Tag: unite community

Tory MP’s shameful jibe at poor

This article by Duncan Milligan originally appeared on UniteLive.

Wealthy-backed Tory in bizarre attack on clothes bank helpers

stream_img

The £64,000 question – why did a Tory MP with rich business backers attack Unite members helping the poor?

Unite Community members who set up a socialist clothes bank in Durham for those too poor to afford charity shop clothes, have been criticised by a Tory MP for being motivated by “party politics”.

Unite members hit back saying he should be more concerned about why such a service was needed rather than attacking those trying to support the poor.

James Wharton, Tory MP for Stockton South has registered £64,000 in political donations and sponsorships in the last 12 months all from big business backers. Mr Wharton has a track record of wanting to cut welfare spending and to stop increasing benefits in line with inflation.

He has also backed the bedroom tax which forces those on housing benefit to either move house or lose money. He is firmly opposed to taxing bankers’ bonuses.Reacting on local ITV News to the launch of the clothes bank Mr Wharton said, “We have to recognise this is six months before an election. This is the Socialist Clothes Bank. It’s been set up, backed by a number of trade unions, and there is more than a hint of party politics about what’s going on.

“This is as much about making statements about politics as it is about doing good things. I welcome one; I’m not convinced about the other.”

Angela Appleby, a Unite Community member who works with the project said the MP’s intervention was “totally unexpected, he is from a constituency many miles away and there is no reason why he should have said anything.

“One of our members, Dawn Wilson, had the idea when she heard one woman say she could only afford one pair of shoes and had to decide which of her kids got the new ones. We took clothes as donations and operate the clothes bank alongside a local food bank.

Shameful

“People on welfare benefits can use the local food bank and then use the local clothing bank to get a bag of clothes.

“James Wharton’s comments are shameful, he has no idea of what is happening in an area outside of his constituency and the desperate need that people are in.”

Joe Rollin, Unite Community Coordinator for the North East, Yorkshire and Humberside said, “To seek to undermine the huge voluntary effort put in by our members getting the clothes bank up and running in order to score cheap political points is unacceptable.

“The fact that he was 100 per cent wrong in his analysis is almost beside the point – the only person playing party politics here is Mr Wharton himself.

“Those organising the clothes bank have had to seek donations of clothes and help from ordinary people. They have not had access to the sort of donations flooding in to keep Wharton safe in his parliamentary seat.”

And strong criticism came from local MP, Labour’s Grahame Morris. “James Wharton is oblivious to the hardship and suffering of everyday people caused by his government’s policies of austerity,” he said.

“At every opportunity, he has voted in support of cuts to social security; raised taxes which hit the poorest hardest such as VAT; introduced cruel and callous policies like the bedroom tax impacting thousands of disabled families and allowed a system of sanctions to embed in the culture of DWP which has resulted in thousands of people, already in hardship, losing their benefits for minor infringements.

“Instead of attacking volunteers and charity workers trying to help the most vulnerable in society, he should look at his own government’s actions which has led to the need for and the rise in the number of food and clothes banks.

“I think before criticising, this privileged Tory MP should visit the clothes bank and see first-hand the difficult circumstances many people are facing in our communities,” added Mr Morris.

Backers

Mr Wharton, educated at the £26,000 a year St Peter’s school in York was a corporate lawyer before entering parliament in 2010. Between October 2013 and October 2014 he has registered £64,000 of political donations from wealthy Tory business backers.

This includes £25,000 from Peter Cruddas who made a multi-million pound fortune in banking.

It also includes donations worth £15,000 from colourful Russian businessman Alexander Termerko whose engineering company is based in the north east.

Mr Termerko has donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Conservative party. The Russian government failed in its attempts to extradite him on fraud and other charges, the British judge saying the Russian prosecution was politically motivated.

The now UK-based Termerko spent £90k on a bronze bust of Cameron at a fundraising dinner and is in the “leaders’ group” – membership of which includes dining rights with the PM.

Mr Wharton has also registered £14,000 of donations from United and Cecil which is a private dining club for largely anonymous Tory donors and operates out of a converted barn in Iver, Buckinghamshire.

United and Cecil target donations at Tory MPs in marginal seats such as Stockton South, where Wharton is clinging to a slim 343 majority.

Wharton’s campaign has recently been boosted by a £10,000 donation from JCB research run by Lord Bamford. Bamford is one of the Tory Party’s main financial backers and indicates the seat is a key marginal.

UNITElive contacted Mr Wharton by email to ask if he had anything to add to his earlier comments. There was no reply at the time of publication.

Join us at Summat New

summat new
Join us for the launch of Leeds for Change! Unite Community is getting involved with Summat New, and we’d love you to join us. We will be running a session on linking Community Activism with Industrial Struggles at 3pm and also we will be running a stall all day.

Saturday 8th November, 9am – 10pm

Leeds University Union

Get connected, share skills and join in action for change, with a day of guest speaker panels, workshops hosted by groups from Leeds and further afield, films, art, singing and lots in between for all ages! The full programme is now available, so check it out!

Guest speaker panels will feature:

Paul Mason – Channel 4 Economics Editor, prolific author and digital media guru

Pragna Patel – Founder of Southall Black Sisters, activist and listed in the Guardian’s 100 Top Women

Clara Osagiede – RMT representative, powerful living wage campaigner for London Underground cleaners

Eleanor Lisney & Armineh Soorenian – Sisters of Frida, a Disabled Women’s Cooperative

Aderonke Apata – Lesbian from Nigeria fighting for asylum in the UK & campaigner

Representative from Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty – campaign group fighting austerity measures

In the evening, we will be celebrating with dinner cooked by The Real Junk Food Project, music from Leeds choirs, and comedy from Chris Coltrane.

The event is FREE to attend, but donations towards running costs can be made through Tidal’s page on LocalGiving. This means we can get gift aid, and from Tuesday 14th October your donation will be doubled!

Leeds for Change promotes social change across the city. We aim to connect groups, improve access and facilitate the sharing of resources and skills amongst those who share a similar vision for Leeds.

We’re putting on this event in collaboration with the wonderful Economic Justice Project.

Want to help with the day?

We are looking for people to help with everything from sign language interpreting to helping people register, so find out more about what’s involved and email volunteering@leedsforchange.org.uk to join our volunteering team.

We’ve got loads more information on our website, so for all the details visit www.leedsforchange.org.uk.

Summat New programme

 

Farewell Sam

This week another of our volunteers at the Barnsley Unite Community Support Centre has left us. Recently Mohammad Tariq left and Wednesday was Sam Howarth’s last day with us.

Both men made a huge contribution to the Centre, learning about the complicated benefits system from Richard Vivian, in order to help those in need.

The good news is that both Mohammad and Sam have found employment. Great for them but leaves us looking for a replacement and their shoes will be hard to fill.

Many thanks Mo and Sam and we hope all goes well for you.

Contact us if you would like to get involved and help at the centre.

Sanctions Inquiry

job centre plus in glasgow
Unite Community members welcome to the inquiry into the cruel sanctions programme that has been forcing the most vulnerable in our society into the hands of loan sharks, and becoming reliant on hand outs from food banks.

We also realise that without pressure from campaigners that this will not be enough to reverse the tide of cruel and unnecessary welfare reforms that tries to blame the poorest in society for the problems caused by those with the most wealth. Unite Community members will keep up our support for those falling foul of this upside down system, whilst at the same time organising our communities to fight back.

More info here.

People power can make a difference

When the Civic Theatre in Barnsley announced an upcoming exhibition by Israeli shoe designer Kobi Levi, Unite Community member Brian Clarke dug deeper and discovered that the exhibition was backed by the Israeli Government. A letter to his local council resulted in the cancellation of the exhibition.

“I was looking through the Civic events calendar and noticed this exhibition,” said Brian. “I immediately sent an email to Birdwell Councillor Jim Andrews, that I found it very disturbing particularly as it is to be sponsored by the Israeli government.

“I registered my objection taking into account what was happening in Gaza and how the Israelis are treating Palestinians making the point that if it went ahead there would bound to be demonstrations opposing it, causing embarrassment to the Council. I asked Jim if there was anything he could do to stop the exhibition?”

Councillor Andrews responded saying he also was concerned and would look into the matter. Following a telephone conversation with Civic Chief Executive Helen Ball and enquiries to Northampton Gallery, who were loaning the exhibition, the decision was taken not to go ahead.

Helen Ball explains, “having considered all the information provided I feel that given the level to which the conflict in Gaza has escalated in recent months and the level of upset and distress this has caused together with us being an organisation that receives public funding to provide arts and cultural experiences for local people who clearly may be concerned that we appear to be aligning ourselves with one side of that conflict, the best decision is for us not to go ahead with the exhibition.”

Instead the Civic will now present an exhibition from the Royal Photographic Society, International Images for Science 2013.

This is a great example of how action by a single person can make a difference, if only in a small way and help to raise awareness of injustices suffered by those in far away lands.

Britain’s great land grab

The ‘super rich’, wealthy domestic and foreign property developers and ‘old money’ aristocrats are cashing in on Britain’s housing crisis, while 1.8 million households languish on council waiting lists.

As those ‘super rich’ gathered at MIPIM property fair, the biggest of it’s kind in the world, members of Unite and other campaign groups were outside protesting at the sell-off of public land at a time of a desperate housing crisis across the UK. Unite heard from some campaigners and those affected by this ‘land grab’.

Unite has also produced a briefing – ‘Carving up our communities’link

Please share far and wide, thank you.

 

Solidarity with PCS picket lines

10723271_10152356305001128_2145288895_n

Unite Community members today supported the PCS picket lines strengthening our links. We understand the pressures facing staff whilst at the same time supporting our communities suffering from the cruel and unnecessary welfare reforms.

We will have a much greater chance of defeating the ConDem’s austerity policies if we can link the struggles of the unemployed with the struggles of workers. United we are strong!

An example of our joint work here.


Fair pay for the NHS

Across England and Northern Ireland today, NHS workers took to the picket lines for the first time in 30 years to demand fair NHS pay

KendrayPicket_01_LoUnite Community members showing solidarity on the picket line at Kendray Hospital in Barnsley.

 Given the feedback from our members, we are confident that this was a very well-supported action with over 100 picket line protests outside NHS hospitals up and down the country. NHS workers were especially thankful for all the messages of support they’ve been receiving from the public.

We urge Jeremy Hunt to heed his responsibility to the NHS workforce and patients and to start talking with the unions to discuss fair pay for this vital staff who would rather be caring for patients than having to fight their own poverty.

Health professionals are especially concerned that the health secretary implies that fair wages for them mean job losses, but he does nothing to curb pay excess by corporate chief executives or the horrific £3 billion cost of this government’s useless reorganisation of the NHS.

The health unions are calling for the government not to impose limits on what can be achieved for this essential workforce, but to come to the table prepared to negotiate in a meaningful way.

Today general secretary Len McCluskey visited Unite members on strike picket at St Thomas’ Hospital. He said that we should send a message to this government and the political elite that NHS workers should no longer be treated as second class citizens.

Here are a few photos from today’s action (below).

Local food bank support

Food 1
Unite Community members continue to support our local food bank, making another vital food donation this week (pictured above).