I’m just on a train heading back from London, browsing the internet courtesy of National Express East Coast’s free wifi service for all passengers. I’ve been to an event at the stunning National History Museum held in the equally impressive Mary Anning Room. While a welcome distraction from the usual working day, the event’s main concern was promoting a website called TALK, which aims to provide free space to public sector organisations to host content, and collaborate with other like minded bodies to avoid duplication of effort and swap ideas or highlight pitfalls. The site provides private “spaces” where project materials can be stored for sharing with colleagues and partner groups, but the ethos is very much about collaboration regionally and nationally, publicising experiences so all may benefit.
My grandiose title of “Content Manager” essentially means that I champion the site encouraging its use, and then setting up the news spaces and users as the requests flock in! Less exciting is the necessary compiling of statistics about site visits and use. Today’s event was to drum up new support and to promote the growing use of “social media” in the public sector, and how it has become an important consideration around service delivery and reduction of costs. Everyone seems to be at it these days, writing blogs, posting photos about their local area, or campaigning online to improve aspects of life in their local community. Seeing the large numbers of laptops on this train that are not just in the hands of businessmen, it is clear that the internet is driving a social revolution, and is central to many aspects of life including the nature of how the public sector needs to work.
The guest speakers today included Malcolm Forbes, Director of Regenesys and Council Member of the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), Tom Reynolds an Emergency Medical Technician for the London Ambulance Service who writes a blog called Random Acts of Reality about his daily experiences, and Peter Kawalek of the Manchester Business School, who was once a sceptic thinking blogs were “self indulgent twaddle”, but now sees social media as being a profound yet unpredictable force in shaping our world.
I have to get off the train soon, but will add more later…
Well it’s much later and as promised here is a bit more on the day.
One of the delegates, Alan Holding of MDDA (part of Manchester City Council), was kind enough to provide a live blog of what was happening today, and it is an excellent and detailed summary of the speakers’ presentations (minus a few required insertions to come later). So it would be rude not to link to it here. To be honest it removes any need for me to report any further on matters. I encourage you to read it, especially the piece on Peter Kawalek’s entertaining use of Top of the Pops, bookshops, his fictitious social heroine Anna Eagin, and the romance to be found on a canal bench!
While Stoke City were battling against the odds and gaining an unlikely draw away at Liverpool last Saturday, I joined several thousand others in Manchester to engage in another mammoth task - the struggle for peace in our time. Media coverage of the Stop the War Coalition demonstration was sparse to say the least, the official StopWar.org.uk site and BBC Manchester being the only sources I could find. Depending which one you believe between 2,500 and 5,000 people took to the streets of Manchester to march past the Labour Party Conference to protest highlight the movement’s opposition to the Government’s strong support of George Bush’s aggressive foreign policy.
The march was organised by the Stop the War Coalition and CND and called for all troops to come out of Iraq and Afghanistan and for an end to a foreign policy that risks spreading war. It has been a while since my last political march, but inspired by a meeting in Leeds last week, my friend Dave and I decided we had to attend and support the cause. The weather was wonderfully kind to us, a rare sunny and warm day, and the mood was upbeat even if the start was delayed due to the late arrival of a few coaches. We grabbed some placards, chatted with a few of the 57 different varieties of leftist groups including one of my colleagues who was a surprise encounter, and made our way to the back of the long snake of people.
The demonstration brought together trade unionists, students, pensioners, Muslim activists and peace campaigners of all sorts. It was led off by Rose Gentle and other members of Military Families Against the War. As it approached the conference centre the demonstration apparently stopped to hand in a letter of protest to the Prime Minister, although we were so far behind we never saw that take place.
There was also a two minutes silence held to respect the hundreds of thousands who have been killed as a result of the government’s foreign policy. Then the protest marched right up to the conference centre fence chanting ‘Troops out now’ and various other slogans belted out by a rather loud socialist group behind Dave and I. Sadly my “Bush, Brown end this farce… shove your Trident up your arse” chant didn’t catch on, clearly not serious enough. It was a noisy affair outside the conference and one would hope loud enough for every delegate inside to to hear. There was a strong police presence but thankfully the demonstration was well behaved, passionate but peaceful and no strong-arm tactics were required by the Manchester Constabulary. However it didn’t stop the unnecessary filming and photographing of the crowd by the police, and a large number wearing the uniform of the modern riot police stormtrooper.
The march ended with a rally at Castlefield Event Arena. Dave and I stayed long enough to hear speeches by Rose Gentle, Lindsey German (Stop the War convenyor), Kate Hudson (CND National Chair), Seumas Milne (Guardian newspaper columnist), Peter Cranie (Manchester Green Party) and veteran politician Tony Benn. They all spoke of the need to continue and expand this campaign and continue to strive for peace. The rally gave all the speakers enthusiastic applause.
We drifted away, Dave to head back to Leeds, myself to the Lake District, and word came through by text that Stoke were holding Liverpool at halftime. Remarkably they went on to keep a clean sheet and take a draw from the game. The road towards peace will also be a struggle in the face of formidable opponents. But as long as there is belief, passion, and people prepared to take action there is hope. People are the true agents of social change. History is punctuated with struggle, movements that have changed the world for the better. I’d like to think we played a small part on Saturday.
Despite working at Leeds Civil Hall for five years of my career, last night was the first time I can recall being in the wonderful Council Chamber. I was there to hear Tony Benn address around a hundred supporters of the Stop the War Coalition movement. I was lucky enough to attend a talk by Benn at Leeds University in the early 1990s, and as a long time admirer of his, I was looking forward to hearing him speak in person again. The main purpose of the meeting was to rally support for a demonstration in Manchester on Saturday to coincide with the Labour Party Conference. However it was also a chance for key speakers to reaffirm the coalition’s beliefs and make a strong case for opposing war and aggression.
The first speaker was co-founder of the Stop the War Coalition, John Rees who commenced with an analysis of the current situation in Georgia, finishing with a rousing call to join either the Coalition or CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), and follow that up with attendance at Saturday’s demonstration. Within his speech Rees suggested that American support of Georgia was unsurprising given Georgia had the third largest number of troops in Iraq, mainly guarding the Green Zone in Baghdad. Rees attacked what he called America’s belief that it has the right to carry out a pre-emptive first strike, including invasion, and called on the British Government to break its alliance with George W Bush and the Neo-Cons, indeed stating what might follow Bush had the potential to be even worse. It was frightening and a disgrace that a man like McCain could sing a song “Bomb Iran” to the tune of the Beach Boys “Barbara Ann” and might be the next President of the USA. McCain should not be allowed to run a local council let alone one of the most powerful countries in the world, he added.
The second speaker was CND’s National Chair Kate Hudson. Her main point was the worrying expansion of NATO and how it has contributed to destabilising many regions across the world, ultimately increasing the likelihood of conflict. Hudson argued that over the past decade the USA have been pushing forward both economically and militarily into a wider area across the world, with oil and energy being common strands in this expansion. She added that NATO was set up as a defensive organisation during the Cold War and should have been disbanded along with the Warsaw Pact in 1991. However instead it has expanded over the last 15 years and changed its mission statement from being defensive to an actively involved organisation (with many thousands of troops in Afghanistan), and is worryingly a nuclear armed alliance with a first strike policy. In March 1999, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic were all admitted to full membership. Ten days later they found themselves at war with their neighbour Yugoslavia, as part of NATO’s illegal bombing campaign. But the change at that time was not limited to NATO expansion. At NATO’s fiftieth anniversary conference in Washington in April 1999, a new ‘Strategic Concept’, was adopted. This moved beyond NATO’s previous defensive role to include ‘out of area’, in other words offensive operations. The geographical area for action was now defined as the entire Eurasian landmass. In March 2004, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania were admitted to NATO, not only former Warsaw Pact members, but also former Soviet republics. This has contributed to international tension as Russia sees itself being surrounded by US and NATO bases, including in the Balkans, the Middle East and central Asia. It was little wonder Russia feels threatened. NATO’s ongoing expansion into former Soviet republics, and its ‘out of area operations’, particularly in Afghanistan, are helping make the world a more dangerous place.
Hudson went on to put forward that as a member of NATO Britain finds it is dictated to when it comes to defence policy. The USA have pressed on with the Missile Defence System and bases like Fylingdales and Menwith Hill in Yorkshire are part of that system. This gives the USA first strike capacity without fear of retaliation, and increases the likelihood of Britain being a target. Hudson finished with a summary of CND’s campaigns, opposing further NATO expansion, and missile defence. The organisation was campaigning hard in the Czech Republic and Poland where the public were strongly against these weapons being based in their countries. The recent agreement to place US Missile Defence interceptor missiles in Poland is a destabilising move that will have profound effects for years to come. The positioning of US missiles less than 120 miles from the nearest Russian territory has brought a strong response from Moscow, which feels itself to be the target of the US system. Despite strong opposition amongst the Czech public, their government has agreed to host a US radar station, but hopefully public pressure may still scupper the deal. The treaty must be ratified by the Czech Parliament which is evenly split on the issue. The opposition of 70% of the public may yet prevent its passage in October, but if it goes ahead the destabilisation and damage to international relations will be enormous. Hudson’s final words were: “Say no to warmongering policies, yes to peace”, and she urged us all take that message to the Government at the demonstration in Manchester.
Four minutes of Tony Benn’s speech at Leeds Civic Hall 15/09/08
The final speaker was the main draw Tony Benn. His initial thrust was about the dangers of justifying aggression and war on the grounds of religious belief systems and the lies of government. Benn argued that the basic tenet of all the world’s religions was peace, and loving thy neighbour was a worthy starting point. Self defence was acceptable Benn claimed, which is why he joined the Home Guard in his teens to fight the threat of Nazi Germany, but outward aggression was not. Benn said we needed to understand the nature of empires, essentially they have been the forceful action of strong nations to take the resources of the weak. He went on to say that if we can understand what is going on, potentially difficult when a largely right wing media fails to report it, then we are in a stronger position to counter moves of aggression. The Stop the War Coalition was therefore an educational movement as much as anything else, to inform the public of the truth and mobilise people to protest against undemocratic actions of the political elite. Benn feared the potential election of McCain as US President, particularly as his running mate Sarah Palin has stated she would be ready to go to war with Russia, something that might have catastrophic results. He added that we must remember that 135 million people died as a result of two world wars in the last century.
Benn went on to criticise the use of nuclear weapons. He said that even the British military do not like them, in the main wars are fought on the ground, and personnel lack the basic equipment in conflict and decent living conditions back home because military expenditure was tipped towards hardware. In recent conflicts it has been the guerilla who has had the upper hand, not the nuclear force as the weapons are too horrific to consider using. Indeed the Royal Navy go around in their nuclear submarines with weapons they cannot deploy because America has to switch them on before use.
Benn won loud applause when he said he said the United Kingdom should be non-aligned with any particular force like the USA but have a strong relationship with the United Nations. He went on to say we must recognise that empires in decline are very dangerous, and he had serious fears of the future bombing of Iran and Pakistan. There had to be a peaceful means of settling international disputes and Benn claimed we were the first generation with the know how, technology, and money to end conflict. Benn ended his speech saying that the moral purpose was behind the Stop the War movement because across the world there were people in need of shelter, food, aid and yet billions had been wasted on war in Iraq.
An open floor session commenced after the speeches allowing the audience to make observations, comments and pose questions to the speakers. One audience member requested an update on CND’s opposition to the Trident replacement, given the UK Government planned to spend £76 billion on it money that could be better use on housing, jobs, hospitals and public services. Kate Hudson replied that the proposal would be back in Parliament in 2009 for debate and it was vital for us all to keep the pressure on leading up to and during that time. There was considerable discussion about the current recruitment drive in the British armed forces, and the tactics used to attract not only university students, but younger children. Fifty percent of officers were recruited on university campuses, one person claimed, while another added that the Army were offering grants to students to pay for courses. More worrying was the military’s involvement in “outward bound” school trips, and school visits to offer “hope” to working class kids with little prospect of employment. A teacher spoke of her investigations into companies wishing to take over the trust school she worked for. One company, Bearing Point, had been involved in rebuilding programmes wherever the USA had bombed, while another Jacobs Engineering, had the contract to maintain Aldermaston, the headquarters of the UK’s Atomic Weapons Establishment.
Tony Benn commented that recent figures show 1 in 8 people incarcerated in Britain’s prisons are former military personnel. There was a clear worry that experiencing conflict, seeing people blown up, and witnessing horrific civilian casualties, were sure to leave a permanent scar, and we had to show there was hope and alternatives for young people considering joining the armed forces. Benn also said it was worth remembering that until the USA entered World War Two, the UK’s main allies were Russia and Serbia, and 25 million Russians died fighting fascism as a result. He added we have seen that global economic crises have led to racism and war in the past, and we needed to offer hope from the Left of politics to counter the rise of the extreme Right which always looked to gain popularity by building on people’s fears and disillusionment. He urged us to write to our Member of Parliament to ask them to oppose war. Unfortunately Parliament had become part of the establishment rather than being the representative of the people, and as the elected part of the state is much smaller than the unelected part, people had little say over who controlled the things that affect their lives.
Tony Benn gives his views on Barack Obama during questions
The meeting closed with the evocative use of a large banner unravelled to show the huge sums of money spent on the war in Iraq, running into trillions. It is often argued by governments that there is not enough money to solve the world’s problems. However a sobering thought is that the world’s annual arms expenditure is seventeen times the amount needed to feed every hungry person in the world. As Tony Benn has said, if we can find money to kill people surely we can find money to help people.
Highlights of Dr Caroline Lucas’ first speech as Leader
While most of the world’s attention is currently focused on a prominent election campaign in the United States, almost unnoticed in the Brunei Gallery of the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) a historic moment in British politics was taking place. On 5th September The Green Party of England and Wales elected Dr Caroline Lucas MEP as its first ever leader.
Formed as the Ecology Party in Coventry in 1973, it changed its name to the Green Party in the 1980s and until this month the party has had two elected principal speakers, one male, one female, but party members voted to change the system late last year. On the 30th November (my birthday!) 2007 the Green Party announced that almost 50 per cent of the party’s membership voted in a referendum, 73 per cent voted in favour of switching to a Leader / Deputy Leader or Co-Leader structure, 27 per cent voted to stay with the principal speaker system. Green Party Principal Speaker Dr Lucas said at the time:
“I’m delighted about this result. The party can now move forward together and onto the job in hand. We have an urgent green message to communicate and many votes to win. This is a fantastic day for the Green Party and will help ensure we have a party that is understandable, recognisable and effective. But we now need to demonstrate to all our members, regardless of which way they voted, that this is not about weakening our principles, it’s about strengthening our effectiveness.”
The other Principal Speaker Derek Wall added: “We need a Green Party which is effective and empowering, doing things differently from the top down traditional politics that turns voters off. The result of this referendum challenges the Party to create a leadership structure that is true to green ideals. It has put our future leaders on notice that the membership expects a more focussed, more effective party, with a leadership team that is truly accountable to the membership in a real and effective manner.”
So in London last week in the first leadership election Dr Lucas defeated her rival for the leadership, Ashley Gunstock, by a landslide margin of 2559 votes to 210, and Adrian Ramsay was elected unopposed as the Green Party’s first-ever Deputy Leader.
“I am deeply honoured to have been elected as the first leader of the Green Party“. she said.
“I am also delighted to have Adrian Ramsay elected alongside me as our party’s first Deputy. His work for the past ten years in Norwich, transforming an inactive party into the largest group of Green councillors in Britain is truly inspirational. Britain needs Green leadership now. None of the other parties has the vision or the courage to tackle the real challenges we face today - the accelerating climate crisis, and Victorian levels of inequality.”
“We need a Green New Deal to tackle the impact of rising prices and increased unemployment. We need to invest the proceeds of a Windfall tax on massive energy company profits into making the homes of ordinary people warmer and fuel bills more affordable. As Leader I will work tirelessly to get our positive Green message across to the public, and to see more Greens elected to deliver social and environmental justice in towns and cities across the country”.
Dr Lucas’ first task as leader was to deliver a passionate speech where she also set out plans for a Green New Deal. The “Green New Deal” report, authored by a panel including Dr Lucas, Co-director of Finance For The Future Colin Hines, SolarCentury boss Jeremy Leggett, Guardian Economic Editor Larry Elliot, and former Friends of the Earth chief Tony Juniper, calls for public investment in green-collar jobs in areas including renewable energy. Lucas also backed a programme of free insulation for every home in Britain to create jobs, cut fuel poverty and reduce carbon emissions.
In her speech Dr Lucas attacked the profits of energy companies saying:
“Take a simple idea like a windfall tax on the grotesque profits that companies are making from the growing energy crisis. These are corporations whose profits have increased 6-fold in just 5 years, on the back of a double windfall – from rising oil and gas prices, and the £9 billion worth of carbon trading permits they were given by the government for free. Just three companies – BP, Centrica, and Shell – together made £1000 profit every second over the first 6 months of this year. Every penny on the price of oil means a surge of cash into the bank accounts of the world’s petro-giants. Where does it come from? The pockets of working families, students, the elderly and the disabled. For every 10% that the price of fuel rises, another 400,000 people are plunged into fuel poverty.”
“These corporations are robbing from the poor to give to the rich and they know it. And it’s about time they learned that in a progressive democracy, there is no place for robber barons.”
Proposing a Green New Deal in response, Dr Lucas said:
“When the world faced economic depression back in the early 1930s, it was President Roosevelt’s New Deal that got people back to work with a massive investment in infrastructure. Today we stand on the brink of a triple crisis – a combination of a credit-fuelled financial meltdown, accelerating climate change, and soaring energy prices. We need a Green New Deal in response.”
“The core would be a 21st century project to make the nation’s buildings truly energy efficient, with local authority bonds being issued to raise the necessary funds for a major investment in insulation, efficiency and renewables, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process.”
Dr Lucas also hit out at the main Westminster parties and the record of the Labour Government and current Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
“None of the grey Westminster parties has the courage or commitment to carry through the kind of green energy revolution that we urgently need. Reducing demand. A massive investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy. It can be done. But it means real honesty, and real leadership. Instead, we have a Prime Minister who says that climate change is the greatest threat we face -but at the same time gives the go-ahead for a massive expansion of aviation, and prepares plans for a new fleet of coal-fired power stations. We have a Prime Minister who says that he feels your pain on energy bills. But instead of levying a windfall tax on oil profiteering, he rushes off to Saudi Arabia to beg the profiteers-in-chief for just enough more oil to keep us dependent. And we have a Prime Minister who insists that his government is taking a global lead on climate change, while throughout his time in Number 11 and Number 10, carbon emissions have been not falling, but rising.
Labour, and the Tories persuade themselves - and try to persuade us - that cutting carbon emissions is painful or depressing or elitist. As if warm houses and reliable public transport are somehow unpopular, or only matter to the comfortably off.
In a few years, people will look back bewildered and angry that – knowing what they knew in 2008 – none of the other main political parties in Britain confronted the most critical issue of our time.”
Dr Lucas went on to argue that the Green Party does not push the kind of materialism that leaves people unfulfilled, kills the human spirit and destroys the natural world. She feels that more people are now realising that the pursuit of possessions doesn’t always make them happier, and that the richness of our lives isn’t about just how many things we own. However the old parties don’t know how to respond to this change, and she maintained:
“They’re simply not up to the job. Their advisors only give advice they think is ‘politically realistic’ – in other words, advice that won’t require any major transformation of the economy or business as usual. Advice that says ignore the facts – you can have your cake and eat it – forever.”
Dr Lucas accepted that it was a hard task ahead and while she had been elected party leader, she needed all party members to show leadership in the challenges they faced. It was also a good chance to ridicule the Conservative Party’s cynical adoption of “green” policies.
“Do we want leadership like the Tories? The PR professional. The marketing man? Politics as a fashion show. One month green is in, but now it seems green is out. Flying was out. Now it’s in again. Motoring the same. A leader who is everything to everyone – until election day. Then it won’t be the focus groups who make policy. It will be the oil companies, the arms industry, the businesses who want to sack staff without compensation, who want to cut regulations that protect workers and the environment. Leadership for the elite.
We have to show that politics doesn’t have to be that way. That you can have a leader, and have true democracy within the party. That you can have leadership that truly represents the values of the Party and the needs of the country – not one small section of it. Leadership that can help the party come together, to stick to its principles not sell out in pursuit of power.”
Dr Lucas spoke of the encouraging progress in the London Assembly and one other crucial result in those London elections namely finishing ahead of the BNP. She called this achievement. “A vital moment for the state of our national politics, at a time when people feel so betrayed by the cosy Westminster village, that the BNP can present themselves as an alternative.” She went further claiming the Greens were not done with the BNP yet, adding:
“ Every time they wrap themselves in the Union Jack, we should be there to remind people that, bigotry, violence and racism have no place in this country.”
Dr Lucas finished her speech with a rallying call, asking the party to take a responsibility for making a real difference to the lives of others and the future of the United Kingdom:
“We need to work ever harder, reach out to those new members, forge new local parties, do all that we can to rally people to our banner. But to meet that responsibility, we also have to stay just as we are. Honest with ourselves and with the people. True to our principles. If I thought that the role of leader was power at all costs – a new Labour pact of selling the party’s soul – I would never have stood for leader. And you would never have elected me. The Green Party has always had its leaders. Thousands of them. And that is how it must stay. So until we meet again - lead on.”
Green councillors now play their part in councils across Britain, like in Norwich where at the local elections in May they achieved an historic breakthrough by being the first Green Party to become the official opposition on a city Council, in doing so winning more seats than Labour across the entire city, and more votes than any other party for the second year running. The Greens have two MEPs and two members of the London Assembly, Darren Johnson being Deputy Chair of the London Assembly. At the next General Election Dr Lucas will be standing as a parliamentary candidate for the Brighton Pavilion constituency hoping to make history as the first Green MP. From tiny acorns great oak trees grow, and personally I hope that in thirty years time the Green Party are an established popular political force for the good of British politics, the country, and indeed the world. In electing Dr Lucas as leader they’ve made a good start.
Last week’s announcement about the research commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) on energy companies’ profits in the UK highlights not only the scandal of rising energy bills, but exposes the myth that privatisation brings benefits to the average householder. In the 1980s Mrs Thatcher’s government told us that ending state monopolies through privatisation would give consumers greater choice through competition, and the subsequent competition would result in better service and lower prices as suppliers fought for our business. The figures published last week seem to suggest otherwise. Indeed while ordinary people have seen a huge leap in domestic electricity and gas prices it seems that shareholders have been enjoying the benefits of ever bigger profits.
The LGA research shows the biggest suppliers increased their dividend payouts to shareholders by £257m last year, revealing that altogether the six biggest companies paid £1.635bn in dividends - a 19% increase on the 2006 total of £1.378bn. According to the research by consultants SQW, Centrica increased its dividend payout from £409m to £478m, EDF from £105m to £110m, RWE Npower from £37m to £250m, and Scottish and Southern Energy from £400m to £474m. My current fuel supplier (who sent me a letter about increased prices which arrived today), E.ON, paid no dividend in 2006, but paid out £240m in 2007. Scottish Power was the only one of the “big six” to cut its dividend payout with a reduction from £427m to £83m. The bumper payouts come as the average household fuel bill has soared by 42 per cent since January and it questions suppliers’ claims that they needed to maintain high prices to invest in new forms of energy for the future.
While Gordon Brown and his ministers work this week on measures to ease the pressure on families from increasing bills, it seems that the government has now decided against a one-off windfall tax on the suppliers. However the LGA wants the government to require the energy companies to finance a national home insulation programme to the tune of £500m-a-year for the next five years. “This would allow the energy firms to continue being profitable and provide the best long-term solution to cutting carbon emissions and fighting fuel poverty,” Sir Jeremy Beecham, the acting chairman of the LGA said. “There are 10 million homes in this country that still lack basic insulation. Making these properties more energy efficient would knock £2bn off fuel bills each and every year and also slash domestic household carbon emissions by a fifth. The government and Ofgem [the regulator] should seize the opportunity to take a long-term solution to encourage the energy companies to use their disproportionate dividend payments for a massive drive to insulate people’s homes.” Quite right.
Understandably there is anger at these rises especially in the climate of “inflation-busting” low annual pay awards. Public services union Unison said: ‘At a time when some people are considering whether to heat their homes or put food on the table, this is going to seem very unfair.’ Gordon Lishman, the Director General of the charity Age Concern, believes that the scale of the dividend payouts would anger elderly people struggling to pay their heating bills. He claimed: “Many of the poorest pensioners will be outraged that, whilst they are worrying about how to afford to heat their homes, energy companies continue to make significant profits and pay their shareholders increased dividends”.
The tragedy of the “selling the family silver” privatisation policies of the Thatcherite Conservative governments of the 1980s and 1990s has been compounded by the current Labour Government’s alignment with the needs of big business rather than the needs of ordinary working people. If it has any hope of obtaining a fourth General Election victory, and saving the country from the horror of the Conservatives, then Labour has to get back to its roots. Reassociate itself with the people the party was formed to represent, and fight for improving the economic and social conditions of Britain’s poorest and neediest members of society and not ritually kowtowing to big business.
Despite what you might think, this isn’t a whinge about the dreadful weather we’ve been having. Although I am getting rather annoyed that Summer seems to be disappearing into perpetual rain and a need for stout garments. No the title of this blog is a play on the phrase “Winter of Discontent”, taken from Shakespeare’s Richard III but used to described the Winter of 1978-9 when Britain faced widespread strikes by Trade Unions demanding larger pay rises for their members. The actions of the Trade Union movement back then were blamed for the demise of the Labour Government in the 1979 General Election. A cruel twist seeing as the Trade Union movement actually gave birth to the Labour Party and was its primary fundraisers. Fast forward nearly thirty years and the current Labour Government is in trouble again in the polls. Now to add to its woes the Trade Unions are once again kicking up a bit of a fuss. History repeating itself?
It’s unlikely that the industrial action carried out by Local Government sector workers today and tomorrow will enter into political folklore like the disruption brought about in 1978/9. Rubbish will not pile up on the streets, the dead will not go unburried. Mrs Thatcher’s severe anti-union employment laws of the 1980s will mean that sympathetic workers cannot strike in support. However Gordon Brown can well do without this sort of irritation from his union allies if he is to turn around negative polls and win the next election. While I do not wish for a return of a Conservative government (18 consecutive years of Conservative rule is enough to put you off the bastards for life), I have little sympathy for Labour as they have brought this on themselves.
I am a member of UNISON the public sector union. The union’s 600,000 members were balloted about strike action over the recent pay offer, and the reponse was in favour of strike action if necessary. As a result I am on strike for two days this week. The employers have offered a 2.45% rise while UNISON have asked for 6%. This might seem greedy but consider this…
Mortgages up 8%
Petrol up 22%
Bread up 9%
Milk up 17%
Fuel bills up 15%
Inflation up 4.3%
But council workers are being offered a pay rise of just 2.45%. Take inflation into account and it’s a pay CUT. Coming on top of 10 years below-inflation pay rises, it’s no wonder UNISON think this is the last straw. So we are striking on 16th and 17th July, and possibly again in the future if necessary.
It’s not because we want to. Many UNISON members are low-paid, part-time women workers, struggling to pay the bills - losing two days pay for strike action is not something done lightly. We are striking because the employers won’t even consider talking to us about a better offer. We know that the services we provide are essential to our community, and that shutting them down for two days will cause disruption and we’re genuinely sorry if people are inconvenienced. We just can’t afford another pay cut.
Furthermore unless we get a fair settlement on pay, local communities will suffer too. Services will simply get worse as councils continue to lose committed staff and struggle to find new employees prepared to work for such low pay. My particular department has problems finding high calibre IT staff as it cannot compete with the private sector salaries. Short staffed the department soldiers on trying to provide the same service with fewer resources, putting extra pressure on those who remain. Local council employees empty your bins, clean your schools, conduct your marriages and civil partnerships, care for your parks, check the safety of your food and look after your children in nurseries, schools and in care. And so much more.
The Labour government is desperate to keep inflation down and to avoid an economic recession. That strategy includes keeping public sector pay rises to the minimum. While there is money for wars and bailing out failing financial institutions there is nothing for the very section of society that the Labour party was set up to represent. Get it sorted Gordon. Public services cannot be done on the cheap, quality cannot be rewarded by empty praise and thanks alone. Support a decent pay rise for low paid local government workers.
So it’s Obama then. Something over the last few weeks everyone but Clinton seemed to accept. Personally I’m pleased. When I was in Florida in April I bought Obama’s book “The Audacity of Hope” and finished it two days before his final victory. He is clearly an intelligent and articulate man who writes as well as he performs at the lectern. That said I was rather disappointed with the first hundred or so pages. I found it wishy-washy, fence-sitting stuff, desperate not offend anyone or any side, complementary rather than critical of some of his Republican opponents. It also gave a worrying description of US politics and the importance of financial backing to succeed in what they term a democracy.
These first few chapters reminded me very much of Tony Blair’s approach in some respects. Blair was not in my opinion a conviction politician guided by an overarching philosophy or doctrine. He was more of a manager figure who would use practical and pragmatic methods to achieve what he thought was right for the country even though in many cases observers like myself felt it lacked substance and too often departed the principles of his party’s core belief system. Blair would draw in members of the Opposition to key committees to help smooth decision making, and could be accused of cherry picking some of the Opposition’s ideas for Government policy. Charisma, drive and vision were the key to Blair’s three General Election victories, and while Gordon Brown might have an approach more rooted in a political philosophy, I think he lacks those three qualities which made Blair a successful Prime Minister, contributing to the current woes at No10.
Obama shares this charisma, drive and vision. I think from reading the rest of the book he also does have a underpinning belief system that fights for the underprivileged, the ordinary Joe, and actually all Americans. The second half of the book goes on to analyse America’s problems and describe sensible policies that might actually make a difference. The choices in many cases are not hard and finance exists to put them in place. What needs to change is the political will. I found myself willing him to succeed and it was a breath of fresh air from what we have had for the last eight years. The other evening John Snow on Channel 4 News said to a Republican advisor that if the world had a vote it would be voting for Obama. I think he is right. Outside of the USA we see Obama as not only a refreshing change, but someone who might restore America’s world standing. It is now down to the American people to make their decision. The next President of the USA will make history whoever wins, but is the one that will make a real difference that I’d like to see elected. Given that the USA elected George W Bush twice fills me with despondency and makes me wary of expecting an Obama victory. But Obama gives me hope. Obama is by no means a radical, but to me he symbolises a radical change and that’s the important matter. I hope that Americans sense that too and have the courage to vote for Obama as President.
“There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and an Asian America – there’s the United States of America”. Barack Obama, Democratic National Convention 2004.
As Obama relays in his book, he wishes for an America that fulfils Dr Martin Luther King’s promised that we be judged not by the colour of our skin but the content of our character. If America can embrace that concept and extend it beyond their boundaries, the world will be a much better place.
I’m just on a train heading back from London, browsing the internet courtesy of National Express East Coast’s free wifi service for all passengers. I’ve been to an event at the stunning National History Museum held in the equally impressive Mary Anning Room. While a welcome distraction from the usual working day, the event’s main concern was promoting a website called TALK, which aims to provide free space to public sector organisations to host content, and collaborate with other like minded bodies to avoid duplication of effort and swap ideas or highlight pitfalls. The site provides private “spaces” where project materials can be stored for sharing with colleagues and partner groups, but the ethos is very much about collaboration regionally and nationally, publicising experiences so all may benefit.
Everyone seems to be at it these days, writing blogs, posting photos about their local area, or campaigning online to improve aspects of life in their local community. Seeing the large numbers of laptops on this train that are not just in the hands of businessmen, it is clear that the internet is driving a social revolution, and is central to many aspects of life including the nature of how the public sector needs to work.
It was a noisy affair outside the conference and one would hope loud enough for every delegate inside to to hear. There was a strong police presence but thankfully the demonstration was well behaved, passionate but peaceful and no strong-arm tactics were required by the Manchester Constabulary. However it didn’t stop the unnecessary filming and photographing of the crowd by the police, and a large number wearing the uniform of the modern riot police stormtrooper. 
