BBC - Owen Jones

[Casually Red]

he says some good stuff, thats all . If it makes some people sit up and think about issues its a positive in my view

mind you if hes sticking up for chavs hes a little cunt

 

[Libertad]

he says some good stuff, thats all . If it makes some people sit up and think about issues its a positive in my view

mind you if hes sticking up for chavs hes a little cunt

He's failed in your case then.

 

[Joe Reilly]

FFS cantsin ! "there's no one else out there who's going to be taking on filth like Simon Danzcuk like he does". Actually there's a million genuine Left activists with an actual record of struggle perfectly capable of ripping shits like Simon Danzcuk a second aresehole in any debate !quote]

.

As per usual as good as 100% wrong. The media didn't select a glib Jones out of a cast of millions but rather because he is the only one routinely available to them who can credibly, in the interests of balance, forward a counter argument, given that all the professional politicians either know nothing of the working class or are simply 'agin em'. 'Credibly' is the operative word.

Simply put 'Left activists with and actual record of struggle' are the same people mired in generations of failure who have also time and again been rejected resoundly by the constituency they claim to represent.

So should your 'Left activist' make a telling point the Simon Danzcuk of this world would automatically question his/her credentials. 'That's all very well, but how then do you explain why, when you stood for SA/SLP/Left Unity you got exactly 16 votes' and so on.
End of credibility. End of debate. Embarassment all round.

It would be like Kirsty Wark or Paxman introducing a guest to discuss the finer points of medical ethics knowing full well that said guest had, despite the adoption of various aliases, had repeatedly been found out and struck off.

 

[butchersapron]

I wonder - given the looming strike vote - if Jones is freelance at the Independent or on the wage-bill. And if the former, what solidarity action he will be taking as regards turning in his column that week.

 

[butchersapron]

...and i'm not asking that in a snide, oh i doubt he'll put his money where his mouth is way, but recent strikes have been undermined by people saying sorry guv nothing to do with me, i'm freelance (esp in the media) and it would be pretty useful to publicly blow a hole in the idea that unless you're in the specific union/section of the workplace/on exact same contract etc then you cannot take any work based solidarity action.

 

[frogwoman]

...and i'm not asking that in a snide, oh i doubt he'll put his money where his mouth is way, but recent strikes have been undermined by people saying sorry guv nothing to do with me, i'm freelance (esp in the media) and it would be pretty useful to publicly blow a hole in the idea that unless you're in the specific union/section of the workplace/on exact same contract etc then you cannot take any work based solidarity action.

Completely agree with you mate. He'd be losing very little by taking solidarity action too.

 

[Maurice Picarda]

There are far more strike ballots at national newspapers than there are strikes, so it's a hypothetical question and likely to remain so.

 

[butchersapron]

There are far more strike ballots at national newspapers than there are strikes, so it's a hypothetical question and likely to remain so.

There are far more strike ballots than strikes everywhere almost by definition.

 

[ViolentPanda]

There are far more strike ballots at national newspapers than there are strikes, so it's a hypothetical question and likely to remain so.

Thanks for that homily, Maurice.

 

[Maurice Picarda]

Thanks for that homily, Maurice.

The newspaper business is the only unionised industry I've ever worked in, so I have no idea how typical it is. How one sentence can qualify as a "homily" is between you and your dictionary.

Point is, I'm not quite sure how sabre-rattling is meant to affect non-unionised workers, or what "solidarity" is meant to consist of, when disputes are only at a negotiation stage and likely to remain so.

 

[butchersapron]

It's the only unionised industry I've ever worked in, so I have no idea how typical it is. Point is, I'm not quite sure how sabre-rattling is meant to affect non-unionised workers, or what "solidarity" is meant to consist of, when disputes are only at a negotiation stage and likely to remain so.

Who said he's non union? And i was asking about his possible actions after a ballot for a strike had been won and acted on - not before.

 

[Maurice Picarda]

Who said he's non union? And i was asking about his possible actions after a ballot for a strike had been won and acted on - not before.

Presumably there's a difference between being an NUJ member and a member of the local chapel. And you're talking about whether he'd submit a column on the week of a enabling vote for action, not on the week of any (unlikely) action itself.

 

[butchersapron]

I'm pretty sure of what i was asking thanks. And it concerned his actions if there was an ongoing strike during a period in which he is supposed to produce a column. Stop being silly.

 

[rekil]

The view from the balcony #DurhamMinersGala pic.twitter.com/FA9TQyUFrp

He's gone a bit Eva Peron.

 

[Maurice Picarda]

Has there actually been a strike on a British national newspaper since Wapping?

 

[Maurice Picarda]

Presumably not, then.

 

[rekil]

So rude. The bubble is as the bubble does. And it's still unclear whether it's "payback in 2015" or not.

 

[J Ed]

Make those blue and yellow Tories really pay by voting for red Tories!

 

[Spanky Longhorn]

I'm pretty sure of what i was asking thanks. And it concerned his actions if there was an ongoing strike during a period in which he is supposed to produce a column. Stop being silly.

tbh I'd be very surprised if he doesn't demonstrate solidarity in some way that we can all agree with here.

 

[smokedout]

I'm sure his editor will understand the need to maintain his brand.

 

[Spanky Longhorn]

I'm sure his editor will understand the need to maintain his brand.

Why wouldn't he show genuine solidarity?

Some people seem to think that just because he believes in a different strand of socialism to them he must be a cynical hack...

 

[butchersapron]

Just to go back a bit:

'Private Eye reveals Labour MP Simon Danczuk "earns" £1K per day advising PFI firms. '


Anyone seen the piece?

 

[yield]

Just to go back a bit:

'Private Eye reveals Labour MP Simon Danczuk "earns" £1K per day advising PFI firms. '


Anyone seen the piece?

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/130708/danczuk_simon.htm

From 1 February 2013, Non-Executive Director, providing business advice for Shine-Bid Services Ltd, The Design Works, 93-99 Goswell Road, London, EC1V 7EY. Remuneration of up to £1,000 per month, for 1 day per month.

2 May 2013, received £1,000. Hours: 8 hrs. (Registered 19 June 2013; updated 3 July 2013)

 

[butchersapron]

He's a proper chiseler - seems to spend a lot of his time looking for ways to make money, a bit here (pollsters stuff) a bit there (PFI stuff) and bit that is kept quiet (the outside businesses - gone under or carrying on).

 

[Jeff Robinson]

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/130708/danczuk_simon.htm

I see that 'Shine-Bid Services Ltd' have produced a booklet entitled 'Bid Brutal: A Relentless Will to Win'. Everyone involved in that company should be made to suffer really badly.

 

[sihhi]

*chuffed I have a Labour Left MP*

https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/356846316149669889

Well, my local MP is Jeremy Corbyn so I’d get neither me or Liam Byrne

 

[sihhi]

Some 'democratic' credibility for the cutters at CIPFA: http://www.cipfaannualconference.org.uk/programme/10-july

Fairness? Panel discussion speakers:

Owen Jones, The Independent columnist and author of Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class

Dr Derrick Anderson, CEO, London Borough of Lambeth

Tim Montgomerie, Comment editor, The Times, Conservative blogger and commentator

What kind of society will we be living in come 2020 and what can we do to shape it? Can the transformations brought on by this unprecedented period of recession and a new approach to politics result in a more equitable and balanced society?

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Despite coming from a senior Spiked contributor this is spot on:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/b...tic-tribe-to-be-fawned-over-and-photographed/

"So his starting point is pity, not solidarity, a lofty Dickens-like concern for the down-at-heel rather than any experience or understanding of working people’s resourcefulness. To Mr Jones, the miners of Durham are just more vulnerable people to be fawned over, congratulated for surviving.
Of course, Mr Jones isn’t the only young Leftist who looks upon working people as ordinary yet heroic, savage as well as noble. Who can forget when the radical anti-tax dodging collective UK Uncut invited its impeccably middle-class members to attend one of its demos “dressed as a worker” – a PC version of blacking up. Or when a Royal College of Art Student designed “Arthur Scargill chic” clothes, including a green donkey jacket and tatty bobble hats, for youths to dress up in. It seems that for the new generation of Leftists, born after the political defeat of working-class movements, workers are just odd creatures from a bygone era, whose hilarious styles we should copy and whose sad, little villages we should visit and check into on Facebook."

 

[nino_savatte]

What's Brendan O'Neill doing for the working class, I wonder?

Fuck all. That's what.

 

[JHE]

Despite coming from a senior Spiked contributor this is spot on:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/b...tic-tribe-to-be-fawned-over-and-photographed/

"So his starting point is pity, not solidarity, a lofty Dickens-like concern for the down-at-heel rather than any experience or understanding of working people’s resourcefulness. To Mr Jones, the miners of Durham are just more vulnerable people to be fawned over, congratulated for surviving.
Of course, Mr Jones isn’t the only young Leftist who looks upon working people as ordinary yet heroic, savage as well as noble. Who can forget when the radical anti-tax dodging collective UK Uncut invited its impeccably middle-class members to attend one of its demos “dressed as a worker” – a PC version of blacking up. Or when a Royal College of Art Student designed “Arthur Scargill chic” clothes, including a green donkey jacket and tatty bobble hats, for youths to dress up in. It seems that for the new generation of Leftists, born after the political defeat of working-class movements, workers are just odd creatures from a bygone era, whose hilarious styles we should copy and whose sad, little villages we should visit and check into on Facebook."

Spiked publishes some decent articles, but I'd be a little surprised to find that particular extract is spot on. The only place I have come across UK Uncut is in Nottingham and there they didn't seem a very posh or privileged bunch to me. Perhaps I didn't look or listen closely enough. Alternatively, perhaps UK Uncut are hoity-toity in Henley and Hampstead, but normal in Nottingham and Norwood.

In any case, their demands, though not radical, are perfectly legitimate. It is sickening how some rich people and companies get away with not paying tax.