Is it happening here in Wales too? - An undercover Times reporter made secret tape recordings last week which would appear to confirm many people’s fears that senior Labour figures are carrying out sharp practices which could have a decisive effect on the outcome of this week’s local elections.
The Electoral Commission, the official electoral watchdog, says canvassers must not solicit postal votes and should post votes only if specifically asked to do so. However, Maserat Ghafoor, a 39-year-old housewife, said she, too, had felt under pressure when a Labour councillor was brought to her home by a relative. She said the councillor asked her whether she needed help filling out her postal vote.
Politicians involved are Graham Hyde *, a Labour councillor who works as a parliamentary aide to the local MP George Mudie, a former whip and staunch Brown supporter. Keith Wakefield, the Labour group’s leader.
Wakefield yesterday denied he had ever instructed canvassers to solicit postal votes. He said the ballot paper had new instructions this year and the canvassers had merely been instructed to take details of anyone who was having difficulty. Their details would be passed on, he said, to the council’s electoral office, which could then help them
*Graham Hyde represents Seacroft, also in East Leeds. The local MP is the well known rightwing fixer and all-round Brown supporting reactionary, George Mudie. He is apt to have a finger in every Labour pie going and still thinks of himself as 'Mr. Leeds.'
Mudie's arrogance is well known and alienated many Labour voters in Gipton and Harehills in particular. His rudeness, when he develops an animosity is never far below the service.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Postal union chief to quit Labour's NEC
This story from Oliver Morgan, industrial editor Sunday April 29, 2007
The Observer Postal union leader Dave Ward is to step down as a member of Labour's ruling national executive committee, saying there is a conflict of interest between fighting government policy and sitting on the body. The news comes as the Communication Workers Union meets this week to finalise the timing of a strike ballot over Royal Mail's latest pay offer. Ward, who has opposed the introduction of competition into postal services and is fighting plans to close the company's final salary pension scheme to new members, says the union will launch a nationwide campaign against government policy on 15 May
He said: 'I believe this government's policies have been more hostile to postal workers than any previous government.'In a letter to CWU members informing them of his decision to stand down from the NEC, he says: 'I feel there is a growing conflict of interests between my role in representing and defending the views of the CWU and continuing to spend time on the Labour Party NEC.''It is now essential we devote our energies to challenging government policy on competition and their recent commercial agreement with Royal Mail.'
...Good news he had the guts to quit and defend the postal service from decimation or what the government call introducing competition.
The Observer Postal union leader Dave Ward is to step down as a member of Labour's ruling national executive committee, saying there is a conflict of interest between fighting government policy and sitting on the body. The news comes as the Communication Workers Union meets this week to finalise the timing of a strike ballot over Royal Mail's latest pay offer. Ward, who has opposed the introduction of competition into postal services and is fighting plans to close the company's final salary pension scheme to new members, says the union will launch a nationwide campaign against government policy on 15 May
He said: 'I believe this government's policies have been more hostile to postal workers than any previous government.'In a letter to CWU members informing them of his decision to stand down from the NEC, he says: 'I feel there is a growing conflict of interests between my role in representing and defending the views of the CWU and continuing to spend time on the Labour Party NEC.''It is now essential we devote our energies to challenging government policy on competition and their recent commercial agreement with Royal Mail.'
...Good news he had the guts to quit and defend the postal service from decimation or what the government call introducing competition.
Body Parts Scandal
Wales on Sunday report that TWO nuclear power stations in Wales may be included in a national inquiry into a major radioactive body parts scandal. Wylfa in Anglesey and Trawsfynydd in Gwynedd could form part of a government probe into whether organs were taken from deceased workers without their families' consent.....British Nuclear Fuels - runs Wylfa and Trawsfynydd -
Wyfla, pictured above employs 660 workers, was the last and largest of the Magnox type of nuclear reactor power station of its type to be built in the UK. It started electricity generation in 1971 and will cease to do so in 2010. Wylfa Nuclear Power Station is situated just west of
Cemaes, Anglesey, the northernmost village in Wales.Trawsfynydd, which employs 500 workers, ceased to generate electricity in 1991.
Wales has two nuclear power stations. Trawsfynydd is closed and Wylfa is due to close in 2010. You can have your say in the consultaion to ensure that Wales has a nuclear free energy future. Say NO to nuclear power - Keep Wales Nuclear Free - The "Keep Wales Nuclear-Free" petition has been launched by Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth. The petition is available at http://www.pembsfoe.org.uk. The group also want people to write to Blair. Sample letter available at http://www.pembsfoe.org.uk/Arm/armchair-2005.php#dec14.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
How One Moment could end the War!
A piece of paper will soon be placed on George Bush's desk in the Oval Office. By picking up a pen and signing his name to it, he couldend the war in Iraq.The House and Senate united and passed a bill that wouldprovide for our troops now and begin a redeployment from Iraq to bring themhome.We're just one signature away from ending the tragicmistake that has cut short thousands of American lives, cost tens ofbillions of dollars, and destroyed America's global moral leadership. Butonly if the president signs the bill.I opposed this war from the beginning, and I would signthe bill to end it in a heartbeat.
If you would too, please take a moment to tell someone just how simple it would be to end this war:
All of the politics, all of the spin, all of the rhetoricmeans very little today.The overwhelming majority of Americans want this war toend. The president must follow them.
America is one signature away.
Barack Obama
If you would too, please take a moment to tell someone just how simple it would be to end this war:
All of the politics, all of the spin, all of the rhetoricmeans very little today.The overwhelming majority of Americans want this war toend. The president must follow them.
America is one signature away.
Barack Obama
Friday, April 27, 2007
Plaid Cymru split over nuclear power?
Yes, it seems they are.....ELIN JONES this week dismissed a Plaid Cymru split over nuclear power. The Ceredigion candidate insisted it was of no significance that the party was anti-nuclear while its leader, Ieuan Wyn Jones, backed a nuclear replacement within the next 10 years for the Wylfa power plant on Anglesey. Successive Plaid manifestos rule out new nuclear power stations, but Mr Jones said he would support the development because he had a “re-sponsibility to defend jobs”, subject to assurances concerning the level of investment, the number of jobs that would be created and proposals for dealing with nuclear waste.Rival candidates - apart from the Liberal Democrats - back a new power station and accused Mr Jones of fudging the issue. But Elin Jones said she defended the right of any AM, including a party leader, to disagree with official policy.
Aberystwyth Today 26th April 2007
Aberystwyth Today 26th April 2007
Plaid should dump this Mr Jones. Either you are for or against nuclear power! This is too serious a matter to let one man decide on this issue.
Tshirt from CND shop
Sophie Howe promises
Bombarded with election leaflets for Cardiff North where the big issue is antisocial behaviour according to asbo Cllr Howe Sophie Howe. In Cardiff North? Perhaps she should visit some other parts of the UK, Cardiff even ...She is obsessed with asbo stuff, perhaps she thinks it is the only new labour policy to boast of...em..only it is so right wing.
Other Cllr Sophie Howe new labour polices
A fully staffed office – is that sharing with daddy Peter Howe, Julie Morgans 'spin doctor'? (Picture of Peter Howe) Vote Sophie get Peter. Who is going to pay for this office? I don't want to vote for an office.
Other Cllr Sophie Howe new labour polices
A fully staffed office – is that sharing with daddy Peter Howe, Julie Morgans 'spin doctor'? (Picture of Peter Howe) Vote Sophie get Peter. Who is going to pay for this office? I don't want to vote for an office.
Sophie Howes priority is to tackle what antisocial behaviour in Cardiff North? No mention of How. Perhaps she might produce figures for all this imagined anti social behaviour. What about more youth facilities like a skateboard park in Whitchurch which cost how much and then was built and then demolished!
Sophie Howe promises to protect green spaces and heritage but as a councillor has not stopped historical buildings demolished and gardens concreted over in Whitchurch as a result of Labour policy - John Prescott defining gardens as ‘Brownfield’.
Sophie Howe promises ‘Safe’ roads but can’t stop parking on double yellow lines in Whitchurch, pavement parking everywhere making pavements dangerous for pedestrians. Where are the dropped kerbs and pedestrian crossings, in Whitchurch there is no green man on the crossroads. Sophie wants more parking in the city centre for mothers so she isn’t environmentally friendly or aware.
Rhrodri gets a make over?
Watching Rodri Morgan on telly last night I noticed a big difference..yes... and what might that be you might well ask ....he had his hair done...not the usual unruly mess but perfectly ..well ...done and smart tie and clean shirt .....I wonder who did him? I could do with a make over myself!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
PCS Make your Vote count campaign
The Welsh Assembly elections are now only a week away and it is important that PCS makes the most of the time remaining to build on what has been achieved by our 'Make Your Vote Count' campaign.
The responses PCS received from the leaders of the main parties in Wales to our questions about pay, job cuts, etc. have been posted on the PCS Wales pages of the national union website The questions PCS Wales asked are as follows
1. Where do you stand on cutting civil service jobs in the devolved and non-devolved civil service in Wales?
2. How much importance do you attach to the provision of well staffed local offices providing the public with the option of face to face contact?
3. Where do you stand on privatising public services?
4. Do you agree that Welsh civil servants deserve fair play on pay and would you like to comment on the current method of civil service pay delivery?
5. Do you support the introduction of regional pay in the public sector?These elections are a major opportunity to raise the political profile of PCS members' concerns, so please do what you can to help make the campaign a success and encourage your branch members to do likewise.
The responses PCS received from the leaders of the main parties in Wales to our questions about pay, job cuts, etc. have been posted on the PCS Wales pages of the national union website The questions PCS Wales asked are as follows
1. Where do you stand on cutting civil service jobs in the devolved and non-devolved civil service in Wales?
2. How much importance do you attach to the provision of well staffed local offices providing the public with the option of face to face contact?
3. Where do you stand on privatising public services?
4. Do you agree that Welsh civil servants deserve fair play on pay and would you like to comment on the current method of civil service pay delivery?
5. Do you support the introduction of regional pay in the public sector?These elections are a major opportunity to raise the political profile of PCS members' concerns, so please do what you can to help make the campaign a success and encourage your branch members to do likewise.
Anglesey WON'T say NO to a nuclear power station!
Have the politicans in Anglesey no sense? - perhaps they should ask the people of Wales whether they want a new nuclear power station......Ask your local candidates and those on the lists not to support New Nuclear Power plants..... Anglesey today took its case for a new nuclear power station to the Department of Trade and Industry. Led by the island MP Albert Owen, the high-powered delegation included County Council Leader Gareth Winston Roberts OBE, Managing Director, Derrick Jones, and Amicus Union regional officer, Alwyn Rowlands. They revealed that the meeting with the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy, Lord Truscott, had been very positive. News Wales 25th April 2007
Get yourself a tshirt from the CND shop especially people in Anglesey
A good month to bury bad news
Martin Bright in the New Stateman highlights loads of 'BAD NEWS' stuff that New Labour wants to bury. He says he's told that John Reid is planning to use the Blair-Brown interregnum to shovel out all the overdue business of a famously dysfunctional department in an attempt to bury a veritable landfill of bad news!
'Children's charities have already been informed that the much-delayed research into a
British version of Megan's Law will be published...
A further flurry of potentially embarrassing research into systems for the supervision of the most dangerous sex offenders is also planned for publication later in the month. ....
A second considerably delayed report, into the costs of the government's ID card scheme, will also be published during this period' and ...
an early-release scheme for prisoners
Published 30 April 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
New Labour, New Britain: Taking liberties with our liberties...
...the advice of Tacitus. The great historian warned that "the more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the state."
Man chops off his Penis in restaurant!
so bored with welsh elections Man Chops Off His Penis In Restaurant Sky News - 24 Apr 2007 - A man is in hospital after chopping off his penis in a busy London restaurant. Horrified diners watched as the man ...
zizzi........no thats the name of the restaurant!
zizzi........no thats the name of the restaurant!
Secret power sharing plans
Martin Shipton, Western Mail reports that LABOUR has been drawing up a series of secret options that could help it retain power, if it fails to win an overall majority in next week’s National Assembly election, it can be revealed today.Yesterday Rhodri Morgan firmly denied a BBC story that senior Labour figures were talking up the prospect of a deal with Plaid. He said, “This story is rubbish from start to finish."Rhrodris cry of no surrender didn't last long. What politican won't share power when that is the only option? Even Ian Paisley capitulated eventually.
Was it just Monday Rhrodri Morgan was telling us Labour not out to seek a coalition Apr 23 2007 Western Mail; RHODRI MORGAN insisted he was running for a Labour-only government yesterday, when he was asked if he would accept Plaid Cymru's offer of a coalition to keep the Tories out.
LABOUR: 'COALITION NOT ON OUR AGENDA'
CHRIS DAVIESCHIEF REPORTERCHRIS.DAVIES@SWWMEDIA.CO.UK10:30 - 23 April 2007 Labour is the only party looking to win control of the Assembly, according to First Minister Rhodri Morgan.He said that both Plaid and the Conservatives were only looking at linking up with other parties and were desperate to form a coalition.
PFI in Wales Pollutes Rhrodris 'Clear' red water
Rhrodri Morgan and New Labour in Wales are not entirely honest when it comes to PFI and there has been no discernible discussion with the voters of Wales and we must also ask how many people know about the use of PFI in Wales.
Wales has 40 PFI Wales Projects: with a Total Captial Value: £1,033 m
PFI projects . Energy management, healthcare and road projects are typical examples of the projects procured and schools ; (March 2006)
The Wales Office’s IT equipment is provided and supported by Siemens Business Services (SBS) under a PFI contract which is held by the National Assembly for Wales. Information and Communications Technology equipment and services are provided to the Wales Office by the National Assembly for Wales under a Service Delivery Agreement. The Wales Office does not therefore own its IT equipment, or hold the contract for its provision.
second Severn Crossing
PFI Roads Monmouthshire Capital Value £'m 331
Ammanford Police Station PFI Emergency Services Carmarthenshire
Capital Value £'m 8
HMP Parc PFI Prisons & Detention Centres Bridgend Capital Value £'m 74
North Wales Police Central Divisional Headquarters
PFI Emergency Services Denbighshire Capital Value £'m15
Hawk Simulator RAF Valley PFI Equipment Anglesey Capital Value £'m 20.204
A55 Llandygai to Holyhead Trunk Road PFI Roads Gwynedd
Capital Value £'m 100
Abergele Hospital Energy Management PFI Hospitals Conwy
Capital Value £'m 0.31
Bronglais Hospital Energy Management Project PFI
Energy Ceredigion
Car parking/security Morriston Hospital
PFI Hospitals Swansea Capital Value £'m 0.3
Chepstow Community Hopsital
PFI Hospitals Monmouthshire
Capital Value £'m 10
Denbighshire County Council – Council Offices
PFI Offices Denbighshire
Capital Value £'m 12.1
Glan Clwyd Hospital Renal and Diabetes Unit PFI
Hospitals Denbighshire Capital Value £'m3.4
Llandough Hospital Contract Energy Management and Combined Heat and Power
PFI Hospitals Vale of Glamorgan Capital Value £'m 0.6
Llandough Hospital Staff Nursery and Day Nursery PFI
Hospitals Vale of Glamorgan Capital Value £'m 1.6
Lloyd George Avenue and Callaghan Square
PFI Roads Cardiff Capital Value £'m45
Neath Port Talbot Hospital
PFI Hospitals Neath & Port Talbot
Capital Value £'m 66
Neville Hall Endoscopy and Day Surgery Unit
PFI Hospitals Monmouthshire
Capital Value £'m 3.5
Neville Hall Hospital Energy Management Project
PFI Hospitals Monmouthshire
Capital Value £'m 3.3
Newport Southern Distributor Road
PFI Roads Newport
Capital Value £'m 57.1
OSIRIS (Office Infrastructure Review and implementation Strategy) -IT
PFI IT Infrastructure
Wales Wide Capital Value £'m 64.4
Pembroke Dock Primary School
PFI Primary Pembrokeshire
Capital Value £'m 8
Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust Energy Management
PFI Hospitals
Pembrokeshire
Capital Value £'m0.25
Prince Philip Hospital Contract Energy Management and Combined Heat and Power
PFI Hospitals Carmarthenshire
Capital Value £'m 0.3
Royal Glamorgan Hospital Staff residences
PFI Hospitals Rhondda Cynon Taff
Capital Value £'m 2.5
Royal Gwent Hospital and St Woolos Hospital Energy Management Project
PFI Hospitals
Newport Capital Value £'m 4
Singleton Hospital Incinerator replacement
PFI Hospitals Swansea
Capital Value £'m 0.65
Sirhowy Enterprise Way Road Scheme
PFI Roads Caerphilly Capital Value £'m 34.3
St David's Community Hospital
PFI Hospitals Cardiff Capital Value £'m16
Sully Hospital Contract Energy Management and Waste
PFI Hospitals Vale of Glamorgan
Capital Value £'m 0.92
University Hospital of Wales Car Parks
PFI Hospitals Cardiff Capital Value £'m 5.82
University Hospital of Wales Main Entrance and Concourse
PFI Hospitals Cardiff Capital Value £'m1
University Hospital of Wales Sterile Services
PFI Hospitals Cardiff Capital Value £'m 2
Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni & Lewis Boys
PFI Secondary Caerphilly Capital Value £'m 25
Ysgol Gyfun Penweddig, Penweddig Secondary School
PFI Secondary Ceredigion Capital Value £'m 12
Conwy Schools Project PFI Secondary
Conwy Capital Value £'m 40.7
South Wales Fire Service - Fire Training Facility
PFI Emergency Services Rhondda Cynon Taff
Capital Value £'m7.2
Rhondda Cynon Taf Schools & Lifelong Learning Centre
PFI Primary & Secondary Rhondda Cynon Taff
Capital Value £'m 27.2
DVLA - Estates Transformation Project
PFI Offices Swansea Capital Value £'m 1.8
Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust - Monnow Court
PFI District Community Trusts
Monmouthshire Capital Value £'m 4
Bridgend County Borough Council - Maesteg Secondary School
PFI Secondary Bridgend Capital Value £'m 24
Plaid Cymru wants bonds not partnerships ... News Article 21/03/2007 Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, wants to fund new roads, schools and hospitals through bon...
UNISON Jan 2006 highlight a new form of PPP to build and develop health centres and surgeries NHS LIFT is a public-private partnership (PPP)
to redevelop and replace primary care facilities (buildings like health centres and GP surgeries).
LIFT was launched in 2001 and there are now 51 LIFT schemes in England, involving 155 out of
303 PCTs. .........there are plans to introduce it in Wales and Northern Ireland.
LIFT involves several PCTs4 coming together to select a ‘private sector partner’ and form a local LIFT company (LIFTCo), which will build, own and maintain the new buildings. Mental health trusts (MHTs) and local authorities may also be involved. LIFTCos are companies limited by share capital – i.e. private companies run to make a profit, but not publicly traded on the stock exchange.
Wales has 40 PFI Wales Projects: with a Total Captial Value: £1,033 m
PFI projects . Energy management, healthcare and road projects are typical examples of the projects procured and schools ; (March 2006)
The Wales Office’s IT equipment is provided and supported by Siemens Business Services (SBS) under a PFI contract which is held by the National Assembly for Wales. Information and Communications Technology equipment and services are provided to the Wales Office by the National Assembly for Wales under a Service Delivery Agreement. The Wales Office does not therefore own its IT equipment, or hold the contract for its provision.
second Severn Crossing
PFI Roads Monmouthshire Capital Value £'m 331
Ammanford Police Station PFI Emergency Services Carmarthenshire
Capital Value £'m 8
HMP Parc PFI Prisons & Detention Centres Bridgend Capital Value £'m 74
North Wales Police Central Divisional Headquarters
PFI Emergency Services Denbighshire Capital Value £'m15
Hawk Simulator RAF Valley PFI Equipment Anglesey Capital Value £'m 20.204
A55 Llandygai to Holyhead Trunk Road PFI Roads Gwynedd
Capital Value £'m 100
Abergele Hospital Energy Management PFI Hospitals Conwy
Capital Value £'m 0.31
Bronglais Hospital Energy Management Project PFI
Energy Ceredigion
Car parking/security Morriston Hospital
PFI Hospitals Swansea Capital Value £'m 0.3
Chepstow Community Hopsital
PFI Hospitals Monmouthshire
Capital Value £'m 10
Denbighshire County Council – Council Offices
PFI Offices Denbighshire
Capital Value £'m 12.1
Glan Clwyd Hospital Renal and Diabetes Unit PFI
Hospitals Denbighshire Capital Value £'m3.4
Llandough Hospital Contract Energy Management and Combined Heat and Power
PFI Hospitals Vale of Glamorgan Capital Value £'m 0.6
Llandough Hospital Staff Nursery and Day Nursery PFI
Hospitals Vale of Glamorgan Capital Value £'m 1.6
Lloyd George Avenue and Callaghan Square
PFI Roads Cardiff Capital Value £'m45
Neath Port Talbot Hospital
PFI Hospitals Neath & Port Talbot
Capital Value £'m 66
Neville Hall Endoscopy and Day Surgery Unit
PFI Hospitals Monmouthshire
Capital Value £'m 3.5
Neville Hall Hospital Energy Management Project
PFI Hospitals Monmouthshire
Capital Value £'m 3.3
Newport Southern Distributor Road
PFI Roads Newport
Capital Value £'m 57.1
OSIRIS (Office Infrastructure Review and implementation Strategy) -IT
PFI IT Infrastructure
Wales Wide Capital Value £'m 64.4
Pembroke Dock Primary School
PFI Primary Pembrokeshire
Capital Value £'m 8
Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust Energy Management
PFI Hospitals
Pembrokeshire
Capital Value £'m0.25
Prince Philip Hospital Contract Energy Management and Combined Heat and Power
PFI Hospitals Carmarthenshire
Capital Value £'m 0.3
Royal Glamorgan Hospital Staff residences
PFI Hospitals Rhondda Cynon Taff
Capital Value £'m 2.5
Royal Gwent Hospital and St Woolos Hospital Energy Management Project
PFI Hospitals
Newport Capital Value £'m 4
Singleton Hospital Incinerator replacement
PFI Hospitals Swansea
Capital Value £'m 0.65
Sirhowy Enterprise Way Road Scheme
PFI Roads Caerphilly Capital Value £'m 34.3
St David's Community Hospital
PFI Hospitals Cardiff Capital Value £'m16
Sully Hospital Contract Energy Management and Waste
PFI Hospitals Vale of Glamorgan
Capital Value £'m 0.92
University Hospital of Wales Car Parks
PFI Hospitals Cardiff Capital Value £'m 5.82
University Hospital of Wales Main Entrance and Concourse
PFI Hospitals Cardiff Capital Value £'m1
University Hospital of Wales Sterile Services
PFI Hospitals Cardiff Capital Value £'m 2
Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni & Lewis Boys
PFI Secondary Caerphilly Capital Value £'m 25
Ysgol Gyfun Penweddig, Penweddig Secondary School
PFI Secondary Ceredigion Capital Value £'m 12
Conwy Schools Project PFI Secondary
Conwy Capital Value £'m 40.7
South Wales Fire Service - Fire Training Facility
PFI Emergency Services Rhondda Cynon Taff
Capital Value £'m7.2
Rhondda Cynon Taf Schools & Lifelong Learning Centre
PFI Primary & Secondary Rhondda Cynon Taff
Capital Value £'m 27.2
DVLA - Estates Transformation Project
PFI Offices Swansea Capital Value £'m 1.8
Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust - Monnow Court
PFI District Community Trusts
Monmouthshire Capital Value £'m 4
Bridgend County Borough Council - Maesteg Secondary School
PFI Secondary Bridgend Capital Value £'m 24
Plaid Cymru wants bonds not partnerships ... News Article 21/03/2007 Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, wants to fund new roads, schools and hospitals through bon...
UNISON Jan 2006 highlight a new form of PPP to build and develop health centres and surgeries NHS LIFT is a public-private partnership (PPP)
to redevelop and replace primary care facilities (buildings like health centres and GP surgeries).
LIFT was launched in 2001 and there are now 51 LIFT schemes in England, involving 155 out of
303 PCTs. .........there are plans to introduce it in Wales and Northern Ireland.
LIFT involves several PCTs4 coming together to select a ‘private sector partner’ and form a local LIFT company (LIFTCo), which will build, own and maintain the new buildings. Mental health trusts (MHTs) and local authorities may also be involved. LIFTCos are companies limited by share capital – i.e. private companies run to make a profit, but not publicly traded on the stock exchange.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Hain LABOUR LEADERSHIP LOST TOUCH?
Hain admits Labour has 'lost touch'
Peter Hain has said that the Labour leadership has "lost touch" with the electorate.
Has he just worked that out? Shows how out of touch Labour are. Most boring Welsh election ever. Spin and more spin...does Rhrodri Morgan think that people will stick with labour to see fines for littering? Blogs just as dull.. are we riveted by coalition talk by Chanticleer, or ordovicius, or blamerbellbriefs, or post Rhodri fight sporting allegories over represented, yawn,
most boring ..plaid launched website for y people? Brown in Cardiff North, wow, i was there all day and didn't spot a thing amiss 0725 to paddington
Peter Hain has said that the Labour leadership has "lost touch" with the electorate.
Has he just worked that out? Shows how out of touch Labour are. Most boring Welsh election ever. Spin and more spin...does Rhrodri Morgan think that people will stick with labour to see fines for littering? Blogs just as dull.. are we riveted by coalition talk by Chanticleer, or ordovicius, or blamerbellbriefs, or post Rhodri fight sporting allegories over represented, yawn,
most boring ..plaid launched website for y people? Brown in Cardiff North, wow, i was there all day and didn't spot a thing amiss 0725 to paddington
Full Frontal Feminism
By Laura Barcella, AlterNet. Posted April 24, 2007.
Jessica Valenti's new book aims to make women's rights cool again -- to make feminism a lifestyle as well as a movement. Read an excerpt from the book and her conversation with AlterNet.
Editor's Note: An excerpt from Full Frontal Feminism follows the interview.
As executive editor of the popular blog Feministing.com ("by and for young feminists"), Jessica Valenti has schooled millions of readers on the issues that affect everyday women. Her cadre of feisty female bloggers cover everything from breaking news (the heartbreaking federal abortion ban) to pop culture indignities (sexism in reality TV) with smarts, passion and political aplomb.
As the public face of Feministing, 28-year-old Valenti has helped bring third-wave feminism to the masses. But she doesn't only want to reach the stereotypical feminist suspects (women's studies majors and middle-aged, middle-class white women). In her new book, "Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters," Valenti hopes to pass the political torch to younger women who might feel and act like feminists but be too freaked out to call themselves that. The book is written in a light, sometimes sarcastic tone that aims to make women's rights cool again -- to make feminism a lifestyle as well as a movement.
US Health care worse than Cuba
Controversial Michael Moore Flick "Sicko" Will Compare U.S. Health Care with Cuba's (Don Hazen, AlterNet. April 23, 2007.) USA today ..us here in UK tomorrow!
Moore's new film, debuting in Cannes this May, tackles the failures of the U.S. health care system, and includes a segment where 9/11 rescue workers visit Cuba for treatment they couldn't get in America.
Sicko, which will be premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in May, is a comic broadside against the state of American health care, including the mental health system. The film targets drug companies and the HMOS in the richest country in the world -- where the most money is spent on health care, but where the U.S. ranks 21st in life expectancy among the 30 most developed nations, obviously in part due to the fact that 47 million people are without health insurance.
The average health insurance premiums for a family of four are $10,880, which exceeds the annual gross income of $10,712 for a full-time, minimum-wage worker. In addition, the lack of insurance causes 18,000 excess deaths a year while people without health insurance have 25 percent higher mortality rates. Fifty-nine percent of uninsured people with chronic conditions such as asthma or diabetes skip medicine or go without care.
Health care advances in Cuba
According to the Associated Press as cited in the Post article, "Cuba has made recent advancements in biotechnology and exports its treatments to 40 countries around the world, raking in an estimated $100 million a year. ... In 2004, the U.S. government granted an exception to its economic embargo against Cuba and allowed a California drug company to test three cancer vaccines developed in Havana."
Although trip participants signed confidentiality agreements prohibiting them from talking about the trip, some thought the trip a success. From the NY Post:
America's second-class health care system
Clearly one of the themes of Moore's films, highlighted by the trip to Cuba, is to challenge the myth that the U.S. has superior health care when compared with other countries. In a recent AlterNet article, attorney Guy Saperstein explained,
"The World Health Organization ranks health care systems based on objective measures of medical outcomes: The United States' health care system currently ranks 37th in the world, behind Colombia and Portugal; the United States ranks 44th in the world in infant mortality, behind many impoverished Latin American countries. While infant mortality in the United States is skewed toward poor people, who have rates double the wealthy, the top quintile of the U.S. population has infant mortality rates higher than Canadians in the lowest quintile of wealth.
"The United States has fewer physicians, nurses and hospital beds than most developed nations. In the United States, 28 percent say it is "difficult to get care"; in most European countries, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, 15 percent say that. In terms of continuity of care (i.e., five-plus years with the same doctor), the United States is the worst of all developed nations. By every objective measure, the United States has a second-rate health care system."
Moore's new film, debuting in Cannes this May, tackles the failures of the U.S. health care system, and includes a segment where 9/11 rescue workers visit Cuba for treatment they couldn't get in America.
Sicko, which will be premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in May, is a comic broadside against the state of American health care, including the mental health system. The film targets drug companies and the HMOS in the richest country in the world -- where the most money is spent on health care, but where the U.S. ranks 21st in life expectancy among the 30 most developed nations, obviously in part due to the fact that 47 million people are without health insurance.
The average health insurance premiums for a family of four are $10,880, which exceeds the annual gross income of $10,712 for a full-time, minimum-wage worker. In addition, the lack of insurance causes 18,000 excess deaths a year while people without health insurance have 25 percent higher mortality rates. Fifty-nine percent of uninsured people with chronic conditions such as asthma or diabetes skip medicine or go without care.
Health care advances in Cuba
According to the Associated Press as cited in the Post article, "Cuba has made recent advancements in biotechnology and exports its treatments to 40 countries around the world, raking in an estimated $100 million a year. ... In 2004, the U.S. government granted an exception to its economic embargo against Cuba and allowed a California drug company to test three cancer vaccines developed in Havana."
Although trip participants signed confidentiality agreements prohibiting them from talking about the trip, some thought the trip a success. From the NY Post:
America's second-class health care system
Clearly one of the themes of Moore's films, highlighted by the trip to Cuba, is to challenge the myth that the U.S. has superior health care when compared with other countries. In a recent AlterNet article, attorney Guy Saperstein explained,
"The World Health Organization ranks health care systems based on objective measures of medical outcomes: The United States' health care system currently ranks 37th in the world, behind Colombia and Portugal; the United States ranks 44th in the world in infant mortality, behind many impoverished Latin American countries. While infant mortality in the United States is skewed toward poor people, who have rates double the wealthy, the top quintile of the U.S. population has infant mortality rates higher than Canadians in the lowest quintile of wealth.
"The United States has fewer physicians, nurses and hospital beds than most developed nations. In the United States, 28 percent say it is "difficult to get care"; in most European countries, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, 15 percent say that. In terms of continuity of care (i.e., five-plus years with the same doctor), the United States is the worst of all developed nations. By every objective measure, the United States has a second-rate health care system."
New Labours 5.3 million losers
The Labour party send me a leaflet with Rhrodri Morgan saying that families will be better off and he will abolish child poverty? If I vote for Sophie Howes New Labour policy then I am voting to make poverty worse! Labour in wales is seeing the poor getting poorer? So how will they manage that while making parents worse off and making families poorer? The Uproar over Labour's claim that families in Wales were £5,000 better off since devolution is quite justified and dismissed by opposition parties as "contrived and ridiculous" .(Martin Shipton, Western Mail)
More people are poor than the gov admits and what do they do..... increase tax for the poorest...5.3 million people 'losers' after the abolition of the 10p rate in income tax, reduction in the 22p band to 20p and realignment of national insurance contributions with the upper 40p band. oh and don't forget that PCS members are on strike may 1 about job losses and low pay.
Extra 100,000 adults in poverty
Rise in poverty worse than stated Tania Branigan, political correspondent Tuesday April 24, 2007 The Guardian
The increase in people living in poverty is worse than official figures claimed, it emerged yesterday, after the Department of Work and Pensions found its statistics had underestimated the rise by 100,000.
...Yesterday's correction showed the total rising from 12.1m in 2004-5 to 12.8m (not, as thought, 12.7m) in the last financial year. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has ascribed the rise in poverty to increases in tax credits and benefits lagging behind the rise in average earnings last year. The work and pensions secretary, John Hutton, said the error occurred because incorrect population estimates were used. He said it did not affect the child poverty figures. Children in low income households rose for the first time in six years - by 200,000 - to 3.8m.
Poor adults of working age rose from 5.3m to 5.4m.
UK MPs call for income tax change impacts to be listed in Budget 'Red Book'04.23.07, 11:18 AM ET
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The impact of income personal tax changes imposed by the Treasury should be listed in the Budget's 'Red Book' so people can easily work out how they will be affected, a group of MPs said today.
Parliament's powerful Treasury Select Committee discovered during its probe into last month's Budget that 5.3 mln people would be 'losers' after the abolition of the 10p rate in income tax, reduction in the 22p band to 20p and realignment of national insurance contributions with the upper 40p band.
'An important part of any change to the personal tax regime must be that both winners and losers can identify, with ease, how they are affected by the changes stated within a Budget package,' the committee said.
The Treasury has maintained that 'losers' under the tax changes would recoup lost cash by claiming higher tax credits.However, take-up of these credits is poor, with 75 pct of those entitled not claiming.
Income Tax - lowest paid who found themselves out of pocket by the changeThe chancellor, Gordon Brown, faces a Labour backbench challenge over his decision to abolish the 10p income tax band from next April, it emerged.
Frank Field, the former Labour welfare reform minister, said that an amendment would be tabled "when the time comes" to provide "transitional protection" for those made worse off.
He challenged the Tories to support Labour backbenchers in a move to help the lowest paid who found themselves out of pocket by the change.
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