Lansbury's Lido

One thing I notice whilst trawling through the blogs of what I generally term as the 'left' is the high incidence of disdain that a number have for faith. This disdain ranges from a 'bah, humbug' attitude to a more confrontational approach, even through to what I see as an aggressive, almost childish attitude. So why is this? What causes people to take this attitude? Actually, I've just asked a question that has as many answers as there are people! So perhaps a detour is in order, one which has a quick shufty at the history of the radical left of faith and how their faith exhibits itself in action and in the wider labour movement. Being English I'll (mainly) limit it to the radical English Christian tradition. And seeing as this is a blog post and not a small book we'll just run over some of the key characters and organisations, their footprint and influence. I'm also not an encyclopaedia or an expert in history, so a lot of what I have posted is o...

Excellent song from Michael Franti and spearhead - Time To Go Home Enjoy!

So we have a new Speaker in the House of not-so Commons. Tis John 'Flipper' Bercow. What needs to be said has been said here . Related articles by Zemanta Brit MPs elect a new speaker amid expenses scandal (ctv.ca)

Seems that mining giant Anglo-American has rejected an approach from Swiss-based rival Xstrata about a possible merger as "totally unacceptable". BBC News. I wouldn't normally give a monkeys about all this financial shenanigans except that I heard this on the radio the other day, LBC it was, and the financial commentator was saying he'd like to see it go through. Fair enough. Until he said that there would be about 19,000 jobs lost and that he thought it would be worth it as it would represent an excellent opportunity. If I was the presenter I would have smacked him in the mouth. I was one of those who once paid what Lamont said was "price that is well worth paying".

Image via Wikipedia Oink Oink! What will it take for the government and the financial industry to start acting with common sense and decency? We now have another snout deep in the trough courtesy of the tax payer and with the connivance of the government. In 2008 the Royal Bank of Scotland made a loss of £24.1bn - the largest loss in UK corporate history. You and I, the taxpayers of this country then coughed up 20 billion quid to save the bank. In gratitude the board then paid off Fred Goodwin with a massive pension, the likes of which a working man or woman in this land will never, ever see, a payoff for failure which sums up the corrupt, amoral and sleazy financial world. The icing on the cake is the realisation that the new masters at RBS will be making 9000 of their staff redundant and obviously holding down wages. I spent 3 years unemployed in the 80s and I really don't know how someone can condemn loyal workers and their families to that and still have the neck to pick up a...

It's always good when political parties set out their stall and the message from MP George Galloway and Salma Yaqoob is especially welcome at this time. A good text and very little I could disagree with and something I could give whole-hearted support to. I liked it so much I've reposted it in full from the Respect website. Westminster in crisis - it's time for change George Galloway MP and Salma Yaqoob Monday 22nd June 2009 Many who once voted Labour in the hope of a fairer society now feel betrayed. The European elections saw Labour's vote collapse to just 15%. And there was a shocking breakthrough made by the BNP in the North of England. Labour is to blame for its own crisis. And it has to take a large share of the responsibility for creating the conditions in which the far right is growing. Labour loosened the rules that gave licence to greedy bankers to gamble away our jobs and homes. * Labour failed to protect our public services from wasteful and costly priv...

Image via Wikipedia There's something peculiar to the evolution of socialist thought and practice in England that separates it from the continental version, and that is the influence of faith. Concepts of socialism, communalism and communism have all been touched upon in the emergence and history of the radical in English thought and politics. John Ball was a man of faith, a priest who had some pretty radical ideas about faith and community in the 14th century, which led to him being excommunicated, imprisoned and finally executed for his support of the Peasant's Revolt. Little is known about his early life but he was known to have fame as a 'hedge priest', a priest without a parish and not linked to any priestly order. Froissart referred to him as 'the mad priest of Kent'. He was likely to have been influenced by the teachings of John Wycliffe and would have been seen to hold Lollard views. His sermon at Blackheath to the insurgents of the Peasants' Rev...

Image by Stefe via Flickr There have been stories in the media regarding the protests by indigenous Peruvians in the north of Peru . The protests have been against the decision of the government to open up lands to drill for oil and gas, lands which the indigenous claim are tribal and ancestral to them, coupled with their belief that such exploration mark the end of what quality of life they have in the area. The protests seem to have become exceptionally violent with the deaths of dozens of protesters and police this last month. In 2007 and in 2008 the Peruvian government passed decrees allowing these regions to be opened up to oil, mining and mineral exploration by the multinational companies. This was done in support of a free trade agreement with the US. So once again we have seen a government riding roughshod over the wishes of the people in it's obedience to market forces, regardless of the social, economic and environmental aspects. This evidences the outworkings of capita...

Image by ruspace via Flickr The House of Commons have finally published all the expenses and additional costs alowance for all MPs going back to 2004 as requested under the Freedom od Information Act. http://mpsallowances.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/hocallowances/allowances-by-mp/ And all I can say is thank God for the matey who flogged the leaked list to the press. As expected the official list has been heavily redacted and poses more questions than it answers. All of the gasps of amazement that have been raised by the leaked list are stifled on the official list. The biggest redaction is the address of the first and second homes. So we wouldn't have been able to work out who's been flipping their houses. Quite why we shouldn't know where elected MPs live I don't know. I thought it would have been a major aspect of a free and open democracy? Will have to have a nose round and see if the references to moats have been redacted. As it is it seems to be another way o...

Image via Wikipedia So Gordon Brown has decided to launch an enquiry into the circumstances of the Iraq invasion. All well and good and not before time but a quick look at the remit and I'm left asking the question, why bother? Let's look over it: held in secret no legal powers to demand documents or any other written records no legal powers to compel anyone to attend no requirement for evidence to be submitted under oath 'not set out to apportion blame or consider issues of civil or criminal liability' headed by Sir John Chilcot won't report for at least a year So the public, who have supplied the soldiers whose lives have been lost in Blair's middle eastern jaunt won't get the answers they deserve, there's no guarantee of truthfulness or openness, it's headed by someone who has already exonerated the government over the issues of 'weapons of mass destruction', and the politicos are hoping they'll be long gone even if evidence of wrongd...

It seems that radical and revolutionary organisation The National Housing Federation has exposed a scam of the highest order by the energy companies - high tariffs on the pre-pay meters, as the BBC reports: Customers who use pre-payment meters have overpaid the energy companies nearly half a billion pounds over the last three years, it is being claimed. The National Housing Federation (NHF) made the calculation using figures from Ofgem, the energy regulator. It says higher charges paid by metered customers are in breach of EU rules and suggests clients may be entitled to claim the money back. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8099776.stm Now I have a number of friends and relatives who for one reason or another have ended up on the pre-pay, usually through poverty, divorce or bereavement. And without exception the money they use to fill the meter has gone, shall we say, like water. Image by freefotouk via Flickr I've always had an awareness that the rates were set higher than ...

Image via Wikipedia A good review of the economic crisis. Views we don't see too often in the West. I think we should as we seem to be told that there is only one way out of this predicament - for the taxpayer to bankroll the banks and their execs which got us into this mess in the first place. I look forward to the day when we can pull down this capitalist edifice and replace it with something that contains humanity at its core. Al Jazeera English - Focus - Why America is a bank-owned state Shared via AddThis

Enjoy!

The Campaign For Public Ownership blog has a post on the payment for work not done issue within the NHS where the request for services is farmed out to private health companies. PRIVATE health companies have milked the NHS for £1billion for operations and treatments that were never carried out.......... Good to know my tax is going to a good cause. Well worth a read. Related articles by Zemanta NHS 'faces huge budget shortfall' (news.bbc.co.uk)

Image via Wikipedia Can't say I have much good to say about the Labour Party but the introduction of the minimum wage is certainly to be applauded, even if it is way too low. But true to form the Tories are seeking to smash it under the guise of helping people to get employed with the introduction of the Employment Opportunities bill. This wonderful bill wants to provide employers with the ability to duck out of the minimum wage if the prospective employee agrees. Perhaps a more apt title would be the Employer Opportunity To Pay Crap Wages. Surprised there's not a clause in there making forelock tugging before the master compulsory. The Employment Opportunities Bill was pulled at the last minute in May but has been rescheduled for a reading at the House of Commons on June 12th. The upstanding members below are the guilty group sponsoring the bill. Christopher Chope (Christchurch) chopec@parliament.uk Peter Bone (Wellingborough, Northants) bonep@parliament.uk Philip Davies (Ship...

Obviously it would be wrong to say that the current political unrest in the Labour Party is a cruel ploy to allow the expenses scandals to slip under the radar. Now what was it about James Purnell's expenses?

Image via Wikipedia I see in the media the flood of Blairites and careerists throwing themselves themselves out of what seems to be a Cabinet with the stability of a shopping trolley and my heart is somewhat warmed. I suppose I must be clinging to hope that this exodus gives the Labour Party a chance to pull itself back from the jaws of death, to give one herculean effort at getting the heart moving again. You see, once the mutineers cast themselves adrift Cap'n Gordo has the opportunity to bring aboard a new crew. A crew that know what makes Labour work, that are in touch with the workers with whom they reside. But no. He's too far gone with the terminal plague that goes by the name of nulabouritis. It seems that it deprives a sufferer of reaching out to the panacea that can cure them. In fact it's worse, they appear to lose all sense of clarity and thinking. He's now gone and replaced Caroline Flint with Glenys Kinnock . Yes, that right, Glenys Kinnock. Glenys Kinnock...

A disappointing set of results in my county election, Farnborough North in the Hampshire constituency. First off there was the reduction in turnout for the voters. Likely all of this is due to the snout in the trough attitude of our current and previous Parliament. In 2005 there were 6680 votes cast. This year there were 4217, a drop of 36%. Then we had the actual vote. Seat retained by the Tories . A drop in votes for the Tories and Lib Dems but an absolutely disastrous vote for the Labour Party . Not so much the fact they came last but the collapse of their vote, down 15 percentage points. Shocking. What we also see is the maintaining of the Independent vote, although unless something very special happens this is likely to remain at the same level until hell freezes over and beyond. And to top it all, the BNP who didn't stand in 2005 have had a strong showing. Expected given the more time they've spent standing in the local elections and seeing their vote growing over time....

very now and then you 'discover' an artist or some across a gem of a song, and you think how come you've never heard of them before. One such is David Rovics . I'm truly stunned into silence by his lyrics and delivery and his work and subject matter is so moving. As a taster here's one of my favourite tracks of Davids - We Are Everywhere. And here's the lyrics: When I say the hungry should have food I speak for many When I say no one should have seven homes While some don't have any Though I may find myself stranded in some strange place With naught but a vapid stare I remember the world and I know We are everywhere When I say the time for the rich, it will come Let me count the ways Victories or hints of the future Havana, Caracas, Chiapas, Buenos Aires How many people are wanting and waiting And fighting for their share They hide in their ivory towers But we are everywhere Religions and prisons and races Borders and nations FBI agents and congressmen And c...