Nick Clegg no local hero as Lib Dems leave him off election leaflets | Politics | The Guardian

Nick Clegg wasn't on the Focus on Knowle Election Special leaflet pushed through our letterbox recently either - no images, no quotes, not even brief ones. First time Lib Dems have been in national government for yonks and they don't want to remind us of the achievements so far - wonder why!! Maybe he'll feature on future Lib Dem material we receive before the 5 May polling day?? Or maybe they'll at least list what they've done for local authorities so far in the coalition government?

Nick Clegg no local hero as Lib Dems leave him off election leaflets Politics The Guardian

Spot the odd one out

"We come in the traditions that have marched in peaceful but powerful protest for justice, fairness and political change.

"The suffragettes who fought for votes for women and won. The civil rights movement in America that fought against racism and won. The anti-apartheid movement that fought the horror of that system and won."

And the radical message was...

“There is a need for difficult choices, and some cuts. But, this government is going too far and too fast...”

...not radical at all! In fact the same as the Coalition Government but a little less and a little slower

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/colleagues-defend-miliband-rally-speech-2254550.html

BBC News - Andrew Lansley plays down risks of his NHS changes

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has admitted there is "risk" involved in his English NHS shake-up...No s**t Sherlock...but says there is a greater risk from doing nothing...but no-one is arguing for doing nothing and what he plans is a massive change forced from the centre with far too much haste and no democracy, that will result in huge private sector involvements and so a change in motivations.

He said spending was set to rise...really? isn't the NHS budget at a virtual standstill that will be wiped out and become a cut due to rising drug and technology costs plus the impact of an ageing population? but the Labour years had shown that spending more money "isn't the answer". Er...no, no, no...doing nothing but spending more money would not be the answer - we need bottom-up, agreed reforms not privatisation, decent health spending not the Coalition cuts!

BBC News - Andrew Lansley plays down risks of his NHS changes

Oppose forest flogging: Petition and Early Day Motion

Please sign the 38 degrees petition opposing plans to flog our forests.
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/save-our-forests#petition
The government is planning a massive sell off of our national forests. They could be auctioned and fenced off, run down, logged or turned into golf courses and holiday villages. We can't let that happen. We need to stop these plans. National treasures like the The Forest of Dean [pictured], Sherwood Forest and The New Forest could be sold off. Once they are gone, they will be lost forever. A huge petition will force the government to rethink its plans. If we can prove how strongly the public are against this, they will have to back down. Please sign the petition now.Find out more: Visit the save our forests action centre to find out more about the forest sell off and download campaign leaflets and posters.

Copied below is Green Party MP Caroline Lucas' motion to the House of Commons opposing the sell-off of the country's forests...No Bristol MPs are signed up...

UK Parliament - Early Day Motions By Details

EDM 1199

FORESTRY COMMISSION REDUCTIONS IN EXPENDITURE

Lucas, Caroline

That this House is alarmed at the 25 per cent. cut to the Forestry Commission announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review; opposes plans to sell off parts of the Public Forest Estate in England which could result in 30 million trees being cut down and job losses in England and Scotland; notes that the Forestry Commission in England manages 258,000 hectares of public forest, employing 856 people; further notes that the Commission manages the highest number of sites of special scientific interest, with 99 per cent. of these in favourable or recovering condition; regards forests as a priceless carbon storage resource and essential to the Government's efforts to achieve climate change mitigation targets; is concerned that education courses and public health programmes would be inhibited by the sale of public forests; acknowledges that public rights of way are lost under private ownership of former Forestry Commission land; furthernotes that at 9 per cent. the level of forestation in England is one of the lowest in Europe and that 69 per cent. of forest is already privately-owned; further notes that hits on the Forestry Commission Trades Union's website increased by 560 per cent. to 80,000 per month after this cut was announced; and calls on the Government to bring forward proposals to amend the Public Bodies Bill [Lords] to remove this threat to forests.

Happy New Year??

So, its not going to be a 'happy new year' then! The Coalition Govt say they believe in measuring the progress of society via wellbeing and happiness but have no policies likley to improve either of these. I have to say that I agree with the general view of the TUCs Brendan Barber here - he's also probably right to say, "It's hard to pick out the unkindest cut of all, but a top contender must be the 10% cut in housing benefit that kicks in after someone has been unemployed for more than a year."

BBC News - Union leader says 2011 will be 'horrible' year

The TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, has said 2011 would be a "horrible" year of cuts. In his New Year message the union boss claimed there would be cuts in jobs and real cuts in living standards.

He added the year could also be a tough one for the government, which may face further angry protests.

Meanwhile, another union leader, Mark Serwotka of the Public and Commercial Services Union said strikes next year were "inevitable".

"The more of us that stand together against the cuts, the more problems we can create. Unless you look like you want a fight, they won't negotiate," he told the Times newspaper, predicting that the disruption would begin in the spring. "The Government has to see we are serious."

The TUC's Mr Barber said a demonstration in London in March against spending cuts looked like being one of the biggest events his union had ever organised.

In his New Year message, he said: "It's hard to pick out the unkindest cut of all, but a top contender must be the 10% cut in housing benefit that kicks in after someone has been unemployed for more than a year."

The Times reported senior union figures would meet at a TUC meeting early in the New Year to discuss their response to the cuts.

http://www.tuc.org.uk/

Also see this comment from Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MP http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/dec/31/dilemma-of-labours-opposition

Liar, Liar for Xmas No.1

Captain Ska's anti-cuts, anti-coalition government song Liar Liar is out on sale this week with ambitions to make it to Christmas number one. Clips of George Osborne, David Cameron and Nick Clegg saying 'we are all in this together' are mixed onto a ska backing claiming "he’s a liar, liar, you can’t trust him, no, no, no."

Proceeds from the single will go to causes helping those affected by the cuts, including the homeless charity Crisis, Disability Alliance, Women's Health Matters and False Economy - a cuts campaign site supported by UNISON.

Liar Liar is the number one reggae song on iTunes, at number 59 in the downloads chart - and it might just knock Simon Cowell off the top of the charts.

From 79p to download from: iTunes Tesco entertainment Shockhound Mog.com also: eMusic Napster Thumbplay

Ask your friends and colleagues to download it too – just send them a link to this page, or share it via email, facebook, or twitter: action.unison.org.uk/xmasno1

UNISON News The public service union Liar, Liar for Xmas No.1

Spending cuts 'will see rise in absolute child poverty' | Politics | The Guardian

If we were genuinely all 'in this together' our government would not be enacting policies that will push more and more children into both absolute and relative poverty. Those who 'have the broadest shoulders' as the Coalition Govt have put it are supposed to be 'taking the biggest load' - clearly they aren't! See this Guardian report on an authoritative study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies,

The government's radical programme to slash spending will see the first rise in absolute child poverty for 15 years, with almost 200,000 children pushed into penury, according to an analysis by the Institute of Fiscal Studies.

Tax changes introduced by the coalition government will, the leading independent fiscal thinktank finds, increase absolute poverty by 200,000 children and 200,000 working-age adults in 2012-13.

Cuts to housing benefit alone will force a further 100,000 children into poverty.
In the next three years the IFS says average incomes are forecast to stagnate and this, coupled with deep cuts in welfare, will see a rise in relative poverty for children and working-age adults of 800,000 and a rise in absolute poverty for the same group of 900,000.

The institute directly challenges the government's claim that the impact of the budget would have no effect on child poverty...

Spending cuts 'will see rise in absolute child poverty' Politics The Guardian

BBC News - Lollipop patrols axed by council

What! Lollipop patrols protect our kids and in any case cost only a very small amount of money. Lollipop men and women aren't exactly overpaid - get rid of the Chief Executives on extortion salaries and stop using all those consultants that cost a fortune instead! I hope this suggestion is not made in Bristol or elsewhere.

BBC News - Lollipop patrols axed by council

With councils in England facing big cuts to their funding from central government, some jobs and services are likely to be axed.
The need to save money has led to Suffolk County Council to propose getting rid of its lollipop men and women to save £174,000, a move that's upset some parents.

Green Party | Government must halt its “savage attacks” on UK higher education, say Greens

Good quality Higher Education is one of the key factors to manitain and develop if we are to achieve a sustainable society - but its struggling to survive in places! Education is not a commodity to be bought and sold.

Green Party Government must halt its “savage attacks” on UK higher education, say Greens

BRISTOL City Council has admitted it may have to make up to £70 mil- lion of spending cuts over the next four years – £20m higher than previously announced.

I'm worried about the implications of this for vital services eg care for the elderly. Aren't we supposed to be remembering the contributions people made in the world wars? Many of these people are now in care homes or in need of care support to remain in their homes - we should be looking after them well.

BRISTOL City Council has admitted it may have to make up to £70 mil- lion of spending cuts over the next four years – £20m higher than previously announced.

Canny Cable's Capitalist Con

Vince Cable was reported as attacking capitalism in his Lib Dem conference speech but in fact he played it pretty cannily - if you view politics on terms like his ie NOT 'what you see is what you get'. He was entertaining, used humour and exaggeration effectively and saw to it that his speech was widely circulated to the media beforehand. He used some colourful language, ‘spivs’, ‘gamblers’, ‘murky world’, ‘markets...rigged’ – which the media zoom in on – and drew just the (‘angry’) reaction he wanted from the business world. All of this created the general impression that Business Secretary Vince wanted and more than got him through what might have been a difficult Lib Dem conference. West Country Tory MP Jacob Rees Mogg described it -pretty accurately - as ‘throwing a few lentils’ to his party faithful. I’d describe it as leading everyone on a merry dance (see picture for evidence) - using spin in an attempt to put us in a spin, confusing and causing problems for us with deception/disguise and behaving in a way that hides realities.

Being keen to understand all variations of and views on capitalism – never more so than since capitalist economic systems around the world took many industrial economies to the very brink due to the banking crisis – I closely watched the Cable speech and have followed some of his pronouncements since. Vince Cable stressed the importance of finance, the deficit and its ‘correction’ through cuts and freezing public sector pay. He spoke of how economic growth is essential, how we must remove obstacles to growth and how it should be led private enterprise (he's since stressed the importance of growth eg here). He referred to his agenda as pro-market, pro-business – with competition central - and how high taxes on rich people and companies could send them abroad. The privatisation of Royal Mail was mentioned and he referred to graduates as having to make a bigger contribution to the cost of their higher education (what has since emerged is the creeping privatisation of higher education through the establishment of a free market in tuition fees). Vince has since stressed how he wants to speed up Royal Mail privatisation.

Does this sound like a firmly capitalist approach or an attack on capitalism to you?? Andrew Neil said in his analysis immediately after the speech that he thought it faced in two directions at once. Ex-Chancellor Alistair Darling described Cable’s speech as ‘political hokey cokey’ (great phrase!). In my view the speech liberally (and Liberal Democratically!) sprinkled firm capitalist policies and actions amongst crowd-pleasing rhetoric designed to create the impression of anti-capitalism! There is certainly debate about precisely what capitalism is but few, if any, would dispute that it involves private ownership, private profit, decisions made by a market and economic growth as the primary aim – all which are extended by Vince Cable’s policies and actions along with those of the Coalition Government he is fully signed up to. So, its Vince Capitalist then.

[I'll follow up on this post with a further analysis of capitalism later]

Cuts threat to public order, public safety, public security

Spending cuts on this scale, at this pace, and of this nature, threaten many aspects of public life - not least public order, safety and security...

BBC News - Spending Review: Police 'not ready for budget cuts'

A police watchdog says it has "real concern" whether police authorities can manage cuts in the Spending Review.
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) said less than one in five of the bodies it examined were ready to help forces cut effectively.
The Home Office will cut police funding by 20% over four years, with chief constables warning of job losses...

Simon Hughes - add action to your words and make change on housing benefit cuts happen

Simon Hughes' words on housing benefit changes - 'harsh and draconian' - are right but I want to see him and others like him back their words with actions. A roof over your head is a basic need and the changes risk significantly increasing homelessness - on top of all the extra risk of a lot more unemployment, cuts in councils services and so on...

Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes is threatening a backbench rebellion over planned cuts to housing benefit.

The party's deputy leader told Channel 4 News some of the proposals were "harsh and draconian".

In its Spending Review last week, the government announced major changes to housing benefit - including cutting it by 10% for the long-term jobless....

...The government is proposing the biggest shake-up in housing in decades - cutting money for new social housing by 50% and allowing housing associations to charge new tenants close to the full market rate for rent...

When Fairness sticks in your throat (Jonathon Porritt)

When Fairness sticks in your throat (Jonathon Porritt)

...So how does Nick Clegg deal with this? Predictably, he sets out to shoot the messenger, attacking the Institute of Fiscal Studies for getting it all wrong with their “distorted” methodology. “Complete nonsense”, he claims. All very embarrassing when you think that the IFS was one of the Lib Dems’ favourite independent think-tanks before power corrupted their judgement...

£1 billion...er...'stealthy' nuclear submarine...

Apparently we are in the process of building two more of these
'£1 billion',
'stealthy'
nuclear submarines - but with three of them running around [or should that be running aground] instead of one are we three times as likely to experience just how stealthy they really are? Just how justified is our high defence spending?

BBC News - Grounded nuclear sub dragged free

A nuclear-powered submarine which ran aground in shallow waters off the Isle of Skye has been towed free, the Royal Navy has said.
A tug had been carefully pushing along one side of HMS Astute, which got into difficulty a few miles from the Skye road bridge.
Described as the stealthiest ever built in the UK, the £1bn boat was out on sea trials and was not armed....

Poor suffer most from spending review cuts

Deputy PM Nick Clegg is very unwise and unmeasured indeed to launch such an outspoken attack on the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) - using words like 'frightening people' and 'airbrushing' - because it is very widely respected for its expertise, independence and authority. This is not good leadership and in fact both Nick Clegg and Chancellor George Osbourne praised the IFS highly during the summer general election! Take a look at why the IFS regard the spending review as on the whole affecting poorer people more than richer people here. For me it makes very good sense to conclude that the poor will suffer most because they are the ones most reliant on the public services and benefits that have been savagely cut - and even the government's own figures (see image), calculated in their own way, show that the bottom 10% are hit hard. Government attempts at making the cuts 'fair' are far too small.

Spending review: Clegg attacks "nonsense" IFS warning - Channel4 News

More on this issue from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11598234

http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/6397563/ifs-the-spending-review-was-regressive-sorta.thtml

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9113000/9113265.stm

http://www.jrf.org.uk/blog/2010/10/spending-review-progressive-or-regressive

Countering the cuts myths - Red Pepper

Excellent piece in Red Pepper: Countering the cuts myths

The government and the press say we are in the grip of a debt crisis caused by the ‘bloated’ public sector. Here, Red Pepper debunks the myths used to push cuts to jobs and public services...

Thanks to Charlie Bolton for pointing me in the direction of this article - its a good read with important information.

What public spending cuts will mean for you

JOB losses, service cuts and more expensive public transport are all on the way for the Bristol area as part of the government plan to slash the country's £109 billion deficit

For me yesterdays spending review announcements are a direct assault on most things that involve the concept 'public' - including the general public themselves.

Green view on today's spending review

Budget to destroy a million jobs

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MP has called George Osborne's comprehensive spending review a "budget to destroy a million jobs" - and has again argued that the worst cuts could have been avoided by an alternative policy based on a fairer tax regime.

Caroline Lucas said immediately after the budget statement:

"This is a budget to destroy half a million jobs in the public sector, according to the government's own estimates. And the knock-on effects will be at least as many jobs lost in the private sector."

The Brighton Pavilion MP added:

"When those public sector workers find themselves out of work they will, along with disabled people, feel the full force of the additional £7 billion worth of cuts in welfare spending, on top of the £11 billion of cuts announced in June. The housing benefit regime will become much more harsh, risking a rise in homelessness.

"They will also find that the loss of public services that this budget represents will massively disadvantage them, and all the most vulnerable people in society who rely on those services."

She asked:

"Where's the fairness in a budget that lets vital public services go to the wall, hitting the poorest hardest?"

Britain's first Green Party MP concluded:

"This was a budget of false economies, undermining the economy and hitting the most vulnerable - and all, incredibly, under the banner of fairness."

Green Party | Caroline Lucas MP makes case for nuclear cuts to save essential services

Green Party Caroline Lucas MP makes case for nuclear cuts to save essential services

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MP today published a report identifying well over £100 billion of potential savings from nuclear arms projects and subsidies to the nuclear power industry.

In the report Britain’s first Green MP argues that cancelling the Trident renewal will save over £100 billion, while axing proposed new nuclear power stations will save the UK taxpayer around £8 billion in nuclear waste costs...

The report can be downloaded here: http://bit.ly/b9UnqL