Corbyn

Corbyn said he will give full power back to the unions , 70’s again ?

Probably Anniebach and we'll be right back to the mess we were in at the time - the trade unions holding the rest of us to hostage. We elect a Government to run the country, not the unions. They had far too much power at the time. I remember it well, and that's why I could never vote for a Labour Government again.

Of course Opal much better to stop working people organising, keep them on inadequate wages with poor working conditions so that rich people can exploit them. After all why should they get a fair day's pay for a fair day's work? Who on earth do they think they are?

Gracesgran I have not been brainwashed by anyone!
If that wasn't so rude it would be hilarious.
Do you not have faith in Corbyn then?

Personally, I shall read the main manifestos first but I don't have much faith in any of them carrying out their promises.

Gracesgran I don't know why I should be attacked for suggesting you just ignore posts you don't like - ie metaphorically 'walk away'.

It seems quite sensible to me.

I don’t have trust in any of them.

The Government runs the country? No sources of influence and power from elsewhere? Wealthy donors including Russians? Murdoch? TPA, IEA funded by who knows? Any Government of any colour will have people outside the Government it is beholden to and who influence policy

No, governments don't run the world.
They just tinker with a few policies

Exactly trisher so glad you agree

There's no need to hark back to the 70's for an example of things going wrong. In my view, we are in a far worse situation now than then.

Life expectancy in the UK has stopped improving for the first time since 1982 when records began. In some parts of the UK, life expectancy has decreased and the decline is accelerating (Guardian 2019)

The Centre for Health and Public Interest Report "The failure of privatised adult Social Care in England (November 2016)
"Conclusion:
"The marketisation of adult social care in England is a salutary policy tale. It has been characterised by stealth over four decades – initially as a limited initiative to improve ‘choice’ and create a competitive ‘mixed economy’ and
then to the virtual elimination of public sector provision. In this process there has been growing tension between the need for private companies to sustain a profitable business and the needs of vulnerable people for care and support.
.... There has already been one major provider failure and there is every prospect of further failures in the near future..."

Guardian March 2019
Poverty increases among children and pensioners across UK

"The number of children and pensioners in absolute poverty increased in 2017-18 as inflation and accommodation costs took a bigger chunk out of household finances, according to figures from the Department for Work and Pensions.

"Inequality also jumped in response to rising incomes among the richest workers and the second year of a benefit freeze that hit low-incomes households, the DWP said.

"30% of children, or 4.1 million, were living in relative poverty (after housing costs) in 2017-18 in the UK and 70% of children living in poverty were in working families.

"The percentage of pensioners in relative poverty before housing costs rose from 17% to 18% between 2016/17 and 2017/18."

BBCNews July 2009
Crimes solved by police in England and Wales at new low

"The proportion of crimes solved by police in England and Wales has fallen to the lowest level recorded, according to Home Office data.

"In the 12 months to March, 7.8% of offences saw someone charged or summonsed, down from 9.1% a year ago.......

The Independent (Jan 2018)
Think Carillion was bad? Wait until you hear about the financial scandal engulfing our children’s academies

"In the latest figures Kemnal Academies Trust has eight schools in the red, there are deficits at seven of 35 ARK academies and a quarter of AET’s 66 schools are in deficit. Forty thousand children are in “zombie” academies where a new sponsor cannot be found after the previous one has dropped the school or is stripped of its powers......

..."England’s largest academy chain was accused by Ofsted of failing poorer pupils. Ofsted’s chief inspector has warned of “serious weaknesses” in standards at academies.." .....

The Obsever (July 2018)
The great academy schools scandal

"In 2015 Kinsley School left the auspices of Wakefield council to become Kinsley Academy, joining one of the hundreds of charitable companies the government calls “multi-academy trusts ..... But in Kinsley, the reverse has happened... Kinsley has seen standards plummet to well below the national average.............

..."In July 2016, the Education Funding Agency investigated the trust. Its draft report, leaked to the TES, found that its interim chief executive, the businessman Mike Ramsay, had paid himself £82,000 over a three-month period.... Later that year, it was reported that the trust had paid almost £440,000 to IT and admin companies owned by Ramsay and his daughter.

"The trust was nevertheless allowed to carry on. Then, in September last year, it suddenly announced it would be looking for new sponsors for all 21 of its schools – but not before it had transferred more than £1.5m of reserves from its schools to its central coffers, entirely permissible in the current system. Some of this was funds raised by parents. It’s not clear whether any of this money will be left when the trust winds up, or whether those schools will see it again."............

..........."Wakefield City is one in a series of high-profile failures of trusts forced to give up all their schools. The magazine Schools Week reported just last week that Bright Tribe, the trust with the lowest-performing secondary schools in the country, would also be closing and handing back its 10 schools.....

......"There have been several studies in the past few years that have invariably reached similar conclusions: there doesn’t appear to be an inherent benefit to a school being run by an academy chain instead of a local authority........

"Potential conflicts of interest abound within opaque, interconnected circles: the Conservative peer Lord Nash was for years a schools minister while chairing an academy chain accountable to the government department he helped to run.

Link to the full article for anyone who is interested www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jul/22/academy-schools-scandal-failing-trusts

Solicitors Journal June 2019 - Criminal justice system at 'breaking point'

"The criminal justice system is on the brink of collapse after a decade of underfunding and needs urgent intervention, a Law Society report has concluded.......

....."The report uncovers a system at breaking point with every part of the process floundering, resulting in injustice and preventing access to justice.

"Law Society president Christina Blacklaws said: “Unsurprisingly, it is those on lower and middle incomes who bear the greatest burden.”

"Blacklaws warned that in five years there could be areas where there will no longer be access to a duty solicitor."

BBC News October 2019
More than 3,000 bus routes cut in past decade

"More than 3,000 local bus routes have been lost or reduced over the past decade, according to a new study.

"The Campaign for Better Transport said local authority funding had fallen by more than 40% while central government funding had fallen by 19% in that time.

"The group said the service cuts had led to "poverty and social exclusion".....

"The group said national government spending on bus services had fallen by £234m, in real terms, over the past decade..........

........"The cuts lead to isolation and social exclusion and hinders access to employment, education and training as people find it more difficult and costly to travel."

Guardian August 2018
Failings at Birmingham prison reflect broader crisis, MOJ is warned
"An inspection at HMP Birmingham found violence, poor conditions and drug abuse.
The Ministry of Justice has been warned that failings at a privately run Birmingham prison reflect a broader prison crisis, as overcrowding and dwindling resources lead to increases in violence, drug use and self-harm in jails across England and Wales.

"HMP Birmingham was dramatically taken from the control of outsourcing giant G4S and returned to public governance on Monday after a damning inspection that uncovered rife drug abuse, violence and filthy conditions at the jail.....

..... "Kevin Lockyer, a former prison governor, who was called in to handle a previous major private prison crisis in 2002, told the Guardian that problems in Birmingham were an indictment of government cuts, adding that MoJ controllers may have been “asleep at the wheel”.

Children as young as 11 placed in unregulated care homes
BBC News

"Children as young as 11 years old are illegally being placed in unregulated homes in England, the BBC has learned.

"Housing a child in care in an unregulated home is against the law if the child is under the age of 16.

"In a separate investigation, the BBC this week revealed there have been over a dozen investigations launched into so-called "organised and complex abuse" involving young people who lived in unregulated homes in the last four years.

"Councils in England are increasingly putting young people in semi-independent or supported accommodation because they cannot match the needs of some children or afford the cost of some registered homes.

"In May, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee said Children's Services were at "breaking point" and current funding levels are unsustainable."

The NHS and housing are very high profile examples of the complete mess this country is in but there are dozens and dozens of reports like this - where vital public services have been starved of resources and are all at "breaking point".

I feel what is happening now is far more serious than occurred in the 70's and the Winter of Discontent, which in any event happened at the time of the oil crisis when the price of goods rose sharply and wages fell way behind those increases.

Thanks Eloethan these facts should be shouted from the rooftops.

And the Gnet tories say.....?

nothing.

I started supporting Corbyn when the hate campaign against him made me realise that he must have something really important to say.

Do some people step being "workers" when they retire I wonder? I've never considered myself working class simply because I don't think of myself as any "class" but me and mine are all "workers" and I would support extended unionisation.

I haven't voted Labour all my life. Each time I have made a very considered vote and I have no sense of tribalism but can't imagine how anyone could vote Labour all their life and not support the unions.

Thanks Eloethan. Sadly there are those who don't "do" facts or experts but I feel so sad that there are some prepared to vote for more of the same.

People also forget about one of the most successful unions of all -the BMA.

Then there’s the FDA

Good post Eloethan. Dreadful times.

The phrase " child poverty" alone is an outrage or it should be.

Thanks once more Eloethan for such a detailed post. It's no secret that I'd prefer someone else as Labour leader but - that won't stop me voting Labour.
Five more years of the devastation outlined in your post, no thanks.

Please vote for whichever Remain candidate can defeat the Brexitories in your constituency. If in doubt vote Liberal Democrat, the strongest party of Remain.

‘Chances of Labour majority 'as close to zero as it is possible to be', says John Curtice’

Bad times for Labour yesterday:

Corbyn’s unpopular view to bring ISIS caliphate leader ‘to justice’ rather than being killed by USA drone.

4 day working week for NHS workers mis-step between McDonnell and Labour shadow health wally.

The debacle of the Scots indy2 flip-flop by Corbyn and he got heckled yesterday in Dundee.

The Labour MP urging voters to vote Boris!

Good job it was a great day for BJ then in his wellies

I paid my ‘Unison’ union dues all my working life - 40y - GGMk3. I worked for the NHS and was very grateful over the years for their support.

But vote for Momentum aka Labour? No chance!

Fair point suziewoozie but Curtice’s comments still stand!

Oh yes Urm he’s a respected commentator and I believe him. And of course predictions influence outcomes inevitably. There’s still 4 weeks to go and things shift and emerge. However I don’t expect a Labour majority - I just hope there isn’t a pro BJ landslide.