Network Rail Job Cuts - Rally and Lobby of Parliament 27 January 2010

URGENT MESSAGE

23^rd December 2009

Dear Colleague,

FIGHT NETWORK RAIL JOB CUTS

National Rally and Lobby of Parliament

Wednesday 27th January 2010, Assemble 12.30pm

The RMT Day of Action on 17th December called in protest against Network Rail's threat to axe 1,500 maintenance workers was a great success. RMT members distributed 25,000 postcards to passengers across more than 40 stations nationwide and made a splash in the media – TV, radio and newspapers, right across the Land.

It is essential that we maintain the momentum against the proposed job cuts and your Union has called a National Rally and Lobby of the Westminster Parliament on Wednesday 27th January. Put this date in your diary now. We ask that people arrive promptly for 12.30pm for a demonstration outside Parliament, which will be followed by a rally at 2.15pm and we would like RMT members to lobby their MPs from 3.30pm. A flyer is attached and I would be grateful if you could publicise this throughout your workplace.

RMT rail maintenance members have warned that these job cuts have grave safety implications and there is a serious concern that it will lead to another rail tragedy such as Potters Bar. Therefore these cuts affect all rail workers and we would hope all RMT activists to turn out for the rally, not just Network Rail members.

Our postcard campaign and Lobby is aimed at getting MPs to sign Early Day Motion Number 80 'Network Rail & Safety', tabled by Linda Riordan MP (see below). With the assistance of the RMT Parliamentary Group, this Early Day Motion has been supplemented by a series of regional EDMs detailing where the cuts will fall.

We want individual members to play as active part as possible in this campaign and I recommend that you visit the RMT website to find out how you can participate. You will be able to download model letters, find out who your MP is and it is important that if you wish to meet them on the day of our Lobby, that you contact them in advance. Visit http://www.rmt.org.uk/networkrail for further information.

Yours sincerely,

Bob Crow

General Secretary

How you can get involved

As well as attending the Rally and Lobby of Parliament, via the RMT website http://www.rmt.org.uk/networkrail you can do the following: -

·      Find your MP http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/ and write to them either by email or post:

·         Download a model letter to write to your MP urging him or her to meet you after the RMT Rally (see sample letter 1). Please note that we want you to attend the Lobby even if you do not wish to meet with your MP  http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeId=130197 

·         Download a model letter urging your MP to sign Early Day Motion 80 (see sample letter 2) http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeId=130197  

·         Itinerary for the Lobby on 27th January 2010 and instructions if you wish to lobby your MP http://www.rmt.org.uk/files/130198/FileName/NationalRallyandLobbyofParliamentGuideforRMTMembers_2.pdf  

·         Link to EDM 80 http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=39617&SESSION=903  

Network Rail and Safety, tabled by Linda Riordan MP, 18.11.09

That this House notes the decision of Network Rail to announce the loss of thousands of frontline maintenance jobs by spring 2010; believes that this will mean that in a matter of months there will be a drop of up to20 per cent. in the number of rail workers carrying out essential inspection and maintenance work; further believes that these deep and rapid cuts raise genuine and urgent concerns as to whether Network Rail will be able to ensure the safe and efficient running of the railway, including the adequate inspection and repair of track, signals, overhead lines and other infrastructure; is deeply concerned that Network Rail is failing to consult the trade unions on the safety implications of the proposals; further notes that the cuts are in part due to the fact that the economic rail regulator, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), has asked Network Rail to make efficiency savings of 21 per cent. over the next five years; is further concerned that because the ORR is both the safety and economic regulator it will be difficult for an objective view to be taken as to whether the safety of passengers and workers will be put at risk; believes the cuts cannot be justified; and calls on the Government to use its power as the primary funder of Network Rail to intervene to ensure that Network Rail directors put safety first.

Media coverage of RMT Day of Action, 17th December 2009

This is not an exhaustive list, but activists have advised us that news of their efforts leafleting outside their local stations given was carried in the following media outlets, along with interviews with RMT officials: - 

•        Daily Post

•        Liverpool Echo

•        BBC Merseyside

•        BBC Radio Solent

•        Southampton Echo

•        BBC Sussex

•        Brighton Argus

In a show of solidarity, RMT activists out leafleting were supported in some areas comrades from the National Shop Stewards Network and in a number of locations other trade unionists took handfuls of the postcards to distribute in their workplaces.

Response to Lobbying my MP on Job loses in the Rail Industry.

Below are the pages of a letter that I received from my local MP, Mr Philip Hollobone. It is a reply to a letter that hes sent to the Minister of Transport on my behalf, raising concerns over a number of issues within the rail industry, chief amongst them being a avalanche of job losses for no really good reason other than that Network Rail can please their political master's. I'd like to say thankyou to my Brother for publishing my earlier item, and letting us become an author.
Click to enlarge images.


Page 1 of letter.


Page 2 of letter.


Page 3 of letter.

Green Party of England and Wales

The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) (Welsh: Plaid Werdd Cymru a Lloegr) is the principal Green political party in England and Wales. The party is unrepresented in the House of Commons, but did have a life peer in the House of Lords until his death in April 2008. Members have been elected to the European Parliament, the London Assembly and in local government. The party leader is Caroline Lucas.

It is affiliated with the Global Greens and the European Green Party, and has friendly relations with the Scottish Green Party and the Green Party of Northern Ireland.

History

The Green Party of England and Wales has its roots in the PEOPLE party started by Tony Whittaker in 1973. It changed its name to the Ecology Party in 1975, to the Green Party ten years later, and to The Green Party of England and Wales in 1990.

Present

In the 1999 European elections, two Greens were elected Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), Dr Caroline Lucas (South East England) and Jean Lambert (London). They retained their seats in the 2004 European elections, despite a reduction in number of seats available. Overall, the Party gained 1,033,093 votes in the 2004 European election.

However, the Greens have not yet managed to break through in other European electoral regions in the UK or the Welsh Assembly. Three Greens were elected to the first London Assembly. It currently has two Green Party members out of 25. These are Cllr. Darren Johnson AM, and Cllr. Jenny Jones AM.

The Green Party achieved its highest-ever UK General Election result in the 2005 General Election with a total of 281,780 votes. During the 2005 General Election, Cllr. Keith Taylor received 22% in Brighton Pavilion.

The party has 116 local councillors after a gain of 5 councillors during the 2008 local elections. The Greens have significant representation on Brighton & Hove City Council, Lancaster City Council, Norwich, Lewisham, Oxford City Council, Oxfordshire County Council, Kirklees Council and Stroud District Council. The Green Party is the official opposition on Norwich City Council, and forms part of the ruling coalition that controls Lancaster City Council alongside the Liberal Democrats and Labour, and of Castle Morpeth Council as part of an all-party administration.

The Green Party of England and Wales had one member of the (unelected) House of Lords, the Upper Chamber of Parliament, Lord Beaumont of Whitley, who died in 2008.

According to MORI, Green issues are currently rated as importantly as during the Green Party's last high point in the late 1980s. The party currently has record local candidate numbers and high electoral support.

The party held its first-ever leadership election in September 2008. Caroline Lucas was elected Leader, and Adrian Ramsay Deputy Leader.


Oxfordshire Green Party holds a Green Fair in the Town Hall during Christmastime every year for more than a quarter century.

Oxfordshire Green Party holds a Green Fair in the Town Hall during Christmastime every year for more than a quarter century.

Policy

The Green Party was founded to counter what it sees as threats to the environment, and that remains its main focus. Like other parties, it produces a new manifesto for each election, but it also maintains a long-term strategy known as the Manifesto for a Sustainable Society (MfSS). This document contains the Philosophical Basis and a statement of the Core Values of the party, as well as detailed policies on a range of issues. The document is around 124,520 words long.

Animal welfare, farming and food

The Green Party is opposed to all animal experiments and believes in replacing them with non-animal alternatives. It also wants to end factory farming. The party seeks to ban live exports, genetic manipulation, patenting of animals, bloodsports, badger-baiting, circuses, zoos and fur products.

It supports the subsidisation of organic farming in small free-range units and want to phase out all forms of intensive farming, including fish farms. The party is against the production and importation of genetically-modified (GM) foods. It supports Fair Trade over free trade. It encourages a reduction in the consumption of meat, and promotes "more healthy and humane" foods.

Climate change

The Green Party has a twelve-point plan to deal with climate change. It supports the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol but does not see that as anything more than a first step. It is strongly behind the 'Contraction and Convergence' model as a method of reducing carbon emissions. Within Britain it supports tradable carbon quotas. A proportion of the quotas would be distributed on a per-head basis. The remainder would be sold to firms and organizations. The quotas would be reduced on a year-by-year basis in line with the 'Contraction and Convergence' model.

The party has set a goal of 90% carbon dioxide emissions reductions by 2050. It proposes scrapping the national roadbuilding programme and investing the estimated £30bn from the programme in green transport. It wishes to end the £9bn annual tax break to the aviation industry by 2010 and to pass the Air Traffic Emissions Reduction Bill, aiming for 50% CO2 reductions in aviation by 2050. The party is strongly opposed to the use of nuclear energy because it believes it is too expensive and too much of security risk, and that it uses huge amounts of carbon dioxide in the extraction and production process, and is therefore an unsuitable response to climate change.

Drugs

The Green Party believes that the prohibition of drugs does not work. It supports the legalisation of the possession, trade and cultivation of cannabis. It would decriminalise small-scale possession of recreational drugs like ecstasy and gradually move towards the legalisation of all recreational drugs. It hopes that this would "take the drug trade out of criminal control and place it within a regulated and controlled legal environment". The party has run a Green Party Drugs Group Website to promote research into ending addiction and ensuring the safe use of recreational drugs. The party wants to ban advertising or sponsorship by alcohol and tobacco firms.

Economy

Like many Green parties, the Green Party of England and Wales does not consider economic growth to be the only or the best indicator of progress, as it sees endless growth as incompatible with a planet of finite resources. It is against mass consumption and destructive consumer lifestyles and hopes to encourage an economy built on sustainability and long-term use.

The party supports economic localisation on grounds of environmental concern, social justice and democracy, as detailed in Green Alternatives to Globalisation: A Manifesto, by Dr. Caroline Lucas, MEP, currently leader of the party and the late Dr. Mike Woodin, former Principal Speaker of the party. This includes helping local businesses through subsidies and import tariffs, "democratisation" of the banking system with the creation of a "network of publicly owned community banks", and encouragement of informal economies in local areas.

The Green Party seeks to address the "poverty trap" by introducing a "Citizen's Income" (also known as a Citizen's Dividend and similar to the Basic Income), an unconditional, non-means-tested, weekly payment made to every citizen whether they are working or not. This would replace benefits such as Job Seeker's Allowance, as well as replacing personal tax-free allowances. The party hopes that this would ensure that people can take a job and come off benefits without falling into the poverty trap, and make working part-time or becoming self-employed easier by eliminating the poverty trap. Clive Lord, a member of the Green Party of England and Wales, published A Citizen's Income, a book that sets out how to fund the Citizen's Income with an increase to the top bracket of Income Tax. Lord suggests that the Citizen's Income is a means by which to achieve prosperity within a zero-growth economy.

On taxation, the Green Party believes in increasing the top rate of income tax to make the system more redistributive. It is in favour of a more progressive system of corporation tax to encourage small businesses over large corporations. It supports eco-taxes, such as those on packaging and carbon emissions, along the lines of the 'polluter pays' principle. Also, the party wants an increase in trade union rights and the renationalisation of the railways and other public utilities.

Europe

The party is moderately Eurosceptic but supports UK membership of the European Union subject to democratic reform. It opposes the euro on economic localisation and democracy grounds, and was also against the proposed EU constitution for similar reasons. It favours the disbandment of NATO and its replacement by a well-resourced OSCE.

Government

The Green Party wants "to modernise and decentralise" the current governmental system in England and Wales. It wants to end the place of the monarchy in the British constitution and replace the House of Lords with an elected second chamber. The party supports elected Regional Assemblies in England and the creation of more Parish and Community Councils. On issues of voting, the Green Party is campaigning to introduce Proportional Representation (specifically the Additional Member System (AMS) used in Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament elections) and reduce the voting age to 16.

It is usually to be found on the civil liberties side of the "liberties versus security" debate, and opposes national ID cards and New Labour's anti-terror legislation. It is strongly opposed to measures like the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act.

International issues

The Green Party would increase funding to and reform the United Nations by abolishing the right of veto and democratising the UN Security Council. It would ban arms exports and the use of depleted-uranium-tipped shells. On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the party believes in boycotting Israel until it complies with the 80 UN resolutions it is defying, whilst urging Palestinians "not to perpetuate the cycle of violence".

The party opposed the Iraq War, both prior to, during, and after the US-led invasion. It has claimed that it did so "on principle", criticising the Liberal Democrats for "only opposing the war because no second UN Resolution was obtained". Previously, the party had opposed the Kosovo War – a rare stance in Britain. Although it supported "self-determination" for the Kosovo Albanians, it did not support independence for Kosovo, and stated that the media had ignored the crimes of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

The Green Party supports the right to asylum and "seeks to change negative attitudes and stereotypes associated with refugees". The party concentrates on the causes of immigration, aiming "to alleviate problems caused by war, the arms trade, environmental devastation, past colonial actions and human-rights abuses".

Organisation

The Green Party meets to vote on issues of organisation and policy at bi-annual Party Conferences (the Spring Conference and Autumn Conference). It is bound by a Constitution, which can be amended only by a two-thirds majority vote at one of these Conferences; policy motions need only a simple majority (more than 50%).

Leadership and Principal Speakers

The Green Party has in the past consciously chosen not to have a single leader for ideological reasons; its organisation provided for two Principal Speakers, a male and female Principal Speaker, who sit but do not vote on the party's Executive (GPEx). However, a referendum of the party membership in 2007 on the question of creating a Leader and Deputy Leader (or, if candidates choose to run together and are gender balanced, Co-Leaders without a Deputy Leader), who would be elected every two years (instead of annually) and able to vote on GPEx, passed by 73%.

The final Principal Speakers were Dr Caroline Lucas MEP (who succeeded Siân Berry in October 2007), and Dr Derek Wall, who succeeded Keith Taylor, a councillor in Brighton & Hove, in November 2006 (Taylor had been elected in 2004 after the death of Dr. Mike Woodin). The roles of Principal Speaker no longer exist and Dr Caroline Lucas MEP is currently the party leader.

Leadership election

The declared candidates in the leadership election were Caroline Lucas and Ashley Gunstock for the post of Leader and Adrian Ramsay for the post of Deputy Leader. Nominations closed on 31 July and the result was declared at the Autumn Conference on Friday 5 September.

Green Party conference, 2004

Executive

The national Green Party Executive (GPEx) consists of the following positions:

Green Party of England and Wales Executive (GPEx)

Leader Caroline Lucas MEP


Deputy Leader Cllr. Adrian Ramsay

Chair James Humphreys

Campaigns Co-ordinator Tom Chance

Elections Co-ordinator Chris Haine

Equality and Diversity Co-ordinator Maya de Souza

External Communications Co-ordinator Tracy Dighton-Brown
Finance Co-ordinator Khalid Hussenbux and Joe Hulm (as a job share)
Internal Communications Co-ordinator Natalie Bennett
International Co-ordinator Michael Coffey
Local Party Support Co-ordinator Jon Lucas
Management Co-ordinator Tony Cooper
Policy Development Co-ordinator Brian Heatley and Matt Follett (as a job share)
Publications Co-ordinator Polly Lane

For the purposes of its registration with the Electoral Commission, the party used to designate the Chair of the Executive as the Leader of the party. This is currently James Humphreys, former head of Corporate Communications at 10 Downing Street. A previous Chair, Hugo Charlton (2003 to 2005), was removed from the post after nominating himself for a House of Lords peerage on behalf of the party without following the party's agreed selection procedure. Subsequently Cllr. Jenny Jones, AM, was elected to be the party's nominee in the event of the party again being asked, but this was too late for the current round.

The party's Leader and Deputy Leader are elected every two years by a postal ballot of all party members. All other GPEx positions are elected annually by postal ballot or by a vote at Conference (depending on the number of candidates). To become a member of the Executive, the candidate must have been a member of the party for at least two years (or if the candidate has been a member for one complete year preceding the date of close of nominations, their nomination will be allowed if it is supported by a majority of Green Party Regional Council (GPRC) members in attendance at a quorate official GPRC meeting).

Members of GPEx are individually responsible for every action taken within their area of responsibility (except decisions taken collectively within GPEx itself). GPEx meets at least once every six weeks, and whenever a meeting is necessary.

The Executive has the power to create whatever committees and posts "it considers necessary for the efficient conduct of its business". It appoints a Panel of Speakers as spokespeople for policy areas, a Treasurer and the National Election Agent. GPEx is responsible for implementing the decisions made at Conferences, and controlling expenditure and fundraising.

In the party's Autumn Conference of 2008, members elected the first Equality and Diversity Co-ordinator.

Regional Council

The Green Party Regional Council (GPRC) is a body that coordinates discussions between Regional Green Parties. It supports the Executive (GPEx) and is responsible for interim policy statements between Conferences and enforcing constitutional procedures.

Each Regional Green Party elects two members by postal ballot to be sent to the GPRC. These delegates' terms last two years before re-election. GPRC meets at least four times a year. The Council elects male and female Co-Chairs and a Secretary. GPEx members are often required to give reports on their area of responsibility to the GPRC; the GPRC also has the power to recall any member of GPEx (by a two-thirds majority vote), who is then suspended until a re-election for the post is held; similarly, if GPEx suspends one of its own members, GPRC has the authority to decide whether that member should be reinstated or not (again, by a two-thirds majority vote).

Conferences

The Green Party of England and Wales holds a Spring and Autumn Conference every year. Conferences are governed by the Constitution and Standing Orders, and feature votes on policy and organisational matters. The Autumn Conference is the party's "supreme forum", with elections to GPEx, committees and other bodies; the Conference held in the Spring, although having the same powers as the Autumn Conference on policy and organisational votes, holds elections only for vacant posts and can have its priorities decided by the preceding Autumn Conference. The conference itself is organised by Conferences Committee, but the Standing Order Committee (SOC) is responsible for interpreting the Constitution and arranging the order of business.

The Green Party Conference features fringes, talks and plenary sessions. The agenda for plenary sessions is usually:

Section A - Reports from various bodies within the party, including SOC, GPEx, GPRC and others
Section B - Policy Voting Papers (a motion, either submitted by members or chosen by the Policy Committee, which submits a section of the Manifesto for a Sustainable Society (MfSS) for review and amendments, which are then voted on)
Section C - Policy Motions (motions from members on different sections of the MfSS, but also including those which express a policy position without altering the MfSS, and Enabling Motions, which start the process of building policy on a specified area)
Section D - Organisational Motions (motions from members that amend the Constitution)
Policymaking within the GPEW is a long process involving consultation with various bodies and individuals. The party has released leaflets and books on how to properly amend policy.

The Constitution

The Constitution of the Green Party of England and Wales governs all of the party's activities, from the selection of election candidates by local parties, to nominations for the House of Lords, to the conduct of GPEx and so on. The Constitution stresses "openness, accountability and confidentiality" in its decision-making guidelines. It can be amended only by a two-thirds majority vote at a Conference or by a two-thirds majority in a ballot of the membership.

Status of the Wales Green Party

Unlike any other regional party within the Green Party, the Wales Green Party (WGP) (Plaid Werdd Cymru in Welsh) is a "semi-autonomous regional party" within the GPEW. It has greater control over its finances, and produces its own manifesto and newsletters. Wales Green Party members are automatically members of the Green Party of England and Wales.

Also differently from the full party, the Wales Green Party (and the North West region of England) elects a Principal Speaker who may refer to themselves as the 'Leader' of the Wales Green Party, although, like the Green Party of England and Wales's former Principal Speakers, they have no powers of leadership. The current leader of the Wales Green Party is Leila Kiersch.

Young Greens

The youth wing of the Green Party, the Young Greens (of England and Wales), have developed independently from around 2002. The Young Greens have their own Constitution, National Committee, campaigns and meetings, and have become an active presence at Green Party Conferences and election campaigns. There are now many Young Greens groups on UK university, college and higher-education institution campuses. Several Green Party Councillors are Young Greens, as are some members of GPEx and other internal party organs.

Membership and finances

According to 2007 accounts filed with the Electoral Commission, the party had a membership of 7,441 (an increase of 422 on the previous year) at year-end and had an income of £366,525 with expenditure of £394,887.

Groups within the Party

Several groups are active within the party. These include groups designed to address certain areas of policy or representation, including the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Group, the Trade Union Group, the Drugs Group (on drugs policy and research), the Monetary Reform Policy Working Group, and others. The centrist faction known as Green 2000 sought to achieve a Green Party government by the year 2000; the group fell apart in the early 1990s. Green Left represent anti-capitalists and eco-socialists in the party who want to engage with the broader Left in the UK and attract Left-wing activists to the Green Party

Green Party of England and Wales

Leader Caroline Lucas MEP
Founded 1973
Headquarters 1a Waterlow Road
London N19 5NJ
Ideology Green politics,
Social Democracy,
British republicanism, Environmentalism.
International affiliation Global Greens
European affiliation European Green Party
European Parliament Group Greens-EFA
Official colours Green

Website

http://www.greenparty.org.uk/

Thatcherism

By Chris Kitchen, NUM National & Yorkshire Area Secretary

DEDICATED FOLLOWERS OF THATCHER!

A "systemic" collapse of world markets is how the capitalist crisis has been described and across the world disciples and adherents to the free market philosophy have had to abandon their ideological monetary madness.

Margaret Thatcher was a rabid adherent to this ideology. It was her belief that governments should never interfere in the economy, an ideological position known as liaises faire or unfettered free market economics.

It is this crazy ideology, that still persists, that led to the 1984/85 Miners' Strike, the rundown of Britain's deep-mined coal industry, the destruction of our industrial base and an orgy of privatisation which caused even former Tory Prime Minister, Harold McMillan to warn against selling off "the family silver".

It has also led to an unequal society worshiping the idea that "greed is good" causing misery and poverty on the one hand and obscene "fat cat" wealth on the other.

The right wing neo-cons in America follow the principles of the unfettered free market with what amounts to a fundamental, almost religious, belief and it has to be said that New Labour, first under Tony Blair and then Gordon Brown bought into the dogma.

The privatisation of the railways, coal mines, telecommunications, water, gas, electricity generation, great swathes of the National Health Service along with the threat to Royal Mail and the general move away from public ownership are all symptoms of the extreme adherence to the free market.

In a free market economy the government does not govern it withdraws to the sidelines in the belief that the market is the answer to all problems. To follow its latter-day high priestess Margaret Thatcher - the state, it is said, has no role to play in the economy.

It is only two years ago that Gordon Brown. speaking at the TUC Conference, was singing the praises of global capitalism and free markets now he doesn't hesitate to blame the global economy for all our economic ills.

The rich fat cats have been, and still are. allowed massive wage increases, bonuses and pension pots while the government insists on pay restraint for the rest of us.

Suddenly everything has changed. Taxpayers have to sink trillions into banks all across the globe. In Britain HBOS, Northern Rock, Bradford and Bingley, Lloyds TSB along with banks in Europe and America are being bailed out by taxpayers' money in a desperate attempt to save a system that has only ever worked to benefit the few and against the interests of ordinary hard working people.

Banks have gone bust, stock markets are in turmoil, gas, electricity and petrol prices have hit the stratosphere, people's hard earned savings are in jeopardy and with the stock markets disappearing into a black hole everyone's pensions will be hard hit. People who only a year ago were preparing for retirement after a lifetime of hard work have seen their pension pots more than halved by the unrestricted casino economy in which we live.

To make this madness more difficult to stomach these compulsive gamblers, who gamble with other people's money - yours and mine - will walk away with millions of pounds in salaries, bonuses, share options and massive pension pots. They have been on a one-way-bet. When their gambling pays off they are referred to as "experts" receiving fat cat pay but when the gamble goes wrong the rest of us pick up the gambling bills.

Now we are witnessing a mad scramble to save this lunatic system and start the cycle of gambling at our expense all over again, and while those who run the system are paid millions of pounds the rest of us live in a low-wage economy as ordinary hard working people are forced to supplement their pay by borrowing on credit cards and running up debt and that is where the so called "credit crunch" will hit the hardest, but the people who got us into this mess and who have supported and benefited from the system are the very people being appointed to sort it out.

Peter Mandelson has been appointed by Gordon Brown as some kind of economic guru, but Mandelson is a Tory, yes, he masquerades as "New Labour", he invented the name to distance Labour from any hint of being a socialist party, he is, and has been, part of the problem, a Thatcher worshiper who wines and dines with the super-rich and his Tory friends on their luxury yachts where he has no difficulty forgetting the Labour heartlands and ordinary working class people who propelled him to power, he just wants to mend the broken system on the backs of working people everywhere so that he and his rich friends can continue as normal and do it all again. One such friend of Mandelson's is Tony Blair former Prime Minister and consultant to the banking group J P Morgan.

Unless and until we discard the rotten Victorian system which Thatcher returned us to in the 1980s and create a new kind of society based on the socialist principles espoused by our union throughout its history we are destined to repeat the mistakes of the past all over again.

By Chris Kitchen
NUM National & Yorkshire Area Secretary

The Great Credit Card Contrick!

The Great Credit Card Contrick!

THE con-trick of easy credit made available over the past decade or so by way of a plethora of credit cards has hidden the real problem that working people face in their daily lives. It is so easy to blame people for getting into debt as a result of using that little plastic card they have in their pockets or handbags but in reality they camouflage the low-wage economy in which we live.

Low wages have been subsidised by credit card borrowing which has had a number of major effects - people have subsidised their own wages, increasing profits and therefore massive pay awards to the rich - people's real incomes have been disguised through the ability to obtain easy credit and consumer spending in the high street continued to rise regardless of the contradictions posed by this Alice in Wonderland economic system which was eventually bound to collapse.

Furthermore, working people have had to pay back that part of their income that they have had to borrow, and pay it back with interest. It is this simple low wages easy credit contrick that has fuelled massive profits for a few and poverty, debt and misery for many.

Now people are left with massive debts, low wages or unemployment as the credit driven economy goes bust, of course, people's real incomes could never continue to subsidise their borrowed income indefinitely. We must not make the mistake of blaming ordinary hard working people for getting into this debt because that excuses the real culprits behind the financial collapse.

Another element to the con-trick is to have us believe that it is only something called the sub-prime market in America that is to blame. The so called "credit crunch" is much more about the whole system of allowing credit to finance low wages or meagre incomes in terms of pensions or benefits.

Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England made this very point talking to so-called business leaders in Leeds:

"So, taken together," he said, "the combination of a squeeze on real take-home pay -and a decline in the availability of credit poses the risk of a sharp and prolonged slowdown in domestic demand."

Not that he is worried about low wages only the effect that a slowdown in domestic demand caused by credit restrictions will have on profits.

The answer is not for the poor to subsidise the rich with billions of pounds in handouts to this bunch of scroungers who run the banks. The answer is the end of the low-wage economy and credit card dependency but that, as Mervyn King recognises, would hit the pockets and profits of the fat cats that created this mess.

Another essential ingredient that was needed to carry out the contrick was the shackling of trade unions by repressive laws to stop them representing and fighting for fair wages for their members. It is time that those antitrade union laws were repealed. It is not the job of trade unions to save the fat cats at the expense of working people and their families.

WILDCAT BANKERS

Politicians from all three main parties, and indeed all around the world, are expressing their disgust at the risk averse wildcat gambling of the bankers. Nick Leeson, who brought down the Barings bank in 1995 by his irresponsible gambling, was chased around the world arrested and sentenced to six and a half years imprisonment.

Those who have caused the unprecedented collapse of the world's banking system have so far escaped without charge and remain at large to do the same thing again with billions of pounds of our money financing their obscene pension pots.

The simple answer is to take the banks into public ownership instead of handing over billions and billions of pounds of our money so that they can say "Oh thanks" and then just run off with it.

RMT CLASHES WITH THE BNP IN CARLISLE!

Members of RMT clashed on saturday with members of the BNP in Carlisle as they were out campaigning for RMT-backed No2EU-Yes to Democracy left-wing coalition which is contesting seats across the UK in next months Euro elections.

. Police were called after the BNP reacted with hostility to No2EU campaigners handing out leaflets in close proximity to the regular BNP street stall in Carlisle. In an hour long standoff RMT/No2EU campaigners refused to be moved on by the BNP.

Shoppers told the No2 EU campaigners that they were delighted that at last someone had had the courage to stand up to the BNP on the streets of Carlisle.

ASLEF activist and No2EU candidate John Metcalfe said:

"The BNP have been leafletting Carlisle City Centre for months and obviously didn't take kindly to being exposed for the fascists that they are by our campaign. They were openly agressive and hostile and it didn't take long before the mask slipped and they started shouting fascist slogans."

Craig Johnston, from RMT Executive and another member of the No2EU slate, added:

"I have lived and worked in and loved the city of Carlisle for 45 years. No one is going to intimidate and harass me off the streets of my home town."

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary and convenor of No2EU, said:

"RMT members and No2EU supporters will not bow to intimidation from the BNP in Carlisle or anywhere else in the country. What today's incident proves is that the BNP are worried about the socialist message of No2EU and it's appeal to voters who are sick of the political elite in the UK and in the EU. No2EU is the only left-wing group challenging the BNP on the streets for the votes of the angry and the disaffected on June 4th. We will be stepping up our campaign in the coming weeks and offering voters a socialist alternative to the poison and hatred of the far right."

Repsonse that a brother had from his MP following May the 5th

The following is an email he received on the 6th of May, the day after.

Dear Robert,

Thank you for your green card yesterday and for your e-mail.

Unfortunately, I did not get your green card until 5.30pm and when I did I checked to see if you had contacted me previously and uncovered your e-mail which had got caught in the House of Commons spam filter and therefore had not come to my attention.

I am sorry therefore that I wasn't able to meet you as I would have liked to have done so.

However, this morning I have written to the Rail Minister on your behalf and have sent a copy of my letter in the post to you. As soon as I receive a reply I will send it on to you straight away.

Thank you again for trying to contact me. I am sorry that I wasn't there to see you, but hopefully your concerns will land on the Minister's desk for his consideration.

Best wishes,

Philip

Philip Hollobone MP
Member of Parliament for the Kettering Constituency
House of Commons
LONDON SW1A 0AA
Tels: 01536 414715 / 020 7219 8373 / 07979 850126
E-mail: hollobonep@parliament.uk

Below is a copy of the letter mentioned in the above email, this was received by our brother on the 9th of May, click on it to enlarge it.

No 2 Eu Yes to Democracy!

The People's Charter

A fair economy for a fairer Britain

Take the leading banking, insurance and mortgage industries fully into democratic public ownership run for the benefit of all. Regain control of the Bank of England and keep interest rates low. Tightly regulate the City markets to facilitate lending and to stop speculation and takeovers against the public interest. Ban hedge funds, raids on pension funds, asset-stripping and corporate tax loopholes. Restructure the tax system so big business and the wealthy pay more and ordinary people pay less.

More and better jobs

Existing jobs must be protected. Public and private investment must create new jobs paying decent money. In particular in manufacturing, construction and green technology. More jobs mean more spending power to stimulate the economy, increased tax revenue and fewer people on benefit. Build full employment. Reduce hours, not pay, to create more jobs. Raise the minimum wage to half national median earnings and end the lower rate for young workers.

Decent homes for all

Stop the repossessions and keep people in their homes. Offer 'no interest' loans. Control rents. We need 3 million new homes. Give local government the power and money to build and renovate affordable quality homes and buy empty ones, ending the housing shortage, and creating jobs.

Protect and improve our public services - no cuts

Save public money: bring energy, transport, water, post and telecommunications back and keep post in public ownership. End corporate profiteering in health, education, social and other public services. Stop the EU privatisation Directives.

Fairness and Justice

Free heating and transport for every pensioner. Link state pensions and benefits to average earnings. Protect pension schemes and restore the lost value of private pensions. End child poverty by increasing child benefits and tax credits and providing free nurseries and crèches. Enforce equal pay for women. End racism and discrimination in all its forms. No scape-goating of migrant workers. Invest in young people and give them a real stake in the future. Provide youth, community, arts and cultural centres, sports facilities, and clubs for all. Guarantee training, apprenticeships and education with grants for everyone and no fees. Restore union rights to allow them the freedom to fight the crisis and to protect workers.

Build a secure and sustainable future for all

End the cost of war in blood and money. Bring our troops home. Don't waste £billions on a new generation of nuclear weapons. And beyond the current economic disaster, climate change threatens us all. Our future must be based on massive investment for a greener, safer world now. Debt is crushing millions of people forcing them to move and producing war, famine and misery. Get rid of the debt economy in Britain and cancel the debts of the poor of the planet. A better future for all the people of the world.

The Charter was launched on March 11th 2009 at the House of Commons. We want to build a movement for change. We need a million signatures to show we mean business. Together we can get the changes we need. Can we do it? Yes we can!

To sign up to it online and find out more, click on the link below.

http://www.thepeoplescharter.com/


A short video clip of the launch of the Peoples Charter.

June the 4th, European Elections

Saying no to the Lisbon treaty

The Lisbon Treaty is the renamed European Union constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.
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The Lisbon Treaty turns the EU into a state in its own right and gives the bloc its own legal identity. The unaccountable European Court of Justice, an EU institution, would effectively become the ‘supreme court’ of the EU.

Under the treaty, the unelected EU commission would propose all EU law which would then be imposed on member states by the council of ministers mostly on the basis of qualified majority voting.

The treaty also contains a so-called ‘Paseralle clause’ which would allow the EU to give itself more powers as it sees fit without the need for any more treaties.

The Labour government was elected in 2005 on a manifesto promising a referendum on the European Union constitution, which has now been rehashed as the Lisbon Treaty.

The House of Commons’ European Scrutiny Committee even described the Lisbon Treaty as: “substantially equivalent” to the EU Constitution and former French President Giscard D'Estaing even told us the treaty was a con.

“Public opinion will be led to adopt, without knowing it, the proposals that we dare not present to them directly. “All the earlier proposals will be in the new text, but will be hidden and disguised in some way," he said.

As part of this strategy, Gordon Brown’s government reneged on Labour’s manifesto promise to hold a referendum and instead forced the treaty through parliament with Liberal Democrat and Tory help.

The Irish electorate has also been told that they must vote for a second time on the Lisbon Treaty by October 2009 having voted to reject it in 2008. Why? Because EU and Irish politicians have decided Irish voters’ must be overruled.

Politicians across Europe hold their electorates in contempt: refusing to hold a referendum on the Treaty despite voters in France, the Netherlands and Ireland rejecting their plans for an undemocratic, neo-liberal superstate.

Vote No2EU - Yes to Democracy to oppose the Lisbon Treaty and defend democracy across Europe.
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Stand up for workers’ rights

The social dumping of exploited foreign workers in Britain is being carried out under EU rules demanding the “free movement of capital, goods, services and labour” within the EU. Successive EU Directives and European Court of Justice decisions have also been used to attack trade union collective bargaining, the right to strike and workers’ pay and conditions.

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The Single European Market, created by the Tory government with the Single European Act in 1987, creates a pool of working people to be exploited and treated no better than a commodity like a tin of beans. These EU rules allow employers to escape from national collective bargaining and employment legislation and impose lower wages and worse working conditions, creating a “race to the bottom”.

These EU rules, which no-one asked for, have been behind some of the most bitter industrial disputes in recent years, like the Irish Ferries dispute, the strike of Gate Gourmet workers at Heathrow, and the Lindsey oil refinery workers’ strike.

The European Court of Justice has even decreed in the Laval and Viking cases that collective agreements that protect workers’ conditions contravene the ‘free movement’ of labour in the single market.

The recent protests at Lindsey, supported by workers across Britain, were not against foreign workers or xenophobic. These workers were simply defending the fundamental right to work under union agreements – a right not given by EU directives or treaties.

The so-called ‘free movement’ of labour is part of the development of a deeply racist Fortress Europe which would increasingly exclude people from outside the EU and undermine wages and working conditions inside the bloc.

To ferry workers across Europe to carry out jobs that local workers can be trained to perform is an environmental, economic and social nonsense.

If ‘food-miles’ represent an unacceptably large carbon footprint, then ‘labour-miles’ and shunting human beings around Europe in the pursuit of profit is even more damaging.
In the 1980s recession Tory minister Norman Tebbit famously told the unemployed to ‘get on their bikes’ to look for work. Nowwell-shod government ministers advise workers in Britain ‘to get on a plane’ and find work elsewhere in the EU!

Vote No2EU - Yes to Democracy to resist the EU turning human beings into commodities to be shunted around Europe while local workers are excluded from being able to provide for their families.
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Reject the EU gravy train

No2EU -Yes to Democracy will not sit in the European parliament. If elected our candidates will only nominally hold the title MEP and will not board the notorious EU gravy train.

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The so-called European ‘parliament’ is an expensive fraud which has no law-making or parliamentary powers. All EU laws are proposed by another EU institution, the unelected European Commission, which is heavily influenced by corporate and big business lobbyists.

A recent report showed that MEPs can make over one million pounds from a single five-year term by claiming various allowances and even for assistants for whom no record exists. The pay of British MEPs’ will rise by even more after Junes election.

While in the real world banks go under, shares nosedive and hundreds of thousands of workers lose their jobs, EU elites continue to enrich themselves at the taxpayers' expense. If you vote No2EU - Yes to Democracy we will continue to campaign against the Lisbon Treaty and wasteful and corrupt EU institutions and demand the repatriation of democratic powers to member states.

Vote No2EU - Yes to Democracy to protest against self-serving and well-heeled political elites that serve EU institutions which impose laws on over 500 million European citizens without their consent.
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Keep your public services public

The Lisbon Treaty and the EU’s privatisation agenda represent a significant threat to working class communities and to the services we all rely on.

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The renamed EU consttituion forces governments to hand public services over to private corporations – that means handing fat cats control of railways, schools, postal services, energy and even social services across Europe.

Under Article III-147 of the EU Constitution: “A European framework law shall establish measures to achieve the liberalisation of a specific service”. That provision remains in the Lisbon Treaty.

This commitment to ‘free competition’ enshrined in successive EU treaties was the main reason that Tories originally supported the EU. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher signed the Single European Act in 1986 to establish a single European market and John Major agreed the Maastricht Treaty, which created the Euro, the European Central Bank and tied European economies into a ‘Growth and Stability Pact’ that squeezes public investment in public services.
The current economic crisis was created by these discredited neo-liberal policies yet, under the Lisbon Treaty, they become constitutional goals. We should be defending public services in Britain not allowing bankers and eurocrats take them over in order to make money for big business in Europe.

Vote No2EU - Yes to Democracy to defend public services such as Post Offices and the NHS and to renationalise our railways and develop manufacturing in Britain.
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Vote to keep out the BNP
The main political parties’ support for the turning over of major legal, economic and political powers to unelected and remote EU institutions has alienated millions of people from politics and has played into the hands of the far right.

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The growing cynicism created by politicians is leading to a rise in support for far-right, fascist parties such as the British National Party.

Yet, the BNP has no answers. They peddle hate and seek to undermine organisations that working people rely on to protect them like trade unions.

The BNP claims to oppose the European Union but its leader, who denies the holocaust took place, can’t wait to get on the gravy train and link up with other fascist parties from Italy and France in the European parliament.

Vote No2EU - Yes to Democracy to oppose the BNP and resist the threat to exploit the current economic crisis to promote racist political ends.
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The economic crisis and the EU
In efforts to resolve the finanical crisis a recapitalisation of banks has taken place in EU Member States using taxpayers’ money. The Hungarian government has been helped out by the IMF to the tune of £11.2 billion.

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EU member states in eastern and central Europe are in dire economic circumstances. Latvia now has an IMF loan of £1.7 billion. Ireland, Greece, Portugal and other member states have economic problems and in all these eurozone countries there is growing unemployment and related social problems.

All this is opposite to the criteria and rules of the EU Growth and Stability Pact. Hungary and Latvia were not helped by the euro. All this shows that the Pact has been shredded and the euro system has failed.

The euro is controlled by the European Central Bank (ECB) which dictates interest and exchange rates. These are two key levers which should instead be used by national governments to control their economies. Britain is in the penultimate stage to join the euro and has also carried out the criteria.

By obeying the strict criteria of the euro considerable damage has been done to the public sector. Control of economies in the eurozone is exercised by the EU Commission, Council of Ministers and ECB directly over national interests. The crisis is being used as an excuse to press for complete ratification of the Lisbon Treaty which would impose the euro on all member states.

Leading Europhiles like Denis MacShane and others claim that Britain should join the euro to help resolve the fiscal crisis. Ireland is being pressed to ratify the EU Constitution.
Cuts in public sector spending and the forcing down of wages continues and will worsen in any recession and be used to resolve the problems of bankers whilst workers are asked to tighten their belts.

Nation states with the right to self-determination and their governments are the only institutions that can control the movement of big capital and clip the wings of the trans-national corporations and banks. This means democratic control of the major banks, including the Bank of England, and full public ownership and democratic accountability of railways, postal services, NHS, and the energy industry.

To revitalise the economy, Britain must return to creating wealth based especially in manufacturing, hi-tech and trade across the world.

An end must be made to the dependence on service industries especially the financial sector. To return to an economy based on manufacturing requires massive investment and where appropriate protection of home industries. It is the only way to ensure jobs and a decent safe future for the peoples of Britain.

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The Lisbon Treaty further militarises the EU

One of the articles of the Constitution allows for the death penalty to be introduced "in time of war or of imminent threat of war".

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The Lisbon Treaty certainly gives plenty of scope for conflict. Put bluntly, it develops an armed wing for the EU, complete with its own military-industrial complex, which will fight resource wars in the interests of the biggest European military powers, namely Britain, France and Germany.

Moreover, Tony Blair's foreign policy guru Robert Cooper openly promotes a new form of direct European military colonialism. He claims that this new imperialism will require us to get used to "double standards". "When dealing with old-fashioned states outside the postmodern continent of Europe, we need to revert to the rougher methods of an earlier era - force, pre-emptive attack, deception, whatever is necessary to deal with those who still live in the nineteenth century world of every state for itself," he says.

For Brussels this means developing an EU rapid reaction force that will carry out military operations in the interests of "Europe". EU Chief of military staff Lieutenant General Rainer Schuwirth insists for that to develop "national governments have to give away their authority over their army" and EU must be "deepened", as envisaged within the renamed EU constitution.

If brought into force, the constitution will demand that member states "actively, unreservedly and loyally" support a single foreign and military policy. This power is, of course, one of the major attributes of a state, along with a head of state, a single currency and a framework of law. The constitution provides for all these attributes despite the fact there has been no popular call for them to exist at all.

The Lisbon Treaty also formally ends the military neutrality of Ireland, Denmark, Sweden and Austria, also without asking the citizens of those states. The text replaces the Nice Treaty provision that the progressive framing of a common defence policy "might lead to a common defence, should the European Council so decide" with the provision of the constitution that it "will lead to a common defence, when the European Council, acting unanimously, so decides".

Article 1.40 lays down that "before undertaking any action on the international scene each member state shall consult the others within the European Council or the Council," constitutionally precluding member states from conducting an independent foreign policy. The Lisbon Treaty does allow for sub-groups of states, ie the most powerful ones, to use EU institutions for closer military integration amongst themselves in a mechanism known as "structured cooperation".

The Lisbon Treaty does not require EU military actions to be in accordance with the United Nations Charter.

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Defend your civil liberties

Human rights organisations such as Statewatch and Liberty have consistently warned that the European Union is accumulating a vast range of powers that pose a threat to civil liberties across the continent of Europe.

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The Lisbon Treaty will continue this process by expanding the role of EU police force, Europol, whose agents have been granted immunity from prosecution.

The EU Arrest Warrant also enables the authorities to have individuals extradited from one member state to another with varying judicial standards without the need to provide evidence against the accused.

EU directives give state agencies the right to monitor all electronic traffic including data relating to e-mails and websites we visit, without a court order.

Article 108 of the EU treaty makes it an offence for an elected government, MP or MEP to in any way try to influence the deliberations of the European Central Bank, which manages the euro.

Article 52 of the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights attached to the Lisbon Treaty gives Brussels the right to suspend any human right if deemed in the 'general interest' of the EU.

These and other measures, taken together with the completely undemocratic structure of the EU, means that a system of Brussels-based government is taking shape which represents a huge threat to the basic freedoms of ordinary Europeans.

"The emerging EU state is indeed different to the national state, not just because it exercises cross-border powers, but rather because even traditional, often ineffective, liberal democratic means of control, scrutiny and accountability of state agencies and practices are not in place, nor is there any political will to introduce them"
Tony Bunyan, director of human rights group Statewatch

Vote NO2EU–Yes to Democracy to oppose the authoritarian system that EU political elites have been quietly working towards.

May the 5th 2009 RMT Rally at Westminster.

"People's Railway" Campaign Rally 05/05/09

Following the announcement by Network Rail on work bank deferral's, an extraordinary meeting was called and held at the RMT's headquarters at Unity House in Chalton Street in London. Union representatives from all of the renewals companies were present at the meeting.

RMT Headquarters Unity House, 39 Chalton Street, London, NW1 1JD

The main topic was how the union would respond to the announcement of a 28% cut in the work bank. By this stage 450 jobs were to go at Jarvis and 350 were going at Babcock, and that was just for starters.

Banners against the Lisbon Treaty and Job Cuts in London Transport adorning Unity House.

It was agreed that urgent action was required and sooner than later, it was announced that the union would be balloting all of its member's within the renewals companies on industrial action on this issue. And it was agreed to combined it with the existing campaign against rail privatisation, using what ever methods were available to publicise the plight of rail workers. A rally on the 5th of May was organised.

RMT activist's setting up banners in preparation for the rally.

The rally was due to start at around 1330, with participants forming up at "old Palace Yard" at Westminster at 1300.

Cardiff RMT activist's setting up banners in preparation for the rally.

From 1300 until about 1430 we noisily demonstrated, with horns, pacards, and flags. When demonstrator's got a positive indication from a member of the public, or a passing motorist it resulted in a flurry of horn blowing.

Demonstrator's at the Old Palace Yard forming up for the Rally.

Just after 1430, the rally moved of towards the visitor's entrance. Here we had to give up our placards, banners, and horns before entering. We all had to pass through the security screen, being photographed, then pass through metal detector's, personal effects passing through an xray machine. All before being finally admitted into parliament.

The visitor's entrance is near the base of the tower, with an access ramp leading down to the security suite where everyone had to pass through before being allowed into parliament.

From the security suite we made our way around to the main entrance of Westminster Hall. An imposing space, which certainly has a humbling feel, you can feel the weight of the centuries. We crossed to the far end and up the stairs turning left down a shortish corridor into the central lobby. We were in parliament proper.


Short video clip of Westminster Hall.

From the Central Lobby area, we made our way to Committee Room 14. Once everyone had filed in and were seated, a number a speakers addressed those that were gathered.

"The Gladstone Room" Committee Room 14.

Amongst notable figures there were Bob Crow General Secretary of the RMT, Mick Cash Assistant General Secretary of the RMT, Rt Hon John McDonald MP, Rt Hon Kelvin Hopkins MP for Luton North, Rt Hon Jim Dobbin MP for Heywood and Middleton, Rt Hon Alan Simpson MP for Nottingham South, and Stephen Joseph from the Campaign for Transport were just some.

Kelvin Hopkins

"It is time that industries like transport were brought back into the common ownership. Rather than continuing with privateers running the show and robbing the public of this country blind."

Jim Dobbin

"Rail jobs are green jobs! Transport in its many forms in this country accounts for something like twenty five percent of the UK's carbon dioxide emission's. Rail transport itself produces around only a third of the level of emission's that road haulage and private cars produce."

John McDanald

"Even after tkaing into account the difference in the value of money today as compared to twelve to fifteen years ago. It cost's four to five time's the amount of money to relay a mile of track now as it did under BR"

Alan Simpson

"Many of the companies within the Rail Industry are starting to actively seek to renegotiate their contracts, threatening that they will just walk away if they dont get more favourable terms. More and bigger subsidies from the Government, and the Taxpayer to bear more of the burden if things take a downturn. Rail Transport should be taken back into public ownership, it doesnt need to cost the taxpayer a penny. When the contracts, and franchises come up for rernewal, we just take them back."

Bob Crow

"Remember when you lobby your MP, that many MP's rediscover their political principles when it comes round to an election. But if they wont listen and deliver what the people want then its perhaps time that we set up a new political party that truely represents the working class people of this country, we did it once, and we can do it again. MP's ignore us at their peril, what goes around, comes around."


Committee Room 14

After the meeting in Committee Room 14 closed, everyone retired to the Central Lobby of Parliament to undertake the important business of lobbying their MP's. Those that hadn't already obtained an appointment to see their MP's, filled out Green cards to their MP's and had to wait to see if they were available.


Central Lobby.

Images of Westminster.