CONTRASTS IN CAPITALISM

The extravagant spending habits of President Robert Mugabe's wife Grace are well-documented. Described as the First Shopper of Zimbabwe, she is usually clad in haute couture and hidden behind designer sunglasses. With a £25,000 diamond-encrusted Rolex watch hanging off her wrist, the 45-year-old thinks nothing of spending millions of pounds during foreign shopping trips each year - while ordinary Zimbabweans can barely find enough food to eat. (Daily Mail, 26 September) RD

THE CREATIONIST MYTH

"Richard Dawkins seemed to be saying last night that he rather envied those teachers who have to drill irregular Latin verbs into the heads of schoolchildren. At least they do not have to teach their discipline against the background noise of well-organised and expensively funded pressure groups who deny that ancient Rome even existed and claim that all languages sprang into existence simultaneously more recently than that. But that, in a sense, is the fate of the scientist who wants to teach evolution. In the USA, 40 per cent of the population believes that every word of the Bible is literally true." (Independent, 16 September) RD

MONEY AND MEDALS

Schoolboys and schoolgirls are taught about the splendour of military valour and yet such medals as the Victoria Cross are often sold by the recipenients or their surviving family in order to get by inside capitalism. Many English schoolboys must dream of reprising the football heroes of 1966 and winning a World Cup medal, but like military heroes the football heroes and their families have got to get by inside capitalism. "Yesterday, more than 40 years on from their great triumph, Nobby Stiles became the latest member of the team to announce that he was selling his winner's medal. When he does, Roger Hunt, Bobby Charlton and Jack Charlton will be the only players to still to own their precious medallions. The other eight players (only the 11 who played the final were initially awarded a medal) have sold theirs to collectors or to museums. Stiles, who since retiring from football has been working on the after-dinner speaking circuit and recently had a stroke, said he wanted to cash in on his medal, along with other items of memorabilia from his playing days, to provide for his family." (Independent, 15 September) So whether you die for their country or just win a game of football capitalism will evaluate your actions in pounds and pence. RD

Glasgow's Shame Games

A useful blog to follow that focusses upon the coming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is the Glasgow Games Monitor 2014. It carries the story of Margaret Jaconelli and her fight for a fair deal rather than accept the risible £30,000 she has been offered for her two-bedroom tenement home.Yet Margaret Jaconelli states that an independent chartered surveyor valued her home (which she owns) at £95,000. A quick search on S1 homes shows that there isn’t a single property in the East End of Glasgow going for less than £72,950. This makes a valuation of £30,000 seem like a sick joke.Imagine if a Compulsory Purchase Order was placed on a homeowner in a wealthy suburb of the West End, and if instead of offering the full value of the house, the Council offered less than a third of that value; or shared ownership; or a Housing Association. There would be an outcry. Certain developers – such as Charles Price - who don’t even live in the area, have been compensated with millons of pounds profit. Mayfair property developer Charles Price and the City Council. Price bought a parcel of land in Dalmarnock for £8 million in the period 2002-2005. The land also lies on a site earmarked for the Commonwealth Games Village and is likewise deemed essential for the Games development. The City Council had it within their powers to perform a Compulsory Purchase Order on Price’s land, but instead negotiated with Price (a process denied to Margaret Jaconelli and the other shopkeepers) resulting in a fantastically generous £17 million sale of the land - with £3 million added VAT. A total cost of £20 million pounds . Price has argued that he didn’t know the site he bought would later be developed for the Games Village. This claim seems remarkably economical with the truth. In fact, Price’s PPD consortium was one of two bidders for the construction of the Games Village site, and it is hugely unlikely that a consortium of that scale including leading architectural firms, and real estate advisors wouldn’t know about such a significant development. More likely, they bought the land knowing that its monopoly value would increase enormously with the pressure of the Games.

“I’m just a wee person from the east end of Glasgow...They said well we’re just going to grass the site over. I said, listen, do not tell me that in the East End of Glasgow, near the city centre, that all this land is going to be grassed over. It all boils down to money. I know the way everything gets sold, the bricks, everything, the land will get sold"

Later, when Glasgow bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games, it became clear that the building, like many others around it, stood in the way of the Athlete’s Village. This development of approximately 38 hectares will be adjacent to the new National Indoor Sports Arena and cycling Velodrome. According to the brief to the consortia of companies bidding for the development rights for the Village, the site should ultimately contain around 1,200 homes. The significant majority of these will be sold in the open market after the Games.

Discussion meeting: Inflation

Glasgow
Wednesday, 20 October, 8.30pm

INFLATION Speaker: Vic Vanni

Community Central Halls,
304 Maryhill Road,
G20 7YE.

This is a regular series of discussions by the SPGB's Glasgow branch.

All welcome

OVERBLOWN RHETORIC!

"We need to win the public to our cause and what we must avoid at all costs is alienating them and adding to the book of historic union failures. That is why I have no truck and you should have no truck with overblown rhetoric about waves of irresponsible strikes." (Quote from Ed Miliband's speech)

Ed Miliband, does not say what a responsible strike is, however, this article from the Socialist Standard, September 1977 indicates the realities for the reasons of strikes past, present and future while capitalism exists.

Strikes : An unchanging pattern

MANY PEOPLE SEEM TO THINK that strikes and similar disturbances are caused by laziness, intransigence, stupidity, a willingness to be led, greed, resentment, a want of foresight--in short, for moral failings on the part of employers and their employees, chiefly the latter.
     This is odd-because all sorts of people have been involved under different circumstances and at different times - miners, civil servants, policemen, bank clerks, doctors, school teachers, shop assistants. Have they all suffered from lack of fibre? It is even more odd that the pattern does. Not change, repeated again and again since the early days of capitalism, and well recorded. Recently Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South has been reprinted (Penguin 1976). Much of the central part of this book is concerned with the strike in a northern manufacturing town in the mid-1850s.
     Although it is not the main theme of the novel, and though Mrs. Gaskell was sympathetic to the workers both in her narrative and in real life, religious and individual issues were more important to her—as they usually were in nineteenth-century novels. Her account, though fictional, is clearly based on her own experience and closely observed.
     She describes the by now familiar features workers goaded to strike, the struggle to maintain a standard of living, union leaders trying to keep the issues clear and to hold the reins, some strikers against their union's advice - trying to force the issue by direct confrontation, collision with the police, broken heads, the threat of prison, attempts to make the closure total, employment of foreign labour, (in this case, Irish).
     When scientists find in circumstances which are varying a constant pattern they assume an underlying cause. In this case we do not have to carry out research to discover what it is. Discord is at the base of capitalism. A worker will try to sell his labour-power for the best price and in the best possible market. His standard of living depends on it, and with his standards his way of life itself. He cannot live out of society. There, are always blandishments to induce him to spend his money-even, in fact to owe it. The capitalist, on the other hand, his employer, seeks to buy labour-power as cheaply as possible-profits depend on it. These are the seeds of struggle. There is bound to be contention. When it leads to strikes or other conflict then-since capitalism hasn't changed--they are likely to run to type. It has nothing to do with moral dereliction. It has everything to do with the economic and unavoidable nature of, capitalism. C.  D.

 

Which political philosophy?

THE VIEW HELD by the SPGB, that Socialism can only be established when a large majority of the working class understand it, is constantly being attacked. The attack comes not from capitalists but mainly from supporters of the Labour Party, the Communists, and the "left-wing" militants. All without exception question the ability of the working class to understand Socialism.(Read)

PACTS FOR POWER, DEALS ON WHEELS

 

Labour have been criticising the Liberals assisting the Tories into office, however, this article from the Socialist Standard of November 1977 will recall that Labour have wheeled in their help from time to time.

 

Lab-Lib: A Rabble

There is AN OLD SAYING that if you lie down with a dog you get up with fleas. No doubt it has dawned on the leaders of the Liberal Party that the idea of projecting themselves as an alternative government to the Labourites and Tories is a non-starter. With thirteen MPs and a discredited minority government, their only way to power is through the side door.
      With no ideas to put to the working class, the only alternative to a future in the political wilderness and possible extinction was to do a deal. But, such are the fortunes of opportunism and reformism, they could be cutting their own throats either way. The price they will inevitably pay for "dealing" will be to forfeit the phoney image they have built up over twenty or thirty years that they had distinctive policies and independent ideas. For them to line up openly with one of the parties they have claimed to be so different from can only lose the support of those who had turned to them, having despaired of the other two.
     In an effort to have his cake and eat it Mr. Steel, the Liberal leader, sought to pose as champion of the motorist and pledged himself to vote against Budget increases in petrol prices and road tax. He argued that these increases fell outside the arrangement, and as there had been no consultation on them the Liberals were free to vote against them. After the by-election massacre at Stetchford the motorist did not seem to matter so much. A more urgent need instantly asserted itself: avoiding a General Election, with the threat of annihilation. The great and courageous leader had to find a way out while still trying to sound plausible, at least to the gullible. So he discovered that the increases in motoring costs would not be voted on as a separate resolution in Parliament, but would be tied to other proposals; so it might be best to let the thirteen Liberals make up their own minds, and led from behind.
     The Labour Government are like drowning men desperately clutching at anything in the agony of their disastrous attempt at running capitalism. Having repeatedly declared against coalition, they turned to the Liberals to survive. The one-time "firebrand" of the Left, Michael Foot, will solemnly sit down each week in consultation with the Liberals to keep his mob in power a little longer, unless the whole thing blows up in their faces. Then they will blame each other and fall back on any feeble excuse to try to save their political hides. There is no expediency too shabby for any of them.
     The IMG, WRP, IS and the CP, who urged workers to vote Labour and now go round muttering demands for "socialist policies", get the policies of the Labour Party which they voted for. The policies which these Lefties hold to be Socialist are in fact just as useless and reformist as those of the Labour Party.
     When Mr. Steel claims that his deal with the Government will mean no more nationalization in this session of Parliament, is he really silly enough to believe he is saving capitalism? Is he unaware that his own Party, when in power, carried out Acts of nationalization? He only displays his ignorance if he thinks a Labour Government represents any threat to capitalism, or that nationalization has anything to do with Socialism. It is a shame that questions like these never occur to people like Robin Day during those boring mock-interviews on television, like the one on polling day for Stetchford. But of course they would not keep their cushy jobs for long if they did.
     Mrs. Thatcher and her Tory tribesmen can get as indignant as they like, but under Heath in l974 they were quite willing to talk coalition with the Liberals. The readiness of the Liberals to co-operate with either of the "major"Parties, shows how little there is of fundamental difference between any of them. In fact, Steel said it is his belief that people "will find the artificial Party battles irrelevant to the problems of the day" (Guardian, 24th March). It is the parties that are irrelevant, Mr. Steel. The problems arise out of capitalist society, and you are all dedicated to its preservation.
     For the Tories Mrs. Thatcher said: "We believe in capitalism and democracy". What about the other combinations, Mrs. Thatcher? Capitalism and war? Capitalism and poverty? Capitalism and crises? Capitalism and unemployment? Even Callaghan said in the same report: "I would not like to guarantee that the decline in unemployment will continue in the next few months". None of them can guarantee anything. But while the system lasts the misery and political trading it has always produced will continue.
     Enoch Powell pledged not to bring the Labour Government down and abstained on the crucial vote of confidence. Callaghan and Co. had been just as prepared to deal with the Ulster Unionists as they were with the, Liberals. Just to show that they all have the same priorities, seven Liberals voted against cuts in war potentials in the first vote after the deal.
The working class trust any of them at the expense of their own interests. Apart from war-time coalitions when Tories, Labourites and Liberals joined forces with "Communist" support to pull capitalism's chestnuts out of the fire, there have been deals between the Labour Party and the Liberals from the very early days of the Labour Party. The 1924 Labour Government was voted into office on Liberal votes. As early as l9l0 there were electoral "arrangements" between these two reformist Parties.
     The Socialist Party of Great Britain has one objective, Socialism. This can only be achieved when a majority of the working class reject the squalid expediencies of opportunist politics.

HB

THE MADNESS OF CAPITALISM

Capitalism is an insane society. Millions die with easily prevented or curable diseases whilst millions of dollars, pounds, Euros and yens are spent on new ways to destroy human beings with ingenious methods of military mayhem, but surely capitalism has reached the epitome of madness when children are trying to exist on less than £1 a day and we can read of the following insanity. "It's simple, but no less appealing for that. Celine's classic box bag may cost a pretty penny but its sleek lines make it among the most wanted bags of the season.Price: £2,150." (The Independent, 20 September) Yes, the equivalent of years of nourishment for a child spent by some parasite as a gift to his latest girlfriend. Mad, mad, mad! RD

ALL RIGHT FOR SOME

Top management, company directors and top bankers, all have managed to increase their bonuses and perks while workers in lower paid jobs face wage cuts and unemployment. This summary of this article indicates there are others doing very well for themselves.

Investigation by Paul Hutcheon, Sunday Herald 26 Sep 2010

Police chiefs are receiving lucrative housing allowances on top of generous salaries and in some cases bonuses from the taxpayer, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

Chief constables are still receiving an outdated property perk that was taken away from officers who signed up to the service after 1994.

The total bill for the subsidies across the Scottish forces amounts to millions of pounds a year.

The UK and Scottish Governments are set to slash funding for all public bodies, including Scotland's eight police forces.

Plans being drawn up by police bosses to fill the black hole include laying off thousands of civilian staff and moving towards a single force north of the Border.

Les Gray, the chair of the Scottish Police Federation, has already warned ministers that planned cuts of up to 25% could lead to an increase in violent crime.

However, the cuts are coming in spite of police forces spending millions of pounds every year on a perk that was axed for most officers 16 years ago.

Before September 1994, police officers were granted an allowance that contributed to their housing costs.

The then Conservative Government scrapped the handout for new recruits, who had to make do with their salary.

But existing beneficiaries did not lose their entitlement to a rent or housing allowance, which can work out at around £3000 a year for ordinary beat police, and nearly £6000 per annum for chief constables……..

THE FAILURE OF CAPITALISM

"This Monday, world leaders are gathering at United Nations headquarters in New York City to address the UN's "Millennium Development Goals." The fight against hunger, along with education and healthcare, tops the list. The delegates have failed categorically on the first point. Leaders at the UN summit in New York in the millennium year 2000 declared food security their top priority, setting a goal of reducing the number of hungry in developing countries by half by 2015, compared to 1990 levels. That would involve reducing the total to around 600 million people. No discernable progress has been made toward this goal. In fact, quite the opposite is true -- the number of hungry has increased sharply in recent years, at times to over 1 billion. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 925 million people currently suffer from hunger and malnutrition. Estimates say a further billion are undernourished, suffering from so-called silent hunger." (Der Spiegel, 20 September) RD

THE HUNGRY SOCIETY

In an age of increasing food insecurity, more than one billion people today woke up not sure where their next meal is coming from. This is not solely the fate of those in poorer, developing countries. According to the Department of Agriculture, 14.6 percent of Americans regularly have to limit the amount they eat near the end of the month for reasons of cost. With the added stress of epidemic levels of home foreclosure and mass unemployment, the numbers of people unable to adequately sustain themselves is on the rise. (The Nation, 16 September) RD

we don't want crumbs

About 200 striking Tunnock’s workers who make the world-renowned teacakes, caramel wafers and logs sang a protest song to the tune of Oh My Darling Clementine on the picket line after downing tools in a pay dispute yesterday.

“Come to Tunnocks, come to Tunnocks. It’s a place of misery. There’s a signpost in the foyer saying ‘welcome unto thee’.
Don’t believe it, don’t believe it, it’s all a pack of lies. If it wasn’t for Karen and Fergus it would be a paradise. Build a bonfire, build a bonfire. Put Karen on the top. Put Fergus in the middle and we’ll burn the bloody lot.”

One placard read: “We Don’t Want Crumbs”

The entire 500-strong Tunnock’s workforce, who are taking part in two 24-hour walkouts after they accused management of pleading poverty to keep wage costs down while giving themselves huge pay increases. They are protesting over a 1% increase in their average £7-an-hour salary last year when executives and directors received a 62% pay increase in the year to 2009. Adding to the discontent was the scrapping of overtime bonuses worth £200 for a Saturday and Sunday shift.

poverty in scotland

New figures revealed this week by the Save the Children charity show that the education gap between poorer children and their classmates remains wide open. Save the Children says it has found a stark link between levels of deprivation at home and a child's success in the classroom. Children from wealthier homes in the Borders perform on average more than 60 per cent better in school than those receiving free school meals.
Douglas Hamilton, Save the Children's head for Scotland said "Too many children in Scotland are not reaching their potential at school simply because they are poor.
Poverty continues to be a key determining factor in how well a child will do at school and this is absolutely scandalous. Many of Scotland's poorest children live in substandard housing, have fewer books and educational games at home, lower aspirations and less confidence in their own ability to achieve their dreams. At every stage of school, children from poorer backgrounds do far worse than their better off classmates."

Also in the news:

More than one in three of the 600,000 Scottish carers battle poverty and depression as a result of caring for a family member, new research revealed. A survey conducted by The Princess Royal Trust for Carers found that 40% of carers in Scotland said they did not want to wake up in the morning because of dire financial circumstances. 73.3% have had to borrow money from family and friends. Nearly half fear they will lose their homes, and almost two thirds have been forced to spend their savings as they struggle to make ends meet. Almost a third of those surveyed say they are "fearful for the future".

CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS?

"This summer, it took London real-estate firm Marsh & Parsons less than a month to sell a pricey property in Kensington, one of the most prestigious parts of the British capital. Sixty-three potential buyers flocked to view the white row house, which has five bedrooms, a ground-floor kitchen and a strip of gravel for a garden. The sale price of £6.75 million ($10.4 million) was both above the asking price and the home's price in 2007, when it was previously for sale and the market was at a record high before the global financial meltdown. A Kensington house recently sold for £6.75 million - above both the asking price and the home's price in 2007, when it was last for sale. Real estate in the most upscale parts of London has enjoyed a roaring comeback from a short dip during the downturn, with prices for the area's luxury homes back to stratospheric." (Wall Street Journal, 14 September) RD

CANADIAN POVERTY

"The recession may be officially over, but six in 10 Canadians are still surviving from paycheque to paycheque, a national survey showed Monday. Fifty-nine per cent of Canadian workers say they would be in financial trouble if their paycheque was delayed by just a week- the same proportion as last year when the economy was still mired in a downturn, according to a poll of 2,766 people by the Canadian Payroll Association. The survey comes as the OECD today warned that record high debt levels have left many Canadians vulnerable to any future adverse shocks." (Globe and Mail, 13 September) RD

BEHIND THE RHETORIC

Politicians' stock in trade is pretending to represent the whole of society when in fact only representing the owning class. Thus we have Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats claiming that he is concerned about the poor and exploited at election time, but in power forced to declare his real aims. "Poor must accept benefit cuts: Clegg on collision course with own party by backing welfare axe. Nick Clegg has waded into the row over welfare reform by warning that benefits should not be there 'to compensate the poor for their predicament'. On the eve of the Liberal Democrat conference, the Deputy Prime Minister backed the Coalition's programme of welfare cuts and dramatically shifted his party's policy on the subject." (Daily Mail, 16 September) If you represent the owning class, despite your glamour TV image, you sometimes have to tell the truth. You are poor? So what, we are not here to "compensate" you! RD

WAR MEANS BIG BUCKS

 

 "The Obama administration is set to notify Congress of plans to offer advanced aircraft to Saudi Arabia worth up to $60 billion, the largest U.S. arms deal ever, and is in talks with the kingdom about potential naval and missile-defense upgrades that could be worth tens of billions of dollars more. The administration plans to tout the $60 billion package as a major job creator—supporting at least 75,000 jobs, according to company estimates—and sees the sale of advanced fighter jets and military helicopters to key Middle Eastern ally Riyadh as part of a broader policy aimed at shoring up Arab allies against Iran." (Wall Street Journal, 12 September) RD

CLOSING PRISONS AND BRINGING COURTS TO A STANDSTILL!

Socialists can't tell just how everything will operate in a socialist society; one thing they can say is the tremendous amount of social energy used in the protection of private property will be available for other purposes once the common ownership of the means of production is a fact.
In this article from the September issue of Labour Research, claims an annual budget of £9 billion; the general secretary warns there is an alternative, unfortunately, it's an alternative that leaves the working class producing wealth for the profit of the bosses.

One in five justice jobs at risk

The PCS civil service union has warned that 15,000 of the 80,000 staff at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) could be at risk of losing their jobs. The warning follows an announcement that the department has to make £2 billion worth of cuts from its £9 billion annual budget. As the MoJ is the first department to agree the actual scale of the cuts, the PCS is expecting more bad news to come. General Secretary Mark Serwotka said: "This is the first indication of the true scale of the cuts being imposed upon departments by this coalition government, and it paints a devastating picture." According to the PCS, the cuts are equivalent to the entire budget for prisons, or the money the department spends each year on courts and tribunals. And it warned that cuts on this scale cannot be delivered without closing prisons and bringing courts to a standstill. "lt is clear that the civil service will simply not be able to cope," Serwotka warned. The union "will take every opportunity to remind the government and the public that there is an alternative and that these politically-motivated cuts are entirely avoidable", he said.

GRIM PROSPECTS

"Last week, defense group BAE Systems said it was cutting near 1,000 jobs, while 700 were lost at Connaught, the social housing group that fell into administration last week. BAE chief executive Ian King's comment at last week's defense select committee were chilling. He claimed the cancellation of a £5 billion contract for two Royal Navy aircraft carriers would jeopardise Britain's entire shipbuilding industry." (Observer, 12 September) RD

THE FAILURE OF REFORM

The number of people in the U.S. who are in poverty is on track for a record on President Barack Obama's watch, with the ranks of working-age poor approaching 1960s levels that led to the national war on poverty. Census figures for 2009 the recession-ravaged first year of the Democrat's presidency are to be released in the coming week, and demographers expect grim findings. It's unfortunate timing for Obama and his party just seven weeks before important elections when control of Congress is at stake. The anticipated increase from 13.2 percent to about 15 percent would be another blow to Democrats struggling to persuade voters to keep them in power." (Yahoo News, 11 September) RD

CAPITALISM IN ACTION

Capitalism is a very wasteful society. When fruit growers have a more than bumper crop it is common to let some of it rot unpicked. When charities ask for the surplus they are told that to give it away would lower the price and that these charities at present pay for the crop that is picked. Here is a recent example in the retail clothing trade. "High Street retailer Primark has been criticised by charities for its policy of shredding damaged and unwanted clothes. Aid organisations have described the practice as "worrying" and "a shame" - saying items could be used to raise vital funds. Primark said the practice was common and was to protect consumers." (BBC News, 13 September) Overlooking the hypocrisy of Primark's "to protect consumers" remark, the purpose of all production inside capitalism is to sell goods in order to realise a profit. Capitalism isn't interested in protecting consumers or aiding charities. Fruit can rot while people go hungry and clothing can be destroyed while people go about ill-clad. That is how the capitalist system operates. RD

schooling

Save the Children's head of Scotland, said: "Poverty kills childhood and severely affects life chances. Too many children in Scotland are not reaching their potential at school simply because they are poor. Poverty continues to be a key determining factor in how well a child will do at school and this is absolutely scandalous.Many of Scotland's poorest children live in sub-standard housing, have fewer books and educational games at home, lower aspirations and less confidence in their own ability to achieve their dreams.At every stage of school, children from poorer backgrounds do far worse than their better-off classmates..."

Children from wealthier homes in Scotland perform around 60% better in exams on average than those from poorer backgrounds who get free school meals.

WHAT RECESSION?

A two stone ring with a rare triangular blue diamond the size of a quarter on a gold band with baguette-cut diamonds could bring at least $15 million when it is offered at auction in New York next month. At 10.95 carats, the stone is the largest triangular-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond ever to come to auction, Christe's told The Associated Press in advance of the Oct. 20 sale. It is paired with a 9.87 carat white diamond cut in the same shape. ( Yahoo News, 10 September ) RD

No religion too

The Humanist Society of Scotland yesterday unveiled the message that 40% of the population do not follow an organised religion. The billboard sits on Paisley Road West, near Ibrox Stadium, which is on the route of the Pope’s cavalcade.

It believes that the two million figure is an underestimate and suggests 66% of Scots are not religious.

Also see our early pamphlet Socialism and Religion

LOADED POLITICIANS IN USA

"The rest of the country is still struggling with high unemployment amid a sluggish-at-best economic recovery -- but the wealthiest members of Congress are in high cotton. Indeed, the top 50 wealthiest lawmakers saw their combined net worths increase last year, according to the Hill's annual analysis of financial disclosure documents. Combined, the 50 lawmakers were worth $1.4 billion in 2009 -- an $85.1 million increase over their 2008 total . ...The list of 50 lawmakers spans both parties (27 Democrats and 23 Republicans) and both chambers of Congress (30 House members, 20 senators), the Hill reports." (Yahoo News, 1 September) RD

HUNGER AMIDST PLENTY

"India's grain warehouses are bursting at the seams and sacks of rice and wheat lie rotting in the open for lack of storage space. These government-managed stocks are for offsetting a fall in agricultural production in the event of drought or floods, but are also meant for sale to the poorest segment of the population at subsidised prices. But because the public distribution system (PDS) is undermined by bureaucracy and corruption, 60m tonnes of grain is lying in warehouses or under plastic sheeting, and, according to the Hindustan Times, 11m tonnes of it has been destroyed by the monsoons. A committee of experts appointed by the supreme court has claimed that this is nothing short of "genocide", and last month the court ordered the free distribution of the grain to the poor rather than have it eaten by rats. Since the 1970s green revolution, agricultural production has continued to rise, but not to benefit the hungry. Half of India's children aged under five suffer from malnutrition, and the rate remained stable between 1999 and 2006 despite the economic growth in those years. India is the world's 11th largest economic power but still has more people in poverty." (Guardian, 7 September) RD

MODERN BRITAIN

"Nearly 54,000 children living below the poverty line will be pushed farther down the scale by cuts to housing benefit, according to figures from the charity Shelter. Their families will be left with less than £100 a week once housing costs have been paid. Of these, 33,00 children will be in families trying to live on under £50 a week." (Times, 7 September) RD

LAND OF THE FREE?

"One out of every six Americans are in government anti-poverty programs, according to USA TODAY. More than 50 million Americans are in Medicaid. Forty million receive food stamps and 10 million receive unemployment benefits. The long and deep recession has increased federal assistance by about $200 billion a year." (The Atlantic, 30 August) RD

A GOD OF LOVE?

Workers in this country should be well aware of the hypocrisy of Christian claiming they have a God of love while Popes and Bishops bless armies before battles, but the Christians don't have the only claim to hypocrisy, Jews and Moslems are pretty good at the same game. Here is an 89-year-old Rabbi's latest rant. " Only days before US-brokered peace talks between Israel and Palestinians, the spiritual leader of an Israeli party in the government has called on God to smite the Palestinian leadership of President Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen. "Abu Mazen and all these evil people should perish from the earth," said Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who provides religious guidance to the ultra Orthodox Shas party, which holds several key ministerial post." (Times, 31 August) Not to be outdone Judism the Moslems are at the same theme of death and damnation. "An Iranian newspaper said yesterday that Carli Bruni deserved to die after expressing solidarity with a woman sentenced to be stoned for adultery. ...The newspaper's editor is appointed by Iran's supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei." (Times, 1 September) RD

BEHIND THE GLAMOUROUS IMAGE

Marks and Spencers like other high street clothes retailers like to project a glamourous image, so we have models like Twiggy twirling on television adverts to extol the virtues of the latest M&S fashionable outfit. Behind this trendy image lurks the awful reality of capitalist exploitation. "Workers at an Indian factory used by Marks & Spencers claim they have been beaten up while protesting about poor working conditions. The Viva Global factory in Gurgaon, on the outskirts of Delhi, was exposed last month by an Observer investigation for paying workers as little as 26p an hour and forcing them to work excessive overtime." (Observer, 5 September) RD

£1.2bn boom in 'pay day' loans

Pay day loans which carry sky high annual interest rates are surging in popularity, according to today's Metro, I'm sure the popularity comes from the pawnshop owners and not necessary from the people taking on these loans. The article goes on to read,
"The number of people taking loans, which can be approved in minutes on the web or by phone, have quadrupled since 2006. Some 1.2 million people are now borrowing £1.2bn from the increasing slew of short term money lenders, say researchers.
John Lamidey of the Consumer Finance Association, which represents most short-term loans firms, said "People want to borrow a smaller amount of money for their immediate needs and desires and pay it back quickly. If this is not a product people really like, then why is there the growth? We really don't want to lend to people who aren't in work," he added
He said high APRs are misleading because most customers repay straight away, paying between £10 and £30 for every £100 borrowed.

Well that makes one feel much better

Food for thought

Canada's new `get tough with crime' legislation, costing billions in new construction, is going ahead despite an ongoing debate on the validity of locking up large numbers of people in the US. The argument of Tory minister, Stockwell Day, in face of the declining crime figures in Canada, is that there is an increase in 'unreported crime'. That logic escapes most people with brains. More, and longer, prison terms for misdemeanours only seems to result in wasted lives, angry people on the street on release, and more disrupted families. Neal Pierce (Toronto Star, August 15, 2010) tells the tale of the 65 year old Texas orchid importer who was accosted in his own home by armed police in flak jackets, frisked, held incommunicado for four hours while police ransacked his home and then charged with smuggling flowers. He was thrown into prison with murderers and drug dealers and sentenced to seventeen months, and then, suffering from Parkinson's disease, was put into solitary confinement for 71 days for bringing prescription drugs with him to prison. Another consequence of higher rates of incarceration will be higher rates of homeless people on the street as it means higher numbers of released prisoners coming out of jail without money, contacts, or jobs. It's just another form of intimidation by the state.
Toronto Star sports writer, David Perkins reported that it is unlikely that National Hockey League players will be available for the next winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The reason? Time zone difference means prime time live games won't be available and hence the NHL will not get the media coverage it wants for scheduling a two week break in the middle of the season and it's not worth the risk of injury to star players for the clubs. Perkins agrees everyone WANTS to see the best play the best, but what everyone wants is not what everyone gets, especially if it costs other people's money. It sort of sums up capitalism – it's not what is wanted or needed that counts, but what works for the profit system. John Ayers

Food for thought

Gwynne Dyer in EMC, a local newspaper, writes that Pakistan's problem with water is not too much, but too little. India and Pakistan, by treaty, share the six rivers descending from the Himalayan Mountains. Trouble is, the glaciers are diminishing, demand is increasing, and Pakistan's rivers are disappearing faster. What will happen in a few years when the problem becomes crucial? Dyer expects water wars, as would be the norm in capitalism – all wars are fought over economic/resource factors. As with the global effort to reduce greenhouse gases, cooperation is not an option in a competitive system.
Final figures for the G20 weekend are in. The total number arrested was 1,105, the largest mass arrest in Canadian history. By Saturday morning, only 20 had been arrested, Saturday night 150 and 700 on Sunday. Of those arrested, 278 were charged, 827 unconditionally released or never booked. Most of the 278 are expected to be discharged or get a token sentence. We'll see if the state intimidation will have worked at the next rally. John Ayers

Food for thought

As expected, Canada's economic recovery is cooling off as national unemployment `seasonally-adjusted' figures rose to 8%. Insecurity is the order of the day, as usual, for the working class.
The futility of reform – The Ontario Provincial government promised tough new labour laws to protect the 700 000 most vulnerable workers - temporaries. Right to holiday pay, overtime and other basics were to be mandatory. That legislation has now been `modernized', i.e. workers will be forced to confront employers with their complaints before filing a claim with the Ministry of Labour, rendering the law virtually useless.
Canada's environment minister, Jim Prentice, is elated that the arctic ice is receding. An investigator buff, he is happy that the ice-free ocean has turned up the HMS Investigator, sank 155 years ago while searching for Sir John Franklin's doomed Northwest Passage expedition. In his article, Peter Gorrie (Toronto Star, August 7, 2010), observes, "Climate change will unseal many other arctic treasures over the next few years. Most important – less romantic but incomparably more lucrative than an old boat – are oil and gas." No wonder they do not want to admit to, or do anything about, climate change! John Ayers

Food for thought

The Province of Quebec is a massive hydro producer due to its many fast flowing rivers and dam projects that continue apace. Unfortunately, demand has slowed since the beginning of the recession and several paper mills, large customers, have gone belly-up. Now, Hydro Quebec has to pay $200 million a year to keep the giant Becancour plant closed. In an article entitled, "In a Competitive System, Surpluses Discouraged" (Toronto Star August 21, 2010), Hydro Quebec spokesman says, "If someone can tell us what will happen in three years, I'd like to hear from them." The article continues, "He's merely illustrating the system's fallibility…predictions are made and contracts are signed with electricity producers in order to meet the forecast demand, which can sometimes be wrong." That about says it all re, capitalist production and planning. The anarchy of production and the vagaries of the market will get you every time.
It seems the Afghan war is getting worse. Obama's 30 000 troop surge has failed to meet objectives; the Taliban have not been rooted out of the opium territory and, in fact, are more active with roadside bombs, even in Kabul; 15 000 afghan prisoners remain in prison without charges. As in Iraq, the American-led NATO forces will eventually pull out leaving behind a mess for the local populations. Anyone hear of Bin Laden recently? Of course, the war may well have met the goals of the resource and military-industrial communities but who cares about the people? John Ayers

More Reading Notes

The madness of capitalism never fails to amaze. In "Hitler's Scientists" (Penguin), John Cornwell describes the building of the crematoria for burning bodies and eliminating 'undesirables', "Together (Himmler and Bischoff) they designed a crematorium which boasted five furnaces, with three crucibles in each furnace; that is, fifteen crucibles in all, capable of dispatching sixty bodies an hour, or 1,440 bodies every twenty-four hours. (Later, more efficient models were built, capable of burning 1 920 bodies a day). "The surviving documentation and the torrent of engineers' blueprints, moreover, tell a story of technical struggles against time and 'strains' on capacity, as well as bitter squabbles over materials, design features and standards, delays in delivery, costings, and profit margins." The crematoria were treated just like every other commodity in capitalist production – subject to profit as the only consideration.

For socialism, John Ayers.

Reading Notes

The R.A.F raids on Hamburg which began on the night of the 24th. July, 1943, known as Operation Gomorrah, culminated in an inferno four nights later – a fireball that surged two kilometres into the night sky, imploding oxygen and raising furious wind storms strong enough to uproot trees. Sugar boiled in cellars, glass melted and people were sucked down into the asphalt on the streets. On that night an estimated total of 45 000 Germans died (most probably not one of them responsible for the war – my comment) compared with a similar number killed in Britain during the course of the entire war. German estimates of civilians killed by allied bombing of cities and towns in the Reich are 450 000 killed and 600 000 injured." Like the dropping of the H-bombs, little or none was necessary as the war was virtually won and military targets were low on the priority list.
- Re WWI, " Fritz Haber, now a professor at Berlin University and director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry, had broken atrociously the acceptable norms of warfare in the early twentieth century. He claimed, as would other gas poisoners, like the British physicist, J.B.S.Haldane, who swiftly emulated Haber's example, that new technology in weapons had the power to save lives since it could achieve swift victory. Haber believed, or at least said so, as did Haldane, that gas warfare was `a higher form of killing' – that to be injured by gas was better than being blown up by a conventional shell." Somehow the logic escapes me! Only in capitalism, eh? Who are the terrorists? Both quotes come from "Hitler's Scientists" by John Cornwell.

For socialism, John Ayers

GOD'S ADVISOR? BIG HELP?

JERUSALEM — An influential Israeli rabbi has said God should strike the Palestinians and their leader with a plague, calling for their death in a fiery sermon before Middle East peace talks set to begin next week.

"Abu Mazen and all these evil people should perish from this earth," Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual head of the religious Shas party in Israel's government, said in a sermon late Saturday, using Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's popular name.

"God should strike them and these Palestinians -- evil haters of Israel -- with a plague," the 89-year-old rabbi said in his weekly address to the faithful, excerpts of which were broadcast on Israeli radio Sunday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu distanced himself from the comments and said Israel wanted to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians that would ensure good neighborly relations.

"The comments do not reflect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's view or the position of the government of Israel," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

The Iraqi-born cleric has made similar remarks before, most notably in 2001, during a Palestinian uprising, when he called for Arabs' annihilation and said it was forbidden to be merciful to them.

He later said he was referring only to "terrorists" who attacked Israelis. In the 1990s, Yosef broke with other Orthodox Jewish leaders by voicing support for territorial compromise with the Palestinians.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said Yosef's latest comments were tantamount to calling for "genocide against Palestinians." The rabbi's remarks, he said, were "an insult to all our efforts to advance the negotiations process."

    (msnbc.com 29 August , 2010)

A NICE LITTLE RUN-AROUND

"Lotus has unveiled the ultimate track-day car - a Formula One-inspired racer called the Type 125. The British sports car company will show its consumer-focused F1 clone at this weekend's annual Pebble Beach Concourse d'Elegance in the United States, with plans to build only 25 examples from next April. The 125 will cost much less than a real Formula One car but the price tag is still expected to be about $1.1 million." (Drive, 11 August) " RD http://tinyurl.com/39h64jc"

A DESIREABLE RESIDENTIAL BARGAIN

"A penthouse in one of London's most opulent developments has sold for a record-breaking £140 million, as the market for "trophy homes" bucks the wider property slump. The six-bedroom apartment at One Hyde Park, Knightsbridge, stretches across two floors and boasts bullet-proof windows, a panic room and views across the Serpentine. The new owners who have already exchanged contracts will also have access to 24-hour room service from the neighbouring Mandarin Oriental hotel, and protection from SAS-trained security guards." (Daily Telegraph, 10 August) RD

the poor decay

A third of three-year-olds living in poverty in Scotland suffer from poor dental health, a new study has suggested. The research team from the University of Glasgow Dental School assessed children living in Greater Glasgow for decayed, missing or filled teeth. They found evidence of decay in at least 25% of cases. However, amongst those from deprived areas, the incidence of decay was even higher, with a third of those surveyed exhibiting evidence of cavities.

Andrew Lamb, Scottish director of the British Dental Association, said "...this study highlights the depressing fact that poor dental health and inequality are closely linked from very early in life... it's unacceptable that social deprivation is still such a strong marker of poor dental health."

THE PRICE OF OIL

We are often told by social commentators that capitalism with its wonderful technology and scientific endeavours has made the modern world a vast improvement on the past, but the human cost in injury and death is always soft-pedaled by capitalism's supporters. Almost unnoticed in the panes of praise for the profit system is this short news item. "Employers in the offshore oil and gas industry were urged yesterday to improve their safety record after a big increase in the number of workers killed or seriously injured. The Health and Safety Executive said that 17 workers died in off-shore-related incidents and there were 50 severe injuries in the past year, a "stark reminder" of the hazards. The combined fatal and severe injury rate almost doubled, coupled with a "marked rise" in the number of hydrocarbon releases - regarded as potential precursors to a major incident." (Times, 25 August) RD

BUSINESS IS BOOMING

It is common nowadays to read of growing unemployment, businesses folding and widespread bankruptcy ,but there is one trade that is booming - pawn broking! "Pawnbrokers will soon be as common on the high street as coffee shops and banks, according to the chief executive of Britain's biggest operator. John Nichols, of H&T, said eventually there would be pawnbrokers in every town centre." (Times, 25 August) His forecast was made as his firm announced a 71 per cent leap in its profits over the last six months. It is worthwhile noting what the source of this high street boom is put down to. "Slightly more than half of pawnshop customers use the cash to pay for daily essentials, such as food and groceries, while about six out of ten are not in work, according to Bristol University research released yesterday." RD

capital fuel poverty

Nearly one in four Edinburgh residents fear they will be unable to afford to heat their home, in another sign of the impact of the economic downturn and rising energy bills said an authoritative survey of more than 1000 residents commissioned by the city council.

Elizabeth Gore, a spokeswoman for Energy Action Scotland, the national charity that aims to eliminate fuel poverty, said:
"It is a worry, especially as people start to think ahead to the winter. We would be concerned about people not being able to afford to heat their homes." She said that, while elderly groups and parents with young children remained the groups affected most by "fuel poverty", many other groups - such as young people in rented accommodation - were also struggling to pay their bills.

THE $MILLION SHIT HOLE.

This article from Scotland on Sunday makes one wonder if used condoms, sanitary towels and excreta of the famous is worth keeping. Who says the money system is crap?

 

A TOILET described as once having belonged to US author JD Salinger has been put on sale on the online auction site eBay for $1 million (£644,000).

The vendor said he obtained the "used toilet commode" from a couple who now own the former home of The Catcher In The Rye author.

It comes "uncleaned and in its original condition", the online advertisement states. "Who knows how many of (his] stories were thought up and written while Salinger sat on this throne!", it adds.

The toilet comes with a letter from Joan Littlefield, attesting that it was removed during renovations to her and her husband's house in Cornish, New Hampshire, formerly owned by the reclusive author.

Who owns the North Pole - Human Flag-poles

Socialist Courier continues its North Pole saga by reporting moves highlighting the growing tensions among countries with Arctic borders as global warming makes rich mineral and energy deposits increasingly accessible and opens its ice-covered seas to shipping. Russia, Canada, the U.S., and Denmark all have claims before a U.N. commission to extend their undersea boundaries into ice-blocked areas

"Let me be clear, the number one priority of our northern strategy is the promotion and protection of Canadian sovereignty in the north," said Prime Minister Stephen Harper, calling it "non-negotiable."

Canada claims a large swath of the Arctic including the Northwest Passage, which could become an important shipping link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans as climate change melts away the northern ice cap. It claims that the Northwest Passage is a domestic waterway.Russia continues to compete for the North Pole and the Northern Sea Route -- a passage that stretches from Asia to Europe across northern Russia.

Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, has wrapped up his participation in Operation NANOOK 10, the centrepiece of three major sovereignty operations conducted every year by the Canadian Forces (CF) in Canada's North explaining that "Exercising Canada's Arctic sovereignty is a key element of the Canada First Defence Strategy, and operations such as NANOOK enable the Canadian Forces and our whole-of-government partners to better deal with challenges in the North. Operation NANOOK 10 enhances the Canadian Forces' interoperability with other government departments and agencies and builds our collective capacity to respond, in a timely and effective manner, to safety and security threats or emergencies."

Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon told reporters Canada's claim to be an Arctic power is based on its having historically had people living in the Far North, as well as its more recent economic development, environmental efforts and military patrols.

Between 1953 and 1956, 87 Inuit members of 19 families were plucked from homes and familiar lives around Inukjuak, on the northeast shore of Hudson Bay, and plunked down 2,000 km farther north, in empty places now known as Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord. Behind some official nonsense spouted at the time in praise of hardy self-reliance lurked Ottawa's real motive: demonstrating Arctic sovereignty by populating the terrain.“The Government of Canada recognizes that these communities have contributed to a strong Canadian presence in the High Arctic,” Federal Indian Affairs Minister John Duncan said

These people were forced to move from a land where they lived off game such as caribou, and were dumped unceremoniously in an area without housing and any kind of food supply where there was so little food that some of them died, and where they had to make it through the winters in igloos and muskox-hide tents. The Inuit knew little of the land where they were resettled. They had to adapt to the constant darkness of the winter months and temperatures 20 degrees colder than the community they left. Nor were they aware that they would be separated into two communities once they arrived in the High Arctic

Duncan delivered an official apology. Those words were empty, as all such apologies are. Saying "we're sorry" on behalf of people now dead to people who are no longer around to hear, amounts to no more than sanctimonious and politically-correct cant. Nothing will undo the psychological trauma done to those people and the ripple effect it has had down the years through their descendants

MODERNITY, BUT AT AN AWFUL COST

The advance of capitalism has led to many improvements in technology. None of us would like to imagine a world without mobile phones, computers or digital cameras, but this being capitalism such advances have led to social disaster for some. A major source of the essential ingredients for such technology is the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is from here that gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum originate. It is also from here that we have had the deadliest conflict since the Second World War with an estimated death rate of 5.4 million people. "International agencies have described how paramilitary groups in the region control many of the mine producing gold and the "3Ts" where locals including children are forced to work for as little as $1 a day. The same groups then help to smuggle the minerals out of the country, where they eventually end up in laptops, mobile phones and video game consoles." (Times,18 August) When The Times investigators queried the supply of such materials with industrial giants such as Apple, Sony, Noika, Dell, HP and Nintendo that were very evasive, best summed up by Microsoft's reply "It's very hard to reliably trace metals to mine of origin."

It is even harder for them to let their rivals have exclusive access to this cheap source! RD

New poverty figures for Scotland

Across Scotland, 450,000 households, or 860,000 individuals, are in relative poverty (People living on less than 60 per cent of average income are regarded as being in "relative poverty". That is equivalent to a couple with no kids living on £248 a week or less.) The numbers include 180,000 to 200,000 youngsters.
John Dickie, of Child Poverty Action, said: "Behind the statistics are tens of thousands of families trying to give their children the best start despite hopelessly inadequate wages and benefits."

A quarter of households (25%) in the Western Isles were classified as being in relative poverty, while Dundee was just behind at 24%. The Scottish average for relative poverty is 19%.The figures found increases over the past four years in a number of areas.Higher than average levels of "relative poverty" were also recorded in 19 of the 32 local authorities.

reforms fail to reform

On the 40th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act figures have been released to show that women in Scotland will have to wait another 33 years before they are paid the same as men. Male managers earned on average £9,841 more than female colleagues.Even at junior management level, the pay gap still existed, with men being paid £797 more than female executives in Scotland.

Concerning the UK stats generally a spokesman for the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: "Forty years after the Equal Pay Act, women can still expect to earn less than 85 pence for every £1their male colleagues earn. In some sectors the pay gap is far worse."

Socialist Courier can only comment that it once more demonstrates the failure of those that advocate reformism.

old and starving

Almost twice as many pensioners in the Lothians are admitted to hospital with malnutrition than anywhere else in Scotland, figures have shown. Latest figures show six malnourished people over the age of 65 are now being treated every week, a rise of around a dozen on last year. A mixture of care cutbacks and the increasing number of elderly residents in the area have been suggested for the cases.

Experts said the majority of victims would be elderly people who lived alone and were "under the radar" as far as local authority support services were concerned.

Phyllis Herriot, acting secretary of the Scottish Pensioners' Forum, said: "This is a very sad figure, and quite awful for those involved. It's horrible to think that this can happen in this day and age. There have been a lot of cutbacks, not just in Edinburgh but across the board. Sheltered Housing complexes are losing their wardens, home-help visits that used to be an hour are now cut to half an hour, and those that were half an hour are now 15 minutes. All these things can contribute to someone not getting what they need, and perhaps because of all this some people aren't getting picked up by the services who would have been before"

The next closest health board for malnutrition numbers was Glasgow, where there were 166 cases. In neighbouring Fife there were 67 cases and 38 incidents in the Borders

BOSSES' PREPARATIONS FOR THE COMING STRUGGLE

This is an article from the august Labour Research, which demonstrates only to well, that the employers know that advantaged as they are in exploiting the working class, a helping hand from the government is always the cherry on the cake.

 

Unions denounce government plans for tougher strike laws.

 

Union leaders lined up last month to condemn government plans to toughen up the UK's already restrictive strike laws. The Times newspaper reported that ministers had held secret talks over measures to inhibit lawful strike action in the face of massive planned public sector job cuts. The key change mooted is to raise the proportion of workers required to vote for a strike to 4O% of those who would be affected by industrial action, rather than a simple majority of those voting. This proposal was called for in June by the CBI employers' organisation, and condemned by TUC general secretary Brendan Barber as "a demolition job" on the rights of workers.  However, The Times also reported that the CBI was pushing for other rules on industrial action to be changed. These include abandoning the law which stops employers from replacing striking workers with agency employees, and reducing the time before strikes can be dismissed without another action ballot from 12 to eight weeks. The CBI also wants unions to be liable for the costs of strikes. Tory "envoy to the unions" Richard Balfe told Labour Research before the election that the Tories had no plans for further anti-union legislation, saying that "it is a measure of how little the Labour government has done that there is nothing to repeal".  However, this view seems to have changed abruptly, with a Tory source telling The Daily Telegraph that the Cabinet is "feeling inclined to be very bullish and aggressive" about confronting strikes. GMB general union leader Paul Kenny said it was typical that the Cameron government should be "attacking the rights of ordinary workers rather than the bankers who caused the recession". And PCS civil service union general secretary Mark Serwotka said it was not surprising that the threat came "just as public sector unions are planning co-ordinated industrial action to fight massive spending cuts". The leader of the RMT transport union, Bob Crow, accused the government of "declaring war" on unions because they know that "by far the biggest campaign of resistance to their austerity and cuts plans will come from the trade unions". The TUC's deputy general secretary Frances O'Grady said that "I would hope the government will not want to be seen in the pocket of business".

PAY DAY PENURY

"The number of people taking one out has quadrupled since 1996 according to the watchdog Consumer Focus. That is despite some companies charging interest rates of more than 2,500% a year. The organisation is now calling on the industry to bring in more safeguards to protect vulnerable borrowers. ''Payday loans are a valid form of credit and it's much better for people to take one out rather than go to a loan shark," said Sarah Brooks, head of financial services at Consumer Focus. But we do think there needs to be a limit on the number of loans people take out and how many loans they are able to roll over." Research by Consumer Focus suggests that 1.2 million people are now taking out a payday loan every year, borrowing a total of £1.2bn." (BBC News, 14 August) RD

A BLEAK FUTURE

"Millions of Britons face a "hell of a shock" when they reach retirement because of their failure to save. In his first major interview, the Pensions Minister, Steve Webb, admitted that the basic state pension of £97 a week is "not enough to live on", and confirmed that the Government would raise the state retirement age to 66 earlier than planned. He said that around seven million people are currently not saving enough to meet their retirement aspirations." (Independent, 29 July) RD

AN EXCLUSIVE CLUB

"The membership in TIGER 21 (an acronym for The Investment Group for Enhanced Results in the 21st century) is exclusive. Members must have a minimum of $10-million in investable assets (in practice, many are billionaires). Annual dues are $30,000 a year, and members must be able to commit to meeting for at least 10 eight-hour sessions a year. That's a significant commitment of both time and money." (Globe and Mail, 4 August) RD

Another saint ?

The Herald carries a report on Keir Hardie , the Labour Party pioneer. He’s been called Labour’s greatest hero and the party’s most inspirational leader but could Keir Hardie also be in danger of being forgotten? The Socialist Party though have not forgotten about him. The insincerity and double-dealing of the Labour “leaders” are plain.

From the formation of the Labour Party the S.PG.B. opposed it, holding that its doctrine of changing class relationships through social reforms and its hope of abolishing war through international expressions of goodwill were founded in error about the nature of capitalism and socialism.

An article on Hardie can be read here

CHEATING AS A BENEFIT

Politics is about taxation, and what the taxes are spent on, the government is warning that it will come down heavily on tax dodgers, the government have been concentrating on what they call benefit cheats, lots of people agree with the government, after all, they are paying taxes, so they must be the ones being cheated. Most workers can't do much about taxation; they see it as a number on the pay slip, not much they can do about it, however, as this article in the summer magazine of the building workers' union shows, there are richer tax dodgers out there, under the pretence that they are "offering freedom and flexibility " not bogus self-employment as the union suggests.

UCATT has written to Lesley Strathie, Chief Executive of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), requesting an urgent investigation into the conduct of construction employment agencies who are deliberately avoiding paying millions of pounds in taxation. The union's approach has been made after evidence was collected that in many cases agencies offer two rates for the same job: a higher rate paid for workers on CIS ,,self-employed" terms and a lower rate for those on PAYE. Under the CIS construction industry tax scheme, agencies and gangmasters do not have to pay employer's National Insurance contributions of 12.8 per cent of a worker's earnings. This translates into millions of pounds of lost revenue each year.

The HMRC has clear rules about whether workers should be paid directly or via the CIS tax scheme, such as whether a worker can choose their hours, decline work, disobey orders and set their own prices for work.

Confederation

Meanwhile, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), the largest trade association for employment agencies, is backing a national campaign to block Treasury plans to stamp out bogus self-employment. The campaign is an alliance of housebuilders and some other construction companies who oppose proposals to "deem" the majority of bogusly self-employed workers to be employees for taxation purposes. Anne Fairweather, REC's Head of Public Policy, commented: "Many people in all sectors of business, in both the public and private sector, want freedom and flexibility offered by self-employment."

Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of UCATT, responded: "The comments by REC demonstrate a blinding ignorance of the construction industry and are deeply worrying. Workers don't freely choose to be bogusly self-employed so that they can be stripped of holiday pay, sick pay and basic employment rights. They have to accept these employment conditions in order to find work and feed their families."

protests silver linings

Some Socialist Courier readers will remember the Make Poverty History and G-8 protests of 2005. Members of the Socialist Party attended many of the events to present the socialist view.

The Scotsman reports that although some Edinburgh retailers may have lost money due to the protests, businesses had benefited to the tune of £64.7 million. The city's economy was said to have benefited from the number of participants who visited for the Make Poverty History march and the concert staged at Murrayfield Stadium.

PRIVATE EFFICIENCY?

The present government like others before them present a case for the privatisation of the public services, (usually implying that the private sector is more efficient). Another tactic is to tell workers they only need to get on their bikes and find an employer out there who can't find the local necessary labour.

This item from the Building Workers' summer magazine illustrates that the contractual nature of privately run capitalist society has its inefficiencies.

Privatisation gone mad in the Probation Service

Millions of pounds are being wasted by the National Probation Service (NPS) because of incompetent building maintenance contracts, says a report published in January by Napo, the probation officers' union.

Two years ago NPS's National Offender Management Service maintenance contracts were centralised and privatised. The union's report cites numerous examples of contractors travelling hundreds of miles to fulfil simple tasks where previously the job would have been done locally. Among the examples are:

·        A hostel in Norwich needed a toilet seat repairing and a plumber travelled from Birmingham to do the job. This was a round trip of 320 miles.

·        Staff in Winchester needed strip lighting changing. The electrician came from Wembley which was a round trip of over 15O miles.

·        A hostel needed an electrical switch mending and a new cover to an entrance light and an electrician travelled to the West Midlands from Newmarket, a two-and-a-half hour drive each way and a round trip of over 200 miles.

·        Workers travelled from London to Wrexham to fit a new bathroom in a hostel.

·        Electricians from Manchester travelled all the way to Aberystwyth to change light fittings.

·        Other staff report that the window cleaners in Leicester came from Preston and were involved in an overnight stay before going on to Lincoln for the next job. This involved over seven hours of travelling.

Harry Fletcher, Assistant General Secretary of Napo, said it was clear that millions were being wasted on incompetent maintenance contracts. "It is now costing four to five times more than it did when contractors were hired from round the corner. This is the price of centralisation and privatisation."

SOUTH OF THE BORDER

"Young children are supplying an increasing demand from foreign tourists who travel to Brazil for sex holidays, according to a BBC investigation. Chris Rogers reports on how the country is overtaking Thailand as a destination for sex tourism and on attempts to curb the problem. Her small bikini exposes her tiny frame. She looks no older than 13 - one of dozens of girls parading the street looking for clients in the blazing mid-afternoon sun. Most come from the surrounding favelas - or slums. As I park my car, the young girl dances provocatively to catch my attention. "Hello my name is Clemie - you want a programme?" she asks, programme being the code word they use for an hour of sex. Clemie asks for less than $5 for her services. An older woman standing nearby steps in and introduces herself as Clemie's mother. "You have the choice of another two girls, they are the same age as my daughter, the same price," she explains. "I can take you to a local motel where a room can be rented by the hour." (BBC News, 30 July) RD

THE MARCH OF CAPITALISM

"China, the world's most prodigious emitter of greenhouse gas, continues to suffer the downsides of unbridled economic growth despite a raft of new environmental initiatives. The quality of air in Chinese cities is increasingly tainted by coal-burning power plants, grit from construction sites and exhaust from millions of new cars squeezing onto crowded roads, according to a government study issued this week. Other newly released figures show a jump in industrial accidents and an epidemic of pollution in waterways. The report's most unexpected findings pointed to an increase in inhalable particulates in cities like Beijing, where officials have struggled to improve air quality by shutting down noxious factories and tightening auto emission standards. Despite such efforts, including an ambitious program aimed at reducing the use of coal for home heating, the average concentration of particulates in the capital's air violated the World Health Organization's standards more than 80 percent of the time during the last quarter of 2008."

 (New York Times, 28 July) RD

BARGAIN BASEMENT EXPLOITATION

"Indian workers are paid just 25p an hour and forced to work overtime in factories used by some of Britain's best-known high street stores. ... Some of the biggest names on the British high street are at the centre of a major sweatshop scandal. An Observer investigation has found staff at their Indian suppliers working up to 16 hours a day. Marks & Spencers, Gap and Next have launched their own inquiries into abuses and pledged to end the practice of excessive overtime, which is a flagrant breach of the industry's ethical trading (ETI) and Indian labour laws." (Observer, 8 August) RD