Reprisals begin against women hunger strikers – please take action now

Only just received this from Black Women’s Rape Action Project regarding the hunger strike at Yarl’s Wood. And this is unbelievably shocking, and vile.

ACTION ALERT UPDATE 9 February:  Reprisals begin against women hunger strikers – please take action now

Throughout the day women have been calling to contradict claims by the Home Office that the hunger strike has ended.  “Not at all” according to Ms Debo Doris, “up to twenty of us are refusing food on Avocet wing”.  She had heard that eight to ten women are still striking on Dove wing.  Women on Bunting wing told us “we are on hunger strike still but we are scared of what they might do to us”.

One woman, Blessing Felix, who was detained on arrival three months ago was given removal directions on Saturday.  She has been taken to Heathrow tonight and faces return to Nigeria.  She has no lawyer, and was unable to get legal advice yesterday since the whole centre was “locked down” and all visits including legal visits were cancelled.  We know that Ms Felix reported to the authorities that she suffered violence in Nigeria.  How can the Home Office claim that it is safe to send her back; the full facts of Ms Felix’s case can’t be known if she didn’t have a lawyer to represent her.  It seems that the Home Office will stop at nothing to punish women for protesting.

Earlier today Ms Gladys Obiyan, together with three other women, was taken to Bedfordshire police station.  They were not arrested or charged.  Her friends believe that the authorities have targeted her as a hunger strike ring leader and are punishing her by taking her to Dungavel, denying her contact with her partner who has British citizenship, and her many supporters.  Ms Obiyan has a compelling case to be released from detention. Her asylum claim based on years of domestic violence in Nigeria, the threat of FGM and inability to get protection from the State, is pending.

Many other women are clearly at risk of reprisals for their courageous action, including transfers and fast tracked removal.  The more protest that comes from outside the more protection women will have.

Please call Virgin airlines and urge them not to deport Ms Blessing Felix on Flight VS 651 to Lagos, 10.20pm – even at this short notice it is worth doing especially as Virgin have in the past agreed not to carry those who are terrified of being returned to the violence they fled.

VIRGIN AIRLINES: customer.relations@fly.virgin.com or fax 0844 209 8708

0844 874 7747 Departure information for Lagos flights and

Press office 01293 747 373 katie.francis@fly.virgin.com

Write to Phil Woolas MP, the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration woolasp@parliament.uk mailto:woolasp@parliament.uk or http://www.philwoolasmp.org/emailPhil.html

and the UKBA

UKBApublicenquiries@UKBA.gsi.gov.uk to protest at retaliation against vulnerable women which is potentially a breach of human rights, and detention centre rules.

Run up to Oscars

It was a night for cinematographers at last night’s Evening Standard Film Awards. I must admit I am a sucker for cinematography, if the film looks visually good, engaging, stylish, creative, dramatic, atmospheric… if only some of the boxes are ticked then I am happy…sod the script, dialogue and acting. I like visually stunning pictures. And some cinematographers end up as directors, suppose the transition is kinda easy…. and speaking of that director (and former cinematographer)

Nicholas Roeg won a special award for his contribution to film. He worked on Corman’s ”The Masque of the Red Death”, Schlesinger’s “Far from the Madding Crowd”, Cammell’s ”Performance” (that he co-directed)… He directed “Don’t Look Now”, “Bad Timing”, “Track 29″ and the cult Bowie film, “The Man Who Fell to Earth” (he also directed…unfortunately…the piss-poor “Castaway”… but that’s only my opinion). Great news that Barry Ackroyd won the award for technical achievement for “Hurt Locker”. Interestingly he is the cinematographer on the up and coming “Green Zone”. He works primarily with Paul Greengrass and Ken Loach. He gives the aesthetics to social realism.

I was disappointed that Helen didn’t win best film as it was utterly impressive. Instead the award went to Andrea Arnold’s “Fish Tank” which I am still meaning to watch.

Though brilliant news that Andy Serkis won best actor for his role as Ian Dury. Roll on the Oscars..

Sussex students in occupation!

The decision to occupy has been taken after weeks of concerted campaigning during which the university management have repeatedly failed to take away the threat of compulsory redundancies and course cuts.

Students at Sussex University are in occupation over cuts in courses and jobs. Education is suffering due to the swingeing cuts being instigated, the slash and strategy.

The protest was the climax to a demonstration, organised by the Stop the Cuts campaign, against management plans to cut 115 jobs in a bid to save £5 million in 2010-11.

And today

This morning over 200 students marched from the centre of campus to Bramber House, where occupiers cheered from the balcony above.

Socialist Student activist and occupier Sarah Wrack addressed the crowd below “we have had no sleep or access to toilets, we have occupied this room and we will stay to make management listen, they will face occupations and demonstrations everyday until they Stop the Cuts”.

Peter Cecil from the UCU trade union gave support to the student protest. Claire Laker Mansfield and other speakers made the callfor more students to occupy.

Students rushed in through a side exit. Watching staff could be seen cheering students on.

Solidarity to the occupiers and for taking a stand against these hideous cuts. I remember another occasion in 1987 (I think) when Sussex Uni students went into occupation and I am sure that was around cuts as well. And I knew some of the students involved. And back then there was excellent support from the trade union branches. When I worked there during the very early 1990s the unions were still pretty militant and dynamic…. hope they still are!

Solidarity to you all!

Hat tip: Clare Solomon

Amnesty and Gita Sahgal

At the moment I am thinking about Amnesty and the suspension of Gita Sahgal (see this article). My own initial reaction was  surprise as Gita Sahgal has been a member of Women Against Fundamentalism, I have heard her speak, have been a long supporter of WAF (attended their first conference way back in ‘89) and have immense respect for her and that’s why it is kinda hard writing this because I think she is wrong. Human rights aren’t something you can pick and choose, create an approach that leads to a hierarchy of deserving/undeserving campaigning. And also how the right-wing press has jumped on this concerns me a great deal. Moazzam Begg has also replied to what Gita has said.

Equally it doesn’t help when Islamophobia Watch describe WAF as ‘nutty’…. Where is the reasoned argument in that instead it comes across as sexist, unhelpful and personal. Debate the arguments by not reducing it to insults.

There is more I want to say about this but will write later as these are my own initial thoughts….

Further thoughts….

On further reading of Gita Saghal’s statement she doesn’t give any rebuttal evidence, rather it is based on a general statement regarding Cage Prisoners and Moazzam Begg ‘actively promotes Islamic Right ideas and individuals’. I am still unclear what precisely Cage Prisoners has done wrong. And just finally, in order to fight for human rights you need to fight for all human rights something which I think Gita Sahgal has contradicted herself.

Pretty vacant Madeley and Alastair gets the boohoos

Tis been a week of dumb and dumber….clowns to the left, jokers to the right. And all members of the Tony Bliar fanclub. He should be pleased.

First you have pretty vacant Richard Madeley defending WMDs and Tony Blair  (and wow…what twee music, twee lighting…Ooo and make sure the public see the clever book collection). And Madeley blinds us with his take on these matters, the icing on the cake being the comparison between Nazi Germany and Iraq.

Secondly, well, if you have problems while being interviewed, couple of semi-hardish questions being chucked at you and your own pathetic arguments don’t stand up to scrutiny exposing just how piss-poor you are. Don’t despair just call yourself Alastair Campbell, get all shrink wrapped, dissolve emotionally on national TV and turn on the crocodile tears (‘Oh woe is Tony, oh woe is me’… Blub, Blub…Blub!)

What all this does show is the defence of the indefensible, and the whole cult-like/cult of the leader NL machine, churning out the spineless opportunistic and cynical careerist clones who went along, whipped into shape, with the lies and more damn lies following the leader. Never questioning, never thinking for themselves. Just obeying the line from above. Same with Campbell and now latest convert Madeley.

Where most of us would like to see Blair end up

Much, much, more  eloquence at Madam Miaow and Rick

Massive Attack: Heligoland

One of the best ever gigs I have attended was seeing Massive Attack live in 2003, it was the height of anti-war militancy and millions had marched against war in Iraq, war not being in their name. And this anti-war sentiment was expressed in Massive’s set, CND symbols reflected across the stage along with political commentary about Iraq and Palestine. Excellent set.

I adore the melancholic downtempo music. I can listen to anything by Massive Attack. The unforgettable, astounding, powerful, beautifully crafted ‘Unfinished Sympathy’, the gorgeous vocals of Shara Nelson, the video which is one continous shot where she is walking along a road in the States singing the lyrics (and of course The Verve’s ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’…. a homage to Massive Attack if ever there was). The haunting vocals of Elizabeth Fraser on ‘Teardrop’.. and Tracey Thorn’s ‘Protection’. While writing this post I am listening to ‘Safe From Harm’ (the sheer brilliance that represents Massive’s debut LP ‘Blue Lines’ and certainly one of my favourite LPs of all time).

So I am very pleased to see the release of Heligoland… And they have collaborated with different musicians and singers. And the song I have chosen is Damon Albarn’s Saturday Come Slow.

Incidentally, my partner lived, many years ago, in a flat in Bristol. One of the flat-sharers was a DJ. One day I heard footsteps on the stairs and the door shutting. I asked my partner who it was and he said it was his flat mate (can’t recall his name) and some bloke in a band called Massive Attack. I remember standing there, gob-smacked and overwhelmed and my partner said it all in a very matter of fact way made me realise he had never ever heard of Massive Attack. He asked me if I was ok as I looked shocked. I told him that he had a brief chat with a bloke from one of the best bands ever (well, this blogger’s opinion!). He still shrugged his shoulders and said he had never heard of them. Kinda in a trance like state and sorta speechless (one of the musicians from Massive  Attack was in the kitchen chatting, missed opportunity for a CD signing session!!) yet I still muttered the immortal words, ‘Blue Lines’….

Partner certainly has heard of Massive Attack since that incident

Restoring the link between pensions and earnings….but who knows when!

The good news….

‘The Department has received a number of representations on restoring the earnings link to the basic state pension [and it] will increase in line with earnings, rather than prices, in the future.’

(Work and Pensions Minister Angela Eagle)

The bad news…

…’from 2012, or by the end of the next Parliament at the latest.’

So who knows…. And sorry to sound cynical but is this the actions of a demob happy government knowing there’s a good chance, edging their bets as well, they will lose the next election, perchance…?

I mean the Tories won’t as it was Thatcher in 1980 who severed the link.

More evidence (from the DWP) that benefit sanctions don’t work!

This feels like a touch of déjà vu reading this report about how benefit sanctions tend to be ‘experienced disproportionately’ by more disadvantaged lone parents and that they risk becoming ‘disconnected’ from the system.

The research, ‘Lone Parent Obligations: a review of recent evidence on the work-related requirements within the benefit systems of different countries’, highlights that cross-national evidence – from the UK as well as Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United States shows that when sanctions are used hey have had a disproportionate effect on more disadvantaged lone parents – such as those that have poor literacy levels. In the USA there has been the growth in the number of families ‘disconnected’ from the system – that is, without income from welfare or work.

“Although the British system is unlikely to produce these dramatic effects because there are no time limits to the period for which someone can be entitled to benefits, there may be concern about the circumstances of that group of lone parents who may be classified as moving into ‘unknown destinations’, with some assuming that this group have become similarly ‘disconnected’.”

The report suggests that findings from sanctions research be used to enable early identification of those most at risk, allowing for earlier interventions prior to the imposition of a sanction.

Here’s an idea, why not just abolish sanctions and conditionality??!!

Furthermore, “not only will lone parents in GB find it harder to get jobs at a time of recession … during the downturn they may be less likely to progress from the low wage jobs they typically enter.”

Also, studies in the USA have shown small net income increases for people leaving the welfare system, but that leaver families had relatively low earnings with -
“… between 40 and 50 per cent living below the official poverty level of income in the first year after leaving welfare.”

The reason I wrote déjà vu at the start of this post was because of this piece of research by the DWP. Back then, benefit sanctions had only a negligible effect on lone parent job-seeking behaviour. The most common reasons for failing to attend work-focused interviews were ill health, caring responsibilities and simply forgetting.

Those who received sanctions were more likely to experience ill health, and greater debt. Based on the evidence it clearly shows that lone parents don’t make an “active decision” not to attend these work-focused interviews.

The report concluded: ”It has been reasonable to conclude that the sanction regime had only a negligible effect upon the labour market behaviour of the lone parents in this study”.

Contrary to the belief that sanctions are a deterrent coupled with the “workshy” ethos, the 2008 report showed that lone parents have a number of valid reasons for non-attendance from ill health, child care responsibilities and simply forgetting.

A parent who is under immense pressure and probably a chaotic lifestyle due to the everyday grind is expected to remember that extra little thing… a work-focused interview. And how does the system retaliate for non-attendance, it imposes a sanction which, as it shows, drags lone parents further into poverty and ill health. And considering that this will have a deeper impact on women where 1.6 million families are headed by a woman lone parent.

Similar conclusions can be made about both reports…. benefit sanctions don’t work instead they create far more desperate situations and misery for people who are already just about existing.

Where are the headlines about the billions unclaimed in benefits??!!

There’s usually fanfare, hype, sensationalist and screaming headlines in the right-wing press when it comes to benefit fraud. And the journos wait with baited breath when the official statistics are released so they can apply the same old reactionary stereotypes and phrases… ‘Britain’s sicknote culture’, ‘benefit cheats’…and so on. Of course, as well, the screaming headlines will pass into the collective consciousness and memory of the readership. The lazy assumptions between claimants and fraudsters. These headlines and stories make good copy albeit lazy journalism.

But where’s the screaming headlines over this? Where’s the indignation from the Tory press along with continually indignant Theresa May? Where’s the shock and horror over this? Or does this just slip past them because it doesn’t correspond with the right-wing populism that the media likes to peddle?

Well, here it is ….Charities challenge government over £16bn unclaimed benefits

Yes, over £16bn of benefits are unclaimed…. No fanfare over this.

The charities point to glaring examples where take-up is falling far short. Latest official figures show that:

• as many as four out of five low paid workers without children (1.2bn households) miss out on tax credits worth at least £38 per week – a total of £1.9 billion
• as many as half of all working households entitled to housing benefit (worth an average £37.60 per week) do not claim it – that’s up to half a million households.

Other benefits showing signs of significant under-claiming include council tax benefit and pension credit. Up to three million households are missing out on an average £13 a week in council tax benefit, while as many as 1.7 million pensioners are missing out on an average of £31 a week in pension credit.

Take-up of housing benefit and council tax benefit have both fallen over the last decade, while take-up of child tax credit is far lower in London than in other parts of the country, and generally 10% lower among families from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Just how will Yvette Cooper respond??!!

Why is this? The benefits system is one massive bureaucratic Kafka-esque nightmare and that other minefield known as means tested benefits. And surely the impact of the bureaucracy, increased conditionality, difficulties and stigmatisation will push people out of the benefits system as they will be inevitably put off from applying. Hence more deprivation and more poverty…if you try to climb out through working claiming Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit can turn your life into a bureaucratic nightmare. It is a choice between going hungry or having your nerves torn to shreads.

And what about non-means tested benefits, how much is unclaimed there?

But the message is all about the benefit scrounger. Where are the posters and adverts advertising about benefits people aren’t claiming. Can you just see the strapline, “Claim it, you’re entitled”..something like that. Except no… that just goes against the ideological grain. Let those benefits go unclaimed more money for NL to spend on bailouts for the financial markets and illegal wars…

The spotlight falls on the poor in this society, and also the amount of money lost due to ‘error and fraud’ with lots of trumped up tabloid hyperbole never mind that this is a drop in the financial ocean when comparing it to tax evasion and avoidance (something in the region of between £97bn and £150bn is lost in tax theft).

Films, Oscars and Pope Benny

Well, have kinda recovered from my bout of illness. Spent some of it sprawled on the sofa feeling sorry for myself and discovered the joys of Film4 during the afternoon. While in a trance and experiencing that unreal quality that illness brings I thought I was hallucinating when I saw a Douglas Sirk film advertised for the afternoon. So watching the gem of a classic noir, “Sleep, My Lovely”, did cheer me up. Shame that Sirk’s melodramas that dealt with gender, sexuality and class weren’t well received at the time. But he did have a massive influence on future directors like Todd Hynes for example (“Far From Heaven”).

They were also showing Mary, Queen of Scots… early 1970s romp through the turbulent, violent and bloody history of the House of Stuart with a young 007, Timothy Dalton playing the doomed Darnley, Vanessa Redgrave as the doomed Queen of Scots and Glenda Jackson as Good Queen Bess…. The there was a Carol Reed classic, “Night Train to Munich” starring Margaret Lockwood and Rex Harrison (though every time I heard Rex Harrison speak I kept thinking of Stewie Griffin!!)

And seeing who has been nominated for an Oscars …. So it will be Kathyrn Bigelow vs. ex-husband James ‘king of hubris’ Cameron. Hurt Locker vs. Avatar. No woman has ever won ‘Best  Director’ Oscar and Bigelow is only the fourth woman nominated for a directing Oscar, following Sofia Coppola for 2003’s “Lost in Translation,” Jane Campion for 1993’s “The Piano” and Lina Wertmuller for 1975’s “Seven Beauties.” This certainly exposes the male domination of the film industry, the overlooking, invisibility and the overall ignoring of women within film history.

The other pertinent question, where are the women within the film industry? Linda Nochlin asked the question about art, why have there been no great women artists? The same can be echoed in the film industry.

 So isn’t it about time a woman won? Hurt Locker is an exemplary film worthy of an Oscar. I wasn’t sure about its merits when I first saw it but thinking about it it is one of the best films I saw in 2009…and I saw quite a few.

Unfortunately my money is on the commercial favourite and one of the highest grossing films of all time…. Avatar… But does it deserve all the Oscar nominations in the various categories?

Oh, and the first thing I read in the world of the news was Pope Benny and ‘natural law’… Don’t get me started on the latest reactionary bile spewed forth by the Pope.

Though the National Secular Society want to organise a protest campaign against Benny’s visit. 

Hallelujah to that!