The No2AV campaign illustrates how our democracy is up for sale

by Sunny Hundal    
February 24, 2011 at 1:15 pm

Imagine if you had a few millions to spare, and had deep vested interests in influencing an upcoming election or a referendum. Would you donate some of the money to a political party? Perhaps.

Instead, why not set up your own front organisation? You can use that to bombard people with political ads online as well as in print, without any real scrutiny. Surely that’s better than donating money to a party and then hoping for kickbacks?

In effect, that is the regime we have right now.
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There’s a reason why we keep selling weapons to dictators…

by Flying Rodent    
February 24, 2011 at 11:30 am

“That’s not an excuse, as some would argue, to claim that Arabs or Muslims can’t do democracy – the so-called Arab exception… For me, that’s a prejudice that borders on racism. It’s offensive and wrong and it’s simply not true,” said David Cameron yesterday, in answer to a question that nobody asked.

There’s been plenty of fun at Cameron’s expense, as yer internet critters gleefully pointed to Britain’s record of flogging weapons of mayhem and destruction to numerous enemies of the people, and why not do so?
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Six lessons for campaigners fighting local council cuts

by Don Paskini    
February 24, 2011 at 9:00 am

I’ve been following the fractious discussions about what anti-cuts campaigners should do when Labour councils make cuts.

I thought it might be worth writing up some of the learning from the local anti-cuts campaigns which I’ve been working on. Many of you will have worked on similar campaigns and may have your own ideas, proposals and experiences.

But here are six lessons I would offer anti-cuts campaigners.
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Yes2AV ahead by 12pts in new Reuters poll

by Sunny Hundal    
February 24, 2011 at 8:00 am

The Reuters/Ipsos MORI Political Monitor shows that among people who are certain to vote half (49%) support adopting the Alternative Vote system while 37% are against it.

The results were published today by an Ipsos-Mori / Reuters poll.

“The remaining 13 percent are not sure which way they would vote — there are still plenty of votes to be won for both the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ campaigns,” said Ipsos MORI’s Helen Cleary.

February’s Reuters/Ipsos MORI poll showed voters’ concerns about the economy continued to rise, while support for the government’s plans to cut spending ebbed.

Just under half of those surveyed (48%) agreed on the need to cut spending on public services to pay off the country’s debt, compared to 56% at the end of last year.

Over a third said they had already been affected by cuts, with women, low-paid and public sector workers saying they had been most affected.

The Ipsos MORI Economic Optimism Index fell to its lowest level since February 2009.

Voting intention figures were unchanged from January, with the Conservatives on 33%, Labour on 43% and the Liberal Democrats on 13%.

Israel’s friends reach out to the liberal-left

by Ben White    
February 23, 2011 at 4:20 pm

Over the last year, Tel Aviv-based think tank The Reut Institute has offered a lot of advice to supporters of Israel in the West on how to respond to “the erosion in Israel’s diplomatic status” (aka ‘delegitimization‘), including a focus “on engaging the hearts and minds of liberal progressive elites”.

A recent report looked specifically at London, saying “liberal and progressive left” voices are the ones “most effective” in shielding Israel. Reut urged Israel’s defenders to “substantively engage liberal and progressive circles” by “responding to their concerns and building personal relationships”.
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Four reasons why broader opposition to the cuts matters

by Guest    
February 23, 2011 at 1:05 pm

contribution by Jon Stone

Yesterday, Paul Cotterill outlined five reasons why “the Left” should accept local public service cuts made by Labour councils.

At the risk of everyone talking past each other, I won’t address the points he made, which are being debated in the comments thread and on Twitter. Instead, here are four reasons why it is still worth opposing Labour council cuts.
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Why I’ve reported the No2AV baby advert to the ASA

by Sunny Hundal    
February 23, 2011 at 10:40 am

The campaign against the Alternative Vote are running a highly disingenuous ad campaign in local newspapers which claims it will cost £250m. The implication is also that babies will die if people vote Yes.

And so I’ve made an official complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority – as Stephen Baxter says, it is beyond parody. because of it is insulting nature. My complaint is below.
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How US workers are fighting the assault on union rights

by Guest    
February 23, 2011 at 8:50 am

contribution by Matthew McGregor

American trade unions and community organisations are rallying against Republican plans in Wisconsin to end any meaningful collective bargaining, in the first of what is likely to be a series of set piece battles against right-wing Governors and US Congress.

Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker says that his attacks on public service worker’s unions are essential to his plans to cut the state’s budget deficit. This comes after he promised billions of dollars in tax cuts and loopholes for corporations in the November 2010 election.
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False Economy uncovers 50,000 NHS job losses

by Sunny Hundal    
February 23, 2011 at 8:00 am

False Economy – the cuts campaign website that formally launches today (Wednesday) – reveals that more than 50,000 NHS staff posts are set for the axe, destroying government claims that the NHS is in safe hands.

David Cameron then famously claimed before the election that he would “cut the deficit, not the NHS”.

However less than 10 months into the coalition government, the reality couldn’t be more different, with NHS cuts across the country.

The national total is already twice the previous estimate of 27,000 job cuts, published by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) last November.

False Economy’s figures have been collated for the most part from NHS trusts themselves under the Freedom of Information Act but also include figures sourced by the RCN Frontline First campaign, as well as press reports and foundation trusts’ annual plans published by the national regulator Monitor.

False Economy allows people to upload details of local cuts, provide testimony on how the cuts will affect them and promote local groups and activities.

UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said:

The Tories are not the party of the NHS – they are the party that will destroy our NHS. Losing 50,000 health workers will hurt. It’s only a matter of time before the toll of bed shortages and ward closures mount up. With fewer nurses on wards, the return of long waiting lists, and a rise in cancelled operations, patient care will be an early casualty.

Shadow health secretary John Healey said the figures called into question the Tories’ handling of the health service.

The government is piling extra pressure on the NHS with its huge, high-cost reorganisation and by breaking the prime minister’s pledge to give the NHS a real rise in funding next year.

David Cameron promised to protect the NHS but cuts on this scale will hit patient care, and there’s a big risk that we will now see the NHS go backwards.

More coverage: Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Independent, BBC online

(Disclosure: I’m on the False Economy working committee)
From a press release

Report from today’s London demo for Libya

by Guest    
February 22, 2011 at 8:02 pm

contribution by Wail Qasim

Even before the official start time of 15:00 many protestors were gathered across from Downing Street to tell the government and the international community that enough is enough in Libya: the murder of innocent Libyans by Muammar al-Gaddafi’s regime should not be allowed to continue. The crowd grew and grew and as it did so did the energy and emotion. The chants could be heard echoing throughout Whitehall as hundreds turned into thousands and called for the resignation of Gaddafi and reminded the UK government that they had blood on their hands for selling arms to dictatorships such as Libya.

One gentlemen who came armed with a message for David Cameron (see above) spoke to me about how he worked in Libya for six years but eventually decided to leave because of the Gaddafi regime. He pointed out that Gaddafi has “always been hated” and that this is not simply a copy cat of other North African revolutions. Dr Sabah Almarii fears that “[Gaddafi] will kill everyone before he goes” but also finds it hard to envisage what will become of Libya once Gaddafi does leave. There is not even a pretence of democracy in Libya and any move to democracy would have to be a careful one.

As has been the case in all of these revolutions it is the young that have taken the lead to call for their civil liberties. It was no different today outside Downing Street as children were the most active and lively, some even leading the crowd in chants. One in fact lead a chant of “David Cameron don’t you care, Libyan blood is everywhere” whilst others held placards reading “save my family”.

The crowd were not scared to show anyone passing the bloody truth either. Many handed around images of those dying in the confrontations between protesters, the army and mercenaries in Libya. These were not images you would be shown on television by even the most daring news channel and were harrowing enough to leave anyone ashamed that Gaddafi’s genocide against his won people to continues.

Protesters didn’t mind poking fun at the whacky Gaddafi himself however. Many came armed with caricatures and edited images of him.

The entire effort has sent a clear message of solidarity and simultaneously told the the United Kingdom government they can not keep quite over the situation and certainly should not supply weapons to dictators like Gaddafi. Demonstrations are set to continue throughout the week and many have said they will camp outside Downing Street until Gaddafi is gone.

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