Campaign launches to #saveGilesFraser

by Sunny Hundal    
October 27, 2011 at 12:56 pm

The Canon of St. Paul’s – Giles Fraser – resigned this morning.

He said in a statement to the Guardian:

I resigned because I believe that the chapter has set on a course of action that could mean there will be violence in the name of the church.

A campaign to support / save Giles Fraser is now under way.

Join the Facebook page

OccupyLSX have released a statement saying:

We are deeply moved to hear that Giles Fraser has resigned. He is man of great personal integrity and our thoughts are with him.

From the moment Occupy London arrived at St. Paul’s Churchyard, he respected our right to protest and defended it.

For that we are very grateful, as he ensured that St Paul’s could be a sanctuary for us and that no violence could take place against peaceful protesters with a legitimate cause – challenging and tackling social and economic injustice in London, the UK and beyond.

More updates will be posted here soon.

Why it’s ludicrous that making it easier to fire people will create jobs

by Guest    
October 27, 2011 at 8:45 am

contribution by ‘Planeshift’

There is a growing consensus amongst conservatives in the UK that the biggest problem our nation faces is that too many lazy and unproductive workers are unfairly taking their employers to industrial tribunals after being rightfully dismissed.

This in turn is causing prospective employers to decide against hiring people, and is thus creating unemployment.

This is just simply not logical.
continue reading… »

‘Tangled Up in Blue’: the creation and hype of Blue Labour

by Don Paskini    
October 26, 2011 at 3:30 pm

Books about politics tend to focus either on the deeds and misdeeds of politicians, or on political ideas.

It is rare to find writers either willing or able to combine the two, as Rowenna Davis does so well in ‘Tangled up in Blue’.

The book describes the political ideas behind ‘Blue Labour’, and does so with far more eloquence and clarity than any Blue Labour advocates have managed to date.
continue reading… »

The irony of being told I don’t deserve benefits

by Sue Marsh    
October 26, 2011 at 2:10 pm

All my life I wanted to work. I wanted to do something important.

I did everything society told me I should. I worked hard, I went to college despite being told I’d never pass due to sickness absence. I went to uni despite being told by well meaning doctors not to go. I worked.

For years, despite well meaning loved ones telling me I should stop.
continue reading… »

Occupy London: how others see its demand for change

by Guest    
October 26, 2011 at 10:45 am

contribution by Luke Denne

Like many others, I have found myself captivated by the “Occupy” movement. It is inspiring seeing hundreds of protestors camping outside St Paul’s and in cities around the world in demand of a fairer system.

“We are the 99%” is a simple message, but I couldn’t help questioning how the protestors could have an impact upon society. I headed to St. Paul’s, the location of the “Occupy London Stock Exchange” camp to try and find out.
continue reading… »

Watch: Goldman Sachs vs #OccupyWallStreet

by Newswire    
October 26, 2011 at 10:18 am

A controversy in the US banking community has arisen around the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The investigative reporter Greg Palast filed this report for Democracy Now! looking at Goldman Sachs’ recent decision to pull out of a fundraiser for a small Credit Union bank in New York City after it learned the event was honoring the protesters at Occupy Wall Street.

The investment bank withdrew its name from the fundraiser and also cancelled a $5,000 pledge.

Palast explains that while in the past financial institutions like Goldman Sachs have supported credit unions, now they must prepare for backlash from the Occupy Wall Street protesters, many of which plan to withdrawal their funds from major banks and place them in community banks and credit unions on November 5th.

Watch

Media self-regulation must include self-control too

by Guest    
October 26, 2011 at 8:50 am

contribution by Helen Goodman MP

Is a free press an essential part of a flourishing democracy? Yes. Does the press in Britain fulfil its role as the fourth estate? The answer must surely be sometimes.

Everyone with eyes to read knows that across the press – tabloid or broadsheet; right or left there are thorough news teams, thoughtful commentators and amusing cartoonists. There are also lazy hacks, recycled prejudices and the tedious promotion of friends and relatives.

In its defence the press has adopted rhetoric of the highest principle, while what has been revealed through the phone hacking scandal has been the lowest practice.
continue reading… »

Watch: Sky compares protesters to Nazis

by Sunny Hundal    
October 25, 2011 at 9:25 pm

This clip on Sky News was captured today afternoon.

Adam Boulton of Sky News, unbelievably, tries to compare the protesters to Nazis.

I’m not sure descendants of the Holocaust would quite agree with that. Is Boulton out of his mind?

Watch

clip via @davidrobbo66 and @venny06

The hysteria over the supposedly empty tents has also been debunked at the Guardian by Patrick Kingsley.

“The conscience of Russia”: five years after Anna Politkovskaya’s murder

by Guest    
October 25, 2011 at 5:01 pm

contribution by Naomi Westland

Five years after Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in the lift of her Moscow apartment block, journalists and politicians have warned that investigative journalism in the country has collapsed amid fears of reprisals.

Politkovskaya, a staunch critic of then-president Vladimir Putin and of the wars in Chechnya in 1994 -1996 and 1999-2000, gained international recognition for exposing human rights abuses in the region.

On 7 October 2006, the 48-year-old mother of two was murdered, just over two years after a previous attempt on her life.
continue reading… »

Hypocrite: Hands votes against EU referendum despite campaigns

by Sunny Hundal    
October 25, 2011 at 2:55 pm

While in opposition, Conservative MP for Chelsea and Fulham Greg Hands was an enthusiastic supporter of a referendum on the EU and a member of the ‘I Want A Referendum’ advisory group

His group even held a mock referendum in 2008, running an election in Hammersmith and nine other constituencies across the country.

He announced triumphantly then:

The people of Hammersmith have spoken. They want a Referendum on the EU Treaty. I will be voting next week to give them one. I will also be watching very closely to see if Andrew Slaughter does the same, as he promised to do when he was elected in 2005.

He even boasted on Conservative Home that Labour and Libdem MPs were getting “wound up” by the exercise.

Greg Hands at a EU referendum event with three Labour MPs. They stuck to their promise

Here’s another pic of Hands, holding a picture of Labour MP Andy Slaughter who apparently refused to listen to demands for a referendum.

But Greg Hands did not stick to his promise. He voted against an EU Referendum despite campaigning on the issue for years.

Even more hypocritically, Hands was the teller for those that voted against the referendum motion.

Will he now tell constituents he misled them for years? His Twitter account has been strangely silent…

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