FIGHTING FOR WORKERS RIGHTS AND AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA IN RUGBY IN 1984

The gay liberation movement in the UK are celebrating 40 years of struggle this week – so I thought it might be worth casting the mind back to 1984. When homophobia almost became a policy of the local council

One of the proudest moments of my life in politics occurred back in 1984, when in reaction to the local Tory run Rugby Borough Council decision to ban gay people from employment. I participated in a campaign that brought together workers in the trade unions at the council (manual and white collar), the local Labour Party and the Labour Party Young Socialists of which I was the Secretary, and local people together in a campaign in the town to fight these homophobic attack on workers rights.

Our Tory Mayor was even applauded in a Sun editorial, for his sickening diatribe about the threat of gay staff assaulting members of the public in the workplace.

A demonstration was called (I was a steward as well as other local people – by the way most of us were straight) and it was heartening to see older labour councillors walking together with local people and local Trade Unionists (with banners) and also gay, lesbian and straight people throughout the country, joining the protest, repulsed by the bigoted comments and actions of the local Tories.

The demonstration also gave some confidence to local gay and lesbian people to identify themselves to friends and family and people from outside the town to do the same – not least a young Labour MP, Chris Smith who was the first MP to come out, which he did on the protest platform in the packed meeting room to cheering crowds.

At least 2000 people attended this demonstration (with tacit support across the community in Rugby) – and the protest led to the Tories backing down quickly afterwards!

It’s a shame, 26 years on that people still have to fight for equal right, but even today perhaps the struggle in Rugby still provides lessons.

UNITY IS STRENGTH!

Roy Sandison - Rugby Green Party

Job cuts: Slasher Osborne drives us back into recession says top economist

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/30/public-sector-job-cuts-private-sector-growth1

This is not scaremongering but a realistic possibility – and the worry is that the government has no plan B if the data come in badly

So says top economist David Blanchflower writing in the Guardian today (Picture above).

The secret Treasury analysis reported by the Guardian today shows that Slasher Osborne's rash austerity budget will result in at least 500,000 public sector jobs and between 600,000 and 700,000 jobs in the private sector being lost by the end of this parliament. Sad but true.

The drop in the number of private sector jobs comes about because many private sector workers are dependent on the public sector for their livelihoods. Cuts in public spending put them out of work. And things may be even worse than that. Many self-employed obtain significant proportions of their work in the public sector, and even though this may not put them out of work it may seriously reduce their incomes.

So these numbers come as no surprise, and seem entirely plausible. The big question is why the government is not prepared to publish the details in full. It looks awfully like they have something to hide.

Rather than publishing the numbers at prime minister's questions, David Cameron cited a separate forecast that just happened to be published today by the Office for Budget Responsibility, the government's panel of outside experts. They immediately jumped to the piper's tune. So much for independence.

But let's look in detail at what the OBR is saying. First, in its own budget forecast it projected that unemployment would fall steadily each year from 2010, however it is measured. Second, despite the fact that they are planning on cutting 1.3 million jobs, overall employment will rise by about 1.2 million from 29.1 million in 2010 to 30.2 million in 2014, meaning that the private sector would have to create approximately 2.5 million jobs.

This is completely implausible. It is simply not credible to argue that suddenly the private sector will step into the hole created by Osborne's rash budget. And what if it doesn't?

According to the Office for National Statistics, between the first quarter of 2000 and the second quarter of 2008, the private sector created 1.6 million jobs at a time when the economy was booming. The vast majority of this job growth came from the financial and construction sectors – which seems unlikely to be repeated. So where exactly will these private sector jobs come from?

There is little evidence that the private sector has any plans to hire. According to the Bank of England's Agents (who report economic conditions from the regions), "private sector employment was expected to remain broadly stable over the next six months". Their evidence is consistent with the most recent EU surveys.

This unnecessary and dangerous budget will to push the economy back into recession, believe me. The big worry is that it will lead to what economist Paul Krugman has called the long depression– zero growth and high unemployment for years.

This is not scaremongering but a realistic possibility. The worry is that the government has no plan B for what will happen if the data come in badly, as it surely will. When that happens this government will have to change course and reinstate any public spending cuts and reinflate the economy. And that will surely spook the markets that Slasher places so much faith in.

Arctic Sea Ice Melt

Image from http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/N_stddev_timeseries.png



This isn't good. 2007 was a record low amount of ice cover (dotted line) and this year the ice cover is even lower.

We are a party with policies on nearly every area, but we came into existence to do something about the long term future for our society. On a day when the Independent reports that we are not really making any underlying dent on our CO2 emissions, it truly is a worrying future not just for generations unborn, but for all the people that share this planet today.

THE MUSLIM AND IRISH EXPERIENCE

This excellent video explores the way the right wing media attempts to divide people and communities. (Pic) Salma Yaqoob who the Green Party stood down for the last General Election in Birmingham after a 84% vote of Green Party members in Birmingham.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GyNf3qhezw&feature=player_embedded

Caroline Lucas MP British Members Of Parliament Speak Out Against Trident, Afghanistan and the Bud

Caroline Lucas MP British Members Of Parliament Speak Out Against Trident, Afghanistan and the Bud

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVnc2azY6zU&feature=player_embedded

Cuts Kill

Slashing welfare benefits and governmental spending by 25% could cause up to 38,000 extra deaths according to new research. Also, the TUC shows that the Lib Con budget will result in Britain's poorest 10% suffering a 21.7% cut in their incomes while the richest 10% will suffer a cut of just 3.6%. So much for the 'progressive budget'.

A "budget for pointless austerity"

Commenting on the "budget for pointless austerity," the UK's first Green MP Caroline Lucas said:

"In spite of the Chancellor's protestations, this budget was neither unavoidable nor fair. Instead it was a massively failed opportunity to shift the economy onto a fairer, greener pathway.

"Devastating public spending cuts of the sort announced today are not ‘unavoidable.' They are not an economic inevitability - they are an ideological choice.

"Nor was this budget fair. A VAT rise, benefits cuts for all, a public sector freeze, and swingeing cuts in most government budgets of 25%, will all of them hit some of the poorest hardest."


Cuts are "unnecessary and destructive"

This week Caroline Lucas published a new report (1, 2) arguing that the cuts are both unnecessary and destructive - and saying that by cracking down on tax evasion and avoidance the government could raise tens of billions of pounds a year.

"It's been demonstrated that any efforts that are needed to address the deficit, once the economy is back to better health, can be paid for through progressive tax reform, so that the poorest are not forced to pay the highest price for the excesses of the bankers."

The Green Party leader and Brighton Pavilion MP continued: "We need a Green New Deal - a major investment package to rapidly modernise the UK economy for a low-carbon future, while seeing off the recession through large-scale job-creation. That's the kind of policy the new government should have put centre-stage."


Vote Blue, get Blue

Caroline Lucas concluded: "Any notion that by voting Blue you get Green was nailed today by the stark absence of any serious measures to promote urgently needed environmental measures."