Labour Uncut

UNBOUND: Saturday News Review

19/02/2011, 06:39:27 AM

Miliband to force NHS U-turn?

The government will be forced into a U-turn over its sweeping plans to reform the NHS, Ed Miliband will predict today. He will tell the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, that the backlash which forced a climbdown over the sale of England’s public forests will be dwarfed by protests over proposals to hand 80 per cent of the health budget to GPs. The Labour leader will say: “I warn David Cameron: the ill-feeling he created over the forests will be as nothing compared to the real anger that will build about his dangerous plans. The NHS is too precious for experiments in right-wing ideology.” – the Independent

The outcry over the proposal to transfer all of the nation’s woodlands out of public control led to a rapid reverse from ministers earlier this week, in a move which was described as “humiliating” for the Government. In a speech to Labour’s Welsh conference, Mr Miliband will predict that the forthcoming NHS reorganisation, which will see most of the health budget handed to individual GPs, would be greeted with an even greater response from voters. He will say: “I warn David Cameron and the Government: the ill-feeling he created over the forests will be as nothing compared to the real anger that will build about his dangerous plans for the NHS. Just like they wanted to sell off the forests to highest bidder, now they want health care sold to the lowest bidder. Some things are just too precious to be left to the market. The NHS is too precious for ill-judged reforms. It is too precious for experiments in right-wing ideology. Will these Tories never understand – health care is not a commodity to be bought and sold.” – Daily Telegraph Read the rest of this entry »

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UNCUT: The attack on DLA is part of a wider assault on the disabled

18/02/2011, 04:54:34 PM

by Julianne Marriott

23 people had left comments on Sally Bercow’s article about DLA by the time Uncut’s moderator went to bed last night. Far more than on any article on AV or even any of Dan Hodges’ controversial pronouncements. This is a real issue that will affect real people. Not other, far away people, but people sat right now at their computers (some using access technology) reading Uncut. People currently living with a disability, and the many more who will become disabled. And it’s an issue that Labour is totally ignoring.

Being disabled is an expensive business. Day in. Day out. Everyday tasks can cost money. Take the kinds of things that non-disabled people see as a minor chore: changing a light bulb, sorting out the junk mail from your bills and doing the shopping. Or, more fundamentally, getting dressed, washing yourself, feeding yourself. For many people with disabilities these are not tasks you can do without help. And often that help has to be paid for.

That’s what disability living allowance (DLA) is for: helping with the costs of being disabled. It certainly doesn’t meet all of the costs and, as Sally Bercow’s article states, it’s not means-tested, and you get it whether or not you work. There is no financial disincentive to work. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNCUT: Bye-bye big society – Cameron lets the Treasury kneecap the new bank at the heart of his big idea

18/02/2011, 07:00:30 AM

by Atul Hatwal

For months now, voices within the Labour party have been cautioning against writing off the big society. Thoughtful voices that look beyond the immediate rough and tumble of partisan politics. It’s been a staple from the emerging blue Labour stable that Cameron was on to something.

With the prime minister’s speech on Monday, we finally got to see some of the detail.

While the lipstick and eyeliner turn the head, underneath the party paint, this is an LRF – a low resolution fox. Looks great at the bar, but up close, things are not so hot. For all the allure of the pretty words, the raw material is flawed.

The commitment at the heart of the big society that will make the warm fuzziness real is the big society bank. The Tory manifesto was very specific on what this bank would do:

“…provide new finance for neighbourhood groups, charities, social enterprises and other non-governmental bodies. This will provide social enterprises with the start-up funding and the support they need to bid for government contracts”.

As the government has faced-off against the big charities about cuts to grants, the story missed by most of the media is that the big society bank is being set-up specifically not to deliver their manifesto pledge.

The charities aid foundation, a leading sector finance provider, has signalled the danger:

“We are concerned that if the funds are only made available on a commercial basis the interest rates could be too high for many charities and social enterprises…”

The operative words are “on a commercial basis”.

Over the past few years I’ve worked with many charities on their financing arrangements, several that were in the room on Monday, and one thing is crystal clear: a commercial return is impossible to deliver on most public service investments.

The consultation paper is vague on what the rates of return will be, but in the current social investment market, “commercial basis” means a minimum 25% on a typical investment. Factoring in the inherent risk associated with a sector that is feeling the full weight of the cuts and the size and financial track record of the organisations involved, this can easily head north of 40% – that’s if they consider the investment at all. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNBOUND: Friday News Review

18/02/2011, 06:55:38 AM

Dave vs. Nick

David Cameron and Nick Clegg will go head-to-head over Britain’s voting system with Cameron warning AV would lead to further political horsetrading, and Clegg countering that first-past-the-post fosters distrust in politics. In carefully choreographed speeches, following the referendum on 5 May being given royal assent, the two men will start a delicate operation to set out views on voting reform passionately held by their respective parties without damaging the coalition’s stability. One source described it “as a temporary and limited undocking”. Cameron will speak first in London followed two hours later by Clegg in Leeds. Cameron is expected to be the more prominent campaigner in the coming week after polling showing Clegg is the best poster boy for the no campaign. The prime minister will say: “In the next 11 weeks the debate over AV is going to heat up right across the country. Throughout this time I’ll be making my case loud and clear.” – the Guardian Read the rest of this entry »

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UNCUT: Protest is not the preserve of the young.

17/02/2011, 02:00:22 PM

by Victoria Williams

We all know what a protester looks like. They are long-haired, middle class, vegan, university students who wear woolly jumpers and read the Guardian. Look at the comments on the Mail Online and you’ll discover that they are also “lentil munching yoghurt knitters”. And so they may be. And so what?

The stereotype has been around for decades, and, though irritating to serious political activists, it has generally been harmless enough. Until now. Now protest matters again, and so does our perception of those who participate in it. The problem with our commonly held view of activists is that, as with so many stereotypes, it is simply not correct. The faces we’ve seen at demonstrations in London and throughout the UK in the last few months have come from all backgrounds (and have sported a variety of fetching hair styles and fashionable alternatives to the knitted jumper). And while we can laugh off silly assertions about hair and fashion sense, the enduring belief that those engaging in political protest are all very young is more pernicious. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNCUT: Somebody tell the government that some disabled people are actually, er, disabled

17/02/2011, 07:00:48 AM

by Sally Bercow

The disability living allowance (DLA) is forecast to cost the taxpayer £12 billion this year, the same as the department of transport’s entire annual budget. So briefed the Whitehall machine as the government launched its public consultation on DLA reform in December (the consultation closes tomorrow).

Doubtless, the figure of £12 billion is correct, but before you rush to join the chorus of Daily Mail-minded souls and proclaim your horror, bear in mind that we spend three times more on defence than we do on disabled people (around £37 billion a year), that renewing the UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent will cost around £20 billion, that we have spent over £20 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t spend those sums on defence, Trident or our international adventures (well maybe I am – but that’s a whole different column), but the point is that it’s all relative.

So while £12 billion for disability benefit is a hell of a sum, maybe, just maybe, we spend that much because – and hold onto your hats here – there is actually a genuine need. Could it be that, with a small minority of dishonourable exceptions, the people who receive DLA really are deserving of it? That they actually rely on the help DLA provides, so that they can cover the higher costs of living, care and mobility that come hand in hand with their disability? After all, there is no evidence of widespread fraud – indeed the 0.5% (£200 million) fraud rate for DLA, while unacceptable, is nevertheless the lowest of any benefit. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNBOUND: Thursday News Review

17/02/2011, 06:55:16 AM

Command and control

The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, and the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, have ordered the party’s frontbenchers to clear all policy statements with them before making an announcement. The order – which covers speeches, newspaper articles, press releases, contributions to parliamentary debates and endorsements for campaigns – applies to every shadow minister. Statements with financial implications must be cleared with the shadow Treasury team as well as the leader’s office, while those that do not involve spending go to Miliband alone. The move will be seen as an attempt byMiliband to impose tight discipline on his party in the hope of fending off Conservative claims that Labour are “deficit deniers” who would allow public spending to creep back up. But it also appears to consolidate Balls’s position by giving him a joint role as arbiter on Labour spending plans. – the Guardian

Cameron U-turn on forest sell off

The highly contentious plans for a £250m sale of England’s forests will be abandoned because of the furious backlash that has hit the Government. David Cameron humiliated his Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman in the House yesterday, and shocked MPs, when he disowned the policy. The Prime Minister signalled the retreat when he admitted he was unhappy with the proposals under which woodlands owned and run by the Forestry Commission would be sold off over the next decade. – the Independent Read the rest of this entry »

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UNCUT: Sharia law for the City of London

16/02/2011, 03:30:59 PM

by James Watkins

When it comes to the banks, Labour often seems to tie itself in knots. Without the square mile, the finances of the country are seen to be on shaky ground. At the same time, governments around the world which took it easy on the bankers contributed to the financial morass we are in now.

For many in Labour, there seems to be no centre-left vision or school of thought other than to accept the model of banking we have now – while maybe taking another look at regulation. But as recent events demonstrate, even this seemingly pragmatic approach is a risk too far and is one which led Gordon Brown to call for “markets with morals”.

As for the government, with Vince Cable seemingly out of the picture in pushing for fairer bank terms to small businesses, all we now have left is a threadbare deal with the banks from chancellor George Osborne. This has the non-binding target of £190 billion for lending being a gross amount, not net. So it is very possible that, as businesses repay their loans and others have credit withdrawn, the gross target is met, but net lending declines. Read the rest of this entry »

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GRASSROOTS: The sheer effrontery of right wing attacks on local government pay

16/02/2011, 12:00:36 PM

by Andy Dodd

Last week, the institute of directors released a report claiming that the country’s debt position could be greatly improved by “progressive” measures such as abolishing the right to flexible working hours, eliminating time off for training and removing the right to a free hearing at an employment tribunal.

And now a strange study, from the independent incomes data services, bowls another full toss for the right wing to hit into the orbit of planet loony. It cites senior executives in local government who earn more than the prime minister. Predictably enough, by teatime, the forums on the Daily Telegraph web site were loaded with comments about “fake CEOs” who “take no risks” and are paid “vast sums”.

Without constructing a blanket defence for all local authority chief execs, some of whom may well be overpaid, it is a little confused to take the PM’s salary and argue that this should be the arbiter for senior management pay in the public sector. And, given the challenges currently facing senior managers in inner city local government, to say that they take no risks and are fake is absurd. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNCUT: On the campaign trail in Barnsley, Tom Watson finds a new voter group: the Ed Miliband Tory

16/02/2011, 07:00:16 AM

by Tom Watson

While holding my tie in his clenched fist, Benjamin Wegg-Prosser once described me as “that Prescottite” who tries to be a “hard man of the soft left”. No, I never understood what he was on about either. It was late. We were young. Ish.

In so doing, Benjamin was unwittingly demonstrating that labels are usually unhelpful. Sometimes though, they help the non-activist understand the complex world of UK politics. And, even more occasionally, they help a politician understand UK politics.

If ever I were allowed to define myself, it would probably be as a “Kempian pragmatist” – a follower of the former MP, Fraser Kemp. Fraser’s phenomenological approach to life gives him the rare ability to sniff change in the air. He can feel the faint pulse of a political tremor before it reaches the clipboards of the opinion pollsters, those who write the reports that land on the desks of the people who sit behind them in newspaper offices and political party head quarters. Read the rest of this entry »

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