Christmas Realities for Too Many in Our Society.
This is the reality of life for too many of our people after 10 years of New Labour in power.
In the week before Christmas I am in my constituency office dealing with a family who have been told by their private landlord that they must quit their home on Christmas day. Their privately rented home is in a disgraceful state of disrepair but costs them £825 per month. The property is a former council house which has been bought by a buy to let landlord who lives in a wealthy area in the Home Counties. He owns many properties in my constituency. The family dont want to publicise their plight because they are frightened of retaliation by the landlord.With 2000 homeless families in my community I come across obscene exploitation like this is on a daily basis.
It shouldnt be like this after 10 years of a Labour Government. In 2008 we can no longer remain quiet about New Labours grotesque failure of the weakest and most vulnerable in our society. The role of the Left will be to expose more fiercely and campaign even harder against the injustices of our society.
I am signing off for a break with my family over Christmas.
I want to thank all those people who supported me and my various campaigns throughout the last year and all those many many people who inspired me with their determination altruism and courage.
Have a Good Christmas and I wish you all a peaceful and happy New Year.
We wil be back in 2008 determined as ever to work in solidarity with all those who believe like me in the words of our campaigns title that another world is possible.
Best wishes
John
McDonnell MP
In the week before Christmas I am in my constituency office dealing with a family who have been told by their private landlord that they must quit their home on Christmas day. Their privately rented home is in a disgraceful state of disrepair but costs them £825 per month. The property is a former council house which has been bought by a buy to let landlord who lives in a wealthy area in the Home Counties. He owns many properties in my constituency. The family dont want to publicise their plight because they are frightened of retaliation by the landlord.With 2000 homeless families in my community I come across obscene exploitation like this is on a daily basis.
It shouldnt be like this after 10 years of a Labour Government. In 2008 we can no longer remain quiet about New Labours grotesque failure of the weakest and most vulnerable in our society. The role of the Left will be to expose more fiercely and campaign even harder against the injustices of our society.
I am signing off for a break with my family over Christmas.
I want to thank all those people who supported me and my various campaigns throughout the last year and all those many many people who inspired me with their determination altruism and courage.
Have a Good Christmas and I wish you all a peaceful and happy New Year.
We wil be back in 2008 determined as ever to work in solidarity with all those who believe like me in the words of our campaigns title that another world is possible.
Best wishes
John
McDonnell MP
posted by John at 11:01 AM
10 Comments:
So sorry for this family, John. I expect there will be some more news of this kind as the multiple buy-to-let brigade cut and run in their hurry to offload before prices drop too low for their profit. I wonder how many MPs are included in this group? If only we had more council run properties then this could not happen (and prices will fall anyway).
Wishing everyone a good Christmas break.
"I am in my constituency office" should read "I was in my consistuency's office"
"bought by a buy to let landlord" could read "bought and let by a landlord"
"exploitation like this is on a daily basis" should read "exploitation like this on a daily basis"
"New Labours grotesque failure" should read "New Labour's grotesque failure"
"their determination altruism and courage" should read "their determination, altruism and courage"
"We wil be back in 2008" should read "We will be back in 2008"
"words of our campaigns title" should read "words of our campaign's title" or "words in the title of our campaign" (since "campaign" is not a person)
Moving swiftly from grammar to philosophy, and perhaps venturing too far, it is good and noble to help people in need, and to try to correct the injustices of society.
But this help should be springing naturally out of self-awareness and not self-consciousness. That is to say, if you accept that all humans were bound together and connected by relationships, for the sake of survival if nothing else, it follows that by a single person simply helping themselves they automatically, ipso facto, help all those around them; beginning initially with those who share an immediate bond with them. And a person cannot help themselves more than learning to love and respect themselves. Through self-awareness, a person learns to love and respect themselves.
But self-consciousness on the other hand makes a person more preoccupied with what others think of them. They become dominated by fear, rather than love. This fear prevents them from acquiring the necessary knowledge about themselves, their strengths and their weakness, in order to succeed. Hence, in all their endeavours, they cause untold harm because of their ignorance, and their endeavours fail as a result. After a while, they start to hate these endeavours, for no one will love that which after much time and effort, they keep repeating the same mistakes and make little progress.
So, believe it or not, not everyone has the right to help someone else. And just because someone wants to help, does not give them the right to help. Only those who have self-awareness have got that right. Those who do not, and are self-conscious, do not have that right, and their attempts only leave them bitter. Someone who was not self-conscious, on the other hand, and had self-awareness would not declare that they were going to help someone, or even make a conscious effort to. That help would just spring up spontaneously and naturally from their actions, from their self awareness, from love.
Or put another way, you cannot give to others what you do not have. You cannot give love to others when you do not have love. You cannot love other people if you do not love yourself.
As always with love and respect! A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.
to anon
I think the typos are because John has typed the blog himself nad no thad it corrected as he would do if it were an official document.
I#ve just had a message from a parents email loop I'm on about collecting baby equipment/clothes etc for a Young Mum who is now destitute after blowing her maternity grant on drugs. I think seh is a care leaver as the message was posted by a lady who says she works with care leavers. We already send clothes and things to the Victorian hostel wher Wycombe's Tory council bungs everyone it can - pregnant women, kids and so on as it won' thouse them properly - or only in damp flats... many of them have been evicted probably from landlors exactly like the one John describes adn far too many people seem to be evicted - I had that info form the Lbaour councillors who obvioulsy know the situaion. Anyway the lady felt hat the baby of the care leaver should not suffer and you hope that she will be able to get back on her feet soon.... we all make mistakes and as a frind of mine out it "Everyone deserves a second chance in life".
Dear Anonymous the first
"Moving swiftly from grammar to philosophy, and perhaps venturing too far, it is good and noble to help people in need, and to try to correct the injustices of society."
{What or who is it that is moving swiftly?}
"But this help should be springing naturally out of self-awareness and not self-consciousness." {'Should be springing'? 'should spring' I would think…}
Etc, etc.
I trust we're not going to get into an orgy of correcting each other's grammar on here are we? As for 'philosophy'... In the Christmas spirit I shan't comment on that!
Hope you have a peaceful Christmas, John - thanks for everything you've done this year. We'll make some advances next year. The case you outline in your post highlights the urgent need for such advances.
My wife has spina bifida and gets £87 a week after working most of her life, I had an accident at work in 1990, which left me with horrendous injuries, doctors told my wife to expect the worse but i lived, that it's self is something i regret. This year my wife and I paid off all our bills gas water electric council tax and rent, and we looked at our money to see how much we had left, I was actually in debt to £30.
Since Labour came to power my benefits have in fact gone down, Labour came to power my benefits went up by 75p, my council tax went up by 12%, the following year it went up by 92p.
Now you will say like many get a job you scrounging piece of shit, well thats difficult when you walk around with a PCA attached to your arm, thats a pump which placed a controlled amount of drugs into your body to keep you alive, I now have the pump implanted beneath the skin.
Disability comes in many styles groups some people are I admit able to work, some are not some are cheats, then go after the cheats, go after those that want to work.
I have been looking for work for five years, the last time I walked into my job center my disability employment officers bumped her head onto the table saying not you again.
But next year October i will be deemed able to work under Labours new rules, the possibility of me finding work is zero unless Labour makes those jobs. I've been told i must do voluntary work which is fine, but my benefits will be cut in half. So I will move deeper into poverty while Labour saves benefits, and my life disappears down an over dose of pain killers.
You want me to work Mr Brown how about a job mate, how about you lot telling these companies who are going to work to find me work to employ disabled people.
The Remploy workers that the governmnet is getting rid of are, I saw on Working Lunch a few weeks ago to attend "confidence" course at the privatised job agencies tha tthey have to go to to find them other jobs. Why shoudl they need to find confidence whether they are disabled or not when they were already gainfully employed yes in a supportive environment but you get my drift. It's a shame they can't strike and refuse to go on this intelligence insulting courses.
Dont worry Camerons Toffs (if elected) will ensure you get all the help you need
too much going on to comment
but way to go Obama!! though of course he's not my perfect candidate
2 I contributed to a radio5 debate about childcare recently, will watch that space to seeif anything comes out of it on much more universal childcare provision.than we have now...!
3) Kenya situation - I was very upset to see this after the positive and informative BBC programme Long way Down which was on recently with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman (see long Way Down.com) we must keep making the case for pacism, tolerance and understanding and if possible stopping the manufacture or carrying of weapons of any form and child soldiers and minefields must be outlawed..
perhaps we can effect soem political change here now America has finally moved.. see what happens tonight and on Super-duper Tuesday or whatever it will be this time!!
Hain is in trouble now isn't h eand so the whole New Labour past and presents cabinets go down the pan and they are funished I think! But we could do wit one more really big scandal before the public at large really notice!!
one thought- the maternity grant should be paid in vouchers so it can't easily be spent on drugs I suggest re: my previous blog
performance related pay in civil service should be scrapped as it can discriminate against women (as the judges of who it is awarded to can be part of an old boys' network for example) as do student loans- apparently teh Tories who brought them in knew all teh tiem that this would happen becasue of course women are more likely to take time out of work to have children etc and may suffer loss of earnings for this and discriminatlory reasons yet still have to pay back at the same rate, not fair guys!
Anyway Happy New Year to you all; just thought i'd bung down a few ideas to continue this blog debate (if I can tear myself away from watching the gorgeous Charley Boorman's podcasts I might blog again soon!
By teh way talking of Irish people has nayone else noticed that Easter is only a week after St. Patrick's Day this year?? A good craic to be had then ...!
I know John has been busy in Parliament as I get TheyWorkForYou.org emails of course (don't we all??!!) but if John dosen't blog something on this site soon I'll have to stop checking it every day as it's taking valuable time whe I could be watching Charley and Ewan on the Long Way Down website.. !! actually you should all check out the UNICEF links on teh Long Way Down.com website as they are doing valuable work to help children/babies affected by HIV/stop child trafficking and child soldiers - soem of the true stories on thsi in teh book are truly horrific but there is hope becaue of teh UNICEF supported rehabilitation centres UNICEf ahs set up - and landmines -which they are calling for a complete ban on the manufacture and use of worldwide for as lovely Charley says they always affect the world's children the most. Perhaps we can invite tehm to the anti-war march in March! (see LRC website)
Longwaydown.com
Charley was on RTE2's THe Cafe yesterday(you can get it on their website through the LWD link and announced his new project "By Any Means" - getting from Wicklow in Ireland where he grew up form the age of six to Sydney Austraila by motorbike/plane/any means necessary and I belive he will raise lots of moneyy for UNICEF along teh way once again as eh is one of their longstanding ambassadors and also he wants to raise awareness that all the "stan" countries he will pass through along the way are really dangerous but full mostly of peopel with the same concerns as you and me who are more intersted in putting food on teh table for thier families tham araping and pillaging you an me as the team found when they went to Africa for Long Way Down and Mongolia etc for Long Way Round. They also propose a future "Long Way Up through South America to America and "The Long Way To Go" - a project to help ALL of Africa's children affected by the issues I've described above.
Closer to home I have to help a friend try to get elected for what would be the first Labour district council seat in our town asteh incumbent Tory suddenly resigned -in this weather..! Oh well leafleting etc is all good excercise, as is going on marches!!
Last night on This Week Portillo admmitted to go on absolutely no marches since the age of about six when his parents used to take him to protest about something quite left wing I can't think what now as it was very late which contrasted with Diane Abbott's claim she went on one every saturday throughout her twenties or something! Portillo had the gall to say that the only marches tha tever change anything are where yo have to risk you life as in Kenya.
Benazir Bhutto RIP was the only woman who had ever been PM with young children to look after too (it was in The Guardian weekend once). Inspirational.
I've discovered I may qualify for some childcare tax credit despite being at teh top end of it on th eyou have to get a job first to claim it and it is only two thirds of the costs of childcare roughly so part-time yo uwould be lucky to clear £100 a week whihc is not much more than the JSA one person could get now I think!, and you would aslo need travel expemses, clothes etc.. but I'm not sayin git's not worth doing but it is complicated as there are also many peole due a refund for not receiving teh creidt back in 200 1when htey had to guess who would qualify so many people were on teh wrong tax code - there is a short deadline on this so contact HMRC if you think this saffects you.
Bank charges -those of us trying to claim refunds need to argue that the charges are disproportional to low incomes and the actual costs to the bank and drag you down into a further spiral of debt - this week my "ethical" bank wanted to charge me £30 for bein gover my limit by wait for it - 24p and only gave me half teh money back when I proteseted as a "goodwill" gesture. I had only been over by 24p for one morning as I had seen it adn put soem money in straighaway....! Thye had also put it through their debt managemnet tean instead of the basic email you would normally get -all fo r24p! |the troubl eis tha tall tis admoin takes so much tiem tha tyo jsut don't have with a young family or a job or whatever it yo do to "thirve and survive1" (as teh Blus brothers would put it)and this is where teh Brown ites go wrong. The reason I had been over by 24p in teh first place was due to teh closure of our maain PO her whihc has casue such horrendous queues in the sub PO, whihc has only TWO counters so I had to get soem cashback from the shop till for a bus fair as I couldn't wait half an hour with a pushchair (with kids you can forget it as it's a tiny newsagent and you have queue by the papers and magazines so no good for screaming small children as it's just not fair on the other customers in such a small space for the counter banking service so I had to buy soemthing to get cashback and inadvertently went over by the grand sum of 24p.
i noticed also on Long Way Down that many peple who still live in traditional huts etc in countries liek Ethipia for example don't produce any rubbish at all - Brown shoul dstop pushin gfor growth inleague with China who are polluting teh world adn now buying up Africa's resources to use unsustainably as well as they have money to invst bu they will pollute adn contaminate here too. Being right wing and supporting asextreme capitalist unergualted economy as BUsh and Brwon effectively do should eb banned as our planet won't survice as thsi is not "green", simple as tha t as someone pointed out on News "4 or something late one night.
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