IN THE REAL WORLD...

There is plenty going on I could blog about - or not. But at the moment the real world is intervening and I don't have much time. Am currently juggling various lobbying and publicity for Labour Party Conference/Convention Of Left with raising money for charity, cleaning house for house guest Sunday night, feeding friend's cat and other even more mundane aspects of life.
I'm going to be fair and say that the Government means well in its piecemeal policy on energy. But the extra lagging and double-glazing they are suggesting does remind me of one of those wartime missives (not that I was around!) they used to issue about making do and mending.
What happened to the extra payments that were promised? Why does the Chancellor doggedly ignore the obvious clamoys for a windfall tax? And why don't actually take the bull by the horns and say the New Labour unsayable - which is that the private utilities shoul be taken out of the hands of the profiteers and back into public ownership. People need a reason to vote Labour. Taking on the energy companies properly - instead of ducking the issue - would be a bloody good start.

AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE

The next time someone berates me for criticising New Labour, I will point out that Help The Aged, not just the usual left suspects, says it is a "national disgrace" that there are now 2.5million pensioners living in poverty. That's 300,000 more in 2006/7. The number of children living in poverty has also gone up for the second year running. Another of New Labour's pledges shot down in flames.
What's the problem? Well , tax credits , lauded by many, fail on two counts. 1. They subject millions to the indignity and unfairness of means-testing. 2. Millions more don't claim them so are even worse off than they could be under the current imperfect system.
What we need is a fair, progressive tax system which makes benefits universally available -and lifts our older people and low-income families out of the ghetto which tax credits and a refusal to tax the richest has created. I do not doubt that when New Labour made its pledge to end child poverty all those years ago it was a sincere one. But the New Labour way - taxation by stealth smoke and mirrors - has patently failed. We need an open and transparently socialist taxation policy

LOSING THE WILL TO BLOG.....

At the moment I am losing the will to blog. I don't know why. Maybe it's because there are only so many ways you can voice dissatisfaction with New Labour. Maybe it's because there are only so many times you can also watch, read about and comment about the leadership rejecting out of hand the policies which would lead Labour away from the abyss of worst poll ratings ever, wholesale unpopularity and general gloom and doom. Maybe it's just the sunshine.
Today I could comment on Gordon Brown paying tribute to the 100th soldier killed in Afghanistan - instead of bringing the troops home months ago. I could comment on the ongoing knife-edge over 42 days - but will leave that till we see who actually stands their ground. I could also comment on the fact that, unlike most other members of the local Labour Party, I don't seem to have been lobbied by one of our more assertive PPC candidates but I don't suppose I am surprised. So instead of saying anything much at all I will get on with chasing money I am owed, organising an LRC meeting, making sure out meeting tomorrow night to nominate our PPC choice has a big enough room. And then i will finally get on with getting rid of the brambles which are threatening to choke my house. After all that, I may be more inspired.....

DEPORTATION DEPOTS FURTHER DRACONIAN AGENDA

My blood runs cold on reading a story in today's Independent which reveals that two of England's prisons are wholly occupied by foreign nationals - and that they are basically depots for deportation.
The first is Bullwood Hall, in Hockley, Essex, which holds 154 prisoners, while the second is Canterbury prison, which holds 284 foreign nationals serving less than four years. Justice Minister David Hanson says they are part of an " experiment "to see whether the Government can speed up the deportation of foreign national prisoners, particularly those coming towards the end of their sentence. Apparently, two years ago 1,500 prisoners were deported, last year 2,500, this year, in line with the Prime Minister's commitment, the Government is " on target" to achieve 4,000. Draconian stuff at best, and quite possibly inhumane, unnecessary and contravening every principle the liberal left stands for.

TIME TO GO......

Today's Indy reports that senior military chiefs have told the Government that Britain can achieve "nothing more" in south-east Iraq, and that the 5,500 British troops still deployed there should move towards withdrawal without further delay.
Last month Gordon Brown said after meeting George Bush at Camp David that the decision to hand over security in Basra province – the last of the four held by the British – "will be made on the military advice of our commanders on the ground".
Two generals have told The Independent on Sunday that the military advice given to the Prime Minister was, "We've done what we can in the south [of Iraq]". Commanders want to hand over Basra Palace – where 500 British troops are subjected to up to 60 rocket and mortar strikes a day by the end of August. The withdrawal of 500 soldiers has already been announced by the Government. The Army is now allegedly drawing up plans to "reposture" the 5,000 that will be left at Basra airport, and aims to bring the bulk of them home in the next few months.
When Parliament resumes in October, the utmost pressure must be put on the Govt for an immediate withdrawal strategy.

TIME FOR REAL ACTION ON HOUSING

Sometimes I yearn for a more spacious home. However, in the light of the Govt plans to extend the HIP scheme I suppose I'm thankful that my house (purchased 1996 before things went absolutely crazy round here) has only two bedrooms ( despite originally being TWO dwellings) .For it seems that the 11 million people in the UK with three-bedroomed properties will now have to sign up to the Home Information pack scheme if they wish to move on. This costs a substantial amount of money - on top of the huge bungs that go to estate agents and solicitors. And I think the Govt is missing the whole point of the current homes crisis. Lack of information isn't the problem, but lack of homes, and lack of money to buy them.The market is absolutely bloated with over-priced properties and young first-time buyers face a mountain of debt to even get on the property ladder. Many others are living in dread of more interest hikes or unemployment as they struggle to pay their mortgages.

It's time Gordon Brown addressed the real housing problems in this country - tinkering with cosmetic stuff like the HIP programme isn't the answer.

NO U-TURN ON TERRORISM LEGISLATION

I hope the Labour MPs currently enjoying themselves on Gordon's honeymooon stand firm against any plans to extend the limit under which terrorist suspects can be detained. With Cameron wrongfooted, the climate may now well be easier for Brown to get this legislation thrpough. I hope not - as it will do nothing to make the UK a safer place and is a serious infringrment on civil liberties. Today, Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, said that the Conservatives will maintain their opposition to a 90-day limit, insisting that such a move risked "driving young Muslim males into the arms of extremists". Brown tells his friends in The Sun today that the world is a more dangerous place. That's true. But locking people up for longer will do nothing to make it safer. Quite the opposite.Earlier this year, even John Reid concurred on that one.

HAIN'S BIG STICK

Silly me. In the recent deputy leadership contest, I voted for two of the candidates playing to the "left" gallery. Once back in Government, all of the nice-sounding rhetoric disappears and it''s business as usual.
Today, the Guardian reports that Peter Hain, the work and pensions secretary, is standing firmly behind moves to force nearly 300,000 lone parents into work, even though their children may still be of primary school age.
In what it calls a "tougher than expected " welfare green paper, Hain's Department proposes that by 2010 most lone parents will be required to seek work once their youngest child reaches seven . The government is also proposing that claimants out of work for more than 12 months will have to undertake community work or lose benefit. AND the private sector is to be brought in to help people find work. Yet again, this Govt is punishing the poor instead of hitting the rich and well-connected. The move has already been condemned by the Child Poverty Action group.

BACK TO REAL POLITICS

The post below is the last I will ever write on the deputy leadership campaign. Congratulations to whoever wins but I'm bored senseless by the whole thing.
Hopefully, after June 24, we will get back to campaigning on real issues.In the interim, please sign this petition calling on the Govt to take steps towards a living wage.Thanks to Marsha Jane for alerting me to this.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/living-wage-2007/