Category: economics
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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, […]
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A letter to a GP, two stories of bureaucratic nightmare, and a petition to come
Dear Doctor, Will you please stop sending me texts with links to take up appointments for random routine tests. Yes of course I’m *that* age, yes of course I worry that I might get this or that problem but a) I have told you I don’t have a Smartphone so can’t click your links and […]
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Faux democracy
Jeremy Corbyn lost a fair bit of his loyal following immediately after the Brexit vote because he stood there and told reporters we should now action Article 50 (I think it was called) and start the Brexit process. He lost quite a bit more in the following weeks, when he was asked questions about the […]
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How the Gender Identity Industry Broke Politics
Before the world went mad, when I was still Vice-Chair of a Labour CLP, and active with my union, and had a seat on the committee of my favourite lefty group, I started hearing really weird things about sex and gender, including being told by a couple of therapist friends I knew that they were […]