Protesters Return to the Streets and Experts Predict More Than a Million People Will Fall into Absolute Poverty.

 

On Saturday 2^nd April trades unionists and campaigners for social and economic justice will take to the streets for a third national day of action.

 

Protests will take place in towns and cities around the country organized by the People’s Assembly, including Birmingham, Liverpool, and Sheffield. There will also be a protest outside Downing Street [2]

 

Responding to the Spring statement made by chancellor Rishi Sunak the Michael Burke of the People’s Assembly said that due to the cost-of-living crisis ‘living standards will fall by the largest amount on record over the next 12 months, going back 80 years. The fall in real wages, after inflation, will also be the worst since the Napoleonic era [1]

 

The impact would, he said, he felt by working people who, thanks to inflation ‘lower real wages, including public sector wages the government directly controls. So will anyone on a state pension, or all those struggling on benefits’. Adding that benefits would only rise by ‘3.1% in April. That is literally half the current rate of inflation and about a third of the official forecast for later this year’.

 

Activists from North Staffs Trades Council, the Staffordshire branch of the People’s Assembly and political parties will be holding a protest in Hanley town centre as part of the day of action.

 

The protests will highlight the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, something campaigners had hoped the chancellor would address in his Spring Statement.

 

Although some measures were put in place to support households struggling to make ends meet, including providing extra funding for local authorities to help people struggling to pay their council tax, the support available does not address the extent of the crisis.

 

Following the Spring statement, the Resolution Foundation warned that due to a combination of rising inflation, higher energy bills and the planned hike in National Insurance payments 1.3 million people are at risk of falling into absolute poverty.

 

They also warned that families will see their incomes fall on average by 4% (£1,100), with the lowest paid seeing a fall of 6%.

 

Chief Executive Torsten Bell said ‘“The decision not to target support at those hardest hit by rising prices will leave low-and-middle income households painfully exposed, with 1.3 million people, including half a million children, set to fall below the poverty line this coming year’ [3].

 

Going on to say that the chancellor had ‘prioritised rebuilding his tax-cutting credentials over supporting the low-to-middle income households who will be hardest hit from the surging cost of living, while also leaving himself fiscal flexibility in the years ahead. Whether that will be sustainable in the face of huge income falls to come remains to be seen’.

 

The Hanley protest will take place at the blue clock outside the Potteries Centre at 1pm, details of speakers will be announced later.

Event details and map available at:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1008300056560504/?acontext=%7B%22ref%22%3A%2252%22%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22[%7B%5C%22surface%5C%22%3A%5C%22share_link%5C%22%2C%5C%22mechanism%5C%22%3A%5C%22share_link%5C%22%2C%5C%22extra_data%5C%22%3A%7B%5C%22invite_link_id%5C%22%3A456092226307908%7D%7D]%22%7D

[1] https://thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/workers-and-the-poor-are-paying-for-the-tory-crisis/

[2] https://thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/

[3] https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/press-releases/33284/

 

Councillors Need the Power to Deliver if Local Democracy is to be Meaningful.

 

On 5^th May voters across the country will go to the polls to elect their local council, electing members to sit on 21 unitary authorities, 33 metropolitan boroughs, 66 non-metropolitan boroughs and 22 London councils [1].

 

Newcastle-under-Lyme will be one of the councils holding an election with seats up for grabs from Audley to Whitmore [2].

 

As they go into the elections research published by the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) shows that two thirds of councillors do not feel they have sufficient power to properly represent their constituents.

 

In an article published on the ERS website Acting Head of Communications Jon Narcross writes that councillors are in the ‘front-line of our democracy’ and deal with the ‘bread and butter’ issues that most impact people’s lives.

 

He adds that ‘for too long our local democracy has suffered at the hands of an over-centralised Westminster system where the ‘centre-knows-best’ mentality has left local democracy to wither – and councillors without the power to represent the needs of their local community’ [3].

 

The research conducted as part of the Democracy Made in England report written for the ERS was based on interviews with 800 local representatives from across England.

 

The researchers found that two thirds of the councillors interviewed (68%) felt they did not have the powers they needed to represent their community. Concerns were also expressed that key decisions about ‘levelling up’ were being taken in Westminster with local people having only limited input.

 

Data included in the report shows that 70% of councillors questioned believed decisions should be made in partnership between local and national government, with 65% saying that more should be done to involve communities in decisions taken about their area.

 

Jon Narcross writes that there needs to be a radical rebalancing of power in favour of local communities. At present the UK is one of the most centralised and any reform will require changing the outdated first pas the post electoral system and the creation of an elected second chamber with enhanced representation for ‘the UK’s nations, regions and localities’.

 

Adding that ‘only when our local communities and those that serve them have the powers, they need can we begin to address England’s democratic deficit’.

 

Local government after being battered by a decade of austerity and then having the pandemic deliver the sucker punch that landed is gasping on the canvas is undeniably in a poor state. Elected representatives have seen their role shrink down to that of having to endless limit the expectations of the people they have to try and convince they can change the world come election time, an unenviable and impossible task.

 

If the deep seated injustices afflicting most of the towns and cities that used to comprise Labour’s ‘red wall’ and turned Tory in 2019 in such numbers then decision making has to be collaborative or fail. Westminster driving them through hoops after crumbs every few years will only breed resentment and disengagement from politics. A vicious circle that makes the job of councillors at the sharp end harder still.

 

This has to be aligned with a genuine willingness on the part of councils to devolve power down to communities. The Civic Centre can be just as insular and distrustful of we the people as the Westminster village.

 

A prime example being the curious capers of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Councils, where full council meetings are cancelled because there isn’t enough business to make holding them worthwhile and consultations are ‘spun’ to prevent the public from expressing views that might be inconvenient.

 

Anyone who has followed the battle to stop green spaces around the town being covered in concrete or observed the parlous state of the local market, to cite just two examples, knows there is no shortage of business to put before the council. What is lacking is a commitment to democratic engagement on the part of the leadership, along with a big dollop of humility.

 

Prising the dead hand of Westminster off some of the levers of power can only ever be a good thing. Unless it is immediately replaced by the grubby one of a council leadership that has got too big for its boots.

 

[1] https://www.local.gov.uk/about/our-meetings-and-leadership/political-composition/local-government-elections

[2] https://www.newcastle-staffs.gov.uk/elections-registration-1/local-government-elections-2022

[3] https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/for-local-democracy-to-flourish-our-representatives-need-the-power-to-deliver/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ers-email&utm_campaign=blog-roundup&utm_content=Blog+Round+Up+12+March+-+Winner+Send

 

A Second Weekend of Protests Announced as the War in Ukraine Escalates.

 

The Stop the War Coalition and The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament have called a second day of action to protest against the war in Ukraine for Saturday 12^th March.

 

In London’s Trafalgar Square thousands of people gathered to hear speakers including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Stop the War Coalition convenor Lindsey German.

 

Protests took place in towns and cities around the UK including Manchester, Birmingham, and Glasgow.

 

A stop the War event held in Hanley organized by Ukraine Solidarity North Staffs and sponsored by South Cheshire and North Staffordshire CND, NORSCARF and North Staffs Green Party attracted more than sixty people and collected money and personal care items to be donated to people in the war zone.

 

In a statement published in their website CND said “We condemn the Russian military aggression against Ukraine. There is no justification for war.
The bombing must stop immediately. What is needed, is a comprehensive ceasefire, the withdrawal of all troops and a return to the negotiating table”.

 

Local anti-racism campaign group NORSCARF will also be sponsoring the Hanley event and providing a speaker.

 

They go on to warn that the presence of nuclear weapons in the region and threats regarding their possible use made by Russian president Vladimir Putin presents a serious threat to world peace.

 

The week since the last protest action has seen the war in Ukraine escalate significantly with civilians fleeing towns across the country as invading Russian troops attempt to progress their stalled advance.

 

Thousands of refugees have crossed into neighbouring countries including Poland, the UK government continues to face criticism for moving too slowly when it comes to issuing visas and for making the process of claiming asylum too bureaucratic.

 

A spokesperson Ukraine Solidarity North Staffs said: ‘the situation in Ukraine is getting worse by the day and there is a real risk of a humanitarian disaster as neighbouring countries struggle to cope with the flow of refugees’.

 

Adding that ‘the government needs to speed up and simplify the process for granting visas to people fleeing the war’.

 

A second event sponsored by Ukraine Solidarity North Staffs, North Staffs Green Party and SCANSCND will be held on Saturday 12^th March at the Blue Clock on Upper Market Square in Hanley ST1 1NS, between 12:00 & 13:30pm.

 

Regular updates about the event will be posted on the Ukraine Solidarity North Staffs Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/groups/ukrainesolidaritynorthstaffordshire

 

 

 

 

Banner Sends Message That Fight for Trees at Bradwell Hospital Goes On.

 

Campaigners fighting to protect trees on land adjacent to Bradwell Hospital have put up a banner to tell developers they haven’t given up their struggle.

 

The trees have been under threat since early last year due to plans by developers Seddon to build 85 homes on the site. Residents fearing the loss of a green space valued by the community have joined with Save Newcastle’s Green Sites to oppose the plans.

 

The Banner, which is twenty feet long and reads ‘Save Our Trees- All Life Matters was put up overnight and is clearly visible to passing traffic.

 

Bradwell is only one of several sites including the former Keele Golf Course that have come under threat of development as part of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council’s plans to meet increased need for housing in the area.

 

Campaigners fear that in doing so habitats that are vital to wildlife will be lost, this will have a detrimental impact on already declining biodiversity. They are also concerned at the harm losing a green space they use for recreation will do to the wellbeing of people living nearby.

 

A spokesperson for Save Newcastle’s Green Sites said, ‘we recognize the need for more housing in the borough, but the council are going about delivering it in the wrong way’.

 

Adding that ‘the first options should be to build on brownfield sites and repurpose existing buildings that are standing empty’.

 

The group has repeatedly challenged the council on the way it has conducted the consultation into its ‘strategic options’ for building housing in the borough, particularly in relation to how difficult they have made it for people to raise objections.

 

Speaking about the banner the spokesperson said it was a ‘demonstration of our determination to work with communities to protect the green spaces they value from thoughtless development’.

Fresh Air Bears Come To Town with a Serious Message.

 

If you go down to Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre on Saturday 26th February, you'll be in for a big surprise.

 

Community group Stop the Stink/Cap it Off are holding a family event in Queens Gardens to highlight the impact of the 'stink' from Walley's Quarry on the health of local children.

 

The event will begin with a march through the town centre starting from Bridge Street at 10:30am.

 

There will be music and comedy at various points along the march, followed by speakers and activities for children in Queen's Gardens.

 

These will include an opportunity for young people to express how they feel about the: stink' and other environmental issues by writing and drawing in 'Fresh Air Bears' to be used to decorate a special tree.

 

Speakers at the event will include consultant in children's medicine Dr Iain Sinha and families living in near to the quarry describing their experiences.

 

Other speakers will include representatives from groups campaigning to protect green spaces in the borough and local trades unions.

 

Refreshments will be available from a stall in Queen’s Gardens run by Better Together.

 

The event will be advertised by a powerful social media campaign using dramatic images to represent the lived experience of families living near to Walley’s Quarry.

 

There will be a special guest appearance by a yet to be named celebrity, full details will be announced later this week.

 

The event will conclude at 3pm (approximate).

 

Updates and information are available at the Stop the Stink/Cap It Off Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/191757102657715

 

 

 

The Cost-of-Living Crisis Will Result in Thousands of Entirely Avoidable Deaths.

 

On Saturday 12th February activists from North Staffs Green Party took part in a protest against the raising of the cap on energy prices.

 

The event took place outside Hanley bus station and was organised by Staffordshire People's Assembly. Also represented were local trades unions, and groups campaigning for asylum seekers and disability rights.

 

The protest was part of a national day of action with similar events taking place in twenty-five towns across the county including London, Birmingham, and Manchester.

 

Speaking to the Guardian on Saturday General Secretary of the People’s Assembly and former Labour MP Laura Pidcock said there was ‘real anger’ over the rising cost of living and the government’s failure to take effective action.

 

She added that “Working people could not be working harder and yet life is getting so much more difficult,” and that as a result “Older people will be cold in their homes, people will be struggling to feed their children, when none of this is a crisis of their making”. [1]

 

Speaking at the protest a representative of North Staffs Greens said that poverty was a 'contagion' in our society, and that it had a devastating impact on people's physical and mental health.

 

Zoe Nicholson, the leader of Lewes District Council and Green Party spokesperson for the Green New Deal said earlier this month of government support for people struggling to pay their bills "At a time when millions of people across the country are facing unprecedented rises in energy prices, the government's solution fails to respond to the seriousness of either the cost-of-living crisis or the climate crisis”.

 

She went on to say “Instead of a simple and effective payment to everybody as we suggested, he has put forward a buy-now pay-later scheme which will create an additional burden for those on the lowest incomes further down the line”.

 

Adding that “At the same time he has done nothing to help reduce bills and reduce carbon emissions by insulating people’s homes, and instead opted to prop up the fossil fuel companies whose profits are sky-rocketing at the expense of all of us as well as the environment [2]”.

 

The Green Party has put forward a five-point plan for addressing the cost-of-living crisis.

 

They call for grants to help people at risk of falling into fuel poverty insulate their homes, an extension to winter fuel payments, more investment in renewable energy and for the hike in National Insurance payments to be scrapped.

 

This would be paid for through a windfall tax on energy companies including BP, who this week announced profits exceeding £9.5billion.

 

Speaking at the protest the Green Party representative said they stood in solidarity with 'children having to go to school with holes in their shoes, parents going hungry so their kids can eat and old people who have worked all their lives, and now can't heat their homes'.

 

Speakers from other groups also expressed concern about the impact of rising energy prices and other pressures on household budgets.

 

Blythe Taylor, a member of Stoke and Crewe Socialist Workers Party said it was an 'attack on the living standards of working-class people'.

 

A representative of Staffordshire Disabled People Against Cuts said combined with the difficulties they face due to Universal Credit a rise in household heating costs risked causing 'untold numbers of entirely avoidable deaths.

 

A speaker from Acorn, a group campaigning on housing and other community issues urged people to follow the example set by the Diggers, Chartists and Suffragettes by organising and fighting back.

 

The People's Assembly have announced dates for two further national protests, these will be held on 2nd March and 5th April.

 

A spokesperson for North Staffs Green Party said the event in Hanley had 'shown the depth of public concern around an issue that will have an impact on everyone'.

 

Adding that they party would be 'working with local trades unions and the People's Assembly to make the next two events bigger and better. Things do not have to be like this, through partnership and organisation we can bring about change'.

 

[1]https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/12/uk-cost-of-living-protesters-demonstrate-peoples-assembly

 

[2]https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/02/03/government%E2%80%99s-response-to-energy-crisis-creates-future-risk-rather-than-future-proofing,-greens-warn/

 

We Must All Work Together to Protect Vulnerable Households from the Cost-of-Living Crisis.

 North Staffs Green Party has put its support behind a campaign run jointly by Staffordshire People’s Assembly and North Staffordshire Trades Union Council calling for energy bills to be capped.

 

Last week energy regulator OFGEM announced that it would raise the price cap on household energy bills by more than 50%, seeing costs for the average household rise to £1,277 this winter, on top of a previous increase of 12% announced in August last year [1].

 

Attempting to avoid negative publicity at a time when the government is stumbling from one crisis to the next the Treasury announced measures to soften the blow of rising energy prices. These included a £200 rebate on energy bills for every household, this would then be paid back through bills in subsequent years.

 

Fuel poverty campaign groups have expressed disappointment at the measures put in place, a spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition told the Guardian the rise in the price cap would be “be somewhere between devastating and catastrophic for millions of people across the country, could very quickly wipe out any support these loans can provide [2]”.

 

Also speaking to the Guardian Claire Moriarty chief executive of Citizens Advice said that around the country frontline advisers were hearing “desperate stories of families living in just one room to keep warm, people turning off their fridges to save money and others relying on hot-water bottles instead of heating due to fears about mounting bills.”

 

A spokesperson for North Staffs Green Party said “the cost-of-living crisis is driving families who are doing all they can to get by into poverty and in the very worst cases destitution. The package of measures put forward by the Treasury do not even come close to meeting the scale of need. There is a very real risk that if action is not taken lives will be lost”.

 

The rise to the cap on energy prices comes at a time when households are facing increasing pressure on their finances. Rising inflation rates, predicted to be above £% by April next year mean everyone will be hit by rising prices, but low-income households will be hit hardest due to having less of a financial ‘buffer’ against unexpected expenses [3].

 

In January the Green Party put forward a five-point plan to address rising fuel costs and the impending climate crisis.

 

The plan calls for emergency grants to help those at risk of fuel poverty to insulate their homes, an extension to winter fuel payments, a windfall tax on the profits of oil and as companies, higher investment in renewable energy and scrapping the proposed increase in National Insurance payments [4].

 

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said the plan represented the “sort of positive and radical action we need to protect the most vulnerable in society and ensure that we can all live a more comfortable life, at the same time as taking real action on climate change to provide longer-term security”

 

The campaign will see activists take to the streets across the county to protest against the rise to the price cap and to call for the government to provide more support to struggling households.

 

In a statement made on Facebook the organisers say: “The Government has failed. Join the protests outside Hanley Bus Station on Lidice Way! Bring friends, workmates, placards, banners and noise!”

 

Groups represented at the Stoke-on-Trent protest include North Staffs Climate Coalition and Stoke XR, other participants will be announced on the day.

 

The spokesperson for North Staffs Green Party said: “we stand with the Trades Council, the People’s Assembly and all other groups involved in calling for an energy policy that leaves nobody out in the cold”.

 

The protest will take place on Lidice Way, outside Hanley Bus Station at 13:00pm.

 

 

[1]https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/feb/02/energy-bills-rise-ofgem-price-cap

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/02/treasury-preparing-11th-hour-package-to-soften-national-cost-of-living-crisis?link_id=19&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-green-party-morning-briefing-wed-2-feb&email_referrer=email_1430737&email_subject=green-party-morning-briefing-thurs-3-feb

[3]https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/uk-poverty-2022?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=JRF%20Newsletter%2021%20January%202022&utm_content=JRF%20Newsletter%2021%20January%202022+CID_c53a2a4fb4087b0d36a1112428db940f&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=Read%20the%20report

[4]https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/01/06/green-party-five-point-plan-for-warm-homes,-lower-bills-and-a-safer-climate/?link_id=2&can_id=8bc5e413fe5b14a23ca14eb06da17776&source=email-carla-adrians-100-days-in-office-whats-next&email_referrer=email_1426825&email_subject=carla-adrians-100-days-in-office-whats-next