Category: economics
-
Slow-burn rebellion
Seen those complaints on social media that the people aren’t rebelling? They think we’re a nation of quitters, or that we’re all duped by the Tories or the fake opposition. Tell them we haven’t given up. Tell them to come on out and join in – there is so much going on lately. Got depressed…
-
How did our country become “Rip off Britain?”
Distractions, distractions We’re so good at distractions. Somehow, there’s always something to stop us thinking about what we need to deal with. Where was our attention, when Jimmy Savile waggled the old eyebrows and said “I’m hiding in plain sight”? Where was our attention when Johnny Rotten warned everyone about him? Where was our attention…
-
Postman Pat and the sweet shop lady
Two treasured memories from my childhood. Where I lived when I was a kid, the sweet shop on the corner was also a Post Office. When I moved to Hastings, I used to use the Post Office counter in the bookshop on the seafront — and I still prefer the one in that little supermarket…
-
The failed ideology of “keep the change”
Picture this: a hard-pressed mum, busy trying to manage the budget for the family, gives her kid a £50 note and says “go buy a carton of milk and keep the change.” The kid comes back with the milk, and two carrier bags stuffed with £47.50worth of sweets, biscuits and cakes and some friends, then…
-
What do we want…?
Today, 1st February 2023, the NEU teachers join in the #CostOfLivingCrisis wave of strikes, and this morning in Hastings, all the trade unions and other groups who answered the call #HastingsDemandsBetter gathered in support. Himself and I looked in at Hastings Station, where there was an ASLEF picket line, passed the government buildings where the…
-
Imagine a different world
Imagine a health service where our top-quality, highly trained A&E nurses and medical practitioners are well paid, and have shorter working hours than average, because of the exceptionally high mental and physical demands of the job, and because we have plenty of them, and we value them all. Imagine a health service where consultants don’t…
-
The RMT cleaners’ dispute has gone national!
This is really good news for ALL of us. Read on to find out why… It’s not easy to find the determination to turn up and stand on a picket line in the rain, especially right after Christmas but the RMT train cleaners managed it up and down the country today, as their part in…
-
This is an emergency
“You know something is broken when you see emergency response workers on a picket line,” says the FBU rep. In fact, this was a picket line like no other I’ve seen. Despite suffering both service funding cuts and pay degradation, despite being maligned by politicians from both the major political parties, Hastings’ emergency response crews…
-
We know what we want
In fact, we know what we NEED. There was a well-attended march and rally today, 19th November, from Hastings Pier to the town centre. The march was led by a group of nurses, bearing the Hastings Demands a Pay Rise banner. Talking to the protesters gathering at the pier, I was told that nurses and…
-
How many crises can you deal with at once?
You’re battling the cost of living crisis, you’re contributing to support efforts for refugees, for foodbanks, for local facilities under threat, you’re dashing off to support climate-crisis demos and stand on picket lines, and then someone in the family gets sick, and you try and get help… That happened to me this year, and suddenly,…
Kay Green 