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campaign against welfare cuts and poverty

Imagine said:
At his first PMQs Ed Miliband has just pledged support for the ConDems on DLA and sickness benefits cuts "as these reforms (sic) need to be done". :mad:
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tbh, that's hardly surprising, given the fact that labour put the framework for such "reforms" in place in the first instance anyway.
 
At his first PMQs Ed Miliband has just pledged support for the ConDems on DLA and sickness benefits cuts "as these reforms (sic) need to be done".


Are you sure?, DLA hasn't been cut yet and there have been no announcements on changes to DLA yet
 
treelover said:
At his first PMQs Ed Miliband has just pledged support for the ConDems on DLA and sickness benefits cuts "as these reforms (sic) need to be done".


Are you sure?, DLA hasn't been cut yet and there have been no announcements on changes to DLA yet
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From Hansard:

Edward Miliband: I thank the Prime Minister for that answer and for undertaking to keep the House informed. He has our full support on the issue.

Let me turn to the issue of benefits and say to the Prime Minister that we will work with him on his reforms to disability living allowance and to sickness benefits, because they are important reforms and they need to be done.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmtoday/cmdebate/02.htm#d2e731
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I emailed my MP anyway, but considering she's climbing up the greasy pole and has a job with the DWP I'm not setting my hopes up too high.
 
It looks like benefits and welfare are going to be decimated to pay for the pupil premium and other 'derserving welfare' choices.
 
treelover said:
It looks like benefits and welfare are going to be decimated to pay for the pupil premium and other 'derserving welfare' choices.
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This is weird because it looks like they might be both the same groups of people - kids on free school meals getting extra help - good but then they take it away with housing benefit and other benefit caps off those same people. (Take it with one hand then give back a tiny amount again)
 
going to school= taking opportunities so deserving poor


claiming means tested benefits=scrounging so undeserving poor
 
'The Department for Work and Pensions is also planning to name and shame offenders in their local areas. Tomorrow it will start by releasing two examples of people found guilty of fraud. One is Sean Christopher Hill, who claimed £10,000 in benefits by saying he was too sick to work. In fact, he had started working as a doorman and later became a nightclub bouncer.He was ordered to repay the money and carry out 200 hours community service.'


This is getting medieval, once upon a time it was the fraud officers who were 'named and shamed'

and no I am not defending this guy, but these measures brought in by the millionaire Banker Freud stink..
 
treelover said:
'The Department for Work and Pensions is also planning to name and shame offenders in their local areas. Tomorrow it will start by releasing two examples of people found guilty of fraud. One is Sean Christopher Hill, who claimed £10,000 in benefits by saying he was too sick to work. In fact, he had started working as a doorman and later became a nightclub bouncer.He was ordered to repay the money and carry out 200 hours community service.'


This is getting medieval, once upon a time it was the fraud officers who were 'named and shamed'

and no I am not defending this guy, but these measures brought in by the millionaire Banker Freud stink..
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how they gonna do this? I thought they were already named and shamed in the court case? Are they now gonna be forced to wear some leper type insignia?
And will the govt be liable if some right wing fruitcakes attack them in the street?
 
Alan Johnson has just said LP will not oppose the Condems welfare reforms ''[as they follow exactly what they, (NL) were planning...'

what is the point of the LP?
 
treelover said:
Alan Johnson has just said LP will not oppose the Condems welfare reforms ''[as they follow exactly what they, (NL) were planning...'

what is the point of the LP?
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it's a great chance for everyone to unite against the real Tory scum - wasted. Lily livered establishment whores scared to rock the boat - just keep their gravy train going and who cares about the poor in society?
 
Went along to the protest today in Cambridge. From a cynical perspective, it went like this:

1) Gathered at point A
2) Speeches as point A on how 'orrible the Government is
3) Marched towards point B
4) Loud people with louder speakers chanting repetitive stuff
5) Fluffy people handing out fliers
6) Arrive at point B - the Guildhall
7) More chanting, and loudspeaker messages about sending a message to the Council (despite it being the weekend when no one is there)
8) Move into the main hall
9) ELEVEN speeches from various people about how 'orrible the Government is and what we must do
10) Everyone goes home

From a cynical perspective, the usual suspects were there:

"Would you like to buy a copy of...
- The Socialist Worker?
- Socialist Resistance?
- The Socialist?
- The Weekly Worker?"

"Would you like to join...
- The Socialist Workers' Party?
- The Socialist Party?
- The University's Marxist Society?
- The University's Socialist Society?"

Sorry chaps - I thought I came along to a protest, not a paper sale.

What was nice to see was:
- The number of different unions represented
- The diversity of people who were there - including non-usual suspects
- The number of people who turned out at short notice
- A couple of the speakers who were very good at public speaking and/or made the case for alternatives

Now...what next?

Now, part of me was thinking: "Meh...it's Party for Communistic Socialism vs the Socialistic Party for Communism vs the Communistic Socialist Party on what we should do in order to create the ideal conditions for the overthrow of the imperialistic capitalistic classes responsible for this disgraceful, disgusting, diabolical assault on the historical hard won rights and freedoms of the working classes."

But another part of me was thinking:

"Actually, this is quite a good start. Although I may not agree with a number of people on a variety of things, or may be critical of their past actions, they are still going to get screwed over by these cuts as I am."

The number and diversity of people who might be inclined to get involved I think is a huge opportunity for trade unions in particular to bring in the wealth of skills and talents of their membership (i.e. not just their regular activists) to help things along. Some will have strengths in different places than others. For example some will be excellent public speakers, others will be very good at face-to-face persuasion. Some may be very talented artists (good for banners and placards) while others may have a way with words. Some may be computer wizards who can get websites up and running - and maintained, while others will be very good at ensuring the logistics of meetings, workshops and events are sorted so everything runs smoothly. Others may be able to put on alternative events - music sessions, pub quizzes, comedy nights - if we are going to get out and about, lets have some fun at the same time!

This is where guides such as http://libcom.org/organise, http://www.campaignstrategy.org/index.php or http://www.schnews.org.uk/diyguide/idiotsguidetomeetings.htm can be useful for those of us not familiar with campaigning.

So...that's a little flavour of the constructive suggestions I'm going to be looking to contribute in the "how do we do the stuff we need to do" sessions that are going to be taking place in my neck of the woods in the near future. What other ideas do others have?
 
One other thing to add: Let's use the Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations to put the spotlight on "due process"

For every single area that is being cut, the following should have been done:

- Equalities Impact Assessment
- Economic Impact Assessment
(Where applicable) Environmental Impact Assessment

It's normally good practice when options are on the table to undertake a risk scoping exercise. So for every area that is being cut, via http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/ (because then everyone can see the answers!) feel free to submit FoI requests asking for:

- Confirmation that the impact assessments have been carried out
- Publication of those impact assessments
- Confirmation that risk scoping exercises have been undertaken
- Publication of a summary of the results of that exercise
- A list of the top 10 risks to the delivery of those cuts. (These will indicate who will be affected the worst)
 
(Basically if departments are aware of risks, are shown publically to be aware of risks and are shown not to have done anything about it, things get messy. Ditto if they are shown not to have undertaken reasonable actions to identify, assess and mitigate any risks associated with given policies).
 
briefing document by the TUC on welfare reforms

http://www.tuc.org.uk/mediacentre/tuc-18647-f0.cfm

and apparently they had a protest outside the DWP on monday, no media coverage

'Yesterday (Thursday) four case studies protested outside the DWP in London and in Strictly Come Dancing style held up '0 points' cards awarding Atos Origin Ltd zero points for the service received. Pictures are available from the press office.'
 
PM, the radio 4 programme has just covered Smiths draconian welfare cuts, etc(based on Nl's) it was balanced and incisive, well worth listening to...
 
What a clueless twat.

Look and learn from across the Irish Sea

A generation ago it would have seemed ridiculous to go to Ireland for economics lessons. Not any more

George Osborne

A GENERATION ago, the very idea that a British politician would go to Ireland to see how to run an economy would have been laughable. The Irish Republic was seen as Britain’s poor and troubled country cousin, a rural backwater on the edge of Europe. Today things are different. Ireland stands as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking, and that is why I am in Dublin: to listen and to learn.

After centuries of lower incomes, Irish average incomes are now 20 per cent higher than in the UK. After being held back for decades, the productivity of Irish companies — the yardstick of economic performance — has grown three times as quickly as ours over the past ten years. Young Irish families once emigrated in their millions to seek a better life overseas; these days it is young people across Europe who come to Ireland to find good jobs. Dublin’s main evening newspaper even carries a Polish-language supplement.

Ireland is no longer on the edge of Europe but is instead an Atlantic bridge. High-tech companies such as Intel, Oracle and Apple have chosen to base their European operations there. I will be asking Google executives today why they set up in Dublin, not London. It is the kind of question I wish the Chancellor of the Exchequer was asking.

What has caused this Irish miracle, and how can we in Britain emulate it? Three lessons stand out. First, Ireland’s education system is world-class. On various different rankings it is placed either third or fourth in the world. By contrast, Britain is ranked 33rd and our poor education performance is repeatedly identified by organisations such as the OECD as our greatest weakness. It is not difficult to see why. Staying ahead in a global economy will mean staying at the cutting edge of technological innovation, and using that to boost our productivity. To do that you need the best-educated workforce possible. It is telling that even limited education reform is proving such a struggle for the Prime Minister.

Secondly, the Irish understand that staying ahead in innovation requires world class research and development. Using the best R&D, businesses can grow and make the most of the huge opportunities that exist in the world. That is why it is shocking that the level of R&D spending actually fell in Britain last year. Ireland’s intellectual property laws give incentives for companies to innovate, and the tax system gives huge incentives to turn R&D into the finished article. No tax is paid on revenue from intellectual property where the underlying R&D work was carried out in Ireland. While the Treasury here fiddles with its complex R&D tax credit system, I want to examine whether we could not adopt elements of Ireland's simple and effective approach.

Thirdly, in a world where cheap, rapid communication means that investment decisions are made on a global basis, capital will go wherever investment is most attractive. Ireland’s business tax rates are only 12.5 per cent, while Britain's are becoming among the highest in the developed world.

Economic stability must come before promises of tax cuts. If, over time, you reduce the share of national income taken by the State, then you can share the proceeds of growth between investment in public services and sustainably lower taxes. In Britain, the Left have us stuck debating a false choice. They suggest you have to choose between lower taxes and public services. Yet in Ireland they have doubled spending on public services in the past decade while reducing taxes and shrinking the State’s share of national income. So not only does Ireland now have lower business and income taxes than the UK, there are also twice as many hospital beds per head of population.

World-class education, high rates of innovation and an attractive climate for investment: these are all elements that have helped to raise productivity in Ireland. It is not the only advanced economy to have achieved this uplift. Last week in Washington the new Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, told me about the impact that the sustained increase in productivity growth had made in generating prosperity in the US. By contrast, in Britain productivity growth has fallen in recent years and is far behind the likes of the US and Ireland. Indeed, it is one fifth the rate it was when Gordon Brown walked into the Treasury. Poor skill levels, rising taxes, bureaucratic planning controls and chronic overregulation are high on the list of culprits. Britain is being left behind.

Faced with the extraordinary rise of economies such as China, India and Brazil, many European governments seem to have accepted that long-term decline is inevitable. I detect a similar pessimism here. How on earth, people ask, will we ever compete in such a fiercely competitive world? The Chancellor’s answer is to put up the shutters and stick on a path of ever-higher taxation and an ever- growing State. But you cannot shut out the future.

The new global economy poses real long-term challenges to Britain, but also real opportunities for us to prosper and succeed. In Ireland they understand this. They have freed their markets, developed the skills of their workforce, encouraged enterprise and innovation and created a dynamic economy. They have much to teach us, if only we are willing to learn.
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article733821.ece
 
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