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Showing posts with label EMA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EMA. Show all posts
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
What has happened to the student movement?
Is a very good question since two big demonstrations one a lot smaller and angrier than the last 2013 has been a somewhat quieter year for the students movement.
Not being a student myself I look on from outside but the anger on tuition fees, lack of EMA, rental prices for students, cost of studying all haven’t gone away surely and the anger can’t have either.
No doubt much of this lack of fight can be laid at the door of the NUS who have failed to mobilise students to defend education and mount a challenge to this rotten government.
Socialist students which are affiliated to the socialist party have been doing excellent work on campuses up and down the country having our best year yet in terms of numbers. But our influence is still small. We will be putting pressure and calling on the NUS to organise a national demonstration this autumn very shortly.
There have been small victories and incidents Sussex university had a fantastic demonstration with an occupation which was disgracefully evicted a while back now in protest over privatisation of the education system. Again NUS did not show up most students now are starting to fight without their own union of students this is a worry but not unsurprising given the role the NUS places with its pro labour party leadership and timid outlook.
Recently a victory at Birmingham university has shown an example how students and workers when they unite can win victories even on a small scale and not totally resolved is a good start and shows we can win.
Maintenance & support staff at University of Birmingham are celebrating near-total victory as university management have abandoned restructuring plans. 361 Hospitalist and Accomodation Services (HAS) staff faced compulsory redundancy, pay cuts and being forced to work anti-social hours under plans announced in March; the £407,000-a-year pay packet of the Vice-Chancellor would have been unaffected. The University also planned to force staff to work weekends and holidays for no extra pay. These plans have all been dropped and staff has won extra flexibility in setting their own schedules.
Edmund Schluessel - NUS NEC-elect, UCU and Socialist Students
Birmingham University Unison worked closely in partnership with the students’ union, Birmingham Guild of Students, to fight back against the cuts and job losses. Staff and students demonstrated together against university management on May Day, and, in a major show of solidarity, the Students’ Union put out a call for a national student mobilisation in support of the Birmingham HAS staff.
In a statement, student campaigning group, Birmingham Defend Education, said, “This outcome demonstrates that protest and direct action work. Unions were negotiating on these issues behind the scenes for two months, whilst the University kept announcing further attacks. As soon as they started to sign up large numbers of new members and talk about strike action, and we sent our statement to David Eastwood, the University abandoned the majority of their attacks within two weeks. This also illustrates the power of students and staff when working together. We should remember that staff and students, not management, are what make the University work. If we recognise this, and the power that we have when we stop doing what we’re told, we can claim the
conditions of work and study that we want to see.”
The problem of low pay remains unresolved. Many maintenance staff at Birmingham and dozens of other universities is paid only the national minimum wage, while the university makes annual profits of nearly £30 million. Lecturers and other uni staff on the national pay spine have received real-terms pay cuts every year since 2009. The five-way consortium of university trade unions, consisting of UCU (lecturers), Unison, Unite, GMB (all support staff) and EIS (teaching trade union), are meeting with employers on the 21st to discuss the latest 0.8% pay offer. The five unions should
unanimously reject the offer and prepare for national coordinated action to stop the pay cuts and job losses, and push the TUC (Trade Union Congress) to name the day for a 24-hour general strike against all the cuts. As an incoming Socialist Students member of the National Union of Students’ (NUS) executive I will push for NUS to learn from Birmingham students’ example and to give the fullest possible support to any action in defence of education and against the cuts.
Once students come back after the summer there will be new angry students paying higher fees getting charged even more to live and get by. It’s a disgrace that the NUS would rather spend their time doing pointless survey’s and focus on the smaller issues not that they are not important but when our whole education system is at threat surely their priorities could be better placed.
With socialist students getting its first member elected on to the NEC of the NUS in Edmund Schluessel we can now begin to gain influence beyond our own ranks.
A statement put out by Edmund on socialist students website said that students need a voice and for too long the NUS has not represented the real views of students on the ground. Our aim is to turn the NUS into a fighting union to give students hope and an avenue to fight back in.
Socialist student’s basic aims and demands are:
What We Stand For
Education
Abolish tuition fees. Write off student debt.
Restore EMA. Campaign for full living grants to cover the living costs of all students in post-16 education – including those at university.
No to higher and further education funding cuts. Defend every course, job and service.
No to academies and Free Schools.
For exam boards and all other privatised services to be taken back into public ownership – no repeat of this year’s exam mistakes fiasco!
Stop the marketisation and privatisation of universities in Britain. No to
the government’s white paper and a two-tier Higher Education system. No
university should be allowed to go to the wall!
Lift the cap on places and publicly fund the expansion of high quality higher
education.
Build local anti-cuts campaigns and ‘Youth Fight for Education’ groups in every school, college and university, linked on both a regional and a national level.
Support action taken by education workers to defend their conditions and our education –their fight is our fight.
For the transformation of Students’ Unions into fighting organisations, with
bottom-up democratic structures.
For a fighting NUS.
For education that is fully funded, publicly owned, democratically run and
universally free at all levels – a socialist education system.
Work and Welfare
Support the Youth Fight for Jobs campaign.
No to mass youth unemployment- for a decent job for all.
No to the government’s slave labour ‘workfare’ schemes. For decent training opportunities and apprenticeships for young people which pay at least the minimum wage, with a guaranteed job at the end.
No job losses in the public or private sector. When private bosses claim they can’t afford to maintain jobs, we say open the books. Let us see where the money has gone.
For nationalisation of companies threatening closure, under democratic control with compensation given on the basis of proven need.
Fight for a minimum wage of at least £8 an hour as a step towards a living wage.
No cuts to housing or other benefits.
End lower benefit rates for young people – for the right to Job Seekers Allowance at 16.
No to ‘workfare’ and slave labour internships. For decent jobs paid at least a minimum wage of £8 an hour.
Support the National Shop Stewards’ Network anti-cuts campaign which fights all cuts to jobs and services
The immediate re-opening of all youth services that have been closed, including reinstating sacked staff.
Rights
Defend the right to protest. No to the victimisation of student protesters. For the right to organise in every school, college and campus.
No to ‘kettling’ and police violence on demonstrations.
No to racism, sexism, homophobia and all other forms of discrimination.
Fight the far-right racist BNP and EDL. Jobs, homes and services- not racism. Build mass campaigns to defend communities.
No platform for fascists in education.
Rape is never the victim’s fault. For a mass campaign against sexism.
No to reactionary attacks on women’s rights.
Defend and extend abortion rights.
No to the three main bosses’ parties. For a new mass workers’ party that fights in the interests of ordinary people.
For International Solidarity and Socialism
For solidarity between working class and young people across the world.
Solidarity with the Arab Spring – No to western intervention – it is on behalf of big business and capitalism.
No to war and imperialist intervention. For the Immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.
End the siege of Gaza.
No to Trident nuclear missile replacement
Support the Sri Lanka Tamil Solidarity campaign – for the right of all people to self-determination.
No to environmental destruction. For a sustainable democratic socialist plan of production that won’t destroy the planet.
No to capitalism. For a socialist world, where the big monopolies are taken into public ownership, the economy is democratically planned and resources are used to meet the needs of all humanity.
A campaign for students must start here. As terms are drawing to a close exams are being taken work must start now for action in the autumn to defend education and to fight for free education for the many not just the few.
Sunday, 14 October 2012
24 reasons for a 24 hour general strike
Below I will describe 24 reasons as to why we need a 24 hour general strike to bring down this gov or at least start the fightback to doing so.
So without any further waiting1
1.. the carving up of the welfare state by this con-dem government. The biggest cuts we’ve sen to welfare for a generation.
2. The privatisation and the passing of the health and social care bill meaning an end to the NHS as we knew it.
3. The trebling o tuition fees, enough to rile any young person today university tuition fees now are on average 9K a year.
4. Slashing of EMA for young people to stay on and get an education.
5. Over 1 million young people are now unemployed no thanks to this government of Tory millionaires.
6. The criminal slave labour workfare scheme making young people work for nothing to get their benefits.
7. 5 million officially on the housing waiting list and very few truly affordable council homes.
8. While the poor get poorer the rich get richer every week. Gap of weather between the very rich and very poor widening under this gov unlike any other gov .
9. The continued use of ATOS by this government assessing disabled people driving many to suicide due to the stress of it all.
10. Public sector pensions cut we’ll now be working longer, paying more and getting less for it.
11. cutting of housing benefit to those under the age of 25 making it near on impossible for young people to find home of their own let alone afford one.
12. new food banks are opening up every week in Britain, this is not widely reported but is a absolute disgrace, Not that they are opening to help those in need but the fact that we are one of the richest nations in the world and still yet have food banks.
13. Rising unemployment and those who are under employed in total that figure looks more around the 6 million mark a shocking statistic whatever way you look at it.
14. A slash and burn culture on our employment rights. Tories wish to be able to sack us on the spot to improve competitiveness in the private sector. This is all about driving down wages, terms and conditions.
15. Pay day loan sharks. Wonga, the pay-day loan company, saw its profits almost treble last year to £45.8 million. The number of people seeking a loan from Wonga to bridge the gap between stagnant wages and rocketing bills and food prices, has quadrupled.
With an interest rate of 4,214% APR, Wonga and companies like it trap people in a poverty cycle for years.
16. A massive plan to privatise almost everything that moves. Including our NHS, police, Ambulance services, local council services, Bus’s, trains you name it al to their rich mates in the private sector to make a nice quick buck out of.
17. The news international and Murdoch scandals phone hacking and the closeness of politicians to the media and the police is beyond comprehension. Corruption goes deep at the heart of the establishment in Britain.
18. Only an estimated 15% of the cuts have been made making another 85% still to come a fight back is needed now to stop the cuts in their tracks before the rest rain down on us.
19. The Libor fixing rate affecting millions of workers
20. Government-instigated hate campaigns against the disabled and unemployed
21. Banks laundering drug money
22. Still billions being wasted on pointless wars in Afghanistan where our troops are being needlessly killed and for what? British imperialism. Troops out now.
23. PCS estimate 120 billion pounds goes evaded every ear by big business and corporations this could pay for most if not all of the deficit in one fail swoop, Tax the rich or take their wealth off them for good.
24. Together we can win. If we stand together fight together fight every cut up and down the land we can win. But we must have an alternative and that alternative must be a fight to end capitalism for good replacing it with democratic socialism.
Of course there are far more reasons for a general strike like the disgusting closing and treatment of the Remply workers and the attacks on education by Michael Gove such as Free schools, academies and the changing of the GCSE marking which are all fair enough reasons to strike against this gov.
The need for a serious and determined resistance is clear - which is why the historic vote by the TUC to pass the POA prison officer union's motion is so important.
It called for "coordinated action where possible with far reaching campaigns including the consideration and practicalities of a general strike".
This offers us a way to take on the Con-Dem cuts.
The Socialist, a weekly paper of the Socialist Party, is 100% committed to backing and building the campaign to make this happen.
We back the likes of Bob Crow, Mark Serwotka and others who have called on the TUC to now name the date for as soon as possible after the 20 October demo.
Sunday, 12 August 2012
The potential for Socialist Students
The socialist party has had various student organisations and even back to our militant days we were always heavily involved in the Labour Party young Socialists. With the success of youth Fight for jobs which is still only a few years old itself Socialist Students is our party’s latest attempt to gain a voice for students on university and college campuses up and down the country. I’m excited about this prospect with Hertfordshire University set to have its new society set up for the new academic year.
There are already successful socialist students societies set up and functioning across the country you may wish to check some of them and our website out at
http://socialiststudents.org.uk/wp/
the potential for recruits and the spread of socialist ideas is vast in today’s world young people especially are out there newly radicalised looking for answers to why they are having to pay huge fees while the most wealthy in society walk away with golden goodbyes whilst being able to bring the world economy to its knees. We aim to answer your questions and allow you to have a voice on campus and beyond. To join the fight to change society for the 99%.
Student’s politics I’ve been told is a messy affair with lots of bitching and infighting within the scene but as Socialist students we are not interested in the sectarian nature of what is thought of as student politics. We’re here to provide a voice, an arena for discussion and to get students organised in what is one of the most difficult times for students ever.
With the tripling of tuition fees and the cutting of EMA there is plenty of reasons for students to be angry and want to hit back. We advocate a constructive fight back putting forward an alternative of free education and support for all students whatever background you are from.
What We Stand For
Education
Abolish tuition fees. Write off student debt.
Restore EMA. Campaign for full living grants to cover the living costs of all students in post-16 education – including those at university.
No to higher and further education funding cuts. Defend every course, job and service.
No to academies and Free Schools.
For exam boards and all other privatised services to be taken back into public ownership – no repeat of this year’s exam mistakes fiasco!
Stop the marketisation and privatisation of universities in Britain. No to
the government’s white paper and a two-tier Higher Education system. No
university should be allowed to go to the wall!
Lift the cap on places and publicly fund the expansion of high quality higher
education.
Build local anti-cuts campaigns and ‘Youth Fight for Education’ groups in every school, college and university, linked on both a regional and a national level.
Support action taken by education workers to defend their conditions and our education –their fight is our fight.
For the transformation of Students’ Unions into fighting organisations, with
bottom-up democratic structures.
For a fighting NUS.
For education that is fully funded, publicly owned, democratically run and
universally free at all levels – a socialist education system.
Work and Welfare
Support the Youth Fight for Jobs campaign.
No to mass youth unemployment- for a decent job for all.
No to the government’s slave labour ‘workfare’ schemes. For decent training opportunities and apprenticeships for young people which pay at least the minimum wage, with a guaranteed job at the end.
No job losses in the public or private sector. When private bosses claim they can’t afford to maintain jobs, we say open the books. Let us see where the money has gone.
For nationalisation of companies threatening closure, under democratic control with compensation given on the basis of proven need.
Fight for a minimum wage of at least £8 an hour as a step towards a living wage.
No cuts to housing or other benefits.
End lower benefit rates for young people – for the right to Job Seekers Allowance at 16.
No to ‘workfare’ and slave labour internships. For decent jobs paid at least a minimum wage of £8 an hour.
Support the National Shop Stewards’ Network anti-cuts campaign which fights all cuts to jobs and services
The immediate re-opening of all youth services that have been closed, including reinstating sacked staff.
Rights
Defend the right to protest. No to the victimisation of student protesters. For the right to organise in every school, college and campus.
No to ‘kettling’ and police violence on demonstrations.
No to racism, sexism, homophobia and all other forms of discrimination.
Fight the far-right racist BNP and EDL. Jobs, homes and services- not racism. Build mass campaigns to defend communities.
No platform for fascists in education.
Rape is never the victim’s fault. For a mass campaign against sexism.
No to reactionary attacks on women’s rights.
Defend and extend abortion rights.
No to the three main bosses’ parties. For a new mass workers’ party that fights in the interests of ordinary people.
For International Solidarity and Socialism
For solidarity between working class and young people across the world.
Solidarity with the Arab Spring – No to western intervention – it is on behalf of big business and capitalism.
No to war and imperialist intervention. For the Immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.
End the siege of Gaza.
No to Trident nuclear missile replacement
Support the Sri Lanka Tamil Solidarity campaign – for the right of all people to self-determination.
No to environmental destruction. For a sustainable democratic socialist plan of production that won’t destroy the planet.
No to capitalism. For a socialist world, where the big monopolies are taken into public ownership, the economy is democratically planned and resources are used to meet the needs of all humanity.
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Surprise surprise numbers of students applying to go to uni are down
The rise in university tuition fees in England is having an impact on applications, an expert panel has said.
The Independent Commission on Fees says there has been "a clear drop" in English students applying, compared with those from the rest of the UK.
The panel, headed by writer and academic Will Hutton, adds there has been no relative fall in applications from poorer areas.
Ministers say there is still "very strong demand" for university.
The Independent Commission on Fees is supported by the Sutton Trust, a charity which aims to improve educational opportunities for young people from disadvantaged homes.
It is examining the impact of the increase in fees, especially on those from poorer backgrounds.
'Clear drop'
Panel chairman Will Hutton, who is an Oxford college principal, said: "Although it is too early to draw any firm conclusions, this study provides initial evidence that increased fees have an impact on application behaviour.
"There is a clear drop in application numbers from English students when compared to their counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
This was all predicted by socialists who said that trebling tuition fees and cutting of EMA will have a toxic affect on our young people in this country. So at last concrete evidence to show that the government are actively putting off people to go. Making university education a right for only the very rich and those who can afford to go.
In its first report, the panel draws on statistics from the university admissions service Ucas, as well as a survey of the attitudes of some secondary school pupils.
The latest figures from Ucas, for June, showed applications from people in England were down 10% on the same time last year. In Wales, the drop was 2.9%, Northern Ireland 4.5% and Scotland 2.1%.
The University and College Union (UCU) said the figures were worrying.
The union's general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: "Young people not applying for university have few other opportunities with levels of high unemployment and the difficulty securing other forms of education or training.
"We need to be investing in our young people, not directing them towards a lengthy dole queue."
City and Guilds, the body behind many vocational qualifications and apprenticeships, says it has seen a dramatic rise in applications to higher level courses.
It says more than 700 people have registered to do level four courses (equivalent to post-A-level qualifications) this year - up from just under 300 last year.
Fees rise to a maximum of £9,000 a year at English universities from this autumn. They had been just over £3,000 a year.
Students from England will face higher fees wherever they study in the UK.
Fees will also rise in Wales and Northern Ireland but not for home students and students from Wales will be subsidised wherever they study in the UK
In Scotland, Scottish students will continue to pay no fees, although those coming from other parts of the UK will be eligible for fees of up to £9,000.
The socialist party stands for full complete free education for all. Education should be a right not just a judgement of how many pounds you have in your bank balance. The lies that the government used that this is a fairer system that students wouldn’t be paying anymore are clearly untrue and have been shown to be now. Its time all students united this autumn and got on the demonstrations planned by the NUS turn them into big militant demonstrations and force the government to retreat with its fees and cuts agenda. At the moment education is something which is out of many working class students hands I and many others want to change this for an all round fairer system a truly fair system which benefits everyone.
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
What hope is there for young people today in Britain ?
The situation for young people looks bleak today. No longer can young people look forward to a career in their chosen field. They will be lucky to even get to go to university to train for such a career.
Today in Britain we face a possibility of loosing a whole generation to the scrap heap. Young people today growing up will be worse off than their parents before, that for me is shocking and a crying inditement of this rotten capitalist system driven by profit not to meet people’s needs.
With EMA cut, tuition fees trebled and education becoming increasingly marketwise it is little wonder young people are left feeling frustrated despondent and helpless. With over 1 million young people out of work or training and continuing to raise this could be if it’s not already a very serious situation.
Quite simply there is just not the job out there it’s not the case that young people are lazy, feckless, work shy or any of the normal rubbish that is flung their way.
Youth fight for jobs is looking to give young people a voice to speak out about the plight of young people.
I featured an article on the austerity games held on Monday in London and this is just one part of Youth fight for jobs campaign to raise the idea of changing society to benefit young people who currently see no future.
The slogan “we won’t be a lost generation, fight for jobs and education” is very fitting and has been popularised throughout the student movement and beyond.
Students, young people and workers need to unite their common struggles groups like Youth fight for jobs which I think are unique as I don’t believe there are any other groups looking to give working class young people a voice again. Currently no political party cares or speaks for them. We need a party of our own a mass workers party putting forward an alternative which puts people’s needs first and ends the drive for profit over everything else.
I can fully understand young people’s anger and frustration at a lack of opportunities with a lack of jobs benefits being cut and being forced to work for your doll are all aimed to demonise young people. Luckily young people in Youth fight for jobs are fighting back and giving a lead.
We call for education to be completely free for all and higher education to be a right not a commodity that can be sold to the highest bidder, likewise with housing young people face a far more harder time getting on the housing ladder we believe housing should be a human right shelter should not be marketised and people’s needs should be met. If there are not the homes then we feel one solution should be to embark on mass real affordable homes not the 80% of market rate the Tories currently claim is affordable, real affordable homes where young people have a place to call their own. This would not only go some way to solving the housing crisis in this country but would at the same time put people back to work in construction industry and home developments making the new homes green and efficient to last in to the future. We have key demands that young people can take up pointing to councils like Southwark where EMA has been reintroduced and say if Southwark can do this why can’t other councils.
Do not accept the money is not there it is. It is locked up in the vaults of big business currently sitting pretty on 800 billion pounds they refuse to invest as they do not see any profitable outlet. We say that money should be progressively taxed and used to invest in public works which pay a good rate a living wage and are socially useful to society. With these key demands i’ve outlined young people can start to see a future a future for the 99% a future for all.
Today in Britain we face a possibility of loosing a whole generation to the scrap heap. Young people today growing up will be worse off than their parents before, that for me is shocking and a crying inditement of this rotten capitalist system driven by profit not to meet people’s needs.
With EMA cut, tuition fees trebled and education becoming increasingly marketwise it is little wonder young people are left feeling frustrated despondent and helpless. With over 1 million young people out of work or training and continuing to raise this could be if it’s not already a very serious situation.
Quite simply there is just not the job out there it’s not the case that young people are lazy, feckless, work shy or any of the normal rubbish that is flung their way.
Youth fight for jobs is looking to give young people a voice to speak out about the plight of young people.
I featured an article on the austerity games held on Monday in London and this is just one part of Youth fight for jobs campaign to raise the idea of changing society to benefit young people who currently see no future.
The slogan “we won’t be a lost generation, fight for jobs and education” is very fitting and has been popularised throughout the student movement and beyond.
Students, young people and workers need to unite their common struggles groups like Youth fight for jobs which I think are unique as I don’t believe there are any other groups looking to give working class young people a voice again. Currently no political party cares or speaks for them. We need a party of our own a mass workers party putting forward an alternative which puts people’s needs first and ends the drive for profit over everything else.
I can fully understand young people’s anger and frustration at a lack of opportunities with a lack of jobs benefits being cut and being forced to work for your doll are all aimed to demonise young people. Luckily young people in Youth fight for jobs are fighting back and giving a lead.
We call for education to be completely free for all and higher education to be a right not a commodity that can be sold to the highest bidder, likewise with housing young people face a far more harder time getting on the housing ladder we believe housing should be a human right shelter should not be marketised and people’s needs should be met. If there are not the homes then we feel one solution should be to embark on mass real affordable homes not the 80% of market rate the Tories currently claim is affordable, real affordable homes where young people have a place to call their own. This would not only go some way to solving the housing crisis in this country but would at the same time put people back to work in construction industry and home developments making the new homes green and efficient to last in to the future. We have key demands that young people can take up pointing to councils like Southwark where EMA has been reintroduced and say if Southwark can do this why can’t other councils.
Do not accept the money is not there it is. It is locked up in the vaults of big business currently sitting pretty on 800 billion pounds they refuse to invest as they do not see any profitable outlet. We say that money should be progressively taxed and used to invest in public works which pay a good rate a living wage and are socially useful to society. With these key demands i’ve outlined young people can start to see a future a future for the 99% a future for all.
Monday, 23 July 2012
Support the Austerity Games today, giving young people a voice to fightback !
Today takes place the austerity games in London on the doorstep of the Olympic village on Hackney Marsh's. At 2pm today the Austerity Games takes place organised by Youth Fight for jobs a organisation set up in 2009 with official union backing from multiple trade unions and with good solid links to the working class. The austerity games is a bit of fun but also with a serious point to highlight the plight of young people today in London and Britain as we see billions wasted on the corperate Olympic games.
Suzanne Beishon, London organiser, Youth Fight for Jobs and Education
A staggering £24 billion is expected to be spent on the Olympic Games, but young people face little enjoyment and no long term benefit from this costly outlay.
The inaccessible ticketing system means that most people living on the doorstep of the games will be watching the events through TV screens. Promises of jobs, homes and services from the Olympics already lie in the gutter.
An Olympic Development Authority report showed that, from 2008 until 2011, only 1,580 unemployed people got jobs on the Olympic site. Only 205 were from the Hackney Olympic borough.
Rents have soared during the run-up to the games. Landlords seeking to take advantage of the event are forcing people out of their homes if they can't afford more cash.
While council house waiting lists are through the roof, of the measly 2,818 homes that will be left from the Olympic village only 675 will be social housing with six boroughs sharing 107 of those and Newham having the leftovers.
Democratic rights during the games are under attack with exclusion zones that include putting 9pm curfews on under-16s until the start of November, giving the police the right to disperse groups of two or more, and the right to remove anti-Olympic posters and propaganda. As well as this, council tower block tenants face having missiles on their rooftops as part of the Olympic security operation.
While the rich get ready for their costly few weeks of fun, young people face a future of poverty and inequality with rising university fees, the slashing of Education Maintenance Allowance, soaring rents, slave-labour workfare schemes and sky-high unemployment. All of this is to pay for a crisis created by the banks and big business.
We are told that there is no money for jobs and education, while the bill for the Olympics continues to rise. Yet £750 billion is sitting in big business bank accounts as these fat cats see no 'profitable outlets' for investment.
We're getting organised to demand that the fantastic facilities built for the Olympics, instead of being demolished or sold to the private sector, be used to provide genuinely affordable housing and leisure facilities to benefit local communities.
Young people and trade unionists from across the country will be sending teams to Hackney Marshes to compete in the Austerity Games on 23 July, the week before the Olympics.
The games will launch the Youth Fight for Jobs and Education Manifesto, 'A Future for the 99%'. Our athletic events will highlight the plight of young people in the shadow of these expensive and corporate Olympic Games. These include the Race to the Bottom, Job Jump, Property High Jump, Deficit Discus, Hardship Hurdles and more.
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AUSTERITY GAMES 2012
Monday 23 July
2pm at Hackney Marshes, Homerton Road, East London
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A future for the 99%
Manifesto of Youth Fight for Jobs and Education
£1 including postage
www.youthfightforjobs.com
youthfightforjobs@gmail.com
020 8558 7947
PO Box 858, London E11 1YG
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In this issue
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Socialist Party news and analysis
March and strik
Suzanne Beishon, London organiser, Youth Fight for Jobs and Education
A staggering £24 billion is expected to be spent on the Olympic Games, but young people face little enjoyment and no long term benefit from this costly outlay.
The inaccessible ticketing system means that most people living on the doorstep of the games will be watching the events through TV screens. Promises of jobs, homes and services from the Olympics already lie in the gutter.
An Olympic Development Authority report showed that, from 2008 until 2011, only 1,580 unemployed people got jobs on the Olympic site. Only 205 were from the Hackney Olympic borough.
Rents have soared during the run-up to the games. Landlords seeking to take advantage of the event are forcing people out of their homes if they can't afford more cash.
While council house waiting lists are through the roof, of the measly 2,818 homes that will be left from the Olympic village only 675 will be social housing with six boroughs sharing 107 of those and Newham having the leftovers.
Democratic rights during the games are under attack with exclusion zones that include putting 9pm curfews on under-16s until the start of November, giving the police the right to disperse groups of two or more, and the right to remove anti-Olympic posters and propaganda. As well as this, council tower block tenants face having missiles on their rooftops as part of the Olympic security operation.
While the rich get ready for their costly few weeks of fun, young people face a future of poverty and inequality with rising university fees, the slashing of Education Maintenance Allowance, soaring rents, slave-labour workfare schemes and sky-high unemployment. All of this is to pay for a crisis created by the banks and big business.
We are told that there is no money for jobs and education, while the bill for the Olympics continues to rise. Yet £750 billion is sitting in big business bank accounts as these fat cats see no 'profitable outlets' for investment.
We're getting organised to demand that the fantastic facilities built for the Olympics, instead of being demolished or sold to the private sector, be used to provide genuinely affordable housing and leisure facilities to benefit local communities.
Young people and trade unionists from across the country will be sending teams to Hackney Marshes to compete in the Austerity Games on 23 July, the week before the Olympics.
The games will launch the Youth Fight for Jobs and Education Manifesto, 'A Future for the 99%'. Our athletic events will highlight the plight of young people in the shadow of these expensive and corporate Olympic Games. These include the Race to the Bottom, Job Jump, Property High Jump, Deficit Discus, Hardship Hurdles and more.
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AUSTERITY GAMES 2012
Monday 23 July
2pm at Hackney Marshes, Homerton Road, East London
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A future for the 99%
Manifesto of Youth Fight for Jobs and Education
£1 including postage
www.youthfightforjobs.com
youthfightforjobs@gmail.com
020 8558 7947
PO Box 858, London E11 1YG
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In this issue
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Socialist Party news and analysis
March and strik
Saturday, 25 February 2012
The degrading of young people in society
So often we hear that young people are apathetic and not interested in the world around them. Since i have been heavily involved in politics and socialist politics in particular i have seen nothing of the sort. I have wittnessed a wide layer of young people wishing for a change in the way things are and a willingness to do something about it.
Only just before the student demonstrations against tuitian fees in december 2010 many news agencies of the capitalist pursuasion were making out no young people were interested in what was going on at the time.
How wrong could they be with up to 50 thousand plus on a march against tuitian fees and education cuts and attacks on young people as a whole hit London that year.
Since then young people have lead the way in the movements against this financial crisis. Showing a lead for trade unions and the labour movement to follow.
I am only 23 myself but i already have huge respect and solidarity for those younger than myself who for the first time are facing a worsening situation and will actually face a worse situation than their parents.
Children growing up today do not have a clue waht they are set to face with deeping youth unemployment and further education more a dream than a reality for many now
what is the future for many young people ?
Well youth fight for jobs along at www.youthfightforjobs.com and on twitter @youthfight4jobs are organising around the workfare scheme at the moment. Focusing their attacks on companies who wish to exploit young people paying them nothing just so they have a job but yet get paid nothing for it only recieving their benifits which they should get anyway.
All this results in a severe degrading of young peple and a feeling that we dont need young people we'll just make the older workers work longer in their jobs but pay them less.
Its not on, and youth fight for jobs aswell as others campaign for real jobs for young people , a reintroduction of EMA , free education for all and a mass job system paying decent socially useful wages for all to live on.
Only just before the student demonstrations against tuitian fees in december 2010 many news agencies of the capitalist pursuasion were making out no young people were interested in what was going on at the time.
How wrong could they be with up to 50 thousand plus on a march against tuitian fees and education cuts and attacks on young people as a whole hit London that year.
Since then young people have lead the way in the movements against this financial crisis. Showing a lead for trade unions and the labour movement to follow.
I am only 23 myself but i already have huge respect and solidarity for those younger than myself who for the first time are facing a worsening situation and will actually face a worse situation than their parents.
Children growing up today do not have a clue waht they are set to face with deeping youth unemployment and further education more a dream than a reality for many now
what is the future for many young people ?
Well youth fight for jobs along at www.youthfightforjobs.com and on twitter @youthfight4jobs are organising around the workfare scheme at the moment. Focusing their attacks on companies who wish to exploit young people paying them nothing just so they have a job but yet get paid nothing for it only recieving their benifits which they should get anyway.
All this results in a severe degrading of young peple and a feeling that we dont need young people we'll just make the older workers work longer in their jobs but pay them less.
Its not on, and youth fight for jobs aswell as others campaign for real jobs for young people , a reintroduction of EMA , free education for all and a mass job system paying decent socially useful wages for all to live on.
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
The dangers of the lack of a political alternative
During these tough economic times as we start to feel the bite of the cuts and our living standards slip backwards. The lack of a alternative or a party standing up for people is very evident.
It took the trade unions months to call the first demonstration national demo in London on March 26th last year. They had to be dragged kicking and screaming to do so. They only started organising mass co-ordinated strike action after hard work and lobbying and mass pressure from below by ordinary rank-and-file members.
With the 3 main political parties lib dem, labour and tories all agreeing the need for cuts to some degree people will be left feeling who do we trust now ?
very understandable with no one taking a lead and showing leadership as my post on political leadership last night was about can lead to all sorts of dangers. Not least the idea that we cant affect things and a sense of desperation sets in. Last summers riots were a sign of this. Many young people in poor areas with little opportunities feeling attacked and threatened from every angle felt they had nothing to loose.
As Martin Luther King once said rioting is the voice of the voiceless. Countless generations have been ignored and pushed about, stop and searched as seen as a constant threat but now have even less opportunities with the cutting of EMA and trebling of tuitian fees for university.
Life is a struggle for people from these backgrounds ordinary working class backgrounds who have little hope in finding a job in their area or getting out of the situation they find themselves in.
Youth fight for jobs last year did interveen in these areas to try and offer a constructive programme for youth to get involved in and channel their anger into something constructive and this is helping but still far more needs to be done.
The lack of an alternative for people will also have an affect on peoples political views to the likes of the right and far right for example may find easy picking in areas where there is no alternative to the 3 capitalist parties and play on peoples fears of imigration and heighten those tensions. This could be very dangerous and has already been seen with the senseless murdering of innocent students in Norway last year and the rise of the neo-nazi's in germany.
All this is very worrying and makes the need for a new workers party and a lead to be taken by the unions to offer an alternative right away. They should be acting as the pillars of the communities where political leadership is lacking.
Many confused things will be running through peoples minds at this time but the longer we go on without that clear alternative being made, as socialist alternative the more likely people are to turn to less savoury methods of change which is something as socialists we would not want to see.
It took the trade unions months to call the first demonstration national demo in London on March 26th last year. They had to be dragged kicking and screaming to do so. They only started organising mass co-ordinated strike action after hard work and lobbying and mass pressure from below by ordinary rank-and-file members.
With the 3 main political parties lib dem, labour and tories all agreeing the need for cuts to some degree people will be left feeling who do we trust now ?
very understandable with no one taking a lead and showing leadership as my post on political leadership last night was about can lead to all sorts of dangers. Not least the idea that we cant affect things and a sense of desperation sets in. Last summers riots were a sign of this. Many young people in poor areas with little opportunities feeling attacked and threatened from every angle felt they had nothing to loose.
As Martin Luther King once said rioting is the voice of the voiceless. Countless generations have been ignored and pushed about, stop and searched as seen as a constant threat but now have even less opportunities with the cutting of EMA and trebling of tuitian fees for university.
Life is a struggle for people from these backgrounds ordinary working class backgrounds who have little hope in finding a job in their area or getting out of the situation they find themselves in.
Youth fight for jobs last year did interveen in these areas to try and offer a constructive programme for youth to get involved in and channel their anger into something constructive and this is helping but still far more needs to be done.
The lack of an alternative for people will also have an affect on peoples political views to the likes of the right and far right for example may find easy picking in areas where there is no alternative to the 3 capitalist parties and play on peoples fears of imigration and heighten those tensions. This could be very dangerous and has already been seen with the senseless murdering of innocent students in Norway last year and the rise of the neo-nazi's in germany.
All this is very worrying and makes the need for a new workers party and a lead to be taken by the unions to offer an alternative right away. They should be acting as the pillars of the communities where political leadership is lacking.
Many confused things will be running through peoples minds at this time but the longer we go on without that clear alternative being made, as socialist alternative the more likely people are to turn to less savoury methods of change which is something as socialists we would not want to see.
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Findings show that summer riots fuled by underlying anger
As we thought back at the time the riots in britain this summer was a outpour of pure frustration and anger in various fashions and for various different reasons. experts have been pouring over the evidence from then on and have come up with some startling findings.
Widespread anger and frustration at the way police engage with communities was a significant cause of the summer riots in every major city where disorder took place, the biggest study into their cause has found.
Hundreds of interviews with people who took part in the disturbances which spread across England in August revealed deep-seated and sometimes visceral antipathy towards police.
In a unique collaboration, the Guardian and London School of Economics (LSE) interviewed 270 people who rioted in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester and Salford.
The project collected more than 1.3m words of first-person accounts from rioters, giving an unprecedented insight into what drove people to participate in England's most serious bout of civil unrest in a generation. Rioters revealed that a complex mix of grievances brought them on to the streets but analysts appointed by the LSE identified distrust and antipathy toward police as a key driving force.
Details of the research findings, which are also based on an analysis of an exclusive database of more than 2.5m riot-related tweets, will be unveiled in a series of reports over the next five days. Monday's findings include:
• Many rioters conceded that their involvement in looting was simply down to opportunism, saying that a perceived suspension of normal rules presented them with an opportunity to acquire goods and luxury items they could not ordinarily afford. They often described the riots as a chance to obtain "free stuff" or sought to justify the theft.
• Despite David Cameron saying gangs were "at the heart" of the disturbances, evidence shows they temporarily suspended hostilities. The effective four-day truce – which many said was unprecedented – applied to towns and cities across England. However, on the whole, the research found gang members played only a marginal role in the riots.
• Contrary to widespread speculation that rioters used social media to organise themselves and share "viral" information, sites such as Facebook and Twitter were not used in any significant way. However, BlackBerry phones – and the free messaging service known as "BBM" – were used extensively to communicate, share information and plan riots in advance.
• Although mainly young and male, those involved in the riots came from a cross-section of local communities. Just under half of those interviewed in the study were students. Of those who were not in education and were of working age, 59% were unemployed. Although half of those interviewed were black, people who took part in the disorder did not consider these "race riots".
• Rioters identified a range of political grievances, but at the heart of their complaints was a pervasive sense of injustice. For some this was economic: the lack of money, jobs or opportunity. For others it was more broadly social: how they felt they were treated compared with others. Many mentioned the increase in student tuition fees and the scrapping of the education maintenance allowance.
Although rioters expressed a mix of opinions about the disorder, many of those involved said they felt like they were participating in explicitly anti-police riots. They cited "policing" as the most significant cause of the riots, and anger over the police shooting of Mark Duggan, which triggered initial disturbances in Tottenham, was repeatedly mentioned – even outside London.
The most common complaints related to people's everyday experience of policing, with many expressing deep frustration at the way people in their communities were subjected to stop and search. An independent panel set up by the government in the aftermath of the riots identified stop and search as a possible "motivation factor" for black and Asian rioters.
In findings released last week, the panel – which took evidence from riot-hit communities and victims, but did not speak to rioters – concluded there was no single cause for the riots, but urged police to improve the way stop and search is conducted. "Where young law-abiding people are repeatedly targeted there is a very real danger that stop and search will have a corrosive effect on their relationship with the police," it said.Of those interviewed in the Reading the Riots study, 73% said they had been stopped and searched in the previous 12 months. They were more than eight times more likely to have been stopped and searched in the previous year than the general population in London.
This goes to show that the actions of a tory government at the helm with savage deep cuts being driven through in local areas such as Tottenham by their new labour collaborators in local councils such as Tottenham. Many of the findings confirm what we as socialists have thought all along about the riots and that the conclusions drawn by the government to claim we need harder tougher policing is entirely the wrong thing to do and would only anger young disenfranchised people even more.
With a estimate of 1.2 million young people out of work and not in training and with this figure only a estimate and set to rise i sadly can only see the repeat of such events we witnessed this summer. They may not be started the same way or triggered in a similar fashion as this summers riots but no doubt the anger still lives on in those communities.
Widespread anger and frustration at the way police engage with communities was a significant cause of the summer riots in every major city where disorder took place, the biggest study into their cause has found.
Hundreds of interviews with people who took part in the disturbances which spread across England in August revealed deep-seated and sometimes visceral antipathy towards police.
In a unique collaboration, the Guardian and London School of Economics (LSE) interviewed 270 people who rioted in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester and Salford.
The project collected more than 1.3m words of first-person accounts from rioters, giving an unprecedented insight into what drove people to participate in England's most serious bout of civil unrest in a generation. Rioters revealed that a complex mix of grievances brought them on to the streets but analysts appointed by the LSE identified distrust and antipathy toward police as a key driving force.
Details of the research findings, which are also based on an analysis of an exclusive database of more than 2.5m riot-related tweets, will be unveiled in a series of reports over the next five days. Monday's findings include:
• Many rioters conceded that their involvement in looting was simply down to opportunism, saying that a perceived suspension of normal rules presented them with an opportunity to acquire goods and luxury items they could not ordinarily afford. They often described the riots as a chance to obtain "free stuff" or sought to justify the theft.
• Despite David Cameron saying gangs were "at the heart" of the disturbances, evidence shows they temporarily suspended hostilities. The effective four-day truce – which many said was unprecedented – applied to towns and cities across England. However, on the whole, the research found gang members played only a marginal role in the riots.
• Contrary to widespread speculation that rioters used social media to organise themselves and share "viral" information, sites such as Facebook and Twitter were not used in any significant way. However, BlackBerry phones – and the free messaging service known as "BBM" – were used extensively to communicate, share information and plan riots in advance.
• Although mainly young and male, those involved in the riots came from a cross-section of local communities. Just under half of those interviewed in the study were students. Of those who were not in education and were of working age, 59% were unemployed. Although half of those interviewed were black, people who took part in the disorder did not consider these "race riots".
• Rioters identified a range of political grievances, but at the heart of their complaints was a pervasive sense of injustice. For some this was economic: the lack of money, jobs or opportunity. For others it was more broadly social: how they felt they were treated compared with others. Many mentioned the increase in student tuition fees and the scrapping of the education maintenance allowance.
Although rioters expressed a mix of opinions about the disorder, many of those involved said they felt like they were participating in explicitly anti-police riots. They cited "policing" as the most significant cause of the riots, and anger over the police shooting of Mark Duggan, which triggered initial disturbances in Tottenham, was repeatedly mentioned – even outside London.
The most common complaints related to people's everyday experience of policing, with many expressing deep frustration at the way people in their communities were subjected to stop and search. An independent panel set up by the government in the aftermath of the riots identified stop and search as a possible "motivation factor" for black and Asian rioters.
In findings released last week, the panel – which took evidence from riot-hit communities and victims, but did not speak to rioters – concluded there was no single cause for the riots, but urged police to improve the way stop and search is conducted. "Where young law-abiding people are repeatedly targeted there is a very real danger that stop and search will have a corrosive effect on their relationship with the police," it said.Of those interviewed in the Reading the Riots study, 73% said they had been stopped and searched in the previous 12 months. They were more than eight times more likely to have been stopped and searched in the previous year than the general population in London.
This goes to show that the actions of a tory government at the helm with savage deep cuts being driven through in local areas such as Tottenham by their new labour collaborators in local councils such as Tottenham. Many of the findings confirm what we as socialists have thought all along about the riots and that the conclusions drawn by the government to claim we need harder tougher policing is entirely the wrong thing to do and would only anger young disenfranchised people even more.
With a estimate of 1.2 million young people out of work and not in training and with this figure only a estimate and set to rise i sadly can only see the repeat of such events we witnessed this summer. They may not be started the same way or triggered in a similar fashion as this summers riots but no doubt the anger still lives on in those communities.
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Another shameful attack on the young with Gov axing EMA
So tonight MP's in the houses of commons voted by a majority of 59 votes for the scrapping of the Educational maintanance allowance.
A report here from the bbc outlines details
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12228466
I'm saddend to hear of this latest cut. This will affect many young students who wouldh ave stayed on to study at college or at sixth form at their schools. The grant which was brought in by the last labour government encouraged students from less well off backgrounds to stay on in education beyond the age of 16. The grant which was open to any of those students who's families earned less than 30 thousand pounds a year was widely regarded as a success with lots more students staying on to further their education.
Now with the governemnt breaking yet another of its pre electin pledges it remains to see what will happen to millions of students and young people in this country who will be forced to leave school now to find employment as staying on is simply not fainancially viable.
I tonight sit and think of those poor students from working class backgrounds who's hopes now will have been dashed. With last months decision to treble university tuitian fees it is becoming increasingly clearer to me that this government do not want young working class people to make anything with their lives. Unless you can afford to stay on in education and can afford your university fees it is either the doll or low paid work for you.
Where is the aspiration in this country anymore to help and support our youngsters of tommorrow. The future of our country. With rocketing unemployment up today up to 2.5 million i can only see that tipping 3 million by the end of 2011. With the addition of thousands of youth with no futures with little job prospects to look forward to.
Another bad decision from this awful right wing government of ours. Really depressing times.
A report here from the bbc outlines details
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12228466
I'm saddend to hear of this latest cut. This will affect many young students who wouldh ave stayed on to study at college or at sixth form at their schools. The grant which was brought in by the last labour government encouraged students from less well off backgrounds to stay on in education beyond the age of 16. The grant which was open to any of those students who's families earned less than 30 thousand pounds a year was widely regarded as a success with lots more students staying on to further their education.
Now with the governemnt breaking yet another of its pre electin pledges it remains to see what will happen to millions of students and young people in this country who will be forced to leave school now to find employment as staying on is simply not fainancially viable.
I tonight sit and think of those poor students from working class backgrounds who's hopes now will have been dashed. With last months decision to treble university tuitian fees it is becoming increasingly clearer to me that this government do not want young working class people to make anything with their lives. Unless you can afford to stay on in education and can afford your university fees it is either the doll or low paid work for you.
Where is the aspiration in this country anymore to help and support our youngsters of tommorrow. The future of our country. With rocketing unemployment up today up to 2.5 million i can only see that tipping 3 million by the end of 2011. With the addition of thousands of youth with no futures with little job prospects to look forward to.
Another bad decision from this awful right wing government of ours. Really depressing times.
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Britain slowly slipping back towards recession
So as we hear today inflation rose from December, Retail Price Index which shows most accurately reflects cost of living, up 4.8% with public sector pay freeze and low private sector pay rises is resulting in a negative growth for the first quarter of 2011 for sure.
With the rise of VAT not being taken into account yet having only just been introduced in early January and with most of the big cuts to hit in the next few months. Things really do look bleak now. The picture is slowly starting to unflod of what a mess we are going to be left with. With hundreds of thousands of jobs set to go in the public sector which will consequently have a knock on in the private sector i can only see us heading back into recession crippling the poor even further as the government will set a bout more harsher cuts to try and pull the ship around.
But the damage is already set in i feel the ship is sinking and teh attemptst o keep it afloat are failing badly. With the tories at the helm what else should we expect really. This is worrying times indeed for the country and i cant see this working all these cuts.
With interest rates still being forced down at 0.5% to help government borrowing figures this wont change i doubt and with food and fuel prices rocketing as i have posted in previous blog posts things are looking grim.
When will the terms recession and double drip recession be rolled out as we are slowly slipping backwards i think. It is inevitable that this will happen now with all these cuts hacking apart all what is good about our welfare state. I also think the abolishment of the EMA grant to students to stay on in further education will have a bigger effect than many think. It is estimated that as much as 7 out of 10 students will be forced to leave school as they wont be able to afford to carry on. With a whole generation out of education what will they turn to ? there are very few job opputunities out there for the youth of today so that will have a big impact. Alot of kids will grow up again just like under Margret Tatcher not having any job prospects and waht affect that will have on the country will be devastating.
With the rise of VAT not being taken into account yet having only just been introduced in early January and with most of the big cuts to hit in the next few months. Things really do look bleak now. The picture is slowly starting to unflod of what a mess we are going to be left with. With hundreds of thousands of jobs set to go in the public sector which will consequently have a knock on in the private sector i can only see us heading back into recession crippling the poor even further as the government will set a bout more harsher cuts to try and pull the ship around.
But the damage is already set in i feel the ship is sinking and teh attemptst o keep it afloat are failing badly. With the tories at the helm what else should we expect really. This is worrying times indeed for the country and i cant see this working all these cuts.
With interest rates still being forced down at 0.5% to help government borrowing figures this wont change i doubt and with food and fuel prices rocketing as i have posted in previous blog posts things are looking grim.
When will the terms recession and double drip recession be rolled out as we are slowly slipping backwards i think. It is inevitable that this will happen now with all these cuts hacking apart all what is good about our welfare state. I also think the abolishment of the EMA grant to students to stay on in further education will have a bigger effect than many think. It is estimated that as much as 7 out of 10 students will be forced to leave school as they wont be able to afford to carry on. With a whole generation out of education what will they turn to ? there are very few job opputunities out there for the youth of today so that will have a big impact. Alot of kids will grow up again just like under Margret Tatcher not having any job prospects and waht affect that will have on the country will be devastating.
Monday, 13 December 2010
Supporting the save EMA campaign
So as another broken promise comes from this coalition government the plan to totally scrap the education maintance allowance when before the election the tories catagorically said we have looked at EMA and can confirm we will be keeping this. Well today the 13th of December it would appear they are doing the complete opposite.
EMA is a key lump of money that is paid to students who attend school/college regularly. It can be as much as £30 a week and to a lot of families and students this is a lot of money. It can cover travel costs, school equipment including sports kit and books and stationary. Taking this away is just another attack on the people who need the money the most. When working class families are struggling enough as it is the decision to remove this benifit to young people is another bad decision i feel.
So today i and this blog will be pledging our support to the Save EMA march's today going on in london. For once Ed miliband has backed this campaign, maybe it is a cut he would nnot have made so can support this campaign, bit cynical i know but after he condemned the student protests last week i sometimes wonder who's side is he really on. If he wants to attract disaffected lib dem voters I.E students you dont condem their efforts to protest
I also hear Ken Livingstone labour mayoral candidate will be backing this campaign too. I hope as many people get behind this and fight to keep this vital bit of money that enables kids and families to live a bit easier.
EMA is a key lump of money that is paid to students who attend school/college regularly. It can be as much as £30 a week and to a lot of families and students this is a lot of money. It can cover travel costs, school equipment including sports kit and books and stationary. Taking this away is just another attack on the people who need the money the most. When working class families are struggling enough as it is the decision to remove this benifit to young people is another bad decision i feel.
So today i and this blog will be pledging our support to the Save EMA march's today going on in london. For once Ed miliband has backed this campaign, maybe it is a cut he would nnot have made so can support this campaign, bit cynical i know but after he condemned the student protests last week i sometimes wonder who's side is he really on. If he wants to attract disaffected lib dem voters I.E students you dont condem their efforts to protest
I also hear Ken Livingstone labour mayoral candidate will be backing this campaign too. I hope as many people get behind this and fight to keep this vital bit of money that enables kids and families to live a bit easier.
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