Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants

Benefit Claimants Left With NO DWP Money - Wirecard Financial Crisis

2020-06-26T22:34:00.000+01:00

Benefit Claimants Left With NO money after Wirecard Financial Crisis.

DWP benefits, State Pension and Tax Credits blocked and held by Financial Conduct Authority FCA - This does not affect Post Office Card Accounts, only those who have benefits paid into PrePaid Debit Card accounts.

For years the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) pressurised millions of benefit claimants and pensioners to dump the Post Office Card Account. Harassing them to nominate a bank, building society or credit union account for payments to be deposited. The DWP must bear some of the responsibility after forcing claimants into the hands of these Financial Sharks who prey on the financially vulnerable.

The UK license of Wirecard Card Solutions has been frozen by the regulator after its German parent company filed for insolvency. It means people are unable to access cash held with financial apps in the UK using Wirecard technology.

Shares in German payments company Wirecard have fallen more than 60% after the firm said its auditor had raised questions over cash balances worth £1.7bn. Auditors Ernst & Young had refused to sign off on Wirecard's accounts, saying it was unable to confirm the money existed. Ernst & Young, accused their client of "an elaborate and sophisticated fraud".

Wirecard has filed for court protection from creditors, Ernst & Young the accountants who signed off the firm's books for a decade are rejecting responsibility for their role in the debacle and preparing for the inevitable avalanche of lawsuits.

Wirecard's former CEO Markus Braun was detained on suspicion of falsifying accounts before being released on bail. A saga that's evoked memories of the Enron accounting scandal in the United States.

Many benefit claimants and pensioners don't have bank accounts, many are unable to open an account. Many do have PrePaid debit cards which allow benefits to be paid direct into them and don't require a bank account. You can top these cards up at any store and spend online or use benefit payments like any other bank cards.

The Post Office Card account is ending in a bid to save government money. The contract with the Post Office will end in November 2021.

We the people are given a credit rating to ascertain our credit risk predicting our ability to pay back debt. The credit rating held by a credit rating agency is extremely harsh in keeping people in the gutter of poverty. Many reading this article will be asking who ascertains the credit risk, the credit worthiness, of companies like Wirecard to manipulate accounts and deceive investors and steal customers monies?

Work and Pensions secretary Thérèse Coffey said the cost of the contract provided “poor value for taxpayers”. Around 900,000 people use Post Office Card Account POCA to collect payments. However, DWP has been trying to encourage them to have benefits paid directly into their bank accounts instead.

Chairman of Respect For The Unemployed And Benefit Claimants said:

"Yet again we are witnessing a financial crisis unfold - an unparalleled scandal. Wire-Card's collapse and many claimants left unable to open bank accounts expose the need for Post Office contract to be renegotiated. We need to protect vulnerable claimants, kids will be going hungry as a result of decisions being taken out of their control. An investigation must be held into the financial repercussions on UK cardholders - FCA decision has put card accounts into Financial Lockdown"

For the last five years HMRC undertook a joint exercise with DWP harassing claimants to open bank accounts forcing claimants into the hands of Financial Sharks. Letters sent to tax credit and benefit recipients who had their benefits or pension paid into a Post Office Card Account (POCA) telling them to open a bank account. The letters have a black HM Government branded letterhead instead of either of the more usual HMRC or DWP letterheads that claimants may be more familiar with. The letter provides a DWP freephone telephone number that claimants can call for further information or advice.

With Bank closures, those wanting a bank account proved impossible for many. Campaigners are angry that letters sent to 900,000 pensioners and claimants failed to mention they can refuse to move – and keep their old account. The letters told the elderly to switch to a bank account for the continued receipt of their state pension. The Tory led Government since 2010 has been leading the Post Office into a ‘managed decline’. Government have stripped £65 million of fees from the Post Office, closing local branches in towns and villages across the country.

There is no legislative requirement to change from a Post Office Card Account POCA to a standard bank account. The reason for the exercise is to 'encourage' the use of a bank account, which provides the account holder with additional services such as debit card and direct debit facilities. That led the way for many to apply for PrePaid debit cards. The 'Financial LockDown' imposed by FCA will create severe hardship for benefit claimants and pensioners plus those stuck in low paid jobs who are unable to take a heavy financial hit!

Pre-Paid Debit Cards - seen as providing 'vital support' for those in poverty. However cardholder funds are not protected, as they are in banks, by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Many benefit claimants and pensioners plus millions of Low Paid Workers of Wirecard's UK customers base are thrown into financial crisis. ANNA Money, a freelance business account provider, told users on Twitter to "urgently" withdraw their money. Another Northern Rock fiasco is brewing. Northern Rock at the time approached the government for support with its liquidity led within 24 hours to a public lack of confidence and concerns that savings were at risk, and the bank failed following a bank run as people rushed to withdraw their savings. It was the first British bank in 150 years to fail due to a bank run.

We are urgently recommending you withdraw your money from your ANNA account as soon as possible. This is due to the FCA placing requirements on our UK payment provider.
— ANNA Money (@ANNAMoneyUK) June 26, 2020

Pocket and ALL other pre paid card providers have FROZEN account holders monies. The Financial Lockdown was imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority FCA after Wirecard Card Solutions Limited £1.7bn Financial Crisis. The financial fallout has left millions penniless with NO money whatsoever for Food, Electric, Gas or to pay housing costs.

The Financial Services Authority advises:

The account where I receive my benefit payments has been frozen, what do I do?
Please refer to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) for support.

Are my funds protected by FSCS?

No. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) only applies to certain types of activity which does not include issuing electronic money or payment service. So Benefits will NOT be protected.

The daylight robbery of the poor, pensioners and benefit claimants. continues @wirecard - The Financial Services Authority must release all funds held by UK card holders!

Many are asking .... Are we heading for another Global Financial Crash - capitalism in crisis?

The missing sum amounts to about a quarter of its total balance sheet. Wirecard joined Germany's blue-chip Dax 30 share index two years ago. At the time, it was valued at €24bn. Yesterday (Thursday) the group filed for insolvency after admitting the £1.7 billion missing from its accounts did not exist.

Investors around the world are warning that a “worldwide credit crunch” triggered by the coronavirus has the potential to “set in motion a wave of corporate bankruptcies that will make the global financial crisis...like nothing!

It’s impossible to say with any degree of certainty whether another crash is around the corner. However there’s certainly plenty of potential problems that could cause a fresh financial market meltdown. A second stock market crash could well be approaching - an indicator could well be Wirecard.....

'We are facing the biggest financial crash for 100 years'

That would represent the most severe hit to livelihoods since a 13 per cent slump in 1921, when Britain's exports collapsed and the post-First World War boom was ended by a fierce deflationary spiral.

The coronavirus pandemic has turn global economic growth "sharply negative" this year, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned. Kristalina Georgieva said the world faced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. She forecast that 2021 would only see a partial recovery. Lockdowns imposed by governments have forced many companies to close and lay off staff. Earlier this week, a UN study said 81% of the world's workforce of 3.3 billion people had had their place of work fully or partly closed because of the outbreak.

Kristalina Georgieva added: "In fact, we anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression. Her comments came as the US reported that the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits had surged for the third week by 6.6 million, bringing the total over that period to more than 16 million Americans. The US Federal Reserve said it would unleash an additional $2.3tn in lending as restrictions on activity to help contain the coronavirus had forced many businesses to close and put about 95% of Americans on some form of lockdown.

Unemployment in Britain and the US look set to surpass the levels reached during the 1930s Great Depression within months as the coronavirus crisis crushes the global economy, a former Bank of England official has warned.

In a stark forecast as job losses mount around the world, David Blanchflower, professor of economics at Dartmouth College in the US and a member of the Bank’s interest rate-setting monetary policy committee during the 2008 financial crisis, said unemployment was rising at the fastest rate in living memory. Writing in Guardian the economist said recently that UK unemployment could rapidly rise to more than 6 million people, around 21% of the entire workforce, based on analysis of US job market figures that suggest unemployment across the Atlantic could reach 52.8 million, around 32% of the workforce.

“There has never been such a concentrated business collapse. The government has tried to respond but it has no idea of the scale of the problem it is going to have to deal with. We make some back-of-the-envelope calculations and they are scary,” he said.

Making the assessment alongside David Bell, an economist at the University of Stirling, the former Threadneedle Street policymaker said the collapse in activity amid Covid-19 and the accompanying rise in unemployment looked to be at least 10 times faster than in the recession triggered by the 2008 financial crisis. There will be NO 'Business As Usual' when this pandemic is over!

As we navigate many unchartered territories we must embrace alternatives - A Socialist Plannned Economy would get Britain out of this economic, political and pandemic crisis.

Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants

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Schools Factories Food - are they SAFE from Covid 19

2020-06-21T19:51:00.004+01:00

Schools Factories Food - are they SAFE from Covid 19

Reckless Governance of a 'Make It Up' as you go along Prime Minister will continue to see Love Ones Die. Aided and Abetted by Governmental Incompetence.

Boris Johnson 'sends millions back to work' as coronavirus lockdown is lifted. The reopening of shops, school, pubs and the wider hospitality industry puts peoples lives at RISK.

This reckless Tory regime plans to scrap the two-metre social distancing rule. The rate of transmission, or R number, is between 0.9 and above. Meaning the virus is spreading.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Boris Johnson’s statement will cause working people a lot of confusion and anxiety. “The Government still hasn’t published guidance on how workers will be kept safe. So how can the Prime Minister – tell people they should be going back to sites and factories? It’s a recipe for chaos.”

Hard work of isolation ‘could be lost if we rush out of lock-down’ – Sir David King, the former government chief scientific adviser, who set up the Independent SAGE group of scientific experts WARNS.

"It's a very strange decision to make at this point in time".

Former Chief Scientific Adviser to the government Sir David King responds to the decision to lower the UK's Covid-19 alert level from 4 to 3 - saying "the number of cases per day is still very high". pic.twitter.com/7Skz0FvMpp
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) June 19, 2020

Our factories are NOT safe for a return to work. Our fast food restaurants are NOT safe to reopen. Our schools are NOT safe for our children. Scientific Test need to be done regarding the safety of our MEAT and the food we eat. Covid 19 can be transmitted via meat and packaging. Could the slaughterhouses of the WORLD be spreading the coronavirus?

Just Days ago a Welsh chicken factory closed over Covid-19 safety contamination issues.

Fifty-eight coronavirus cases confirmed among workers at 2 Sisters Chicken Factory facility on Anglesey. The firm supplied all of the main supermarkets, fast-food chains such as KFC and provided meat for Supermarket Ready Meals, Hospitals, Care Homes and School Dinners. Public Health Wales said 58 Covid-19 cases had been confirmed at 2 Sisters Food Group’s facility in Llangefni, Anglesey, which employs about 560 people. In 2017, after a undercover investigation raised questions about food standards, the company suspended production at its West Bromwich chicken plant for five weeks in order to deal with the problems.

In the same week - three other 'Food Meat Factories' in England have closed after 250 workers tested positive for coronavirus. The Unite Union said it was aware of suspected outbreaks at five other sites across the UK. A meat processing site owned by Asda in West Yorkshire became the third food plant in 48 hours to confirm an outbreak after about 150 workers fell ill with the virus. The Kober plant, which supplies bacon to Asda supermarkets and employs more than 500 people, has closed. The company also provides meats for Greggs and Subway.

In Wrexham, 38 staff have tested positive at Rowan Foods. The company makes food for supermarkets across the UK. The cluster of new cases in food processing plants will raise serious concerns about a potential outbreak similar to those seen in France and the US. In the latter, as many as 25,000 meat and poultry workers are reported to have contracted Covid-19 and spreading it within the community with at least 91 deaths so far.

Three workers died from coronavirus after a small outbreak at a meat processing plant in South Yorkshire last month. The family member of one of those who died accused Cranswick, the company that owns the plant, of failing to adequately protect workers, citing a lack of face masks, a lack of physical distancing, and the provision of only the statutory sick pay of £95.85 a week for those too ill to work.

A Guardian analysis last month found that almost half of the Covid-19 hotspots in the US were linked to plants where poultry, pigs and cattle were slaughtered and packaged. The outbreaks led to calls for urgent reforms to an industry beset by health and safety issues. The United Food and Commercial Workers union said recently that at least 44 slaughterhouse workers in the US had died from the virus and another 3,000 had tested positive.

KFC worker ‘collapsed’ during her shift before testing positive for Covid-19. Later revealed, served unlimited - 'untraceable customers'.

Anonymous reports from colleagues at the restaurant allege the woman tested positive for Covid-19. She collapsed while on shift on June 13 and paramedics were called to the scene of the Fast Food Restaurant in full view of panicking customers who then refused to buy food.

The restaurant where the infected staff member worked is still open. Employees who wish to remain anonymous say they are still concerned about their own health and safety. They allege NO self isolation measures have been implemented since the diagnosis.

Public health officials in Germany are grappling with an outbreak among hundreds of workers at a meatpacking plant in Rheda-Wiedenbrück. At least 730 workers have tested positive at the Tönnies Group plant.

Bev Clarkson, Unite’s national officer for food, drink and agriculture, said: “The relaxation of social distancing has been brought in too soon; we predicted a spike in the meat industry. You only have to look at what has happened in America and Germany to know that it would happen here. Measures need to be taken now by the government to stop further spikes within the sector.”

In Texas, the fastest growing Covid-19 outbreak isn’t in Dallas or Houston or San Antonio, the state’s most densely packed metro areas. It’s hundreds of miles to the north, in the dusty, windswept flatlands of Moore County, population 20,000. According to data reported Monday by the state health department, 19 out of 1,000 residents in Moore County have so far tested positive for the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19—10 times higher than the infection rates in the state’s largest cities.

So what’s in Moore County that’s making people so sick? One of the nation’s largest beef processing facilities, where huge armies of employees slice, shave, and clean up to 5,000 cattle carcasses a day. Last month, Texas health officials launched an investigation into a cluster of Covid-19 cases linked to the massive meatpacking plant, which is operated by JBS USA, a subsidiary of the largest meat processing company in the world, based in São Paulo, Brazil.

In recent weeks, beef, pork, and poultry processing plants across the US have emerged as dangerous new hot spots for the deadly respiratory disease, which can also cause damage to the heart, kidneys, and brain. Dozens of plants have been forced to temporarily halt operations amid skyrocketing numbers of cases and fatalities. According to a report released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 5,000 plant workers in 19 states had tested positive for the virus as of April 27. In Iowa and South Dakota, close to a fifth of the workforce in the states’ largest slaughterhouses have fallen ill.

Witnessing a modern day version of the British Mad Cow Disease phenomenon - could the virus have started in our slaughterhouses?

It’s not just the US. Large Covid-19 clusters have also appeared in meatpacking plants around the world, including Canada, Spain, Ireland, Brazil, and Australia. “One, two, or three meatpacking plants—fine, you might expect that. But these outbreaks are clearly a worldwide phenomenon,” says Nicholas Christakis, head of the Human Nature Lab at Yale where he studies how contagions travel through social networks. “To me, that’s evidence that there’s something distinctive about meatpacking that’s adding to people’s risks of catching Covid-19.”

There’s been much talk over whether or not SARS-CoV-2 is actually “airborne”—meaning that it can remain aloft on respiratory particles smaller than 5 microns, as the measles virus does. A growing number of researchers who suspect the coronavirus can in fact be in these very fine particles, termed “aerosols,” as they wrote in a recent editorial in Aerosol Science and Technology. This would mean the coronavirus could be spread not just by an uncovered cough or sneeze but also just by regular breathing and talking. It would also complicate the current standard 6-foot rule for social distancing in the USA that the CDC and OSHA have recommended for their workers.

Meanwhile England's two-metre social distancing rule set to be scrapped following a hint from Chancellor Rishi Sunak. The measure is thought to be planned to come into place from July 4.

Today I asked the Prime Minister why - when his Government's many failures have already led to tens of thousands of needless deaths - he is gambling with people's lives by lifting restrictions before it is safe to do so. pic.twitter.com/t9TEajkBzF
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) June 23, 2020

A third of the workers at a factory in Tipperary tested positive, while the McDonald’s supplier was forced to temporarily halt production. 120 workers at the Rosderra Meats plant in Roscrea had tested positive for the virus. Also 350 workers at the plant, up to 140 were off sick. Rosderra is the largest pork-processing company in Ireland. One of Ireland’s biggest beef companies announced a Covid-related shutdown. Dawn Meats had temporarily closed its plant in Westmeath after workers tested positive for coronavirus. Dawn Meats produces more than 400 million burgers a year for McDonald’s outlets in the UK and Europe. In a statement, the company said that the plant had been closed.

We're not out of danger - We must send a warning not to end lockdown until safe to do so....

Frustration and desperation to return to normal life are not good enough reasons to lift the coronavirus lockdown and the UK is not out of danger yet, the public has been warned. The sun is out around the country, the days are getting longer, and I'm sure it's tempting for people to feel that they should go out. We can't emphasis enough that we are far from there yet...it won't take much for this virus to start increasing its transmission again and spread more widely.

“I would be surprised and delighted if we weren’t in this current situation through the winter, into next spring”

Prof Chris Whitty says he expects a “significant amount of coronavirus circulating at least until that time” and we should plan as suchhttps://t.co/bXSXTy76Tb pic.twitter.com/WK8SIe96D4
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) June 23, 2020

The American President Donald Trump and Boris Johnson's criminal negligence allowed over 200,000 people to die. This is societal negligence of governance. Both leaders are enemies of the people and need to be removed from office. If a leader struggles to carry out tasks in government effectively.

This is their level of incompetence - Peter Principle

Our policy editor Lewis Goodall has sobering news on deaths in this pandemic, particularly in the UK’s care home sector, where excess deaths have increased by 93% during this time and 13.6% of residents died.@lewis_goodall | #Newsnight pic.twitter.com/SajUq5N1ou
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) June 23, 2020

Pause For Thought....

Chairman

Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants

For media enquirers tel:
07943833848
07575747637

respect_unemployed@mail.bg

respect_unemployed@mail.ru

richardmarxist@mail.bg

richardmarxist@mail.ru

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Coronavirus: We're Going Back To The 1930's Great Depression Era

2020-06-10T18:38:00.000+01:00

- Warning from History
Coronavirus: We are going back to the 1930's - Worst economic crisis since the depression

In the UK we have NEARLY 9 million workers furloughed unable to work on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Recent figures from the government's independent economic forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility, show that the cost of the government's efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic is expected to hit £123.2bn. The OBR expects annual borrowing to equal 15.2% of the UK economy, which would be the highest since the 22.1% seen at the end of World War Two.

Poverty stricken areas are at a greater risk of those dying from Covid-19. Areas with the highest levels of deprivation pay the heaviest price in terms of death count. The impact of poor diet low wages, unemployment and benefit sanctions had left those in disadvantaged areas more vulnerable to the virus. A review into black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) deaths from coronavirus has exposed that black men and women are more than four times more likely to suffer a coronavirus-related death than white people in richer areas.

The coronavirus pandemic will turn global economic growth "sharply negative" this year, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned. Kristalina Georgieva said the world faced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. She forecast that 2021 would only see a partial recovery. Lockdowns imposed by governments have forced many companies to close and lay off staff. Earlier this week, a UN study said 81% of the world's workforce of 3.3 billion people had had their place of work fully or partly closed because of the outbreak.

Kristalina Georgieva added: "In fact, we anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression. Her comments came as the US reported that the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits had surged for the third week by 6.6 million, bringing the total over that period to more than 16 million Americans. The US Federal Reserve said it would unleash an additional $2.3tn in lending as restrictions on activity to help contain the coronavirus had forced many businesses to close and put about 95% of Americans on some form of lockdown.

A reminder of the 1930's from those Marching to London on the Jarrow Crusade

Last Jarrow marcher dies aged 96

In OUR video above Con Shiels talks about his experience - Con died Boxing Day 2012, he was the last survivor of the Jarrow March, a famous protest against unemployment and poverty during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Carrying an 11,000-name petition, they marched to demand help from the government after the closure of their shipyard.
Con Shiels, who was 20 at the time, joined his father and other protesters for the final part of the marathon 300-mile journey.

In 2020 -

UK-based charity organisation Oxfam warned that the economic fallout from the spread of Covid-19 could force more than half a billion more people into poverty. By the time the pandemic is over, the charity said, half of the world's population of 7.8 billion people could be living in poverty.

Child poverty is rising ‘inexorably’ and we predict that we will have over 7 million children living in poverty in the UK by 2022 due to current economic chaos caused by the tories in response to covid 19. Before the coronavirus pandemic the Child Poverty Action Group was projecting 5.2 million by 2022.

Before the Coronavirus Pandemic

47% of children living in lone-parent families are in poverty. Lone parents face a higher risk of poverty due to the lack of an additional earner, low rates of maintenance payments, gender inequality in employment and pay, and childcare costs

Children from Black and minority ethnic groups are more likely to be in poverty: 45 per cent are now in poverty, compared with 26 per cent of children in White British families.

On Thursday, following marathon talks, EU leaders agreed a €500bn (£440bn; $546bn) economic support package for members of the bloc hit hardest by the lockdown measures.

The International Labour Organization (ILO), a UN agency, warns that the pandemic posed "the most severe crisis" since World War Two. It said the outbreak was expected to wipe out 6.7% of working hours across the world during the second quarter of 2020 - the equivalent of 195 million full-time workers losing their jobs.

Last month, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned that the global economy would take years to recover. Secretary general Angel Gurría said that economies were suffering a bigger shock than after the 9/11 terror attacks of 2001 or the 2008 financial crisis.

The current regime within the Department for Work and Pensions on harassing claimants back to work using the Work Capability Assessments needs to be scrapped. The Work Capability Assessments fails to take into account the long-term impact of covid 19's secondary impact diseases upon the unemployed and those workers who may become unemployed in the future. The Work Capability Assessments has contributed to the deaths of more than 100,000 benefit claimants in recent years - directly or indirectly many have been persecuted and suffered under this regime.. it has to stop!

We can't wait and accept the old guard within the IMF to correct things - Only a Socialist Plannned Economy can get Britain out of this mess!

We need to lift people out of hunger, poverty, sickness and ignorance. Our planet's eco-system must be rescued. Even under wasteful and destructive capitalism, the productive forces exist that could, if planned and utilised to meet human need instead of maximising capitalist profit, ensure sufficient food, nutrition, health care and education for all.

Never before in history have the rapid advances in science and technology provided such opportunities for the all-round development of every human being.

But while it has proved possible, from time to time, to curb capitalism's tendencies to crisis, pandemic deprivation unemployment and war, those tendencies have always reasserted themselves because they arise from the nature of the capitalist system itself. The capitalist economic cycle produces gluts, crises, cut-backs, redundancies and then shortages before beginning all over again.

We can not allow economic crisis to allow a busness as normal mentality. The anarchy of the capitalist economy in general militates against society's need for planned, balanced, equitable and sustainable development across countries, regions and the whole world. Nonetheless, the experience of social-democratic policies and the attempts so far to build socialism – albeit in very different conditions to those in Britain – provide some valuable lessons.

They demonstrate, for instance, that public ownership, economic planning, collective provision and the redistribution of wealth can provide substantial economic, social and cultural benefits to the mass of the population, even when these are restricted, distorted, exploited and subverted by monopoly capitalist interests. Experience also indicates that unless such policies are mobilised as the basis from which to make deeper inroads into capitalist economic and state power, they will prove to be partial and temporary. Their weaknesses and inadequacies will then be used to discredit any alternative to private capitalist ownership, the 'free' market and social inequality.

After centuries of capitalism, the first attempts to build a socialist society arose fewer than 100 years ago in conditions of world war, in less developed societies facing the advanced, hostile and powerful forces of imperialism. Both the achievements and the failures of these pioneering socialist systems have to be considered in this context, and lessons learnt accordingly.

For as long as capitalist ownership of the economy exists, whether or not the so-called ‘free market’ is dominated by monopolies, its operations will produce crisis, destruction, inequality and waste on an enormous scale.

Capitalism's drive to maximise profit leads it to turn every area of human need – food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, education, sex, leisure – into a market for the production and sale of commodities for profit at the expenses of more damage to the enviroment.

Capitalist competition invariably means unnecessary duplication, takeovers, 'rationalisation', closures, asset-stripping, commercial secrecy, excessive packaging and large-scale contrivances of style and fashion – all of which represent a waste, limitation or destruction of society's productive resources. Whole economic sectors have developed – advertising, property management, business consultancy – that perform little or no useful function in society, except to promote the interests of monopoly capital and, ultimately, to transfer income to it from the working class and intermediate strata.

Only public ownership of the economy's major sectors and enterprises – the economic essence of socialism – can restart the UK economy out of this pandemic and put an end to monopoly power and fundamentally change the basis on which economic decisions are taken. Pointless and wasteful competition and duplication would be eliminated. The development and deployment of society's productive forces would be planned in order to meet people's real needs and aspirations. Jobs, houses and vital or useful goods and services would be created as the primary purpose of planning and production, not as the incidental consequence of maximizing profits for shareholders.

In particular, public ownership is the only viable basis on which energy and public transport can be planned and developed in an integrated way, to combat global warming and climate change while ensuring renewable power supplies.

Unemployment in the United States and Britain 'may be worse than in the Great Depression'

Boris Johnson’s Conservative government continued discussions with big business in a bid to restart capitalism mapping out a “mass return to work.” He plays Russian Roulette with peoples lives in catching and spreading the virus. From the start of this pandemic he has proved himself to be an habitual liar. His Herd Immunity agenda, enabled the highest death toll per head of population. Many of those who have been mentally, emotionally and financially tortured for decades will have paid the ultimate price..... dying at home alone from covid 19. There will be NO 'Business As Usual' when this pandemic is over!

We can not continue pretending every-things OK.... there is an alternative...

When there is social ownership, surplus labour takes place to meet the needs and aspirations of the working class and society as a whole. This will have to mean that workers and their representatives are fully represented in the economic and political spheres of decision-making, ensuring that surplus labour is not exploited for the benefit of a privileged class or group.

Since society first became divided into classes, the ruling class of the time has used the oppression of sections of the exploited classes to maximise exploitation and reinforce its rule. Under capitalism, the oppression of women, black workers and other groups has reaped super-profits and helped ensure the reproduction of existing class relations economically, ideologically and politically – not least by fomenting or perpetuating divisions within the working class itself.

Such oppression is sustained by sets of prejudicial ideas and assumptions, for example those of sexism and racism. These ideologies apply across class boundaries, affecting members of the oppressed group in every class, although their impact is felt most severely by those in the exploited classes.

Back in 2006 Tony Benn gave an interview on Socialism in Britain

Putting an end to capitalist property relations and the exploitation of labour would remove the material basis for social oppression. No class in society would gain from the super-exploitation of any section of the working class, or have the means by which to secure it. The reorientation of priorities in production to meet the needs of the people would further reduce the scope for conflict over scarce provision, whether of jobs, housing, public services or essential goods.

The experience of socialism confirms that prejudice and discrimination on grounds of gender, nationality, sexual orientation, age etc., can survive the abolition of capitalism, at least for a period, weakened but not altogether eliminated. But socialism furnishes the material basis, and therefore the potential, to bring all forms of social oppression to an end.

With the abolition of capitalism, the most powerful forces for the perpetuation of racist, sexist, homophobic and other reactionary attitudes are disarmed, leaving the forces of socialism with the responsibility to consign them to the rubbish heap of history, promoting a culture of equal rights and liberation instead.

As we navigate many unchartered territories we must embrace alternatives - A Socialist Plannned Economy would get Britain out of this economic, political and pandemic crisis.

Your sincerely
Chairman

Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants

Poverty Inequality Covid-19 - A Political Choice

2020-06-02T18:14:00.000+01:00

Poverty Crisis and Covid-19: The systemic damage from decades of inequality and austerity.

A Government should ultimately be judged on how it supports the most vulnerable in society. In the United States the people protesting are not just protesting about George Floyd death - the anger has been brewing for decades. Within days Buffalo Police slammed an elderly man to the floor, within seconds blood is pouring from his head.

BREAKING NOW: I just confirmed, the 2 officers seen shoving the elderly man in this video have been suspended IMMEDIATELY, according to the Buffalo police commissioner. pic.twitter.com/qbTvXAAPLH
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) June 5, 2020

Buffalo Police have just committed the same brutal attack - witnessed in 2009 in the UK with the Death of Ian Tomlinson during G20 protests.

They won't talk about poverty. They won't talk about climate change, they won't talk about how to improve the quality of life. They're going to talk about how to divide the wealth of the majority and the wealth of nature.

Video showing the Death of Ian Tomlinson

It's about RESPECT - inequality has skyrocketed. Governments on both sides of the Atlantic stripped away our dignity and respect they fundamentally lack the emapthic understanding. Government agencies demonise, patronise and marginalise the poorest in society. For decades the most vulnerable in society have been left to starve and in many cases left to die. Emergency Foodbank usage at an all time high. In the UK the Department for Work and Pensions with government ministers abuse the media spreading headline grabbing stories which demoralise and encouraged claimants into suicide. The true figure of those most vulnerable in society who have died from covid 19 has yet to be identified but the true figure will shock many.

Many of those who have been mentally, emotionally and financially tortured for decades will have paid the ultimate price..... dying at home alone from covid 19. There will be NO 'Business As Usual' when this pandemic is over!

The current regime within the Department for Work and Pensions demand sick and disabled benefit claimants back to work using the Work Capability Assessments - It needs to be scrapped. The Work Capability Assessments fails to take into account the long-term impact of covid 19's secondary impact diseases. The Work Capability Assessments has contributed to the deaths of more than 100,000 benefit claimants in recent years - directly or indirectly many have been persecuted and suffered under this regime.. it has to stop!

Man 'suffers seizure' while restrained by police after parking dispute. An arrest in Abbott Road, Tower Hamlets, east London in 2019 of a disabled person with learning difficulties. The confrontation began when he was told to move his car from a single yellow line where he had parked, displaying a Blue Badge because one of his children is dependent on oxygen. The man struggling to understand what the problem was refused to move the car, and footage showed him struggling to avoid being handcuffed, with three officers eventually pinning him down. The officers had hit the man with handcuffs, punched his head and held him around his neck.

Metropolitan Police Commander Mark McEwan said at the time: "The circumstances are that at about 5.30pm, officers attempted to speak with a 38-year-old man about his car. "It was obstructing the highway in a way that caused a danger to other motorists having to swerve around it onto the wrong side of the road. "Even those with a disabled badge cause an offence if they obstruct the highway"

Fundamentally its about Respect or the lack of it !

This pandemic is increasing poverty in the UK, where levels are already high after a decade of austerity triggered by the Global Financial Crisis. Research shows that more than 14 million people in the UK are classed as living in poverty, or nearly one-quarter of the population.

According to the Social Metrics Commission, over 14 million people in the UK are now in poverty and more than four million people are trapped in deep poverty. Seven million people, including 2.3 million children, are affected by what it terms as “persistent poverty”. An estimated 1.5 million people in the UK are in poverty as a result of benefits cuts and high rents.

A decade of austerity has elevated the poverty crisis. Since 2010, the Tories have cut £40 billion a year from the work and pensions budget through cuts and freezes to tax credits and benefits and this has also created a spike in the baseline definition of poverty: a homelessness crisis in the UK.

An estimated 320,000 people are now homeless in the UK, according to research by Shelter published in November 2018. This equates to one in every 200 people in Britain, an increase of 4 per cent on the previous year. The charity estimates that there are 135,000 children now living in temporary accommodation and that 4-5,000 people sleep on the streets on any given night in the UK – a figure that has almost doubled since 2010.

An estimated 726 people died while homeless in England and Wales in 2018. This was up 22 per cent on the previous year – the highest year-to-year rise since this data started being collected. A report by the waste company Biffa, the Open University and the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management has shown that rough sleepers sheltering in bins has spiked in the past five years, with increased homelessness in the UK blamed for a rising number of deaths by crushing and near misses while bin containers are being emptied.

At least seven people sleeping in bins are known to have been killed in the past five years, according to the Health and Safety Executive. From April to December 2019, Biffa employees also recorded 109 “near misses” or encounters with people either sleeping in or near its bins.

There are more people dying at home during Covid-19 pandemic – UK analysis
Data suggests that sick and disabled may be avoiding hospital because of coronavirus fears.

Poverty stricken areas are at a greater risk of those dying from Covid-19. Areas with the highest levels of deprivation pay the heaviest price in terms of death count. The impact of poor diet low wages, unemployment and benefit sanctions had left those in disadvantaged areas more vulnerable to the virus.

BAME report delayed amid fears its contents could stoke racial tensions

By @inzyrashid pic.twitter.com/gasdDyqkSj
— Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) June 1, 2020

It's totally unacceptable" that a government review into black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) deaths from coronavirus has been delayed. The Public Health England review was launched last month with the aim of analysing how factors such as ethnicity can impact people's health outcomes from the virus. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, black men and women are more than four times more likely to suffer a coronavirus-related death than white people.

Santan Dave has stood by his rap about Boris Johnson at the Brit Awards, where he called the Prime Minister a racist.

Black Lives Matter protesters in Bristol have toppled a statue of a 17th-century slave trader and thrown it in the city’s river. Demonstrators tore the figure of Edward Colston from its plinth during protests in the city centre. Later, protesters are seen dumping it into the Avon at Bristol Harbour.

The Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963

The boycott drew national attention to racial discrimination in Britain, and the campaign was supported by national politicians, with interventions being made by church groups and the High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago.

The Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963 arose from the refusal of the Bristol Omnibus Company to employ black or Asian bus crews in the city of Bristol, England. In common with other British cities, there was widespread racial discrimination in housing and employment at that time against “coloureds”. Led by youth worker Paul Stephenson and the West Indian Development Council, the boycott of the company’s buses by Bristolians lasted for four months until the company backed down and overturned the colour bar.

Riots in the 1980's

In the 1980's Britain saw Mass Riots just like the ones taking place in the United States in 2020. The UK suffered serious riots across many major cities. Perceived as race riots between communities,the main motives were related to racial tension and inner city deprivation. The riots were caused by a distrust of the police and authority. The most serious riots that occurred were the Brixton riots in London, the Toxteth riots in Liverpool, the Handsworth riots in Birmingham, the Chapeltown riots in Leeds, and the Moss Side riots in Manchester. There were also a series of less serious riots in other towns and cities.

In all four main areas they had suffered from poor housing (mostly dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries), high unemployment and particular problems with racial tensions. The Conservative Party government elected in 1979 had instituted new powers for the Police under the Vagrancy Act of 1824 to stop and search people based on only a 'reasonable suspicion' that an offence had been committed — hence their common name of "sus laws". These were applied disproportionately to the black community, and caused widespread resentment amongst young black men. The majority of these were not immigrants; they were the British-born children of immigrants, mostly born in the late 1950s or the first half of the 1960s.

The election of the Tories in 1979 had also seen the implementation of monetarist economic policies which were designed to tackle inflation, which had peaked at 27% just before the election of the government, dropped merely to 22% in 1980 and was still above 10% by 1981.

Although inflation was falling by 1981, unemployment was still rising and the recession was now in its second year. By April 1981, unemployment exceeded 2.5 million, having stood at 1.5 million two years earlier. Less than a decade earlier, unemployment had still been in six figures and it had stood at less than 400,000 as recently as the early 1960s. The inner city areas affected by the 1981 riots were among those hit particularly hard by the recession and the unemployment and other social issues which came with it.

This level of unemployment, not seen since the 1930s, had led to mass discontent in the working class areas of Britain most affected by the recession.

^{The atmosphere captured perfectly by the smash hit music track 'Living in a Ghost Town' by The Specials}

In 2020 - we now have NEARLY 9 million workers furloughed unable to work on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Recent figures from the government's independent economic forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility, show that the cost of the government's efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic is expected to hit £123.2bn. The OBR expects annual borrowing to equal 15.2% of the UK economy, which would be the highest since the 22.1% seen at the end of World War Two.

The true cost to people's lives could well prove to be breathtaking. We could well be looking at nearly 3 Million being Unemployed within months. Statistics over next six months will expose the real impact of this tory regime mismanagement of our economy and this pandemic.

Britain could well be heading for riots in the near future!

In the 1980's we had the Poll Tax Riots

The poll tax riots took place against the Community Charge (colloquially known as the "poll tax"), introduced by the Tories under Margaret Thatcher. The largest protest occurred in central London on Saturday 31 March 1990, shortly before the tax was due to come into force in England and Wales.

The proposed replacement was a flat-rate per capita Community Charge — a head tax that saw every adult pay a fixed rate amount. The new Charge was widely called a "poll tax" and was introduced in Scotland in 1989 and in England and Wales a year later. The Charge proved extremely unpopular; while students and the registered unemployed had to pay 20%, some large families occupying relatively small houses saw their charges go up considerably, and the tax was thus accused of saving the rich money and moving the expenses onto the poor.

Britain faces being thrown into the ‘chaos’ of the poll tax riots yet again in 2020

Child poverty is rising ‘inexorably’ and we predict that we will have over 7 million children living in poverty in the UK by 2022 due to current economic chaos caused by the tories in response to covid 19. Before the coronavirus pandemic the Child Poverty Action Group was projecting 5.2 million by 2022.

Before the Coronavirus Pandemic

47% of children living in lone-parent families are in poverty. Lone parents face a higher risk of poverty due to the lack of an additional earner, low rates of maintenance payments, gender inequality in employment and pay, and childcare costs
Children from Black and minority ethnic groups are more likely to be in poverty: 45 per cent are now in poverty, compared with 26 per cent of children in White British families.

Nearly 400 people were arrested and 113 injured when the poll tax riots swept the country in 1990, in opposition to the Community Charge, which later became the council tax.

To avoid paying the Tax many refused to sign the Electoral Register but this also stop those marginalised in society from Voting in the Elections - this enable the Tories to get re-elected into government by removing poorer people from the Electoral Register

The 2011 England riots, more widely known as the London Riots, were a series of riots between 6 and 11 August 2011, when thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, which saw looting, arson, and mass deployment of police, and resulted in the deaths of five people.

Protests started in Tottenham, London, following the death of Mark Duggan, a local man who was shot dead by police on 4 August. Several violent clashes with police ensued, along with the destruction of police vehicles, a double-decker bus and many homes and businesses, thus rapidly gaining attention from the media. Overnight, looting took place in Tottenham Hale retail park and nearby Wood Green. The following days saw similar scenes in other parts of London, with the worst rioting taking place in Hackney, Brixton, Walthamstow, Peckham, Enfield, Battersea, Croydon, Ealing, Barking, Woolwich, Lewisham and East Ham.

From 8 to 10 August, other towns and cities in England (including Birmingham, Bristol, Coventry, Derby, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, West Bromwich, and Wolverhampton) saw what was described by the media as "copycat violence", with social media playing a role. By 10 August, more than 3,000 arrests had been made across England, with more than 1,000 people issued with criminal charges for various offences related to the riots. Initially, courts sat for extended hours.

There were a total of 3,443 crimes across London that were linked to the disorder.Along with the five deaths, at least 16 others were injured as a direct result of related violent acts. An estimated £200 million worth of property damage was incurred, and local economic activity – which in many cases was already struggling due to the recession – was significantly compromised.

The riots have generated significant ongoing debate among political, social, and academic figures about the causes and context in which they happened. Attributions for the rioters' behaviour include social factors such as racial tension, class tension, economic decline, and the unemployment that decline had brought.

Only a Socialist Government based on Respect with a Planned Economy can get Britain out of this mess!

Never before in history have the rapid advances in science and technology provided such opportunities for the all-round development of every human being. But while it has proved possible, from time to time, to curb capitalism's tendencies to crisis, pandemic deprivation unemployment and war, those tendencies have always reasserted themselves because they arise from the nature of the capitalist system itself. The capitalist economic cycle produces gluts, crises, cut-backs, redundancies and then shortages before beginning all over again. We can not allow economic crisis to allow a busness as normal mentality. The anarchy of the capitalist economy in general militates against society's need for planned, balanced, equitable and sustainable development across countries, regions and the whole world.

Since society first became divided into classes, the ruling class of the time has used the oppression of sections of the exploited classes to maximise exploitation and reinforce its rule. Under capitalism, the oppression of women, black workers and other groups has reaped super-profits and helped ensure the reproduction of existing class relations economically, ideologically and politically – not least by fomenting or perpetuating divisions within the working class itself.

Such oppression is sustained by sets of prejudicial ideas and assumptions, for example those of sexism and racism. These ideologies apply across class boundaries, affecting members of the oppressed group in every class, although their impact is felt most severely by those in the exploited classes.

Poverty Inequality Crisis and Covid-19 - It's time for Societal & Governmental Change

Chairman
Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants

For media enquirers tel: 07943833848 07575747637

on Facebook: Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants
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Pandemic Britain Way Forward - Socialist Planned Economy

2020-05-27T15:09:00.001+01:00

The Way Forward out of Pandemic - A Socialist Planned Economy

'Jobs for all, That's Our Call' but not just any job... A Green Planned Economy that Provides For All

Boris Johnson’s Conservative government continued discussions with big business and trade union leaders in a bid to restart capitalism mapping out a “mass return to work.” The reality - millions excluded. National Debate must take place about what kind of Britain we want to emerge from LockDown.

A real Fitness to Work consensus needs to be established.

Still to date we don't know how many have been infected. We still don't know the long-term health implications of those who became infected, from the most severe to the asymptomatic. Its clear from the evidence thus far that many workers will be unable to work in the future as more and more long-term ailments are realised upon the population as time goes by.

The current regime within the Department for Work and Pensions on harassing claimants back to work using the Work Capability Assessments needs to be scrapped. The Work Capability Assessments fails to take into account the long-term impact of covid 19's secondary impact diseases upon the unemployed and those workers who may become unemployed in the future. The Work Capability Assessments must be scrapped its contributed to the deaths of more than 100,000 benefit claimants in recent years - directly or indirectly many have been persecuted and suffered under this regime.. it has to stop!

We now have 8.4 million workers furloughed unable to work on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Recent figures from the government's independent economic forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility, show that the cost of the government's efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic is expected to hit £123.2bn. The OBR expects annual borrowing to equal 15.2% of the UK economy, which would be the highest since the 22.1% seen at the end of World War Two.

The true cost to people's lives could well prove to be breathtaking. We could well be looking at Millions being Unemployed within months. Statistics over next six months will expose the real impact of this tory regime mismanagement of our economy and this pandemic. Foodbank Britain the Coronavirus shows the enormous scale of the crisis.

Currently as of May 27 the excess UK deaths from Covid-19 outbreak approaches 60,000 which is set to soar once all data is collated. Data shows Britain has one of world’s highest rates of coronavirus deaths per head. Yet under Boris Johnson reckless governance we still dont know the true figure of those who contracted the coronavirus from day one.

More than 240,000 people worldwide have already died of Covid-19, and before the pandemic finishes, it could kill hundreds of thousands, even millions, more. But the final toll is destined to be far higher than just those who die of Covid-19. Experts warn that deaths from secondary impacts — poverty, hunger, diseases, and violence exacerbated by the pandemic — may dwarf the number of those who die of the novel coronavirus itself.

Only a Socialist Plannned Economy can get Britain out of this mess!

Never before in history have the rapid advances in science and technology provided such opportunities for the all-round development of every human being.

Nonetheless, the experience of social-democratic policies and the attempts so far to build socialism – albeit in very different conditions to those in Britain – provide some valuable lessons.

Unemployment in the United States and Britain 'may be worse than in Great Depression'

Writing in Guardian the economist said recently that UK unemployment could rapidly rise to more than 6 million people, around 21% of the entire workforce, based on analysis of US job market figures that suggest unemployment across the Atlantic could reach 52.8 million, around 32% of the workforce.

A report published by United Nations University UNU-WIDER outlines: COVID-19 could push half a billion people into poverty in developing countries

A new analysis by researchers from King’s College London and Australian National University and United Nations University UNU-WIDER, warns that the economic contraction caused by Covid-19 could push an additional 500 million people — about 8 percent of the Earth’s population — into poverty, reversing 30 years of economic improvement. “We were surprised at the sheer scale of the potential poverty tsunami that could follow Covid-19" said one of the study’s authors.

We can not continue pretending everythings OK.... there is an alternative...

Social ownership of economic property puts an end to the exploitation of the working class including the unemployed working class, whereby surplus labour is performed for the benefit of the capitalist class.

When there is social ownership, surplus labour takes place to meet the needs and aspirations of the working class and society as a whole. This will have to mean that workers and their representatives are fully represented in the economic and political spheres of decision-making, ensuring that surplus labour is not exploited for the benefit of a privileged class or group.

Since society first became divided into classes, the ruling class of the time has used the oppression of sections of the exploited classes to maximise exploitation and reinforce its rule. Under capitalism, the oppression of women, black workers and other groups has reaped super-profits and helped ensure the reproduction of existing class relations economically, ideologically and politically – not least by fomenting or perpetuating divisions within the working class itself.

Such oppression is sustained by sets of prejudicial ideas and assumptions, for example those of sexism and racism. These ideologies apply across class boundaries, affecting members of the oppressed group in every class, although their impact is felt most severely by those in the exploited classes.

Putting an end to capitalist property relations and the exploitation of labour would remove the material basis for social oppression. No class in society would gain from the super-exploitation of any section of the working class, or have the means by which to secure it. The reorientation of priorities in production to meet the needs of the people would further reduce the scope for conflict over scarce provision, whether of jobs, housing, public services or essential goods.

The experience of socialism confirms that prejudice and discrimination on grounds of gender, nationality, sexual orientation, age etc., can survive the abolition of capitalism, at least for a period, weakened but not altogether eliminated. But socialism furnishes the material basis, and therefore the potential, to bring all forms of social oppression to an end.

With the abolition of capitalism, the most powerful forces for the perpetuation of racist, sexist, homophobic and other reactionary attitudes are disarmed, leaving the forces of socialism with the responsibility to consign them to the rubbish heap of history, promoting a culture of equal rights and liberation instead.

As we navigate many unchartered territories we must embrace alternatives - A Socialist Plannned Economy would get Britain out of this econonmic, political and pandemic crisis.

Your sincerely
Chairman

Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants

For media enquirers tel:
07943833848
07575747637

on Facebook: Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants
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Herd Immunity Victim and Survivor of Covid 19 and Boris

2019-05-18T23:21:00.001+01:00

Open Article from the Chairman for publication
25th April 2020

Herd Immunity Victim and Survivor of Covid 19 here's my story - being in my 50's I knew this was going to be a tough fight but I was up for it...

Boris Johnson's reckless buffoonary - our newly elected Prime Minister of deception .... Our Commandant Mainwaring in Dad's Army is playing catchup' but.... 'Don't Panic'.

Speaking on BBC Any Questions earlier this month, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said: “I do take issue with this idea that at any stage herd immunity was part of the [government’s] plan. It wasn’t.”

The Video ABOVE clearly proves his herd immunity was his governments agenda!!

The mainstream media encourages the adulation of Saint Boris Johnson, nothing could be further from the truth. The so-called prime minster encouraged herd immunity refused to listen to the World Health Organization (WHO)'s advice on 'Test Test Test'. Delayed the lockdown allowing widespread infection rate to climb out of control. Our death rate worst in Europe.

As the virus spread in our communities aided and abetted by a Tory regime, the inevitability sunk-in that many would end up dying. I became infected in early March, became seriously ill after struggling to breath at home with coronavirus that causes Covid 19. I was told like so many up and down Britain to isolate at home. The battle that followed was brutal, unsure if I was going to survive the ordeal. Forgotten by the state, Our National Health Service NHS 111 telephone service gave me some advice “Ride it Out ....at home and contact us again if you think you are going to die”.

The true scale of those abandoned by the state to die in Care Homes and at home will sooner or later be exposed for what it is – crimes against the people.

As luck would have it - I have oxygen at home due to a neurological condition. I suffer from a condition called 'Cluster Headaches' which means I have emergency supply of oxygen at home. The oxygen was crucial as I struggled to breath as the virus attacked and infected my lungs. I've suffered for 10 years from de-generative disc bulge and spinal erosion causing severe inflammation and a build-up of inflammatory markers throughout my body. I've spent years upon years researching on-line from academia around the world on how best to reduce these inflammatory markers and how to protect and encourage our bodies to generate more crucial killer T- Cells which kills infection One thing lead to another and for the last 10 years I've bought privately and used a product called NAC (pictured) – I knew it was fantastic in preventing pneumonia and removing inflammatory markers from the body and removing inflammation on the lungs. It's worth pointing out that I've not had the Seasonal Flu for over 6 years due to the free radical chaser NAC.

I wrote this article in march and sent copies around the world pointing out the benefits of NAC, now British scientists are looking at medication to reduce the impact of covid 19 on the body in reducing inflammation and help our killer T- Cells replicate using clinical trial of Interleukin 7 known to boost T-Cells. It's staggering that our scientific community did'nt make the connection early on. It seems our scientists like the government have been found to be wanting!!

I knew Covid 19 caused a massive inflammatory response throughout the body. Logic told me take the oxygen to ease the breathing plus I took massive amount of NAC to STOP the inflammatory build up thus preventing a Cytokine Storm response from my immune system. It was obvious that I was on my own and this was a battle for my very survival.

Survive I did and I shared my experiences via email to leading figures within the World Health Organisation including Tedros Adhanom (copies of dated email from Mid March enclosed showing proof). I asked for investigative research to be done as a matter of urgency into the life saving potential of NAC among Covid 19 patients and the results be shared around the world. This was done – Russian Researchers at Kursk State Medical University confirmed on April 26 that NAC will save lives with those suffering from Covid 19 complications. Those suffering from covid 19 have a deficiency in endogenous glutathione – NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) corrects this.

Glutathione is an anti-oxidant that has demonstrated anti-viral properties and boost immune cells and killer T-Cells. Right now University of Oxford in the UK is researching on how best to reduce the impact of covid 19 on the body using a multitude of drugs that scientists are already confident will prevent a cascading Cytokine Storm and inflammation. NAC is one of those chemicals that works right now, it will save lives, it saved my life.

In my opinion the whole idea that a vaccine will eradicate covid 19 is Red Herring. The virus is mutating at an alarming rate. In 2020 we still don't have a vaccine for HIV. We may have to learn to live with covid 19 very much like HIV but offset the worse elements of the disease with medication like NAC. Today no one dies from AIDS because of HIV medication, we can do the same now to stop people dying from this coronavirus.

For over a month I've struggled with chronic stomach problems, fatigue and body weakness all due to the massive impact of the coronavirus on my body. While Boris Johnson was recovering at Chequers in grandiosity surroundings. I was starving unable to get food or help and assistance living on a diet of porridge. Nevertheless even though I was in chronic ill health trying to recover I was sending emails to our local NHS in the UK and scientists including 10 leading figures with the World Health Organisation. Meanwhile the ignoramus petulant President Donald Trump picks a fight with the World Health Organisation and China with a policy of demonisation.

I'm so happy to have played my role in raising the awareness of what NAC can do in saving Covid 19 patients. In fairness it should have been the scientific community and governments around the world doing this.

Pensioners in care homes have been sacrificed we have witnessed genocide in the UK. Single people at home abandoned and left to die alone in their hour of need – sacrificed and used as cannon fodder due to governmental incompetents at best and criminal negligence. This will come of no surprise to the those who have witnessed over 100,000 sick and disabled benefit claimants die in recent years due to state benefit cuts. The true figure of how many will be found to have die at home will shock many. A government void of any sense of empathic feeling towards those suffering the physical and psychological trauma inflicted.

This Tory Government should be held to account, many of our NHS staff have died not because of this virus, they have died because of this Tory regimes criminality. We all have a role to play in protecting humanity in its hour of need. The People of the World need to know what's happened in so-called Great Britain. We the people must DEMAND a full investigation into governmental criminality into Covid 19

On the barricades the people fight a common enemy – a virus and a Tory Regime that lacks humanity !

Your sincerely
Chairman

Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants

Links and Article References:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/health-52754280

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8443125/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340917045_Endogenous_deficiency_of_glutathione_as_the_most_likely_cause_of_serious_manifestations_and_death_from_novel_coronavirus_infection_COVID-19_a_hypothesis_based_on_literature_data_and_own_observations

https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/breaking-covid-19-research-russian-study-indicates-that-glutathione-deficiency-affects-covid-19-susceptibility,-nac-supplements-helps

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5241507/

http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-04-23-oxford-covid-19-vaccine-begins-human-trial-stage

https://jcbmr.com/index.php/jcbmr/article/view/13/28

https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/10/7/153

https://paper.li/DoleQueueUnite/1376663965#/

Now is the Time to Vote Labour - 10 Great reasons!

2017-05-28T11:13:00.000+01:00

Now is the Time to Vote Labour - Great reasons to Vote Labour
We know #Conservative rule hurts communities. We also know that under #Labour, people will have a #WelfareState that PROTECTS the vunerable in society.

On 8 June, there are many great reasons to vote Labour. Here are just a few that will make a real difference to to ordinary peoples lives.

1. Real #investment in #skills and #training.
Labour will grow our #economy, investing in skills and infrastructure through a national investment bank

2. Under Labour, #WorkWillPay
Labour will eradicate insecure #ZeroHoursContracts. The Labour Party will ensure that nobody earns less than £10 per hour.

3. Only Labour can be trusted with our NHS
Labour will stop the pay cuts to #NHSstaff. No more will #nurses be so #poor that they turn to #foodbanks. Labour will halt the cuts to A&E services.

4. A better chance of a better home
The average home to buy now costs almost 8 times the average salary. Only Labour will ensure that renting is affordable, and that #OneMillionNewHomes will be built, #council and private, over the next five years.

5. The best #education for ALL our #children

Conservative plans for grammar and free schools are elitist and a waste of resources. Labour will stop the #EducationCuts, keep class sizes under 30 and ensure our youngest children have a nutritious #FreeSchoolMeal.

6. #PublicTransport that supports our communities
Only Labour will end chaotic and costly #RailPrivatisation and support communities to run their own bus services.

7. A stronger voice for YOU
Labour will provide a decent #WelfareState that PROTECTS the vunerable in society. Modernise #TradeUnionLaws and ensure that #unions can negotiate collectively on behalf of some of the most vulnerable workers. Labour will remove the punishing Tory tribunal fees that have denied justice to so many at work.

8. A stronger Britain in the world
Labour will pursue the trading arrangements our economy needs – access to the single market, and barrier-free trade. Labour will honour the rights of the three million EU workers here already, and defend the rights of the million or so UK workers in the European Union - EU. Only Labour will target the bad bosses who #exploit #MigrantWorkers, drive down wages and destroy community cohesion.

9. Affordable, responsible energy under Labour
Labour will invest in new forms of #energy to tackle climate change, create the well-paid decent jobs of tomorrow – and keep #EnergyBills low.

10. A fix for our #BrokenEconomy
Under the Tories, UK #LivingStandards have slumped. Among EU economies, only Greece has suffered a harder hit. Labour will tackle the low wage, low skill economy the Tories have created, to build a stronger economy that works for the many, not the few.

On 8 June Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants urges you to vote for the party that will build the best future for all, not the few.

PLEDGE THE DAY
ON JUNE 8TH

Thursday, June 8th is the most important campaigning day of the whole election. It is the day we knock on doors to get out the Labour vote. It is the day our efforts on the doorstep will win or lose the election.

If you don't do anything else, pledge some time on June 8th. We'll be in touch a few days before with advice on what you can do and where you'll be useful.

Click on this LINK & PLEDGE THE DAY

Watch the #video #LiarLiar & then download track - its 99p we will make them listen https://t.co/7P054Fwi8B #GE2017

On 8 June, #VoteLabour

Owen Smith says abolish the DWP, but Jeremy had already decided to do so !

2016-07-27T14:47:00.000+01:00

Owen Smith says abolish the DWP, but Jeremy Corbyn had already decided to do so! Smith says he would abolish the DWP and create a Ministry of Labour

He would turn Britain into a world-beating place for employment rights.

He says he would create a ministry of labour. And he would scrap the Department for Work and Pensions, which he says has become a “byword for insecurity and cruelty”, and replace it with a Department for Social Security.

The fact is he has “copied” & stolen policy ideas already announcement by shadow chancellor John McDonnell.

Everyone who has been campaigning & attacked by the vindictive policies of the Department for Work and Pensions knew both Jeremy Corbyn & John McDonnell in a future Labour Government would abolish the DWP.

John McDonnell’s call for the reinstatement of a Ministry of Labour, was made last month 30 June at the Institute of Employment Rights. Jeremy Corbyn announced in 2015 he would scrap the Department for Work and Pensions & create a Ministry of Labour. He also made calls for a ban on exclusive workforce recruitment from abroad, made during the referendum campaign.

The only person who did not speak up when needed was the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Owen Smith himself. In fact he was extraordinarily silent on the issue before resigning - one could argue he was waiting for the killer blow on the current leader of the Labour Party before stealing his visionary ideas.

Owen Smith said today at Orgreave made famous for the battle during the Miners Strike that he grew up in South Wales during the miners' strike. "That's when I came alive politically".

He said "we’ve been a weak opposition, and worse than being a weak opposition, we haven’t laid out in anything like enough detail a credible prospectus for government." The simply fact of the matter is MP's within the Parliamentary Labour Party there exist a systemic #PassiveAggressiveBehavior culture that is at the root of a power struggle.

On a personal note as Chairman of Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants - the son of a Scottish miner who left school the same year as the miners strike in Thatchers Britain & joined my father on the picket line. I knew poverty & deprivation, having to eat out Hillards food dumps prior to Tesco skips to survive. Ever since I have a deep understanding of politics & community solidarity & collective responsibility. An Injury to One is an Injury to All runs through my veins & continues in ethos within the campaigning strategy of Respect for the Unemployed. We have known Jeremy for the last 25 years. We know him, trust him & know that he will help build a better a society thats respects its people (all the people). We the people need 'a Jeremy' in 10 Downing Street.

Power Corrupts And Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

Owen it's very easy to promise so much when seeking great power, we the unemployed, disabled & benefit claimants have witnessed first hand betrayal from both political parties for failed policies. You have been in parliament for six years, in our opinion that is simply not long enough to lead a party based on promises with no track record. On the other hand Jeremy Corbyn Entered the House of Commons on 9 June 1983 before the Miners Strike - with a track record second to none.

It was Jeremy that invited striking miners into the House of Commons gallery in 1985 who were expelled for shouting "Coal not Dole" of which as a teen I remember well.

Ken Gill TUC President "there is no political independence without economic independence"

The miners just as todays unemployed became cannon fodder thrown into the gutter of unemployment as pits closed have never forgotten the betrayal by Margaret Thatcher, John Major & Tony Blair. They sought to demonise those miners for the deindustrialisation of Britain & mass unemployment. Many of those former miners became chronically ill due to working underground & then depression & isolation which still continues to this day, passed from one benefit to another but no Social Security. Many of those former miners & unemployed voted #brexit NOT because of immigration but because of anger & frustration of no political economic voice. Best articulated in the video above by Ken Gill TUC President in the 1980's

The miners knew & today's generation are all to aware that nationalisation of industries was not an option, hence unless they voted #brexit "there is no political independence without economic independence"

Owen ..... you have an important crucial role within the labour movement but being leader is not 'it'. Position yourself, work with Jeremy but respect his vision & mandate. All this talk of splits within the Parliamentary Labour Party is petulant. Those MP's must realise the people are watching & listening.

This is why Britain's Unemployed & Benefit Claimants will be supporting Jeremy Corbyn to be our next Prime Minister.

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Bullying in Labour & the power struggle of Jeremy Corbyn

2016-07-23T10:33:00.001+01:00

Today Jeremy Corbyn spoke about bullying. The reality is: Jeremy has faced a barrage of abuse & continued demonisation from fellow MP's and the right wing media.

Within the Parliamentary Labour Party there is systemic #PassiveAggressiveBehavior

People who indirectly express their negative emotions instead of addressing them directly are said to have passive aggressive behavior, according to the Mayo Clinic. People who are passive aggressive are often resentful and resist other’s demands.

What Does Passive Aggressive Behavior Look Like?

While many people are vaguely familiar with this condition, some may be wondering, “What is passive aggressive behavior?” There are many examples of passive aggressive behavior. They include a person having a hostile or sullen attitude, even when the people are him/her are happy and upbeat.

MP's who constantly complain about Jeremy Corbyn leadership style are exhibiting passive aggressive behavior. Those same MP's who are passive aggressive may intentionally be hesitant to meet others demands from the leadership, or intentionally make mistakes when asked to do something. This is why 10 months on we face another leadership election!

Setting up the leader to fail is about class politics. Jeremy represent a new kind of politics, the Parliamentary Labour Party simply don't want that vision or debate. The Parliamentary Labour Party is acting in a very petulant manner. Jeremy Corbyn won the leadership election, but it's now obvious that 90% of the Parliamentary Labour Party took upon themselves to give Jeremy Corbyn the 'physiological silent treatment'.

Huffington Post also asserts that people who are passive aggressive will deny that they are hurt or angry. After the massive mandate from the membership the Parliamentary Labour Party felt hurt, angry and most importantly powerless.
However, the individual with passive aggression won’t admit that they are hurt, angry or offended.... they are simply in denial - The bully then pretends to be a victim of a bully !

Other passive aggressive behavior examples include the silent treatment, even if the other party is not aware of the reason for the treatment. People with passive aggression are often very sarcastic, even when sarcasm is not necessary and will obviously ruin the upbeat mood of a conversation. We have seen numerous examples from 100's television & radio interviews given by so-called honorable members in the venomous demonisation of Jeremy Corbyn.

Passive aggressiveness is a form of hostility, according to Huffington Post. This means that the behavior indicates a power struggle. Calling the behavior out with no apologies and setting boundaries is essential.

When passive aggressive MP's show their negative behavior to their leader, it’s often the option to provide direct consequences to the passive aggressive person, or to simply explain the options surrounding the deselecting of labour MP's if the behavior continues.

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Why are the Blairites moving against Corbyn - Chilcot REPORT!

2016-06-28T08:39:00.000+01:00

Why are the Blairites moving against Corbyn now, with such precipitate haste? The answer is the Chilcot Report. It is only a week away, and though its form will be concealed by thick layers of establishment whitewash, the basic contours of Blair’s lies will still be visible beneath. Corbyn had deferred to Blairite pressure not to apologise on behalf of the Labour Party for the Iraq War until Chilcot is published.

It is essential to the Blairites that when Chilcot is debated in parliament next week, Jeremy Corbyn is NOT in place as Labour leader to speak in the debate. The Blairite plan is therefore for the parliamentary party to depose him as parliamentary leader and get speaker John Bercow to acknowledge someone else in that fictional position in time for the Chilcot debate, with Corbyn remaining leader in the country but with no parliamentary status.

We call on all Labour MPs to unite behind the Leadership.

Sign this 'Momentum' petition here: http://labourunited.peoplesmomentum.com/

If the fault line for the Tories is Europe, for Labour it is the Middle East. Those opposing Corbyn are defined by their enthusiasm for bombing campaigns. Hilary Benn and Heidi Alexander, are hardline supporters of Israel.

Hilary Benn is very serious about his power grab and has been laying the ground for it very carefully. On 18 November BICOM – the British Israeli Communications and Research Centre – published this:

Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn told a Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) lunch yesterday that relations with Israel must be based on cooperation and rejected attempts to isolate the country.
Addressing senior party figures in Westminster, Benn praised Israel for its “progressive spirit, vibrant democracy, strong welfare state, thriving free press and independent judiciary.” He also called Israel “an economic giant, a high-tech centre, second only to the United States. A land of innovation and entrepreneurship, venture capital and graduates, private and public enterprise.”
Consequently, said Benn, “Our future relations must be built on cooperation and engagement, not isolation of Israel. We must take on those who seek to delegitimise the state of Israel or question its right to exist.”

Heidi Alexander actually signed, as a 2015 parliamentary candidate, the “We Believe in Israel” charter, the provisions of which state there must be no boycotts of Israel, and Israel must not be described as an apartheid state. This fault line is very well defined. The manufactured row about “anti-Semitism” in the Labour Party shows exactly the same split.

No rational person would believe Brexit was Jeremy Corbyn’s fault. No rational person would believe that now is a good moment for the Labour Party to tear itself apart. Extraordinarily, the timing is determined by Chilcot REPORT.
Protest - Blair lied: Time for Truth and Justice

This is a critical period for anti-war politics. In less than ten days we will ask that Blair and his allies are held accountable for the sea of blood and tears they have caused in Iraq and the rest of the region. Be there.

Protesters outside former Prime Minister Tony Blair home July 6th 8.45am

Campaigning around the upcoming Chilcot Report will include a protest on the 6th July at the QE2 Centre at 10am and a rally at Mary Ward House on the 7th at 7pm, in addition to various local activities around the country, including in Newcastle, Birmingham, Nottingham, Brixton, Hackney and Leeds.

London Protest
Chilcot: Time for Truth and Justice
6th July - 10 am
Queen Elizabeth 2 Centre
Broad Sanctuary
Westminster
London, SW1P 3EE

Public rally: The People's response to Chilcot
7th July - 7pm
Mary Ward House
5-7 Tavistock Place
London WC1H 9SN

On the 7th July in the evening there will be a public meeting at Mary Ward House. Speakers will include Brian Eno, Reg Keys, Peter Oborne, Louise Christian, Lindsey German and many more.

Just over a week before the EU referendum took place a news item appeared in the Telegraph dated 13 June 2016. "Labour rebels hope to topple Jeremy Corbyn in 24-hour blitz after EU referendum".

It's obvious for all to witness - This coup was pre-planned by the Blairites.

At this critical moment in our country’s history, the Tories look like they are extending their period of infighting and backbiting. With a government in crisis, Labour must unite as a source of national stability.

Some in the Party wish to use the confusion caused by Brexit & the timing of Chilcot to manufacture a leadership contest. This division is the last thing we need.

Jeremy Corbyn addressing 10,000 Parliament Square with just 24 hours notice.

We call on all Labour MPs to unite behind the Leadership.

Sign this 'Momentum' petition here: http://labourunited.peoplesmomentum.com/

Over 215,000 people so far have signed an ON-LINE petition here >> in 'A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE IN JEREMY CORBYN'

For media enquirers tel: 07575747637
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We have full confidence in Corbyn - sign ON-LINE petition - #BackCorbyn Protest at Parliament

2016-06-26T15:22:00.001+01:00

We have full confidence in Corbyn

Labour Party members and supporters, appeal to all members of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) to REJECT the motion of no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn tabled by Margaret Hodge and Ann Coffey.

The country now faces critical questions about the future of our economy and society. We believe that a leadership contest at such a time would be self Indulgent and a waste of our party resources. It would also let the Tories off the hook at a time when they are bitterly split.

Over 181,120 people so far have signed an ON-LINE petition here >> in 'A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE IN JEREMY CORBYN AFTER BREXIT'

This is a time for Labour to be united.

Britain’s vote to leave the EU and David Cameron’s resignation has caused a Tory leadership crisis. At this critical moment in our country’s history, the Tories look like they are extending their period of infighting and backbiting. With a government in crisis, Labour must unite as a source of national stability. The Party must focus on speaking up for jobs and workers' rights, counter the scapegoating of migrants and challenge any attempt to use the referendum result to introduce an even more right-wing Tory government by the back door.

Some in the Party wish to use the confusion caused by Brexit to manufacture a leadership contest. This division is the last thing we need. We call for unity and the Labour Party to offer a programme of hope for our people.

If Labour MPs move to oust Corbyn now, they would be showing contempt for the colossal democratic mandate he received from party members and supporters less than 12 months ago.

We call on all Labour MPs to reject the motion and unite behind the Leadership.

Sign this 'Momentum' petition here: http://labourunited.peoplesmomentum.com/

We would also encourage all supporters who are able to attend to join the #BackCorbyn Protest at Parliament at 6pm tomorrow, Monday 27, to coincide with the meeting of the PLP.

Those backing Jeremy Corbyn listed below - to add your support contact / email info@l-r-c.org.uk Graham Bash - Editorial Board, Labour Briefing

Michael Calderbank - LRC EC and Secretary, Brent Central CLP
Jackie Walker - Vice-Chair, Momentum
Seema Chandwani - Secretary, Tottenham CLP
Norrette Moore - Membership Secretary, LRC
Mike Phipps - Brent Central CLP
Chris Ford - Walthamstow Central CLP
Walter Wolfgang, Labour CND
Keith Dunn - Tottenham CLP
Ruth Conlock - Manchester Worthington CLP
Emily Jones - Gorton Manchester CLP
Dafydd Taylor - Haltemprice & Howden CLP
Claire Jones - Sefton Central CLP
Laura Graham, Regional Officer, Bakers Food & Allied Workers Union
Dave Hodge - Hornsey and Wood Green CLP
Jon Rogers, Brighton Pavilion CLP and UNISON NEC
Ella Downing - Brent Central CLP
Derek Lovell - Brighton &Hove CLP
Nick Rogers -Tottenham CLP.
Pam Wortley - Sunderland central CLP
Tahir Mirz - Newham CLP
Cllr John Wiseman - Chair St Helens South and Whiston CLP
James McAsh - London Regional Board
Ian Hodson - National President - Bakers’, Food & Allied Workers Union
Laura Lloyd - Wallasey CLP
James Rogerson - Labour International
Suzanne Gannon - Colne Valley CLP
Carol Wilcox - Secretary Christchurch CLP
Pete Firmin - TULO, Hampstead & Kilburn CLP
Cllr Gary Heather - Islington
Councillor Keir Morrison - Sherwood CLP, UCATT
Jane Aitchison - Keighley CLP
Chris Knight - Streatham CLP
Philip Lewis - Camden UNISON
Daniel Stone -Tottenham CLP
Prof Christian Fuchs - Hornsey-Wood Green
Lesley-Anne Ure - Communication Workers Union & GMB
Rhys Horton - CLP - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
Charley Allan - Hornsey & Wood Green EC member
Dr Alan Roe - Colne Valley CLP
Alex Nunns - Hertford and Stortford CLP
Ian Pope - Rochford & Southend East CLP
Dorothy Macedo - Finchley & Golders Green CLP
Janet Shapiro - Hornsey & Wood Green CLP
Stuart Fewtrell - Telford CLP
David Brennan - Wirral West CLP
Cllr Geoff Lumley - Isle of Wight CLP
Mary Taylor - Eltham CLP
Elaine Smith MSP
Ian Ilett - Suffolk Coastal CLP
Peter Morton - Rochester and Strood CLP/UNISON
John Holmes - CWU (retired)
Peter Chowney - Leader, Hastings Council
Adeel Aurangzeb - Tottenham CLP
Howard Tribe - Ealing CLP
Michael Reddington - Stroud CLP
Rev Steven Saxby - Walthamstow CLP
Cllr Eileen Rowbotham - Chair, Kent County Council Labour Group
Janet Cashman - Wallasey CLP
Dave Smith - Sheffield Healy CLP/UNITE
Cllr Stephen Thomas - Hartlepool CLP
Lance Jackson - Dudley North CLP
Vincent Wackett - EC. Epping Forest CLP
Sally Cook - Wolverhampton West CLP
Cllr Paul Gowen - Lincoln Council
Sean Fox - Mitcham and Morden CLP
Kate Jensen - Barking CLP
Arthur Jordan - Dundee West CLP
Steve McKenzie - Erith and Thamesmead CLP
Cllr Jumbo Chan - Brent Council
Tom Gillen - Walthamstow CLP
Robin Symonds - Rotherham CLP
Maria Ihnatowicz - Bermondsey and Old Southwark CLP
Gilaine Young - Sheffield Central CLP
Daniel Harris - Wolverhampton CLP
Melissa Bassil - Buckingham CLP
John Bassil - Musicians Union
Martin John - Sheffield Central CLP
Ken Webb - Cardiff South Penarth CLP
Kim Wood - Sussex LRC
Kenny Fryde - Cambridge CLP
Ian Malcolm-Walker - LRC EC & Bournemouth West CLP
Mike Kennard - Treasurer, Chatham & Aylesford CLP
Lisa-Marie Derbyshire - North East Derbyshire CLP
Maggie Kelly - York Central CLP
John Mooney - Grimsby CLP
Kira Davison - Cambridge CLP
Rosemary Hedges - Calder Valley CLP
Joanne Panitzke-Jones - Totnes CLP
Violett Cleghorn - Cotswold CLP
Liz Lindsay - Brent Central CLP
Helen Underhay - UNITE
Anne Barry - Brighton Kempton CLP
Amber Webster - North Norfolk CLP
Geraldine Moore - Corby CLP
Dave Garry - Wirral CLP
Noel Hayes - Chingford and Woodford Green CLP
Nick Hostettler - Streatham CLP
Neil Martin - Rayleigh and Wickford CLP
Bob Simm - Wolverhampton South West CLP
Marti Delon - Adur and East Worthing CLP
Andrew Scarborough - Leader, Labour Group, Welling Borough Council
Ian Townson - Battersea CLP/UNITE
Jill Dixon - Sunderland South CLP
Will Haughan - Sunderland South CLP
Ian Saville - Brent Central CLP
John Beresford - West Leeds CLP
Christine Rogers - Hastings CLP
Caitlinn Eckhardt - York Central CLP
Phillip Kibler - North Norfolk CLP
Helen Brown - Hazel Grove CLP
Sobay Berriman - Falmouth CLP
Karen Broady - Manchester Gorton CLP
Andrew Hardman - Bolsover CLP
Carol Lacey - North East Derbyshire CLP
Daina Gregory - Herne Bay CLP
Caroline Collins - RAFT foundation
Bisi Williams - Islington North CLP
Lucy Burke - Bury South CLP
Sheila Shepherd - Milton Keynes CLP
Hannah Minns - Milton Keynes CLP
Neil Williams - Milton Keynes CLP
Terry Day - Walthamstow CLP
Peter Drake - Orkney Islands CLP
Coilla Drake - Orkney Islands CLP
Natalie Curtis - Cardiff CLP
Sally Parrott - Guilford CLP
Hannah Thompson - Hornsey and Wood Green CLP
Sue Millard - Cumbria Labour Party
Peter Robbins - Cheshire Labour Party
Shani Kara - Tottenham CLP
Caz Walker - Penrith and the Borders CLP
Kate Jensen - Barking CLP
Dr Sally Jones - Leeds Labour Party
Matthew Caddis - Bradford Labour Party
James Hibbert - Rossendale and Darwen CLP
Gill Reagan - Stoke North CLP
Patrick Reagan - Stoke North CLP
Karen Heywood - Bridgewater and West Somerset CLP
Richard Conway - Charlton Labour Party
Alex Pym - Musicians Union
Christina Purcell - Chorlton Manchester Labour Party
Graham Abbott - Paignton CLP
Janice Taggart - Yardley CLP
Sue Lukes - Islington North CLP
Mark Rose - Worcester CLP
Diane Maguire - Harrogate and Knaresborough CLP
Iain Mooney - Barrow-in-Furness CLP
Colin Blundell - South Holland CLP
Anne Nichols - Westmorland and Lonsdale CLP

Why you should vote to REMAIN in the EU - on Thursday 23 JUNE

2016-06-21T15:50:00.000+01:00

Having listened to political economical hype on the EU Referendum it is now time to decide .... but while you do pause for thought. We urge group members within Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants to vote to REMAIN within the EU.

Leaving the EU would bring economic political chaos & mass unemployment, the former Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has a track record of failure behind him. He simply can not be trusted - he's one leading figures in the Vote Leave Campaign who is also looking to replace David Cameron.

Iain Duncan Smith & Vote Leave is asking Britain to vote LEAVE on Thursday. Lets analyse the former secretary of Department for Work and Pensions whose Job it was to reduce unemployment in Britain & get people back to work.

His polices & those of Vote LEAVE will end up creating mass unemployment.

FACT: the EU brings us jobs, growth and investment, protects British workers and consumers and helps keep us safe. Leaving would put that at risk and diminish Britain’s influence in the world.

Over three million British jobs are linked to our trade with the EU

And almost half of all British exports go in goods and services to countries in the European Union. Britain is a proud trading nation with almost half of our exports going to EU countries – worth over £220 billion a year to the UK economy. Over three million British jobs are linked to UK exports to the EU. UK jobs and businesses large and small are dependent on trade with Europe. The EU is the largest single market in the world and over 200,000 British companies export to the EU without having to pay any tariff. Future EU trade could create 790,000 more jobs by 2030 by opening up markets in digital services, energy and tourism.

If your lucky to be in work .... working people have a big stake in the referendum because workers’ rights are on the line. Leaving the EU puts at risk many vital workplace rights currently underpinned by EU law – such as paid holidays, maternity rights, safety at work and better conditions for part-time workers. We don’t trust our current government or brexit leaders not to cut or reduce or cut these rights if they get the chance.

With so much of our trade going to the EU, leaving would risk millions of jobs in export-reliant industries. If these skilled and better paid jobs go they’ll be replaced with worse jobs, if they’re replaced at all.

Most economists agree our economy would take a big hit followed by years of uncertainty, cutting the tax take and putting already overstretched funding for our NHS and public services at even greater risk.We want to see a Europe that helps British people benefit from a growing and fairer society, with new rights for the 21st century.

Before you vote remember this: a Vote Leave donor has been revealed to be former BNP member

Gladys Bramall has given £600,000 to Leave in recent weeks. She has reportedly confirmed she was a BNP member under Nick Griffin's leadership - but says her husband signed her up - news reference link

So on Thursday 23 JUNE vote to REMAIN in the EU Don't trust Iain Duncan Smith with our future - WE Want JOBS - our CALL real dignity & RESPECT for benefit claimants

Why you should vote - On May 5th

2016-05-04T13:37:00.000+01:00

As we prepare for the Local Elections tomorrow May 5th remember the price of conservative governance - The first ‪Comprehensive Study‬ into ‪destitution‬ in the UK has revealed that 1.25 million people, including over 300,000 ‪children‬, are destitute, the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation has announced. Destitution is the most severe form of poverty in the UK and means someone can’t afford the basic essentials they need to eat, keep clean and stay warm and dry.

The total number of destitute people in the UK, including UK citizens, is not currently measured by 10 Downing Street. The report was commissioned by JRF in response to perceptions that extreme poverty had risen in recent years. It has been conducted by experts at Heriot-Watt University with advice from a wide range of experts and service providers across the UK, and has taken two years to complete.

The definition of destitution used in this study was developed with experts and tested with the general public (the only current official definition of destitution is in ‪asylum‬ legislation). They defined destitution as when someone lacked two or more basic essentials in one month. This means that, over this month, people have: ‪Slept Rough‬, had one or no meals a day for two or more days, been unable to heat or to light their home for five or more days, gone without weather-appropriate clothes or gone without basic ‪toiletries‬.

In total, researchers found that:
* 1,252,000 people, including 312,000 #children, were destitute at some point in 2015
* 4/5 were born in the UK
* Around a third had a complex need
* Young, single people, particularly men, are more likely to be destitute, but there are considerable numbers of families living in destitution There is no single cause, but most people had been living in poverty for a considerable period of time before tipping into #destitution. The most common causes are:
* the extra costs of ill health and ‪disability‬
* the high costs of ‪housing‬ and other essential bills
* ‪unemployment‬
* a ‪financial‬ shock like a ‪Benefit Sanction‬ or delay

JRF is calling on the Office for National Statistics to begin officially tracking the number of destitute people in the UK. Government, businesses, communities and individuals need to work together to provide better support for people in crisis, as well as reducing the costs of housing and basic essentials as well as creating better ‪jobs‬ that pay sufficiently.

More than 1.25 million are ‪destitute‬ .... more than 300,000 are ‪children‬: reference : https://t.co/xW59wA10Ja

David Cameron told us all "We’re All in This Together" the reality in Britain - We have a Foodbank‬ that is proving to be a vital ‪lifeline‬ for a Dundee man facing a three-year ‪Benefit Sanction‬ .... he is still serving his sentence imposed by his jobcentre to this day !!

The Trussell Trust identified a man known as Paul, who has been receiving packages from the group, as someone who had worked hard his entire life. Paul was dealt the three-year sanction after failing to adhere to the benefit requirements put in place after so-called ‪Welfare Reforms‬.

He became unstuck after losing his job at the Hilton hotel when it was demolished to make way for the V&A. Paul was ‪sanctioned‬ in the first instance after Jobcentre Plus advisor felt he had not completed his log book correctly.

His second sanction was handed out to him as a result of being 10 minutes late to a meeting at the job centre, something he said was the result of a bus delay. The third and final sanction, that resulted in the three-year cap on his benefits, came about after Paul was made to wait for an hour in the job centre to meet an advisor. He complained about this delay, which staff at the centre felt was aggressive, and his ‪unemployment‬ benefits were capped until 2018.

News reference : https://t.co/5aVG1Q8mRB

When James O'Brien On Lbc was speaking about ‪foodbanks‬, Mike called LBC to say that he was living on just a tin of ‪spaghetti‬ a day since being made ‪redundant‬. He was struggling with unemployment daily and became emotional on the phone and broke down in tears.

The Tories stole the 2015 general election & the police / Crown Prosecution Service are investigating - tomorrow May 5th give the Conservatives a BLOODY nose in the local elections & Vote LABOUR.

The Electoral Commission UK have written to Crown Prosecution Service on the Conservatives ‪Election‬ Spending issue surrounding the ‪Election Fraud 2015‬. If the 15-26 Conservative Party MP's being investigated by EC/CPS for breach of this law are guilty, they can be barred for 3 years under the Representation of the Peoples Act 1983.

Former Conservative party Co-Chairman Grant Shapps came unstuck on live television on Wednesday while being questioned about the Conservative party’s election expenses scandal.

While the mainstream media has largely ignored one of the biggest election scandals Britain has ever seen in favour of salivating over Labour party infighting, social media is in meltdown over the Conservative election expenses scandal. Dozens of Tory MPs face accusations that they illegally overspent in the 2015 general election campaign by failing to declare costs associated with the Conservative campaign “battle buses”. The MPs and their agents could face a year in jail and/or an unlimited fine, as well as a three-year ban on holding elective office – potentially triggering by-elections across the country and losing the Conservatives their majority in parliament.

– Tweet BBC journalists to ask for more coverage of the scandal using the #Toryelectionfraud hashtag.

– If you live in one of at least 24 seats where Tory candidates may have been helped to victory without correctly claiming their expenses, please consider contacting your local police force to make a complaint about your candidate’s spending declaration – and to remind the police that they can apply to the courts for an extension to investigate the allegations.

- news reference - https://t.co/SUCNl6K6zp

VOTE IN the Local Election‬ Stand up & send the Conservatives a message on Thursday. Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants ask you to lend your vote to the Labour Party on May the 5th

For media enquirers tel: 07575747637
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#Email: respect_unemployed@mail.ru

Report estimates 1.8 million Canadians visited FoodBanks

2014-11-06T13:43:00.001+00:00

Report estimates 1.8 million Canadians visited FoodBanks & 841,191 in March alone

That represents a 24.5% increase since the recession seven years ago. Food bank use is now greater than it was 10 years ago in the years preceding the recession.

Canada's unemployment rate is still at an alarmingly high level but improved recently. Food Banks Canada states the massive increase in foodbank use, in part, to how "many Canadians are stuck in part-time, temporary, low-paying jobs."

Stephen Harper Canadian prime minster & leader of the Conservative Party of Canada - Parti conservateur du Canada economic miracle continues....

Nearly 12% of Canadians who used a food bank in March had a job. In Alberta alone, 21.9% of food bank users have a job.

Nearly 24% of food bank users in March (about 200,000 users) were from single-parent families and 21.6% (about 180,000 users) were from two-parent families.

Shockingly more than one-third (over 300,000 food bank users) in March 2014 were children.

On a regional level, the increase in food bank usage on the Canadian Prairies is alarming: Food Banks Alberta use has exploded by 48.2% since 2008, Saskatchewan by 51.1% and Manitoba by 52.5%.

While the Prairies may be thought of as a booming region of economic activity in recent years, the boom has seen an increase costs of living, particularly in Alberta where housing costs are soaring.

In Nova Scotia food bank use has increase 16.3% and skyrocketed to 24.7% in British Columbia. Up North, the territories saw food bank use increase by 247%.

The territories experience extremely high levels of food insecurity, ranging from 17% of households in Yukon, to 45% of households in Nunavut. In fact, the territories have the highest rates of adults and children who "go completely without food or a meal, for a day or more."

DOWNLOAD REPORT: http://t.co/sDuMx830tz
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The 11 most senseless benefit sanction decisions - Week of action 4-12 October

2014-09-16T17:34:00.000+01:00

The 11 most senseless benefit sanction decisions - How can we fightback ? Week of action 4-12 October

Benefit sanctions, is a governmental policy where a job centre can suspend or dock a claimant’s welfare payments.

The impact of the sanctions vary: in the most extreme cases a person can lose their benefits for three years. Reasons for withdrawing benefits can range to being late for a meeting, failing to turn up on time, or leaving several jobs voluntarily.

In the wake of a diabetic ex-soldier dying after his benefits were sanctioned and three disgruntled ex-DWP civil servants going rogue to help welfare claimants who believe their payments have been wrongly docked, we look at the most ridiculous reasons for sanctioning benefits yet.

1) A man with heart problems who was on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) had a heart attack during a work capability assessment. He was then sanctioned for failing to complete the assessment. Source reference

2) A man who had gotten a job that was scheduled to begin in two weeks’ time was sanctioned for not looking for work as he waited for the role to start. Source reference

3) Army veteran Stephen Taylor, 60, whose Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) was stopped after he sold poppies in memory of fallen soldiers. Source reference

4) A man had to miss his regular appointment at the job centre to attend his father’s funeral. He was sanctioned even though he told DWP staff in advance. Source reference

5) Ceri Padley, 26, had her benefits sanctioned after she missed an appointment at the jobcentre - because she was at a job interview. Source reference

6) A man got sanctioned for missing his slot to sign on - as he was attending a work programme interview. He was then sanctioned as he could not afford to travel for his job search. Source reference

7) Sean Halkyward, 24, said his benefits were sanctioned because he looked for too many jobs in one week. Source reference

8) Mother-of-three Angie Godwin, 27, said her benefits were sanctioned after she applied for a role job centre staff said was beyond her. Source reference

9) Sofya Harrison was sanctioned for attending a job interview and moving her signing-on to another day. Source reference

10) Michael, 54, had his benefits sanctioned for four months for failing to undertake a week’s work experience at a charity shop. The charity shop had told him they didn’t want him there. Source reference

11) Terry Eaton, 58, was sanctioned because he didn’t have the bus fare he needed to attend an appointment with the job centre. Source reference

More examples - checkout DWP Unspun

Meanwhile claimants are being beaten up for claiming benefits - Poll reveals widespread victimisation of people claiming benefits

Claiming benefits has become so stigmatised that hundreds of thousands of claimants have been physically and verbally abused, research reveals.

Many also reported difficulty in renting a home, opening a bank account and even getting paid employment because of attitudes towards people on benefits.

In a poll carried out by YouGov for the Who benefits? campaign, 15% said they had experienced verbal abuse for claiming benefits, while 4% said they'd been physically abused.

One in six said a landlord or letting agent had refused to let them rent a property, and nearly a fifth said they'd been treated less favourably by a potential employer or had difficulty accessing a bank account or financial services because they were claiming benefits.

Most people on benefits are in work, and when asked about the change that would most improve their situation, the most popular answer was higher pay.

Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants are calling for an end to shaming benefits claimants and instead focussing on the reasons that they need help, whether that's low wages, unemployment or the housing shortage.

Our benefits system should help people when they fall on difficult times and support them to live with dignity, the reality is, many find themselves isolated and excluded from society.

How can we fightback ?

Take part in the Boycott Workfare week of action! 4-12 October 2014 - help spread the word!

Forcing people to work for free through the threat of removing people’s benefits (#sanctions) is unfair, unjust and wrong. In the week of action, tell the companies and charities who are profiting from this exploitative regime what you think of their involvement! Email, Tweet, use Facebook, phone them, protest, organise a flashmob: for a week of piling the pressure on workfare exploiters.

Workfare undermines real paid jobs and wages; results in sanctions for thousands; does nothing to improve the chances of finding a job; and exploits those forced to take up these placements. Our actions can stop companies, charities and councils from exploiting this forced unpaid work. Wherever you are, however you can contribute, take action on 4-12 October.

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Respect for the Unemployed 'Break-In' - Computers Smashed

2014-09-16T11:57:00.001+01:00

We would like to take this opportunity to explain and apologise for the lack of campaigning undertaken by 'Respect for the Unemployed'

Respect for the Unemployed and Benefit Claimants has been forced offline over the last few month after, a serious break-in which destroyed six of our computers, a and photo copier plus other items.

This has seriously but temporarily curtailed our campaigning work.

Far right slogans had been painted on our walls, and credible threats made against our organisation. We can report that after a few weeks of hard work by supporters and campaigners we now are able to resume our campaigning on a reduced level. We have been forced to buy a 'cheap inadequate computer' while we try and raise funds to buy new equipment.

It seems we are upsetting a few people on the far right with our campaign for 'Respect' among benefit claimants - this latest attempt to silence our voice has and will continue to fail.

Once again we apologises group members

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British workers don't want to strike on July 10th - It's about respect & dignity #J10

2014-07-09T20:10:00.001+01:00

The July 10th nationwide strike action is about respect & dignity - it's about having a decent wage!

Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants stand shoulder to shoulder'. Real wages not workfare, real hours not Zero Hours.

Nearly Two Million public sector workers are striking for fair pay. Local government workers across the country will be on strike tomorrow - July 10.

Show your support & find out what's happening near you. Unite the unite has provided a comprehensive list of demo's & rallies taking place across Britain tomorrow - show your support.

Now is the time to get behind this campaign as they challenge 10 downing street’s low pay agenda. Working with other unions to take joint action on 10 July will only be the beginning, there will be targeted action and more strike action, as well as a mass TUC-organised protest on 18 October.

Why STRIKE ? Front-line workers explain:

Moya O'Neill, 53, community support worker, Leeds city council

We're on strike because they seem to think we're not worth anything. I've been a support worker for 16 years. I'm still on £8.30 an hour, and we haven't had a pay increase for about four years. I can't afford to do what I used to do, like go out with friends, and go swimming. I only eat meat once a fortnight. Once I had to go to a foodbank. It was very embarrassing – I'm in work, and I should be able to live a decent life.

I look after the elderly and people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour. I help with personal care, getting dressed, meals, housekeeping, shopping and staying safe. I love my job – the way people hold your hand and thank you when you leave, when you're the only person they have. But there's only so much we can do. They've asked us to start working more flexibly. I used to do normal hours, but now I have do the morning and evening shifts till 10.30pm on the same day. We bend over backwards for them, and a miserly 1% pay rise is how they're going to repay us.

I'm worth more than that for the work I do. We just want what's rightfully ours. We're downtrodden, and it's time to say enough's enough.

Richard Herrmann, 39 Firefighter, Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service

No one ever really wants to strike, but now we're left with no option. I earn £28,000 a year, and pay more than £4,000 a year into the pension scheme. Currently I can retire at 55 and withdraw my pension at 60. But if the changes go ahead, I'd have to stay in the service until I'm 60, and withdraw it at 67. Not only will we have to work longer, we'll also have to pay more for the privilege and get less.

Firefighting is arduous and when I'm in my late 50s, I may not pass the fitness tests. If forced to retire, I'd be penalised under the new deal. I could lose half my pension. I probably couldn't afford to stay in the new scheme. I've already had to take on an extra day's work as a safety trainer, on top of my 48-hour week.

I'm not asking for a pay rise, just for the pension I signed up for to be left well alone. I'm not a big union man – some of the pensions changes I actually agree with. There are some hardliners who always want to strike, but there aren't many of them left. The majority of us are realistic.

Mo Lumb, 53, PCS rep and administrative officer, HMRC, Newcastle

I'm striking over pay. I've been working at HM Revenue & Customs for 10 years. I'm one of the horrible people who has to send you letters about your tax self-assessments. I'm on £18,000 a year – and it's gone up by less than £1,000 in a decade.

The cost of living wasn't that bad when I first started, but now it's astronomical. We've gone from shopping at Sainsbury's to shopping at Lidl. I don't buy as much food as I used to, or as many clothes. I can't remember the last time we had a holiday abroad, either. Our car's on its last legs, and we'll be saving a long time for another one.

People who think it's much better in the public sector should come and have a look at my wage slip and my pensions forecast — I think they'd be quite shocked. My wages would need to rise to more than £21,000 a year to keep pace with inflation.

But instead this year I got £180. Overall I'm worse off than I was last year, because they're taking off more in pension contributions. So we've effectively had a pay cut. We'd like private industry to pay their fair share in taxes – companies such as Amazon, Starbucks and Google. We'd like politicians to take cuts as well. We're certainly not "all in it together".

* You can get regular updates from PCS on their live blog.

There are picket lines and rallies across the UK as colleagues from Unite, Unison, FBU, GMB, NUT, Nipsa and some RMT members in taking action against attacks on their pay.

Jo Beill, 41, employment solicitor, London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

I have worked in local government since 2008. I earn just over £40,000 a year. I am striking because we have had no pay rise for years. The cost of living keeps rising every year but we have less and less to pay our bills. We are being asked to provide more services with less people.

I used to work in a team of four but now I am the only full-time employment solicitor. And I am now managed by a contract lawyer so I am no longer managed by anyone with employment law experience.

We have to do much of our own administration because quite a lot of our secretarial staff were made redundant last month. I don't like to think about my pension. I am just hoping there will be something there for me when I retire.

Kris Ross-Osborne, 34, administrator, children's services, Somerset county council

We're on the minimum wage, with a 1% pay increase, which we had to fight for. It's ridiculous. They're the people we elected, yet they pay us peanuts. We are some of the lowest-paid council workers.

It's not just about striking, it's about having enough money to live without worrying what I'll have left. As a single mum, I'm struggling to make my pay count until the end of the month. I have to drive to work – a 24-mile round trip, five days a week. I can't use public transport because the service is not very good (I am in a rural area) and the fare is £7.50 a day which is unaffordable. With the cost of petrol, and the rising costs of bills and then my groceries, and all the rest, I've gone from having savings to struggling to cover everyday costs. Some months I barely make it. I'm not going to use payday loans for extra cash because I've been stung by them before.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady - a mass TUC-organised protest on 18 October.

“Hard-pressed families across the UK must be beginning to wonder when the tough times they are experiencing will ever end. They keep hearing that the economy is growing and learning of yet another bonus extravaganza in the city, yet their own wages never seem to go far enough.

Pictured: TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady

“Worries about money are a big deal for ordinary people. While their household budgets can just about stretch to cover everyday essentials, they are likely to have to load up their credit cards to meet the cost of any unexpected items.

“During the dark days of recession, workers accepted that their pay might have to be frozen or even cut to save jobs, but now the economy is picking up – and many employers can afford to pay their staff more – the time has come for Britain to get a pay rise.”

Show your support & find out what's happening near you. Unite the unite has provided a comprehensive list of demo's & rallies taking place across Britain tomorrow. Join us & show support on TWITTER by using #hashtag #J10 and #WeAllNeedAPayrise

For media enquirers tel: 07575747637
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Queen's Speech, David Cameron & the Peter Principle

2014-06-04T09:54:00.000+01:00

Arrival of the Queen's new state coach

Today will be the last Queen's Speech before the General Election in 2015. She will be arriving in the grandiose new coach for the state opening of parliament.

David Cameron the deceptive prime minister has failed to deliver on previous promises to the electorate. His legacy is political failure - a classic example of the Peter Principle

The Peter Principle has applications outside of the business world. If ever there was a perfect example of the Peter Principle, it would be in David Cameron's government. The ConDem government has certainly promoted itself to its level of incompetence.

Take for example the 2010 Welfare Reform bill - Cameron said he would improve work incentives, but the Universal Credit programme – another failing flagship scheme - has so far seen £40 million of taxpayers’ money written off. In 2012 David Cameron said "we are reforming welfare so that it pays to have a job” - he said something similar in 2013 - but the National Minimum Wage has fallen in real terms under the Tories and there are now over five million people paid less than the Living Wage.

In addition, there has been a staggering 60 per cent increase in working people claiming housing benefit compared with 2010. That’s 400,000 more working people claiming housing benefit every year, costing the taxpayer an estimated extra £4.8bn in housing benefit over the course of this Parliament. The government’s failure to tackle the cost-of-living crisis and build new homes means work doesn't pay for the majority.

In the 2010 Queen’s Speech debate, David Cameron said: "We will get to grips with the unacceptable bonus culture”. In reality, bonuses at the big banks are far higher this year than last: up 10 per cent at Barclays to £2.4bn, up eight per cent at Lloyds to £395m and up six per cent at HSBC to £2.3bn. RBS also announced a bonus pool of £588m this year.

In 2012 David Cameron promised to “make sure that financial services truly serve the economy—not the other way around.” But today Britain has one of the most concentrated banking systems in the world with just four banks controlling 85 per cent of small business lending, which actually fell by £2.3 billion last year. David Cameron has failed to reform the banking sector.

In 2013 Cameron said his Government had "a solid record of being on the side of those who work hard and want to get on”. Tell that to the working people have seen their wages fall by £1,600 since 2010, whilst the top one per cent of earners were given a £3 billion tax break.

David Cameron will be remembered as the deceptive prime minister, he has deceived the electorate. His legacy is political failure - a classic example of the Peter Principle

Oxfam explains A Tale of Two Britains: Inequality in the UK
While austerity measures in Britain continue to hit the poorest families hardest, a wealthy elite has seen their incomes spiral upwards, exacerbating income inequality which has grown under successive governments over the last quarter of a century.

Conclusion: Don't expect much for us ordinary folk in this Queen's Speech !!

Please sign & share our #RespectPetition - we are near the 30,000 mark >> http://t.co/NfIzLOuMEQ

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Media Frenzy - This Is Not About UKIP

2014-05-26T16:33:00.005+01:00

It is clear to anyone who has been witnessing the media frenzy around UKIP, or has been campaigning on issues of national importance like Fracking and Disabled People’s rights, that there has been a media blackout on progressive voices in society and a strengthening of the voice of reaction.

This can be roughly traced back to the end of the Occupy protests, when after the rise and rise of anti-establishment protest movements, and societal reaction against austerity and police brutality (as in the riots), the new heads of the BBC, (who are Tory peers), aligned with the rightwing press, to avoid discussing progressive politics in totality, even to deride it.

Instead the cultural message propagated across the media has been one of hyperbole around immigration, cultural snobbery, the demonisation of the poor, and some fantastical pummeling of meaningless distraction in the shape of obsequious royal family fanaticism and nationalist celebration of sports and war (though we did enjoy the Olympics).

Reporting social security news becomes even more biased towards 10 Downing Street, head of news at Department for Work and Pensions - DWP joins the BBC

Please sign petition regarding 'Bias in Election Reporting' & Respect Petition

More friends of the Conservatives take over lead positions within the license funded broadcaster. BBC News communications chief brings in Department for Work and Pensions head of news Jonathan Reed

Reed’s move follows two years at the DWP, including time working as press secretary to Chris Grayling. He joined the department after working as a political reporter for a number of regional titles.

One BBC insider added the move was a part of a broader effort to "sharpen up" the BBC’s operation.
This cannot go on.

This is our first communique/brief on the subject but there will be more to follow. In it, we wish to briefly sketch our hopes for reclamation of the national debate for the people, and of a plan of action to achieve this.

After writing on welfare and issues of economic and social justice over the past 12 months, we believe there is an ongoing war on our minds.

This war of the mind manifests itself in distraction and false debate. We wish to challenge this paradigm.

We want to talk about aspiration and positivity. To borrow Plan C’s audacious slogan, we believe in a world of luxury for all.

We live in a world of abundance, of eternal resources of energy from natural sources, to eternal resources of creativity, from the minds of humanity.

Some people are already living the changes we all wish to see in the world. The changes towards less pointless unfulfilling work, less damage to environment, less violence towards each other and more time and freedom to be the person you want to be.

We wish to hold up these examples, promote them and show that, yes, another world is possible.

We also want to talk about misdirection and reality/rationalism. Not all debate can be rational, or should be. The emotional is valid, even if that manifests itself in scorn and anger at points.

We must recognise that sometimes that the way people feel about something cannot necessarily be reasoned with in pure logic and facts alone. This is why we need a politics of aspiration.

But it is also why we must change the terms/premise of the debate. Arguing about racism and immigration, the size of poor people’s TV’s and ASBOs, are the wrong debates.

They are divide and rule tactics by the elite, expressed through the political and media establishments, to distract us from tackling the genuine causes of societal problems. Those causes almost always have one root, and that is the search for profit.

We need to talk about freedom and liberty. We need to talk about inequality and wealth. We need to talk about the environment and resources. We need to talk about alternatives and achieving them.

To be part of this movement for change, RealFare are undertaking a variety of projects over the next 12 months in the lead up to the 2015 elections – and hopefully beyond.

The first is the Real Tour. Our intrepid contributor Thomas Barlow is going to bike across Britain for 8 weeks in search of Middle England/Britain. To do this he will be visiting 12 swing constituencies, as well as stopping at key campaign sites like Reclaim the Power, Anti Fracking camps, and festivals like Shambala.

He will conduct interviews with notable campaigners from the area, as well as surveys and vox pops, and he will distribute the soon to be printed RealFare news-sheet.

This will hopefully help us build a network of interested people who will help promote and share news and contributions from RealFare (and other sources).

Following this in early winter there will be Real Talks, a conference with a twist. We will have big name speakers who will drop their motivating knowledge bombs like all the other conferences. Except these speakers will be in a room with only a camera for company, where their talks will be live streamed and archived for free internet distribution.

This is because the real juice will be in the other activities at the conference.

There will be networking and stalls from a huge array of community and activist groups.

There will be skill-share workshops running concurrently all weekend, to learn about everything from video activism to direct action planning.

There will be live theatre, music and poetry, sometimes intervening directly in unexpected places.

There will be, in short, plenty of fun to be had and connections to be made, as we try to move away from a world of internet networks, to a world of concrete human connections.

Following this we will have a plan of action for all participants to freely engage in, that should be easy to squeeze into the most marvellously crowded of lives.

This will be involve targeting media institutions and putting pressure on them to engage with alternative subjects, and move away from the politics of distraction and divide and rule.

This will culminate in a Spring campaign to target the Daily Mail, surely one of the most spiteful publications in existence, with a number of secret, but developing, actions and stunts that should hopefully give us the energy in the lead up to the elections to get real issues talked about.

This won’t just be about talk, it will be about creating and showcasing alternatives, and about campaigning and working together to create a better world.
Viva la revo-love-tion!

RealFare

To find out more or to pledge help email info@realfare.co.uk and we will keep you updated on our action.

Examples of Media Blackouts:
Bias and the BBC
50-70,000 strong NHS protest in Manchester
Disabled People Against Cuts Protests
Cops Off Campus student protests
Fracking Protests
Workfare Protests
WCA/ATOS Protests

Part Re-blogged from RealFare
More info: from REALFARE

Husband killed no safety net - one year on the nightmare continues

2014-05-16T16:11:00.000+01:00

One year on, the misery continues for group member of Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants

An 'Open Letter' to David Cameron - 10 Downing Street
cc Ed Miliband & Natascha Engel MP

Karen holding a picture of husband Andrew

I'm writing in a desperate attempt to be heard regarding the situation I find myself in. On the 1st June 2013 my husband Andrew Siddall was killed in an awful road accident along with his best friend. Another biker from Sheffield was also killed in the same accident.

Before his death my husband had been receiving Disability Benefits. In his younger days my husband worked at Bolsover Colliery, after leaving school he went on to work as a builder / roofer. Taking part in the construction of Carsington reservoir dam. He retired early on health grounds. He was a member of Derbyshire Bikers.

I buried my husband on Thursday, June 13.

We informed the benefits office two days after his death. ALL benefits were promptly stopped, leaving our family with no source of income & no explanation as to what we must do or where to turn for help & assistance - we had the 'safety net' removed, in free-fall.

I spent the next few weeks visiting the Benefits Office & making phone calls in a state of pure grief & desperation trying to get help. However, I was passed from one department to the next, each time no one had a clue as to what I was entitled to - they were simply not interested. I was told if I had been 45 years old at the time of my husbands death I would have been able to claim a 'Widows Pension Allowance'. I was 45 on the 2nd August, just two months after his death.

Jobcentre Plus informed me that the only thing I could do, was to make a claim for Jobseekers Allowance. I pointed out that I thought JSA was for people looking for work - she replied in an irritated voice "Well you are fit for work aren't you" ? I was absolutely shocked & devastated. I was grief stricken, I didn't know what day it was or what planet I was on. I couldn't eat, sleep or function properly - I think its fair to say I was in 'traumatic shock'. I was constantly vomiting & having panic attacks. I had been with my husband since I was 14 years old - I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to live anymore.

With the help of family members, I filled in various forms for benefits. These 'forms' are a 'minefield' in trying to understand & 'overtly complicated' at best. We finally received a letter regarding a claim for Employment Support Allowance. It took them so long in dealing with the claim & after a period of four weeks struggling with no money whatsoever, I was forced to work in the local shop to ensure I could feed the family - working 16 hours a week.

From that point onwards I've had nothing but trouble with North East Derbyshire District Council regarding Housing & Council Tax Benefits. Mistake after mistake & misinformation from the benefits agency. It has resulted in over a hundred letters in nearly a year, informing me what I should be paying. No sooner had one letter been sent out, the council would change its mind yet again - throwing me into financial chaos. They sent letter after letter asking for more information & suspended my claim on numerous occasions - this in turn created huge rent arrears & threats of eviction. Letters sent regarding impending court action seeking to evict us, has caused me to become seriously depressed. I spent days upon days visiting the housing department trying to provide the information they required.

Finally I received a letter stating that my Housing & Council Tax had been reviewed & that I was no longer in arrears. I was told how much I needed to pay - My relief was instant, it was now February 2014 & this nightmare had been going on for months. I was earning £100 per week working, & receiving child tax credits for my daughter who was doing a childcare course. I was getting tax credits for myself, calculated that I could just about manage to survive & pay the rent, council tax etc - little did I know that my ordeal was far from over .....

I then received a letter from HMRC regarding Tax Credits, asking for more information regarding my daughter (Jade) - I contacted her learning provider (AgeUK) asking for more details regarding the educational course she was on. All the details were was passed onto HMRC - the swift result was .... all tax credits promptly stopped. In a state of panic I rang HMRC to investigate & was told it was because my daughter was doing an 'advanced childcare course', & therefore I wasn't entitled to any tax credits.

HMRC have stated that I'm not entitled to working tax credits because my daughter was classed as a 'non dependent' - they also stated I would have to be working at least 30 hours a week before being entitled. I approached my employer & requested more hours not realising what else I could do. I did managed to increase my hours from 16 to 26. I inform the council of the change in circumstances in work hours & that tax credits had been stopped.

The council reviewed both my Housing & Council Tax benefit twice over a period of weeks with incorrect information. A final review stated that I must pay £96 rent plus council tax & water charges - in total I have less than £40 a week to buy food, gas, electric plus other living expenses. In addition the council have informed me that I now owe over £1,400 in arrears & £322.83 council tax arrears. HMRC are harrassing me for £3,000 in repayment in tax credit.

Nearing the anniversary of my husbands death, it's clear that my nightmare is to continue. There is no safety net for me - there is no social security provision ! I'm at my wits end, not knowing which way to turn. I cannot survive on such a small amount of money & god only knows where the money is going to come from to pay these arrears. I'm sorry to bore those who have taken the time to read my story, but I have not chosen the situation I find myself in - I've fallen on bad times, stuck in quicksand, struggling to get out while people simply walk on by - conclusion ..... #help.

North East Derbyshire District Council have sent a letter addressed to my husband 'Andrew Siddall' a year after his death demanding £1,400 within 14 days - despite being told a thousand times, my husband has died .....

Finally I urge readers to support & sign the petition calling for a 'Public Inquiry' regarding the systematic abuse of Benefit Claimants >> http://t.co/bHg7eM2pZS

yours sincerely

Karen Siddall wife of Andrew

For media enquirers tel: 07575747637
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Who are the parasites in society ?

2014-05-11T17:49:00.000+01:00

Professor Jason Reed Quote: On Parasites and The 1% - became an Internet meme

Professor Read has delivered lectures and written an essay about Occupy Wall St. movement. The source of this particular quote may come as a surprise: from a Facebook status update.

In Britain how hatred towards claimants is circulated - Atos Origin calls disabled 'parasites'

A quotation by the trade unionist and Labour politician, Ernest Bevin, in Francis Williams’ biography of the great man:

Unemployment is not accidental. it is deliberate on the part of the capitalistic system. The one weapon in the hands of the capitalist is starvation, not his brains, ability or managerial capacity, but his ability to hold or withhold the means to life to break you when your children cry for bread. (p. 91).

This is all too true in today's UK - thousands struggle to survive on FoodBank handouts - David Cameron & 10 Downing Street are deliberately enslaving the people in a George Orwell 1984 style of starvation, enslavement & control.

The Libertarians of the Chicago School recommended that there should be a constant unemployment rate of 6 per cent in order to prevent wages rising. And Margaret Thatcher’s administration deliberately destroyed British heavy industries, such as mining and steel, in order to break the unions.

Who are the parasites in society ?

Currently 75% of 'Government Cabinet Ministers' - within parliament are Millionaires. Those that sit in the House of Commons & the House of Lords are Members of Parliament - TOTAL - members 1462 (650 MPs + 812 sit in the House of Lords).

We believe parliament should represent the majority not the minority !! But the reality is - We are governed by MILLIONAIRES.

The majority in Britain are struggling in poverty, unable to pay bills, buy quality food items. Meanwhile the House of Commons & the House of Lords enjoy privilege beyond imagination.

These Lords & MP's hold many assets - (many hidden from public view), including savings & (second income wages). There are Lords & MP's who gain extra payments from industrial lobbyist.

Benefit Claimants are quite rightly 'angry' at those who sit in an 'undemocratic & an unelected House of Lords. Those MP's & those who sit in the Lords firmly believe it's OK to hold two jobs & enjoy a subsidised restaurant & bar.

In contrast benefit claimants are struggling to buy food, pay bills & face benefit sanctions.

We hear Boris Johnson in an online video talk about his second job, writing articles once a week on a Sunday for a staggering £250,000 a year - he calls this amount 'Chickenfeed'

In recent years we have witnessed the parliamentary expenses scandal in the House of Commons & it seems acceptable to Fiddle expenses if you sit in the House of Lords.

Our conclusion ...... contemptuous !!! Ask this question - who are the parasites in society ?

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CPAG in Scotland - ‘Early Warning’ report about sanctions

2014-05-09T20:00:00.000+01:00

‘Early Warning’ report about sanctions !

Child Poverty Action Group CPAG in Scotland has set up an ‘Early Warning System’ to identify problems reported by front-line workers in the operation of benefits. Their first policy briefing is online, giving examples of problems with sanctions. They give examples of a series of mistaken decisions: for example, a sanction for not reporting for the Work Programme while in police custody and benefits were already stopped, and a sanction for turning up for the time on the letter instead of the time the office thought it had sent out. Part of this, too, is that people who are suffering sanctions then have to go to food banks – a link recently denied by Neil Couling, of the DWP, at a meeting of the Holyrood Welfare Reform Committee.

The Early Warning System (EWS) is a framework which has been developed by CPAG in Scotland to collect case studies and wider evidence about how welfare changes are affecting the health and wellbeing of children. They are currently collecting information and anonymous case studies from 75 frontline workers including welfare rights officers, housing advisers and support workers across Scotland. Please visit the website for more information on the project.

Concerns raised through the Early Warning System Cases collected through the EWS suggest that sanctions are often applied without adequate consideration of claimants’ personal situations, characteristics or the barriers they face - particularly in relation to their ability to comply with the conditions placed upon them. Cases illustrating these concerns include:

* A father with dyslexia, spinal arthritis and COPD was sanctioned for not attending a work-focused interview. He had told the jobcentre in advance that he didn’t have enough money to get to the office, as it was not local to him. He was told to walk to appointment, but was unable to due to health conditions. He was sanctioned for 13 weeks.

*The lone parent of a 5 year old child was sanctioned for 4 weeks for failing to keep an appointment with her careers adviser. This was despite the fact she was in the jobcentre for her first appointment but, due to being misdirected, did not hear them call her name. A new appointment was to be sent by post but the client never received this.

* A client could not sign on because his children were left with him unexpectedly by the parent with care. He was sanctioned and, given that he was not classed as vulnerable, was unable to access hardship payments for 15 days.

* A 56 year old claimant was sanctioned for missing one appointment (he admits the error). As a result of the sanction the claimant had no money to travel 14 miles each way to sign on for his hardship payment. The jobcentre advisor moved his appointment to the middle of the day so he would have time to walk the 28 mile round trip in daylight.

* A client was sanctioned twice for failure to attend work programme appointments. The DWP were aware he could not have attended because he was in police custody (as they stopped his benefits for the period he was detained). DWP did not provide adequate written information to allow him to challenge the sanctions effectively.

* A claimant was given written instruction to attend a jobcentre appointment on Monday – which he did. He was sanctioned for failure to attend on the Friday (despite having no appointment to attend). The sanction was overturned on appeal after 6 weeks, during which time the client had to access a food bank.

The policy briefing can be downloaded by clicking this link : 'Early Warning' impact of Sanctions

These issues raised within the report will be given in-depth consideration at a policy seminar at the Renfield Centre in Glasgow on the 28th May 2014. Please contact hmcculloch@cpagscotland.org.uk or 0141 611 7090 for more information or for details of how to book you place at the Policy Seminar on Wednesday 28th May.

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Today is International Labour Day, But How Was It born - What Does It Mean?

2014-05-01T11:07:00.001+01:00

How was International Labour Day born? Most people living in the UK know little about the International Workers' Day of May Day, many celebrate the first Monday in May as a public Bank Holiday it was made a public holiday by the Labour government in 1978. For many there is an assumption that it is a holiday celebrated in communist countries like Cuba or the former Soviet Union.

Beltane, Festival of Light

Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival 2012 - Red Beastie Drummers

International Labour Day has its roots in the Pagan fertility festival - Beltane (Bealtaine or Cetsamhain) a name given to the Festival of Light celebrated by British Celts, welcoming the death of Winter and the birth of Spring, celebrated at the beginning of May. It is a fertility festival, symbolising the union between male and female forces and it was celebrated by lighting a new fire, meaning new life. Cattle passed through the fire or the smoke and young couples jumped over the flames so as to be protected with the new life.

May Day has its roots in the Pagan fertility festival: but more-so is about the history of International Workers' day.

May Day's roots are in the fight for workers' rights and it has long been a focus for protest. As such, it is – in the words of Eric Hobsbawm – "the only unquestionable dent made by a secular movement in the Christian or any other official calendar". And its past is more rowdy than is suggested by the imagery of Morris dancers serenely waving hankies and bells around.

During the first world war, protest was punishable by imprisonment and hard labour, May Day demonstrations were often flashpoints of anti-war struggle. It was at such a rally that Karl Liebnecht denounced the war before 10,000 striking workers at the Potsdamer Platz on 1st May 1916. In Britain, following the arrest of the Scottish socialist John MacLean for sedition in 1918, Glasgow workers embarked on a mass May Day strike and protest.

Miners & supporters on the march in 1984

May Day protests played a significant role in the Portuguese revolution of 1974, as well as in the uprisings against apartheid in the 1980s. And even in less dramatic circumstances, it assumed greater importance during periods of turbulence, such as during the miners' strike.

May Day returned as a militant, if convivial, protest in the UK in 2000, due to the convergence of a broad coalition of activists under the rubric of anticapitalism. The Tories are planning to scrap May Day. It's worth remembering that on the international calendar workers without the blessing of governments, decided how to celebrate 'Our Day - May Day'.

If you do not know where you come from, then you don't know where you are, and if you don't know where you are, then you don't know where you're going. - learn from history!

In the late nineteenth century, the working class was in constant struggle to gain the 8-hour work day. Working conditions were severe and it was quite common to work 10 to 16 hour days in unsafe conditions. Death and injury were commonplace at many work places and inspired such books in America as Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and Jack London's The Iron Heel. As early as the 1860's, working people agitated to shorten the workday without a cut in pay, but it wasn't until the late 1880's that organised labour was able to garner enough strength to declare the 8-hour workday. This proclamation was without consent of employers, yet demanded by many of the working class.

At this time, socialism was a new and attractive idea to working people, many of whom were drawn to its ideology of working class control over the production and distribution of all goods and services. Workers had seen first-hand that Capitalism benefited only their bosses, trading workers' lives for profit. Thousands of men, women and children were dying needlessly every year in the workplace, with life expectancy as low as their early twenties in some industries, and little hope but death of rising out of their destitution. Socialism offered another option.

Rosa Luxemburg tells us in her article "What are the origins of 1st May?" written in 1894, that it was in Australia where the workers' cause was joined to the old Spring celebration on this day, more precisely in 1856, when the workers of this British colony began a campaign for an eight-hour working day, making a stoppage. This was total and the action was repeated the following year. The cause of the international workers had been launched.

In the USA the labour movement would choose this day to focus its demands. The embryonic workers' associations and unions organised themselves during the 19th century and began to fight against deplorable working conditions - a working day of between 8 and 10 hours and in many cases in conditions of extreme discomfort and/or danger. In some industries, the life expectancy did not reach 25 years of age!

The unions/associations formed the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions - FOTLU (November 1881), later the American Labour Federation, which at its National Convention in Chicago in 1884, proclaimed that after 1 May 1886, the working day should be 8 hours. FOTLU announced a series of actions and strikes to apply pressure on the authorities to force them to implement the new working regime.

Meanwhile the labour movement was brutally repressed by the Pinkerton security agents and the police. When the day arrived, 1st May 1886, around 300,000 workers in 13,000 firms started to strike. Chicago was the epicentre of the labour movement and names such as Louis Lingg, Johann Most, Albert Parsons and August Spies will forever be linked with May 1st. The strikes and the revolutionary atmosphere created by the various factions linked to the labour movement continued during May 2 and 3, but always in a climate of peace. However, everything would change the following day.

Haymarket Massacre

Due to the increasing brutality by the authorities against the peaceful labour movement, the workers decided to organise a public conference in Haymarket Square, Chicago, on May 4th. The main speaker, August Spies, addressed the crowd of workers and their families, including many children. Eye witnesses, which included the Mayor of Chicago, declared that his speech did not incite violence.

However, the police force decided to charge and attack the crowd; someone (and it is not clear whether it was a worker of an agent provocateur connected to the authorities), threw a bomb at the police and these responded by firing into the crowd.

Eight anarchist leaders were arrested and accused of instigating violence and the jury (chosen from among the corporate elitists) found them guilty in one of the most blatant travesties of justice in history. Four were hanged, one committed suicide in his cell the night before the hanging in November 1887. The other three were pardoned six years later.

The day was never adopted as a public holiday in the USA but the workers' movement and its claims echoed far and wide, reaching the four corners of the world, where May 1st started to become the focal point for demonstrations in favour of workers' rights. International Socialist proclaimed the date International Labour Day in 1889.

American Federation of Labour - now called AFL/CIO organised a mass protest / celebration on the 1st of May 1889 in line with the socialist Second International calling for an international day of protest to be held. In the UK a mass protest actually took place on a Sunday, and in London alone attracted 300,000 protesters to Hyde Park.

In Europe, 400 delegates attended the International Workers' Conference in 1889, in which the main demand was the eight-hour day and 1^st May 1890 was declared an international day of stoppage around the world. In 1890, May Day demonstrations were generalised and worldwide, from the USA and Canada, to Brazil, Cuba, Peru, Chile, and across Europe from Ireland to Russia, where later the USSR was to institutionalize the day as one of national holiday and celebration of the workers' cause around the world.

Over one hundred years have passed since the first May Day. In the earlier part of the 20th century, the British & US government have tried to curb the celebration and further wipe it from the public's memory .... In Britain the Conservatives under David Cameron are seeking to erase our May Day. M ayday for May Day: bank holiday may move to 'best of British' October slot.

Under the proposals, the holiday would be moved to St George's Day in April in England and St David's Day in March in Wales, or a Trafalgar Day in October.

Fascist Italy abolished May Day, expunging the radical working class traditions it embodied, but it also introduced a labour holiday on 21 April. Franco, who arguably waged the most vicious military struggle against the left in Spain, and who wiped out 200,000 in executions and concentration camps in the five years after his victory, simply outlawed May Day. It was not celebrated again until his downfall in 1975.

History has a lot to teach us about the roots of our radicalism. When we remember that people were shot so we could have the 8-hour day; if we acknowledge that homes with families in them were burned to the ground so we could have Saturday as part of the weekend; when we recall 8-year old victims of industrial accidents who marched in the streets protesting working conditions and child labor only to be beat down by the police and company thugs, we understand that our current condition cannot be taken for granted - people fought for the rights and dignities we enjoy today, and there is still a lot more to fight for. The sacrifices of so many people can not be forgotten or we'll end up fighting for those same gains all over again.

This is why we celebrate May Day.

Lets end with the words of Rosa Luxemburg for their vision and eternal quality:

"And, when better days dawn, when the working class of the world has won its deliverance then too humanity will probably celebrate May Day in honor of the bitter struggles and the many sufferings of the past".

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Hunger and Food Poverty in the UK - 294 MPs voted against request to hold an investigation

2014-04-21T19:57:00.000+01:00

Hunger & Food Poverty in the UK - 294 MP's voted against a motion to investigate chronic food poverty - NAMED & SHAMED

On 18 December 2013, 294 MP's voted against Labour’s request to hold an investigation into Hunger and Food Poverty in the United Kingdom. You can verify that (here). Below are a list of their names.

Adams, Nigel

Afriyie, Adam

Aldous, Peter

Amess, Mr David

Andrew, Stuart

Bacon, Mr Richard

Baker, Steve

Baldry, rh Sir Tony

Baldwin, Harriett

Barker, rh Gregory

Baron, Mr John

Barwell, Gavin

Bebb, Guto

Beith, rh Sir Alan

Benyon, Richard

Beresford, Sir Paul

Bingham, Andrew

Blackman, Bob

Blackwood, Nicola

Blunt, Mr Crispin

Bone, Mr Peter

Bradley, Karen

Brady, Mr Graham

Brake, rh Tom

Bray, Angie

Brazier, Mr Julian

Bridgen, Andrew

Brine, Steve

Brooke, Annette

Browne, Mr Jeremy

Bruce, Fiona

Bruce, rh Sir Malcolm

Buckland, Mr Robert

Burley, Mr Aidan

Burns, Conor

Burns, rh Mr Simon

Burstow, rh Paul

Burt, Lorely

Byles, Dan

Cable, rh Vince

Cairns, Alun

Carmichael, Neil

Carmichael, rh Mr Alistair

Carswell, Mr Douglas

Cash, Mr William

Chishti, Rehman

Chope, Mr Christopher

Clappison, Mr James

Clark, rh Greg

Clarke, rh Mr Kenneth

Clifton-Brown, Geoffrey

Coffey, Dr Thérèse

Collins, Damian

Colvile, Oliver

Cox, Mr Geoffrey

Crabb, Stephen

Crockart, Mike

Crouch, Tracey

Davies, David T. C.

Davies, Glyn

Davies, Philip

Davis, rh Mr David

de Bois, Nick

Djanogly, Mr Jonathan

Dorrell, rh Mr Stephen

Doyle-Price, Jackie

Drax, Richard

Duddridge, James

Duncan Smith, rh Mr Iain

Duncan, rh Mr Alan

Dunne, Mr Philip

Ellis, Michael

Ellison, Jane

Ellwood, Mr Tobias

Elphicke, Charlie

Eustice, George

Evans, Graham

Evans, Jonathan

Evans, Mr Nigel

Evennett, Mr David

Fabricant, Michael

Fallon, rh Michael

Farron, Tim

Featherstone, Lynne

Foster, rh Mr Don

Fox, rh Dr Liam

Freeman, George

Freer, Mike

Fuller, Richard

Gale, Sir Roger

Garnier, Mark

Garnier, Sir Edward

George, Andrew

Gibb, Mr Nick

Gilbert, Stephen

Glen, John

Goldsmith, Zac

Goodwill, Mr Robert

Gove, rh Michael

Graham, Richard

Gray, Mr James

Grayling, rh Chris

Green, rh Damian

Griffiths, Andrew

Gummer, Ben

Gyimah, Mr Sam

Hague, rh Mr William

Halfon, Robert

Hames, Duncan

Hammond, Stephen

Hancock, Matthew

Hancock, Mr Mike

Hands, Greg

Harper, Mr Mark

Harrington, Richard

Harris, Rebecca

Hart, Simon

Harvey, Sir Nick

Haselhurst, rh Sir Alan

Hayes, rh Mr John

Heald, Oliver

Heath, Mr David

Heaton-Harris, Chris

Hemming, John

Henderson, Gordon

Hendry, Charles

Herbert, rh Nick

Hinds, Damian

Hoban, Mr Mark

Hollingbery, George

Hollobone, Mr Philip

Holloway, Mr Adam

Hopkins, Kris

Howell, John

Hughes, rh Simon

Hunt, rh Mr Jeremy

Hurd, Mr Nick

Jackson, Mr Stewart

Javid, Sajid

Jenkin, Mr Bernard

Johnson, Joseph

Jones, Andrew

Jones, Mr Marcus

Jones, rh Mr David

Kelly, Chris

Kirby, Simon

Knight, rh Sir Greg

Kwarteng, Kwasi

Lamb, Norman

Lancaster, Mark

Lansley, rh Mr Andrew

Latham, Pauline

Laws, rh Mr David

Leadsom, Andrea

Lee, Dr Phillip

Lee, Jessica

Leech, Mr John

Lefroy, Jeremy

Leigh, Sir Edward

Leslie, Charlotte

Letwin, rh Mr Oliver

Lewis, Brandon

Lewis, Dr Julian

Liddell-Grainger, Mr Ian

Lidington, rh Mr David

Lloyd, Stephen

Lord, Jonathan

Loughton, Tim

Luff, Peter

Lumley, Karen

Macleod, Mary

Main, Mrs Anne

Maude, rh Mr Francis

May, rh Mrs Theresa

Maynard, Paul

McCartney, Jason

McCartney, Karl

McIntosh, Miss Anne

McLoughlin, rh Mr Patrick

McVey, Esther

Menzies, Mark

Metcalfe, Stephen

Mills, Nigel

Mordaunt, Penny

Morgan, Nicky

Morris, Anne Marie

Morris, David

Morris, James

Mosley, Stephen

Mowat, David

Munt, Tessa

Murray, Sheryll

Murrison, Dr Andrew

Neill, Robert

Newmark, Mr Brooks

Newton, Sarah

Norman, Jesse

Nuttall, Mr David

O’Brien, rh Mr Stephen

Offord, Dr Matthew

Ollerenshaw, Eric

Opperman, Guy

Ottaway, rh Richard

Paice, rh Sir James

Parish, Neil

Patel, Priti

Paterson, rh Mr Owen

Pawsey, Mark

Penning, Mike

Penrose, John

Percy, Andrew

Perry, Claire

Phillips, Stephen

Pincher, Christopher

Prisk, Mr Mark

Pugh, John

Randall, rh Sir John

Reckless, Mark

Redwood, rh Mr John

Rees-Mogg, Jacob

Reid, Mr Alan

Rifkind, rh Sir Malcolm

Robathan, rh Mr Andrew

Robertson, Mr Laurence

Rogerson, Dan

Rosindell, Andrew

Rudd, Amber

Ruffley, Mr David

Russell, Sir Bob

Rutley, David

Sanders, Mr Adrian

Sandys, Laura

Scott, Mr Lee

Selous, Andrew

Shapps, rh Grant

Sharma, Alok

Simmonds, Mark

Simpson, Mr Keith

Skidmore, Chris

Smith, Chloe

Smith, Henry

Smith, Julian

Soames, rh Nicholas

Soubry, Anna

Spelman, rh Mrs Caroline

Spencer, Mr Mark

Stanley, rh Sir John

Stephenson, Andrew

Stevenson, John

Stewart, Bob

Stewart, Iain

Stewart, Rory

Stride, Mel

Stuart, Mr Graham

Stunell, rh Sir Andrew

Sturdy, Julian

Swales, Ian

Swayne, rh Mr Desmond

Swinson, Jo

Swire, rh Mr Hugo

Syms, Mr Robert

Thornton, Mike

Thurso, John

Tomlinson, Justin

Tredinnick, David

Truss, Elizabeth

Turner, Mr Andrew

Tyrie, Mr Andrew

Uppal, Paul

Vaizey, Mr Edward

Vara, Mr Shailesh

Vickers, Martin

Walker, Mr Robin

Wallace, Mr Ben

Walter, Mr Robert

Ward, Mr David

Watkinson, Dame Angela

Weatherley, Mike

Webb, Steve

Wharton, James

Wheeler, Heather

White, Chris

Whittingdale, Mr John

Wiggin, Bill

Willetts, rh Mr David

Williams, Mr Mark

Williams, Roger

Williams, Stephen

Williamson, Gavin

Wilson, Mr Rob

Wright, Jeremy

Wright, Simon

Yeo, Mr Tim

Young, rh Sir George

Zahawi, Nadhim

The majority in Britain are struggling in chronic poverty unable to pay bills or purchase quality food. Meanwhile both the House of Commons & the House of Lords enjoy privilege beyond imagination.

Should we be surprised that 294 MP's voted against a parliamentary request to hold an investigation into 'Hunger and Food Poverty' in the UK ?

These Lords & MP's hold many assets (many hidden from public view), including savings & (second income wages). There are Lords & MP's who gain extra payments from industrial lobbyist.

Benefit Claimants are quite rightly 'angry' at those who sit in an 'undemocratic & an unelected House of Lords. Those MP's & those who sit in the Lords firmly believe it's OK to hold two jobs & enjoy a subsidsed restaurant & bar.

In contrast benefit claimants are struggling to buy food, pay bills or receive benefit payments'. Claimants are forced to work for free under 'Workfare' or risk benefit suspension for up to 3 years. We're demonised & patronised on a daily basis within the media. In recent years in Britain we have witness the parliamentary expenses scandal - it seems fiddling your expenses is also acceptable within the House of Lords

This House of Commons is looking after its 'own' - ask this question : For whom does so-called 'British Parliamentary Democracy' represent ?

Our conclusion ...... contemptuous !!!

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Million March in Spain for Dignity & Respect #22M - Police Fire on Crowds

2014-03-23T14:11:00.000+00:00

Over a Million Marched through Spain, culminating in Madrid demanding Dignity & Respect 22M; Government of Spain Answers with Riot Police & Violence.

The day began with tons of energy as the Dignity Marches prepared to take Madrid. But it didn’t take long to realize the Spanish government wasn’t going to make this easy, as reports started coming in of buses travelling to the marches being stopped, searched and the people inside identified by the Civil Guard on the outskirts of Madrid.

The 22M organisation put out a press release saying that around 100 buses were being detained in this manner, and that they wouldn’t take any responsibility for delays caused by this cheap tactic.

FULL report available > link here
Selection of pictures > link here

Colón square started to fill up, but there were still many people who hadn’t even left Atocha yet! That was when people started calling it the Million March. A precise count is impossible, but estimates point to between one and two million people on the streets.

As the speeches of the people who had participated in the columns began, news arrived via the newspaper Publico.es that police had given the deadline of 21:30 for the organizers to disperse the protest. Afterwards, the protest would be considered illegal.

Abruptly, while the organisers were still speaking at the stage, the police started firing rubber bullets into the crowd, beating people up and detaining them.

Many accuse them of using agents provocateurs in order to get pretext for this, which isn’t unusual in Spain. The organizers asked for the police to leave the square because they were conducting a perfectly legal and legitimate protest, but it was useless – police just kept escalating. The time was around 20:30, one hour before the deadline.

22M Marchas de la Dignidad
FULL report available > link here including VIDEOS
Selection of pictures >> link here

Respect For the Unemployed & Benefit Claimants sent solidarity greetings to the Spanish unemployed on the “March of Dignity” - solidarity greetings to the million marching demanding 'Dignity & Respect' from politicians. We support the demands raised by the organisers, most of them marching share our concerns in the UK: we reject social cuts, we reject governments that carry out the policies of the Troika; we demand bread, work and social protection for all.

READ our message of support here >> link here

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PLEDGE THE DAY
ON JUNE 8TH