The unbearable unenlightened being called Tom Harris…

But hey, we have never had it so good, according to Tom Harris MP. I mean, we have new fangled technology to play with, stuffing our faces with good healthy food, shopping til we drop which should give us all a collective cheery Stepford Wife saccharine coated grin.

This man is utterly removed from every day experiences, pay has not raisen tremendously for people (public sector pay increases are under inflation). Harris minimises the credit crunch by ignoring the fact that we live in a society based on debt. And debt leads to misery! You know like, repossession. And even then Harris would probably tell you to count ya blessings and smile accordingly as the bailiffs come a knocking! But for the people at the top of the economic pecking order things do seem hunky dory….

And Harris further whines: But what happened to that post-war optimism and commitment to common values? Are they gone forever and if so, why? If not, how can we bring them back?

Optimism? Common Values?  Well, I think optimism has been taken over by private equity. Though when someone like Harris opines the need for common values I begin to feel more than miserable. More like total bleeding anger with his insulting, patronising, sanctimonious and condescending bilge he spews towards people living under a government like NL. It shows the level of contempt he has for people.The values of NL are privatisation and hero worshipping the market which I doubt Harris would find contentious.

And yes, more misery and despair. I aint smiling either.

Poverty: TUC response

Poverty has been in the news during the past couple of week and now the TUC has published a briefing paper called The Iron Triangle that looks at the connection between child poverty, low pay and women’s poverty. There has been work done with End Child Poverty campaign and the Fawcett Society to mobilise for a national demo aimed for the 4th October.

The paper outlines gender inequality and one major aspect being the pay gap. Grim statistics include thirty percent of women have an income less than £100 a week, compared with fourteen percent of men. Four out of ten poor children live in households headed by a single mother. And the glaring fact that women are paid less than men therefore in low paid jobs and are more likely to be in part-time jobs compared to men. And once a woman has a child she is penalised and faces constant discrimination such as badly paid precarious work with very few rights.

And as we know NL committed itself to halving the number of children living in poverty by 2010. But data has shown that NL has reneged on its promise as children living in relative poverty has increased.

Women with children are likely to find themselves caught up in the quagmire of means tested benefits and tax credits. Only a third of p/t women workers are contributing towards a pension compared with over half of all men working full time. And the benefits system is antiquated and sexist as it takes into account household income as opposed to individual income (so a woman is rarely seen in her own right with independent income instead viewed as mere appendages).

The TUC are calling on trade unions to mobilise for this 4th October Keep the Promise demo but it has to take more political action than sending postcards to Gordon Brown condemning the increase in poverty and sticking up a poster. It entails trade union leaders to stop capitulating to Brown by fighting for demands (and against neo-liberalism) such as the end of the pay gap, progressive taxation system, redistribution of wealth and a better more equal benefits system. And to have the courage to lead that struggle with rank and file trade unionists.