From our Royal Correspondent

The Roman Emperors dealt with economic crisis with a policy of "bread and circuses". The Con Dems are determined to leave out the bread and just give us the circuses. Witness the media torrent of sickly sentimentality over the royal wedding.

Much has been made of Premier Cameron's deliberations over whether he looks better as a lounge lizard or a stuffed shirt. Serious stuff. It makes Cameron look a fool which is no bad thing but it diverts attention from the realities of
the state of the Con Dem Nation.

We should be grateful that although the country cannot afford health, welfare, education, libraries or pensions, at least we can afford for two overprivileged parasites to live like pigs in clover. It's romantic isn't it?

And of course the media Royal Correspondents stress that Middleton is "a commoner". About as common as hen's teeth in fact. The Middletons are from an elite every bit as remote from the common people as the Windsors. The significance of "blue blood" is that in the past the royals and the aristos had pale skin because they did not work outside like the peasantry so their blue veins were more likely to be visible. None of the millionaire Middletons has to turn an honest day's work and indeed they look to expand their business empire with their royal connections.

On the other hand it is important for the Windsors to bring new blue blood into the family because the perils of inbreeding are all too evident in Prince Charles and Prince Philip. Daft as a pair of Poundland brushes.

So watch the royal circus and enjoy it. After all you paid for it!

Derek McMillan
Royal Correspondent
Mid Sussex Socialist Party

Andrew Lansley Tosser - self-explanatory

China air overbooking

We turned up at the check-in to the unexpected news that despite having booked seats months ago there was only one seat on the plane. Then we had a lot of discussion with Mr Sorry
Whose only job was to say sorry to passengers and give us the number of head office. Head office is not available of course

March 26 -WE ARE MANY: THEY ARE FEW

Today the a new generation of trade unionists rediscovered the fundamental truth:
WE ARE MANY: THEY ARE FEW


It would be a pity if this power were sidetracked into re-electing the Labour traitors. The working class is powerful. Its leadership is frequently weak. Marx referred to them as lions....led by donkeys. What do you think?

Libraries, education, welfare...the list goes on.
Everything is being cut except bankers' bonuses
and MP's expenses.



The cuts are entirely unnecessary. Billions are squandered in expensive military adventures. Billions are handed over to bankers in bonuses. Billions are cut from corporation tax and billions are siphoned off in tax evasion. A government of millionaires can be sympathetic to the plight of the fat cats.

As for the Political Elite – even the ones who don't have moats might as well have, they are so remote from the concerns of ordinary people. Cameron, Clegg, Miliband and their ilk have a privileged and protected lifestyle.

The capitalist class has failed. It is only the corrupt political elite that keeps them going with billions of pounds of public money.


Back in the day, the trade unions in the UK created a political party – the Labour Party. It was a party of peace, equality and public ownership. Hijacked by careerists it has become a party of:

War – not one bloody colonial war but two...and they have voted overwhelmingly for gunboat diplomacy in Libya.

Inequality – with leading Labour figures like Lord Hutton working for Cameron. Hutton is in the front line of cutting public sector pensions.

And privatisation. Usually in the guise of public private partnerships – which put public money into private pockets.

The Socialist Party does not believe trade unionists will be content to sit and wait for a Labour government. A Labour government will doubtless have good reasons to continue the cuts, just as Blair and Brown continued Margaret Thatcher's legacy of attacking the trade unions.

We believe that the unions can create a political alternative.

A new workers' party. The various socialist societies have worked together in - for example - the socialist alliance. It is only the big guns of the trade union movement - in short the people who showed their power today - who can transform the political landscape. This is desirable for socialists. It is a dire necessity for working people.


Details of the meetings of the small but perfectly formed Mid-Sussex Socialist Party are available on
http://crawleysocialistparty.blogspot.com

Lord Hutton's "nice Labour cuts"

If anyone pretends to believe the Labour Party would cut less than the Tories, they have only to look at the Labour Peer (and lickspittle to Cameron) Lord Hutton.

Martin Powell-Davies (NUT Executive member) writes:

Lord Hutton's second report into public sector pensions has confirmed the attacks that we have been expecting.
He has recommended:
a) An end to final salary pension schemes - to be replaced by 'career average' schemes in order to cut the value of pensions.


b) Retiring older - the 'normal pension age' would rise first to 65 for all but increase further to 68 in future to track the rising state pension age.
This comes on top of the attacks we already know about, particularly:
c) Paying more - with the government wanting to increase pension contributions by 50%. This will rob £100 a month or so from teachers just as we are about to be clobbered by a pay freeze and rising inflation.
Lord Hutton's interview on Radio 4 this morning contained a series of distortions designed to confuse and divide opposition - we must not be fooled.
First, he claims that 'there is no alternative', that we're all living longer and so we have to work longer to pay for it. The financial statistics don't back this up.
As the NUT press release has stated: "The National Audit Office has confirmed that public sector pension costs are falling as expected due to the reforms already in place.
"Teachers are already paying more, the normal pension age has been raised to 65 for new entrants and employer contributions have been capped ... Their plans are based on politics, not economics.
"Pensions have already been cut by changing their link from RPI to CPI inflation. As a result of this, next month's pension increase will be 1.5% less than it should have been".
Second, Hutton claims that public-sector workers can't expect to carry on with final-salary pensions when most private-sector workers aren't getting them.
But why should we allow ourselves to be ripped off in the same way that many private companies are ripping off their employees? The best way to defend all workers - in both the public and private sectors - is for someone to put up a fight, and we are going to!
Lastly, as well as trying to divide public sector workers from private sector colleagues, Hutton wants to divide classroom teachers from promoted colleagues by claiming that 'career-average' schemes will be 'fairer' to those lower down the scale. But what he intends will be unfair to all of us.
He hasn't made any recommendations on the technical details of the 'accrual rates' in any career-average scheme - and thereby hides the truth. In principle, a career-average scheme can be constructed in a way that maintains pension levels - but Hutton's aim is to cut pensions.
These schemes will be constructed to give us less pension even though we'll be paying in more. There's nothing 'fair' about Hutton's proposals - they are just another part of this government's agenda of cuts and privatisation.
Hutton did have to admit that there would have to be consultation and changes to legislation to bring in these changes. That means we have a window - although it might be a short one - to organise the united action needed to stop these attacks.
Hutton's report must be met with a quick response - coordinated ballots across the public sector for strike action to defeat this pensions robbery.

City financing of the Conservative Party doubles under Cameron

Journalism is publishing a story the rich and powerful want kept under wraps. Anything else is just advertising.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism put the sleazy fleet street canaille to shame by uncovering the depth of city financing of the Tory Party. On the same day the tabloids headlined a celebrity divorce and what was happening in Neighbours.

Last year City money made up over half of all Conservative Party donations, a leap from a quarter five years previously, when Cameron and Osborne took over the helm.

The City has donated a total of £42.76m since 2005. Last year City money accounted for £11.4m, compared with £2.75m when Cameron took over.

The revelation comes as the Chancellor’s move to increase a levy on banks was criticised for being inadequate.

A spokesman for the Conservative Party quoted on Radio 2 said that it was "ridiculous" to say that the donations affected the government's policy. It is hardly ridiculous to say that the policy elicited the donations though!

If you have ever come across a greedy banker who handed out massive wads of cash with no prospect of a return, I haven't.

The "Leader's group" are a group of rich individuals who buy the right to bend the PM's ear on any issue of their choice.

Bureau research shows that 57 individuals from the financial services sector made a donation of more than £50,000 each last year.

This level of funding would entitle them to membership of the Leader’s Group. According to Conservative Party donor literature published on the party’s website members of this group are given numerous opportunities to meet “David Cameron and other senior figures from the Conservative Party at dinners, post-PMQ lunches, drinks receptions, election result events and important campaign launches”

And he who pays the piper calls the tune.

City financing of the Conservative Party doubles under Cameron

Law and Hugh Orde - brute force and ignorance

Hugh Orde, the head of the Association of Chief Police
Officers, criticised the "lack of willingness of new protest
groups" that have sprung up around the internet to engage
with police before protests. In fact police have
"co-operated" by "kettling" protestors.

Orde is determined to go back to the days of the miners'
strike when the boys in blue were regarded as Maggie
Thatcher's private army.

Orde admitted that kettling was a violation of human rights.
Then he gave a shrug. So what? It's "for the greater good,
and that's the really complex part of policing."

He said if protestors continued to refuse to co-operate,
then police tactics would have to become "more extreme."

The police themselves face the same problem as have arisen
in the health service and education - unqualified and
underpaid staff replacing qualified officers as a way of
cutting costs. Community Support Officers bringing in
policing on the cheap. What next? Sherlock Holmes being
replaced by Inspector Clouseau? He may be crap but he is
dead cheap.

And the sons and daughters of police officers are having
their future taken away by this government. The introduction
of sky high fees will affect them as much as anyone else.

Hugh Orde's policy of brute force and ignorance is hardly
likely to address these issues.

Crawley against the cuts

There is now a blog for Crawley Against the cuts. The first post is about a protest against the council:

Council meeting to cut jobs and services
Wednesday 23rd February
Town Hall
7.30
Tax cuts for the rich
Job cuts and service cuts for the rest of us.

Don't let them get away with it.

Give the fat cats a piece of your mind!

Tucson shootings

The shootings of six people including a US senator a federal judge and a 9 year old child in Tucson sent a shock wave around the country and created a media storm. Everything in sight was blamed including the fact that not enough American politicians carry guns!

The deadly shooting in Tucson has not deterred a nearby gun show from continuing as scheduled exactly one week later. Organizers of the Crossroads of the West gun show say their event will proceed at a site just 13 miles from where the shooting took place. The gun show was moved to Pima County after Los Angeles officials decided organizers have promoted irresponsible gun use. Crossroads’ logo depicts a crosshairs inside the letter "O" of "gun show."

Palin has called it a "blood libel" that her extreme rhetoric is a factor in the violent attempt on one of her opponents. Palin has not been a shrinking violet when it comes to explicitly inciting the killing of political opponents.
For example she wrote about Julian Assange:

"First and foremost, what steps were taken to stop Wikileaks director Julian Assange from distributing this highly sensitive classified material especially after he had already published material not once but twice in the previous months? Assange is not a "journalist," any more than the "editor" of al Qaeda’s new English-language magazine Inspire is a "journalist." He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. His past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders?"

It's worth noting that there is no evidence that Assange has "blood on his hands." In a review of a previous round of leaks on Afghanistan, the Pentagon found no evidence that anyone had been endangered.

Palin having "blood on her hands" is a more apt figure of speech.
For the gun lobby in the USA it is an understatement.

Pound of Flesh anybody.

There are lots of lovely websites around offering helpful loans to people with a dodgy credit history - usually people who are really hard up. And the rate of interest these good samaritans are offering?

Typical APR 1286.2%

and presumably a pound of flesh if you can't pay.

Driving teachers?

A teacher at a school "somewhere in Sussex" was given a performance target of "driving" not cattle or the school minibus but other teachers!

They are clearly unaware of the traditional Sussex ballad:


Some folks as comes to Sussex,
They rackons as they knows
A darn sight better what to do
Then silly folks like me and you
Could possibly suppose.
But them as comes to Sussex,
They mustn't push and shove'
For Sussex will be Sussex,
And Sussex won't be druv.

Cable v Murdoch

Vince Cable talks a good war. He declared war on Rupert Murdoch to a couple of undercover hacks from the Telegraph. Then instead of going on the offensive he retreated with his
tail between his legs. The first war in history to be fought by unconditional surrender.

There have been calls for Cable’s resignation from newspapers owned by a certain Mr Murdoch. Now there’s a spooky coincidence.

Those who watched the debate on tuition fees will remember battling Cable’s role in that farce. Cameron and Clegg might as well have been pulling his strings as he mouthed their policies and tried to look sincere.

Interestingly the Jeremy Vine Show on Radio Two specifically asked listeners to call in with comments supporting poor Mr Murdoch. There were none.

Some recalled the lies Murdoch told about the Hillsborough disaster – lies insulting and demonising Liverpool fans. Lies which which the Sun later withdrew.

Others drew attention to Fox News which is a continual right-wing rant rather than a news channel.

Listeners also drew attention to Berlusconi in Italy who used his media empire to silence opposition to his corrupt repressive government.

Another said Dennis Potter had the right idea when he named his pancreatic cancer “Rupert”

Perhaps the best comment appeared on the Sky News own website: “I love SKY. What ever they say, i believe. Tell me what to think next Mr Murdoch?”

"North Korean" Gove

“We will give teachers power over how money is spent”
was the rather surprising remark of Michael Gove on the Andrew Marr show on 21 November.

Even more surprising was his assertion that spending on education would be increased. At the same time here in West Sussex 50 teachers supporting the most vulnerable pupils with hearing and vision impairment are facing the sack.

The “increase in spending” does not in fact involve any new money, they are robbing Peter to pay Paul, But Peter will still need paying!

To celebrate the 2012 Olympics 162 million pounds of government spending on Sports Partnerships is being cut. Yet again the “teacher autonomy” and “more spending” of Mr Gove's doublespeak actually means more cuts. Emma Greenough, Brighton School Sport Co-ordinator, now facing the sack, commented in the Observer “You are going to be left with two-tier sports – it'll be sport for children whose parents can afford it.

And even Andrew Marr thought Gove's attitude to the curriculum was “North Korean.” Gove protests that teachers will be given autonomy. However Mr Gove who has no knowledge or experience of teaching will decide how little Willie in Willesden will learn to read [“Synthetic phonics for you laddie”] and How Harry in Hastings learns History.

The NUT opposes loss of 50 jobs. You can help

This press release about the loss of jobs in West Sussex should appear in your local rag this week.

* If it does not, why not send it to them?
* If it does then why not write in supporting it?

If you agree the union should fight job cuts then you can email

Chair of WSCC, Mark Dunn:
Mark.Dunn@westsussex.gov.uk

Cabinet Member for Education: Peter Griffiths:
Peter.Griffiths@westsussex.gov.uk

David Sword, Director of Learning:
david.sword@westsussex.gov.uk

***The union is as much YOU as it is ME ***

Derek McMillan
President
West Sussex Teachers Association

Press release follows:

West Sussex NUT is gravely concerned over the intention of West Sussex County Council to restructure the support services to schools from centrally employed staff as its response to central government?s cuts in funding.

These cuts will hit some of the most vulnerable children in West Sussex; they will inevitably result in the reduction of services to the most disadvantaged, including those with special needs.

This action, if unchallenged, will result in the loss of almost 50 jobs in front-line services and we believe it will inevitably reduce the quality of the service provided. The jobs lost will be those of specialist teachers, psychologists, educational advisers and other professionals who provide invaluable support to our most needy children, their families and schools
This will be contrary to the government?s declared intention to protect front-line services in vital areas such as education. It is also inconsistent with West Sussex?s declared intention to deliver good quality services to all, especially the weakest and most vulnerable in our society.

West Sussex Teachers' Association urges all concerned parties, such as the parents of vulnerable children who are most likely to be most disadvantaged by this policy, to communicate their concerns to WSCC as a matter of urgency.

Teachers’ pensions are under attack. But the NUT is going to fight to defend them.

The November NUT Executive agreed unanimously that we prepare a campaigning timetable building up to a ballot for strike action in the spring term.

The Government are trying to claim that our existing pensions’ scheme is ‘unaffordable’. The most recent valuations of the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme confirm that’s just not true. They just want to rip-off our pensions to pay for their debts.

The first Hutton report made quite clear what the Government intends – to make us retire older and pay more for less pension.

October’s Comprehensive Spending Review made the threat clearer. The Government plans for all teachers to be paying another 3% of our salaries in pension contributions. That’s a big pay cut. It’s a cut that we cannot accept.

On top of that, the Government have switched the indexation of pension benefits from the Retail Price Index to the lower Consumer Price Index. That change alone could cost a teacher tens of thousands of pounds in retirement.

When the Hutton Commission issues its final report in March, it could include further attacks. Changed pension calculations – like using ‘career-averages’ – could cut pension payouts. Our retirement age could go up – to 65 for all of us – but perhaps to 67 and beyond – unless we make a stand.

We can’t wait for Hutton’s Final Report in March to reveal the full details of these attacks. To make Hutton and the Government think again, we have to take action before then – hopefully co-ordinated with other teaching and non-teaching unions too.

That’s why the NUT Executive agreed unanimously to produce a timetable for:

• Distribution of campaigning materials

• Meetings, rallies and demonstrations

• A ballot for strike action in the spring term.

We will approach other unions to seek maximum co-ordination in all of the above activities and then confirm our action timetable at the December meeting of the NUT Executive.

Get the news out to every school – the fight to defend our pensions is on!

Do it to Julia!

In the book 1984 Winston Smith is threatened with savage
cuts from the claws and teeth of a rat. The state do this to
him so he will plead with them to "Do it to Julia" and thus
betray his lover and himself.

Representatives of the New Labour canaille have similar "do
it to Julia" plans. They wish to appear reasonable by saying
"of course some cuts are necessary but vote for me and I
will oppose this particular cut."

They have the cheek of the devil. New Labour kowtowed to the
bankers and gave them billions to keep the gravy train on
the rails. They expect us to pay the fare. The bankers would
benefit from a short sharp shock - perhaps six months in
prison for profiteering and economic sabotage - far more
than the bonuses which are simply not good for them.

The anti cuts movement will welcome support from any quarter
but anyone from the Labour Party should be asked whether
they would vote against "nice Labour cuts" as well as "nasty
Tory cuts"

Richard Venton and Rupert Murdoch

Let's imagine for a moment that Richard Venton is telling the truth. Let's imagine that Tommy Sheridan actually did visit a sex club.

Where is that "crime" in the scale that includes Blair's mass murder in Iraq, Rupert Murdoch's disgusting slanders against Liverpool supporters at Hillsborough or the common or garden corruption of 99 percent of politicians.

Yet Richard Venton chooses to side with Rupert Murdoch - apparently without even the bad excuse of being bribed!

Andy Burnham's two faces

Andy Burnham was interviewed by Andrew Marr on his new role
as shadow education secretary. He started by distancing
himself from those who got the Labour Party in the soup by
deriding "bog standard comprehensives." He strongly defended
the role of comprehensives and denounced the Tory plans for
academies. He went on to roundly excoriate the Con Dem
government for their ill-conceived plan to raise fees
through the roof and he opposed the Con Dem cuts in public
spending.

So far so good.

Then he felt he had to be statesmanlike. He condemned Tory
academies but praised Labour academies. He condemned Tory
fees but he defended Labour fees. He had the gall to admit
that he went to college on a grant but had no shame
whatsoever about kicking away the ladder now he no longer
needed it.

And as for cuts? Well no prizes for guessing. He was against
Tory cuts but strongly favoured Labour cuts because he was
tough and macho! So it looks as though the Labour opposition
will be as much use as a chocolate teapot when it comes to
fighting against the cuts.

We need a party for the common people – a new workers’
party.

Crawley against the cuts

West Sussex Teachers' Association is urging all of its members to support campaigns by trades councils and community groups against the cuts. The WSTA opposes cuts regardless of which political party is initiating them.

The Mid Sussex Socialist Party is backing the campaign. When leafleting with the Trades Council in Tilgate today the only adverse comment we got was from someone who thought we were backing the Labour Party. We soon cleared that up!

North Sussex Trades Council oppose cuts

On Wed 15th September the North Sussex Trades Council meeting was an open meeting to discuss a campaign against the cuts. There was a wide ranging discussion.

Although there is apparent public support for "cuts" in the abstract, when people realise that the cuts are unnecessary and will affect front line services they will have a change of heart.

For example, Phil Clark from Brighton Trades Council pointed out that Connexions staff - who cope with the most difficult pupils and seek to get them into work and/or off of drugs - are facing cuts and the next target was likely to be mental health nurses. This gives the lie to the bluff of the coalition that no front line services will be hit.

This will only matter if the trade unions are seen as willing to fight. The TUC has already been more vertibrate than is commonplace. They talk a good fight but it will be up to the ranks of the unions to make sure they actually fight one. The trades councils can play a key role as is shown by the success of Brighton Trades Councils launch meeting attended by 250 people on Thursday.



Next Meeting Tuesday 2nd November
Time 7.30 pm
Place St John's Church Hall in Crawley
Be there