Another Labour Conference, Another Relaunch for Gordon Brown
Phil Davies, the GMB official who has been a central figure in the campaign to save REMPLOY from being decimated by the Government has resigned from the Labour Party along with several of his colleagues. Phil is the salt of the earth of the Labour and Trade Union movement. He is the sort of bloke you just feel proud to know and to be associated with. He has given his life to working in our movement in support of others. The REMPLOY campaign embodies all that he is about, fighting tirelessly on behalf of some of the most vulnerable workers in our society. The savagery with which New Labour Ministers have cut and slashed REMPLOY, despite all the appeals from our movement, has pushed Phil and his friends over the edge, resulting in their resignation from the party.
At the same time New Labour is holding its Spring conference. Another Labour conference so another relaunch for Gordon Brown. Since he was appointed leader only 9 months ago Gordon Brown has had more relaunches than the Space Shuttle. There was nothing new in his latest relaunch speech today. The rhetoric and policies were part of the same stream of politics which have so alienated loyal supporters like Phil and resulted in the loss of so many members and supporters.
Brown appears to have no understanding of the impact of the corporate driven globalisation which he so ardently promoted in his conference speech. He has opened up our economy to the worst excesses of the speculation and profiteering of the City's financial institutions and when these speculators fail he has used public resources to bail them out. When it comes to investing in the long term support needed by REMPLOY to give workers with disabilities access to the dignity of work, his response is to allow REMPLOY factories to close and vulnerable workers to come under threat.
I can understand why Phil and his fellow union representatives have resigned from the Labour Party but I am urging them to join the Labour Representation Committee, which will enable them to link up with others both within the Labour Party and many like them who have left the party. The LRC provides the ideal vehicle for those who are angry and who want to fight back to secure proper representation for the Labour and trade union movement.
At the same time New Labour is holding its Spring conference. Another Labour conference so another relaunch for Gordon Brown. Since he was appointed leader only 9 months ago Gordon Brown has had more relaunches than the Space Shuttle. There was nothing new in his latest relaunch speech today. The rhetoric and policies were part of the same stream of politics which have so alienated loyal supporters like Phil and resulted in the loss of so many members and supporters.
Brown appears to have no understanding of the impact of the corporate driven globalisation which he so ardently promoted in his conference speech. He has opened up our economy to the worst excesses of the speculation and profiteering of the City's financial institutions and when these speculators fail he has used public resources to bail them out. When it comes to investing in the long term support needed by REMPLOY to give workers with disabilities access to the dignity of work, his response is to allow REMPLOY factories to close and vulnerable workers to come under threat.
I can understand why Phil and his fellow union representatives have resigned from the Labour Party but I am urging them to join the Labour Representation Committee, which will enable them to link up with others both within the Labour Party and many like them who have left the party. The LRC provides the ideal vehicle for those who are angry and who want to fight back to secure proper representation for the Labour and trade union movement.
posted by John at 6:55 PM
4 Comments:
the Prince Harry news blackout worked just as the blackout of your leadership campaign was so unfortunately effective- whatever happened to the free press in this country....?? and just which part/s of the establishmnet is controlling the media we should ask ourselves.
Obama has indicated that if he became President that he would speak with Chavez, Castro's brother, North Korea etc...his very sharp foreign policy advisor was on Newsnight...
he is going big on his anti-war stance (Iraq) - troops out asap... let's see what happens with tomorrow's election. I hear a programme where Michelle Obama's work background as A Chicago lawyer was covered along with projections towards the Obamas in the White House... the fact that the above is even being discussed shows how far they have come and how close they could be to the White House now. I think Hillary's had her moment and should blame her coversion to the Blairist "third way" which has been the downfall of both the Clintons and also I'm afraid probably her husband for the Lewinsky affair which tainted his reputation and divereted attention from her grasp of politics while she was in the White House; maybe she could have gone for it and ran straightaway instead of Gore if it hadn't been for this.
I'm reading the Long way Round book (see www.longwayround.com) which covers a bit about how the former Soviet territories of Kazahkstan, Mongolia etc are now -gross inequalities sometimes grew up between rich and poor when the Soviets pulled out and the free market was enthusiastically embraced which means abandoned children as young as two, four adn six living in sewers while other people in the same town wear cashmere and use mobile phones, UNICEF has a children's centre there but is overwhelmed and reninds us why we don't want nuclear power when they visit Chenobyl where people had to go in to clean up the reactor knowing it would probabaly mean serious illness or death and where the children suffered so much amd still are with leukemia etc etc. I ahd the misfortuem to get the subject of nuclear accidents for German A level in the early nineties(the only subject we hadn't prepared for!) and on reading the blurb they gave mein my oral exam my eighteen year old self was shocked that Chenobyl hadn't been the only accident- not by a long chalk though we don' t hear about the others do we...
What the hell has this to do with the GMB Remploy and New Labour, god if your going to reply to something have something to say about the thread.
I'm disabled I was on TV a few weeks ago made to look like a fool three days before Brown came to Wales. Labour used the BBC again.
I have worked hard like many to keep our Remploy open, sadly we have failed nothing knew is it.
We are seen as worthless shit us disabled I left Labour two years ago because I was asked by Labour office to perhaps help Labour by finding work, I was five stone and dying at the time and they wanted me to find work.
Labour is dead now we have to few real people all we have is Hutton Miiliband Purnells Blairites.
My voting days are over long over.
I did already blog on saving Remploy elsewhere on the site under a differnt pen-name.
I said I was angry that disabled people employed by Remploy are now being laid off and told that they have to go on courses "to help them gain confidence -what an insulting thing to say to them as they were already employed, not unemployed - and tehy are told that the private agencies will then supposedly find them jobs. I saw this on BBC2's Working Lunch recently. I'm sure all this job finding by plushly -fitted agencies will of course cost more to the public purse in the long run tan it would have done to keep teh Remploy factories open as these things have away of costing more than was planned at the outset. It's like Thatcerism all over again and the problmn is tha tLbaour's leadership are copying her against the wishes of most ordinary Labour rmembers.
I'm not disabled but I've been in A PHAB club so have disabled friend and I've been unemployed on and off, at one point for about a year in total despite having graduate qualifications. I've also dealt with unemployed people through work and I am well aware of the system's defiencies such as it has been treating people as employed who in fact had only secured work for ONE DAY though they have since brought in the rapid reclaim systemn. However the attitude of the staff can sometiems jar - I recenlty rang up to see if there had been an increase in child tax credit that would enable me to work as I currently can't get enough childcare help to mak it worthwhile despite living on £550 a month which is mostly my husbnad's apart from the child benefit/and the minimum amount of tax credit that I get -so basically my debts will continue to mount unless I can find work at leadt until both kids are at school and the woman at the jobcentre kept saying "Are you available to work" as they do in that rather officious way when I'd already told her several times that yes I was in theory available if I could get childcare. I know that what they really mean to ask is whether there are any other factors preventing you from working e.g. disability or illness but they should make this clearinstead of haranguing you. It's also like when I recently rang social serives as I was concerned about an old couple who made need more care and they wanted the full name address and phone no before they would do anything even thoug htey already have soem care so they mus tbe known to them -or perhaps not now so much care is privatised of course - and when I knew exactly where they lived - right by a Post Office that I walk past every day and they are the first house in the road but I didn't know their phone no anymore although I use dto work for them several years ago adn I coudl see teh man had deteriated as I sometiems see him in the local shops. They did eventually find the phone number from directory enquiries but not without giving me the third degree first. I know what it's like to be on the other end of the phone on the public services and they do get a lot of tiemwasters but they need to stop assuming that all callers know their systemns - I had presumed the local social workers would be able to find the house from my desription....I presume they have cars...!! but it's like the time I went into Hillingdon Planning office with soem questions about the new development about to start at Brunel University down the road only to find that the duty planning officer lived in another area and in fact DIDN't KNOW where the uni was despite it being about a mile away only and thus was unable to answer my questions about emergency access to the side road behingdthe University!!..this s what youget when everything is privatised and there too many temps/relief offices etc I've been a temp too and it can be the pits so I feel sorry for the staff as well. teh absolute worse time was weh i rang the NSPCC concrened about a neglected child who lived out of the area (he only visited his aunt in our area) and was given short shrift though i persisted and made them log the case but when I reported this back to my health visitor seh was very shocked as she knew I had a legitimate concern. We did also report it to the relevant social services department. Of course I really admire people who work in child protection and do things liek man the phones of teh NSPCC but i don' thik they should shoot the messenger unless themessenger si proven to be a time waster as it will put people with real concerns off calling . I'm also very concrenced that my parent's generation seem to be brought up to think reporting any concrens yo have is interfering or only for clsoe family to do and it is this silence that can unwittingly allow abuse to perpetuate. I would rather phone up and get short shrift than not report a concern at all; you just have to be thick skinned but soemthing is very wrong systemn; I'd rather pass on any concerns to the relevant agency adn have tehm check it out than have them try to weed peoplr put on the strenght of the first contact. As with many things it's as if everyone who phones with an "allegation" is treated as if it's probabaly malicious when in fact I'm sure only a small majority of calls are malicious as I used to find when I answered phones in a public sector department. Another problem is that people answering the phones are probably overloaded with other work due to staff cuts and don't want to pick up another case they answer the call.
I hope we get rid of the New Lbaour leadership soon after what hey have doen to our public sector and Remploy in particular is jsut shaming. They won' tlook good in the future POlitics and Hisoty textbooks! and it will take years to undo the damage they've done.
On non-doms I don't belive thier argumen that they don't use public service sas if htey are for example in a raod crash the NHS will end up payin gfor them as no private health insurance pays for that much treatment..
"The LRC provides the ideal vehicle for those who are angry and who want to fight back to secure proper representation for the Labour and trade union movement."
except the lrc wont support trade union, working class and socialist candidates standing against new labour - in any circumstances.
so how do we achieve political representation for the trade union movement and the working class, if we don't stand candidates or support other suitable candidates against new labour, and we have no perspective to form / refound a working class, trade union based mass socialist party?
the lrc needs to address this question of political representation urgently.
comradely,
ks
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