Tweet When I received the offer of an OBE I was surprised, and my first instinct was to decline. Partly because of the “British Empire” – it’s odd to be appointed to something which no longer exists, and which has a chequered and not always glorious history, as the recent court cases from Kenyans imprisoned [...]
Posts under ‘Labour’
A new direction for education under Labour?
Jun 18th, 2013 by David Pavett.Tweet The transformation of the English education system by Michael Gove has been one of the most far-reaching of the the changes made by the Coalition government. The majority of secondary schools have been removed from the framework of local democracy. Many have been absorbed into academy chains some of which have more schools than [...]
Cameron’s brouhaha on corporate tax avoidance: but does he really mean it?
Jun 18th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.Tweet Given the government’s media blitz over the last few days you might be forgiven for thinking that Cameron was about to pull off a coup in cracking down on corporate tax avoidance at the G8. We shall see. This is a case where it pays to read the small print. Ostensibly he is trying: [...]
Unite backing for continued public ownership of RBS
Jun 17th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.Tweet Ahead of the report by the parliamentary commission on banking standards, due to report back this week on the future of RBS, Unite, which represents workers at RBS and 120,000 workers altogether in financial services, has called on the government to commit to the full nationalisation of RBS in which the state currently has [...]
Progress: a political embarrassment
Jun 16th, 2013 by Conrad Landin and Frances Docx.Tweet Dan Hodges is not the most reliable of soothsayers. On the eve of the announcement of Ed Miliband’s victory, the journalist and self-described “Blairite cuckoo” infamously proclaimed that “David Miliband has won.” But Hodges, who now pops up whenever Newsnight or Sky News require a useful idiot to attack the leadership qualities of Miliband [...]
Anne Marie Waters – the worst possible PPC for Brighton Pavillion
Jun 15th, 2013 by Andy Newman.Tweet I was recently horrified to discover that the anti-Islam extremist, Anne Marie Waters, is considered one of the front-runners to be Labour’s candidate for Brighton Pavilion, for the next general election. Indeed, because alongside her bigoted anti-religious views she is also a pro-NHS campaigner, there is a danger that the left and some unions [...]
Iraq ten years on: lessons still not learnt
Jun 14th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.Tweet The facts, no longer seriously in dispute, are stark. The US went to war over Iraq because of oil and to assure themselves of a platform for control of the Middle East region, as set out in the Project for the New American Century document published for the Bush election team in September 2000. As [...]
Careerism – the cancer in the heart of Labour
Jun 13th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.Tweet This morning, the Times (“Hewitt ‘cashes in’ on Bupa job” – £) revealed that Patricia Hewitt, former Labour health secretary and sometime Bennite, has taken a job with Bupa — £52,000 a year to attend ten board meetings. She did much to enlarge the role of the private sector within the NHS and her [...]
The People’s Assembly against Austerity: a programme for action
Jun 12th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.Tweet The statement below will be put to the People’s Assembly for approval on 22 June. It will then be open to the local People’s Assembly’s, union bodies and campaign groups who support the People’s Assembly to suggest amendments, additions, or deletions. These will then all be discussed and decided upon at the recall People’s [...]
They Owe Us! 14 June, 12.30pm, Canary Wharf, London
Jun 11th, 2013 by Newsdesk.Tweet We are not all in this together. Look at Canary Wharf, home of some of the world’s biggest banks, located on a private estate in east London. Its shining glass towers are entirely within the borough of Tower Hamlets, where four out of ten children are growing up in poverty. Like so many councils under the [...]
