Labourhome - Back to the roots...

[Blogs] A way to defuse the ID card problem

2008-12-03T13:46:03-05:00

The Tories are right on one matter: we need to cut wasteful spending.

Getting rid of ID Cards would be much appreciated.

But how do we u-turn on this issue?

Well, the Tories have done so, so we could accuse them of hypocrasy, but in a time of economic fear, the politics of fear is not wise.

I have a better way. It is a creative way of dealing with identity fraud and would be particuarly welcome during a credit crunch: credit freezes

Empowering credit users by allowing them to control their own data, and being able to shut the fraudsters out would take power away from the state and put into the hands of the consumer, also taking power from corporations.

It would help us look less authoritarian and also defuse the 'database state' charges levied at Labour. We could save billions of pounds per year on the cost of identity fraud and there would be no need for ID cards.

Consumer groups would support the measure, as would most voters. Best of all, it would annoy the banks as it would dampen easy credit and big profits.

We need creative, new, progressive ideas for our fourth term like this. We need to figure out what our purpose is. Persuing populist, social-democratic and radical ideas like this may just help answer this question.

[Blogs] Real mortgage help for families

2008-12-03T11:53:39-05:00

The Prime Minister has announced a plan allowing those who have lost their jobs to defer their mortgage payments for up to two years.

The plan is designed to give a breathing space to those who have lost their jobs - in order to find new employment - without the stress and worry of losing their house as well.

8 Major lenders have signed up to the plan, covering 70% of all mortgages in the nation.

The difference in this recession is clear. On one hand, you have the opposition - devoid of ideas and direction on the economy - a do nothing party with a do nothing leader and on the other - you have a government taking real action to help families in this downturn with a Prime Minister who is this nation's best and only hope to help us through this down turn and return our economy to prosperity.

[Blogs] Government backs more inequality - again :(

2008-12-03T11:49:24-05:00

Unbelievable.

Fresh from cutting the price of wide-screen TVs and cars, but not heating or food, the Government have seen fit to pay up to two years' of mortgage for anyone who can't cough up, on a house of up to £400,000.

Meanwhile, housing benefit continues to lag further and further behind the real cost of living, and under-25s are told they can't apply for anything more than a room in a shared house, or a bedsit.

Seriously, what in all hell are we playing at? Housing is too expensive. It's going to get cheaper. Housing is a huge driver, probably the single biggest, of inequality in the UK, and now we're going to tax ordinary people to subsidise those who own it over those who don't.

A sensible policy might be, oh let say "Don't pay to keep the price of housing up, or to subsidise people who bought what they couldn't afford - use the money to keep people in work in the first place"

I have already spoken to one person since this was announced less than an hour ago who is resigning their membership. Well done, guys!

[Blogs] Credit Crunch - A (white) Man's World

2008-12-03T09:59:05-05:00

Think of the main British players (decision makers, analysts, media commentators etc.) on how to deal with the effects of the credit crunch: Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling, Mervyn King, David Blanchflower, Vince Cable, George Osborne, Ken Clarke, Robert Peston, Evan Davis, Martin Woolf, Will Hutton, Larry Elliot... It's hardly a list notable for its diversity is it? Whilst there are a few notable exceptions (including Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Yvette Cooper), it is generalyy the case that the tops of economics, finance and banking are overwhelmingly dominated by white men. This is not an exclusively British phenomenon - I'm not sure exactly how many of the G12 or EU finance ministers are women, but I'd hazard a guess it's a very small minority. It certainly compares unfavourably with the world of foreign affairs - where Hillary Clinton is taking over at a State Department previously headed up by Madeleine Albright and Condi Rice, whilst Margaret Beckett became the first woman to be the Foreign Secretary in the UK. Perhaps this reflects gender stereotyping - woman are good at touchy-feely diplomacy, but leave the tough number-crunching to the hard-headed men. To my knowledge, we are still waiting for the first woman head of the Federal Reserve, the first woman Govenor of the Bank of England or the first woman Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Of course, if the decisions are still being made overwhelmingly by white men, the effects of the credit crunch are felt by a much more diverse section of the population. Women or BME workers are noticeably better represented in the groups whose jobs at risk from the HBOS/Lloyds TSB merger, or in the families who will find their homes repossessed. Politically, how women voters evaluate the government's performance in helping people through the recession will be critical to the outcome of the next election. To "get it right" it is vital that the government listens to womens' concerns. This is why it was so important for Labour to take positive action to get more women elected to the government benches, and why it is so important that a Speaker's Conference will be reviewing how the rest of Parliament can be made to look more like the kind of society we live in. It is why Labour's treasury team was right to fast-track increases in child-benefit, to help working families through this difficult period. But at the same time, if government welfare reforms are seen as coercing women with young children into work, forcing them onto an already overcrowded job market (at a time when employers are looking to reduce staffing) or punitively cutting back on benefits, it will hardly reassure the electorate that Labour is putting fairness at the heart of its economic recovery plan. Yes, provide information and support to give every assistance where women seek to improve their employability. Likewise, with female life-expectancy greater than that of their male counterparts, and with low interest rates wiping out income from savings, the prospect of council tax hikes would disproportionately hit women of pensionable age. The thrusting young city-boys on the trading floors, the grey-beards in the banking industry, and the "masters of the universe" who run the global economy might have got us into this mess - but now it's time for other voices to be heard. Labour would be well advised to listen.

[Blogs] produce id or face arrest(in queens speech)-dailymail

2008-12-03T06:31:35-05:00

Todays Daily mail has the (story)that anyone can be asked to produce ID to prove who they are and if failing to do so face arrest This idea was first suggested by Home secretary John Reid and Tony Blair days befor they departed office ,but quickly fogotten when the police said it was totally unworkable.
For a start.
Policing in britain is by consent we all might feel bad about how the Irish were treated in the 60's and 70's and the fact nothing was done about it, but Look at the publics anger at the poilice after the heavy handedness of the old sus laws that led to the brixton riot, When I was born during the 3 day week and fed by candle light my mothers anger wasn't at the miners but at the Heath gov.t ,11 years later even though we supported the Miners at the end of the Day the Nottinghamshire and derbyshire miners voted overwelmingly not to strike and had the right to have the police support them ,to the point were at the end of the 84 strike the public had just lost all sympathy for the striking miners and agreed that the police should protect the working ones,

Now, Section 44( temporary measure) stop and searches give the police the power to search and pcso's the power to stop and take the name of anyone on the hunch they have done something wrong (hopefully this isn't being misued like the sus laws were)unlioke the old stop and search of only being able to stop someone if you had a reason to believe they had a weapon to be used for assault/buglary etc or a forbidden object(ie drugs) and at the moment if stopped and you are asked your name under section 25 pace if you refuse to give it and it is believed you have done something wrong but the police can't prove it at tha momnent you can be arrested (of course you could say your name address, age was jesus of nazereth adn you were born in the year 0.ad and they would be none the wiser)

Now, this new law of being able to ask for id or face arrest is obvioulsy being brought in to find illegal immigrants, I can understand if a police(memeber) has the belief that the person they have stopped is an illegal immigrant and there is no proof at that moment of time to that effect the police could be worried they have been given false name without any proof and are worried that the illiegal immigrant might disappear ,but the consensus is we have the right not to have to carry id ,we might look like illegal immigrants to the police and they may have the genuine belief that we are one and they might not want us to disapear and as such might want to detain us until we could prove the opposite , Yes i understand that if someones accent is different a police officer might believe that he was an illegal immigrant or if i was stopped in a motor accident in someone elses car and didnt have any id on me and had to exchange details the police might want to detain me until I could get some to them or if i was a witness and was worried that as an illegal i would have to reveal I shouldn't be here when making a witness statement so I might want to disapear rather than face court to give evidence and then afterwards face deportation, I would without Id be able to disapear too, but we have got to accet that Illegal immigration is a fact and that for the freedom of not having to car id all the time we have to accept there are prices to pay for it

[Blogs] Wanted: Sub-Editor for Labour Matters

2008-12-02T18:41:31-05:00

I'm going to have to move house sometime soon and may find myself with limited Web access for a while as a result. I'm seeking a dedicated Sub-Editor to take over running Labour Matters for this time.

Please contact me via Labour Matters giving details of your credentials (I'm not going to hand it over to a Tory!).

[Blogs] Unite against welfare attacks

2008-12-02T16:27:50-05:00

Glad to see that the unions, led by PCS, have co-ordinated in response to the appalling latest round attacks on welfare.

PCS has launched 'Welfare for All' statement. To sign up to the campaign email welfare@pcs.org.uk.

It's good to see that Labour-affiliated unions have joined them, as have the LRC (Left unites against attacks on welfare) and Compass.

As John McDonnell says, “There will be a pitched battle in opposition at every stage of the legislation. It is a disgrace that New Labour attacks the most vulnerable in our society with such vigour and regularity” - and I hope he's right about the opposition at every stage.

In 1997 when Harman led the attacks on welfare, three PPSs resigned (at least - Gerrard, Mahon and Prentice as I recall). Now the grotesque James Purnell is attempting further attacks on already low welfare, greater bullying of claimants and further privatisation of Jobcentre Plus.

And does anyone know where the vile Professor Gregg was dug up from? He said JSA claimants should be "doing an equivalent 9-to-5 job search with someone looking over your shoulder to make sure you were not just on Facebook." - I'd like to see some f**king academic work 9-5 for £60 per week!

The labour movement must unite against this attack on vulnerable people. To sign up to the campaign email welfare@pcs.org.uk.