Victory for save Lewisham A and E but wider battle continues

Well done to all involved in save Lewisham A and E on their victory today in the appeals court. Much solidarity and congratulations to you but this can not be a time to rest on our laurels and we must be aware of the wider battle against our NHS still going on out there from this government. "The Appeal Court today ruled against government attempts to close most of the popular Lewisham Hospital. But even as campaigners celebrate, MPs prepare to vote on whether to legalise such fast-track hospital closures elsewhere. http://www.opendemocracy.net/files/imagecache/wysiwyg_imageupload_lightbox_preset/wysiwyg_imageupload/549093/girl save our hospital.png The Appeal Court today dismissed a government appeal in the long running battle over substantial cuts to Lewisham Hospital. The ruling will be deservedly celebrated in the streets of Lewisham, where “Save Lewisham A&E” campaign posters have plastered the streets for months. But it also raises the stakes on new government attempts to legalise these kind of “accelerated” hospital cuts elsewhere. MPs will vote on the new move next month, in an amendment hastily tagged onto the Care Bill. This is something we must make ourselves aware of very quickly. The government are not just going to sit back and accept these decisions lightly they will come back and this amendment to the law will allow them to do just that. During the summer the High Court ruled that health secretary Jeremy Hunt acted unlawfully in trying to close Lewisham’s A&E and large chunks of its services, as part of an Administration process that was dealing with a different, neighbouring Hospital Trust, South London. Today the government lost an appeal against that ruling. Lewisham itself is hopefully now safe. But the government - perhaps anticipating this defeat - has a plan B that will make it far easier for them to close or downgrade other hospitals across the country in future, without the consent or support of local people or GPs. The government has added a last minute amendment to Care Bill to legalise much more widespread use of fast-track hospital closures. The amendment will - if passed in the Commons next month - allow the government to accept recommendations from Administrators appointed to take over clinically or financially struggling Trusts, to cut or downgrade nearby hospitals that are part of other Trusts. Closure decisions - which could be taken even where these nearby hospitals themselves are successful and popular - will be able to be taken with minimal public consultation - a mere 40 days, compared to the normal 2 years or more. Introducing the amendment in the Commons earlier this month, Earl Howe admitted the amendment drastically reduced “the statutory obligations of commissioners to involve and consult patients and the public in planning and making service changes” and extended to even successful trusts an "accelerated process" with "no provision for referral to local authority scrutiny" or need to have regard to the views of local people and clinicians. Dr David Nicholl, Consultant Neurologist in Birmingham, and on the council of the Royal College of Physicians said “speaking personally I can see that this legislation has the potential to threaten any hospital, with minimal consultation" He urged other medical professionals to raise concerns with their Royal Colleges, adding “it is vital any reconfigurations are clinically led. This judgement has shown that the special administrator approach is totally the wrong one." The Royal College of Physicians have already raised concerns over the clause in the Health Service Journal, saying "Any decisions affecting the broader health economy should be clinically-led, should be driven by the best interests of patients and should involve the wider health community from the beginning". Vicky Penner, former patient at Lewisham and a member of the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign, warned “The Government's attempt to rush through an amendment to the Care Bill through Parliament which would give Trust Special Administrators, and in turn the Government, unlimited geographical power without proper consultation means that no hospital in the country will be safe. “It seems that if the Government cannot win in Court, they will bully their plans through Parliament, showing their utter contempt for normal people and democracy.”" Democracy in action from this group of toffs who claim to rule us today. Its time they go along with the system they represent. Quotes and extracts from the fantastic Caroline Molloy at open democracy site http://www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/caroline-molloy/victory-for-lewisham-hospital-but-governments-plan-b-threatens-100s-more-hosp

East Herts see claims for help with rents shoot up

In a fairly decent area of the country where poverty and crime is low relatively compared to other regions east Hertfordshire has seen claims for people struggling to pay rent increase. This is no doubt due to the governments vicious benefit cuts and our local councils unwillingness to fight the cuts. We have a Tory council around here so I wouldn’t expect them to be on the side of the poor but this article below quotes a local Tory councillor who clearly has no idea of the scale of the hardness on ordinary people out there struggling already. SWINGEING benefit cuts have seen almost six times the amount of people asking for help paying their rent than a year ago. Across the board, East Herts Council are being bombarded with calls and enquires from “confused and frustrated” people struggling to make ends meet as Government welfare changes come into force. In April and May this year 146 people in East Herts made requests for discretionary housing payments, up from 25 in the same period last year. A section of the report for the East Herts and Stevenage Council’s joint revenue and benefits committee, which meets tonight (July 1), said: “Customers have been generally confused and frustrated by the welfare reforms and are keen to express this dissatisfaction to officers. “The volume of contacts with customers is very high and often repeated.” The sweeping changes have lead to an increase of 15 per cent in the level of work done by East Herts Council and Stevenage Borough Council’s joint benefits service compared to last year. There has also been 503 more council tax payment reminders sent from May 2012 compared to May 2013, up 17.4 per cent to 3,388 from 2,885. The average value of the reminder is £87.55. Since April, 2,569 people in East Herts who used to get a 100 per cent discount in their council tax are now paying 8.5 per cent. This is after Government reduced spending on council tax support by 10 per cent. East Herts council passed this reduction on; something executive member for finance Cllr Mike Tindale (Con, Little Hadham) called “one of the council’s most difficult decisions” back in February when the budget was set. Speaking on Monday before the meeting (July 1), he said: “It was a very difficult decision about people who were already feeling the squeeze and were asked to pay more. “We were mindful of that and we wanted to spread the burden as wide as possible. “In retrospect, we feel what we did was right but there’s no easy way of making cuts.” Some of these people, which mainly consist of disabled people, the unemployed and those on low income, are paying council tax for the first time. “These customers are resource intensive and are demonstrating patterns of repeat callers,” the report continued. “There appears little understanding of council tax liability and payment requirements.” The report also mentions the benefits cap will hit 42 families in East Herts when it is rolled at intervals nationwide from Monday July 15. With article sourced from http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/Hertfordshire/Welfare-cuts-see-rent-help-requests-to-East-Herts-Council-up-584-per-cent-20130701131937.htm So more crocodile tears “difficult decisions” etc etc how about these Tory councillors find out what it is like to live on a limited income always worrying how they will next pay the bills and feed themselves. These Tory councillors don’t know poverty and will never know it from their ivy towers. Whilst East herts on the whole is not fairing too bad from the cuts there are still pockets of poverty hidden away from public more often than not but it is still there. It’s those people who are struggling by I stood for when I stood for TUSC this year in the county council elections. Gaining 59 votes in a hugely true blue Tory area with no previous experience of standing was a decent effort. Shows even in leafy East herts three are people looking for an alternative to cuts and misery even if just a few at this stage. We all know cuts will carry on and we must hold firm our time will come as socialists even in areas we’ve never seen much action in in the past. We live in unprecedented times where anything is possible it would seem.

No to outsourcing in Herts police

Hertfordshire police force are considering out sourcing again after the G4S contract bid was dropped out sourcing has crept back on their agenda. All efforts must be made to prevent these first steps towards privatisation. An existing Herts Police arrangement with Beds and Cambs’ forces is to be dropped while police and crime commissioner David Lloyd searches for savings. In a statement leaked by Herts Police Unision commissioner Lloyd states: “Work [is] underway to seek further collaboration opportunities beyond those already underway with Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire (Police) will cease.” He also is quoted as saying: “Clearly there are some things that only warranted officers can and should do. But I want to ensure that all other policing services are considered for outsourcing over the next two years”. It also reveals the police will now “explore the benefits of outsourcing policing functions which do not require warranted powers”. Before the statement was sent out commissioner Lloyd, chief constable Andy Bliss, senior staff and representatives of the Police Federation and Unison met. During yesterday’s (Wednesday) meeting chief constable Bliss is alleged to have said: “If there is a better deal to be had in house, we will very seriously look at that. “However the expectation is very clear from PCC Lloyd that we will be going out looking at market opportunities.” Herts Police Unison want commissioner Lloyd to look “in house” for savings and think costs could be cut internally. A union spokesman said: “All Hertfordshire Police Staff and Officers have worked tirelessly over the last three years to implement savings not only through the collaboration of services with Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire but internally within Hertfordshire Constabulary alone. “We believe there are still more opportunities to make savings internally and we strongly urge PCC Lloyd to give the staff and officers of Hertfordshire Constabulary the chance to do this first before outsourcing services. “In public service we feel morally obliged to do what is right and necessary to help those affected by crime, in private enterprise the only imperative is to service contractual obligations and thereby maximise profit.” The announcement follows a failed outsourcing bid with private All sounds quite concerning what the unison guy says words like collaboration and finding cuts in house rather than out saucing show a sign of a union who is more bout finding compromises than actually standing up for its members. Just shows the urgent need to transform that union to a fighting left union. But we will have to watch this one closely as privatisation in our police seems to be back on the table and being seriously considered.

Greek society collapsing under weight of austerity

As we all know Greece is being buried under the weight of austerity and no amount of headlines can convince me anymore how bad things are anymore there they clearly are beyond help from capitalism. Capitalism is unable to help Greek society any longer and must be ended in the founding country of democracy. Greece has been the poster boy of austerity from the word go and has been a huge huge failure. Greece’s debt is higher than ever and has not gone down despite austerity which is beyond many in the UK’s understanding. Recent news has astounded even me lots of heart ache for millions of ordinary Greek people middle and working class people with many more being thrown into poverty. In late November, Greece’s parliament agreed a draconian budget for 2013 that will see 9.4bn euros more worth of spending cuts. In return, EU ministers have agreed to a new 44bn euros ‘bailout’ for Greece. Beyond the headline figures, the people of Greece are suffering seemingly endless hardship, which is set to get worse. Eleni Mitsou, from Xekinima (CWI in Greece) describes the terrible human and social toll of the disastrous austerity policies. Socialistworld.net Official unemployment is at 26% but, in reality, it is around 30-35% of the working population. Official youth unemployment is at 58% and official unemployment amongst women is at 30%. Last May, the government cut the budget (the 2012 budget) for mental health to half. As a result, mental health workers have not been paid for about 6 months. Although most of them realise that they will never get the money the state owes them, they have not quit their jobs because there are no job alternatives. They hope they will get paid next year. There are young doctors that volunteer in hospitals; they work without getting paid, hoping that someone will notice them and hire them in a private clinic, or practice. And this is something also done by young lawyers and young journalists etc. The health case system is being dismantled. Many people, particularly pensioners, are not getting all the medicines they need because they have to pay for it (they used to get medicines for free or very cheap) and they cannot afford to buy them. We have a young Xekhinima comrade who has multiple sclerosis. After the "changes" in the health care system, she had to cut back on her therapy. She cannot get the medicine she needs every month but now only every two months. During last summer, newspapers published a letter written by health care workers from a psychiatric hospital on Leros island. It was addressed to the Minister of Public Health, asking him to raise the budget for the hospital because the inmates are undernourished. Most of their food is donated by the local community. Undernourishment, which was non-existent three years ago, is now prevalent in schools in some areas. Children faint in school because they have not eaten for a couple of days or have eaten very little. Across Greece 250,000 meals are distributed every day by the Church and the local councils. But still needs are far from covered. There are parents who leave their children in orphanages because they cannot support them. The number of children in these institutions has almost doubled since the beginning of the crisis. There are now 40,000 homeless people in Athens, whereas last year they were 30,000 and before the crisis, three years ago, they were 2,000-3,000. In 2012, electricity was cut in 260,000 homes and small businesses / shops because people could not afford to pay the electricity bills. In 80,000 homes and small shops electricity was never reconnected. During October and November in almost all blocks of flats (even in middle class and richer parts of Athens) meetings were called for people to decide if they would turn on the central heating during the winter or not. In one comrade’s block of flats, for example, the decision was to turn it on for just one hour every evening. 3,000 suicides Since the beginning of the economic crisis in Greece, close to 3,000 people have committed suicide. A few months ago, a 50 year old man pushed his 90 year old mother off a roof and then followed her because they were in dept and did not have enough money to survive. Recently, a farmer in Crete committed suicide because this was the only way to save his family’s house - it was threatened with being confiscated and his family ending up homeless. The farmer saw this was the only way to save his children from accumulated debt. There are very large numbers of people mentally depressed. The whole society is under extreme stress. Many people cannot sleep at night because of the sudden and severe reductions in wages they cannot cope any more with mortgages, loans and standard family expenses. Greek society is in shock. The collapse of living standards has happened suddenly and violently. These stark facts alone are enough reason to fight the governing political parties and their cuts policies and to struggle for a left government with socialist policies to transform society. With extracts from www.socialistworld.net

Battle to save the NHS continues

Even if the mainstream media will not cover the carving up of our NHS and feel that what the church do or don’t do is far more important reporting then I guesses we’ll just have to do it ourselves. Over the last year the NHS has changed and is constantly changing. Next year 2013 is set to see the introduction of the Health and Social care bill which will see the end of the NHS as we know it. 49% of beds will go to private patients with huge multi billion contracts being put out for tender to private companies such as Virgin care, Circle Bupa and more. This is worrying times indeed. Just in Lewisham the other weekend there was a big demonstration of around 10 thousand workers, campaigners and members of the public all very much aware what is going on and what could happen if we don’t fight now. On Saturday 24 November, defying cold driving rain, up to 10,000 residents and staff marched to defend their local hospital. A south London nurse reports. The atmosphere was electric as the demonstration brought Lewisham High Street to a standstill. Drivers tooted their horns enthusiastically. The Unison, NUT, and Unite union banners headed up the march. Also prominent was the National Shop Stewards Network banner. Unison's London region swung behind the demonstration, giving health staff confidence to march en masse. Feelings are strong over this planned closure. 250,000 Lewisham residents know that this situation is critical. People may die if they are conveyed longer distances to either Woolwich or Kings College A&E for emergency treatment. Maternity and other services are also at risk. The administrator, Matthew Kershaw and the new Woolwich and Lewisham chief executives must be held to account for this devastation. Staff and patients chanted "Save Lewisham a&E. Save the NHS". They see shutting their local casualty as just one in a string of planned assaults by this government. It's all one NHS. NHS managers, ministers and MPs use divide and rule tactics, talking about different areas of the NHS as if they were separate worlds. All NHS cuts must be vehemently opposed. This casualty department meets all its performance targets and has one of the lowest rates of hospital acquired infection in the NHS. Yet this state of the art department, that had just seen £12 million worth of investment, is closing. And while our NHS is being disassembled bit by bit, the wealthy controllers of Private Finance Initiative schemes (which are wrecking hospitals) are getting richer than ever! Platform speakers highlighted the unfairness of the planned closure. At an open staff meeting at Lewisham hospital following the march, health workers and supporters spoke on where to take this epic struggle. NUT national executive member Martin Powell-Davies assured Lewisham NHS staff that they would get great support if strike action followed this great show of community involvement. Health trade unionists should call for emergency branch meetings and put forward motions for NHS staff to be balloted for strike action. If we strike we can win. If we do not, we could lose a key casualty department forever! Many health workers may think they cannot strike but they can, with the unions planning for emergency cover in the event of a strike. If industrial action is coordinated across health union branches the fight to keep Lewisham A&E open will be victorious and strike a blow against all public sector cuts. Also Admin and clerical workers at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust have been fighting attempts to cut their pay and conditions through well-supported strike action. Trust bosses claim that these attacks on low-paid workers are necessary in order to make savings of £24 million by the new financial year and achieve Foundation Trust status in 2014. Payments to the consortium which built the £311 million PFI hospitals in Wakefield and Pontefract are costing the Trust over £40 million annually. But our Unison branch has long argued that the only real solution to the Trust's financial crisis is to re-nationalise its PFI hospitals, cancel all debts to the consortium which built them and open Trust accounts to full public scrutiny. We will oppose all cuts and privatisation demanded by the Health and Social Care Act. We are lending our full support to the 'Save Our Local Hospital Services' community-led campaign which aims to maintain full services at our three hospitals, and bring all privatised services back under full public ownership. Such local campaigns should be backed by all health unions and linked into a national campaign to save the NHS. With extracts from this weeks socialist

NO to divide and rule, all unions must stand together for 30th Nov

Today we learn of the fact that the FBU will not be balloting its members on proposed pension reforms strike ballots like other public sector unions. This is a crying shame and a disapointment to hear as we approach what could still be one of the biggest strikes ever in the UK since 1926.
As a socialist we urge all union members of public sector unions faced with a ballot at the moment to vote a big yes this week and not be taken in by any divide and rule tactics this government will try and use on ordinary workers. Dont let your leaders take you fora ride keep the pressure on for industrial action. Only by standing together united we can win this battle and knock this government back off its perch.
We heard th other week of Brendan Barbour meeting tory ministers at the tory party conference for secret talks. We demand no secret talks and to keep ordinary rank-and-file informed and not hide the facts.

A striking committtee in the workplace can be a way around increasing beurocracy and remain the strikes democratic with ordinay workers. Below is a piece from union news UK and a bit from Matt Wrack on the FBU's position.

by Pete Murray of Union news UK - 19th October 2011, 12.16 BST
FBU members will not take part in the strikes on November 30th.

The decision not to ballot for industrial action, taken by members of the union’s executive committee, does not rule out strikes in the future. The news comes after the government made a key concession on changes to the fire fighters’ pension scheme.

In notes posted earlier this week on the FBU website, General Secretary Matt Wrack says Treasury ministers had agreed to extend negotiations over the “cost ceilings” on pensions. He says: “we have stated that these could set a financial ‘straight jacket’ for discussions around pensions. We have raised these concerns with various ministers, explaining our view that setting these without firstly considering other issues would clearly undermine the legitimacy of any discussions.”

The government-commissioned Hutton report on the future of public sector pensions had recommended imposing upper limits on the cost of individual schemes in an effort to limit taxpayers’ exposure to what ministers regard as “unfunded liabilities”. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, LibDem minister Danny Alexander said in June that the government intended to extend Lord Hutton’s proposals to individual pension schemes, making each scheme subject to separate negotiations and – potentially – different timetables. Unions have repeatedly challenged government claims that the public sector schemes are unaffordable in the long term.

UnionNews understands that the government and a number of local authority employers have agreed to begin a 12-week consultation on cost limits being considered for the fire fighters’ scheme. While this will provide scope for FBU negotiators to revise some of the most damaging aspects in the Coalition’s pensions agenda – such as proposed changes to the retirement age for fire fighters – it also means that the FBU will not be in a position to notify employers of a “trade dispute” (as required by the anti-union legislation covering strike ballots) until that consultation is completed early next year.

An official source said the government “would have been crazy not to try” to make concessions to some of the 14 unions planning joint strike action next month, in order to reduce the impact of what is still likely to be the largest single mobilisation of workers in the UK for a generation. The union is expected to issue a public statement calling on FBU members to support any action on the 30th of November in whatever way they can.

A statement by FBU general secretary Matt Wrack is here




October 19, 2011
CIRCULAR 2011HOC0517MW

19 October 2011

TO: ALL MEMBERS (HOME ADDRESSES)

Dear Brother/Sister

HANDS OFF OUR PENSIONS: LATEST POSITION – 19 OCTOBER 2011

The Executive Council met yesterday (October 18) to assess the current situation around our campaign to defend pensions. This included report backs from discussions at our Committees across the UK as well as reports from the most recent meetings with Government ministers and officials.

The most significant development to be considered was the decision of the Westminster Government to comply with the FBU request not to set an immediate cost ceiling for the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme. This clearly does not resolve the issue in any way. It does however offer us an opportunity to try influence Government before any such cost ceiling is set. Among TUC trade unions, this has put us in a unique position since cost ceilings have now been set for the main public sector schemes.

A major concern of our colleagues in other unions has been a refusal by Government to engage in serious dialogue or genuine negotiations in the other pension scheme talks. Frustration at this is a key feature of the current campaigns in a number of unions. In relation to the Firefighters scheme it would be dishonest of us to make such a claim at this time. Ministers have met us on several occasions; have agreed to all meetings requested; have currently provided all information asked for and have allocated actuaries and pension officials to assist in talks.

It is important to note that none of this means the core issues will be resolved – there remain very serious disagreements. It simply means that in terms of current talks we cannot say that Government are refusing to engage in a dialogue. Most significantly, ministers have agreed to a very important demand from the FBU i.e. not to set the cost ceiling immediately.

As a result of these and other considerations, the Executive Council concluded that there should not be an immediate move to industrial action. Such action may become necessary and the next few weeks will be crucial in assessing the Government position before such a decision is made.



Best wishes.

Yours fraternally

MATT WRACK

GENERAL SECRETARY


FBU

capitalist Britain, food package handouts on the rise

Figures from a charity suggest a sharp rise in demand on charities for food.

Fareshare, which redirects food trade surpluses to those in need, said its donations were reaching 35,000 people a day, up from 29,000 a day last year.

The organisation said it had seen the largest annual increase in the number of charities asking for handouts.

Fareshare said low-income families were struggling with rising food prices, and one in three charities it surveyed was facing government funding cuts.

Unprecedented demand

The charity has 17 locations around the UK and passes on good quality supplies from the British food industry to a wide network of organisations such as homeless hostels, women's refuges, day centres and after-school clubs.

It said that in the year to April it provided 8.6 million meals to 600 groups, and this year it was facing unprecedented demand from some 700 organisations.

The organisation, which works with more than 100 companies in the food and drink industry, said 42% of the charities it surveyed reported an increase in demand for food in the past year.

Some 65% of the charities were slashing food budgets in an effort to stay afloat, it found, according to responses from 150 community members from organisations Fareshare supplies.

Fareshare said there has been an "increase in people and the types of people" seeking food from the charities.

In the past, its donations commonly went to homeless people and refugee charities but more "destitute families" were now among its recipients.

Fareshare chief executive Lindsay Boswell said: "At a time of unprecedented demand we want the food industry and the general public to increase their support."

He added: "This research supports the growing anecdotal evidence we've seen in recent months - more people are getting in touch with Fareshare asking for help to access food.




This news comes as no surprise to myself and many other socialists who have been reporting this sort of story for months. This sort of story twill get more air time now as it is starting to affect lower middle class families too and only then do the media like the BBC sit up and take note. But the factis that big food producing companies will give little of the surplus to food charities and would rather put it in landfill as there is no profit to be made in excess food they feel. Homesless people and working class families who need food wont be able to pay anything towards this so they dont feel its worth them investing in such projects.

Like any capitalist they will only invest and do something if there is a profit thre to be made.

Isnt it outrageous that in Britain one of the so called richest nations in the world has some of its poorest people living off food handouts and cant afford to feed themselves. What a devastating blow to capitalism that it cannot even feed its own countries people let alone the worlds population.

I can only predict sadly that this story will keep coming back and coming back untill something is done to rid us of this profit driven greedy society based on explitation.

This news story touch's on people who do work who cannot afford to feed themselves not just the homeless. Doesnt this tell you that wages are far too low for people to live on with labours minimum wage now looking a pittance for people to live on with food prices rocketing it is no wonder peoploe are struggling at the bottom of society.

A quote from peter Taaffe i read over the weekend that austerity what we are going through right now should be given its proper name "planned povety". i think peter sums it up pretty well there as that is exactly what it is. When a capitalist cant make a profit it will not spend and could not care less who suffers because of it. Harsh but true this is the system we live under and the system i want to see ended.

There is more than enough food produced every day for the whole world to eat if we had a system based on peoples needs before profits benifiting the many not just the few we'd be much better off. The system i'm talking about is socialism. A planned economy run by the workers, for the workers where peoples needs come first. No one more equal than anyone else.

Unions outrage as government announce plans to make it easier to sack workers

Unions have rounded on the government over plans to water down workers' rights to "make it easier for businesses to grow".

Lib Dem minister Ed Davey will announce the new areas of employment legislation up for review at the Institute for Economic Affairs as the government attempts to clear away restrictions for employers.

It will consult on cutting compensation payments for discrimination, reducing the current 90-day timescale for firms to consult over job losses, and changing the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment Regulations (Tupe) which protects the pay and conditions of public sector workers transferred between companies.

One law firm has warned that the move will disadvantage women and ethnic minority workers.

The government is already simplifying the employment tribunal system, looking at extending the period before an unfair dismissal claim can be brought and reviewing the system for managing sickness absence.

Speaking ahead of his speech, Davey said: "The areas we are reviewing are priorities for employers. We want to make it easier for businesses to take on staff and grow. We will be looking carefully at the arguments for reform. Fairness for individuals will not be compromised – but where we can make legislation easier to understand, improve efficiency and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy we will."

While the announcement was hailed by business leaders as evidence that the government was removing barriers to job creation, the proposals were panned by unions.

Brendan Barber, the TUC general secretary, said the level of compensation for discrimination currently in place were to help ensure employers act fairly towards their staff, as were the other laws in place to offer staff protection.

High levels of compensation for discrimination were only awarded in "severe cases", he added.

"It is right that people who have lost out through the unfair practices of their employer receive proper compensation – and that helps ensure employers act fairly in the first place. "Taking a discrimination case is not easy and requires expert legal advice. It is the employer equivalent of the urban myth that there are myriad vexatious claims. Making it easier to make people redundant and giving the workforce less time to come up with alternatives to job losses threatens to make unemployment even worse."

Paul Griffin of law firm DBS Law said there had been an increase in claims of discrimination in the last six months due to employers not following correct procedure in a "mad dash" to reduce head count ahead of another downturn in the economy.

"Cutting compensation to victims of discrimination will not deter vexatious claims," he said. "The only effect will be to reward bad employers who disadvantage women and ethnic minority workers, legitimising an unpleasant trend in employment practice."

Len McCluskey, the general secretary of the country's biggest trade union, Unite, accused ministers of being "small minded".

"The business department under Vince Cable's supine direction is cultivating a disgraceful reputation as a 'do nothing' department when it comes to saving jobs, let alone creating the tens of thousands needed, especially for those aged 16 to 24," said McCluskey.

"If the 90-day consultation period is swept away, giving workers and companies a small window in which they can save jobs, then this shameful reputation will be cemented. And where exactly is the job creation dividend to be garnered from dismantling Tupe? These regulations offer only slender protection on pay as it is — they can do nothing to protect a worker's pension during takeover, but they can help to retain much-needed standards in the workplace."




All this confirms to me again that this government want to destroy the public sector making cuts easier to happen. With spineless unions and labour councils across the country no doubt this will be music to their ears so they can get rid of workers a lot quickera nd easier.

To me its highly shameful and i see no union putting up any fight on this matter. Only by explaining what it will do isnt enough Mr Barber. Get up off your ass and defend your members rights and stop this new attack on the workers.

Portugal becomes latest country to ask for a austerity bailout

So as we hear our news tonight we hear Portugal is the latest country to aqquire a financial bailout from the EU. this is the third country now after Greece and Ireland. If this trend continues this really could spell a crisis for the major forces in the EU.

Portugal's caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates has said that he has asked the European Union for financial assistance.

Mr Socrates said the country was "at too much risk that it shouldn't be exposed to".

The government has long resisted asking for aid but last week admitted that it had missed its 2010 budget deficit target.

Portugal follows Greece and the Irish Republic in seeking a bail-out.

"I always said asking for foreign aid would be the final way to go but we have reached the moment," Mr Socrates said.

"Above all, it's in the national interest."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement that Portugal's request would be processed "in the swiftest possible manner, according to the rules applicable".

He also reaffirmed his "confidence in Portugal's capacity to overcome the present difficulties, with the solidarity of its partners".

Borrowing costs

Mr Socrates did not say how much aid Portugal would ask for. Negotiations will now be underway and the BBC's business editor Robert Peston said rescue loans could amount to as much as 80bn euros ($115bn; £70bn).

Mr Socrates was speaking after Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said it was necessary to resort to financial aid from the EU.

Matthew Price

Europe correspondent, BBC News

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First Greece, then Ireland, now Portugal. But unlike the previous two bail-outs, this one does not seem to have provoked panic - either in the corridors of power here, nor on the markets.

The EU's top economic official Olli Rehn called the Portugese decision a "responsible move". The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso - himself Portugese - said the request would be processed as quickly as possible.

A team could be dispatched to Portugal in the coming days.

EU finance ministers hold a scheduled meeting in Hungary at the end of the week. Portugal will be top of the agenda.

The European Commission and the European Central Bank are both expected to be involved in the bail-out funding. The International Monetary Fund says it stands ready to help as well.
Earlier, the government raised about 1bn euros after tapping the financial markets in order to repay loans, but will have to pay a higher interest rate to lenders.

Portugal's cost of borrowing has risen sharply since the minority Socialist government resigned last month after its proposed tougher austerity measures were defeated in parliament.

Since then several rating agencies have downgraded the country's debt.

An informal meeting of European finance ministers had already been scheduled for Thursday in Budapest. Portugal was not originally on the agenda but is expected to be discussed.

The UK Treasury Minister Mark Hoban will attend. A source at the Treasury said that the bilateral loan the UK offered to the Irish Republic was "very much a special case" and a similar offer is "not on the table" for Portugal.

Jan Randolph, head of sovereign risk at IHS Global Insight, told the BBC that Portugal might organise "some sort of bridging loan" in the short term.

But he added: "The real big loan over several years will require a medium-term plan and I don't think that can be agreed until the new government comes into place."

Elections are likely to take place in a few months' time.


Many things stand out for me in this piece i've found from the BBC. One is the simialrities in language used by this guy. The term "national interest" again reminds me of David cameron's arguement that the cuts in the Uk wre in the national interest and dealing with the deficit is in our national interest. Plus again i feel that any bailout for any country now will result in heavy cuts that again you guessed it fall on the working class. Portugal isnt a very rich country and its working class will unfortunatly have to suffer from these cuts again i am sure. Not if they resist though.

Again i am sure that as in Portugal as in Ireland as in Greece mistakes from teh bankers and the gambling nature of these bankers has caused this crisis. But instead of the bankers paying for their mistakes of which they should the burden is placed on the shoulders of the working class again and again. They want to take back all that we have won over the years and put us back in our box. I do hope the good people of Portugal can organise and form a resistance to these oncoming cuts. They like us face the same struggles and battles ahead in Portugal and we stand by the comrades in taht country to build for an alternative with strikes and demo's on a large mass scale.

The positivity to come out of the TUC march 26th demo and what to do next

SO throughout today i have been hearing piece after piece on the news about how this so called violence ruined the TUC march and hi-jacked it and all the rest of it. As i said i think the only people to hijack the march wre labour and Ed miliband trying to turn it into a slow cuts march and a general vote for the labour party message helped hugely by the TUC. But as a socialist i found the demo huge and a very positive thing. Throughout this week people who were on the march will go home to their home areas and tell their fellow friends, workmates and family of waht relaly went on there. Hopefully people will be ablet o breakthrough the biased coverage the mainstream news sources are putting out.

I wanted tto say how big this demo was and it felt so exhilariting to me and i hope it did to many others too. The BBC and TUC initally estimated half a million on the march on the day but later have downscaled it i am not sure why this is. I imagine to downplay the reaction and to stop any unrest in the movement. The TUC's leadership will think they have done their work and have let off steam from working peoplea nd can go back to the day to day stuff of running a big Union.

Wrong. From now on the mood across the country has changed, We may not notice it yet but it has changed the mood of the working class has changed. With the trades unions mobilising hundreds of thousands of workers to the streets of London for one day shows what can be achieved . So i wanted to reiterate the positive message this demo sent outa nd still does to me. The violence will soon be forgotton about in a months time and this demo which i still think was up nearer the 3 quarters of a million mark than half a million will live long in the memory of the working class. But this cannot be the end we need to carry on building resistance to the cuts and building pressure on the TUC and the unions to ballot for co-ordinated strike action. On the day our party gave out leaflets in support of a one day public sector genearl strike this was warmly welcomed and hopefully comrades in the various unions can ramp up pressure for this to become reality. I really think this can happen as anger about the cuts deepens as we head into the summer.

People have told me a general strike is illegal. I've talked to various people and have found out it is not. If done correctly with each union finding a issue and i'm sure they wont be short of a few ballots its members for strike action on the same day this can become a reality i'm sure of it. Mass workers resistance must be our way forward taking teh movement with us. In the socialist party we dont believe in individual based action this does not serve the greater struggle as a whole we firmly believe in the role of trade unions and the action they can take. As several union speakers said on the day we have all marched in our hundreds of thousands today just imagine if we all took strike action together on one day what we can achieve. We can stop these cuts i know we can we just need to build the support in and outside trade unions and in our communities ensuring we take everyone with us.

I think there would also be the unity there from private sector workers to also take strike action in solidarity with public sector workers. At the end of the day we are all workers and all have to sell our labour the tories may like to try and divide us and try and set us against eachother but aat the end of the day we are all one big mass working class ready to fight back against these unfair policies the tories are introducing.

So i really do think we should remember the positive parts of the demo and try to force the narrative that the violence is not representitive of the whole movement and the anti cuts movement and we are still moving forward not standing still.

Lets keep organising and building and fighting back against the cuts for ordinary working peoples sake, those who did not cause this financial crisis.

The worrying signs from privatising the police force

I have just found this article on the BBC's new pages and rings alarm bells to me about which way this tory lead government wants to take the state and its police force.

An Essex-based private security firm is aiming to be among the first in the UK to operate residential patrols with powers to deal with low-level crime.

BBC Inside Out East has discovered that Garde UK wants to start a 24-hour a day service covering Brentwood, with residents each paying £1 a week.

The company has been accredited by Essex Police, which means it could be granted powers to tackle anti-social behaviour, issue fixed penalty notices and confiscate alcohol.

Under the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS), people can apply for accreditation to exercise limited legal powers.

Nearly 400 people from 25 organisations, including park wardens and bus inspectors, have been vetted and trained by Essex Police, but the force is yet to grant any powers to Garde UK.

'Strain on resources'

Tom Peppiatt, from Garde UK, said the firm wanted to work alongside the police to deter crime and improve community spirit.

He said: "We are not a private policing company - we are a private security company that is providing additional information and intelligence back to the police to help the system in their day-to-day routine."

The plan has been criticised by the Essex Police Federation.

Chairman Tony Rayner said: "We think policing powers should stay firmly with the police.

"If people can afford to pay £5 a week £250 a year whatever it is, then why can't they afford to pay that in additional precept to the police authority for more police officers to do it?"

But a report by Perpetuity Research and Consultancy International, which specialises in research into crime reduction and security, said while some senior police officers saw working with private security as a threat, others had embraced the idea.

Professor Martin Gill, director of Perpetuity Group, said: "I think to dismiss it too quickly is dangerous in itself, especially as we move into a new era where there are cutbacks.

"There is going to be a greater strain on police officers and they are going to have to look to different ways of policing."

"There are going to be some brave police forces that go out there and set out a different way of doing things where they find better ways of embracing resources in the community, including private security."

The full report can be seen on BBC Inside Out East and London on Monday 7 March at 1930 GMT on BBC1.


THis is quite worrying for me as we see at the same time thousands of frontline and backroom police workers and officers being removed from their jobs. We can see now with this later report where the tories plan to fill the gaps. It is clear that these private security firms will have vested interests and would have been allowed to move in with permission with the tories. You can imagine there would have been some dodgy deal done that we dont know about.

Now i'm not the greatest fan of our police in this country but i do think for teh good honest policeman or woman they deserve better than this. They do a hard job in the circumstances and i do feel sorry for them with this latest move.

Hopefully this is not a start of things to come with more and more privatisation of our public services once they have been cut.

America next for the cuts agenda

Barack Obama, the US president, is set to unveil his fiscal 2012 budget on Monday, an election-year plan forged from conflicting needs to cut spending and stoke the economic recovery.

With vast crisis payments and sharply lower tax revenues making it difficult for the government to balance its books, Obama will set out an austerity plan that will help set the tone for next year's presidential race.

It is expected to address widespread public anger that the government is living beyond its means, detailing sweeping spending cuts while including some investments.

To square the circle, Obama's proposed budget for fiscal 2012 will seek to cut the record federal deficit, slashing energy subsidies for the poor and freeze public workers' pay.

But faced with high unemployment and an economic recovery that is still struggling to escape the orbit of the 2008 economic crisis, Obama will also give states more flexibility to pay for unemployment benefits.

Most of the projected savings would be achieved through two changes would require congressional approval.

At 2,448 pages and a weight of 4.5kg, the budget will contain something for most members of congress, but plenty more that will be loathed.

Congressional battle

On the eve of of the budget's publication, Republicans have been promoting ever-deeper spending cuts and criticising Obama for not doing enough.

Republicans argue spending cuts will help boost growth, while the Obama administration argues cuts are needed, but should be carefully measured for fear of derailing the recovery.

Obama's proposed budget cuts so far
The plan: Cut $1.1 trillion deficit over next 10 years

Two-thirds of savings to come from spending cuts and one-third from tax increases.

Defence budget: $78bn over five years
Pell Grant Programme: $100bn over a decade


For example, as Obama seeks $53bn for high-speed rail over the next few years, House Republicans are trying to pull back $2.5 bn that has already been promised.

Their budget also includes $1.1 bn cut to Head Start pre-kindergarten education programmes.

Bringing the two sides together is likely to be a long process that takes up most of the year. Congress has yet to approve the fiscal 2011 budget.

"There's no limit to the amount we're willing to cut to help get our economy moving again," said John Boehner, the House speaker, promising a $100bn cut in spending to the 2011 budget, with more to come.

But experts say cuts in discretionary spending, like those proposed by Obama and the Republicans, are just a drop in the fiscal bucket.

"This spending accounted for just one-fifth of total outlays last fiscal year," Augustine Faucher of Moody's Analytics says.

"Even if it had been entirely eliminated - wiping out the budgets for running the government, education, national parks and the like - the fiscal 2010 deficit still would have topped $600bn."

Growing fears

Fears are growing that the inability of the US to get its budget under control could eventually lead to a debt crisis and a possible default that would plunge the globe into crisis.

This week, Ben Bernanke, US Federal Reserve chairman, warned that dramatic change was inevitable.

"The question is whether these adjustments will take place through a careful and deliberative process that weighs priorities and gives people adequate time to adjust to changes ... [or] as a rapid and painful response to a looming or actual fiscal crisis," Bernanke said.

The US budget deficit is currently at the highest levels since World War II, and is projected to hit $1.48tn this year, or 9.8 per cent of gross domestic product, according to the congressional budget office.


This taken from Al jazeera's own english website.

This simply confirms my suspicions that the american president, president O'barma, is no left leaning socialist like the republicans try to paitn him as he is neo-conservative as they come. The guy who above is about to unveail this set of austerity cuts package cannot be socialist if he is. I never thought he was but this new announcement should set the record straight that he is just like any other careerist polititian only out for looking after the well off. nothing ever changes even in the free country of America. Cuts have found their way too. Maybe president O'barma has been spending far too much time with our own Mr cameron and has been convinced by the need for cuts too.

All this only further oppresses the working class's at the bottom of the scale who will feel these cuts the hardest. Just like in Britian this will have a huge impact on millions. I just hope the west, as it does seem to be a western agenda now to cut cut and cut more and more from the state giving to the private sector knows what it is doing and once its cut it cant be returned.

I do feel sorry for the american people now who like us in Britain will be feeling hardship for many years to come.

I do hope the socialist revolution is just around the corner. I've frankly had enough of this boom and bust rollercoaster. I'd quite like to get off now thanks

Ken clarke warsn the middle class's about the upcoming cuts

"The middle classes are unaware of the scale of government spending cuts that will hit them this year, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has said.

Mr Clarke said the coalition should be prepared for political difficulty when Middle England feels the full impact.

He told the Daily Telegraph he did not envisage a "quick rebound" for an economy in a "calamitous" state.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said the coalition had not thought out the implications of its strategy.

He told BBC Radio Wales: "What you see is a government which has a plan to get rid of jobs in the public sector but not enough of a plan to replace them in the private sector."

'Very difficult'
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
If someone says it's not as bad as all that, I say [they] just don't realise the calamitous position we're in”
End Quote
Ken Clarke

Justice Secretary

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Mr Clarke told the Telegraph: "One reason we're going to get some political difficulty is that [while] the public knows we've got to do something about it, I don't think Middle England has quite taken on board the scale of the problem.

"That will emerge as the cuts start coming home this year. We've got to get on with it [but] it's going to be very difficult.

"If someone says it's not as bad as all that, I say [they] just don't realise the calamitous position we're in."

BBC political correspondent Carole Walker says that while Mr Clarke supports the chancellor's deficit reduction plan, his tone is downbeat in contrast to the Treasury's recent efforts to point to some more encouraging economic figures.

'Economy stalled'

Shadow Treasury Chief Secretary Angela Eagle said Mr Clarke should be worried about "economic difficulty", not just political difficulty.

"The Tory-led government may have boasted before Christmas that Britain was recovering and out of the danger zone, but their decisions have meant the economy has now stalled and both unemployment and inflation are rising." she said.

"And this is before the full impact of the VAT hike and deep spending cuts have been felt."

She added: "Ken Clarke should come clean that his government made a political choice to reduce the deficit in this way. No other major economy is cutting this far and this fast."

In the interview, the justice secretary also questions Downing Street's hopes of limiting an extension of the vote in elections to prisoners serving up to one year, saying four years would be a more realistic figure.
"

This was an article posted on the bbc this morning. I think Ken clarke raises some good points but waht he fails to recognise is that the cuts wont just be affecting his own middle class they are already have a huge impact on the working class which no mainstream political party seem prepared to wantto represent.

Even labour always a party of the less well off in tradition are banging on and on about teh squeezed middle. That is all they care about. that group in society. SO dont be surprised labour and tories when you gain no votes from the working class that you have abandoned.

I too agree that people dont fully realise the impact of these cuts yet and how they will affect them. Whilst they are biting hard at the lower end of the scale the so called middle class is yet to feel it properly. Once their pay freezes and rising costs for fuel starts to hit home they will start to feel it too.

So it will be interesting which way this group of people go whether they turn against the political system altogether when they realise there is no real choice labour and tories would be cutting services and jobs right now.

spending cuts put tories "big society at risk"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12378974

The government's spending cuts are "destroying" volunteering and undermining its "big society" vision, the head of a leading charity has said.

Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, who is retiring from the Community Service Volunteers (CSV) after 36 years, said there was no "strategic plan".

She told the Times the "massive" council cuts would make it harder for people to do more in their communities.

Ministers insist they are creating new sources of funds for voluntary groups.

The government has said it will be investing £470m over the next four years in charities and voluntary groups to give them independence from state money.

But Dame Elisabeth told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The cuts that are being imposed on local government and the health service are taking place now.

"So there are a lot of very worthwhile programmes - for example volunteers working in child protection as promoted by the minister for children - which are now under threat of closure."


This must be all very worrying for Mr Cameron who seems to strongly believe in this big society rubbish he seems to spurt alot. Does anyone actually truely know what it means really ?

Lets face facts the article above from the BBC excellently outlines how this cannot work and will turn out to be a big fad. People who have jobs cannot give up their time to volunteer where public services have been taken away. Its a con and a smokescreen to mask the fact key local public services are being scrapped or sold off. I have seen through this idea right from the start. Now spending cuts are starting to hit so is everybody else. I would love to see a survey of how many people understand what the "big society" is and if they are in favour of it ?. The fact of the matter as the article above also explains the charitable sector and voluntary sector often called the 3rd sector have been covering a lot of what this "big society" is meant to be for years. organisations like the Citizens advice bureau. have been offering these services for years and years. Why put these excellent organisations at risk by cutting their funding and then say we still want the services but you'll have to find the money from somewhere else. Where do David Cameron and his pals down at Tory HQ expect these charities to find the money from in this day and age ?

Hugely out of touch i might suggest.

dramatic loss of police numbers to put country at risk

Alarming figures uncovered by Labour show ranks will plunge by 10,190 by 2013 as the Tory-led Coalition's budget squeeze intensifies.

The numbers look scarey and rightly so. THis is no small feet. This is a large amount of the front line officers being made redundant or moved elsewhere. THis is worrying news i feel as we enter another decade with huge major public events like the 2012 Olympics in London and the Royal wedding to name but a few. To have this dramatic loss in officers on the streets is not only worrying to the public for their safety but the countries tourism may end up falling due to tourists not feeling as safe as perhaps they once did.

Now i'm not a huge fan of the police as it goes. Their recent record on our streets back in December at the student tuitian fees protests and back a few years to the G20 protests when poor Ian Tomlison lost his life at the hands of a police officer. At last years student protests we will remember poor Alfie Meadows who suffered bleeding on the brain due to being battered savagely over the head by a police baton.

Now this is not a rant about the police and their heavy handed tactics but just outlining my thoughts recently on them. But i do still feel despite all this that removing officers from the street wont benifit us in the long run. People like to feel safe on their streets and in their homes and this decision by this tory lead government will not help this feeling of insecurity in their own country.

I myself as a disabled person like to know there is the access of the police to protect us if i need to call upon them for any reason at all. As i am perhaps more vunrable than others in society being visually impaired i perhaps feel the police are more important to me than others.

So these cuts to police spending and front line services will be putting the country further at risk from attacks of terrorism and other such major criminal offences we hear about every day.

Even the police as they are at the moment are over stretched, when my mum tried to contact them to report a intimadation from someone else she was told no one could take her report right now as they didnt have enough units to deal with the problem. If this is how it is now, how is it going to be like after these huge policing cuts ?

Only 10 more days to campaign to keep the DLA benifit

As the days draw ever closer to febuary the 14th, Whilst most people look forward to this day for Valentines day many of disabled people across the country including myself will be on tender hooks worried to death that the government will vote to scrap the disability living allowance. We only have 10 days left to lobby our Mp's whilst i myself dont hold out much hope of this being voted down i do want to get the message out there that it is important to a lot of people and does need saving.

take a look at this thread on this page here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/messageboards/NF2322273?thread=8034533
It explains a lot and highlights a excellent campaign from the broken of britain to protect the disability living allowance. The governments replacement will b ea personal independance payment which will be more strict and therefore making it harder for borderline disabled people to claim for this.

For the government who promised that the weakest and the most vunrable in our society would be protected it is a absolute outrage that they are being allowed to get away with these attacks on our disabled population. So where is our beloved opposition when it matters and we need them to defend the voice-less ? ? no where to be seen. As the reality is the labour government of the last 13 years was the ones who started the raids and attacks on the disabled. They were starting to cut disability benifits even whilst still in government. I'm not one of these people who see's what they did through rose tinted spectecles i have to live through it and are being affected by these cuts and so called reforms.

So i hope as many of yo who do read this blog and those who dont can lobby your MP to urge them to vote to keep the DLA. I dont hold out much hope myself as DLA in the large part is not a very well known benifit to the majority of people and due to that fact the ignorance of most people they will cut it with no thought spared.

Take a well known policy change the trebling of student university tuitian fees a month or so ago that was hugely popular movement and protests were formed and even that got voted through, all be it narrowly. So what chance does a little benifit that only the disabled benifit from have of surviving these vicious government cuts ?

Despite this i do hope it can be saved or at least protected and Labour and the lib dems who stand for fairness and for the vunrable in society can find their backbone on this vote in the commons on 14th of feb.

To many the DLA is a lifeline. It enables them to get to the local shops by taxi and get out of their house rather than being house bound. It is a benifit which enables people to gain some of their independance back. It may not be perfect and i'm sure many do claim it wrongly that could be looked at. But a major reform of it is not nessesary in my view.

So once again it is the poorest and the most vunrable in society are left picking up the bill for the rich bankers mistakes. Where the government has over spent on illegal wars and other such needless matters. When their money runs out in the capitailist system they dont turn to each other at the top for a bail out they turn on the poor and working class who have little say in anything anyway.

If Mp's vote to scrap this including my own MP they can rule themselves out of me ever voting and supporting them again. But then again i'm sure they wont care as they dont have to face the difficulties disabled people have to face on a daily basis.

As a excellent placard spelled out at a recent disability protest i attended in LOndon said, If you want my benifits you can have my disability. Too right, if money is taht important to them they'd happily take it off those who need it most, It clearly shows how broke the capitailist system is. Lets expose them for who they really are.

Coalitions plans clearly not working

So today the national office for statistics published its results of growth between October 2010 and December 2011 and reported that the UK's economy shrunk by a estimated 0.5% between those dates. a huge well done to the con-dems. your plan is successfully failing. Another quarter like that early 2011 and we will be back in recession. Fantastic work guys. Is this what they meant by change vote for change at the election last year ? must have been. MOre and more cuts and record VAT on items and rocketing inflation.

The tories have unveailed a time bomb now and i think they will struggle to get the economy going again. It seems as though they are obsessed with cuts and this shrinking of the GDP of the country will probably only encourage them to carry out more cuts more harder and deeper.

They think that cuts are the answer, well are they the answer so far ? i would strongly say not

what is their plan B if we do slip back into recession, carry on cutting ? god help us

from the bbc :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

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.

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.

Keep your grubby little hands off our NHS Cameron

so this morning any of you who tune in to the today programme on bbc radio 4 this morning will have hard our prime minister David Camron running our NHS down calling it a second rate service and calling for big reforms. Well maybe it is to you Mr Camron but seriously this is a insult to the great people of this country who rely on the NHS's great service.

The staff especailly which make the organisation will not be happy to hear these words from him. These reforms planned by the tories which incidentilly were never in their manefesto in fact they stated the opposite that the NHS was to be ringfenced would appear now that was all hot air as is the case with alot of the things that come out of a tory MP's mouth these days.

I am worried now the tories have their hands on the steering wheel our NHS is at great threat. You can never trust the tories with th NHS. With the news last week of the Post office being voted by the commons to be sold off to the private sector these words today from the prime minister worry me greatly.

It will be a very sad day if we see the NHS privatised and i really hope we do not. Labour and whoever has a say and can vote this down must do. If the tories plan cuts and mass scale reforms to the NHS we all know where they are leading with this, eventual selling off of our greatest public sector organisation this country has ever and will ever see in my opinion.

I do hope people wont take this one lying down as this will be a big fight if the tories do push ahead with their plans.

There has already been mumerings from within the NHS about how dangerous this will be and what a risk to patients this will be, but do the tories care ? no is the answer they only care about their money not about peoples lives.