Winter fuel allowance

The winter fuel allowance, to help with heating bills, was
worth £250 for the over-60s. It has been cut to £200. It
was £400 for the over-80s and it will be £300. The
Tories and their Liberal chums chopped it to save some
£600 million. A drop in the ocean compared to the cuts in
corporation tax to help the richest in the "big society"

The trade unions have condemned the hypocritical action of
the government - who of course promised with tears in their
eyes that the pensioners would not be punished. That was
before the election of course.

Clegg, Cameron and Miliband have no problem keeping warm.
They generate enough hot air between them.

They should not be allowed to get away with this. It may
take a bit more than a letter to your MP. (Though write one
by all means)

When the trade unions give a lead they can bring hundreds of
thousands out onto the streets. The people need not be
afraid of the government. The government ought to be afraid
of the people.

After 26 March - what next?

Meeting at St John's Church Hall

Phil Clarke

National Shop Stewards Network

7.30

Monday 4th April

After 26 March - what next?

Meeting at St John's Church Hall

Phil Clarke

National Shop Stewards Network

7.30

6th April

Council meeting to cut jobs and services 23 February

Council meeting to cut jobs and services
Wednesday 23rd February
Town Hall
7.30
Tax cuts for the rich
Job cuts and service cuts for the rest of us.

Don't let them get away with it.

Give the fat cats a piece of your mind!

Cable v Murdoch?

Vince Cable talks a good war. He declared war on Rupert Murdoch to a couple of undercover hacks from the Telegraph. Then instead of going on the offensive he retreated with his
tail between his legs. The first war in history to be fought by unconditional surrender.

There have been calls for Cable’s resignation from newspapers owned by a certain Mr Murdoch. Now there’s a spooky coincidence.

Those who watched the debate on tuition fees will remember battling Cable’s role in that farce. Cameron and Clegg might as well have been pulling his strings as he mouthed their policies and tried to look sincere.

Interestingly the Jeremy Vine Show on Radio Two specifically asked listeners to call in with comments supporting poor Mr Murdoch. There were none.

Some recalled the lies Murdoch told about the Hillsborough disaster – lies insulting and demonising Liverpool fans. Lies which which the Sun later withdrew.

Others drew attention to Fox News which is a continual right-wing rant rather than a news channel.

Listeners also drew attention to Berlusconi in Italy who used his media empire to silence opposition to his corrupt repressive government.

Another said Dennis Potter had the right idea when he named his pancreatic cancer “Rupert”

Perhaps the best comment appeared on the Sky News own website: “I love SKY. What ever they say, i believe. Tell me what to think next Mr Murdoch?”

Jack Straw plays the race card – and it’s not the ace of trumps!

Supporters of Oswald Mosley spread the idea that certain Jewish rituals required the sacrifice of a Christian Baby. This was a conscious attempt to justify violence and hatred against the Jewish community. This was in the 1930s and bear in mind they were not Labour politicians but Fascist gangsters.

In 2011 former Home Secretary Jack Straw repeated the trick with the assertion that Pakistani men “had a culture” of grooming white children for sex. As former home secretary Straw knows this is bunkum. There are men who groom children for sex and unsurprisingly the overwhelming majority of them are as white as Jack Straw.

The Derbyshire police, who cannot be described as soft-hearted liberals, dismissed the claim out of hand.

Straw faces a challenge from the BNP and chose to respond by trying to prove to the electorate that New Labour can be as racist as his neo-nazi opponents. The BNP win votes by telling people that “Labour has betrayed the white working class”. This is perfectly true. It should be obvious from Staw’s disgusting antics that they have equally betrayed the Asian and black working class.

This makes the position of some anti-fascists who tell workers to vote Labour “to keep out the BNP” particularly unfortunate. Surely they would be better off not lecturing the working class electorate but telling the Labour politicians: "Get off your asses and represent the working classes."

The poppy - symbol of peace or war?

After the first world war a weary population greeted the end

of the war and celebrated peace. Armistice day became a day

for commemoration of those who had died in that senseless

slaughter. The Flanders poppy was a symbol of that. Millions

still commemorate the fallen in that way.

The politicians who send better people than themselves off

to die have a different view. For them remembrance is a

celebration of war and hypocrisy.

At the same time as they stand in the house of commons

patriotically wearing their poppies and grieving for the

fallen, they vote to cut the pensions of all public service

workers including of course the gallant heroes they pretend

to celebrate.

By switching from one measure of prices to another (RPI to

CPI) they intend by sleight of hand to attack those most

vulnerable and cut thousands of pounds from the widows of

war and those who have retired injured from the field of

glory.

The shadowy defence spokesman Jim Murphy was called out of a

remembrance service. Proudly wearing his poppy he didn’t

speak about ending war or putting an end to the killing. No

he protested about the cutting of the harrier jump jet.

“Serious people have raised serious concerns about the

government's decision to scrap Harriers and all ministers

have succeeded in doing is add to the confusion.”

Obviously in place of “blessed are the peacemakers” his

service included “blessed are the warmakers” and more

particular the merchants of death who produce these horrible

weapons for profit.

It is all grist to the mill for this star in the New Labour

firmament. More weapons, more deaths, more heroes for him to

shed crocodile tears over.

Socialists take no issue with those who genuinely want to

commemorate the fallen or celebrate the end of a war. Those

who use remembrance to score cheap political points while

doing nothing to put an end to war are beneath contempt.

Derek McMillan