Many people commenting on this site want a real alternative to neoliberalism.
They'd like Labour to provide it, but so far it is not doing so. That, I am sure, is why the People's Assembly Against Austerity has been launched.
The appeal from the Guardian is linked below. There are more details here. I share it because I think it appropriate to do so. We need change and Labour has to be told as much as anyone it seems. I am pleased that the Greens do not sem to need that reminder.
The People's Assembly Against Austerity was launched with a letter to the Guardian by the initial signatories below:
This is a call to all those millions of people in Britain who face an impoverished and uncertain year as their wages, jobs, conditions and welfare provision come under renewed attack by the government. With some 80% of austerity measures still to come, and with the government lengthening the time they expect cuts to last, we are calling a People's Assembly Against Austerity to bring together campaigns against cuts and privatisation with trade unionists in a movement for social justice. We aim to develop a strategy for resistance to mobilise millions of people against the Con Dem government.
The assembly will provide a national forum for anti-austerity views which, while increasingly popular, are barely represented in parliament. A People's Assembly can play a key role in ensuring that this uncaring government faces a movement of opposition broad enough and powerful enough to generate successful co-ordinated action, including strike action. The assembly will be ready to support co-ordinated industrial action and national demonstrations against austerity, if possible synchronising with mobilisations across Europe. The People's Assembly Against Austerity will meet at Central Hall, Westminster, on 22 June.
Tony Benn President, Coalition of Resistance
Len McCluskey General secretary, Unite the Union
Mark Serwotka General secretary, PCS
Christine Blower General secretary, NUT
Michelle Stanistreet General secretary, NUJ
Manuel Cortez General secretary, TSSA
Billy Hayes General secretary, CWU
Bob Crow General secretary, RMT
Mick Whelan General secretary, Aslef
Kevin Courtney Deputy general secretary, NUT
Paul Mackney Former general secretary Natfhe (now UCU)
Vicky Baars NUS union development
Kevin Donnelly Trade Union Council JCC
Caroline Lucas MP
Katy Clark MP
Jeremy Corbyn MP
John McDonnell MP
Murad Qureshi London assembly member
Dawn Butler Former Labour minister for young citizens and youth engagement
Tariq Ali Author
John Pilger Journalist
Ken Loach Filmmaker
Owen Jones Writer
James Meadway Senior economist, New Economics Foundation
Dot Gibson National Pensioners Convention Keep our NHS Public
Merry Cross Disabled People Against the Cuts
John Hendy QC Co-chair, People's Charter
John Hilary Director, War on Want
Sam Fairbairn National secretary, Coalition of Resistance
Imran Khan Solicitor, co-chair, People's Charter
Rachael Newton People's Charter
Romayne Phoenix Chair, Coalition of Resistance
Zita Holbourne Co-chair, Black activists rising against the cuts
Clare Solomon Vice-chair, Coalition of Resistance
Andrew Burgin Vice-chair, Coalition of Resistance
Colin Hampton Co-ordinator, National Unemployed Workers Centres Combine
Anita Wright Secretary, National Association of Women
Joginder Bains Association of Indian Women
Shang Gahonia Indian Workers Association
Carolyn Jones Director, Institute of Employment Rights
Lindsey German Convenor, Stop the War Coalition
Kate Hudson General secretary, CND
Bruce Kent Peace campaigner
Mark Steel Comedian
Lee Hall Playwright
Roger Lloyd Pack Actor
Josie Long Comedian
Iain Banks Author
Arthur Smith Comedian
Roy Bailey Folk singer
Francesca Martinez Comedian
Richard Wilson Actor
John Rees Counterfire editorial board
Natalie Bennett Leader of the Green Party England and Wales
Fred Leplat Socialist Resistance
Robert Griffiths General secretary, Communist Party of Britain
Bill Greenshields Chair, Communist Party of Britain
Richard Bagley Editor, Morning Star
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Add our Party to your list.We speak for the ELDERLY,SICK & Disabled. this coalition is a disgrace Britain,attacking our ppl with lies about the economy.We can & should lookafter the vulnerable
Is this anything like that ‘100 Months’ campaign from a few years back?
No
Thank goodness. What a washout that turned out to be.
It is unlikely that either more austerity (belt tightening) or more stimuli can fix the current economic difficulties. We are so far in debt in both sovereign and personal terms neither of these two models can assist. The austerity model (UK) is not doing so well and neither is the stimulus model (France). The outcome is likely a major reset of the financial system which will cause much more trauma than the 2008 upset. Savers beware and stand by for future shock. http://tinyurl.com/c4chw5l
And I think that’s why Labour are being somewhat cautious with a lot of the pressing issues. Surely it’s not just ‘how we share out the cake’ ( although that’s critical in a week when millionaires will pay less tax as we remove income from the poor and disabled) its also how we make ‘the overall cake larger’ and that’s about where we put our possibly reduced economic resources probably infrastructure, high value technology training, airports, HS2 or whatever else gets exports moving again. I do not believe respectfully that we can ignore that ‘re-think’ and solely think about redistribution or social justice.
I think the green agenda. Being ignored here
Cakes do no expand forever. Th laws of physics do not allow it
It is surely possible to grow without hitting non-human resource constraints if we learn to reuse, repair, transform. If we run out of demand for things, we will never run out of demand for services which need not use much in the way of non-renewable resources. But fair distribution is also essential.
I explore that idea at length in The Courageous State
A broader and even gloomier overview, supporting the major reset argument, can be found in John Ward’s blog here: http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2013/03/30/the-saturday-essay-more-looting-levies-more-asset-taxes-now-its-default-or-die/
I have no time for neo liberalism, but the list of people signing up to the Peoples Assembly are the usual left wing suspects. I even see my Sociology Tutor from the 1970s listed there! He could sing and drink but did not have much idea of running anything.
Where’s the appeal for economic growth by smart and hard work, decent work related skills training, and good organization? And some of the guys mentioned would not like a fair taxation system, they are doing quite nicely on the existing one.
That is stereotypical nonsense
NHS PRIVATISATION ALERT
I CAME ACROSS THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE YESTERDAY, AND IT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION I’VE COME ACROSS SO FAR REGARDING PRIVATISATION OF OUR NHS. IT IS CRUCIAL THAT EVERYONE ACCESSES THE FOLLOWING SITES AND MAKES KNOWN WHAT IS HAPPENING :-
http:-//www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/linda-kaucher/real-force-behind-nhs-act-euus-trade-agreement
http:-//opendemocracy.net/ournhs/alex-ashman/nhs-must-be-exempted-from-useu-free-trade-agreement
Dave Coates
To work Dave Coates’s links should be as follows (i.e. without the dash):
http://www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/linda-kaucher/real-force-behind-nhs-act-euus-trade-agreement
http://www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/alex-ashman/nhs-must-be-exempted-from-useu-free-trade-agreement
It is clear that we need a sea change in our aims and what we think life is about. Capitalism is essentially a form of social darwinism. Surely we can do a bit better than that. The rich white knuckle their money and the poor are getting poorer -but maybe there is a silver-lining in this in that those on limited money will have to find values to live by that are not based on continuous external gain (‘who dies with the most toys wins’). I feel the reason we are so obsessed with having rather than being is that capitalism in its present ‘vicious’ form is bereft of real cultural life. It is the quality of human interaction that counts not our economic value to each other -perhaps we will have to get more and more ill before change eventually takes place. At the micro level we often don’t change our personal habits till the 11th hour, so with the macro level of society. Our society needs a nervous breakdown to see that it needs to change. It will be messy!
Are you asking people to forego the privilege of having a roof over their heads? Because this is one of things which has become more and more unaffordable, unlike mobile phones and flat screen tellies.
What has happened to the housing market is an absolute scandal. The British have just swallowed this with little complaint. The last Labour Government was utterly supine when house prices rose 300-400%. This was like a sector of the populace having its currency massively devalued. We need a new approach to housing not based on ownership. The trust model might be a good one where we are custodians of a house we pass on to others so we can escape the nefarious and pathetic ‘ladder’ that no longer has rungs.
Just extract all the land rent for public benefit (land value tax) and house prices will reflect the construction cost only. Land is the speculative part. You don’t buy a secondhand car and expect to sell it at a profit ten years later. Location, location, location.