Labours hypocrisy on benefits

Labour today intend to vote against the benefit cap of RPI + 1% which in effect is a real terms cut. This on the face of it sounds great go on Labour the labour left cheer we have our party back, labour stands up for the poor. Slow down there this is nothing of the sort. Labour still support a benefit cap just disagrees on the way it fits that’s all. Do you really think if they were in gov they’d be acting any differently? Take these quotes from Ed Ball’s article in the Guardian this morning and you can hear their similarities with the Tories ideas. Labour has fallen or rather backed up the Tories in the scrounger vs. strivers rhetoric so common among capitalist politicians nowadays. Take some of these quotes I found in this Guardian article by Ed Balls. “Of course we need spending cuts and tax rise’s to get the deficit down” He goes on.... We also need a welfare system that works. And for Labour, that means any reform of the system must pass three tests. First, it must pay more to be in work than live on benefits, both for the individual and the Exchequer. Labour introduced a minimum wage alongside tax credits to help ensure work pays. But this government's deep cuts to tax credits already mean that thousands of working parents are now better off if they quit their jobs, while cuts to childcare support mean thousands of mums and dads are struggling to afford to take up full-time work. The implementation of the government’s flagship universal credit is already proving to be a shambles with Iain Duncan Smith’s own Cabinet colleagues warning this week that it is a “disaster waiting to happen”. Meanwhile the government's benefits cap could also end up costing more than it saves. Labour supports the principle of a benefits cap but this government's crude 'one size fits all' cap - with the same level in London as the rest of the country - will simply lead to taxpayers funding the cost of rising homelessness as families living in high cost areas are turfed out of their homes. Second we must get tough on the scourge of long-term unemployment by matching rights with responsibilities. A One Nation approach to welfare reform means government has a responsibility to help people into work and support those who cannot, but those who can work must be required to take up jobs or lose benefits as a result – no ifs or buts. Tackling long-term unemployment will be a top priority for the next Labour government because we know from the 1980s that it has a scarring effect on individuals and communities, damages our economy and society, and builds up long-term costs for the taxpayer. All this could have come straight out of IDS’s mouth but a labour front bench politician I just think it says it all. Forcing you into an unpaid position or you will lose your benefits is slave labour there is no two ways about it. You have no choice in the matter. So whether you are labour or Tory workfare or workfare plus the results will be the same. Labour does not recognise that low pay is at issue here a huge issue that most people receiving benefits are actually in work. They talk of long term unemployment but have no answer to those themselves only more workfare and Tory light ideas. How anyone can support labour still I do not know. Their policies are bankrupt and their ideas are straight from the Tories. We as socialists cannot give any support to labour and must build TUSC as an alternative. Those who say only Labour can beat the Tories is wrong I’m sure the liberals were telling the newly formed Labour party in the 20th century only we can beat the Tories yet look what happened. We must be brave must be bold and confident let’s not settle for lesser evilism or labour are not as cruel line. Let’s kick the cuts coalition out and build a working class, socialist alternative with TUSC. With quotes from this Guardian Piece http://www.politicshome.com/uk/article/69052/ed_balls_britain_needs_real_welfare_reform_that_is_tough_fair_and_that_works.html For more information on TUSC and how you can get involved check out www.tusc.org.uk

Tories relight their attack on trade unions once again

Today we have heard a tory minister named Dominic Raab who was voted in by 42.6% of the electorate is calling again for the government to introduce strike ballot thresholds of a turnout of 50% to be passed officail and legal. Anything less he says would be made ilegal and could not take place.
Bob Crow the general secretary of the RMT union one of the most left leaning unions going made the e xcellent point that if this rule applied to MP's as it is being proposed under the AV voting system if it goes through in may would mean MP's like Mr Raab and many of his career driven polititains not taking their seats in the house of commons. How hypocritical of this man who wouldnt even be in a position to make such remarks if it wasnt for the voting system thatallows MP's to gain office on such low turnouts.

It is clear to me the tories are sparing for a battle with the unions again with this latest drive for cuts and austerity they are almost goading the unions into action to then release these anti trade union laws on them.

Whatever happened to the right to strike. Unions do not ust strike for the sheer fun of it Mr Raab , they use industrial action as a last resort. Mr Raab s claims that due to RMT underground workers strikes last year Londons economy lost millions of pounds of revenue is clearly all a tory minister is likely to notice. They do not see the other side of the coin where workers are loosing their jobs facing reduced pay and conditions. As Bob Crow points out what other ammunition do workers have to defend themselves against the boss's if they cannot use the right to strike to protect their rights.

I am a trade unionist myself and am a member of Unite where in our union we have balloted time after time with BA cabin crew but each time BA seem to find something a technical hitch which means the workers cannot excersise their democratic right to take industrial action.

As the coming months move forward and the prospect of industrial action in the public sector becomes more and more of a reality i imagine we will be hearing more and more scare mongering from tory ministers with clearly nothing better to do than stir up trouble with the unions. We all know tories are no fans of unions they canot stand the idea of workers having collective power in numbers and always look to break them up.
So the hypocrisy of this man is dripping and i do hope that trade unions are not brought under further legislation to curb any industrial activity which they have a fundemental right to use in my opinion. The right to remove your labour is one of the workers last resorts in times of struggle and must be upheld in my view.

How the western intervention in Libya could swell the numbers for march 26th TUC demo

In a survey of British people only 35 % of the public currently support the western military interventions in Libya. That figure i expect to fall considerably as this imperialistic mission drags on for weeks into months possibly.

But i really do think this all may have a big affect on this saturdays march in London where a estimated minimum of quarter of a million plus will be marching fagainst the cuts this retchid government of ours are trying to force through. They say the cuts are unavoidable and there is no alternative, we say they are wrong and they need to make the bankers pay not the working class - ordinary people.

I really think when people open their eyes to the fact we are spending hundreds of thousands on expensive bombs and missiles that no average ordinary people benifit from they only serve to halt a revolution in the arab world which risks the western influence and more importantly to the capitalist nations that big three letter word Oil.
When ordinary working class people the disabled, students and pensioners are being told we cannot afford these vital services and support networks yet they see our beloved government bombinb the shit out of a country which can barely defend itself with a load of out of date Weapons that are nothing compared to American, British and French planes, bombs and technology. It is not a fair fight and it must be opposed i feel.

I think as this unessesary conflict continues, not unessesary that we dont need to see the removal of Gadaffi but the removal of him by his own people in a popular uprising situation would be our preference rather than bombing for peace as the west loves to describe it. I've never heard so much rubbish how does dropping bombs on a country and its people and lets be honest given the best bombing technology in the world today bombs and missiles can still go off course and hit civilian targets as we all well know.

So i think this obsurdity that we can afford bombs and missiles for wars abroad yet we cannot afford to basically look after our own people it will anger people. I know it angers me a hell of a lot. The hypocrisy is astounding and we must highlight this on saturday too.

The real reason for David Cameron's recent trip to Egypt

We've seen on our news about the revolutions in Egypt and other Arab states but our British Prime Minister David Cameron has become the first leader of any country to visit the nation but all is not what it seems.

David Cameron’s decision to fly to Egypt for talks with leading government and opposition figures is not, as he states, to ensure “a genuine transition from military rule to civilian rule”. It is to safeguard the geo-political balance which was present under Hosni Mubarak.

It is no surprise that Cameron is reportedly accompanied by personnel from no less than eight different defence firms.

This geo-political balance includes Western economic interests, such as access to oil and weapons sales.

Israel’s interests also are central. The West was far quicker to praise the military’s statement that they will honour the Israeli Peace Treaty, than the bravery of the protesters.

Then there is the related goal of limiting Iranian influence in the region. Alarm bells must already be ringing after Iran has decided to test the waters (literally) by asking to sail ships to Syria through the Suez.

Lastly, there is the presence of US military personnel in the Sinai and Cairo which helps to underwrite all of the above goals. US troops are stationed at the West-Cairo Airbase whose former commander, incidentally, was a Mr Mubarak.

The West wants to make sure that these advantages are maintained.

This is why Cameron is so eager to visit the country before democracy has been established, even though he risks legitimising the current military rule. It is why he has neglected to talk to anyone from Egypt’s most popular opposition party: the Muslim Brotherhood, as they will not acquiesce to Western interests.

Democracy which doesn’t align itself with Western demands is likely to be condemned, as it was when the Palestinians had the audacity to vote for Hamas.

Cameron’s arrival signals the start of a wave of Western officials attempting to retain influence.

Senior US diplomat William J Burns is already there and no doubt others will join him soon. The ugly scramble to preserve the geopolitical status-quo has begun.


I think this is pretty hypocritical of Mr Cameron who he and his government ministers have been frantically condeming the riots and attacks by the leaders out there before the fall of Mubarac. But now this news surfaces, Smacks a little of political opputunism from before really.

This guy never ceases to amaze me how much nerve he has got. To fly in the face of what he has just said to do more U-turns than a learner driver he should be ashamed of himself really. Then again his is the so called next in line to Tony Blair they say so following in his footsteps what do we expect.