"Osborne's 'no budge' budget" - A Titanic "full speed ahead" to the Iceberg

Below is Unison's response to today's awful, bodged and Titanic "full steam ahead to the iceberg" budget.

I wonder how many folk recognise the picture of the actor and remember or realise its significance? 

Not a lot according to last years General Election results. 

Why is it each generation eventually forgets not just how horrible the Tories are but that they are economic illiterates who think that mass unemployment is "a price worth paying".

" Osborne’s ‘no budge budget’ is a missed opportunity to right Tory economic wrongs, UNISON, the UK’s largest union, said today. By passing up the chance to scale back the savage public spending cuts, the Tories are condemning the economy to long-term low growth and high unemployment.

The union said that the Tory’s half-hearted attempts to tackle rising inequalities through a Learjet levy and action on tax loopholes, were token gestures, which would not restore fairness - spiralling out of control under the Tories.

UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, said:

“Under the Tories our economy isn’t growing, but the dole queues are. The Government’s own Office of Budget Responsibility has downgraded the growth forecast by 0.9% since the Chancellor’s last budget. The carnage going on in the public sector was completely written out of the Chancellor’s budget.

“Osborne should have used this budget to right his economic wrongs. This no budge budget flies in the face of mounting evidence of the toll Tory cuts are taking on our economy and our society. The Chancellor is pinning his hopes on the private sector driving the recovery – but the evidence shows the private sector is not creating enough jobs to stop total unemployment from rising.

“Struggling families will be pleased that tax receipts have been used to stop fuel price rises. But with dole queues rising, and business and consumer confidence low, this is a warning to Osborne – he will not be able to rely on tax receipts to top up spending much longer.

“Osborne's over-hyped increase in tax allowances will in fact be worth less than £2.50 a week to the average basic rate taxpayer. This is more than cancelled out by the increase in VAT, which will cost the average family more than £3 a week, and other reductions in benefits, tax credits and services, which will cost families even more.

“This small tax giveaway will do nothing to help the 2.53 million people on the dole and struggling to find work. It is a drop in the ocean for millions of public sector workers hit by pay freezes. With inflation up to 5.5%, any benefit will swiftly be wiped out by higher prices.

“The Learjet levy is a token gesture. The mega-rich who can afford a private plane could pay a lot more towards our recovery. Instead, public sector workers are cutting back on food, vital healthcare such as dentists and prescriptions, and are still racking up high levels of personal debt. The poor, sick and vulnerable who did not gamble away our future are paying the price, as the public services they rely on disappear.”

On top of the VAT rise and cuts to tax credits, benefits and services that are hitting all workers, public sector workers are being hit by an increase in their pension contributions that will take more than £10 a week out of their disposable income, and a pay freeze that, with inflation running at 5.5%, will have the effect of reducing their real living standards by the equivalent of another £20 a week.

The union is calling for a change of direction and a budget for growth including a Robin Hood Tax. This tax on the banks would add £20 billion to the public purse – twenty times the measures the Chancellor announced today to close tax loopholes. Twenty billion would save local services from shut down, keep children’s nurseries open, stop hospital’s shedding jobs and save adult day centres from closure.

There is another way

- Andrew Lansley’s £3 billion* top-down reorganisation of the NHS could fund 600,000 hip operations, or fund full home care packages for 150,000 elderly or vulnerable people.

- Francis Maude’s “mutuals taskforce” has a £10 million price tag – these funds could keep more than 200 social, youth and community workers in their jobs for a year.

- And Gove’s Academies and Free Schools programme has £410 million of funding – which could restart around 20 of the vital school rebuilding projects he cancelled last year, giving disadvantaged children better schools, and creating valuable construction jobs.
(picture is from "Boys from the black stuff")

West Ham MP Lyn Brown (with badly broken elbow)

Picture is of Lyn Brown our West Ham Labour MP  who suffered a very bad fall on the steps of the House of Commons early this month.  She has broken her elbow in several places and has been warned that she may never recover the full use of her left arm.

Check out Lyn's column in the Newham Recorder here.

As Lyn herself admits it could have been a lot worse.  I am sure that she enjoyed the supportive text I sent her as West Ham CLP agent saying she should take more care of herself in the future and not rush about.  As Agent I am far too busy at the moment for a by-election!

 :)

It was a shame that some local Newham Tories posted a typically sneering, misogynist and unpleasant post on their blog.  But there you go - same old Tories, same old Nasty Party.

(Hat tip Picture - Newham Recorder)

St Georges Hospital, London - £55 Million Cuts - 500 Jobs going

Despite the great news today about the Tory climbdown over the privatisation of our Forests and the apparent retreat over reducing Housing benefit for the unemployed.  This Government still shows its nasty, vindictive side by the announcement that "Leading Hospital" St Georges in Tooting London will suffer £55 million in cuts and 500 hospital jobs (10%) cut.  Three wards are due to close. 

UNISON PRESS RELEASE "Staff at St Georges Hospital, South London have acted with growing shock and anger at the announcement that 500 posts ( almost 10% of the workforce)at the hospital are to be axed as part of the Governments 20 billion NHS cuts programme.

St George's will now be forced to cut £50m from its annual budget, cut 500 medical nursing and health care posts close wards, cut approximately 100 beds, and cap the number of births in its Midwifery unit to 5,000 a year Posts affected include frontline doctors, nurses and professional staff.

Michael Walker, UNISON Regional Officer, states "In a week when the bankers are set to receive huge pay rises and multi million pound bonuses, we are going to witness the spectre at St George's of dedicated nurses, doctors and health staff losing their jobs. How can that be fair or right?"

Nurse Jane Pilgrim, UNISON Nursing Convenor at St Georges Hospital states:
"We were told by the Government that there would be no cuts in frontline posts but in reality the NHS is witnessing swingeing cuts to frontline services every day".

Geoff Thorne, UNISON St George's Branch Secretary stated: "Before the General Election Andrew Lansley visited St Georges Hospital and gave a personal guarantee to staff that there would be no frontline cuts in the NHS"

Nora Pearce UNISON Midwifery Convenor states: "Capping the number of births at St George's to just 3,000 a year will mean thousands of local women will no-longer be able to have their babies at St George's, denying them the back up and confidence they know comes from having a baby at an internationally renowned teaching hospital.

Michael Walker, UNISON Regional Officer stated: "UNISON will be working with St George's Hospital management to mitigate the impact of these cuts on patients and staff. Mr Lansley needs to urgently recognise the damage he is causing to the NHS with these unprecedented levels of cuts".

"We fear these cuts are just the prelude to even greater cuts in our NHS when the Government unleash GP Commissioning and GP's are forced to ration care.  "We urge all local Member's of Parliament, of all political persuasion’s to intercede and urge Andrew Lansley the Conservative Secretary of State for Health to halt these disastrous cuts at St George's before patient care suffers.

Aneurin Bevan on the Tories: History repeating itself

Two quotations: "That is why no amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party....so far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin.

Now the Tories are pouring out money in propaganda of all sorts and are hoping by this organised sustained mass suggestion to eradicate from our minds all memory of what we went through.

But I warn you men and women do not listen to what they are saying now. Do not listen to the seductions...He is a very good salesman. If you are selling shoddy stuff you have to be a good salesman. But I warn you they have not changed, or if they have they are slightly worse than they were" Aneurin Bevan - Bellevue Hotel - 3rd July 1948.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana

That's what happened on May 6th 2010.

Painting by Andrew Vicari here and hat tip new FB friend Sue Marsh. 

"because we are tories - and that's what we do..."

Well, no great surprises today.  It's not that we were not warned I suppose.

"It's the same the whole world over, It's the poor wot gets the blame; It's the rich wot gets the pleasure, Ain't it all a blooming shame".

Check out UNISON's view on this attempt to strangle the recovery and the new fightback Labour Party website Your Better Way. 

By coincidence this evening was my UNISON Housing Association branch executive meeting and while everyone of us dreaded today I think we would agree that there was definitely a feeling that we are not down and out and that it is still possible and feasible to defeat the coalition by organising and sheer plain hard work. 

Not (IMO) by gesture politics and pointless oppositionalism.

Remember the Tory Years

Yesterday I went to Wales for a quick visit and updated my Face Book profile so - and was then reminded by one FB friend about the former SoS for Wales - dear old John Redwood.  I remembered this Youtube video - and yes, the Tories are still singing the old same tune.

"New York Times" attacks Brit CONDEMS cuts

Amazing but true - the "Gray Lady" (I kid thee not) of American capitalism in this editorial on 9 July attacks the CONDEMS proposed massive public spending cuts.  ".... Britain isn’t Greece. Recovery would eventually have wiped out much of that red ink. The stiff, but less damaging cuts Labour had planned would have done the rest...The less well off, who depend on functioning public services, will suffer most....No reputable economic theory justifies this bleeding. In fact, most mainstream economists have argued for delaying the most severe cuts until a more robust economic recovery has begun.

The coalition budget reflects Conservative Party ideology, which asserts that as the government withdraws money from the economy, private businesses and consumers will step in to replace it. That won’t happen if Britons see only hard times ahead".

So even the good old New York Times admit that in Britain the the poor will suffer the most while the  rest of us are being stuffed purely due to dogmatic Tory ideology...Hope Mr Clegg is proud of himself.

Same old tories...

Hat-tip thingy Col. Roi

CONDEMS axes 14 school construction projects in Newham

Well, don't say you were not warned. 

Check out the Newham Recorder - we are facing a "predicted 25 per cent increase in the number of four and five years needing a school place in the next three years. 

Executive member for children and young people, Cllr Quintin Peppiatt said: "The coalition government's decision to put a stop to 14 projects in Newham means that thousands of a students will miss out on the better education facilities they were promised.

This was a chance to improve educational attainment. After already seeing their free school meals and free swims under threat, we're deeply disappointed to see another blow to the young people of Newham."

I just hope that the David Cameron's "useful idiots" who poured such bile and hatred on the last (imperfect) Labour Government are feeling very proud of themselves.