38 Degrees Petition for Increase in Universal Credit to Cover Real Expense of Food

This is another internet petition that I’ve signed, not least because it reminded me of some of the material I posted years ago from the blog ‘Diary of a Food Bank Helper’. This blog was written by a lady who helped out at her local food bank, as the title told you, and it described the grinding poverty and real need she saw. I think a number of my readers here also do the same. The Tories and their counterparts in the Labour right are forcing people into starvation from daft Thatcherite theories about less eligibility and the undeserving, idle poor, and the determination to punish working people in order to give tax breaks to the rich. Most of the people on benefits are actually in work, but thanks to Tory wages freezes and an inflation driven by profits, their pay isn’t enough to cover the costs of basic necessities. Hence this petition.

Dear David,

My name is Mandy, and I’m a manager at a food bank in Wales. I’m not a campaigner, just someone trying to help my community. But every time I go to work I see more and more people struggling. Families are facing hunger because they can’t make ends meet and need our help because they’re skipping meals so they can feed their kids.

Why? Because right now Universal Credit – financial support that was designed to support any of us if we fall on hard times – isn’t enough to cover essentials like our food or bills. I’ve been on Universal Credit before and it was not enough for me and my kids to live off. Treading water every day makes you feel helpless and depressed. Something has to change.

That’s why I’ve signed the Trussell Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s petition with 38 Degrees which calls on all UK political parties to promise that they will fix Universal Credit so it protects people from going without the essentials at the least. [1] It would drastically reduce the number of people needing my food bank’s support and give hope to people.

Each of us could be one unexpected life event away from needing extra help: Universal Credit should be that lifeline, there for all of us when we need it, but only if politicians commit to making it work. Will you join me and sign the petition today? It takes just 30 seconds…

ADD YOUR NAME

I’m not signing because…

Our social security system should support anyone in times of need, but Universal Credit is falling short. Five in six low income households are going without at least one essential like food, a warm home or toiletries. [2] This is Britain in 2024: it simply should not happen.

I’m trying to do my bit to help people where I live. But I know that we need people all across the UK to join me in speaking up if we’re going to make a difference.

So, David, will you sign the petition and demand that all parties commit to guaranteeing our essentials and help people facing hardship by fixing Universal Credit? Signing could make a massive difference to the lives of so many and only takes a few seconds.

ADD YOUR NAME

I’m not signing because…

Thank you for reading,

Mandy,
Manager at Pontypridd Foodbank

NOTES:
[1] 38 Degrees: It’s time for Universal Credit to protect people from going without the essentials 
[2] The Trussell Trust: Guarantee our Essentials‘

Keir Starmer’s 10 Pledges for the Labour Party

I’ve just received a pamphlet from Keir Starmer’s campaign team, promoting him as the future of leader of the Labour Party. It begins with this quote

“I’ve spent my life fighting injustice. I’m standing to be leader of our Labour Party because I’m determined to unite our movement, take on the Tories and build a better future. If all parts of our movement come together, we can achieve anything.”

There’s a brief biography that runs

A Life Devoted to Fighting Injustice

Keir is the son of an NHS nurse and a toolmaker. As a former human rights lawyer, Keir is dedicated to Labour’s core principles of fairness and justice.

He has devoted his whole life to fighting injustice and defending the powerless against the powerful, as his ten-year unpaid battle over the McLibel case goes to show. he has fought against the death penalty abroad, defended mining communities against pit closures, and taken up hundreds of employment rights and trade union cases. After being the Director of Public Prosecutions, he was elected MP for Holborn & St Pancras in 2015, later becoming Shadow Brexit Secretary. Defeating Boris Johnson is a huge task but Keir knows that if we bring our movement together and stay true to our values, we can win, and change Britain for the better.

As leader of the Labour Party, Keir will contine to fight for justice in all its forms: social justice, climate justice, economic justice.

There’s then three columns of endorsement from people such as Dawn French, Rokhsana Fiaz, the elected mayor of Lewisham, Laura Parker, the former National Coordinator of Momentum, Emma Hardy, the MP for Hull West and Hessle, Aneira Thomas, the first baby born on the NHS, Sarah Sackman, a public and environmental lawyer, Alf Dubs, the refugee campaigner, Paul Sweeney, the former MP for Glasgow North East, Ricky Tomlinson, David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham, Doreen Lawrence, Konnie Huq, the TV presenter and writer, Mick Antoniw, the member of the Welsh Assembly for Pontypridd, Ross Millard of the Sunderland band, the Futureheads, Lucio Buffone, a member of ASLEF and LGBT+ Labour national committee member, and the Unison General Secretary, Dave Prentis.

The back page contains his ‘My Pledges To You’. He says

My  promise is that I will maintain our radical values and work tirelessly to get Labour in to power – so that we can advance the interests of the people our party was created to serve. Based on the moral case for socialism, here is where I stand.

His pledges are as follows

1. Economic Justice.

Increase income tax for the top 5% of earners, reverse the Tories’ cuts in corporation tax and clamp down on tax avoidance, particularly of large corporations. No stepping back from our core principles.

2. Social Justice.

Abolish Universal Credit and end the Tories’ cruel sanctions regime. Set a national goal for wellbeing to make health as important as GDP; invest in services that help shift to a preventive approach. Stand up for universal services and defend our NHS. Support the abolition of tuition fees and invest in lifelong learning.

3. Climate Justice

Put the Green New Deal at the heart of everything we do. There is no issue more important to our future than the climate emergency. A Clean Air Act to tackle pollution locally. Demand international action on climate rights.

4. Promote Peace and Human Rights.

No more illegal wars. Introduce a Prevention of Military Intervention Act and put human rights at the heart of foreign policy. Review all UK arms sales and make us a force for international  peace and justice.

5. Common Ownership.

Public services should be in public hands, not making profits for shareholders. Support common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water; end outsourcing in our NHS, local government and justice system.

6. Defend Migrant’s Rights.

Full voting rights for EU nationals. Defend free movement as we leave the EU. An immigration system based on compassion and dignity. End indefinite detention and call for the closure of centres such as Yarl’s Wood.

7. Strengthen Workers’ Rights and Trade Unions.

Work shoulder to should with trade unions to stand up for working people, tackle insecure work and low pay. Repeal the Trade Union Act. Oppose Tory attacks on the right to take industrial action and the weakening of workplace rights.

8. Radical Devolution of Power, Wealth and Opportunity.

Push power, wealth and opportunity away from Whitehall. A federal system to devolve powers – including through regional investment banks and control over regional industrial strategy. Abolish the House of Lords – replace it with an elected chamber of regions and nations.

9. Equality.

Pull down obstacles that limit opportunities and talent. we are the party of the Equal Pay Act, Sure Start, BAME representation and the abolition of Section 28 – we must build on that for a new decade.

10. Effective Opposition to the Tories.

Forensic, effective opposition to the Tories in Parliament – linked up to our mass membership and a professional election operation. Never lose sight of the votes ‘leant’ to the Tories in 2019. Unite our party, promote pluralism and improve our culture. Robust action to eradicate the scourge of antisemitism. Maintain our collective link with the unions.

This is all good, radical stuff, but there are problems. Firstly, his commitment to taking ‘robust action to eradicate the scourge of antisemitism’ and his decision, along with the rest of the Labour leadership contenders, to sign the Board of Deputies’ highly manipulative pledges, means that more people are going to be thrown out of the party without any opportunity to defend themselves, based only the allegations of anonymous accusers. We’ve seen innocents like Jackie Walker, Ken Livingstone, Marc Wadsworth, Mike Sivier, Tony Greenstein, Martin Odoni and so many others suspended and thrown out through the party’s kangaroo courts. One poor lady has died through the shock of being so expelled, even though she was a passionate anti-racist. This isn’t justice, it’s a pledge to renew the witch hunt.

As for promoting peace and human rights – how long will that last with the Board of Deputies demanding to supervise everything relating to Jews? Israel is a gross violator of human rights, but the Board has consistently defended it and its deplorable actions. Their demands that Labour adopt the IHRC definition of anti-Semitism was to stifle criticism of Israel by declaring them ‘anti-Semitic’. This pledge might be genuine, but the momentum anyone applies it to Israel the BoD will start howling ‘anti-Semitism!’ again and decent people will start getting expelled. Especially if they’re Jewish.

And his plan for giving Britain a federal constitution doesn’t seem to be a good one. From what I’ve read, it has been discussed before, and while it may solve some problems it creates others. It’s supposed to be no better than the current arrangement, which is why it hasn’t been implemented.

I also don’t back him on Europe. Oh, I’m a remainer at heart, but I think a large part of  the reason we lost the election was because, instead of accepting the results of referendum, Labour pledged itself to return to the EU. This was partly on Starmer’s insistence. He is right, however, that EU nationals in the UK should have voting rights.

But I have to say that I don’t trust Starmer. His campaign team were all supporters of Owen Smith, one of those who challenged Corbyn’s leadership. They include Luke Akehurst, one of the leading figures of the Israel lobby within the Labour Party. Tony Greenstein a few days ago put up a piece arguing that, whatever he claims to the contrary, as Director of Public Prosecutions he always sided with the authorities – the police, military and intelligence services – against everyone else.

My fear is that if he becomes leader of the Labour Party, he will quietly forget these pledges and continue the Blair project.

See: http://azvsas.blogspot.com/2020/02/keir-starmer-is-candidate-that-deep.html

http://azvsas.blogspot.com/2020/02/pauline-hammerton-expelled-for.html

Owen Smith: Coward and Bully

Mike over at Vox Political posted an excellent demolition a few days ago of Owen Smith’s claim that there is a culture of bullying in the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn. Mike points out that many of the accounts of bullying that Smiff claims occurred, are actually false – like the accusations of anti-Semitism and racism. Among those smeared were, ludicrously, Jewish and Black Labour activists with a very proud history of activism against racism and anti-Semitism. And then there’s Angela Eagle’s lie that a brick had been thrown through her office window, when in fact it was a completely different window in the building she shares with several other offices. It’s in an area that has suffered frequent vandalism to nearby buildings and structures. The only difference this time was that Eagle thought she could make political capital out of it.

Mike points out that Smiffy is in no position to make accusations of bullying against anyone, as he himself tried to bully Mike and one of his great commenters, Liza Van Zyl. Van Zyl attended a meeting in Pontypridd in March last year at which Smudger was a guest speaker. She’s a Labour activist, and asked Smiffy why he was promising to repeal the bedroom tax, but not the Work Capability Assessment, which had actually killed many more people. Smiff replied that it was because he didn’t want the Labour party to be accused of being soft on welfare scroungers by the right-wing press.

Van Zyl posted this on Facebook, and it was taken up by a journalist – Mike. At which point Smiff decided he was going to bully her and Mike for making him look bad. He threatened Liza with legal action, and tried the same with Mike. Liza was forced to give in, as she had no money to defend herself in court, and her Labour colleagues had sided with the Pontypridd Pratt in order to maintain good relations with him.

Mike didn’t fold, because he told Smiffy that not only did he have Liza’s testimony, he also had very thorough knowledge of the WCA, as he’d forced the government to publish the figures on the deaths it had caused.

At which point, Smiffy did what most bullies do when you stand up to them: he went away.

See Mike’s article at: http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2016/07/22/heres-why-owen-smith-really-shouldnt-kick-up-a-fuss-about-bullying/

This tells you everything you need to know about Owen Smith. He’s a coward. He’s keen to bully grassroots Labour members, who don’t follow his every whim, but is desperate to appear presentable to the rich and powerful, the very people that are killing those the Labour party was founded to represent: the poor and working class. It also shows the culture of mendacity that exists in New Labour. When the truth is awkward, lie. Just like Tony Blair and his vile court lied about Weapons of Mass Destruction, in order to take us to war in Iraq.

Far from Jeremy Corbyn being responsible for bullying, it’s the Blairites, led by Smith and Eagle, who have presided over a culture of bullying and intimidation. They should stop. If they cannot, I suggest that they leave and find their true home in the Tories.