Hat tip Labour Party & Ken Penton. A powerful image and caption “Yesterday, hundreds of people desperate for an NHS dentist appointment queued for hours when a new practice opened in Bristol.After 14 years of Tory decline, this is the Britain …Read more…
An assault on democracy
The government’s draconian strike legislation has nothing to do with safety. It is designed to weaken the power of trades … MoreRead more…
Rest days are for rest Mr Shapps
A Minister who does not understand that rest day working cannot be compulsory or they wouldn’t be rest days, is … MoreRead more…
Different from the rest of us
Johnson appears incapable of recognising a real world event if it contradicts his opinion Many years ago Prime Minister Ted … MoreRead more…
Penalising the poor
“…social care should not be a commodity…As with the NHS it should be free at the point of use and … MoreRead more…
Needless deaths
The announcement by the government that they are writing off £13.4 million debt is welcome. However, this so-called debt is … MoreRead more…
Ban all evictions now
The government has reneged on its commitment to ban all evictions during coronavirus crisis The government announced that “as a … MoreRead more…
The government must guarantee the means of life for those without the means
Great events make change possible, sometime inevitable. Johnson was elected with a working majority, Britain was going to leave the … MoreRead more…
The government is making “a deadly mistake”
“Our message to countries continues to be: you must take a comprehensive approach. Not testing alone. Not contact tracing alone. … MoreRead more…
2020 Budget: where’s the grant for council house building?
The 2020 budget indicates that the new Affordable Homes Programme starting in 2021 would have £12.2 billion funding. This is … MoreRead more…
The government increases the cost of ‘borrowing to build’
When local authorities build council housing, even if they receive central government grant, they borrow from the government’s own Public … MoreRead more…
A campaign against local government austerity?
According to Owen Jones a statement is being released later this week which organisers hope will be signed by local … MoreRead more…
“Tenants pay for housing fiascos, from post-Grenfell bills to ‘self-financing’ “
This was a letter published in the Guardian. The suggestion that lifting the borrowing cap will enable councils to build council housing on a grand scale ignores the funding crisis faced by local authority Housing Revenue Accounts. Council HRAs still h…Read more…
May: limping towards the finishing line?
Writing this on the Monday before the election only a mug would predict the outcome. The polls are all over the place. However, given the fact that May called the election to give herself ‘a stronger mandate’, if she does not secure an increased majority she will have suffered a big…Read more…
The surplus and the parishes
Some while ago I suggested to Swindon’s Cabinet that they should be pressing the government to abandon their target for a £10 billion surplus by 2020. As I pointed out to them if the target was break-even then the £6 billion of cuts to local government would not be necessary. They…Read more…
Osborne keeps piling up the debt
The House of Commons Library has just produced a briefing note, “Government borrowing, debt and debt interest: historical statistics and forecasts”. It shows historical statistics for Public sector net borrowing (PSNB) – current account borrowing; Public sector net debt (PSND) – government debt…Read more…
Tory war of attrition against Council housing
Just before the general election the Tories announced that they were going to extend ‘right to buy’ to Housing Associations and to force Councils to sell off so-called ‘high value’ Council homes to fund it. Not only will this mean that Councils will lose scarce housing stock…Read more…
Tory ballot-rigging threatens democratic right to strike
“Today’s Queen’s Speech is a speech for working people, from a One Nation government that will bring our country together.” David Cameron The government’s ‘reform’ of trade union law constitutes an anti-democratic ballot rigging proposal designed to…Read more…
Get off the fence Harriet – Labour should reject the theft of ‘social housing’
At the recent Prime Minister’s Question Time David Cameron goaded interim Labour Leader Harriet Harman on Labour’s attitude to the extension of ‘right to buy’ to Housing Associations. Did Labour agree with it? She failed to answer, repeatedly. Why? Her failure to respond…Read more…
Stop the Tories ballot-rigging proposal
Stop the Tories ballot rigging proposals A letter to the Swindon Advertiser The parliamentary majority which the Tories won in the General Election was delivered by the undemocratic first past the post system (FPTP). Whilst they might be said to have a…Read more…