Sean’s sudden and untimely death has come as a shock to the family. On 21st Aug ‘08 he was arrested and restrained by Brixton police - he died very shortly after...Why?
For more information, visit: http://www.seanriggjusticeandchange.com
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Thursday, 9 July 2009
NUT bureaucrats pull plug on strike action
A graphic illustration of the trade union bureaucracy’s capacity for betrayal was seen earlier this week when the NUT’s Action Committee pulled the plug on official strike action due to be taken by the St Paul’s Way NUT group. The NUT group had been trying to secure strike action from the Union since the end of the Spring term when the Headteacher (acting on behalf of the school’s Interim Executive Board) had revealed a restructuring plan that contained a vicious attack on jobs and conditions, with over 20 jobs under threat.
These cuts were announced in the context of a generalised assault on both union organisation and comprehensive education. The NUT rep had been sacked at the end of December in a blatant act of victimisation, management bullying was rife and a restricted, increasingly vocational curriculum was being introduced. In addition, the IEB’s objective was to privatise the school by turning it into a Trust.
As soon as the plan was announced the NUT group called upon the Union to issue an immediate ballot for discontinuous strike action. This was a call that was made several times in various resolutions over the summer term. The national union, however, found pretext after pretext
for delaying the ballot. In the face of NUT inaction many members inevitably opted for individual solutions such as severance, early retirement or resigning.
The ballot was finally issued five weeks before the end of term. The result, though, was an impressive 91% yes vote for action on an 83% turnout. Despite this result and the obvious commitment to strike action shown by NUT members, the Union sought to limit action as much
as possible. Eventually it informed the Tower Hamlets Local Authority that there would be two days of strike action this term and two days in the Autumn.
Less than a week after this announcement the Action Committee recommended suspending all strike action! In doing so it claimed that the Local Authority was prepared to make a significant concession: it would delay by a term the issuing of redundancy notices. The Union had not saved members’ jobs but simply delayed the moment when they would be chopped!
It was left to Alex Kenny, left Executive member and also member of the Action Committee, to try to sell this thoroughly rotten deal to the membership at a meeting of the NUT group on Tuesday 7th July. Revealingly, he did not attempt to differentiate his position from that of bureaucrats like Tim Harrison and John Dixon and defended their recommendation to accept the Local Authority’s offer and call off action. He was, however, unable to convince a single person
amongst the 40 NUT members present at the meeting. Everyone who spoke rejected the offer as derisory and demanded that the strike action continue. Various speakers pointed out that if action was not taken this term, then even more NUT members, believing their Union would not
defend them, would leave the school. The result would be a broken NUT group whose ability to resist the creation of a Trust would be severely weakened. A motion reaffirming the NUT group’s commitment to strike action was taken and passed unanimously. The views of the membership could not have been clearer. Despite this, four hours later Alex Kenny informed the school’s NUT rep that the Action Committee, with complete bureaucratic disdain for members’ views, had abandoned strike action.
The situation at St Paul’s Way provides a clear illustration of the need for a radical ransformation of the NUT so that rank and file members, those whose jobs are on the line, decide when and how to fight, not the trade union bureaucrats (or their left apologists like Alex Kenny). It also makes it clear why it is necessary to take unofficial strike action: if the Union is refusing to sanction action, unofficial action is the only alternative to defeat redundancies and threats of privatisation in the form of trusts and academies. This is a lesson that has not been lost on the St Paul’s Way NUT group: at its meeting on Wednesday the group voted to take unofficial action on the 15/7/09 if the Action Committee has not reinstated the strike.
These cuts were announced in the context of a generalised assault on both union organisation and comprehensive education. The NUT rep had been sacked at the end of December in a blatant act of victimisation, management bullying was rife and a restricted, increasingly vocational curriculum was being introduced. In addition, the IEB’s objective was to privatise the school by turning it into a Trust.
As soon as the plan was announced the NUT group called upon the Union to issue an immediate ballot for discontinuous strike action. This was a call that was made several times in various resolutions over the summer term. The national union, however, found pretext after pretext
for delaying the ballot. In the face of NUT inaction many members inevitably opted for individual solutions such as severance, early retirement or resigning.
The ballot was finally issued five weeks before the end of term. The result, though, was an impressive 91% yes vote for action on an 83% turnout. Despite this result and the obvious commitment to strike action shown by NUT members, the Union sought to limit action as much
as possible. Eventually it informed the Tower Hamlets Local Authority that there would be two days of strike action this term and two days in the Autumn.
Less than a week after this announcement the Action Committee recommended suspending all strike action! In doing so it claimed that the Local Authority was prepared to make a significant concession: it would delay by a term the issuing of redundancy notices. The Union had not saved members’ jobs but simply delayed the moment when they would be chopped!
It was left to Alex Kenny, left Executive member and also member of the Action Committee, to try to sell this thoroughly rotten deal to the membership at a meeting of the NUT group on Tuesday 7th July. Revealingly, he did not attempt to differentiate his position from that of bureaucrats like Tim Harrison and John Dixon and defended their recommendation to accept the Local Authority’s offer and call off action. He was, however, unable to convince a single person
amongst the 40 NUT members present at the meeting. Everyone who spoke rejected the offer as derisory and demanded that the strike action continue. Various speakers pointed out that if action was not taken this term, then even more NUT members, believing their Union would not
defend them, would leave the school. The result would be a broken NUT group whose ability to resist the creation of a Trust would be severely weakened. A motion reaffirming the NUT group’s commitment to strike action was taken and passed unanimously. The views of the membership could not have been clearer. Despite this, four hours later Alex Kenny informed the school’s NUT rep that the Action Committee, with complete bureaucratic disdain for members’ views, had abandoned strike action.
The situation at St Paul’s Way provides a clear illustration of the need for a radical ransformation of the NUT so that rank and file members, those whose jobs are on the line, decide when and how to fight, not the trade union bureaucrats (or their left apologists like Alex Kenny). It also makes it clear why it is necessary to take unofficial strike action: if the Union is refusing to sanction action, unofficial action is the only alternative to defeat redundancies and threats of privatisation in the form of trusts and academies. This is a lesson that has not been lost on the St Paul’s Way NUT group: at its meeting on Wednesday the group voted to take unofficial action on the 15/7/09 if the Action Committee has not reinstated the strike.
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Support the campaign against privatisation of Ashmole Estate
Please support the campaign against privatisation of Ashmole estate.
DCH debates Metroplitan Housing Association, Ashmole Tenants Hall , Meadow Road
Meet Fentiman Arms Thursday 6pm June 25th for canvassing.
Residents meeting at 7pm.
Join the No to Transfer campaign – Canvassing and Postering Dates
Saturday June 27th meet 4pm Fentiman Arms
Sunday June 28th meet 4pm Fentiman Arms
Monday June 29th - first day of ballot - 6.30 pm Fentiman Arms
Tuesday June 30th 6.30 pm Fentiman Arms
- further dates will be announced as necessary.
Transfer is privatisation
Metropolitan Housing Association ‘says it’s not for profit’ but it borrows from banks and buys and sells homes on the private market, using tenant’s homes as security for borrowing. It’s very risky for tenants to become subject to the ups and downs of the private market and the instability of the banks.
Less security
Metropolitan say they will guarantee tenants the same rights that we get under a council ‘secure ‘tenancy. But these promises don’t have the same force in law as the statutory rights we have as council tenants. And though the current management of Metropolitan may say they are committed to tenant's security, what if they merge with another housing association and the new management takes a different view? ‘Transfer landlords‘ are much more likely to merge into even bigger businesses as that’s how the banks prefer them to be.
Even higher rents and charges
Housing Association rents and charges are higher than council rents. Metropolitan say that tenant's rents will be the same as the council charges, and the government has been trying to ‘converge ‘ council and housing association rents together, but their plans are in disarray – ‘convergence’ has been moved from 2012 to 2024 !!
COME TO THE PUBLIC MEETING TO FIND OUT MORE, ASK QUESTIONS AND http://www.support4councilhousing.org.uk/OIN THE LAMBETH DEFEND COUNCIL HOUSING CAMPAIGN: VOTE NO TO TRANSFER, IT’S NOT WORTH THE RISK !
Contact Lambeth Defend Council Housing dchlambeth@gmail.com 07834828292 www.defendcouncilhousing.org.uk
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Lambeth housing: sell offs, job cuts and rent rises
From Workers Power website:
Demo: 11am Saturday 30 May, assemble Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton
When Lambeth Activists, a caucus of militants in Lambeth Unison, called a public meeting to highlight job cuts in the housing section and the privatisation of the repairs and maintenance service, we got a great response.
Jeremy Dewar reports on a packed meeting and plans for a fightback.Council housing in Lambeth, south London is in a severe crisis after years of corruption and incompetence at the very top. And - as with the wider economic crisis, of which this is an echo - it is the workers, who provide and rely on this public service, that are being made to pay the price.
Labour attacks council housing
In a calculated move, the Labour controlled authority froze council tax, but then made tenants pay for it. Rents have shot up not once but twice since November - a 25 per cent hike at a time when unemployment is rising and average wages falling.While 17,000 are waiting for a council home, 2,000 of whom are in temporary accommodation, the local authority is auctioning off empty properties, even though most need just minimal repairs to be ready to rent.
Again, what timing: up to 75,000 households will be repossessed this year, nationally, but Lambeth anticipates the growing need for affordable rented accommodation... by selling off its stock.
Reg Morrison told the meeting that housing officers had brought down the average time it took to turn round a "void" - making an empty council property ready for renting out again - from 88 days to just 22. But instead of easing the demand for affordable housing, the council has abused this dedicated labour by selling off the properties.Added to this, the council is still trying to hive off whole estates to housing associations.
The latest target is the Ashmole estate, which has only recently voted against privatisation. But there is no rule to stop the authority asking the same question again and again... until it gets the answer it wants. So the Ashmole tenants have again to mount a campaign to ensure a majority understands the issues and votes down the proposal.
The housing department itself was turned into an Arms Length Management Organisation (almo) a few years back on the promise that it could then apply for increased funding from central government and that it would not lead to further privatisation. Even then, the ballot to set it up only succeeded because the "Don't knows" were excluded.
Now the almo, called Lambeth Living, has announced a 20 per cent cut in the workforce - up to one in three posts in some departments. As Dan Jeffery told the meeting, this would mean "each member of staff working an extra 10 hours a week" just for the service to standstill. The fact that there are at least ten consultants earning between £500 and £1,000 a day in Lambeth Living has added to workers' anger.
Privatisation
On top of this, Lambeth Living has also put out to tender First Call, the emergency repairs unit, the concierge service and the north Lambeth cleaners. So much for the promise of no more privatisation.The 18 May public meeting certainly made clear that there was no call from those that use these services for their privatisation.
On the contrary, the number of concierges and cleaners has been halved in recent years and residents wanted the return of their full compliment - not the introduction of cost cutting profiteers. One of the cleaners, who couldn't be present, was reported to have complained, "I've cleaned up faeces, urine, drug needles, and for that I've been offered £6,000 or be turned over to a contractor and end up on the minimum wage."
First Call, on the other hand, is clearly a much-loved service - in complete contrast to the private contractors, Morrison and Connaught, which take the lion's share of the work. The last remaining public sector workers have for the most part been reduced to phoning up the privateers and checking up on their work.
Steve from First Call explained how the contractors milk the system: coming out without the right equipment or parts, then returning to do a rush job and finally fixing the problem properly; each time they will log it as a different job, so getting paid three times! As Steve said, "We are the only people checking up on this. Privatise us and you might as well give them an open chequebook."
Action
Ros Munday, chair of the tenants' council, brought home the human misery this crisis is causing by telling us of a Chinese woman, who was thinking of resigning from her part time job, which brought in £104 a week, because she could not afford the £15 a week rent rise without benefits.
So when Steve Hack of Lambeth Defend Council Housing proposed we all join him on a march from the Town Hall to protest at some vacant properties on Coldharbour Lane, it was agreed unanimously.
The meeting, which was packed with over 60 in attendance, many of whom were active in tenants and residents' associations, also endorsed adding to the slogan of "No selling our homes" those of "No job cuts" and "No privatisation".
A discussion was started over what further action could be taken. Everyone thought the tactic, pioneered by DCH, of occupying homes when they are put up for auction was excellent and could be spread.
I warned that the council would try to drive a wedge between workers and tenants, and that the meeting should set up some kind of joint action committee to support the unions, should strike action become necessary, and to support a rent strike, should the tenants decide on that course of action.
Again, this idea was warmly applauded.A useful debate also looked at putting up a political alternative to New Labour: should we stand protest candidates against Labour in elections?
While there were speeches for and against this idea, a Liberal Democrat candidate hoping to score points by coming to the meeting was swiftly rounded upon and sent packing.
Certainly the absence of a working class alternative to Labour was keenly felt.For now, however, all hands are on deck to build for the demonstration on Saturday.
Leaflets and posters are going up, as both the Unison and GMB union branches as well as the tenants associations and Defend Council Housing have all received a fillip in their fight to defend jobs, public services and council housing.
More coverage in the South London Press.
Demo: 11am Saturday 30 May, assemble Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton
When Lambeth Activists, a caucus of militants in Lambeth Unison, called a public meeting to highlight job cuts in the housing section and the privatisation of the repairs and maintenance service, we got a great response.
Jeremy Dewar reports on a packed meeting and plans for a fightback.Council housing in Lambeth, south London is in a severe crisis after years of corruption and incompetence at the very top. And - as with the wider economic crisis, of which this is an echo - it is the workers, who provide and rely on this public service, that are being made to pay the price.
Labour attacks council housing
In a calculated move, the Labour controlled authority froze council tax, but then made tenants pay for it. Rents have shot up not once but twice since November - a 25 per cent hike at a time when unemployment is rising and average wages falling.While 17,000 are waiting for a council home, 2,000 of whom are in temporary accommodation, the local authority is auctioning off empty properties, even though most need just minimal repairs to be ready to rent.
Again, what timing: up to 75,000 households will be repossessed this year, nationally, but Lambeth anticipates the growing need for affordable rented accommodation... by selling off its stock.
Reg Morrison told the meeting that housing officers had brought down the average time it took to turn round a "void" - making an empty council property ready for renting out again - from 88 days to just 22. But instead of easing the demand for affordable housing, the council has abused this dedicated labour by selling off the properties.Added to this, the council is still trying to hive off whole estates to housing associations.
The latest target is the Ashmole estate, which has only recently voted against privatisation. But there is no rule to stop the authority asking the same question again and again... until it gets the answer it wants. So the Ashmole tenants have again to mount a campaign to ensure a majority understands the issues and votes down the proposal.
The housing department itself was turned into an Arms Length Management Organisation (almo) a few years back on the promise that it could then apply for increased funding from central government and that it would not lead to further privatisation. Even then, the ballot to set it up only succeeded because the "Don't knows" were excluded.
Now the almo, called Lambeth Living, has announced a 20 per cent cut in the workforce - up to one in three posts in some departments. As Dan Jeffery told the meeting, this would mean "each member of staff working an extra 10 hours a week" just for the service to standstill. The fact that there are at least ten consultants earning between £500 and £1,000 a day in Lambeth Living has added to workers' anger.
Privatisation
On top of this, Lambeth Living has also put out to tender First Call, the emergency repairs unit, the concierge service and the north Lambeth cleaners. So much for the promise of no more privatisation.The 18 May public meeting certainly made clear that there was no call from those that use these services for their privatisation.
On the contrary, the number of concierges and cleaners has been halved in recent years and residents wanted the return of their full compliment - not the introduction of cost cutting profiteers. One of the cleaners, who couldn't be present, was reported to have complained, "I've cleaned up faeces, urine, drug needles, and for that I've been offered £6,000 or be turned over to a contractor and end up on the minimum wage."
First Call, on the other hand, is clearly a much-loved service - in complete contrast to the private contractors, Morrison and Connaught, which take the lion's share of the work. The last remaining public sector workers have for the most part been reduced to phoning up the privateers and checking up on their work.
Steve from First Call explained how the contractors milk the system: coming out without the right equipment or parts, then returning to do a rush job and finally fixing the problem properly; each time they will log it as a different job, so getting paid three times! As Steve said, "We are the only people checking up on this. Privatise us and you might as well give them an open chequebook."
Action
Ros Munday, chair of the tenants' council, brought home the human misery this crisis is causing by telling us of a Chinese woman, who was thinking of resigning from her part time job, which brought in £104 a week, because she could not afford the £15 a week rent rise without benefits.
So when Steve Hack of Lambeth Defend Council Housing proposed we all join him on a march from the Town Hall to protest at some vacant properties on Coldharbour Lane, it was agreed unanimously.
The meeting, which was packed with over 60 in attendance, many of whom were active in tenants and residents' associations, also endorsed adding to the slogan of "No selling our homes" those of "No job cuts" and "No privatisation".
A discussion was started over what further action could be taken. Everyone thought the tactic, pioneered by DCH, of occupying homes when they are put up for auction was excellent and could be spread.
I warned that the council would try to drive a wedge between workers and tenants, and that the meeting should set up some kind of joint action committee to support the unions, should strike action become necessary, and to support a rent strike, should the tenants decide on that course of action.
Again, this idea was warmly applauded.A useful debate also looked at putting up a political alternative to New Labour: should we stand protest candidates against Labour in elections?
While there were speeches for and against this idea, a Liberal Democrat candidate hoping to score points by coming to the meeting was swiftly rounded upon and sent packing.
Certainly the absence of a working class alternative to Labour was keenly felt.For now, however, all hands are on deck to build for the demonstration on Saturday.
Leaflets and posters are going up, as both the Unison and GMB union branches as well as the tenants associations and Defend Council Housing have all received a fillip in their fight to defend jobs, public services and council housing.
More coverage in the South London Press.
PROTEST MARCH - Saturday 30th May, Assemble 11am Lambeth Town Hall
Lambeth Housing Crisis
· No to sale of Council Housing
· No to privatisation
· No to job cuts
There are 17,000 residents on Lambeth’s Housing Waiting List and 2,000 in Temporary Accommodation... but Lambeth Council are AUCTIONING OFF council homes at rock-bottom prices, cutting jobs and giving away Council services to private companies only interested in profit.
UNISON is campaigning alongside tenants, leaseholders and community organisations to defend the interests of local residents and workers to oppose the Council’s policies. Council homes should be refurbished and used to house the homeless.
Saturday 30th May
Assemble 11am
Lambeth Town Hall
No more sell offs! No to rent rises, job cuts and privatisation!
· No to sale of Council Housing
· No to privatisation
· No to job cuts
There are 17,000 residents on Lambeth’s Housing Waiting List and 2,000 in Temporary Accommodation... but Lambeth Council are AUCTIONING OFF council homes at rock-bottom prices, cutting jobs and giving away Council services to private companies only interested in profit.
UNISON is campaigning alongside tenants, leaseholders and community organisations to defend the interests of local residents and workers to oppose the Council’s policies. Council homes should be refurbished and used to house the homeless.
Saturday 30th May
Assemble 11am
Lambeth Town Hall
No more sell offs! No to rent rises, job cuts and privatisation!
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Green MEPs head the poll on transparency, accountability, democracy and waste in the EU.
This is what I have been saying at hustings in London during this campaign and have the voting record to prove it. Now Open Europe, which campaigns for transparency and democracy in the EU, has stated it also. The Greens have a record second to none in the EU when it comes to this issue. But as I have also said at hustings, it is important to view the record of the other parties, and particularly of the pan European blocks which they are members of, such as the European People's Party, in the case of the Tories. All of the parties (well most of them) can talk a good talk. The point is can they walk the walk?
Green leader comes top in Open Europe's "premier league" MEP poll
Caroline Lucas MEP, leader of the Green Party, has been rated best British MEP on transparency, accountability, democracy and waste by campaign group Open Europe.
And Britain's Green Party MEPs were ranked above the groups of all other British parties.
Today Open Europe published a ranking of all 785 Members of the European Parliament, scoring their record on promoting transparency and reform in the European Union over the last five-year term.
And Britain's Green Party MEPs were ranked above the groups of all other British parties.
Today Open Europe published a ranking of all 785 Members of the European Parliament, scoring their record on promoting transparency and reform in the European Union over the last five-year term.
Open Europe's ranking was based on a range of activities, including voting records, attendance, written declarations, and whether the MEPs themselves have taken part in wasteful activities, such as the controversial second pension fund.
Open Europe awarded points based on a "Premier League" model, where 3 points was the highest score, followed by 1 point and 0 points. On attendance, a scale from 1 to 6 was used. MEPs who had been the subject of substantive press reports of wrongdoing were shown Open Europe's "red card" and had 10 points deducted from their score.
UKIP leader shares bottom place with a Conservative, a Labour MEP and a LibDem
The bottom thirteen places for British MEPs in Open Europe's ranking included 5 Conservatives and 6 UKIP MEPs. The very bottom place, however, was jointly shared between an MEP each from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Labour and UKIP.
The UKIP MEP with the poorest score was party leader Nigel Farage.
The bottom thirteen places for British MEPs in Open Europe's ranking included 5 Conservatives and 6 UKIP MEPs. The very bottom place, however, was jointly shared between an MEP each from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Labour and UKIP.
The UKIP MEP with the poorest score was party leader Nigel Farage.
Green Party leader Dr Caroline Lucas MEP, commenting on the result, said:
"I'm delighted that the Green Party has topped the poll on promoting transparency and reform in the EU. It shows more clearly than ever that if people want to see greater democracy, transparency and accountability in parliament, the best way of achieving that is to vote Green on 4 June."
Open Europe's Research Director Mats Persson said commented:
"No matter where their political sympathies may lie, MEPs should all be working for a more open, democratic EU, while trying to reduce the waste of taxpayers' money. These issues should be at the top of their agenda - especially now when the public's trust in politicians is at an all-time low.
"They might talk a good game at home, but too many British MEPs have voted against transparency and EU reform on a number of occasions. What we need now is a new generation of politicians, committed to acting in the public interest and pushing for a much better deal for taxpayers at all levels of government - including EU level."
"I'm delighted that the Green Party has topped the poll on promoting transparency and reform in the EU. It shows more clearly than ever that if people want to see greater democracy, transparency and accountability in parliament, the best way of achieving that is to vote Green on 4 June."
Open Europe's Research Director Mats Persson said commented:
"No matter where their political sympathies may lie, MEPs should all be working for a more open, democratic EU, while trying to reduce the waste of taxpayers' money. These issues should be at the top of their agenda - especially now when the public's trust in politicians is at an all-time low.
"They might talk a good game at home, but too many British MEPs have voted against transparency and EU reform on a number of occasions. What we need now is a new generation of politicians, committed to acting in the public interest and pushing for a much better deal for taxpayers at all levels of government - including EU level."
Open Europe's categories were as follows:
A) Transparency, openness and democracy
MEPs are ranked according to whether they:
1. Voted for easier public access to EU documents
MEPs are ranked according to whether they:
1. Voted for easier public access to EU documents
2. Voted against keeping MEPs' expenses and accounts secret
3. Voted to increase transparency, including better public access to MEPs' voting records
4. Responded to Open Europe's Transparency Initiative on expenses and allowances
5. Voted in favour of imposing sanctions for MEPs guilty of financial irregularities
6. Voted in favour of providing mandatory receipts for travel expenses
7. Voted to respect the outcome of the pending legally-binding Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty
8. Voted in favour of opening Europe up to trade with developing countries
9. Achieved good attendance at the Parliament's voting sessions
B) Fighting waste and misuse of EU funds
MEPs are ranked according to whether they:
1. Opted out of the Parliament's controversial second pension fund
MEPs are ranked according to whether they:
1. Opted out of the Parliament's controversial second pension fund
2. Voted in favour of cleaning up the second pension fund
3. Supported moves to abolish the Parliament's second seat in Strasbourg
4. Voted against 'hypocritical' EU subsidies to tobacco farmers
5. Voted to reform the CAP and discontinue subsidies to tobacco farmers
6. Voted not to clear the European Parliament's accounts for 2006 due to 75% unaccounted expenditure on MEPs' assistants' allowances
7. Voted not to approve the Parliament's accounts for 2007
8. Voted not to approve the Commission's accounts for 2007
9. Voted to postpone clearing the European Council's accounts for 2007
10. Voted against clearing the accounts of the European Police College for 2007 while it was under investigation for fraud
To see the league table, please click here:www.openeurope.org.uk/research/mepranking.xls (See sheet two for UK MEPs only)For a guide to the criteria used in the ranking, please click here:www.openeurope.org.uk/research/rankingguide.pdf
Sunday, 24 May 2009
Green Left Pamphlet on the economic crisis to be launched on Wednesday
Green Left, the anti-capitalist current in the Green Party, has just published a new pamphlet, which is to be launched at Housmans Bookshop in London at on Wednesday 27 May. Entitled Countering the Crisis, the pamphlet gives an ecosocialist response to the global recession and the threat of climate change.
The pamphlet has two main sections; the first provides an analysis of the current crisis and shows how it is the inherent instability of the financial system that is the prime mover of the credit crunch rather than just the sleight of hand of a relatively tiny number of spivs and hucksters. It points to the phenomena of the financialisation of capitalism - the shift in gravity from production to finance – and suggests that this has been the key factor in the development of asset bubbles and the growth of the increasingly more arcane and risky financial schemes which have triggered the collapse of markets throughout the world.The second part sets out some proposals for dealing with the twin crises – financial and environmental – that confront us. Central to these is the demand for a massive redistribution of wealth and power. One of the key factors in advancing the financialisation of the economy has been the dramatic redistribution of wealth away from wages as a percentage of the GDP. Therefore, there is an urgent need to redistribute wealth away from corporate profits and towards wages and income; not only because justice demands it but also because it makes sound economic sense.
The pamphlet points out that many of the points it makes have been made elsewhere on the left and that and a number of manifestos round which to organise have been issued, most importantly The People’s Charter. It is vital that we start to draw together these strands of opposition to the current system in order to enable the development of a genuinely grass roots movement. Realignment of the left (and that includes the Green Party as well) now becomes an urgent necessity for its existence and an essential precondition for the development of a new mass party of and for working people.
The pamphlet will be launched with a talk by its author, Sean Thompson, at Housmans Bookshop, Caledonian Road (near Kings Cross Station) at 7pm on Wednesday, 27 May
The pamphlet has two main sections; the first provides an analysis of the current crisis and shows how it is the inherent instability of the financial system that is the prime mover of the credit crunch rather than just the sleight of hand of a relatively tiny number of spivs and hucksters. It points to the phenomena of the financialisation of capitalism - the shift in gravity from production to finance – and suggests that this has been the key factor in the development of asset bubbles and the growth of the increasingly more arcane and risky financial schemes which have triggered the collapse of markets throughout the world.The second part sets out some proposals for dealing with the twin crises – financial and environmental – that confront us. Central to these is the demand for a massive redistribution of wealth and power. One of the key factors in advancing the financialisation of the economy has been the dramatic redistribution of wealth away from wages as a percentage of the GDP. Therefore, there is an urgent need to redistribute wealth away from corporate profits and towards wages and income; not only because justice demands it but also because it makes sound economic sense.
The pamphlet points out that many of the points it makes have been made elsewhere on the left and that and a number of manifestos round which to organise have been issued, most importantly The People’s Charter. It is vital that we start to draw together these strands of opposition to the current system in order to enable the development of a genuinely grass roots movement. Realignment of the left (and that includes the Green Party as well) now becomes an urgent necessity for its existence and an essential precondition for the development of a new mass party of and for working people.
The pamphlet will be launched with a talk by its author, Sean Thompson, at Housmans Bookshop, Caledonian Road (near Kings Cross Station) at 7pm on Wednesday, 27 May
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