Why do Israel’s cheerleaders in the UK ignore its racism?

by Ben White    
April 6, 2011 at 4:15 pm

Imagine if the Department for Communities and Local Government partnered with an organisation that works for Christians to implement national housing and planning policies.

What if the junior coalition partner in the British government had campaigned for the election by challenging the national loyalty of ethnic minorities?
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Demos likes mobility but doesn’t pay its interns

by Don Paskini    
April 6, 2011 at 3:00 pm

Here’s think tank Demos, responding to the government’s new Social Mobility Strategy:

We’re welcoming many of the plans in the Coalition’s social mobility strategy.

The paper takes on policies recommended by Demos around parenting, early years, internships and vocational education.

Research by Demos says: continue reading… »

From today the budget numbers become a painful reality

by Guest    
April 6, 2011 at 2:04 pm

contribution by Gavin Kelly

With the Budget behind us and the new financial year starting today, it is a timely moment to take stock of the prospects of those living on low-to-middle incomes.

To do that we need to consider the combined impact of stagnant wages, rising prices, reduced tax-credits and benefits from the June 2010 Budget – as well as the measures that were announced in last month’s Budget (such as increased personal tax-allowances).
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Watch: The alternative to government’s cuts

by Sunny Hundal    
April 6, 2011 at 1:42 pm

A lot of journalists keep asking what is the alternative to the government’s policies. Apparently the left does not know what it opposes or what it stands for.

Rubbish, I say. This video by the TUC is perhaps the clearest explanation of what ‘an alternative’ means. This should be our narrative.

Cuts Are Not The Cure from Unionfilms on Vimeo.

The BBC should refuse the Met’s demand for footage – An open letter

by Guest    
April 6, 2011 at 10:50 am

contribution by Guy Aitchison

Dear BBC Management,
I was disturbed to read in yesterday’s Guardian that the Metropolitan police have made contact with BBC journalists to request unbroadcast footage of the protests in central London on March 26th.

Speaking as a participant in a variety of anti-cuts campaigns, I have to concur with Jeremy Dear, General Secretary of the NUJ, who warned that this is nothing more than a “fishing trip” by the Met which could have very serious consequences for the integrity and safety of journalists covering future protests.
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Tuesday’s unusual action by UKuncut in London

by Guest    
April 6, 2011 at 10:00 am

contribution by Wail Qasim

Come along to a UKUncut action and you would assume that you’ll spend most of your time trying to get into the space of tax avoiding businesses that are more than aware you are on your way and have probably hired a number of security personnel for the day or decided shutting would be much easier.

Sometimes you will get in, other times you’ll have to enact Plan B and occupy the pavement outside (no doubt they will still shut).

Today’s Tower Hamlets Uncut action certainly didn’t follow this usual model however. Starting at Canary Wharf we did a tour of Canada Square’s biggest contributors to the global economic crisis and some of the biggest tax avoiders.

We had talks outside Lehman Brothers’ old headquarters, expressed our solidarity with USUncut outside the Bank of America who paid $0 in tax last year and visited our old friends Barclays who are not only tax avoiders, but also investors in the arms industry.

There was chanting, singing, accounts about where money is being taken away from Tower Hamlets – but strangely for a UKUncut protest, no occupation.

With the on going case against 138 occupiers of tax avoiders and luxury grocers Fortnum and Mason, perhaps this non-intrusive form of UKUncut action will become a much more popular style of demonstrating against tax avoiders. It is informative, funny and dowsn’t have the same ‘piss-off’ appeal as occupying can do.

As Tim Hardy points out, the police are being given the go ahead to deal with UKUncut protests as they see fit and we must assume this could include further arrests under the aggravated trespass laws.

Whilst there were lots of Police and Canary Wharf security following our action yesterday, it was obvious that they were at a bit of a loose end when they realised the most provocative we would get would be singing a round of Build a bonfire.

Our charismatic tour guide, Liam, a Tower Hamlets school teacher, had also changed the lyrics to a couple of well known songs to celebrate the advent of the financial new year.

I would personally continue to occupy shops and banks, but it is brilliant to see that there is a different type of UKUncut action out there would appeal to our growing number of supporters (Liam had only printed out 15 copies of his song – far too little for the 40 people who attended) as well as those who no longer see occupation as the right form of action for them.

This is far from over, but it might look very different by the end.

The Libdems may have been more influential in opposition

by Don Paskini    
April 6, 2011 at 9:05 am

There is a new website called ‘What the hell have the Lib Dems done?’ which aims to showcase all their successes since they entered government. It’s well worth a read, though from a quick scan there is a fair bit of barrel-scraping, and examples of the “we promised to do x, and we have achieved this by setting up a committee to look at it” sort.

So here’s an interesting question. Has the number of policies featured in Lib Dem election manifestos which actually got implemented by government increased or decreased since May 2010?
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The French left shows it Islamophobia in supporting Niqab ban

by Guest    
April 5, 2011 at 7:03 pm

contribution by Sam Bogg

On 11th April, French Muslim women will wake up to find they can no longer were the niqab in any public place.

Sarkozy has argued that the burqa is not welcome in France. Even on the liberal-left people have heralded the move as “the right step”. It would seem that some on the French left have forgotten what that means.
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The Oliver Letwin train-crash in slow motion

by Sunny Hundal    
April 5, 2011 at 3:11 pm

This was Boris Johnson a few weeks ago, when trying to lobby for expanding airport capacity in London:

I was absolutely scandalised the other day to hear a government minister tell me that he did not want to see more families in Sheffield being able to afford cheap foreign holiday.

I think it is an absolutely disgrace that you are seeing a kind of bourgeois repression of people’s ability to take holidays. I really think it is a matter of social justice that we look at aviation capacity in this country.

And who is responsible for such “bourgeois repression”?

Oh look, it turns out to be millionaire cabinet minister Oliver Letwin.

Amusingly, the Daily Mail did not hesitate to use the opportunity to publish a picture of Osborne on his skiing holiday.

And it gets worse. Nick Clegg tells Sky News:

I suggest to him that he probably wants to tread with care when he comes to visit a city that I love. He has now, I think, overnight become the most controversial politician in Sheffield.

At this point its pretty obvious that those remarks were made by Oliver Letwin. So does he say sorry? He tells Sky News:

I do not ever comment on things that are alleged to have been said in private conversations but I would never knowingly ever say anything offensive to anybody.

Awesome.

Paul Scriven, Lib Dem leader of Sheffield city council, has now written to Letwin demanding an apology.

If [the comments] are accurate then Letwin should apologise and take up my invitation to come up to Sheffield to explain himself

Am totally loving this train-crash in slow motion. Let’s hope Letwin leaves it a few more days to apologise.

The question the media isn’t asking: why is the economy doing so badly?

by Sunny Hundal    
April 5, 2011 at 2:56 pm

According to the FT today, the British chamber of Commerce is now forecasting growth of just 0.6%-0.7% in the first three months of 2011.

This is big news: not only does it suggest the economy will barely grow over the last six months, but it is lower than the Office of Budget Responsibility’s prediction. Will Osborne have to downgrade his projections again, George Eaton rightly asks. But there’s a bigger question the media and the Right isn’t asking: why is the economy doing increasingly poorly?
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