Thin-Skinned Twitter Users
I learned, quite by accident, the other day that I am blocked from reading the Twitter feed of none other than John McDonnell MP, Labour's shadow chancellor and a big friend of Jeremy Corbyn.
Now I take that as something of a compliment, I have today, because to my knowledge I am only blocked by two other people on Twitter: George 'If I was made of chocolate I'd eat myself' Galloway and the Rev Stuart Campbell from 'Wingnuts Over Scotland'.
Strange how thin-skinned some people are, especially those who are never shy about dishing out their own criticism and challenging other people's points of view.
Sunshine of Socialism (26/11/15)
Labour's John McDonnell looks completely out of his depth as shadow chancellor and no more so than yesterday when he made another huge gaff with his Little Red Book routine and bizarre references to Chairman Mao in responding to a government statement on public spending in the House of Commons.
But the voters are not stupid and understand that big issues of state do not lend themselves to schoolboy jokes or this kind of petulant behaviour which, in this case, culminated in John McDonnell throwing his personal copy of the Little Red Book across the dispatch box to his opposite number, George Osborne, who will no doubt enjoy his early Christmas present - as happened with Labour's infamous 'I'm sorry, there is no money left' memo.
McDonnell has since tried to laugh the incident off and apologised for any offence caused, as he is prone to do when caught with his political pants down, but tellingly Labour minders deleted the damaging scenes of the shadow chancellor making a fool of himself in posting the highlights of this important parliamentary occasion on the internet.
Sunshine of Socialism (11/11/15)
I didn't hear Kezia Dugdale deliver her leader's speech to the Scottish Labour conference at the weekend, but I read what she had to say later (see link below) and the following two sections stood out for me like a sore thumb.
"I want to thank our brothers and sisters in the union movement for standing by us, in good times and bad. Your values are our values. We are, and always will be, the party of working people, a proud party of trade unionists."
"In Scotland nearly 350,000 families rely on the money from tax credits. The average family will be more than £100 a month worse off as a result of these changes. 70% of the money saved by this tax rise on working people will come from the pockets of working mothers."
http://labourlist.org/2015/10/lets-make-the-change-kezia-dugdales-scottish-labour-conference-speech-full-text/
Now back in the year 2000 when the Scottish Government was Labour-led, Jack McConnell (then education minister) signed-off on a new pay deal for Scotland's teachers (the McCrone Agreement) at a cost of £800 million a year.
The McCrone Agreement was fully funded which meant that no specific productivity gains were demanded from the teaching workforce in return for a 23.5% increase in pay in a single year; the agreement having been struck by a triumvirate comprising the Scottish Government, Labour-led COSLA and the teaching trade unions.
A year earlier, the big three public sector trade unions (Unison, GMB and Unite) along with the council employers reached what was hailed at the time as a landmark agreement on equal pay - the 1999 Single Status Agreement which promised a 'new deal' for tens of thousands of low paid women's jobs: carers, cleaners, classroom assistants, clerical and catering workers.
But unlike the McCrone Agreement the 1999 Single Status Agreement was not fully funded and in the years that followed the council employers and the trade unions simply allowed the landmark deal to wither on the vine, even though in the 10 year period between 1997 to 2007 the budgets of councils in Scotland virtually doubled.
What happened, in effect, was that the interests of 70,000 teachers were given a much higher priority than those of over 100,000 of the lowest paid workers in Scottish local government, the great irony being that thew two groups are both council workers and employed by Scotland's 32 local councils.
The cost of implementing the 1999 Single Status Agreement, in full, was put at £450 million a year compared to the £800 million price tag attached to the teachers' McCrone Agreement and the added advantage of the Single Status Agreement was that it would have ended low pay in Scottish local government by raising the lowest hourly rate of pay towards £9.00 an hour - thereby eliminating the need for working family tax credits.
The cost to low paid council workers of not implementing 1999 Agreement amounted to thousands of pounds a year for full-time workers, i.e. much more than the £100 a month refereed to by Kecia Dugdale in the section of her speech about tax credits.
The 'rainbow coalition' collectively responsible for this historic failure to tackle low pay were the Labour-led Scottish Government of the day, Labour-led COSLA, the big Labour-led councils (in Glasgow and Lanarkshire for example), and the Labour-supporting trade unions who failed to stand up for their lowest paid members when the chips were down.
So if that's what's meant by the 'sunshine of socialism', my name's Jeremy Corbyn.
Empty Words (31/10/15)
"To me, socialism is simple. It’s about everyone caring for everyone else.
"This is a kinder, more caring politics … we don’t compete, we co-operate.
"But it is a politics fired by our passion for fighting injustice, in our belief that an injury to one is an injury to all … the concept of solidarity."
Now I don't remember Jeremy, or the kind of people who share his politics, having anything of significance to say during the fight for equalpauy that has been raging in Scotland over the past 10 years.
In fact, some of the worst offenders have been the big Labour councils who presided over pay arrangements that discriminated against female dominated jobs: carers, classroom assistants, cleaners, clerical and catering workers.
Not only that, of course, because the Labour-supporting trade unions were often in cahoots with the employers and in some cases actively discouraged their members from pursuing claims for equal pay.
Socialist, my arse.
Conspiracy Rhetoric (28/06/17)
I've long thought that the lunatics have taken over the asylum at Labour Party HQ, but more evidence has arrived in the shape of the London Labour MP David Lammy who claims that the true death toll in the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy may have been covered up.
So no sooner have MPs of all parties, along with the London Mayor Sadie Khan, praised the efforts of the emergency services - police, fire and ambulance - than Mr Lammy decides to accuse them of colluding (with whom?) to disguise the actual number deaths.
Now Mr Lammy has no evidence whatsover to back up his claims which he attributes to local unnamed local residents, but that doesn't stop him repeating such nonsense and generally trying to exploit the situation for short term political gain.
If you ask, he is taking his lead from Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell whose comments about victims of the Grenfell Tower fire being 'murdered by political decisions' have been disowned by wiser heads on his own side.
https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/labour-party/news/87042/labour-mp-david-lammy-suggests-true-grenfell-tower?
LABOUR MP DAVID LAMMY SUGGESTS TRUE GRENFELL TOWER DEATH TOLL MAY HAVE BEEN COVERED UP
By Emilio Casalicchio - Politics Home
The death toll from the Grenfell Tower disaster may have been covered up to keep public anger at bay, a prominent Labour MP has suggested.
The death toll from the Grenfell Tower disaster may have been covered up to keep public anger at bay, a prominent Labour MP has suggested.
Protesters took to the streets after the Government's failure to respond properly to the Grenfell Tower tragedy - Credit: PA Images
David Lammy said he had “no idea” if the total was being kept quiet but said he was “sympathetic” to the theory and would march with residents who do believe that was the case.
Police have so far confirmed 79 victims are either dead or presumed dead after flames ripped through the west London high rise two weeks ago.
'Not in my name': Senior Labour MP rejects John McDonnell’s claim Grenfell victims were 'murdered'
John McDonnell claims Grenfell victims were 'murdered by political decisions'
Grenfell Tower survivors first in line for discretionary housing payments
Mr Lammy told BBC Newsnight: “What people say is that if you put the numbers out early, there could be civil unrest.
The Tottenham MP added: “I am sympathetic to it, I am going to walk alongside those people.”
And he continued: “The truth is the media cycle is now beginning to move on to other things, that’s the truth.
“And so what people say is that in two, three weeks’ time, if you start to reveal the numbers, things have moved on.”
His comments come as ministers revealed 75 buildings in 26 councils had failed fire safety tests - a 100% failure rate so far.
Hundreds of residents have been moved from tower blocks in the London borough of Camden over the weekend, after concerns were raised over cladding, gas insulation and fire doors.
Over the weekend Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell claimed victims of the fire were "murdered" by a series of political decisions.
But former Labour minister Margaret Hodges said Mr McDonnell's comments were "not in my name".
David Lammy said he had “no idea” if the total was being kept quiet but said he was “sympathetic” to the theory and would march with residents who do believe that was the case.
Police have so far confirmed 79 victims are either dead or presumed dead after flames ripped through the west London high rise two weeks ago.
'Not in my name': Senior Labour MP rejects John McDonnell’s claim Grenfell victims were 'murdered'
John McDonnell claims Grenfell victims were 'murdered by political decisions'
Grenfell Tower survivors first in line for discretionary housing payments
Mr Lammy told BBC Newsnight: “What people say is that if you put the numbers out early, there could be civil unrest.
The Tottenham MP added: “I am sympathetic to it, I am going to walk alongside those people.”
And he continued: “The truth is the media cycle is now beginning to move on to other things, that’s the truth.
“And so what people say is that in two, three weeks’ time, if you start to reveal the numbers, things have moved on.”
His comments come as ministers revealed 75 buildings in 26 councils had failed fire safety tests - a 100% failure rate so far.
Hundreds of residents have been moved from tower blocks in the London borough of Camden over the weekend, after concerns were raised over cladding, gas insulation and fire doors.
Over the weekend Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell claimed victims of the fire were "murdered" by a series of political decisions.
But former Labour minister Margaret Hodges said Mr McDonnell's comments were "not in my name".
Fiery Rhetoric (26/06/17)
The Labour Party seems to have taken a strategic decision to try and turn the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy to its political advantage, if the latest comments of the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, are anything to go by.
Which is rather odd if you ask me, since the 'cladding' in high rise blocks tower block across the country, including several Labour-run London councils, appear to have failed crucial fire safety tests.
Now Jeremy Corbyn has been a London MP since 1983 and key allies such as John McDonnell, Diane Abbott and Ken Livingstone have all been high profile London politicians for the past 35 years or so.
But I don't recall a single campaign about fire safety and cladding in high rise blocks - until now of course.
Now Jeremy Corbyn has been a London MP since 1983 and key allies such as John McDonnell, Diane Abbott and Ken Livingstone have all been high profile London politicians for the past 35 years or so.
But I don't recall a single campaign about fire safety and cladding in high rise blocks - until now of course.
The shape off things to come, I suspect.
John McDonnell: Grenfell victims 'murdered by political decisions'
BBC UK Politics
Image copyright - PA
Labour's John McDonnell has claimed victims of the Grenfell Tower fire were "murdered" by "political decisions".
Speaking at Glastonbury Festival on Sunday, the shadow chancellor blamed the decision to "view housing as only for financial speculation".
At least 79 people are feared to have died in the fire in west London, which began in the early hours of 14 June.
Housing minister Alok Sharma said it was "disappointing" that people wanted to make it "a party political issue".
It is thought the building's recently-installed cladding may have helped the fire to spread.
Cladding is being tested from as many as 600 tower blocks across England.
So far, cladding on 60 high-rise buildings in 25 areas has failed, and none has passed.
Labour's John McDonnell has claimed victims of the Grenfell Tower fire were "murdered" by "political decisions".
Speaking at Glastonbury Festival on Sunday, the shadow chancellor blamed the decision to "view housing as only for financial speculation".
At least 79 people are feared to have died in the fire in west London, which began in the early hours of 14 June.
Housing minister Alok Sharma said it was "disappointing" that people wanted to make it "a party political issue".
It is thought the building's recently-installed cladding may have helped the fire to spread.
Cladding is being tested from as many as 600 tower blocks across England.
So far, cladding on 60 high-rise buildings in 25 areas has failed, and none has passed.
More high-rises fail fire safety tests
Where have cladding fire tests failed?
Holyrood to review tower block safety
The prime minister ordered a public inquiry on 15 June and she is due to chair a meeting of the Grenfell Tower Recovery Taskforce on Monday.
London tower block residents 'must leave' says council
BBC UK
Media caption - Mohammed Iskander shows us around the evacuation centre in Swiss Cottage
Residents who refused to leave north London tower blocks over fire safety fears are being told they "must leave".
Camden Council said on Sunday that staff would continue asking those people who had not yet left the Chalcots Estate in Swiss Cottage to vacate their flats.
About 20 households had refused to leave their homes by Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, cladding on 34 tower blocks in 17 council areas in England has failed fire safety tests.
Where have fire cladding tests failed?
The leader of Camden Council, Georgia Gould, said staff will conduct further door knocking to ask anyone remaining to leave "and issue another letter reiterating to residents who are still remaining in the Taplow, Bray, Dorney and Burnham blocks, that they must leave".
"By remaining in the blocks these residents risk delaying the work that is required and that we are undertaking to make these homes safe.
"It is not safe to remain in these blocks and our residents' safety will continue to be the council's number one priority."
She added: "There are various legal routes that Camden Council could explore. However, we really don't want to do this. We want to work with residents who are yet to evacuate and strongly encourage them to leave their homes and fix up temporary accommodation."
Four of the five blocks on the Chalcots Estate were evacuated on Friday due to concerns about external cladding, gas pipe insulation, and fire doors.
Camden Council said it had no option but to move residents from 650 flats while work takes place.
Media caption - Watch: Meet Rosie, who refused to leave Taplow Tower in Camden
The Local Government Association said some councils have introduced 24-hour warden patrols to mitigate the risk before cladding is removed.
It said in a statement: "For those areas still waiting for results of tests on aluminium composite material cladding, our advice to them is to prepare contingency plans so they can take any measures needed quickly."
The Department for Communities and Local Government's testing programme, which began on Wednesday, is able to test 100 samples a day.
Although every sample has failed the test so far, the DCLG pointed out that local authorities have been asked to prioritise buildings they had most concern over.
Lord Kerslake, the former head of the civil service, who who now chairs the Peabody housing association in London, called for the testing process to be accelerated.
"We are told they can do 100 a day - that should be the number they are meeting," he told The World This Weekend on BBC Radio 4.
He said: "This is clearly a terrible national disaster and demands a national response... As well as the public inquiry on the lessons learned we need to establish where the areas of the highest risk are and take action immediately. That's been a priority for me."
Some of the local authorities where high-rise buildings have failed fire safety tests have been named.
Chalcots was refurbished between 2006 and 2009 by the same firm, Rydon, that oversaw work at Grenfell Tower in 2015-16.
Where have cladding fire tests failed?
Holyrood to review tower block safety
The prime minister ordered a public inquiry on 15 June and she is due to chair a meeting of the Grenfell Tower Recovery Taskforce on Monday.
Image copyright - PA Image caption - Mr McDonnell with economist Faiza Shaheen and journalist John Harris at the Left Field debate
Mr McDonnell, the MP for Hayes and Harlington, was speaking in a panel debate at Glastonbury's Left Field event, chaired by Guardian journalist John Harris.
He said: "Is democracy working? It didn't work if you were a family living on the 20th floor of Grenfell Tower.
"Those families, those individuals - 79 so far and there will be more - were murdered by political decisions that were taken over recent decades.
"The decision not to build homes and to view housing as only for financial speculation rather than for meeting a basic human need made by politicians over decades murdered those families.
"The decision to close fire stations and to cut 10,000 fire fighters and then to freeze their pay for over a decade contributed to those deaths inevitably, and they were political decisions."
A source close to Mr McDonnell confirmed the quotes were accurate.
Mr Sharma, who replaced Gavin Barwell as the housing minister following the general election, said the cladding in question had been installed over a wide time period and under councils controlled by different political parties.
Pressed on a timescale to complete the testing, he said the government was working "round the clock" to get the work done.
Mr McDonnell, the MP for Hayes and Harlington, was speaking in a panel debate at Glastonbury's Left Field event, chaired by Guardian journalist John Harris.
He said: "Is democracy working? It didn't work if you were a family living on the 20th floor of Grenfell Tower.
"Those families, those individuals - 79 so far and there will be more - were murdered by political decisions that were taken over recent decades.
"The decision not to build homes and to view housing as only for financial speculation rather than for meeting a basic human need made by politicians over decades murdered those families.
"The decision to close fire stations and to cut 10,000 fire fighters and then to freeze their pay for over a decade contributed to those deaths inevitably, and they were political decisions."
A source close to Mr McDonnell confirmed the quotes were accurate.
Mr Sharma, who replaced Gavin Barwell as the housing minister following the general election, said the cladding in question had been installed over a wide time period and under councils controlled by different political parties.
Pressed on a timescale to complete the testing, he said the government was working "round the clock" to get the work done.
Image copyright - AFP
Over the weekend, Camden Council evacuated 650 people from four tower blocks in Swiss Cottage area, after London Fire Brigade raised concerns about cladding, gas pipe insulation, and fire doors.
The four blocks were renovated by Rydon between 2006 and 2009 - the same company which oversaw the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower from 2015 to 2016.
Buildings have been also declared unsafe in Doncaster, Norwich, Stockton-on-Tees, Sunderland, Manchester, Plymouth and Portsmouth.
In Scotland, Holyrood is going to hold its own investigation into the safety of tower blocks, expanding an ongoing inquiry into housing and building regulations.
The Scottish Government has already said that no council or housing association high-rise block has cladding of the type believed to have been used in Grenfell Tower.
Over the weekend, Camden Council evacuated 650 people from four tower blocks in Swiss Cottage area, after London Fire Brigade raised concerns about cladding, gas pipe insulation, and fire doors.
The four blocks were renovated by Rydon between 2006 and 2009 - the same company which oversaw the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower from 2015 to 2016.
Buildings have been also declared unsafe in Doncaster, Norwich, Stockton-on-Tees, Sunderland, Manchester, Plymouth and Portsmouth.
In Scotland, Holyrood is going to hold its own investigation into the safety of tower blocks, expanding an ongoing inquiry into housing and building regulations.
The Scottish Government has already said that no council or housing association high-rise block has cladding of the type believed to have been used in Grenfell Tower.
London tower block residents 'must leave' says council
BBC UK
Media caption - Mohammed Iskander shows us around the evacuation centre in Swiss Cottage
Residents who refused to leave north London tower blocks over fire safety fears are being told they "must leave".
Camden Council said on Sunday that staff would continue asking those people who had not yet left the Chalcots Estate in Swiss Cottage to vacate their flats.
About 20 households had refused to leave their homes by Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, cladding on 34 tower blocks in 17 council areas in England has failed fire safety tests.
Where have fire cladding tests failed?
The leader of Camden Council, Georgia Gould, said staff will conduct further door knocking to ask anyone remaining to leave "and issue another letter reiterating to residents who are still remaining in the Taplow, Bray, Dorney and Burnham blocks, that they must leave".
"By remaining in the blocks these residents risk delaying the work that is required and that we are undertaking to make these homes safe.
"It is not safe to remain in these blocks and our residents' safety will continue to be the council's number one priority."
She added: "There are various legal routes that Camden Council could explore. However, we really don't want to do this. We want to work with residents who are yet to evacuate and strongly encourage them to leave their homes and fix up temporary accommodation."
Four of the five blocks on the Chalcots Estate were evacuated on Friday due to concerns about external cladding, gas pipe insulation, and fire doors.
Camden Council said it had no option but to move residents from 650 flats while work takes place.
Image copyright - PA Image caption - Residents were told to leave four of the estate's blocks on Friday
The government plans to examine cladding from up to 600 blocks and so far, every sample submitted from tower blocks has failed the tests.
But - across the country - not every block that fails safety tests will be evacuated.
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid - while agreeing with the decision in Camden - said: "A failure in testing of the cladding does not necessarily mean that a building will have to be evacuated.
"The decision by Camden Council was because the failed testing of the external cladding was compounded by multiple other fire safety failures."
The government plans to examine cladding from up to 600 blocks and so far, every sample submitted from tower blocks has failed the tests.
But - across the country - not every block that fails safety tests will be evacuated.
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid - while agreeing with the decision in Camden - said: "A failure in testing of the cladding does not necessarily mean that a building will have to be evacuated.
"The decision by Camden Council was because the failed testing of the external cladding was compounded by multiple other fire safety failures."
Media caption - Watch: Meet Rosie, who refused to leave Taplow Tower in Camden
The Local Government Association said some councils have introduced 24-hour warden patrols to mitigate the risk before cladding is removed.
It said in a statement: "For those areas still waiting for results of tests on aluminium composite material cladding, our advice to them is to prepare contingency plans so they can take any measures needed quickly."
The Department for Communities and Local Government's testing programme, which began on Wednesday, is able to test 100 samples a day.
Although every sample has failed the test so far, the DCLG pointed out that local authorities have been asked to prioritise buildings they had most concern over.
Lord Kerslake, the former head of the civil service, who who now chairs the Peabody housing association in London, called for the testing process to be accelerated.
"We are told they can do 100 a day - that should be the number they are meeting," he told The World This Weekend on BBC Radio 4.
He said: "This is clearly a terrible national disaster and demands a national response... As well as the public inquiry on the lessons learned we need to establish where the areas of the highest risk are and take action immediately. That's been a priority for me."
Some of the local authorities where high-rise buildings have failed fire safety tests have been named.
They include:
- Camden - where residents have been evacuated from four blocks on the Chalcots Estate
- Brent - where a housing association tower block, Elizabeth House, has cladding but London Fire Brigade advises it is not a risk
- Barnet - where cladding put up on three towers in Granville Road, NW2, in 2012 is to be removed as precautionary measure
- Hounslow - where Clements Court tower in Cranford is to have outer cladding removed
- Manchester - where 78 panels are being removed from one area of the Village 135 development in Wythenshawe
- Salford - where cladding is also to be removed from nine tower blocks
- Bootle - where cladding is being removed from Cygnet House and Wren House in St James Drive
- Plymouth - where three blocks on the Mount Wise Tower estatewere found to have cladding made from similar material to Grenfell Tower
- Portsmouth - where the city council is removing cladding from Horatia House and Leamington House in Somerstown
Chalcots was refurbished between 2006 and 2009 by the same firm, Rydon, that oversaw work at Grenfell Tower in 2015-16.
One flat destroyed in London fire
Confusion and anger after evacuation
Grenfell Tower fire began in fridge-freezer
After the evacuation, emergency accommodation was set up at Swiss Cottage leisure centre and at the Camden Centre in King's Cross.
Camden Council - which said it already spent £500,000 on hotel rooms - said it would reimburse residents who have paid for their own temporary accommodation.
It has also set aside £100,000 for food and essential items for displaced residents.
Confusion and anger after evacuation
Grenfell Tower fire began in fridge-freezer
After the evacuation, emergency accommodation was set up at Swiss Cottage leisure centre and at the Camden Centre in King's Cross.
Camden Council - which said it already spent £500,000 on hotel rooms - said it would reimburse residents who have paid for their own temporary accommodation.
It has also set aside £100,000 for food and essential items for displaced residents.
Image copyright - GRAHAM EVA Image caption - Fire crews have been put on watch at the Chalcots estate
The work at Chalcots is expected to take three to four weeks.
Sayed Mead, a resident on the estate who left his flat, told BBC Breakfast that not knowing where he was going to be housed had been "eating me away".
He has now been given accommodation but said the council had created "panic" among the residents.
The work at Chalcots is expected to take three to four weeks.
Sayed Mead, a resident on the estate who left his flat, told BBC Breakfast that not knowing where he was going to be housed had been "eating me away".
He has now been given accommodation but said the council had created "panic" among the residents.
