The difficulty of activism

For myself activism is a challenge constantly. I am not part of any political party or organisation of any sort but this shouldn’t exclude me and doesn’t but getting into activism is not easy. Ever since I’ve left the socialist party due to bullying and other such nastiness I’ve found myself re-examining my politics and where I go next. I have not changed my political ideas on the whole I still am a socialist and want to see a fairer society based on needs not profits. But I have not been on a protest or a picket line for a good while now for many reasons. Political parties are not for everyone and I have found myself moving more away from a formal top down leadership which many left parties use with a small group of leading figures making and calling the shots while the rest follow orders and the party line. I am someone who likes to think for myself and always have done and this I found became increasingly incompatible with a political party but I would still love a place to discussant develop my ideas. I have not found anything to replace this yet, if I ever will. Confidence for one. Since leaving a political party I have felt a little isolated and links to networks of activists is limited. Also due to being visually impaired there is a natural difficulty of reaching places and groups of people unless I had a really good friend. So as a result I am limited to online things including this very blog and my social media activity. I follow Novara fm every week which is an excellent radio show discussing radical politics and the world we live in today. I do however still challenge racism and other such discriminations wherein an and do still speak up for others who are suffering from the cuts and the austerity package raining down on many today. I see many people struggling around me and even in my town a Tory town in Hertfordshire called Ware has its own food bank which serves 200 odd people every week which is substantial even for there. There is much that I can still do don’t get me wrong but mainstream activism of attending meeting after meeting and going on every protest is just not easy for me and to be honest I do not feel that many of these events are made accessible for those with disabilities and other such difficulties. I think as a labour movement it is still very much a hallmark of the white male and I still do not see equality and a wide range of different people. This needs to change and I believe will change. For many the labourmovemnt is irrelevant and just does not speak for them and I can fully understand this this must change as I say. Likewise our language and our behaviour of becoming an open, welcoming and fair place for all to enter and participate in. My difficulties are one thing but others who are more capable to protest, stand up and fight back gains the cuts are amazing in my view and I have a lot of respect for them. I do what I can and others have criticised me for just sitting on facebook and discussing stuff but this is one way of getting the message out there and if others put themselves in my position they too would find things a challenge to make any real impact with their activism. I do think we need to be more understanding about others who have a passion to help out and get involved but feel unable to for a multitude of reasons. It is not good enough to just say oh well you can do what you can we need to be saying how can we involve more people from more backgrounds to get involved and support them in what they wish to do to help. Activism at the end of the day is not everything there are lotsof ways to be involved and contribute to a better society be that helping at your local food bank or offering support and ideas to a movement and a campaign. I do think we see activism in a very one dimensional way and we do need to broaden out our understanding to involve more of us to boost our own ideas. Lots of people’s talents and skills are being missed out on due to a movement largely white and male who marginalise others who are not like them and this is a toxic mix of disenfranchisement and apathy of totally giving up on any form of political thought or activism of any variety. We can do better, I can do better don’t get me wrong but we also must help each other out to embrace our differences and challenges and involve more of us all. Organising is not easy at all and is a lot of bloody hard work. There can be no shortcuts to changing society to benefit all but including all who wish to change is something we must start to do now not after the revolution .

Defend Harlow Welfare rights advice centre, keep up the campaign

Yesterday I attended a meeting with the friends of Harlow Welfare rights advice centre which is still in danger of closing for good. There is definitely a feeling that we can win this and various options are still open to the centre. The good people of Harlow have long supported the work of Harlow Welfare Rights and Advice in its efforts to serve the often hard-pressed local community. Recognising the clear need for the services provided by HWRA, Labour’s General Committee supported its retention before Christmas. What’s more, when the continued existence of the body was challenged on some dubious legal technicality the GC voted for a mediated solution that would not deprive the people of Harlow of this service. Yet at 7.30pm on 28 January, Labour-run Harlow council abruptly changed the HWRA locks, banning staff from entry and at a stroke bringing its vital work in the local community to a halt. Ever since it’s been a constant battle which has now taken on a legal side of things with a high court hearing in the pipeline. This is a labour council remember who regained control of the council last may in the local elections. Labour claim to be against cuts but in reality are the agents of managing the cuts and they think its far better to have a labour council administering a cuts package than Tories who would be far nastier they reckon. Yet events like this and labours failure to stand up for ordinary working class people in Harlow is another stark exposure of what a future labour government under the heel of austerity would be like. The friends of Harlow Welfare rights have done fantastic work raising funds in to the thousands of pounds this campaign must be kept up with publicity stunts and anyway we can keep the idea that HWRA has not lost and is still very much battling to save this vital service for the people of Harlow. As the cuts continue to deepen services like HWRA will become even more crucial with the need for in and out of work benefit and income advice. HWRA will now go to mediation with Harlow Council which is some progress seeing as they refused to meet with the centre for a long time so we have to hope the mediation is of some use if not its to the high court on the 14th of may where a coach will e arranged to take supporters to the high court in London to support the campaign we understand. Harlow TUSC has made defending HWRA a big part of our election campaign and anyone wishing to cast a vote in favour of TUSC this may in Harlow is voting to save HWRA in affect. We are the only anti cuts voice standing in the local elections this year and TUSC has pledged funds and support to the campaign and will stand by the workers and friends for as long as they need our support. Let your friends and family know donate to the campaign a lend your support if you can. We will be holding stalls in the town centre the next few Saturdays alongside HWRA and TUSC so do stop by and lend us your support.

Fighting the bedroom tax can’t pay won’t pay!

There are so many cuts we could and should be fighting but we simply cannot spread ourselves in so many directions as a small revolutionary party in the socialist party so focusing in Harlow anyway on the so called Bedroom tax will fit in with the local council tax benefit cuts and a wider campaign involving local communities allowing us to build links with different campaigns. It is not clear whether the so-called “Bedroom Tax” which comes in this spring is intended to revive the practice of taking in lodgers. It applies only to tenants of councils and housing associations, who will find their housing benefit cut by an average of £14 a week if they leave a bedroom unoccupied for more than thirteen weeks. We are told that the aim of the measure is “to make better use of social housing”, either by persuading people to exchange their home for a smaller one or, presumably, by renting out their spare room. The “under-occupancy penalty” is forecast to save the taxpayer £480 million a year; housing benefit costs £20 billion. There are so many grey areas here I mean what if you have a son or daughter who lives with you goes off to university how will that work as and when they come back ? If you take in a lodger is that not sub letting? How do they even plan on collecting this will they snoop on your homes day in day out seeing who comes in and out of the house? If your house is what they decide under occupied moving to a smaller property isn’t always easy with the lack of affordable housing in this country as it is. Yet it’s a fairly nasty measure for other reasons too. Many others among the 600,000 people affected must be middle-aged couples whose children have left the parental home, but who are happy to have a spare room to accommodate children or grandchildren on occasional visits. Others are old people who will now feel they have to move to a smaller house simply because they have one spare room in the property they have occupied for years. And what counts as a spare room anyway? It probably requires very little ingenuity to find another use for an unoccupied bedroom. Put a TV set into it and explain to the snooper that your wife (or alternatively husband) likes to watch television and you don’t. Information on the tax from the National Housing Federation says: Welfare reforms will cut the amount of benefit that people can get if they are deemed to have a spare bedroom in their council or housing association home. This measure will apply from April 2013 to tenants of working age. The power to do this is contained in the Welfare Reform Act 2012 and is commonly referred to as the bedroom tax, size criteria or under-occupation penalty. What do the changes mean? The size criteria in the social rented sector will restrict housing benefit to allow for one bedroom for each person or couple living as part of the household, with the following exceptions: • Children under 16 of same gender expected to share • Children under 10 expected to share regardless of gender • Disabled tenant or partner who needs nonresident overnight carer will be allowed an extra bedroom Who will be affected? All claimants who are deemed to have at least one spare bedroom will be affected. This includes: • Separated parents who share the care of their children and who may have been allocated an extra bedroom to reflect this. Benefit rules mean that there must be a designated ‘main carer’ for children (who receives the extra benefit) • Couples who use their ‘spare’ bedroom when recovering from an illness or operation • Foster carers because foster children are not counted as part of the household for benefit purposes • Parents whose children visit but are not part of the household • Families with disabled children • Disabled people including people living in adapted or specially designed properties. How much will people lose? The cut will be a fixed percentage of the Housing Benefit eligible rent. The Government has said that this will be set at 14% for one extra bedroom and 25% for two or more extra bedrooms. The Government’s impact assessment shows that those affected will lose an average of £14 a week. Housing association tenants are expected to lose £16 a week on average. How many people will see their benefit cut? The proposal will affect an estimated 660,000 working-age social tenants – 31% of existing working-age housing benefits claimants in the social sector. The majority of these people have only one extra bedroom. Need more detail on how the bedroom tax will be applied? Read the regulations on the social sector size criteria or bedroom tax. Do the regulations define a bedroom? No. The Government’s view is that it is for landlords to specify the size of the property and this ought to match what is on any tenancy agreement and reflect the level of rent charged. The bedroom tax will not take account of whether a room is a single or a double bedroom. A room either is a bedroom or is not a bedroom. How will the bedroom tax operate under Universal Credit? There are some differences between how the bedroom tax will operate under housing benefit (from April 2013) and under Universal Credit when it is introduced. These differences are summarised in the table below. From April 2013 Under Universal Credit Those over State Pension Credit age will not be affected, including where one member of a couple is over. Mixed age couples - both will need to be over pension age to not be affected by the bedroom tax. Those where one is already in receipt of Pension Credit will however be protected. Non-dependant deductions (NDD): six separate rates varying by income and under 25s on benefit are exempt. One, flat-rate Housing Cost Contribution (HCC). All under 21s are exempt from HCC. Non-dependants: couples get one room between them. They pay the NDD unless both are exempt. Each adult non-dependent gets a room. Each pays the HCC unless exempt. Lodgers get a room but income is taken into account and deducted pound for pound from benefit apart from first £20. No room allowance but any income from lodgers is disregarded. In joint tenancy cases the bedroom tax can still apply. Bedroom tax not applied in joint- tenancy cases. Protection on death for up to 52 weeks. Benefits run-on for 3 months. 13 week protection where the tenant could previously afford the rent and Housing Benefit has not been claimed in the last 52 weeks. Size criteria apply immediately. What about lodgers? From April 2013 lodgers will count as occupying a room under the size criteria rules. Any income from a lodger will be taken into account and deducted pound for pound from benefit apart from the first £20. This reverses under Universal Credit – lodgers will not be counted as occupying a room and the size criteria reduction will apply, but any income from lodgers will be fully disregarded and will not impact on the amount of a claimant’s Universal Credit award. DWP have produced a factsheet on things to consider when renting out a room. Taking in a lodger will also have an impact on many home contents insurance policies, potentially invalidating a policy or raising the premiums. What about students studying away from home? Households where there is a room kept for a student studying away from home will not be deemed to be under-occupying if the student is away for less than 52 weeks (under housing benefit) or 6 months (under Universal Credit). Under housing benefit rules students are exempt from non-dependant deductions, however full-time students will not be exempt from the Housing Cost Contribution (HCC) which replaces non-dependent deductions under Universal Credit. All young people under 21 are exempt from the HCC, but students over 21 will face a contribution in the region of £15 per week. Are pre-1989 tenancies exempt from the bedroom tax? No. It seems so vague the details and how the local councils will collect this tax there could be so many anomalies thrown up. In a letter sent to a Harlow resident we read that the council are suggesting an occupant thinks about finding a job if they did not have one, how do they know they didn’t? Also ask them to consider taking a lodger? In affect telling people how to live their lives, Nanny state much? So in Harlow and I’m sure elsewhere we will be fighting this cruel unnecessary cut raising awareness with a petition and local public meetings and leaflets etc. This is cruel and unfair when the rich have mansions with hundreds of empty rooms we are forced into tiny rabbit hutch’s of homes and to use all possible space and get charged if we don’t. Since the con-dem government ruled out any form of a mansion tax this seems so clear now it’s a attack on the poorest in society and those who are seeing their pay cut, jobs cut, and austerity forced on them even further. So we stand by the principle can’t pay won’t pay! Keep in touch if you wish to find out more about our campaign on this.

Solidarity with Harlow welfare rights centre

The political climate in Harlow has warmed up in the past few weeks. Labour’s success in gaining a Majority at last May’s election has shown the divisions within the Labour group. The council cabinet Have been shown to be no more than lap dogs for the officers; carrying out a vendetta against the Welfare Rights Advice centre (who successfully took the old Tory council to High Court and won) by For closing them. Harlow Welfare rights are not only a vital service for the town and serve many who rely on benefits to get by in life. Due to the crisis in capitalism more and more and being thrown into poverty even those still in work seeing their pay frozen and hours cut so the need for a centre like this is very important. I was at the meeting myself and give 100% support to the campaign to keep the centre open and to those who rely on this service every week. Last Saturday a public meeting gave full support to the campaign to keep the HWRA open and Demanded the Labour council stand up to the officers. Three labour councillors spoke in favour of The campaign, which amounts to an open split in the Labour Group. They were backed by former Labour MP for Harlow Stan Newans. On Friday the workers were given their redundancy and the council were going to close the centre, However a high court injunction stopped the closure. The campaigners now have 10 days to save the Centre. The Unison Steward and some workers have backed the Socialist Party’s tactics to defend the centre, And in turn the Harlow and Stevenage SP branches have offered full support to them. Monday night will see a Labour group meeting and will set the tone for the battle to come. Messages of support should be sent to lapsy28@googlemail.com.” By Steve Glennon Socialist Party Eastern region full time officer.

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.