If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
The public sector, in my opinion is the most important of all the job areas in the UK, for they are the people employed to maintain some sense of order and safety amongst all us everyday loons who fart about on a daily basis landing ourselves in all sorts of mishaps.
I am not a particular fan of the upper house in Parliament, being as it is populated by unelected peers, 70% of which have a party affiliation and thus take the whip in most cases. Nevertheless, when it is they upon whom we must rely for a sensible approach to legal reform, I wonder what on earth we did to deserve this situation.
Labour lost 16 million votes in the 2010 general election. There are local elections in just under one month's time. This is Labour's opportunity to show people that we are on their side, that we share their struggles and their fears. Too many people feel ignored by the political class.
I have to admit ambivalence about yesterday's NUT strike in London. I went to work, not because I disagree with the concept of fighting for my pension, but for the rather more prosaic reason that I belong to another union, who did not choose to strike this time.
As citizens of the UK, we are regularly reminded of how fortunate we are to be afforded the freedoms and protections granted by the rule of law.
People are angry and are no longer the blind, flag-waving serfs we are expected to be by the governing elite. Contrary to Cameron, Unite's proposal to co-opt the games is patriotism personified and whether or not the strike will be executed, its proposition is something most should be getting behind. Given that sick and vulnerable patients will lie stranded in ambulances whilst a cavalcade of sponsors, dignitaries speed by in their Mercs along one of the VIP lanes, London's transport system is already pretty screwed, strike or no strike.
I have been watching the debate on the future of public sector pensions with two hats on: the one of a self-made entrepreneur and the other as a member of the Greater Manchester Superannuation fund; a frozen relic of my time in Local Government.
"There can no longer be large donations to political parties" said Lord Levy, Labour's chief fundraiser under Tony Blair, earlier this year.
"It doesn't really matter if it's Labour or Conservative because the people behind the scenes are always the same..." said a 23 year-old man from Live...
Jeremy Clarkson is one of the BBC's most prominent and, admittedly, highest-paid presenters. The One Show is one of the network's most popular programmes, which links it to Clarkson's hit series, Top Gear. Its rivals jumped at the opportunity to denounce the two simultaneously in the same report.
Across the UK children weren't educated, trash wasn't collected and hospital patients weren't treated (one of the angles of 'socialised medicine' that wasn't covered during the furious Obama-care debates...)
George Osborne, the British Chancellor's autumn statement may be many things, but fair and just it is not. Some of the poorest members of our society, public workers, who do valuable work that distinguishes a caring society from one that is not, are to carry a heavy load for dire economic conditions not of their making.
Of course everyone's pension is important to them but these issues are not going to be resolved as a consequence of the disruption which will be caused by the strikes on Wednesday. They are only going to be resolved by sensible discussion and negotiation.
Cameron calls union members "irresponsible" yet does not offer equivalent condemnation of rich tax dodgers.
The right to strike is an important one, but it is not one that should be unfettered. The public and private sectors should be treated equally.
Behind the cosy democratic facade, Britain is a cut-throat economic dictatorship. A rich and powerful economic elite makes all the key economic decisions, excluding millions of employees and consumers.
