Labour Blog

Train shame

2010-02-18T18:23:00.001Z

Tory toff Winterton accuses standard-class passengers of being "a totally different type of people. There's lots of children, there's noise, there's activity. I like to have peace and quiet when I'm travelling." Of course a Conservative spokesperson trumps up and says these views "do not in any way represent the views of David Cameron or that of the Conservative party and should be treated as such." Well yes, until you realise that Cameron has very nice views courtesy of private jets chauffering him around the country. But heaven help us if we do find one of these oiks attempting to travel by train, more than likely they will start a fight.

Bring them down

2010-02-06T10:32:00.002Z

No immunity, no Parliamentary privilege, “Corruption, a serious and insidious offence, can only be dealt with effectively by using the police and the courts,” so said a Parliamentary committee in 1999.

Elliot Morley, a former minister, David Chaytor, the MP for Bury North, Jim Devine, the MP for Livingston, and Lord Hanningfield, Who do these people think they are? Gnuppets, all of them.

Gnuppet

Blair misleading

2010-02-02T20:21:00.001Z

Misleading is how Claire Short describes the process in the run up to the Iraq war in her evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry. Deceitful is another word and I am sure we can think of many more to describe Blair's years in office.

Bring him to court, support this site www.arrestblair.org to arrest Bliar for war crimes.

Capitalist food excess

2010-02-01T20:49:00.001Z

Only in America, comes a storey of triple by-pass burger joints battling over the right to clog the arteries of suspecting clients.

Labour thinks we should eat healthy food.

Inventory bounce

2010-01-05T11:51:00.007Z

The Times is reporting that economists are optimistic as "manufacturing was at its most buoyant for two years". However, there is a note of caution later in the article as manufacturers ponder whether growth will continue. And this is a theme in an article by Paul Krugman in the New York Times, "When the economy slumps, companies typically find themselves with large stocks of unsold goods. To work off their excess inventories, they slash production; once the excess has been disposed of, they raise production again, which shows up as a burst of growth in G.D.P. Unfortunately, growth caused by an inventory bounce is a one-shot affair unless underlying sources of demand, such as consumer spending and long-term investment, pick up."

We are not out of the recession and won't be for a while.

Wish List

2010-01-02T11:17:00.003Z

"I guess what I'd really like to see is an end to global capitalism and to the corporate power that governs all our lives" so says Cath Elliot in her comment piece in the Guardian, and so say all of us.

Double Dip

2009-09-15T19:40:00.007+01:00

A top read in the Daily Telegraph of 14th of September is a report about the M3 money supply in the United States. What? However, the M3 money supply is a significant indicator of future economic conditions. Apparently the news is that bank loans are falling at a 5% annual rate, and this is bad new as there are fears of a double dip recession. According to an academic "There has been nothing like this in the USA since the 1930s".

As always, the Labour Party says, nationalise the banks.

Banks are muderers, so says national paper, apparently

2009-08-01T12:15:00.003+01:00

This was the revelation from the Daily Telegraph as the bonus culture returns. After the bailout banks are attempting to restore their own accounts by leeching customers and and offering poor rates of return on savings.

As one poster to the article puts it There will be more targets of our anger coming. This time, I expect the anger to result in action, rather than venting spleen in these blogs!

We say nationalise the banks.

Mandate for Change

2009-07-30T20:43:00.002+01:00

So says Naomi Klein here. Refering to the US but applicable anywhere before the meltdown, do we want to save that pre-crisis system? Or do we want to use this crisis, and the electoral mandate for serious change delivered by the last election, to radically transform the system? Progressives need to get clear on our answer now because we haven't had the potent combination of a serious crisis and a clear progressive democratic mandate for change since the 1930s. We use this opportunity, or we lose it...Capitalism can survive this crisis. But the world can't survive another capitalist comeback.

Cameron is a Twat

2009-07-30T07:51:00.002+01:00

David Reagan Cameron has no idea, or perhaps he should be applauded, anyway much like Ronald Reagan he misappropriates words and phrases with no idea of their real meaning.

Greedy bankers raked in £1.4 trillion

2009-07-28T08:38:00.002+01:00

Nothing appears to change, banks taking advantage of the government's quantitative easing programme by hiking up their interest rates while the official interest rate is at 0.5%. Read on here and here.

Labour says nationalise the banks.

New Labour's green rhetoric is hollow

2009-07-27T19:04:00.002+01:00

Good article in the Guardian today about Vestas. The government found the money to bail out the banks to the tune of billions – the few tens of millions that such a refurbishment would cost would be a miniscule sum in comparison, however New Labour's ideological commitment to the free market and the rule of profit prevents them from developing such a strategy.

Getting a grip

2009-07-26T08:41:00.001+01:00

The one certainty in life is death. We come into this world with nothing and we leave with nothing. Our predecessors were aware of this only too well. War, famine, pestilence and death have stalked us since time began. No wonder the four horsemen are such powerful and terrifying icons.

Source

Brown the education snatcher

2009-07-23T07:53:00.003+01:00

Although not quite having the same ring (Thatcher the milk snatcher), the PM's pledge on safeguarding spending on key services has fallen foul of the credit crisis. Other government departments will see their budgets cut by up to 20% after the next election.

££BIG DEAL££

2009-07-23T07:44:00.003+01:00

Head of Glaxo is in for a bumper deal in the coming period as it looks at potential revenue of £3bn for the supply of swine flu drugs. The Chief has been quoted as saying "We don't know how big this deal is going to be, but no-one can say we aren't ready".

Greedy pharmaceutical company.

Greedy pharmas (editor)

BA raids pension pot to prevent heavy landing

2009-07-17T10:35:00.002+01:00

Greedy BA bosses have sacrificed £300 million of pension funds to prevent the company going belly up, and quite open about it to. Anyone remember Maxwell?

Feeling Confident?

2009-07-17T10:18:00.002+01:00

IMF chief slams UK economy as financiers give benefit of the doubt to Brown's dodgy fiscal plans.

Challenging times

2009-07-17T10:08:00.003+01:00

These are challenging times. But they are socialist times. They are times which should give all of us on the left renewed confidence in our values. Free-market fundamentalism has failed and lies in ruins all around us.

Unrestrained capitalism - whether you call it Thatcherism, neoliberalism or even Blairism - swept away the once-great coalmining industry in Britain.

Now we see the same problems in almost every industry, in almost every part of our economic life, from car factories to the high street.

Today, the only safe job is a debt collector and people are angry. People are waking up to the fact that life does not have to be like this.

They do not see why bankers should be bailed out while working people go to the wall, losing their jobs, their hard-won pay and conditions and even their homes.

They are also angry at the politicians who have feathered their own nests while turning a blind eye to the damage that the City of London and the bonus-drunk brigade were doing to our communities.

So we have a new challenge today - it is no longer enough just to say that capitalism isn't working too well. Even the Financial Times is admitting that.

Our challenge is instead to give expression to that anger and spell out a visionary and practical alternative.

Let us pause to reflect on the scale of the crisis. Workers are joining the dole queues at the rate of over 100,000 a month.

The young are worst affected. Those of us who can remember the 1980s can see the spectre of another "lost generation" before our eyes.

Skilled jobs and modern factories are under threat or are already closing down - and we know that if they go, they will not readily return.

Governments around the world have spent trillions of dollars to prop up the banks.

But they are saying, including our own Labour government, that we are going to have to pay back this debt in cuts to our public services down the line.

Employers are already applying putting pressure to freeze or cut wages and worsen other conditions, such as pensions. Yet on the other hand we have seen little sign of the bankers responding to public outrage and curbing their own excesses.

It is obscene that state-controlled bank RBS is now looking to pay its new boss nearly £10 million. Such greed has no place in our society.

It is an indication that the people at the top who have benefited from 30 years of casino capitalism are not going to let go lightly. They want just to reflate the punctured tyres of the market economy with taxpayers' money before taking us all for another ride.

We have to say: "Never again!" Never again rip-off privatisations. Never again light-tough regulation for the bankers with draconian anti-union laws for working people.

Never again a tax system that lets a hedge fund billionaire pay tax at a lower rate than the office cleaner. Never again watching housing costs soar while blocking councils from building new homes.

More than ever we need an economy which works for working people - and it is our movement and only our movement than can deliver.

We need action to save jobs, whether that is lobbying and campaigning or direct action, to stop factories closing.

Second, we need a determination to save public services from cuts. Health, education and welfare must not be held hostage to pay for the City's greed.

If debt needs to be brought down, then let the burden fall on those who created the problem.

Third, we need to stand for social justice. This crisis should be a signal to reduce inequality, not see it widen further as workers have their wages frozen or cut.

But we need to do more, because when we talk about "recovery" we are not just talking about getting ourselves out of this recession in the interests of our members.

We must also be talking about a recovery in the spirit and strength of the labour and socialist movement. The opportunity is there - the entire ruling elite is discredited.

People do not just want to see this crisis ended. They want to hope that their children and grandchildren will not have to face exactly the same problems in 10, 20 or 30 years' time.

They want secure and stable communities with a range of fulfilling jobs. They want a much narrower gap in incomes, with speculation and gambling for profit ruled out.

They want decent publicly run public services, without the Treasury axe hanging over them from one year to the next.

They want equality for all at work, with strong trade union rights and an end to exploitation.

And they want balanced growth that recognises the need to produce and consume differently if our planet is to survive.

We have to say not only that these demands are reasonable and just, but that we cannot secure them through the present system, based on the domination of private ownership.

These are old truths for those of us in the labour movement and we must broadcast them loud and clear.

Twenty-five years ago the Tories and their class tried to destroy the spirit of the miners - and where are they now?

Nicolas Ridley, Sir Keith Joseph and others dead and buried. Thatcher herself in a twilight zone.

And here we are, 25 years later with the spirit of the miners as strong as ever, because what the bosses' class fails to understand is that spirit courses through our very veins - it stands for decency and dignity, fairness and justice, community and, above all, solidarity.

These are values that they simply have no concept of. These are the values that stand us apart and make us strong.

This is why they failed to destroy the miners.

How do I know? Because I see before me an army of miners - from our hospitals and schools, from our factories and town halls, from our docks and construction sites, from our roads and railways.

A vast army bound together by a common cause to create a better world.

There are times when our hearts are heavy. But our heads have never bowed.

And on this, the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution, let me leave you with the words of Che Guevara, who when asked how long must the struggle continue replied: "Hasta la victoria siempre" - until the final victory.

That is the task that lies before us, to pass on the spirit of the miners from generation to generation. We have a world to win for peace, freedom and humanity.

Len McCluskey is Unite assistant general secretary.

Courtesy of the Morning Star

Revolutionary Fun

2009-07-13T12:39:00.002+01:00

It is characteristic of revolutions that anyone can join in, and when they are successful they are fun. Revolution is a carnival of the oppressed, in which people who spend their lives being exploited, being told at school and in their working lives that their opinions count for nothing, find themselves in the driving seat... a successful revolution will release the creative energy of ordinary people who had previously been told, and had believed, that they were incapable of creativity. Any mass action can do this - look only at the women's groups in the 1984-85 miners' strike. This is the real meaning of workers' power.

Courtesy of Tim Evans

Argentina or Iceland

2009-07-12T09:57:00.002+01:00

According to the International Monetary Fund the UK is running out of money (like Argentina) to help boost its recovery, and the deficit will be 14% of GDP for next year (like Iceland).

Greedy bankers.

Media Monolith

2009-07-11T09:49:00.003+01:00

Revelations that News Imperial were complicit in hacking phones of celebs, footballers, politicians and comedians is no surprise to those who perceive NI to court politicians and manipulate the media landscape. Who will stand up to this media monolith?

Labour says bring it down to size.

Email to Hazel Blears

2009-07-09T19:46:00.002+01:00

You and your honourable members are all liars and thieves. I was appalled to see you on national television this morning waving a cheque around as if it was going to make everything OK. You are not sorry at all. (Only sorry that you have been caught.) You are a disgrace. Why haven't you been arrested and why have you not been sacked? Not that my comments will have any impact. I doubt you will even read this.

Thank you Lisa Greenwood

Media Meltdown

2009-07-09T19:18:00.003+01:00

Financial meltdown, political meltdown, police meltdown, and now media meltdown, at last an alliteration on the theme. Tory spin doctor Coulson is implicated as he was editor of the paper at the time of the dirty dealings. Cameron thinks Coulson is doing an excellent job, with Gordo's leadership, this is surprising. However, the real news is made by the tube and postal workers striking a blow for justice and a fair deal.

Government tortures us

2009-07-08T21:22:00.002+01:00

No surprise in an MP's revelation that the state was involved in torture post 9/11 as gloves came off.

Still the government operates in secret and hides behind arcane laws.

Labour demands transparency.

Financial fudge for fighting fortune-seekers as Darling does deal

2009-07-08T20:35:00.005+01:00

Chancellor considers the issues and does nothing about it, champagne corks heard popping.

Labour says cut City down to size and bring an end to those who hoodwinked the government and stole taxpayers money to furnish their lavish lifestyles.

Give us our money back you greedy ........

Pandemic update

2009-07-04T00:16:00.006+01:00

100,000 a day, has been predicted for the high streets of the country as the government has bowed to pressure and given up all hope of pretending to resist the pandemic known as Tescifloitus. It had been thought that there would be no more victims, but all avenues, cul-de-sacs and hedgerows are being explored.

The Great Train Heist

2009-07-03T23:32:00.007+01:00

Ronnie Bowker Biggs, who escaped with £1.4 billion of taxpayers money, is nowhere to be seen in what is becoming known as the Great Train Heist. Apparently the Milky Bar Kid is the lead culprit after a monopoly board was found with chocolate fingerprints all over the funny money which the government will now have to clean up. The whereabouts of the assailant is unknown but police are thought to be heading to Paris, Melbourne and Rio.

Meanwhile, in other news, a frail old man was denied parole.

Market departs

2009-07-01T22:59:00.005+01:00

The train departing platform 1.4 billion has been expressly nationalised and will be withdrawn from the market. All future services face severe funding crises and may not reach their expected destinations. Passengers wishing to complete their journey will be expected to make up the shortfall of £30 billion.

Labour says nationalise the lot.

David Cameron predicts "riots on the street"

2009-07-01T22:49:00.003+01:00

Tory Cameron predicts "riots on the street" if a future government has to enforce spending cuts after an election campaign where none had been promised.

Video courtesy of Joemoonblue

So it goes on

2009-06-30T22:08:00.004+01:00

So, Stephen Hester, the boss of the Royal Bank of Scotland is to receive a package worth £9.6million from a company that is 70 per cent owned by the taxpayer. GIVE US OUR MONEY BACK YOU GREEDY SO AND SO.

Say no to this Bonuses are Back culture; get your fill from the trough, join the party for unfinished business at the Bank of England, July 17, 5:37pm precisely!

Mystic Cable

2009-06-30T21:50:00.003+01:00

The Mystic Meg of the financial crisis, Vince Cable, on Radio 4 this morning, described the economy as having had a heart attack. A financial analyst said we were climbing out of hole. Two very different metaphors. The analyst saying that the economy will continue but only with great difficulty, Mystic Cable saying that the economy and essentially capitalism is at the end of it's days. According to The Office for National Statistics, the UK economy, in the first quarter, contracted by 2.4%, figures not seen for 51 years. Any talk of green shoots, will have to outdo Mystic Cable as Lloyds TSB announces job cuts of 2,100 and Corus, the steelmaker, 2,000 jobs. Like the government's attitude to ID cards, it is a pretence to think that economic troubles are off the agenda.

ORDER ORDER

2009-06-28T15:22:00.000+01:00

Despite the Torygraph exposing MPs with their snouts in the trough, they are upholders of business as usual. Bemoaning the lounge suit wearing Bercow eschewing the traditional dress for speaker of the house. Horsehair wig, breeches and buckled shoes and attended by page boys and assorted officials, ascending the throne of the House, an anachronistic and splendid continuing canard that does not touch reality. Is not tradition and history an inheritance, they say, and why change for it's own sake? Change, yes we say, to turn the world upside down. If Sainsbury's supermarket chain can discard the cardboard box from it's own brand cereal, then Parliament can discard the cushion of expenses for MPs, otherwise the electorate may think about their choice of breakfast. Not that what is inside the box is palatable. We only want solutions to these problems that match the demands for fairness of the workers at Lindsey, not those of Bercow, the lounge suit wearing, small man of politics (flipper of second home), who says that MPs should be paid £100,000 from it's current £64,000, as if they were not incentivised enough. Why should not we demand that all MPs be paid the average workers wage. ORDER ORDER we say.

Will the real party of Labour please stand up

2009-06-27T22:14:00.000+01:00

We now live in a country where there are growing numbers in the unemployment queue, which now stands at over 2.2 million, numbers not seen since the hated Thatcher was in power, and predicted to continue to grow well into 2010 according to the OECD. Furthermore, we are faced with the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, as the Labour machine attempts to keep afloat its lost credibility as governors of economic prudence while public debt spirals out of control. A generation will be lost as future governments will squeeze public spending, and the economy readjusts to account for the casino capitalism that has characterised the past 15 years. At the same time as the political elites, from all industries, cushion themselves from these self-inflicted wounds, they milk the expense system on the basis of dubious claims and enjoy freebies abroad. However, they will not be greeted with smiles from employees of British Airways who have been asked to work for nothing and will not even pretend to make an effort as they confront their class enemy across the check in counter.

Ironically, if it was not for the paper of the elite, the Daily Telegraph, we would not even be aware of the expenses scandal, as Parliament attempted to evade reform of the expenses system, led by Harriet Harman. According to the Telegraph, Harman claimed £10,000 on hiring Scarlett MccGwire for consultancy services including her bid to become deputy leader in 2007. Although she denied it, who can believe her when she wanted MPs to be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, which could have resulted in one big redaction. Redaction, the latest buzzword of the corrupt, was to be found all over the release of the expenses that MPs had incurred at taxpayers’ expense. Apparently they still do not understand the public anger, yet they still tried to hide behind blanked out text. Thankfully the Telegraph came to the rescue again and showed the MPs for what they were. One casualty however of the expenses scandal was former Speaker of the House Michael Martin, now replaced by Tory MP John Bercow. Perhaps there is hope for Brown after all. It would not be too much to say that the Tories were livid at the election of Bercow, who is perhaps more Labour in his views than Labour. An MP who supported gay adoption and who quit the front bench of Michael ‘Something of the Night’ Howard when he attempted to move Bercow from the brief of international development. Brown is probably thinking that the one reason why Berlusconi remains in power, despite his wife wanting to divorce a man who “frequents minors”, is because the opposition is unelectable.