses and their incomes due to COVID. And old people do NOT want to be forced to pay even more for their care in care homes to save the council money whilst the Chief Executive waltzes off with an eye watering pay packet AND a 25% pay rise in one year to boot .

And this is YOUR democracy at stake here too. Councillors must be FORCED to answer legitimate constituent queries, or be removed from office.

It's up to ALL of us to deal with this.

Mark Birkett, Resident, Kingsway, Rochdale

To Him That Hath Shall Be Given More by Les May

IT’s no secret that since the Tories came into power in 2010 local authorities have been starved of money. My local authority, Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC), is no exception, so it is interesting to look at how our councillors are trying to save money. Or to put it another way, who is being targeted in any cost cutting exercise.

Schools have a number of employees who are employed on a term time only basis. Such employees remain on a continuous contract, work a reduced number of weeks during the year and are entitled to a pro-rata amount of paid leave.

Since April 2019 guidance in the form of an updated ‘Green Book’ has been available to employers and employees which is intended to ensure that the pay and conditions of term time only workers is consistent and fair, both locally and nationally.

Whilst no specific legislation is in place about how to calculate pay for term time only workers the guidance is intended to ensure that they are treated no less favourably than workers on full time contracts.

Not all local authorities across Greater Manchester have interpreted the guidance in the same way with the result that some Councils have made calculations more favourable to term time only employees than others. The calculation used by Rochdale MBC falls into the ‘less favourable’ class.

To date at least seven Employment Tribunal claims from past employees have been submitted to Rochdale MBC. Late in 2019 UNISON submitted a Collective Grievance which says that term time only employees are being treated less favourably than full time employees. So far this seems to have produced a ‘working party’. In the future Rochdale MBC may have to face something like 500 individual claims from ex-employees.

So how are some ‘full time’ employees being treated by Rochdale MBC? According to one of my informants it seems to depend on ‘who your are’. He claims ‘whilst Rochdale Council's Chief Executive Steve Rumbelow has enjoyed (and continues to enjoy) a whopping £40,000 / year pay rise. This pay rise came about due to Mr Rumbelow being handed a second £40,000 / year full-time job at the NHS, on top of his existing £160,000 / year full-time job at Rochdale MBC.’

I’ve no reason to disbelieve this so it would seem that ‘Superman Rumbelow’ is performing the remarkable feat of doing TWO full time jobs simultaneously. Presumably he keeps a sleeping bag handy in his office so as to be on call 24/7!

Are our councillors happy that the town’s Chief Executive is moonlighting in another full time job whilst supposedly working full time for the people of Rochdale and being well paid for it? Seemingly the answer is yes, at least in some cases.

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Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny jailed, declares Putin 'the Underwear Poisoner'

by Andrew Osborn, Maria Tsvetkova

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Tuesday, ignoring the West in a ruling the opposition politician blamed on President Vladimir Putin’s personal hatred and fear of him.

The Moscow court handed Navalny a three-and-a-half-year sentence, but his lawyer said the anti-corruption blogger would actually serve two years and eight months in jail because of time already spent under house arrest.

His lawyers said they would appeal.

The decision, which followed nationwide protests calling for Navalny’s release, will further strain relations with the West, which is considering imposing sanctions on Russia over its handling of the case.

The United States, Britain, Germany and the EU urged Moscow to immediately free Navalny, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying Washington would coordinate closely with allies to hold Russia accountable.

Russia is already under numerous Western sanctions however, and analysts say the West’s options for more pressure are limited. A Navalny ally had urged the West before the hearing to hit Putin’s inner circle with personal sanctions.

Russia has suggested that Navalny is a CIA asset, a charge he rejects, and has told the West to stay out of its domestic affairs.

Navalny, one of Putin’s most prominent critics, was arrested on Jan. 17 for alleged parole violations after returning from Germany where he had been recovering from being poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent.

Navalny said Russian state security agents had put the poison in his underpants, something the Kremlin denied. He used Tuesday’s hearing to try to frame Putin’s place in history.

“(Putin’s) only method is killing people. However much he pretends to be a great geo-politician, he’ll go down in history as a poisoner. There was Alexander the Liberator, Yaroslav the Wise, and Putin the Underwear Poisoner,” said Navalny.

His supporters, on hearing the ruling, encouraged people to gather in central Moscow though riot police had already taken up position. The Moscow metro shut down three central stations.

Reuters reporters saw hundreds of protesters and the police detain some of them violently. Some of them chanted, “Putin is a thief!” and “Putin is a poisoner!”

Outside the court earlier on Tuesday, Reuters reporters saw riot police detain around 70 of Navalny’s supporters. The OVD-Info monitoring group later reported 1,408 arrests nationwide, over 1,000 of those in Moscow.

After his arrest, Navalny released a YouTube video making allegations about Putin’s wealth that was viewed over 100 million times. The Kremlin said it was false.

Tuesday’s hearing focused on Navalny’s alleged parole violations over a suspended sentence in a 2014 embezzlement case Navalny says was trumped up.

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John Humphrys on Freedom of Expression

FREEDOM of speech, especially freedom of the press is in danger the world over.Two major Western Democracies, USA and the UK are trying to curb the press. Not my own opinion but also recently retired broadcaster, John Humphrys, who wrote this headline in his newspaper column this week: "Don't silence us hacks, Boris....muzzle your 'evil genius'"

He quotes Thomas Jefferson, who drafted the American Declaration of Independence: "Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press. Were it left to me Ito decide between government without newspapers and newspapers without government, I would not hesitate to choose the latter".

UK police just arrested two journalists in one week

The UK government likes to brag about how we live in a democratic nation that “supports human rights, democracy and good governance around the world”. But its support for democracy doesn’t seem to stretch to upholding the rights of journalists.

In the past week, two journalists were arrested trying to go about their jobs, reporting on protests in different parts of the country. Meanwhile, the UK continues to score badly in rankings for World Press Freedom. At 35th in the world, it lags behind much of Europe. And in September 2020, The Council of Europe issued a Level 2 “media freedom alert” after the government blacklisted journalists from Declassified UK.

Taken together, this paints a grim picture of press freedom in the UK. And it’s one that should worry us all.

Threatened with a Covid fine & then arrested

Denise Laura Baker was arrested on Saturday 30 January as she attempted to cover the police evicting anti-HS2 activists from their protest tower in Euston.

Baker is an accredited photo and video journalist who has been making a long-term documentary about the resistance to HS2’s high speed railway line. Police and National Eviction Team bailiffs began to evict activists on Wednesday 27 January, and Baker had been there daily documenting it.

She told The Canary that there were lots of police on the Saturday of her arrest. In Baker’s opinion, the police were trying to remove anyone that could witness and document the actions of police and bailiffs. Baker said:I was approached by a female officer who told me to leave the area. I informed her that I was working legitimately and showed her my NUJ press card. She told me that it was not a recognised card and that it did not prove I was working. I informed her that I had been there since Wednesday with no issues. She called over colleagues who said they were going to issue me with a Covid fine. When asked for my details I refused and explained that in accepting the fine I would legitimise their accusation of me being unlawfully in the area and give them free rein to keep moving me on. I then walked away from them and continued working.

They followed me, insisting that they were issuing a fine and if I didn’t give my details they would arrest me, which is eventually what they did. They then cuffed me, put me in the police car and took me to Kentish Town station.

Baker continued:

'It is my belief that they simply wanted me out of the way so there were less witnesses to their work on that day.'

Journalists are classed as key workers in the coronavirus pandemic and Baker should, legally, have been allowed to carry on doing her job.

The second arrest of the week

But Baker wasn’t the first journalist finding herself in police cells last week. Freelance photographer Andy Aitchison was arrested on Thursday 28 January. The police came to his house more than six hours after he photographed a protest at Kent’s Napier Barracks, where hundreds of asylum seekers are currently being imprisoned. The police seized Aitchison’s mobile phone, as well as the memory card from his camera, and arrested him under suspicion of causing criminal damage.

Commenting on Aitchison’s arrest, Baker told The Canary:

Mine is the second recent incident where a reporter has been arrested while working. It’s extremely concerning that if a photographer or journalist appears to be on good terms with the activists, they are at risk of being targeted. These actions set a dangerous precedent. Aitchison’s case is particularly concerning given the seizure of his phone and memory card. Journalists not only do not have to reveal their sources, but they are also obligated to protect them. As the NUJ states:

The NUJ ethical code of conduct stipulates that a journalist must protect the identity of sources who supply information in confidence and material gathered in the course of her or his work.

Normally if the police want to view a journalist’s footage for evidential purposes, they have to do it through the courts. In 2012, media organisations won a High Court battle against the police who wanted their footage of the eviction of Dale Farm. On winning the case, head of newsgathering at the BBC stated:

Journalists must maintain their independence, must not be seen as evidence gatherers and must not have their safety compromised

NOT ISOLATED INCIDENTS

Unfortunately, these are not isolated incidents.

In 2019, The Canary reported how the Metropolitan Police arrested freelance journalist Guy Smallman while covering an environmental protest. And in September 2019, journalists from The Canary were obstructed and assaulted while covering protests against the London arms fair.

At the end of 2020, the National Union of Journalists reminded the police to respect journalists’ roles as key workers after “hostility towards reporters and photographers” who were covering anti-lockdown protests.

The Canary contacted the Metropolitan Police for comment on Baker’s case. But it had not responded to the specific case at the time of publication and instead referred us to the guidance from National Police Chief’s Council.

UK press freedom is a “cause for concern”

Reporters Without Borders releases an annual World Press Freedom Index. It highlights that while the UK “champions” media freedom, the reality is different for reporters on the ground. The organisation argues that:

Despite the UK co-hosting a Global Conference for Media Freedom and assuming the role of co-chair of the new Media Freedom Coalition, the UK’s domestic press freedom record remained cause for concern throughout 2019.

And it pointed out that:

During the general election campaign, the Conservative Party threatened to review the BBC’s licence fee and Channel 4’s public service broadcasting licence if the party returned to government.

Reporters Without Borders has also highlighted how the current government has done its best to shut down the dissenting voices of what it calls “campaigning” media. In particular, it argues that government bodies have used:

heavy-handed responses to reporting on stories related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It continues:

We are alarmed by the UK government’s dismissal of serious public interest reporting as ‘false’ and coming from ‘campaigning newspapers’. These Trumpian tactics are only serving to fuel hostility and public distrust in media. While high-profile cases like that of Julian Assange fill newspaper headlines, many lesser-known journalists, whose work is absolutely vital in holding the government and corporations like HS2 to account, are also facing persecution. We should all be horrified at these attacks on press freedom.

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COVID-19: FOR HOW MUCH LONGER?

In this weekend's FT TIM HARFORD THE UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST ASKS 'COVID-19: HOW CLOSE IS THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL?

'IN THE UK, Margaret Keenan receive a first dose of vaccine on December 8, but it needs a couple of weeks to prove much protection. She and her fellow first-day vaccinees were much safer by Christmass...The UK had vaccinated (with the first dose) about 1 per cent of its population by Christmas, but funeral directors will not notice the effect of that until Valentine's Day.'

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Russian police detain over 450 at protests over Alexie Navalny's jailing

Protesters chant "Putin is a thief"

by Tom Balmforth and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber 5 hrs ago Reuters

Police detained more than 450 people at rallies in Siberia and Russia's Far East on Sunday as supporters of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny took to the streets to protest his jailing, despite biting cold and the threat of arrest.

The rallies, also set to take place in Moscow and other cities later on Sunday, follow large protests last weekend and are part of a campaign to pressure the Kremlin into freeing President Vladimir Putin's most prominent opponent.

The opposition politician was arrested on Jan. 17 after returning to Moscow from Germany where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in Russia last summer. He accuses Putin of ordering his murder, which the Kremlin denies.

Police have said the protests have not been authorised and will be broken up, as they were last weekend. Over 4,000 people were detained at those rallies, according to OVD-Info, a protest monitoring group.

In the far eastern city of Vladivostok, where a protest began at 0200 GMT, police prevented protesters from accessing the centre, forcing them to relocate to the waterfront and the frozen waters of the Amur Bay.

Video footage showed protesters chanting "Putin is a thief" as they linked hands and marched on the ice in temperatures of around -13 Celsius (8.6 Fahrenheit).

In Tomsk, the Siberian city that Navalny visited before suddenly collapsing on a domestic flight last August, demonstrators gathered in front of a concert hall and chanted "Let him go!" and held up Russian flags.

OVD-Info said police had so far detained 465 people, including 108 in Vladivostok.

Dozens of people in the east Siberian city of Yakutsk turned out in temperatures of -42 C (-44 F).

"This is the first time I've come to a protest. I'm just fed up with the total lawlessness of the authorities," said Ivan, a protester who declined to give his surname.

The protest is a test of Navalny's support after many of his prominent allies were targeted in a crackdown this week. Several, including his brother Oleg, are under house arrest.

"If we stay quiet, then they could come for any of us tomorrow," Yulia Navalnaya, the Kremlin critic's wife, wrote on Instagram.

METRO STATIONS IN MOSCOW

There was an eerie quiet in central Moscow under falling snow after police took highly unusual steps to seal off the planned protest location to pedestrians and closed some metro stations. Officers could be seen turning people away.

Police deployed in force before the rally due to start at 0900 GMT. The measures prompted Navalny ally Leonid Volkov, who is outside Russia, to move the protest location to a site on the Garden Ring road that circles the city centre.

Protesters had planned to gather near the Kremlin administration and the headquarters of the FSB, the KGB's successor, where during the Soviet breakup protesters in 1991 famously pulled down a statue of the secret police's founder.

Navalny, 44, is accused of parole violations which he says are trumped up. A court is due to meet next week to consider handing him a jail term of up to three and a half years.

The West has told Moscow to let Navalny go and his allies have appealed to U.S. President Joe Biden to impose sanctions on 35 people who they say are Putin's close allies.

Seeking to galvanise supporters at home, Navalny put out an online video this month that has been viewed over 100 million times, accusing Putin of being the ultimate owner of a sumptuous Black Sea palace. The Kremlin leader has denied this.

On the eve of the protests, Arkady Rotenberg, a businessman and Putin's former judo sparring partner, said he owns the property.

(Reporting by Tom Balmforth, Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, Anton Zverev, Polina Ivanova, Maria Tsvetkova and Polina Nikolskaya; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Frances Kerry and Raissa Kasolowsky)

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Navalny ally vows to press for his freedom despite crackdown

by DARIA LITVINOVA January 26, 2021 AP NEWS

MOSCOW (AP) — A top ally of Alexei Navalny vowed Tuesday to keep up the fight to free the jailed Russian opposition leader and his battle to influence this year’s parliamentary election despite a government crackdown on nationwide protests and its attempts to create a climate of fear.

U.S. officials said President Joe Biden raised concerns about Navalny’s arrest in his call Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the G7 foreign ministers also criticized the jailing of Navalny and the demonstrators demanding his release.

Lawyer and politician Lyubov Sobol told a news conference that Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his team’s regional offices will continue to operate even amid the “arrests of our followers and allies, open criminal probes (and) criminal probes that are yet to come.”

Sobol, herself under investigation on criminal charges of trespassing that she insists are bogus, said she is not afraid of being arrested and doesn’t plan to leave the country.

“It would be hard to say that I’m prepared for it, but silence, fear and indifference are more dangerous,” she told reporters.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic, was arrested and jailed earlier this month after returning to Russia from Germany, where he had spent nearly five months recovering from a poisoning with a deadly nerve agent that he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities deny the accusations.

The politician faces a prison term, with authorities accusing him of violating the terms of a 2014 conviction for fraud, a prosecution that he says was politically motivated.

On Saturday, nearly 4,000 people were detained across Russia during nationwide protests that drew tens of thousands demanding Navalny’s release, according to OVD-Info, a human rights group that monitors political arrests.

Authorities launched 20 criminal investigations in different regions in the aftermath of the protests, mostly on the charges of violence against police, Russia’s Investigative Committee said.

Dozens of Navalny associates in various cities were detained before the protests, including Sobol, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh and longtime ally Georgy Alburov. Sobol was released within hours and ordered to pay a fine, while Yarmysh and Alburov were jailed for nine and 10 days each.

“Putin is trying to stop people from protesting and fighting for their rights through fear and criminal probes,” Sobol said. “We can only continue our work in these circumstance"

The crackdown continued to bring international outrage. The top diplomats of the United States, Britain, Canada, France Germany, Italy and Japan, as well as the high representative of the European Union, condemned the “politically motivated arrest and detention” of Navalny and said they were “deeply concerned by the detention of thousands of peaceful protesters and journalists.”

The Kremlin had earlier dismissed Western criticism as interfering with Russia’s internal affairs.

Navalny’s team has called for more demonstrations on Jan. 31 and Feb. 2, when a court is scheduled to consider motions to convert his suspended sentence into a real prison term.

Even if he is sent to prison, his supporters won’t be deterred, Sobol said, citing the political goals of stopping the Kremlin’s party, United Russia, in the upcoming parliamentary balloting.

“There are lots of plans and tasks for the nearest future, (as well as) midterm and longterm (ones), and everyone understands what needs to be done both tomorrow, and a month from now, and half a year from now,” Sobol said. “One of the main goals is to ... destroy the monopoly of United Russia in the parliamentary election that will take place this September.”

Navalny has launched a campaign known as “Smart Voting” that is designed to promote candidates who are most likely to defeat those from the dominant ruling party.

In 2019, the project helped candidates backed by Navalny win 20 of 45 seats on the Moscow city council, and regional elections last year saw United Russia lose its majority in legislatures in three cities.

Analysts believe Navalny is capable of influencing the parliamentary vote, a key for the Kremlin as it will determine who controls the State Duma in 2024. That’s when Putin’s current term expires and he is expected to seek reelection, thanks to constitutional reforms last year.

On Thursday, a court is scheduled to hear an appeal on the ruling to jail Navalny. When asked about a possible outcome, Sobol said that “we do live in an unpredictable country; what will happen next and tomorrow is literally unknown.”

She cited an example of police officers unexpectedly showing up at her home 10 minutes before the news conference.

Almost proving her point, an official interrupted the event minutes later, trying to serve a subpoena to a Navalny ally who wasn’t there.

“I (didn’t do it) on purpose, they come on their own,” Sobol said with a chuckle.

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Home Secretary Priti Patel sets out details of the Government’s new forced quarantine policy

HOME SECRETARY Priti Patel set out the details of the Government’s new forced quarantine policy for arrivals into the UK yesterday. Kate Andrews in the Spectator has the details.

Arrivals from 22 “high-risk” areas will soon be forced to quarantine in a hotel when they arrive in Britain. There will be no exceptions to the rule, and travellers must stay put for 10 days, even if they test negative for COVID-19. The “red list” of countries include Portugal, South Africa, Brazil and Cape Verde.

This crackdown was a long time coming. When Denmark found a mutant strain of Covid last autumn amongst its mink farms, the UK became the only country in the world to close its borders to anyone from there. Did the fast response acknowledge regret among ministers about not being stricter on the border last spring? Quite possibly. This time, the Government has been much clearer about the reasoning behind this decision. Priti Patel told the Commons:

“The Government’s focus is on protecting the UK’s world-leading vaccination programme – a programme that we should be proud of. And reducing the risk of a new strain of the virus being transmitted from someone coming into the UK.“

The details of this quarantine scheme are still up in the air and it is not yet clear when it will come into effect. But despite these tougher measures, it seems that some in the Cabinet wanted the Government to go further. Had Patel had it her way, the measures would have extended to everyone arriving in Britain. Boris Johnson stopped short of this for now. But once the infrastructure is in place, it is easy to see how arrivals from any country, with no advanced warning, could be affected.

Is this an attempt to emulate Australia and New Zealand? Except their strategy was to wait in splendid isolation for a vaccine. But we’re closing borders after the vaccine has arrived because we’re worried about new vaccine-resistant variants. The problem with this is that the logic seems permanent – after all, there will always be a risk of some new mutant variant emerging. As Kate says: “Britain will be one of the first countries to close its borders to countries based on a hypothetical scenario – the possibility of a mutant Covid strain that can evade vaccines – rather than an immediate threat.” Such excessive caution bodes ill for the future and a return to normal." *

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Men, Women, Covid and Risk by Les May

A RECENT article on the BBC news website was headed; ‘Covid: Teachers "not at higher risk" of death than average’. But buried within it was a more interesting take on who in the working age population, that’s 20 to 64 year olds, are at the greatest risk of death from Covid 19.

The ONS looked at death rates from coronavirus in England and Wales between 9 March and 28 December 2020. It found 31 in every 100,000 working-age men and 17 in every 100,000 working-age women had died of Covid-19. This equated to just under 8,000 deaths among 20-64-year-olds. (Which you will note is rather higher than the ‘Anti-lockdown brigade’ would have us believe) Two-thirds of these deaths were among men.

The same pattern emerged among teachers when primary and secondary staff were taken together. There were 18 deaths per 100,000 among men and 10 per 100,000 among women. These figures are of course both less than for the whole population. Breaking that down by role, the figures for secondary school teachers were 39 deaths per 100,000 people in men and 21 per 100,000 in women. These figures are of course both more than for the whole population.

Amongst nurses the same pattern appeared, 79 male nurses per 100,000 and 25 female nurses per 100,000. For care workers it was 110 men per 100,000 and 47 women per 100,000.

Even if secondary teachers were at higher risk than some other professional jobs where few or no deaths have occurred it is nothing like the risks faced by non-professionals.

Per 100,000 men aged 20-64, the figures were 119 restaurant and catering staff, 106 metal-working machine operatives, 101 taxi drivers and 100 security guards. These compare with a figure of 31 per 100,000 for the working age male population as a whole. In approximately comparable roles for women the figures per 100,000 were 27 retail and sales assistants and 22 cleaners. In summary people working in insecure, low paid have suffered a higher death rate than ‘professionals’ and amongst them men have been significantly more at risk than women.

There’s nothing new in this. This is what I wrote in an article for Northern Voices last June with the title Levelling The Gradient. ‘There is little appetite in the UK for recognising the effects of our very unequal society on the lives of our citizens, irrespective of their skin colour. Even when studies to examine the impact of inequality are done, their findings are ignored. And it’s not just the Tories who are wilfully blind. In February two of the candidates for the Labour leadership felt that a Jewish pressure group and a ‘trans’ pressure group needed their public support, but when the Marmot review which looked at differences in health outcomes appeared later in the month it had zero impact on the campaign.

The media gave prominence to only one finding; that 'Female life expectancy declined in the most deprived 10 percent of neighbourhoods’ and ignored both the large disparity in life expectancy (LE) between people of higher and people of lower economic and social status, and that, irrespective of economic status women tend to live longer than men. (see page 18, Figure 2.4) reported in the review. (my emphasis).

http://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/resources-reports/marmot-review-10-years-on/the-marmot-review-10-years-on-full-report.pdf

These disparities also exist with regard to the disability free life expectancy (DFLE), i.e. the number of years of life someone will have free from disability. The review referred to these differences as forming a ‘social gradient’.

What the review showed was that in England, the difference in life expectancy at birth between the least deprived 10% of the population and the most deprived 10% was more than 9 years for men and more than 7 years for women. Life expectancy at birth for men living in the most deprived areas in England was 74 years, compared with 83 years in the least deprived areas; the corresponding figures for women were 79 and 86 years in 2016-18. (see pages 15-17, figures 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3) in the review.’

The British Left has become obsessed with ‘Institutional Racism’. I would like to see more attention paid to ‘Institutional Inequality’.

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