Watch: NHS ‘reforms on hold’ Downfall parody

by Sunny Hundal    
April 9, 2011 at 7:54 pm

Excellent work by @DanielKirk

“On Question Time they’ll use my nutsack for the dartboard every week” – LOL

Labour No2AV campaign promoted by Tories

by Sunny Hundal    
April 9, 2011 at 6:27 pm

The ‘No 2 AV’ campaign unveiled the flyer below this week.

I thought they said they were above personal attacks? That claim aside, this turns up at the bottom of the email with that flyer:

Promoted by William Norton on behalf of No Campaign Ltd., both of Westminster Tower, 3 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SP

Does that address sound familiar? Wonder who William Norton is? He’s a Tory election agent. In other words, Tories are paying for Labour No2AV to put out literature asking people to vote for the Labour Party

But the wider question is, why are Labourites happy to be used so blatantly by Tories for their agenda. Are these people forgetting who the real enemy is, Nick Clegg or David Cameron? Does this also mean ?

The same Tories have also put this picture (above) in their flyer to Conservatives.

We know Tories are two-faced, but to Labourites really have to help them in that operation?

Is it always better to be working than unemployed?

by Guest    
April 9, 2011 at 2:18 pm

contribution by Richard Shrubb

An academic paper published recently suggests that a bad job is worse for overall health than no job at all. Is welfare policy going to result in worse mental health for the ‘spongers’ the tabloids refers to?

A 7 year analysis of government household studies in Australia suggests “employment policies with the premise that any job is better than none for economic and personal well-being may be misguided.”
continue reading… »

Venezuela’s social transformation since Hugo Chavez cannot be ignored

by Guest    
April 9, 2011 at 10:30 am

contribution by Francisco Dominguez

When the military coup against Hugo Chavez’s government was defeated nine years ago this month, it marked a victory of a popular mobilisation against attempted dictatorship. But it also marked a watershed moment against the free-market fundamentalism that had wreaked havoc in Latin America for a quarter of a century.

Chile was the test bed for unbridled neo-liberalism, a diluted version of which is now being unleashed across Europe. In Chile these policies caused such devastation they had to be violently enforced at the barrel of a gun including the military coup against President Salvador Allende.
continue reading… »

Business chiefs who backed cuts now worried

by Sunny Hundal    
April 9, 2011 at 10:14 am

Some of the UK’s most prominent business leaders, including individuals who gave their personal stamp of approval to the chancellor’s aggressive spending cuts, have said they have growing concerns about the state of the economy, warning of weak growth and rising inflation ahead.

Archie Norman, the former Tory MP who now chairs ITV, said the government’s growth targets were too optimistic. The former Asda boss Andy Bond, Carphone Warehouse founder Charles Dunstone, Tory peer Lord Wolfson, who runs Next, and Yell chairman Bob Wigley predicted tough times ahead as soaring inflation dents consumer spending power, although they continue to support George Osborne’s austerity strategy.

Bond expressed doubt about the ability of the private sector to create as many jobs as hoped. “I don’t think the private sector is going to be able to pick up the slack in this climate,” he said. Bond, who ran the UK’s second largest supermarket chain for five years, forecast a two-year “retail recession” earlier this week.

He was one of 35 bosses who signed a letter to the Daily Telegraph six months ago supporting George Osborne’s plan to slash the deficit and arguing that businesses “should be more than capable of generating additional jobs to replace those lost in the public sector”.

…more at The Guardian

Excellent: Ed Balls starts to back away from Eurozone bailouts

by Sunny Hundal    
April 8, 2011 at 4:54 pm

I blogged earlier today about Labour MP John Cryer warning that working people and and the unions are likely to get increasingly angry over the Labour party backing Eurozone bailouts to the hilt.

Now it seems Ed Balls is also moving in that direction, albeit slowly.

In an interview with BBC News today he expressed scepticism of participating in the bailout of Portugal. I hope he will go further.
continue reading… »

Police admit UKuncut arrests made for ‘intelligence gathering’

by Sunny Hundal    
April 8, 2011 at 2:04 pm

A senior police officer has admitted, while giving evidence to MPs, that “intelligence gathering” was one of the main reasons that UKuncut protesters were arrested at the March 26th demonstration.

UKuncut had already accused the Met of politically-driven arrests. This is the first time an admission has been made publicly that the main reason for arrests was not crime prevention but “intelligence gathering”.

Lynne Owens, QPM MA, Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police, said this while giving evidence on what took place on the day.
(The oral evidence given on the day has just been published)

On intelligence gathering (emphasis ours)

Lynne Owens: We did do, contrary to all the commentary, a fairly significant amount of pre-event work on known groups of people, and indeed a number of arrests were made as part of that process. Do we now need to build on that intelligence picture? Yes, we do.

It is why the fact that we arrested as many people as we did is so important to us because that obviously gives us some really important intelligence opportunities.

I think it is interesting, and perhaps somewhat ironic, that we find ourselves in this position where we are being asked questions about intelligence pictures where less than a month ago we were being asked about whether it was proportionate to deploy undercover officers in public protests and public order situations. So I think there is something for the police service about getting the balance right.

We do need to improve the intelligence picture, but our ability to arrest over 200 people at the weekend gives us a very good starting point in terms of building that picture.

What intelligence is the police trying to glean from a group of peaceful protesters, and from a movement that has always participated in non-violent actions?

On UKuncut and ‘violence’ inside the store

Q14 Mr Winnick: Needless to say there are no apologists in this House for thuggery. We were all shocked by what we saw on the television screen. What I want to ask you is regarding the complaints of the organisation-if it is an organisation or group-UK Uncut. They occupied Fortnum & Masons. I am not saying what they did was right, but they occupied it. As far as one can tell, what they stated was that there was absolutely no violence on their part and they claim that they were told if they came out they would not be arrested because there had been no violence on their part, and they were arrested. Could you comment on that?

Lynne Owens: Yes. I have to be quite careful about what I say about Fortnum & Mason, because some of the people who have been charged have been charged from that venue. But what I would say is that some of the commentary we have seen, which is trying to draw a very clear line between anarchists and UK Uncut, isn’t as simple as we saw it operate on the day. The very fact that we have charged that number of people with aggravated trespass hopefully is an indication to this Committee that we do believe, and we have the support of CPS in believing, that significant criminal offences were committed and it is not a truism to say they were unmasked and they were acting peacefully.

Q15 Mr Clappison: Fortnum & Mason presumably would otherwise have been open for business on Saturday and they had their business disrupted, if nothing else. Without commenting about particular offences by people, was there damage caused in Fortnum & Mason?

Lynne Owens: There was damage caused on the outside. I think you will have seen the wide coverage of it, and it is our current understanding that people consumed some of the goods that were in the store, so in other words theft.

In response to the “theft” point, Cath Elliott says on her blog that this is a ridiculous excuse.
“If Lynne Owens wants to arrest a truck load of people for consuming goods inside a food store she pop along to my local Tesco’s, where on any given day of the week numerous people can be found (usually toddlers, but hey, no one’s above the law, right?) wandering the aisles while chowing down on crisps, biscuits, and assorted other sundry items they’ve picked off the shelves.”

For maybe some theft (though there’s no evidence of this), people were stripped of their clothes, put in cells for 24 hours and had their mobile phones confiscated. Is that proportionate policing?

On police lies (the question is ignored)

Q18 Dr Huppert: Firstly, let me say that I share the concern about the allegations that the police lied to some of the occupiers there. I assume that you will be looking into what happened and if police did lie to people, then that wouldn’t be considered appropriate.

Can I move on to the broader issue, because I had the privilege of seeing you a few weeks ago at the Joint Commission on Human Rights where we had a very detailed discussion with you and the TUC about the plans for this. It is very interesting to compare before and after and have a look through the comments. Firstly, in terms of the planning for the operation, with hindsight do you think there is any more that you or the TUC could have done to arrange the whole protest better?

Lynne Owens: No, in terms of the main process that is why we are saying we think it is a successful operation. We are clearly saddened that some criminals chose to come to London and cause damage, but the operation was a success and much of that was due to the planning that we had with the TUC.

The oral evidence session also features MPs asking Lynne Owens if the police needed (and could ask for) more powers to police the Royal Wedding.

Because, of course, the one thing the police is lacking is police powers in order to do their job.

via @AdamRamsay

Why austerity and deep cuts are a self-defeating measure

by Duncan Weldon    
April 8, 2011 at 1:47 pm

Ireland adopted austerity measures in 2008 and was eventually forced into seeking a bailout last year. In the past year, since tougher measures were adopted, Greek growth has collapsed, unemployment has soared and the interest rate on government bonds is consequently much higher.

Tough austerity is a self-defeating strategy.
continue reading… »

Group of 200 sign letter defending WikiLeaks

by Newswire    
April 8, 2011 at 11:00 am

More than 200 prominent public figures have signed a letter published in New Statesman today strongly defending WikiLeaks’ right to publish.

Playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, authors Philip Pullman and Salman Rushdie, as well as actors Susan Sarandon, Laura Wade, Oliver Stone, Steve Coogan, Woody Harrelson and Sam West are among the list of those whom “strenuously denounce” threats of death and prosecution made against WikiLeaks’ director Julian Assange by prominent US politicians.

The letter, presented by the Frontline Club, was assembled by a group of well-known publishers, journalists and filmmakers known as the Committee for the Right to Publish, which includes writer Henry Porter and human rights activist Jemima Khan.

Henry Porter said:

In drafting this letter, we sought to reassert a principle that is easily forgotten in times of change and crisis. We believe that the letter should become a kind declaration that can be signed the world over by journalists and all those who understand the importance of information to democracy.

Translated into nine languages, the letter is supported by the organisations OpenDemocracy, Reporters Without Borders, The Newspaper Guild (Communications Workers of America), The International Federation of Journalists and Article 19.

Liberal Conspiracy editor Sunny Hundal is also one of the original 200 signatories.

The full letter
Open Letter in Defence of WikiLeaks’ Right to Publish

We believe that free societies everywhere are best served by journalism that holds governments and corporations to account. We assert that the right to publish is equal to, and the consequence of, the citizen’s right to know.

While we believe in personal privacy and accept a need for confidentiality, we hold that disclosure in the public interest is paramount. Liberty, accountability and true democratic choice can only be guaranteed by rigorous scrutiny.

We defend the right to publish the truth responsibly without obstruction and persecution by the state. The primary duty of journalists everywhere is to advance the cause of understanding, not to assist governments and powerful interests in suppressing information, and never to defer to ingrained habits of secrecy.

With these principles in mind, we declare our support for the publication of documents released through leaks. They have cast significant light on the behaviour of governments and corporations in the modern world. WikiLeaks has done the world great service. We strenuously denounce the threats of death and criminal prosecution of its director for publishing, together with many organisations throughout the world, information that is clearly in the public interest.

Those in authority routinely oppose such disclosure, as they have done since the struggle to publish the proceedings of the British Parliament over two hundred years ago right through to the release of the Pentagon Papers.

We believe no democracy has ever been harmed by an increase in the public’s knowledge and understanding.Therefore, we, the undersigned, declare our unyielding support for the principles of journalistic inquiry and openness, and condemn the forces that threaten both.

Activists confront ‘NHS slasher’ PolicyExchange

by Guest    
April 8, 2011 at 10:00 am

contribution by Sean Gittins

Yesterday, a group of activists under the banner ‘NHS Direct Action group’ gathered outside Westminster tube at 1pm. Around thirty people wearing scrubs turned up.

They had been planning an action for several days sending out periodic tweets that were hashtagged with #FLASHMOB #saveourNHS and #Demo2011.

The group then left for its intended protest target – the Policy Exchange think-tank, which they say is integral to Andrew Lansley’s current NHS proposals.

On arrival at Policy Exchange twenty-five of the scrub wearing protesters went into the building whilst another half a dozen remained outside to put up banners.

After doing so, the remaining members of NHS Direct action went upstairs into the think tank to join their colleagues. They were soon followed by two policemen who arrived, their car sirens blaring.

In the think tank itself members of NHS Direct Action requested to have someone from Policy Exchange speak to them about Andrew Lansley’s proposed NHS reforms. Policy Exchange declined the offer.

The spectacle of about thirty people gathered outside dressed in scrubs began to draw crowds and journalists towards the action.

.

To onlookers NHS Direct Action speaking through megaphones declared that they would give “a demonstration of the massacre that is currently happening to the National Health Service.”

The whole protest took around thirty minutes or so.

The press had got their pictures, the point had been made, and NHS Direct Action had already begun to move on back to Westminster tube station.

You can follow NHS Direct Action on Twitter and from their website.

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