Public: bankers bonuses should help cut deficit

by Sunny Hundal    
January 15, 2011 at 7:47 pm

A ComRes poll tonight for the Independent on Sunday finds the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign ahead of the No2AV campaign by 6 points.

The poll is significant because it asks the referendum question which will be posed to voters in May.

At present, the UK uses the “first past the post” system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the “alternative vote” system be used instead?

Yes 36%
No 30%
Don’t know 34%
(Answers were weighted by likelihood to vote)

I could be persuaded to support changing the voting system in the forthcoming referendum in May when I have heard more about the arguments for and against

Agree: 61%
Disagree: 18%
Don’t know: 21%
(this suggests that the Yes vote could increase)

Among people who don’t know how they would vote in the referendum question above, 60% agree that they could be persuaded to vote ‘yes’ and only 7% disagree. If we add these potential supporters of AV to those who already do agree, the Yes vote climbs to 58%, assuming the No vote remains at 27%, and don’t knows decline to 15%.

Labour lead strengthens as Lib Dems slump to record low

At a time of major public spending cuts the Government should be much tougher in clawing back bankers’ bonuses through the tax system
Agree: 81%
Disagree: 9%
Don’t know: 10%

A Labour government under Ed Miliband would be better at protecting people’s jobs
Agree: 30%
Disagree: 38%
Don’t know: 32%
(Only 13% of Lib Dem voters agree. )

Full poll details here

Venezuela: Stop Attacks on Judicial Independence

by Conor Foley    
January 14, 2011 at 9:18 pm

Just before Christmas I met a Venezuelan lawyer who was in Brazil lobbying for an imprisoned colleague. The story has been written up in the Guardian and it makes extremely disturbing reading.

Since many British leftists still retain some affection for Hugo Chavez I think its point needs to be re-stressed amongst the liberal left.

Judge María Lourdes Afiuni has spent the last year in prison without trial because she granted bail to a prisoner who had himself spent three years in pre-trial detention.
continue reading… »

Edward Woolard doesn’t deserve his sentence

by Paul Sagar    
January 14, 2011 at 5:25 pm

18 years old is a strange age. Legally, you’re an adult. But in many ways you’re still a child. Looking back on my own late teenage years, I’m astonished at how immature I really was.

Which brings me to Edward Woolard. There’s no doubt Woolard was an idiot at the precise moment he threw that fire extinguisher off the top of Milbank.

Yet whether he is an idiot through-and-through is a different matter.
continue reading… »

Oldham East and Saddleworth: the return of polarised politics

by Dave Osler    
January 14, 2011 at 2:01 pm

The inexcusable and repugnant racism plastered all over the glossy election leaflets of Phil Woolas last May should have been enough to condemn Labour to good kicking in yesterday’s Oldham and Saddleworth by-election.  

Ethnic minority and mildly left-of-centre voters had every right to register their distaste by putting their cross elsewhere.

And yet Debbie Abrahams – a candidate of no obvious distinction – secured a sharp increase in the Labour support, in both absolute and relative terms. On the other hand, coalition backers coalesced behind the Lib-Dems, most likely a sign of tactical voting by Tory supporters.

continue reading… »

Why the sick and disabled will feel the full force of the cuts in a month’s time

by Sue Marsh    
January 14, 2011 at 11:54 am

I know there are lots of cuts happening all at once and group after group must be lobbying for column inches or news slots.

Students, middle income child benefit recipients, housing benefit claimants frightened they are about to become homeless, nurses, fire fighters, police, local councils – we all want you to take our cause to heart, to tell people what is really happening on our behalf.

But there is a group who might as well not exist. We have no-one but ourselves, yet our voices are probably the weakest in society.
continue reading… »

Ed Miliband and the battle of the narratives

by Septicisle    
January 14, 2011 at 9:10 am

Before Christmas almost everyone was in agreement that Labour was doing horribly and that Ed Miliband was completely hopeless. The party was in disarray and some were already manoeuvring towards overthrowing the man who hadn’t even been in the job for 100 days.

A couple of weeks later and it’s clear that such thinking was absurd. Ed Miliband is now doing superbly, making himself seen and besting the government over the VAT rise. This is sealed with the Oldham and Saddleworth by-election win last night.
continue reading… »

Labour’s huge Oldham victory in context

by Sunder Katwala    
January 14, 2011 at 8:23 am

Congratulations to Labour’s Debbie Abrahams who has won the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election with an increased majority in the party’s first by-election outing under Ed Miliband’s leadership.

The result is a disappointment for LibDem candidate Elwyn Watkins, following his successful court challenge to ex-Labour MP Phil Woolas.

Strikingly, Labour’s majority and vote share was higher than in the 1997 General Election. The Coalition parties saw their joint share fall from 58% to 44.7% (-13.3 on 2010). The swing from the joint LibDem and Conservative to Labour was 11.8%, which is similar to the current opinion poll standings.

This is the result for the major three parties (out of ten candidates).

Debbie Abrahams (Labour) 14718 42.1% (+10.2)
Elwyn Watkins (LibDem) 11160 31.9% (+0.3)
Kashif Ali (Conservative) 4481 12.8% (-13.6)

UKIP: 2029 (5.8%)
BNP 1560
Green 530
Monster Loony: 145
English Dems: 144
Pirate: 96
Bus Pass Elvis: 67

Labour majority: 3558
Turnout: 34930

Turnout at 48% in a by-election held in the first fortnight in January has been higher than most commentators anticipated.

The Liberal Democrats are taking consolation from holding their vote share up. But election expert John Curtice has cast doubt on the importance of this, given that it seems to have been achieved through the collapse of the Tory vote share. This, Curtice argues, is a weak indicator of how most LibDem MPs will perform against Conservative opposition.

Curtice has told the BBC “it is a night of quiet pleasure for Labour if not necessarily riotous celebration” and a worrying result for the Conservatives.

2010
Labour: 31.9
LibDem: 31.6
Tory: 26.4

Labour majority 103

The by-election majority is larger than the 1997 General Election result (despite the turnout then being 25 points higher).

1997
Labour: 41.7
LibDem: 35.4
Tory: 19.7

Labour majority 3389
Turnout 73.92%

2001
Labour: 38.6
LibDem: 32.6
Tory: 16.1

Labour majority 2726
Turnout 61.0%

2005
Labour: 41.4
LibDem: 33.2
Tory: 18.2

Labour majority 3590
Turnout 57.3%

The constituency was new in 1997 – and the results since can be found here.

Why Cameron’s job creation claims are questionable

by Nicola Smith    
January 13, 2011 at 5:01 pm

Earlier this week the Prime Minister claimed that “300,000 private sector jobs have already been created over the last 6 months alone”.

While it is correct that employment levels rose between March – September 2010 (although, recent data show that between August – September 2010 there was a 64,000 fall in the employment level)

ONS data on workforce jobs presents a very different picture, showing that across the UK the number of jobs has fallen by 27,000. How can this be?
continue reading… »

Student protests on eve of crucial EMA vote

by Sunny Hundal    
January 13, 2011 at 4:10 pm

Students, staff and trade unions are uniting for two days of action on Tuesday (18 January) and Wednesday (19 January) as part of their campaign to save the education maintenance allowance (EMA).

The action comes ahead of an opposition day debate in Parliament on the Wednesday that was only confirmed today.

On Tuesday colleges and sixth-forms around the country will be holding lunchtime demonstrations and on Wednesday there will be lobby in the House of Commons from 1pm to 4pm.

Following the debate on Wednesday, MPs will vote on a motion that calls on the government to rethink its plans to scrap the financial support.

Moe details on www.saveema.co.uk and www.emacampaign.org.uk as they re known.

Studies show that the EMA is a key factor in improving participation in further education and colleges in some of the most deprived areas of the UK.

If the government breaks its pre-election promise and scraps the EMA, some of the poorest areas in the UK will be affected.

The protests and lobby are being organised by the Save EMA campaign, the National Union of Students (NUS), the National Union of Teachers (NUT), the University and College Union (UCU), the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), Unison, Unite, and the GMB.

Progressive London conference in February

by Newswire    
January 13, 2011 at 12:00 pm

The annual Progressive London conference comes back in February this year, headlined: ‘Protecting London, Opposing Tory Cuts’

19th February 2011
10am-5pm
Congress House
Great Russell St, London
£10 (waged)
£6 (unwaged)

In London Tory Mayor Boris Johnson is putting the interests of the wealthiest first, calling for lower taxes on the rich whilst driving through huge transport fare increases.

There is an alternative to this attack. This timely conference will bring together leading figures to discuss building the widest possible alliances against the Tory cuts in London and beyond the Progressive alternatives we need.

Speakers include:
· Ken Livingstone
· Frances O’Grady, TUC Deputy Gen Sec
· Mehdi Hasan, New Statesman’s Senior Editor (politics)
· Rowenna Davis , Journalist
· Sadiq Khan MP, Shadow Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice
· Kevin Maguire, Political Editor, The Mirror
· Tessa Jowell MP, Shadow Minister for Olympics
· Mark Ferguson, Labourlist
· Sally Hunt, General Secretary, UCU
· Jody McIntyre, Journalist and political activist
· Mark Wallinger, Artist, Save the Arts
· Laurie Penny, Journalist
· Daniel Garvin, UK Uncut
· Richard Ascough, GMB Regional Secretary
· Jenny Jones AM
· Steven Cowan, Leader of Labour group, Hammersmith
· Megan Dobney, SERTUC Regional Secretary
· Helen Gardner, Boriswatch
· Nicky Gavron AM
· Steve Hart, Unite Regional Secretary
· Kate Hudson, General Secretary CND
· Gerry Doherty, TSSA General Secretary
· Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of Labour group, Westminster
· Darren Johnson AM
· Christine Quigley, Chair – London Young Labour
· David Lammy MP
· Hugh Lanning, Deputy General Secretary, PCS union
· James Mills, Save EMA Campaign
· Mick Burke, Socialist Economic Bulletin
· Claude Moraes MEP
· Andy Newman, Socialist Unity
· Linda Perks, Unison Regional Secretary
· Caroline Pidgeon AM
· Jules Pipe, Mayor of Hackney
· Andy Slaughter MP
· Andrew Murray, Chair, Stop the War Coalition
· Salma Yaqoob, Cllr and Respect Leader
· Eileen Short, Defend Council Housing
· Kanja Sesay, NUS Black Students’ Officer
· Edie Friedman, Director, Jewish Council for Racial Equality
· Seumas Milne, The Guardian
· Clifford Singer, False Economy
· Jon Trickett MP, Shadow Minister of State – Cabinet Office
· Val Shawcross AM
· Mary Robertson, SOAS Occupation
· Emily Thornberry MP, Shadow Minister for Health
· Mike Tuffrey AM
· Catherine West, Leader of Islington Council
· Len Duvall AM
· Bruce Kent, Vice President, CND
· Cat Smith, Chair – Compass Youth
· Simon Weller, ASLEF
· Aaron Kiely, Kent Occupier
· Jeremy Corbyn MP,
· Sinead Pentony, Head of Policy – TASC
· John Haylett, Morning Star
· Chuka Umunna MP

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