politics

It only took a few brief seconds hearing Prince William reading from St Paul's letter to the Ephesians at Princess Diana's memorial thing to remember why Britain should become a republic. I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of His glory, He may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through His Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love....

The prison workers are today out on strike. Most of the press are blasting the strike action as being illegal, and will cause chaos in the prison system. Why are the prison workers on strike? Because 9 out of 10 members of the Prison Officers Association voted to strike, they're being run into the ground like so many other public service workers, privatisation looms on the horizon, this year they were given a pitiful 1....

After a number of weeks working with comrade Lee Skevington, the Yeovil Labour Party website is now online in some early form. Feedback is welcome, feel free to leave them on this entry. Update April 2010: The CLP website has been replaced by the website for the parliamentary candidate Lee Skevington. I'm tempted to pad out the main page a bit with the history of the founding of the party, and the party's greatest moment, at least in my opinion, the defeat of Churchill in a landslide election leading to the creation of the National Health Service....

Come on David, go down to your shed and grab your bucket! There are photo opportunities you're missing in your very own underwater constituency. What are you doing flying (yup that is helping the whole climate change thing ain't it David) off to Rwanda to get your pretty photos in the press, when you could be helping out with your bucket in Witney? As your new propaganda advisor, I advise you should fly home, get your bucket out of your shed, phone the press and get them to meet you splashing around in the water for a bit....

From the BBC: Prime Minister Gordon Brown is considering plans which could see the minimum wage reduced in Northern Ireland, it is believed. The minimum wage is set at £5.35 across the UK, however, if the plans go ahead it will be reduced in NI, Scotland, Wales and the north east of England. Employment Minister Sir Reg Empey said he was disappointed with the idea. "We have difficulty in getting people to leave benefit and go to work, this would make matters worse,"...

Britain has recently expelled four Russian diplomats in some kind of childish hissy fit because Russia (obeying its constitution) declined to extradite Lugovoi to stand trial in Britain for the murder of Litvinenko a few months back. The Russian government offered to put Lugovoi on trial in Russia for the murder, an offer which the British government refused. So in response they expel four diplomats. Utter hypocrisy, Russia has been putting in requests for the billionaire tycoon Boris Berezovsky to be extradited for years, the most recent being in April....

I had an e-mail from Nick Wall, a GMB member and political activist from Merseyside, arrive into my inbox the other day. It's a petition to number ten, campaigning for a living wage. Here's the link to the petition. We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to take steps to replace the national minimum wage with a living wage based on the level of pay and conditions that enables a full-time worker to make ends meet for themselves and their family....

Companies in Britain avoid paying £90-£150 billion of tax per year. What could we do with that money? Every person in Britain, every man, woman and child could get an extra £1500 - £2500 per year in their pocket. Just think, that's an extra £10000 per year for a family. That much money could pay for 360 - 600 new top of the line hospital buildings every year, and that's a conservative estimate....

With Respect falling apart around us, (shocking I know), the SWP seems to of reverted to a more aggressive state. Their national organiser nonetheless assaulted a previously expelled SWP member at this year's Marxism event (they're calling it a festival now). The CPGB's Weekly Worker has the details. On July 7, the second full day of this year's Marxism, SWP national organiser Martin Smith physically assaulted Communist Party comrade, Simon D....

It certainly looks like it, most of the remotely "lefty" people in the cabinet have been moved off, and today Brown has finished appointing his junior ministers, some of which aren't even in the Labour Party, a few examples: We've got Sir Ara Darzi, health minister. Admiral Sir Alan West, Home Office minister, Lord Stevens advisor for international issues. Lord Malloch Brown, Foreign Office minister for Asia, Africa and the UN....