United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The UK is one of the founding signatories to the Declaration of Human Rights.

How many of these articles are being fully supported by the current UK government?

• Article 10: Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of their rights and obligations ..............
• Article 12: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with their privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon their honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
• Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
• Article 21 (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government .......
• Article 23 (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for themselves and their family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
• Article 25 (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of themselves and of their family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond their control.
• Article 25 (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

How Labour can win the 2015 election.

A significant proportion of voters in UK seem to be fed up with cynical politicians who treat them only as electoral fodder to be duped into casting their vote one way or the other. They are fed up with soundbytes and "spin" and evasive answers and misrepresentation of the facts. They are fed up with politicians who sacrifice their political principals for fear of upsetting “public opinion” bandwagons which have been manipulated by the right-wing media. They are fed up with corruption. They are fed up with inequality. They are fed up with an "austerity" which has no economic justification.They are fed up and demoralised by being "managed" as voters rather than being represented.

If Labour are serious about winning the next election they need to return to some of the radical ethos which brought the party into being. The Labour leadership, the shadow cabinet, and Labour MPs should stand up and be counted. Labour; explain to the electorate what good Social Democracy looks like; what a good mixed economy looks like, and how it serves all. Explain to them the failings of the current system, and why the total reliance on free markets and the neo-liberal agenda supported by all the other parties ultimately only serves the “haves” at the expense of the “have-nots”. Don't worry that it may be perceived as unpopular in certain quarters, the majority have had quite enough deceit. Tell the people clearly what your policies are, and tell them with honesty and conviction and sincerity and passion. Seize the moment!

Credit the electorate with the intelligence to become more engaged with politics if they are treated with respect. You might well be amazed how much genuine support there is amongst the electorate for Socialist principles. You will find that there is majority who stand politically to the left of the position currently held by the Labour leadership on many important issues, and this has been supported by poll results. Make the 2015 election the one that breaks the mould. Don't make the mistake of not fully committing to the win through fear of losing. Do not try to chase votes by copying what other parties are saying. Do not let the other parties set the framework within which you operate because you dissolve the perceived distinctions and voters can't tell the difference. You will convince the largest number of voters by being different from the others. By being Labour! By being Radical! Let 2015 be the “Truth and Integrity Election”. If you are seen to be doing this you might just get a landslide victory in 2015.

The Coalition of Self Interest

What have we come to? Tories selling "our" #NHS off to their friends who support the party financially. Austerity measures target the most vulnerable whilst the most wealthy are given tax breaks. Half a million of our people are using foodbanks just to get by. Social and economic inequality is increasing daily with those near the bottom of the food chain increasingly exploited. Many austerity measures seem to be politically motivated instead of being based in economic evidence. Our civil liberties and free speech are under attack, and just in case we might have the temerity to demonstrate our concerns en-masse in public at some stage, the water cannons are on order to wash the protest from the streets. Some Tories are now suggesting that the right to strike should be curbed further. We are sleepwalking into international legislation which will further the dominance of global corporations over democracy. We are constantly lied to by Tory & Lib Dem politicians and repeatedly bashed over the head with the "hardworking people" mantra. The so-called economic growth recently is based on false confidence similar to that which led to the last crash. The national debt has risen from £828.7bn, or 57.1 per cent of GDP, to £1.25trn, or 75.7 per cent of GDP since May 2010, during which time tax-avoidance by companies and corporations has probably been at about £30bn per year.


The government are supposed to be the elected representatives of the people, but instead of serving us they think they can rule us by divine right. If they really represented us they would not need so many ludicrous attempts to deceive us about what they are doing. This is all done by a cobbled together alliance of two parties, neither of whom had sufficient mandate to do anything individually. We have a chancellor of the exchequer whose economic policies are the laughing stock of many expert economists worldwide. The minister for work and pensions seems to be incompetent and callous. The minister for education seems to be a caricature of Dickens' Mr Gradgrind from "Hard Times". In most government departments policy seems to be formulated on personal whim and ideology rather than evidence based political theory. The Royal Mail has been sold off at a price much lower than that suggested by expert analysts, effectively taking a large chunk of taxpayer's money and funneling it directly into the hands of those in the City. Many government departments and ministers seem "captured" by lobbyists and other pressure groups almost to the point of corruption.


This Coalition Government are in my opinion the worst government in the UK within living memory. Everything they do seems to be informed by a #neoliberal agenda which will always make the rich richer and more powerful, whilst making the poor poorer and more easily exploitable.


Yet their PR is powerful in its ability to pretend that their aims are different. As Nye Bevan said in 1948, Tories are good salesmen, because they have to be to sell their shoddy goods. In this grand deception they are ably assisted by the media of the UK, many of whom have a vested interest, or inexplicably, behave as though they do.


I find it beyond comprehension that 30% of voters in the UK still seem to think it appropriate to vote for them. It is totally irrational to think that the members of this government serve anybody other than themselves.


WAKE UP!

Why the richest should contribute most.

There seems to be some consternation amongst the top earners in the UK that they would be asked by a future Labour government to pay 5% more on their earnings above £150k. This actually affects 1% of all UK earners.

Just as a matter of interest: to impose this extra 5% on earnings over £100k would affect the top 2%.

The facts about earnings distribution in the UK show that 85% of those getting a wage or salary earn less than £40k pa which equates in most cases to about £570 per week after tax.

The argument against higher tax rates for the very top earners seems to be that it punishes those who are successful, and that it would discourage wealth creators from living in the UK.

But it is not just the top 1% or 2% who create wealth. We all do in varying amounts. Everybody who works, creates some value in some way, and all those paying income tax at any level, or VAT on purchases contribute to government receipts.

All provision of infrastructure and technological advance of any kind is through funding coming either from private profits or government expenditure.

All education is supplied through the same methods of funding.

It is my contention that the higher up the tree you are in terms of earnings, the more you are benefiting from the efforts of all those below you, because the use value of existing economic/cultural/social capital enables optimization of your earnings.

If you are already earning £150k this equates in most cases to about £1,740 per week after tax.

Would it be too much to ask in this case that for every additional £10,000 per annum you earned, you paid an additional £9.61 per week in tax. You know, put a bit extra back in, just to take the pressure off the other 99% a bit in recognition of the "leg-up" they are giving you.

Freedom of Speech

There are currently many challenges to the concept of Freedom of Speech. In my opinion one of the most dangerous is the idea that criticism of religious views is in some way "off limits" because that criticism is likely to cause offence. I would like to point out that I am sometimes quite offended myself by some of these religious views, but I would not presume to want them silenced.

Under no circumstances should government attempt to limit the right to free speech in any way, based on the idea that some people might abuse that right. If there are abuses of free speech such as incitement to hatred or violence, we have laws to prosecute the offenders.

This is how free speech should work:

Free speech is a basic human right for all, not just for those who have passed some sort of value judgement, test, or filter.

Any person or organization has the right to vocalize their thoughts and opinions using whatever medium they see fit, hopefully using some reasoned argument in support of their position.

Any other person or organization then has the right to either support or criticize those thoughts and opinions in whatever way they see fit, but hopefully using some reasoned argument in support of their own position.

This process can continue as long as the participants want to pursue it, ad infinitum.

At some point there may come a synthesis of the various arguments, or the parties may have to agree to differ.

The important thing is that at the end of the process all the ideas have been tested in a public forum, and all persons who have followed the argument will be able to establish their own point of view as a result.

If the process is stopped at an early stage because one of the parties is offended and adopts special pleading instead of engaging in the process of debate, we cannot reach that point.

I would suggest that those who will not submit to, or will not allow, full and open debate use diversionary tactics because they know that their argument is weak and they will be unlikely to press their case successfully.

"Desired Things"

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

“

”

Max Ehrmann, "Desiderata".^[

Words of Wisdom

“Imagine a world in which generations of human beings come to believe that
certain films were made by God or that specific software was coded by him.
Imagine a future in which millions of our descendants murder each other
over rival interpretations of Star Wars or Windows 98. Could anything --
anything -- be more ridiculous? And yet, this would be no more ridiculous
than the world we are living in. ”
- Sam Harris