'The Dead Don't Die' in Cannes

 Review:  Zero Hours Comedy

DIRECTOR Ken Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty have come storming back to Cannes with another tactlessly passionate bulletin from the heart of modern Britain, the land of zero-hours vassalage and service-economy serfdom – a film in the tradition of Loach’s previous work and reaching back to Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves. It’s fierce, open and angry, unironised and unadorned, about a vital contemporary issue whose implications you somehow don’t hear on the news.

Like their previous movie, I, Daniel Blake, it depicts the human cost of an economic development that we are encouraged to accept as a fact of life. Like I, Daniel Blake, it is substantially researched through many off-the-record interviews, and rich in detail. But I think this film is better: it is more dramatically varied and digested, with more light and shade in its narrative progress and more for the cast to do collectively. I was hit in the solar plexus by this movie, wiped out by the simple honesty and integrity of the performances. Yet my emotions were clouded by my feelings about a certain toxic political issue. Of this, more in a moment.

The drama concerns Ricky (played by Kris Hitchen) a former construction worker in Newcastle who lost both his building work and his chance of a mortgage after the economic crash of 2008. He is a hardworking, affectionate guy with a bit of a temper and a liking for drink. Now he is renting with his wife Abbie (Debbie Honeywood), a contract nurse and in-home carer who has to visit dozens of disabled, elderly and vulnerable people every day for their meals, baths and “tuck-ins” – jargon for an eerie formalised version of maternal intimacy. It’s a workload that over the years has left no time for her to tuck in her two kids at the end of the day. They are Seb (Rhys Stone), a stroppy teen who has artistic talent but is in trouble with the authorities, and his smart kid sister, Liza Jane (Katie Proctor).
Ricky’s mate persuades him to get on what looks like a nice little earner: van driving for a big delivery company. But the firm’s hard-faced manager Maloney (Ross Brewster) – a bullet-headed guy with a number-one cut – brusquely tells Ricky that he will be employed on a quasi-freelance basis, with none of the benefits of conventional employment. He has to buy or lease his own van, or rent one from the firm at a ruinous daily rate, and meet strict targets for deliveries. These are set by the all-important scanner, worryingly called a “gun”. Particularly important are the “precisors”, customers who have paid extra for precise delivery slots. Maloney shouts things like “Let’s get the cardboard off the concrete!” when all the packages are being loaded: a telling real-world detail. But Ricky has no time to go to the lavatory and has to carry an empty plastic bottle with him, a necessity which is not just mortifying but makes him vulnerable. And Maloney has not told him everything about the insurance situation.

So Ricky persuades Abbie to sell the car she needs for her work so he can buy the van that is going to be their route out of financial misery. He is hired – or in the firm’s sinister terminology, he is “onboarded” – and Laverty creates a subtle resonance when a caring and careworn copper tells Seb he has a great family and that he should “Take that onboard”.

Read more:   http://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/may/16/sorry-we-missed-you-review-ken-loach

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Rochdale Housing Assoc. Ballot on Strike Action

MEMBERs of Unite, the UK and Ireland’s largest union, working in a Rochdale housing association are to be balloted for strike action in a dispute over low pay.

Huge pay cuts

The 170 plus members of Unite, employed by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), have seen their pay cut by 21.7 per cent in recent years, as a result of a series of pay freezes and below inflation pay increases. The housing association was hived off from Rochdale council and manages 13,500 homes.

Unite members have rejected a below inflation pay offer of two per cent. However, rather than return to the negotiating table RBH instead imposed the pay offer on the staff, which has caused widespread anger and damaged industrial relations.

Balloting to begin

Workers will begin balloting for industrial action, including strike action on Wednesday 8 May and the ballot will close on Wednesday 29 May. If the membership votes for industrial action, strikes could begin in June.

No real terms pay cut

Unite regional officer Tanya Sweeney said: “Members of Unite will not accept a further real terms pay cut. Year on year workers have been getting poorer.
“Industrial relations have been further damaged by the ham-fisted manner in which the management at RBH has gone about responding to the dispute. Rather than return to negotiations, they instead imposed the offer, which has just caused further ill feeling among staff.
“If RBH wants to avoid strike action then it needs to return to the negotiating table with an offer which at least begins to meet our members’ expectations.”

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Reply to Cllr. Blundell on 'aggressive begging':

 “There is only one way to solve this issue…crack down. Fine aggressive beggars and arrest them.”
Councillor John Blundell in the MANCHESTER GAZETTE

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'I have yet to see or hear a rational definition of the term "aggressive begging".  I do not believe that fining people who often have mental health and addiction issues is the way to progress with the issues of those impacted by rough sleeping and homelessness .  In Rochdale, they have issued fines to three people.  This measure is ineffective and inhumane, proposed and supported by people with little empathy and no real understanding of the problems they so glibly talk about.  There needs to be money made available to support people who wish to escape what are often fraught and dangerous circumstances.  People who wish to bring a PSPO into force in Manchester city centre should reflect on their reasons for doing so, because I believe it stems from contempt and disgust, which in my view makes them unfit for public life.'

- Spokesperson from Rochdale Campaign against PSPO (PUBLIC SPACES PROTECTION ORDERs)

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Cllr. Blundell's Hypocrisy Emerges on May Day

A bespectacled Rochdale Cllr. John Blundell  trudges just behind banner on far left of photo

The most ironic picture of the year must be that of Cllr. Blundell walking behind the banner that reads: 'Homelessness Kills!' given his track record of supporting Public Protection Orders against homeless people in Rochdale. You could not make it up!!!

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“There is only one way to solve this issue…crack down. Fine aggressive beggars and arrest them.”
Councillor John Blundell  in the MANCHESTER GAZETTE (Dec. 21st, 2017)

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Blacklisted Workers Win £1.9m from Building firms

OVER 50 trade unionists have won compensation totalling £1.9m after major construction firms admitted that they had been unlawfully blacklisted and denied work.

The compensation will be paid by the firms after they agreed out of court settlements with the workers, avoiding a high court trial that was due to start next month.

The latest round of payments means that in total, the firms have been forced in the last three years to pay compensation of £35m to more than 1,200 blacklisted workers.

The firms checked the files when individual workers applied for jobs. Those deemed by the firms to be troublemakers were refused work.  The workers were not told why they had been rejected. Some of them had raised health and safety concerns on building sites.

The files were housed in a nondescript office in Droitwich, Worcestershire, under the bland name of the Consulting Association.  A decade ago, following an article in the Guardian, the official watchdog, the Information Commissioner, raided the office and closed down the blacklist, declaring it illegal.

The Information Commissioner made the files available to the blacklisted workers, who then launched legal action.

The eight firms announced on Tuesday that their offers of compensation had been accepted by the latest group of 53 blacklisted workers. They are Sir Robert McAlpine, Balfour Beatty, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Skanska UK, Vinci and Carillion.
  
The eight firms are locked in a dispute with Amec Foster Wheeler, as they argue it was involved in running the blacklist and should therefore pay a contribution towards the bill.
Unite had sought to force Cullum McAlpine, whom they consider to be a key architect of the blacklist, to give evidence at the trial, which was due to start on 4 June. The McAlpine director was also chairman of the Consulting Association when the blacklist was set up.

Howard Beckett of the Unite union said it was 'bitterly disappointing' that he would not be compelled to be cross-examined at the trial, which has been dropped as part of the settlements.

Police chiefs have admitted that they also supplied details of trade unionists to the blacklist in what they acknowledge was a 'potentially improper flow' of information.

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Just a Thought

by Les May

UNLIKE many Labour supporters in Rochdale, I found it difficult to get too excited about whether Richard Farnell did or did not know of the unsavoury goings on at Knowl View School in the early 1990s.

Having spent a good deal of time in unpicking the facts from the fantasy in Simon Danczuk’s book ‘Smile for the Camera’, I concluded that whether he knew or not would have made not the slightest difference to the outcome.   I saw no evidence of a ‘cover up’ by officers of Rochdale Council and felt that they had acted appropriately in a very difficult situation.  This is what I told the Police when I was interviewed as part of Operation Clifton.

I had a second reason for my lack of excitement.  Much of the public discourse failed to distinguish carefully between what the solicitors had to say both in, and especially outside the Inquiry and its official findings.   Just because a solicitor says something does not make it true however often it is repeated.

Had Farnell not stepped down as Leader of the Council in December 2017 the way that Councillor ‘Two Votes’ Rana was dealt with might have been different.   Although this councillor admitted committing two electoral offences the present Leader did not seem to think it was necessary to ask for his resignation from the council, though it should be said that an honourable man would have realised that this was the correct course of action without being asked.

After all Farnell ‘has form’ on dealing with councillors who do not come up to scratch.  Although Danczuk praised his help in the book and he loyally stuck with Danczuk long after the latter had passed his ‘sell by’ date.  it is reported that he had a quiet word with Danczuk’s wife when she proved to be less assiduous in her role as a Councillor than she should have been.

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Richard Farnell case 'insufficient evidence’!

THE police investigation into allegations that the former Rochdale council leader Richard Farnell committed perjury when he appeared at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) have now said there is 'insufficient evidence’ to take any criminal action against him.

Initially a report from the inquiry alleged Councillor Farnell had ‘lied under oath’ as he gave evidence about the town’s notorious Knowl View school, where children had been abused during a period of over than 25 years.

That allegation branded Councillor Farnell – who has always strongly denied he misled the inquiry – as ‘shameful’ in refusing to take responsibility for the abuse that happened under his watch when he was leader of the council from 1986 and 1992.

It said, at the time, that ‘defies belief’ that he was unaware of the events involving the school.


In May 2018 the Metropolitan Police received a referral from the Greater Manchester Police requesting the force reviewed an allegation of perjury by a witness to the IICSA.

Now after a long investigation the Metropolitan Police have told Councillor Farnell that they will not be taking matters any further following a ‘full review’ of the evidence.

The letter, signed by Acting Detective Chief Inspector Gail Granville states:   'Having carefully considered all the material gathered that was subject to review, I have concluded there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate to the criminal standard that you wilfully, that is to say deliberately and not inadvertently or by mistake, made a statement that you know to be false or did not believe to be true.

'As a result, no further action will be taken by the Metropolitan Police in relation to the allegation.'

Councillor Farnell, who stood down as council leader just weeks after giving his evidence to the inquiry, has welcomed the decision.

He said:  'I am really pleased that following a thorough 12 month investigation by the Metropolitan Police they have decided not to prosecute me for perjury.
'I have always maintained I told the truth to the inquiry and the Metropolitan Police’s decision vindicates this.
'There is not one scrap of evidence that I knew about the failings at Knowl View almost 30 years ago. The council’s most senior officers at the time  – the chief executive and directors of education and social services – all told the inquiry they did not inform me.
'The inquiry examined  over 100,000 pages of letters, reports and documents and not a single one was addressed to me or informed me about Knowl View.'

Referring to Operation Clifton, which NV took part – an investigation into the alleged cover-up of child sexual abuse at Knowl View, Councillor Farnell added:
' A previous two-year inquiry by Greater Manchester Police into allegations of a cover-up of Knowl View found there was absolutely no evidence to support this.
“The inquiry was handed a 16 page report of evidence proving beyond any doubt I was not informed about Knowl View which, bizarrely, they ignored.”
Councillor Farnell, who continues to represent the Balderstone and Kirkholt ward, said it has been "extremely stressful" to have the allegation hanging over him for twelve months, but thanked the police for a ‘thorough investigation’.
He added: “I was always confident it would come to nothing because I told the truth to the inquiry and all the evidence supports this.
'However, we must never, never forget the victims in this tragedy. It was only under my leadership that the council apologised for its failings at Knowl View.'

When he stood down as council leader Councillor Farnell blamed a ‘small minority’ of Labour members for ‘undermining’ his leadership following the hearing.

He was later suspended by the Labour party and still awaits reinstatment.

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ASIA BIBI LEAVES PAKISTAN

ASIA BIBI, a Pakistani Christian woman who spent years on death row after being convicted of blasphemy, has left the country, officials have confirmed.

Her conviction was overturned last year by the Supreme Court.  She was originally convicted in 2010 after being accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad in a row with her neighbours.

Asia Bibi has always maintained her innocence in a case that has polarised Pakistan.
Pakistani government officials did not reveal her destination, or say when she left.

But her lawyer Saif ul Malook told the BBC she had already arrived in Canada, where two of her daughters are understood to have been granted asylum.

Asia Noreen - commonly known as Asia Bibi - was kept at a secret location while arrangements were made for her to leave the country.

The Supreme Court's quashing of her sentence last October led to violent protests by religious hardliners who support strong blasphemy laws, while more liberal sections of society urged her release.

The trial stemed from an argument Asia Bibi had with a group of women in June 2009.  They were harvesting fruit when a row broke out about a bucket of water. The women said that because she had used a cup, they could no longer touch it, as her faith had made it unclean.

Prosecutors alleged that in the row which followed, the women said Asia Bibi should convert to Islam and that she made offensive comments about the Prophet Muhammad in response.
She was later beaten up at her home, during which her accusers say she confessed to blasphemy. She was arrested after a police investigation.

Acquitting her, the Supreme Court said that the case was based on unreliable evidence and her confession was delivered in front of a crowd "threatening to kill her".

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Lady in Red Rachel Massey with Two Votes Rana!

 Election Fraud Cllr. Rana Standing behind Cllr. Rachell Massey's left shoulder

Just Pick Up The Litter

by Les May

IN 1960 I joined the Young Socialists and as soon as I was old enough voted Labour. I still do.   But I also had a subscription to ‘Freedom - the Anarchist Weekly’.  What interested me was what is usually called ‘Direct Action’; don’t wait for someone else to do it for you, do it for yourself. It stlll does.  Don’t just grumble that there’s a lot of litter in the street, pick it up and put it in the waste bin.  That’s practical anarchism at work.

As a practical political philosophy I concluded that like Marxism its a dead duck, but for a diametrically opposite reason.  Marxist governments can plan roads and build power systems, but can’t make sure there are enough toothbrushes in the shops.  You need markets for that because markets are the way that information about shortages is fed back from consumers to producers.

At least some of the brands of Anarchism would be able to solve the toothbrush problem, but I am sceptical that it could ever solve the problem of building a power grid. (And please don’t trot out the ‘We would keep it local’. That’s fine so long as there’s a wind blowing to turn your local turbine.  And when it isn’t … ?)

It was all a long time ago. Nowadays I content myself with counting the self righteous jargon words in pieces like that below.

https://freedomnews.org.uk/london-terfs-crash-mayday-march/

I don’t see this bunch changing the world.

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May Day Feminists' Fall-Out

Report from Freedom Press:

London: TERFs crash Mayday march

 

News, May 1st

 

Today in London, a group of Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs) attempted to join the Mayday march with a transphobic banner.

After being challenged by the London Anti-Fascist Assembly (LAFA) and other members of the parade together with two members from Edinburgh Antifa,  the TERFs then called the march stewards who also agreed that their group and their transphobic message was not welcome. LAFA and the march stewards then removed the TERFs from the demo. The TERFs then called the police. Police Liaison officers turned up and the TERF group spoke with them. Cops initially asked the folks to leave the march but the march stewards stepped in to explain that the TERFs were causing the problems. It comes as no surprise that the TERFs were not then asked by the cops to leave, but the stewards were then able to peacefully convince the TERFs that they should leave.
LAFA said in their statement:
” A group of TERFs turned up at the May Day march in London, yelled abuse at a bloc of feminists and sex workers and briefly unfurled this banner.
Comrades from LAFA, AFN groups including Edinburgh Antifa and friends on the demo including queer and trans comrades peacefully stood in front of the banner. The TERFs responded by taking our pictures and attacking us however we continued to hold our ground and resist peacefully. They yelled “male violence” at us despite our group including people of many genders and yelled “racist” at us despite our group including black people, Asians and latinx. mino 

The Terfs called the march stewards on us, telling us they’d remove us but instead the stewards took our side. The march was stewarded mainly by Turkish and Kurdish leftists who’ve seen us at many of their demonstrations and today they responded by showing solidarity with us. The terfs then called the police on us. The police tried to remove us but the march stewards explained to them it was the Terfs who were causing the problems. Together with the stewards including older trade unionists and Kurdish and Turkish comrades we were able to collectively and peacefully remove the Terfs from the demonstration.

TERFs claim to be feminists but they receive funding from right wing extremists, Christian fundamentalists and wealthy individuals linked to pro life organisations. Their aim is to divide and weaken the feminist movement and to divide and weaken the working class. TERFs act in the interests of the bosses and the patriarchy, they are not our comrades, they are enemies of our class and the anti fascist movement and we will continue to confront them wherever we find them.”

Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists are no strangers to calling the cops on transgender folk, and today showed that they will do so even when there are other marginalised groups and individuals present. There were “organisations representing Turkish, Kurdish, Chilean, Colombian, Peruvian, Brazilian, Portuguese, West Indian, Sri Lankan, Indian, Pakistani, Bangla Deshi, Kashmiri, Cypriot, Tamil, Iraqi, Iranian, Irish, South African, Nigerian migrant workers & communities plus many other trade union & community organisations.”

UPDATE 3/05/2019
After the Mayday incident, the TERFs proceeded to spread a claim that one of LAFA members racially abused a black woman by using the n-word against her.  A video in proof of this claim was produced.

Since this claim is doing rounds online, we would like to clarify some things.
The video’s audio is very unclear.

A person who holds a degree in linguistics and works full time in the field of morpho-syntaction had run it through the  PRAAT software,  through the spectogram and analysed the formants.  This returned the result that the person accused said “fucking bigot”, and not the n-word. A nasal “n” sound is most similar to vowels and does not show up on the spectogram like the bilabial “b” did. The woman at the video is also a Spanish speaker and does not pronounce the “t” at the end of the word.

Towards the end of the video the black woman says “called me a n*****, called me a n*****”. That’s not the Spanish speaking woman and there are clear accent differences.

The fact that the woman in question said “fucking bigot” and not the n-word was confirmed by several witnesses.

What’s more, the TERFs keep insisting that the alleged abuser is a white man. Let’s clarify this too. She is a cis woman. A woman of colour for that matter, and an active member of several groups. To call her a man for publicity purposes is shameful to say the least.

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A Rotten Regime and 'Ramsay MacCorbyn'

by Brian Bamford

TODAY's editorial leader in the Financial Times is entitled 'Something is rotten in Britain's political system'. 

The editorial claims:  'Discipline over Brexit in both main parties has broken down.  So, too, has collective responsibility in government.  Leaks from cabinet meetings have become routine; the chief whip calls this cabinet the worst-disciplined in British political history.  The case of Garvin Williamson, however will live in infamy.'

It seems that the defence secretary and leak's merchant, Mr. Williamson, 'was busy manoeuvring to succeed Mrs May'.  At the same time he is not on his own, and civil servants are now complaining about how many of the cabinet are mounting their own campaigns.  The FT says:  'It is a profound indictment of the political class that so many ministers now appear more interested in plotting to become prime minister than doing their jobs.'

The Tory party has lost over a thousand seats in the local government elections, but the poor performance of the Labour party that had hoped to benefit from public disquiet with the tories over Brexit is also significant. 

The danger is that based on these election results, both Mrs. May and Jeremy Corbyn may this week be temped to cobble together  a cross-party deal on Brexit, in order  to improve their standing with the electorate.

It has been suggested that Labour Remainers are anxious that Mr. Corbyn may be about to do a deal with the Tories.  One senior Labour Remainer asked:  'Does he really want to be Ramsay McCorbyn?'

That was an allusion to the notorious Labour leader, Ramsay MacDonald, who has been viewed as a traitor for forming a national government in the 1930s.

The Eurosceptic Tory MP, Jacob Rees-Mogg labelled this sucking-up approach as  'conlaberating'.

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Memorial to Crewe's Spanish Civil War volunteers

¡No Pasaran!

A poignant event took place at Crewe Cemetery on Saturday 4th May, with the unveiling of a bench to commemorate George Fletcher and Edward McQuade, both volunteers in the 15th International Brigade fighting fascism in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39.  Both men are buried in Crewe Cemetery just a few yards away from the bench that now bears their names.

The result of a long and determined campaign by Councillor Joy Bratherton, the ceremony was attended by relatives of the two men, representatives of the International Brigade Memorial Trust, and local civic figures including Laura Smith MP and Cllr. Brian Roberts, Mayor of Crewe and representatives from Unite the Union, Crewe No.1 RMT Branch and ASLEF.

A big shout out has to be made to: Unite (NW region), NW/64 Wharton and Salmesbury, NW/1400/5 Wigan, NW0269 and NW/0270,Crewe and NE/0604 Manchester Central.  All of whom made financial contributions towards the purchase and future maintenance of the memorial.

The Spanish Civil War of 1936-39 is largely eclipsed by the two monumental struggles that went before and immediately after it, and yet it represents a crucial episode in the fight against fascism, militarism and dictatorship.  It is all the more remarkable in that those who fought - some 2,500 of whom came from Britain and Ireland - were volunteers.  They were fighting to uphold democracy and social justice, at a time when Governments (including that of the UK) were actively appeasing fascist dictators in Europe.  Many of them died for the cause and lie to this day in Spanish soil.

Delores Ibárruri, the republican heroine of the Civil War, said of the International Brigades' volunteers - "You are history. You are legend. You are the heroic example of the solidarity and universality of democracy."

George and Edward finally have a proper and fitting recognition of their bravery.

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Stop Blaming the Politicians

by Les May

ANTROPOGENIC climate change, it’s the story with everything; aged gurus issuing warnings of an imminent ecological disaster, self righteous protesters gluing themselves to garden fences, kiddies ‘going on strike’, teenagers meeting party leaders and best of all, the blame can be dumped on the usual suspects, people like Trump ‘the climate change denier’ and the politicians who should ‘do something’, but don’t.

But if you want to know who is really responsible go to the nearest mirror and the face you see in it is the person responsible.  The uncomfortable truth is, It’s you, or to be strictly accurate, it’s us.  And if the politicians were persuaded to ‘do something’ we would not like it one little bit.

Doing something about climate change, which requires us to drastically reduce the amount of carbon dioxide we release into the atmosphere, can only be brought about by reducing the amount of energy we consume.

We need to be listening not just to those who style themselves ‘greens’ or ‘ecologists’ and are very good at telling us what the problems brought on by climate change are, but to physicists who will point out the problems of doing something about it.  Not the physics of Einstein, black-holes or the Higgs boson, but the old fashioned 19^th century physics developed to explain the limits on the efficiency of the steam engine.

In all these discussions about climate change and how to do something about it there are two very large ‘elephants in the room’.  They are called the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics.  You may not like what they say and what it means for your future lifestyle, but if you think you can ignore them you are peeing in the same pot as Trump and his ilk.

The First law says in essence ‘The Universe Does Not Provide Free Lunches’. What this means in practice is that if you want to move something or change something from one form to another, there is a price which you pay in the form of energy. Whether you fly, take the car, get the bus, cycle or walk to the shop it requires the expenditure of energy to get you there. Flying, taking the car or getting the bus means burning an energy rich fuel which pumps carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  Walking or cycling means burning the energy stored in our food. This does not add any additional carbon dioxide to the atmosphere because the plants we ate have removed this much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere already whilst they were busy making the carbohydrate which stores the energy derived from sunlight.

The Second Law says in essence ‘Heat Energy Moves From Places With A Higher Temperature To Places With A Lower Temperature’. If you want to make energy move the other way you have to pay a cost in the form of energy. (You almost certainly have something in your kitchen doing exactly this. It’s called a refrigerator.) This law shows itself as an ‘energy tax’ when we turn one substance into another.   That means that recycling of materials also carries a cost which has to be paid In the form of energy.

So if you read in the papers that the solution to global warming is to heat our houses with electricity, travel in electric cars or to move to a hydrogen economy, don’t believe it. Just ask yourself where the energy is to come from to generate the electricity and where is the energy to come from to split the water into hydrogen and oxygen so that the hydrogen can later be burned (cleanly) to produce the energy to drive the engine of the plane/bus/car.

The solution to human induced climate change is to be found in our consuming less energy, whether that be for transport, heating, making new things or recycling old things.   It will mean changing what and how much we eat, how we package things, how we transport our food and other goods, substituting natural (i.e. plant and animal derived materials) for synthetic materials based on oil, what we wear, where and how often we holiday and what our built and natural landscapes look like.   In turn this will mean a shift in the jobs we do and the nature of employment.

If after reading this you still have a massive sense of entitlement and a belief that you have a right to consume as much energy and materials as you can afford you will see why none of the political parties, be they Greens, Tiggers, Kippers, Farage-ophiles, LibDems, Tories or Labour want to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, about what needs to be done to halt climate change.

But if you do, don’t blame the politicians. Blame yourself.

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North East: Labour Lose Control

LABOUR have suffered a catastrophe in the local elections after losing control of all five Tees Valley councils and dozens of seats in the process. 

The results mean Labour has lost control of Middlesbrough Council for the first time since 1974, Stockton Borough Council for the first time since 1979, Darlington Borough Council for the first time since 1991 and Hartlepool Borough Council for the first time since 2010.

In Darlington, the party lost control of the council and the Conservatives are now the biggest party.
The Tories have 22 seats, Labour 20, Liberal Democrats three, Independent three, and Greens two.
Conservative leader Heather Scott said she was "absolutely delighted" with the result.

In Middlesbrough, Labour have lost their majority for the first time since the council was created.
Independents are currently on 22 seats, with Labour on 18. One result is still to declare.
In Hartlepool, Labour were left without a majority, and suffered several losses including two senior councillor, whilst in Stockton, it has been confirmed the party cannot retain control.
Labour have also suffered significant losses in Redcar, falling from 29 seats to 15. Independents are now the biggest group with 18,Lib Dems on 13, Conservatives 11 and UKIP two.
There was also a crushing defeat for Labour in the Middlesbrough Mayor election, with Independent Andy Preston storming to victory to win with 58 per cent of the vote.
His nearest rival, Labour’s Mick Thompson, came in at 22.93 per cent.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said the results were "stunning", adding: "The people of the Tees Valley have voted for real, positive change."

In Hartlepool, Labour councillors Rob Cook, chair of the planning committee, and deputy council leader Kevin Cranney, chair of the regeneration committee, lost their seats in the De Bruce and Foggy Furze ward respectively.

In De Bruce The For Britain Movement gained their first seat with Karen King, while in Foggy Furze, Lee Cartwright, from the Veterans’ and People’s Party, gained the seat.

The party lost overall control of Stockton Council, throwing the future of decisions at the authority into uncertainty, as they lost six seats in all – taking 24 of the 56 seats available, while the Thornaby independents made hay.

Labour remains the biggest group in the borough, but it fell short of the 29 it needed to form a majority administration.

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Green Party win in TAMESIDE

LAST year on the 27th, November, the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, ANGELA RAYNER (27th, November 2018) said on her FACEBOOK page:
Massive congratulations to Jean Drennan who tonight has been unanimously selected as the Labour Party candidate in my constituency for the Ashton Waterloo Ward Tameside local elections 2019.
Last night the chickens came home to roost for the Labour MP Ms. Rayner, when Cllr. Jean Drennan lost the Ashton Waterloo ward seat in the Tameside Council local elections to Lee Huntback of the Green Party.

Mr Huntbach said of his victory: 
'I campaigned for local issues which I think has really stuck with residents.
'What we did was ask for what residents wanted, and we reacted to their answers."
'Everyone knows the conservatives are not going to get in but I seem to have given people another option other than labour,' he added.

This represents a landmark victory for the Greens in Tameside, as a Green has been elected for the first time ever.  The ward had been a Labour Party stronghold in the past.

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Labour Party: Strange Allegations & Deselections

MARK Hollinrake, the Rochdale Green Party candidate for Kingsway in today's local elections has expressed his dismay and shock at the local Labour Party's 'deselection of loyal and effective long-standing local councillor, Lynne Brosnan, who has served the local community extremely well.'  

The deselection of Labour Councillor Brosnan follows a denunciation of her on a You-Tube telephone recording some months ago in which Labour Councillor Sara Rowbotham made unsubstantiated allegations against Cllr. Brosnan and another Councillor as 'knowing all about Cyril [Smith]' . 

All this was placed in the public domain through the You-Tube video, but the somewhat emotional remarks and allegations which amounted to a rant by Cllr. Rowbotham are unsupported by any evidence what-so-ever.  At the time Cllr. Rowbotham was seemingly unaware that her conversation was being recorded, much less that it would be later made public.

Later Councillor Blundell at an informal meeting of Labour supporters warned that this remark was potentially 'defamatory' inferring it should not be discussed, and that a high level investigation into the claim was to take place.  So far as we know no evidence has ever been produced to support Cllr. Rowbotham's allegations and there has been no clarification as to why she pronounced on this matter or made the unsupprted allegations.

Yesterday, with this in mind, I sent the e-mail below to Cllr. Blundell:
'At the most recent meeting of Labour supporters, which you attended at *******, reference was made to a recorded telephone conversation involving Cllr. Rowbotham in which she made allegations about Cllr. Lynn Brosnan and another Councillor you made a serious claim:  you raised the point that repeating them might be potentially defamatory.  In the light of this you suggested people ought to be cautious in their comments, and there was little or no discussion, although this was clearly a contentious issue.  You went on to say that a council investigation was being planned to consider these allegations which had already been placed in the public domain on a You Tube video.  Has this inquiry into these allegations taken place yet?  If not, why was this matter not investigated as you claimed at the meeting it would be?'

Thus far, reply 'Came There None' from Cllr. Blundell!

Furthermore, he has also failed to answer the following question also in my e-mail:  'I ask this question in the light of the forthcoming local elections in which Councillor Brosnan has now been deselected as a Labour candidate.  Has this deselection of Cllr. Brosnan been brought about owing to the allegations of Cllr. Rowbotham, which were later made public on the You Tube video?'

Could this shyness on his part have something to do with reports of his own lust for the leadership of the Rochdale Labour Party?

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Shoulder to Shoulder with electoral Fraud

Aspiring Labour Candidate & Vicar's Wife alongside Electoral Fraud

THE Labour candidate for Spotland and Falinge in today's local elections, Rachel Massey (right), stood proudly alongside self-confessed electoral fraud, Councillor Faisal Rana (centre), in a photo-shoot with Cllr. Wendy Cocks (far left).  

Councillor (Two-Votes) Rana said: “Twenty is plenty.
“We have been campaigning alongside residents for the speed reductions. Too many cars were travelling too fast putting residents’ lives – including children – in danger.”

But only last year the police told a local Forum meeting that Rooley Moor Road was almost impossible for them to police owing to lack of resources.  So if that is true then the 20-mile an hour zone signs are neither use nor ornament. 

Faced with this cosmetic response from the Labour Council Mick Coats, the candidate for the Green Party in the same ward, has pointed to the hypocrisy of the existing Labour councillors arguing:
'Another problem is cars speeding. It is a problem for us all. But what is Labour's solution to deal with cars speeding on Rooley Moor Road? It is to remove cars parked on the road (which act as a natural restraint on speeding cars), allowing cars to go even faster. It makes no sense.'

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ROCHDALE LABOUR's FRAUD WARD

See Full Image Click on Image

ROCHDALE's FRAUD WARD UK

IT is a sad reflection on the state of local politics in our town - especially in my ward.  Any reasonable person would agree that the postal vote fraud councillor isn’t fit to serve our town, and neither are any councillors who have supported him.  Such is the low standard of councillors in our town,  that some appear to think that he’s the greatest thing since the invention of  microwaveable chapatis.  It’s quite bizarre.

THE FRAUD WARD in Spotland & Falinge:  The Story So Far:

• 2012 - A permanent police presence is required at Spoland Road polling station after claims of voter intimidaton.
• 2016 - Crucial anti-fraud documentation 'disappears' from Spotland Road polling station.  Spotland Labour councillors remain silent.
• 2017 - A complaint is made to the police about a Labour activist spoted with multiple postal votes in his van just off Spotland Road.
• 2018 - A Spotland Labour councillor admits postal vote fraud after being caught using a bogus Spotland Road home addressto fraudulently obtain an extra postal vote.
• 2019 - A Postal Vote Fraud councillor is now the Election Agent for the Spotland Labour candidate at the 2019 local elections and as such is responsible for ensuring that the candidate complies with electoral law.   

Votes lost and gained by Rochdale Labour Party for the wards it won in 2016 & retained in 2018.

► GAINED

◄  LOST

Spotland & Falinge______________ ► Labour GAINED 272 votes

  

◄  Labour LOST -475 votes____________________  Balderstone 

◄  Labour LOST -705 votes ______________________Castleton

◄  Labour LOST -414 votes ___________________ Central

◄  Labour LOST -166 votes ________  East Middleton

◄  Labour LOST -41 votes __ Healy

◄  Labour LOST -138 votes _______ Hopwood Hall

◄  Labour LOST -187 votes ________ Kingsway

◄  Labour LOST -184 votes _______ Littleborough Lakeside

Milkstone & Deeplish __ ► Labour GAINED 45 votes 

◄ Labour LOST -346 VOTES ______________  North Heywood

◄  Labour LOST - 250 votes ____________ North Middleton

 Smallbridge ________► Labour GAINED 116 votes 
  
◄ Labour LOST - 179 votes __________________ South Middleton 

◄ Labour LOST - 378 votes ___________________ West Heywood

◄ Labour LOST - 256 votes ___________________ West Middleton

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Bristol Radical History Group

Two important events coming up....

Pauper Graves Memorial Unveiling - Avonview Cemetery, St George
Date: Wednesday 8th May, 2019
Time: 1.00pm
Location: Avonview Cemetery, Beaufort Road, St. George, Bristol, BS5 8EN
In 1972 the Eastville workhouse buildings (an elderly peoples home) at 100 Fishponds Road were demolished. Our research has shown that there was a crude disinterment of the workhouse burial ground during the demolition, with 167 boxes of large bones moved to unmarked common graves at Avonview Cemetery, St George. Thanks to donations from the Eastville Workhouse Memorial Group, the Church of England dioceses of Gloucester and Bristol and Bristol City Council a gravestone has been designed, carved and installed by local mason Matthew Billington. This will be a fitting end to a project which has both researched and memorialised the 4,084 inmates of Eastville workhouse who were hitherto forgotten. All welcome. More details here.

Book launch: Behind the Myth of Peter the Painter 
Date: Monday 3rd June, 2019
Time: 8.00pm
Venue: The Cube, Dove Street South, [off top-left of King Square], Kingsdown, Bristol BS2 8JD
Price: £5/£4, booking here
Bristol Radical History Group is excited to host the UK book launch of A Towering Flame: The Life and Times of the Elusive Latvian Anarchist Peter the Painter (published by Breviary Stuff Publications). The Houndsditch murders of three City of London policemen, and the ensuing “Siege of Sidney Street” on 3 January 1911, in which Latvian anarchists took on Winston Churchill and the British Army, have entered into East London folklore. But no one ever accounted for the mysterious Peter the Painter, the leader of the gang. This book has finally solved the mystery. Here for the first time is proof of the real identity of Peter the Painter; the amazing story of his life and revolutionary career; and of the hitherto unknown history of Latvian anarchism. The author, historian Philip Ruff, will present and talk about his book. There will then be a Q&A and discussion. More details here.

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Catalan News: Pro-independence ERC party's win

IT was a historic general election for the pro-independence Esquerra party (ERC), which increased its number of seats to a record 15 in the Spanish parliament.

Winning six more seats than in it did in the last general election in June 2016, it is the first time since the 1930s that ERC has come first among the Catalan parties.

With the Junts per Catalunya party (JxCat) coming in with seven seats (one less than the last election), it means the pro-independence bloc in the Congress has an unprecedented 22 seats.

This could be significant, as Pedro Sánchez's Socialists, who won the election with 123 seats, may need the support of the pro-independence bloc to form a government.

Next among the parties in Catalonia came the Catalan Socialists (PSC), who went up five seats to 12, although the leftwing En Comú Podem party (ECP) was unable to maintain its good showing from three years ago, dropping from 12 seats to seven.

The unionist Ciutadans party (Cs) held on to its five seats, while the also unionist People's Party (PPC) lost five seats, dropping to just one.

It was also an historic night for the far-right Vox party, which entered parliament for the first time with one seat in Catalonia, and a further 23 in the Spanish wing of the party.

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