Friends and comrades, it seems there is another enemy to fight if we are truly going to take back the party for the people. The enemy is the NEC. I have sent a letter to Iain McNicol leader. Stating my concerns I am posting the letter on here, in the hope that you will all be aware that with the NEC election coming up you can encourage your own CLP [Constituency Labour Party] to put forward a candidate that is Pro Jeremy. To Iain McNicol As a member of the Labour Party and having voted Labour since the age of 18, a full 36 years in total, even through the debacle of the Blair years, I sat back and watched a party that my grandparents and parents fought for, be taken apart by a man and his cabinet and made into a pale blue tory party. The party started to dismantle the unions; it turned its back on the working class and the poor. I like many others thought the Labour Party was finished. I watched as the media and his own party members demolished a good man in Ed Miliband. Then Jeremy Corbyn came on the scene; a man of honesty, ideals and principals; unbelievable in a politician I know. A true man of the people. He is prepared to take on the government and win; which he is doing every week; despite the hurdles his own cabinet is putting in his way. I feel hopeful for the first time in years. Although the media in all forms are trying their hardest to discredit him, his shoulders are wide and his resolve is strong. I expected opposition from The Progress part of the party and Labour First as these MP’s are careerist and want a job for life without having to work too hard on behalf of the people who voted them in with the added bonus of totally discounting the opinions of their constituents, {ergo the vote on Syria}. They then had the audacity of calling foul when those said constituents tackled them about it; bleating to the press that they are being bullied. At the same time, they thought it was reasonable to attack members who support Mr Corbyn, calling them Marxist, communist and other derogatory names. They chose to resign over the sacking of a man {Dugher} who had shown incredible disloyalty to his Leader and to the members. They all think it’s reasonable to run to the press every chance they have and bleat how unfair life is to them. (They should try living in the real world and see how unfair life really can be). Do these people not understand loyalty? Behaving in this shabby way is not only disloyal to the leader but also to the MEMBERS. Are we not the people that voted Jeremy Corbyn in on the biggest mandate in history and is it not a fact that more people have joined the party since he was elected on his policies? I know in time The Progress Party will realise that it was their policies that lost us the last two elections and that the Blair ideology doesn’t sit well with the VOTERS. The reason I am writing to you is the disloyalty the NEC and Labour First are showing to Mr Corbyn but more importantly it is the disloyalty to the members {the VOTERS}. Having secret meetings behind the leaders' back, attacking his policies and trying to find ways and means to bring about his down fall. Only electing members who support the Progress party or are part of Labour First; having vetted where their loyalties lay first. I was under the impression that the NEC was neutral to party politics; it would seem I was wrong. As a powerful group within the Labour party I would have expected you to have openness and clarity and not operate under a cloak of secrecy. This is surely something that needs to be addressed at conference and the rules made fairer and more reflective of the opinions of the members. After all isn’t that what DEMOCRACY is all about? We have party within a party - a Progress Party. A group that calls themselves Labour First - whose aim is to cause the downfall of Mr Corbyn. And a very powerful group The NEC - whose members seem to be made up of the above two groups - who have secret meetings with the intention of blocking policies and to deliberately block any move that Mr Corbyn makes that they don’t want to go along with. In anyone’s book that is not DEMOCRATIC. What you all have forgotten is that the Labour Party is growing fast and becoming stronger every day, not because of Mr Corbyn but because of his policies.
When Mr Corbyn retires the movement will still be strong and will move forwards with true SOCIALIST policies. If you do remove Mr Corbyn I and thousands of others will leave the Labour Party. What all of you who still resist the move to the left and insist on following Blair’s ideology don’t realise is you risk losing the jobs you are all desperately clinging to. We the members want change. What I suggest we all do is come together and be a Party that can put this country back on its feet again, become a nation with a second to none manufacturing base, an NHS that will once again be envied by the world, where the poor, vulnerable and disabled are not considered criminals. Together we can be Great again but if you all carry on as you are we will lose the election in 2020. And we will be looking at the parties within a party for the loss. We need to stop the in-fighting, debate the policies behind closed doors and at hustings and CLP meetings but not in the media. Let’s all move forward as ONE. Yours Sincerely. Karen Meanwell and Joanne Sinton
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Retirement plans have been shattered with devastating consequences. In April 2015 NEWTEK posted the following report, shown below: New pensions bad news for many pensioners The new flat rate State Retirement Pension was touted by the coalition government as much fairer than the old system with additional claims that it will help lift pensioners out of poverty. In the past few weeks, Labour has successfully pushed the Government to change tack on tax-credits, police cuts and the Saudi prison deal.
Yet despite that, Cameron and Osborne are still cutting billions. Osborne has not reversed his welfare cuts: he's delayed them, and over two million families will still be on average £1600 worse off. The Conservatives have no answer to the challenge of climate change. They are failing to build the homes our country needs and causing immense harm to our NHS. This is the slowest recovery in living memory, yet the Tories have failed to recognise the fact that our economy is facing severe challenges. Their failure to plan the infrastructure we need is a threat to future prosperity and their claim to have overseen a Northern powerhouse is a sham. The Conservatives cannot be let off the hook. Britain needs Labour now more than ever. When the Prime Minister described opponents of military action in Syria as terrorist sympathisers he demeaned his office and undermined his own case. That is why, as leader and deputy leader, our guiding principle is that Labour must never make Cameron's mistake. Politics must be conducted in a better way - more civil and more respectful. We all support and defend the democratic right to protest and lobby. And all MPs must be open to hearing the views of their constituents and others on matters of public importance. But, as we have both said many times, abuse and intimidation have no place in politics. And the party as a whole will not accept such behaviour, from whatever quarter it comes. Yours sincerely, Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson @jeremycorbyn | @tom_watson" This is NEWTEKWORLDNEWS response “The question must now be whether extending the UK bombing from Iraq to Syria is likely to reduce, or increase, that threat and whether it will counter, or spread, the terror campaign ISIS is waging in the Middle East.
“With that in mind, I would like to put seven questions to the Prime Minister. “First, does the Prime Minister believe that extending air strikes to Syria - which is already being bombed by the US, France, Russia and other powers - will make a significant military impact on a campaign which has so far seen ISIS gain, as well as lose, territory? “Does he expect it will be a war-winning strategy? And why does he think other members of the original coalition - including the Gulf States, Canada and Australia - have halted their participation? “Second, is the Prime Minister’s view that the air campaign against ISIS-held areas can be successful without ground forces? “If not, does he believe that Kurdish forces or the relatively marginal and remote Free Syrian Army would be in a position to take back ISIS-held territory if the air campaign were successful? “Is it not more likely that other stronger jihadist and radical Salafist forces would take over? “Third, without credible or acceptable ground forces, isn’t the logic of an intensified air campaign mission creep and western boots on the ground? Can he today rule out the deployment of British ground forces to Syria? “Fourth, does the Prime Minister believe that UN security council resolution 2249 gives “clear and unambiguous authorisation” for UK air strikes? “And what coordinated action with other UN member states has there been under the terms of the resolution to cut off funding, oil revenues and arms supplies from ISIS in the territory it currently holds? “And in the absence of any coordinated UN military or diplomatic strategy, does he believe that more military forces over Syria could increase the risks of dangerous incidents, such as the shooting down of a Russian military aircraft by Turkish forces this week? “Fifth, how does the Prime Minister think an extension of UK bombing would contribute to a comprehensive negotiated political settlement of the Syrian civil war, which is widely believed to be the only way to ensure the defeat of ISIS in the country? “Sixth, what assessment has the Prime Minister been given about the likely impact of British air strikes in Syria on the threat of terrorist attacks in the UK? “And what impact does he believe an intensified air campaign will have on civilian casualties in ISIS-held Syrian territory and the wider Syrian refugee crisis? “Finally, in the light of the record of western military interventions in recent years, including in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya does the Prime Minister accept that UK bombing of Syria could risk more of what President Obama called ‘unintended consequences’ – and that a lasting defeat of ISIS can only be secured by Syrians and forces from within the region?” ______________________________________________________________________ [Mr Corbyn has included a link to the above, which were his questions to David Cameron Thursday in the House of Commons after Cameron set out what he believes to be his case for UK airstrikes in Syria, in an email to party members] The email from Mr Corbyn says - "As early as next week, MPs could be asked to vote on extending UK bombing to Syria. I do not believe that the Prime Minister made a convincing case that British air strikes on Syria would strengthen our national security or reduce the threat from ISIS. When I was elected I said I wanted Labour to become a more inclusive and democratic party. So I am writing to consult you on what you think Britain should do. Should Parliament vote to authorise the bombing of Syria?" For U.K. voters via our friends at Wear Red - Stand up and be counted, on Facebook Please share this with everyone you know and hassle them to register [to vote] as soon as possible. It literally only takes 5 minutes to complete it....if you were on the Electoral Register previously you will still need to re-register. The Government has introduced a new deadline for voter registration (reducing the previous timescale by a year) to stop Labour mounting a registration drive which might confound their plans to gerrymander the constituency boundaries. So please help by sharing this and the message that by not registering before December you are helping make a future Tory Government more likely. If you want to complain about the utterly cynical way the whole boundary review is being conducted, then please contact the Boundary Commission (details below) and/or write to your MP BOUNDARY COMMISSION: Email to: information@boundarycommissionengland.gov.uk Telephone: (0)20 7276 1102 Letter to: Boundary Commission for England, 35 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BQ. Register to vote at this link - https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
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Yourvoice
This blog will include a range of reports and opinion pieces covering many issues. It will be YOUR Voice. Archives
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