Do voters really want Labour to be more right-wing?
The Guardian reports that “voters want a tough responsibilities agenda, similar to that of New Labour”, based on submissions to Labour’s policy review process. Respondents want to cut crime and anti-social behaviour, reform welfare and reduce immigration, protect wage levels, cut international aid to “look after our own first”, be more Eurosceptic, reform banks and cut bankers’ bonuses, reduce tuition fees, reverse police cuts, increase apprenticeships and expand youth services.
Some thoughts on this. continue reading… »
More on Tory plans to character assassinate Miliband as “odd Ed”
I want to come back to Tim Montgomerie’s article in the Mail on Sunday where he reveals:
When Ed Miliband first became leader, Conservative HQ decided to paint Gordon Brown’s successor as Red Ed — a high-taxing, high-spending prisoner of the trade union movement. Research reveals that voters haven’t rejected this Red Ed label — but larger numbers have now decided that he’s Odd Ed.
The retort that ‘voters are saying this, not us, honest‘ is an old trick when doing character assassinations.
continue reading… »
Universities should now take the lead on reducing energy usage
There is a myth that people in Britain over the last 10 years spontaneously decided to massively increase their consumption of Fairtrade products. The truth is that activist groups pushed universities, schools and churches to change their procurement. Millions of cups of coffee switched in the space of around two years and hundreds of thousands of people began to lift themselves out of poverty.
With a similar aim, the People & Planet Green League of universities, published in yesterday’s Guardian, assessed the environmental and ethical performance of 142 universities. If these institutions are failing to meet carbon reductions their own scientists say are necessary, what hope is there for the rest?
continue reading… »
Ministers face climate ‘dawn raid’ by activists
Environmental action group Climate Rush gave two Cabinet MPs an early morning wake-up call yesterday.
Between 5.30am and 7.00am Philip Hammond MP and Vince Cable MP had their homes wrapped in ‘Climate Crime Scene’ tape as part of Climate Rush’s doorstep protest.
They also stuck banners to Cable’s and Hammond’s house reading ‘THERE’S NO PLANET B – SOLVE CLIMATE CHANGE’.
Both Vince Cable MP and Philip Hammond MP clashed with Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change over proposals for the fourth carbon budget. The Prime Minister eventually stepped in, supporting Chris Huhne and the Climate Change Act – legislation passed by the last Government.
Philip Hammond MP and the Department for Transport has been condemned by environmentalists as Hammond is opposed to the inclusion of Canadian Tar Sands oil in the EU fuel directive. England and Holland are the only EU countries opposing the inclusion of Tar Sands from this directive.
Hammond also plans to hike rail fares by 31% over the course of this Government.
Tamsin Omond, founder of Climate Rush, said:
This Government might be considering a plan B for the economy. They don’t have that luxury with our environment: there is no planet B. Cabinet ministers that oppose these measures are gambling with our future. We need to prepare for the impacts of climate change and we need to limit our carbon emissions now. There’s no future for this or any Government on a dead planet.
Video of the action
Watch: Smoke bomb set off at Grayling debate
Student activists disrupted a debate about cuts to the arts at Foyles bookshop in central London yesterday evening.
A purple smoke bomb was let off after the heated hour-long debate, during which Professor A.C. Grayling faced criticism from the audience for his plans to launch a £18,000 a year private university.
Protesters chanted: “AC Grayling get out we know what you’re all about, cuts, job losses, money for the bosses!”
Organisers were forced to evacuate about 100 people.
A.C. Grayling offered to talk to protesters to explain his views but was not given the opportunity. He also later declined to call the police.
Video captured by @mdbergfeld
Don’t deport Betty to homophobic Uganda!
contribution by Sian Norris
Betty Tibakawa, a young lesbian living in Uganda, had gone for a walk on the beach when she was approached by three men she did not know, but who knew her by reputation, who began taunting her about her sexuality.
They took her to a disused building where she was violently assaulted. The men kicked her in the stomach, pinned her down and branded her inner thighs with hot irons. She lost consciousness and when she woke up, the men were gone. Her injuries were so severe that she could not leave her home for two months.
In February, Ugandan magazine Red Pepper outed Betty as a lesbian, publishing an article about her illustrated with photos, and the claim that she is ‘wanted’ for being a lesbian.
It has become incredibly dangerous for her to return to Uganda, where she has been disowned by her family and faces the risk of violent persecution for being gay.
Betty Tibakawa has had her asylum application turned down and is facing deportation back to Uganda, where homosexuality is illegal. Gay women who are deported to Uganda risk being raped and assaulted whilst they are in custody.
We are petitioning the Home Office to overrule this decision from the UK Border Agency, to give Betty the chance to live a life free from violence and fear. No one should be deported to country where they will be persecuted for their sexuality. We owe those seeking asylum in this country better than this.
Please sign the petition from this page.
Petition put together by Betty Tibakawa’s Campaign Group.
Worrying lessons from the ‘Gay Free Zone’ conviction
contribution by Peter Tatchell
Last week Mohammed Hasnath, aged 18, was convicted for posting homophobic stickers in London’s East End. The stickers declared the area a “Gay Free Zone” among other things.
Clearly, such homophobic prejudice needs to be challenged. There are, however, a number of troubling aspects to Hasnath’s conviction.
continue reading… »
Labour attack as polls damn the Tories on NHS
Update: the whole of Labour is on the attack today.
David Miliband told reporters the NHS reforms were “lunacy”:
Doesn’t this show that his plans are lunacy, not reform, and that they should be taken away and put into the dustbin, not given a simple pause?
Meanwhile, Alan Johnson has just told BBC News the Govt need to “go back to the drawing board” on NHS reform.
However, I wish they’d share sound-bites. David Miliband’s branding of the plans as “lunacy” seems spot-on and would to super-charge the debate.
—
Earlier
Both the shadow health secretary and Labour leader Ed Miliband went on the attack today, criticising the government over their handling of the NHS.
Ed Miliband at a press conference this morning said:
David Cameron is the first PM in history to set out 5 pledges to protect the NHS from his own policies, yet he has already broken 2 of them: The number of people waiting 18 weeks for treatment has gone up. He has not protected the health service budget.
He has spent a year mismanaging the NHS. The consequence is chaos, confusion and damage to patient care. Hundreds of millions of pounds which should have been used for patient care are being wasted on handing out redundancy notices to staff from PCTs – staff who may now have to be rehired.
The more aggressive tone will no doubt be welcomed by many within the party, who have accused him of being too silent on the issue.
Shadow health secretary John Healey wrote an article yesterday in the same vein:
The decision to force through the biggest reorganisation in NHS history when it is facing the tightest financial squeeze for 50 years runs huge risks and comes at a high cost. It is profoundly reckless and the wisdom of this judgement has been questioned by the health select committee, public accounts committee, Kings Fund, NHS Confederation and others.
…
Indeed, he made a point of promising NOT to reorganise the NHS and then again emphatically ruled it out in the Coalition Agreement. He wasn’t straight with people before the Election. And he’s not been straight since. The BMA’s first resolution at its first special meeting for 20 years “deplored the government’s use of misleading and inaccurate information to denigrate the NHS”.
Their growing criticism partly reflects polls that show Conservatives still haven’t made up any ground on their NHS messaging.
A poll out today by PoliticsHome / YouGov found:
.
Helpful advice for our critical friends at Labour Uncut
They rode into town on their white chargers, the men who would save the Labour Party in its hour of need. Armed with their new website, Labour Uncut, they planned to win the civil war which they knew was coming against the Left of the party, elect their man David Miliband as leader and restore the golden days of New Labour.
They aimed to be like Sir Galahad, knights in shining armour, and ended up like Don Quixote, tilting unsuccessfully at windmills.
So what went wrong?
continue reading… »
Should science be central or a side-show in the abortion debate?
There was a great turn-out last night at the pro-choice meeting that Jess McCabe and Sunny Hundal organized.
The discussion was wide-ranging, with some excellent speaking from Diane Abbott MP, Abortion Rights and Education for Choice. One of the topics I raised and I’d like to explore further is the ethical – and political – case for women’s access to abortion.
continue reading… »
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» Revealed: govt to restrict abortion counselling despite Nadine Dorries vote
» Would raising the tax threshold actually help the poorest?
» To win London, Ken Livingstone has to step outside his comfort zone
» This trade agreement with India will destroy thousands of lives
» UK debt hasn’t hit £1 trillion – mostly because of QE
» The benefits of being a “burden” on society
» Today’s economic figures will simply confirm UK’s “lost decade”
» Have Labour realised the election is more than three years away?
» Violence in the office
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» The world is entering the third phase of the crisis, warns ILO
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