Desperation crime on the rise in austerity Britain

As the economic crisis deepens for many people desperate times call for desperate measures. I’ve blogged about this before but it’s becoming more and more common. There are concerns that growing numbers of people, including young mothers, are stealing out of desperation, according to South Yorkshire Police. Its officers say shoplifters increasingly appear to be targeting essential items such as groceries, rather than luxury goods. There were almost 350,000 cases of shoplifting recorded by police in the UK last year and that figure has remained relatively steady over recent years. However South Yorkshire Police and a number of other forces say there have been marked increases in some more deprived areas. In Rotherham crime has increased by 28% in the last 12 months and the town's district commander believes that rise has been fuelled by the economic downturn. Baby food "What we are seeing is a small number of individuals - particularly young mums - who are committing crimes to feed their children," said Ch Supt Jason Harwin. "If you look at powdered milk or baby food it's quite expensive. "These are individuals that have had no dealings with the police in their lives and this is the first offence they've ever committed." Some people are getting so desperate these petty crimes are taking place” This is not people turning to crime for luxury goods or to make money out of these are people simply stealing to survive in society. A society which has abandoned them. No politician cares, no local authority cares, the police don’t care and others down their street may be taken in by the scroungers rhetoric the media and the government have embarked on to demonise those who receive benefits. Despite many who do receive benefits being in work just to make ends meet as their pay is so poor. This is the cruel cold reality of British capitalism making the poorest in society pay for a crisis not of their making. This is not just because we have a bunch of nasty Tories who don’t know what they are doing either. They may well appear to give that impression but believe me this goes far deeper. This is a crisis in capitalism and on a global scale. People who have had to steal to live will be criminalised for being poor. In the same report it mentions that this will have an affect on business and shops profits that is the real agenda here not that poor people are going hungry or can’t feed their babies but that shops are losing money. This is the true face of capitalism right before our very eyes. It’s time to end this system once and for all. 2013 will be a hell of a lot worse for many we could see a explosion of anger we don’t know at this stage which way that will manifest itself but I’m not ruling out anything. The anger is growing it is bubbling beneath the surface waiting just waiting. We as socialists feel that the best way to fight back is to join the labour movement and the organised working class to exert its power to stop austerity by starting with a 24 hour general strike with the threat of more if the go don’t back off. Quite simply a change is needed not just in government because labour who would likely come to power in the event of the government falling would be no better it would slow the cuts down but would not end the pain or misery at all. It’s time to fight for a workers government, a socialist government who will reverse the cuts and help people back to work using the 800 billion stored in the banks of big business sitting idle as they refuse to invest as do not see a profitable outlet. A 50% levee on this putting people into public works building new truly affordable council homes collecting the lost 120 billion in evaded tax would go some way to help. Of course this would just be the start, a very small start but a crucial one. We live in what is one of the wealthiest nations on the planet why do things have to be this way? They don’t. Let’s fight for change, socialist change today.

Open letter from #Rotherham #TUSC to #Labour Party members angry over "parachuted" by-election candidate

Below i republish a letter, an open letter to the Rotherham Labour party but could apply to any labour party across the land over parachuting in non local candidates who are loyal to the labour party leadership THE LABOUR PARTY meeting on Tuesday 13 November to choose their candidate for the Rotherham by-election was thrown into confusion when at least half of those present walked out in protest at the exclusion of any local candidate from the shortlist. Rotherham supporters of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) have issued the following open letter to Rotherham Labour members: To Rotherham Labour Party members Dear comrades, We in TUSC, including many ex-Labour Party members, welcome your angry reaction to the New Labour apparatus imposing another external candidate and possible MP on the town. After the experience of Denis MacShane, who was also imposed on the local party from outside, you are justified in expressing your opposition to national party leadership diktat by walking out of the selection process. This experience only further confirms the complete lack of democracy now in New Labour, and the inability for ordinary local party members to hold any real say in decision making and accountability. In the view of TUSC, this lack of democracy is part of the process undertaken by Blair, Brown and now Miliband to shift the Labour Party away from its working-class roots and to make the party acceptable to the rich, big business and the millionaires. That is why TUSC is standing a candidate in the forthcoming by-election, Ralph Dyson, a local teacher and trade union representative who led the strike last year at Rawmarsh Community School against compulsory redundancies. We believe it is vital to counter the inevitable disillusionment and alienation of Rotherham working class people with a left wing and socialist alternative. Ralph is standing against corruption, against cuts and against racism and fascism, and to be a workers’ MP on a worker’s wage. We appeal to you to come a help us in our campaign, to support a local, working class, trade union fighter and socialist, the very things that the Labour Party was founded for and most of you will have joined because of. For more information about Ralph’s and TUSC’s campaign, look at: ralphdyson.blogspot.com Yours in solidarity, Alistair Tice Rotherham TUSC election agent alistairtice@yahoo.co.uk