Student protests

I wasn't able to go on the demo today due to having to work on job applications that may lead to me earning enough to live on again. This had to take priority, alongside being available for any temp work that may come up. Dwindling redundancy money and a mortgage tends to focus the mind.

I do hope that the coming months will see an increase in action against cuts to public services , which has already started in some areas . This must be the start of building a united fight against all cuts .

I notice some Lib Dems and the odd Tory voted against the Fees increase ,including standing down from their Government positions. Clegg and Cable though were still defending the indefensible .Clegg may say he has nothing to be ashamed of, but it seems his colleagues are finding it harder to justify their actions , shying away from the real reason of power at any price . Hopefully they will get hammered at the local elections .

There was though cause for celebration.Watching BBC News 24 I was amused that there was much relief that although Prince Charles and Camilla got their car kicked, they still arrived unflustered to the Palladium and the show started on time. Phew, that makes up for the vote .

Some thoughts on all the protesting malarkey , positive ones as well !

I have been a bit quiet with the blogging,doing temp work is very unpredictable. I tend to be rung up first thing and asked to go asap to a job. I have done some very long two day shifts recently and all in all found it hard to get my head into the right place to do a post.Lots have been going on and I wish I had been able to go on some of the demos, but paying the mortgage and bills comes first I'm afraid. Here though are some thoughts on the last week or so.

A little while back I did what was perhaps a bit of a jaded post re the students demos . My concern was that the protests around education should be part of a wider movement around the cuts to the public sector and should involve those who have or are at risk of losing their jobs as well as those who rely on the services they provide . With regard to the last group this needs to be done sensitively , not always a trait of the left . At the moment there is much anxiety and also expectations being dashed for them.

Over the last decade , people have been encouraged to be more independent and have more control over the support they receive. Older people have been helped to live in their own homes or extra care housing where they have a flat and not just a room . People with learning disabilities have moved out of long stay hospitals and many now live in their own flats , some of which are shared ownership or housing association, rather than large homes. Same with others , such as those with long term mental health issues .

The old ways of people being expected to be happy with day centres , separate from the rest of the community , have been being eroded . People with learning disabilities, for example, have been moving from only having the option of day centres to being more part of their community . Many have chosen to do training , voluntary work or paid work. In this climate that is becoming less likely. The cuts mean that these improvements , that people can live like the rest of us , could be coming to an end. I know of a number of areas that are looking backwards to residential care as a 'cheaper' option . The chances of people getting into the employment market is less likely now, the day centre beckons. Expectations raised are now dashed . Anxiety increases with all the uncertainty. Having choice, control and independence for people who need support will be seen as a 'luxury' when the cuts are made . It will be a return to the old ways and the cheapest .

OK, gone round the houses a bit here . My point though is cuts to public services are not just about jobs, they are about the day to day quality of life for people . That will diminish and we will start to go backwards . There are a number of strong advocacy groups nationally, as well as local ones. They need to be part of campaigns and that will mean the left listening to their concerns and experiences and not trying to lead .

As an old cynic I must now admit I am becoming more positive with recent developments . The energy and determination of the student and schoolchildren movement is encouraging and it seems quite infectious. As is so often the case in the NUS, and unions in general, the members have been more radical than the leadership. The actions and pressure of the students have forced the NUS President to back them and admit the NUS had been spineless and too cautious. TUC take note.

I haven't been on the blogs much, I hope to do a bit of a round up of reporting on the demos in the next day or two, but I did notice Phil has written about the storming of Lewisham Town hall against the Council making cuts . Very heartening to see the direct action being taken to the Town Halls and against the cuts in services. I have also seen that students joined the RMT picket lines this week, that's what is needed , united against all cuts . It also seems that the Coalition of Resistance conference was both well attended and not dull in the extreme , pretty good going when faced with many speakers and a long day. Liam , who lets just say can be a tad cynical as well, even went as far as to call it 'exhilarating.' High praise indeed .

Now I'm not naive enough to think this is 68 again, that the revolution is on its way or that the left will be united , but hey its not a bad start is it ?

Pic: Eddie and Cat's Dawg . Totally unrelated to the post, but couldn't resist!

Paul O'Grady on student protests

More from Paul O'Grady, this time on student protests :

Much prefer this to some of the more macho ego driven male leftie 'leaders .'

Note to lefties, sense of humour is a good way to get the message across !

Paul OGrady on the cuts !

Week of action against Cuts and for trade union rights

Right , for those readers who feel like taking some action against the cuts , see below. Duff, you're excused !

From the LRC:

Stop the Cuts! There is an Alternative

With the Comprehensive Spending Review, just days away – see our October 2010 events calendar for details of events against the cuts around the country. There is an LRC public meeting in Parliament on the night of the CSR statement, and another event a week later in Manchester:

Stop the Cuts! There is an Alternative – London meeting

Wednesday 20th October 2010
7:00pm to 9:00pm

Boothroyd Room, Portcullis House, House of Commons, Westminster

Speakers include: Manuel Cortes (TSSA), Bob Crow (RMT), Jeremy Dear (NUJ), Dot Gibson (National Pensioners Convention), Steve Gillan (POA), Jonathan Ledger (NAPO), John McDonnell MP (LRC Chair), Mick Shaw (FBU), Simon Weller (ASLEF)

Download the flyer

Stop the Cuts! There is an Alternative – Manchester meeting

Saturday 30th October 2010
12:30pm to 2:30pm

Friends Meeting House, Mount Street, Manchester

Speakers include: Cllr Matthew Brown (Preston), Jeremy Dear (NUJ), Steve Gillan (POA), Peter Keenlyside (CWU), Alice Mahon, Joe Marino (BFAWU), John McDonnell MP, Mick Shaw (FBU)

Download the flyer

Lobby your MP to back the Lawful Industrial Action (Minor Errors) Bill

John McDonnell’s Lawful Industrial Action (Minor Errors) Bill is being debated in Parliament this Friday, 22 October.

It needs 100 MPs to attend the debate. If you have not already done so, please lobby your MP to vote for the Lawful Industrial Action (Minor Errors) Bill. You can lobby your MP by email using the e-action through the PCS website or download the model letter from the RMT website to print out. You can also download the briefing on the Bill, prepared by John Hendy QC.

The LRC Conference: Resist the Cuts, Rebuild the Party will take place on Saturday 15 January 2011 at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square – reserve the date in your diary now – more details soon

Talking about Poplar and Cuts

Janine Booth (c'est moi), author of 'Guilty and Proud of it', will be giving an illustrated talk on the Poplar Council rates rebellion of 1921, when socialist councillors went to prison in a successful fight against cuts imposed by a Tory-Liberal coalition government. Jon Rogers, Lambeth Unison, will also be speaking about the prospects for fighting local government cuts today.

This Saturday, 25 September, 5pm, Housman's bookshop, King's Cross.

Details here for details.

Here's a Poster that Needed Amending

Tossers.

The ConDem Debt Repayment Con

Economics is never going to be my specialist subject, but even I can see that the line of argument from Cleggeron is a con.

They keep repeating that the nation's debt must be paid off as soon as possible or else catastrophe will ensue. (Not that the LibDems believed that during the election campaign when they wanted progressive-minded supporters of public services to vote for them, but hey.)

Many millions of us are in debt. It's called a mortgage, and it was positively encouraged by the Tories the last time they were in power. But how many of us feel an overwhelming sense of urgency to pay off their mortgage RIGHT NOW? Hardly anyone. The arrangement with the lender is to pay it off over 25 years or so.

Similarly, you'd think, the nation's debt. Especially as, as I understand it, most of the debt is in a form equivalent to bonds, so the lenders are not beating at the door to get it repaid.

Would you pay off your mortgage this year if you could? Maybe. Would you starve your family to enable you to do so? Of course not. But Cleggeron are not starving their own families, are they? They are starving ours - of the services, wages and pensions we need.

Clegg's speech yesterday was particularly loathsome, with not a sniff of liberalism or democracy in the air: it was a straightforward Tory speech. Public sector workers' pensions are, apparently, 'gold-plated' and unfair to private-sector workers (not that private-sector workers will benefit from attacks on public-sector workers' pensions, but hey). And it's a shame to cut public-sector workers' wages, but we really have to, except the very very badly-paid ones (why there are very very badly-paid workers in the public sector to start with is glossed over). Taxing the super-rich, stopping the massive tax avoidance/evasion, or nationalising the banks? Nah.

It seems to me that if the ConDem coalition does not need to slash public services and attack public-sector workers in order to pay off the debt immediately, then it must be doing so because it wants to. And why does it want to? Because this lash-up of ruling-class parties wants to break the consensus that grew after the Second World War that the state should provide for people's welfare, and replace it with one that we should fend for ourselves.

It's an economic, political and ideological offensive that we must respond to with an industrial, political and ideological counter-offensive - including by spreading the word that people should not believe the crap about having to pay off the debt right now.

[PS. All of this, of course, skims over the argument that Labour could have avoided building up such a big debt by taking the money from the big financial institutions rather than borrowing it from them. But that's for another time.]