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

HOW THE OTHER 5% LIVE

 "A flamboyant self-styled lord who entertained the rich and famous was yesterday banned from holding lavish parties at his £20million mansion. Monaco-based Edward Davenport, 44, regularly hosted raucous all-night events for A-list stars that were littered with celebrity guests including Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Paris Hilton. The High Court heard that no expense was spared for the parties. At one event last December brandy maker Courvoisier turned the swimming pool into a gigantic punchbowl by filling it with 1,000 litres of cognac - at an estimated cost of more than £30,000." (Daily Mail, 31 July) RD

THE LAW AND THE CLASS STRUGGLE

STRIKE BALLOT REFORMS

The recent High Court decisions preventing industrial action by amongst others, Unite and RMT members, have caused consternation in the trade union movement. Employers were easily able to exploit minor balloting irregularities to win injunctions. This has led to renewed calls for the reform of the law governing strikes. Although the last Labour government did introduce some amendments to the Trade Union and Labour Relations Consolidation Act 1992 (TULRCA) through the Employment Relations Act 1999, they were to little effect. In particular, the allowance given for small and accidental failures in the balloting process under section 232B has proved only to be of limited use as a defence against employers. In an attempt to stop bosses using technicalities to block action, John McDonnell, the Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, is sponsoring a bill designed to reinforce and extend the exemption for small and accidental failures. Under the Lawful Industrial Action (Minor Errors) Bill, which had its first reading on 30 June and will have its second on22 October, section 232B TULRCA is to be strengthened. However, agitation for change is not just in favour of liberalising the law. Anticipating popular resistance to their impending savage spending cuts, the coalition government is considering tightening the law, for example, by introducing a requirement for 4O% of eligible voters to participate in ballots.

AUGUST 2OlO LABOUR RESEARCH