Labour’s tragedy is Britain’s tragedy, said The Spectator.

The headline is right, but not in the way that The Spectator article by Nick Cohen states. But then The Spectator is no friend of democratic socialism. Its articles seem to spend a lot of time bashing anyone politically on the left.

Britain's tragedy is the current Tory austerity government propped up by the DUP after being promised £1.5bn, following on from 5 years of Tory/LibDem austerity government that systematically slashed budgets nationally and to councils.

It is their insistence on massive "savings" which in reality meant local services being cut: police, fire, social care and health, public sector pay freezes that have led to health service workers and police officers having to apply for food help at food banks to feed their families.  In 2017 over 67,100 were identified as being lost due to government cuts since 2010. 

It is the increase in the use of zero hours contracts to avoid providing proper workers' rights and employment protection, sickness and holiday pay, and pensions. 

It is the atrocious treatment of sick and disabled people under the benefits system, so bad that even the UN has declared the UK govt to be at fault, its report said that UK legislation has “failed to recognise living independently and being included in the community as a human right,” citing cuts to social protection schemes related to housing and budgets for independent living.

It is the appalling news that 78 homeless people died on the streets and in temporary accommodation this winter, and that rough sleeping has increased by 169% nationally since 2010. "An estimated 4,751 people bedded down outside in 2017, but charities say the official statistics fail to capture the true level of street homelessness."

It is the current situation with the #Windrush generation and the government's attempts to create a “hostile environment” for illegal immigrants which has spilled over to encompass immigrants who are here legally and who were invited to come here after WW2 to help rebuild this country and who are now facing deportation due to the Home Office and govt. maladministration of their records. It is also having an impact on EU citizens who are living here, who have felt increasingly unwelcome after the BREXIT Referendum result in June 2016. 

So yes, Labour's tragedy is Britain's tragedy and the tragedy of everyone in Britain who is suffering under the current Tory government. The answer is #VoteLabour.

The rise of food banks: a proper British scandal

Did you know that the first food banks in the UK started in 2004 (there were two of them), but that their use did not start to rise much until the 2008 global financial crisis and the election of the coalition Tory/LibDem government in 2010? Since 2010 their use has sky-rocketed, as the Tory austerity measures have hit hard those who are least able to manage. Things have become so bad that now, in 2017 in the sixth richest country in the world, food banks are the only way in which some families are able to survive. That is a damning indictment of our so-called civilised society.

The Trussell Trust, the charity which runs the majority of the UK's food banks, gives these statistics:

"Between 1st April 2016 and 31st March 2017, The Trussell Trust’s Foodbank Network provided 1,182,954 three day emergency food supplies to people in crisis compared to 1,109,309 in 2015-16. Of this number, 436,938 went to children."

And it's not just people going along to get something for free because they can. You can't just walk in and ask or help yourself, you have to be referred to a food bank by one of a number of authorised organisations. Need is proven, and support is given, by way of sufficient food to provide meals for three days at a time.

But you can't just go back every fourth day and ask for more...  you have to be referred.  For instance, the Milton Keynes food bank, which is independent of the Trussell Trust, limits its help (although adds a rider that they can be flexible if clients need extra help), 

"Clients can receive a food parcel x5 times within a rolling 12 month period."

So why are so many families being forced to ask for help? The Trussell Trust states that delays to benefits payments were the most common reason for the rising number of referrals to foodbanks. Labour's Richard Burden (Parliamentary Candidate for Birmingham Northfield) said in an article in the Huff Post in Dec 2016 that,

"There is a wide spectrum of people who are running out of the money they need to buy food, toilet rolls and other family essentials these days. Quite a few different reasons too. However, a common factor in so many cases is the way the tax benefits and tax credits systems operate. People facing sanctions; people moving from one benefit to another with delays in the meantime; people falling between one part of the benefit or tax credit system and another. And please don’t think I am simply talking about people without jobs. A lot of people who turn for help to B30 and other foodbanks across the country are in work. It’s just that they are on poverty pay."

Low pay is a big factor: public sector has been subject to a pay freeze for several years, which means that in real terms most workers are now earning less than they were in 2010, with no prospect of a change, unless we see a change of government on 8th June.

The Mirror reported in March 2017 that,

"Public sector workers, including midwives, teaching assistants and refuse collectors, face a real terms pay cut of £4,000 on average by 2020 because of the government’s wages’ freeze,"

If people earn less, but costs of housing, heating, travel, food all continue to rise it is common sense that people will struggle to make ends meet and will need help with basics, especially as thresholds for in-work benefits are lowered, an impact that The Trussell Trust warned about in November 2015.

In another Huff Post article, Chris Mould the Chairman of the Trussell Trust, mentioned the publication of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s latest Destitution Report. It reports that in 2015 1.25 million people were unable to afford the absolute essentials needed to eat, stay warm and dry, and keep clean. This is 1.25 million people living in the UK; four in five of them born here. In the sixth richest country in the world, 1.25 million people are living in poverty and cannot afford food, heating or even toilet rolls!  I bet that is never a problem for those at 10 Downing Street!

So, having pointed out the problem, what is the solution to it? How do we reduce the demand, and remove the need, for food banks?  It's all down to the austerity economy which governments in power since 2010 have pursued.  Austerity is not a financial requirement, it is a political choice. It is a measure by which governments control the population without the population realising it is being controlled. It is gradual, it is insidious, it is destructive, and it is unnecessary.   

On 8th June we have the chance to make a change for the better, by not voting for more of the same. We can vote for a real alternative, for an economy that invests to make it grow, for a government that will bring in a real living wage of £10 an hour for all adults.  A government that will protect human rights and workers' rights, that will restore dignity to those whose lives have been blighted by benefit cuts, sanctions, food banks and homelessness. A government that will protect and invest in our NHS and social care systems. A government that will build homes that people can afford to buy or rent, and ensure proper rent controls and decent homes standards. A government that will invest in our schools and make good education available to everyone. A government that will help create quality jobs. A government that will take good care of its people and the environment in which we all live. 

Labour's 10 Pledges

The choice is simple, use your vote on 8th June. 

No home, no job, no bank account... what can you do?

I see many outspoken comments about how bad it is that people are sleeping on the streets, that they are not working but can afford tattoos, piercings, dogs, booze, fags, etc... and every time I read such a post my heart sinks as I know it will be followed by any number of highly critical replies calling homeless people every name under the sun. Calling them out for being lazy, for not wanting to work, for just being interested in drugs or booze, for not taking responsibility for their own lives. 

There may well be odd cases where the person sleeping rough could have prevented it happening, but for the vast majority that is not true. The reasons why people find themselves on the streets, homeless and jobless, are many. Usually there is a connection between them: In the UK it is almost impossible to find a job if you are homeless. In the UK it is almost impossible to find a home if you are jobless. How do you resolve that?

Some homeless people are ex-service personnel who have left the armed forces and not been able to re-adjust to civilian life. Their marriage may have broken down, they may be disabled physically or suffering PTSD or other mental health issues as a result of their service.

Others are youngsters who have left home for whatever reason: perhaps a family conflict, perhaps abuse by a relative, perhaps just not being allowed to remain within the home they grew up in. Some of them are youngsters who grew up in foster families or children's homes who have nowhere else to go once they reach the age of majority.

Some are people who have lost their job or been laid off and can no longer afford to pay their mortgage or rent, and for whom the welfare benefits system has failed, or through sanctions or ineligibility. 

Yet more may be those with mental health issues, who are so badly let down by the current system of non-care. Those who, for all sorts of reasons, may not be able to cope with living alone or with others, yet who still need to be housed and cared for.

There are times when there needs to be help provided, where the collective responsibility of a compassionate society needs to kick in and help those who have nowhere to live to find somewhere, or to find a job. How can we do this?

Well firstly it takes money - and under a government which runs an austerity budget that is not an easy thing to find! It also takes social and political will. Social, because we as a society need to understand why homelessness happens and how we can address it, and political because the politicians need to understand there is no quick fix for this, that it will cost money, but that by not taking action it will, in the long term, cost us even more, so non-action is a false economy!

Government could allocate funds to every area with a homeless population, sufficient to purchase a large enough property (or properties if more than one is needed) that can be converted into bedsits so that anyone who is homeless has a safe place of their own to live and sleep. It could even be done as a community project with those who will live in it helping to create the living spaces - thus learning new skills that could help them later on and giving them a sense of involvement and ownership of the project.

Once they are safely housed then they may need help with more skills training, with further education, or finding work suitable to their health and abilities. This could be done in collaboration either with local colleges, or with employers who would provide spaces for people in need of job experience. Once they have those extra skills or experience and an address it becomes so much easier to find permanent employment. 

But there are still other factors to take into account: how does one live without a paid job? This is where UBI comes in. I don't mean like at the work experience level of payment, I mean an amount that is sufficient to provide the necessities and a bit left over. It needs to be set at a level to pay for clothes, food etc, with the accommodation cost being covered by government until such time as they were earning enough to move into a separate place of their own. The key thing is to set levels realistically, not at some artificially low sum where the only way you can survive is by eating 9p bean-burgers every day! 

Managing the UBI brings to mind the need for banking facilities for those whom the high street banks find unattractive, whilst avoiding the lure of the money lenders who prey on the vulnerable. Having a people's bank would allow those who do not have access to commercial banks to have an account into which their earnings or allowances would be paid. This removes another of the hurdles that face many people who are homeless and jobless.

By helping homeless and jobless people in this way you are encouraging them to become members of the wider community rather than living on the fringe or outside of it, you are also giving them dignity and independence, and enhancing their sense of personal self-worth, which in many cases has been destroyed by years of abuse or deprivation.

Finally, there needs to be a shift in attitude towards homeless and jobless people: they are being blamed for being homeless and jobless and it is not their fault! The reason the media promotes the idea that they are to blame is that it suits the government's rhetoric of austerity and the principle of divide and rule. Until we all realise what game the government and media are playing  and if we allow them to make us believe that being homeless and jobless are not political issues then we are being fooled.  We need to stand up and protest, whether that be direct to our MP, via marches and demonstrations, at the ballot box each time there is a by-election for council seats or an MP, or most importantly, at the elections for councils and mayors on 4th May. #VoteLabour and help get this situation sorted.