I've realised that I need to get involved, put my time where my mouth is and use whatever influence I can to chance the world I live in for the better. I was busy with life, able to become complacent when Labour was in government. I took for granted the support and values that it gave to me, my family, my community and my country. I thought that choosing to work in the public sector was enough. But with the New coalition government taking a hatchet to so many of the great things that Labour did and to so many things that I value and hold dear, it's no longer enough to be complacent and expect somebody else to take up the fight. I refuse to stay in a mental place of fear and anger - I have to use this energy to do something constructive and positive.
I'm 38 years old and have a career in personal and professional training and development. After working for one of the big consultancy firms in my 20s I made a conscious decision to move to the public sector in 2005. This was partly for the flexibility this offered me in terms of flexible working and a more family friendly environment and partly becuase I felt that I selfishly wanted to feel that the work I was doing makes a tangible difference to people's lives. I'm passionate about the public sector. I know work for a local authority in the North West of England and I honestly love my job. I consider myself really lucky to be able to go to work, use my skills, get recognised for them and know that I'm having a positive impact. I also get to work with passionate people who value what they do. Whilst we don't always share identical outlooks, ways of working or beliefs, we all work hard to provide the best possible services for people. That gives me much more of a buzz that helping people to sell more credit cards or process phone applications faster ever did.
You see, I just don't recognise the bloated bureaucracy filled with lazy pen pushers in cushy jobs that the Coalition and right wing press would have us believe. I work with passionate, skilled people who also value public service and know that their work helps people. Many are creative, dynamic and highly intelligent. I love the fact that a fair few didn't do that well initially at school, but that working in the public sector has allowed them to continue to study, to gain qualifications and be recognised for the experience they bring to the job.
I'm lucky enough to work with people at all levels of the local authority - from refuse staff, social care staff, engineering managers, HR professionals - and they all share a commitment for improving the lives of our community. It makes me very angry to see their work and their characters maligned. I'm also appalled at the viscous cuts announced, the blatant disregard for the pain this will inflict on so many vulnerable people, the pious and frankly insulting 'we're all in this together' speeches.
So I've decided that I need to get more involved. At a local level with campaigning for issues, for the Labour Party, for nation and international issues I feel are important. It's no longer an issue to sit back and trust that our government will take care of the poor and vulnerable for us. This coalition have quickly and very clearly shown that they won't.
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
How did we get here?
Apparently we live in a broken society. It's funny but I don't recognise that world. I live in the North of England. I live on a street where I know my neighbours. We chat over the fence. We look out for each other's houses when they're away. We don't hold street parties or anything but I feel there's a community of sorts there. A friendship born of location and easy going personalities.
I know not everyone is lucky enough to have neighbours like that. I know lots of people who live on estates that are decrepit and with neighbours who were anti social. The Labour party had done a lot during their years in power. But they weren't perfect and there was still a way to go.
I, like many traditional labour supporters had become a bit disillusioned with the Labour Party. I opposed their stance on civil liberties. I strongly opposed the war. I was also frustrated at the growth of parties like UKiP and the BNP in areas that had been traditional Labour heartlands. It seemed to me that Labour had lost the ability (or will) to engage with those people who couldn't understand why life was no better for them and seemed to be getting harder. I was raised on Labour. My parents took me to see 7:84 Theatre Company at Bold Miners club in the middle of the miners strike. I went to school with a 'Coal not Dole' sticker on my blazer. I joined the young socialists in my teens. growing up in the north in the 80s it was practically impossible not to support Labour. But in 2010 those days seemed a long way away. We'd come so far and Labour seemed to be losing it a bit. They seemed a bit stayed. A bit all over the place. I wasn't 100% sure what they stood for any more. But - and it's a big one, I trusted them to manage the economy. There was no question that the welfare state wasn't well supported. There were cuts on the way but I trusted that they would be progressive. Harder times were ahead for sure but I didn't fear for a future with Labour in charge.
In the lead up to the General Election I have to say that I was impressed with Nick Clegg and Vince Cable. They really did seem to be offering something different. On civil liberties they were even left of Labour. I liked the idea of the mansion tax. They were against VAT rises and were the only party who responded to me saying they were in support of the Robin Hood Tax. They seemed sensible. Measured. Kind and fair and wanting to try something new. They appeared to have values that I could relate to. I could never bring myself to vote for smooth and shiny faced Cameron-his decontamination of the Tory brand seemed cynical and untrustworthy to me. But I did consider a vote for the Lib Dems. That's how lost labour had got. Or how complacent I'd become. Or how good the Lib Dems PR machine was being. Or how downright cynical it all was. I'm not sure now.
What I am sure is that we now have a coalition government that is doing things far worse than my Tory nightmares could have predicted. Far from being a tempering influence on the rabid Tory axe, the Lib dems seems to be providing a smiley face of 'fairness' to the horror. Cuts that even the Tory's didn't admit to in their election campaign are now being blithely pushed through. The Lib Dems have done some paltry excuses for 'maintaining the fairness of the budget' with the rise in the Taxation limit but the real effect of which is so paltry that it's wiped out many times over by the cuts in benefits and VAT rises. All other principles seem to have gone out of the window for clinging onto power. This doesn't feel fair. I'll admit it does seem to be a new form of politics - two parties now ganging up on one. I'm sickened by the cynical Labour bashing - blaming Gordon Brown et al for the recession, the deficit and trumping up the fear factor to justify unfair, unnecessary and ideologically based cuts.
The budget will hit the poorest 6 times harder than the richest. The banks are still getting away with murder. The poor are blamed for not having a job. Those on incapacity benefit are being lumped together with scroungers. Public sector workers are painted as lazy incompetents languishing in cushy jobs with 'gilt edged pensions.'
The labour party is meanwhile having a leadership election. It's needed but God is it a distraction. I can't wait until it's over and we have someone in place. I've rejoined the party and I want to be involved - properly involved. I don't mind delivering leaflets but if that's the only role available to me I'm not interested. I want to have a voice and have some influence. I've so far been impressed with the candidates particularly - Andy Burnham's passion for inspirational socialism and rejection of the new labour power struggles, Ed Ball's fury and straight talking, David Miliband's confidence, experience and skilled arguments. I've not looked too closely at Ed Miliband or Diane Abbot yet but I will over the next couple of days. One thing is clear - whoever wins and whoever is in the party needs to be ruthlessly focussed on opposing the cuts and exposing the Thatcherite values behind it. In that sense I don't really care who wins, just that we can get on with the job.
I know not everyone is lucky enough to have neighbours like that. I know lots of people who live on estates that are decrepit and with neighbours who were anti social. The Labour party had done a lot during their years in power. But they weren't perfect and there was still a way to go.
I, like many traditional labour supporters had become a bit disillusioned with the Labour Party. I opposed their stance on civil liberties. I strongly opposed the war. I was also frustrated at the growth of parties like UKiP and the BNP in areas that had been traditional Labour heartlands. It seemed to me that Labour had lost the ability (or will) to engage with those people who couldn't understand why life was no better for them and seemed to be getting harder. I was raised on Labour. My parents took me to see 7:84 Theatre Company at Bold Miners club in the middle of the miners strike. I went to school with a 'Coal not Dole' sticker on my blazer. I joined the young socialists in my teens. growing up in the north in the 80s it was practically impossible not to support Labour. But in 2010 those days seemed a long way away. We'd come so far and Labour seemed to be losing it a bit. They seemed a bit stayed. A bit all over the place. I wasn't 100% sure what they stood for any more. But - and it's a big one, I trusted them to manage the economy. There was no question that the welfare state wasn't well supported. There were cuts on the way but I trusted that they would be progressive. Harder times were ahead for sure but I didn't fear for a future with Labour in charge.
In the lead up to the General Election I have to say that I was impressed with Nick Clegg and Vince Cable. They really did seem to be offering something different. On civil liberties they were even left of Labour. I liked the idea of the mansion tax. They were against VAT rises and were the only party who responded to me saying they were in support of the Robin Hood Tax. They seemed sensible. Measured. Kind and fair and wanting to try something new. They appeared to have values that I could relate to. I could never bring myself to vote for smooth and shiny faced Cameron-his decontamination of the Tory brand seemed cynical and untrustworthy to me. But I did consider a vote for the Lib Dems. That's how lost labour had got. Or how complacent I'd become. Or how good the Lib Dems PR machine was being. Or how downright cynical it all was. I'm not sure now.
What I am sure is that we now have a coalition government that is doing things far worse than my Tory nightmares could have predicted. Far from being a tempering influence on the rabid Tory axe, the Lib dems seems to be providing a smiley face of 'fairness' to the horror. Cuts that even the Tory's didn't admit to in their election campaign are now being blithely pushed through. The Lib Dems have done some paltry excuses for 'maintaining the fairness of the budget' with the rise in the Taxation limit but the real effect of which is so paltry that it's wiped out many times over by the cuts in benefits and VAT rises. All other principles seem to have gone out of the window for clinging onto power. This doesn't feel fair. I'll admit it does seem to be a new form of politics - two parties now ganging up on one. I'm sickened by the cynical Labour bashing - blaming Gordon Brown et al for the recession, the deficit and trumping up the fear factor to justify unfair, unnecessary and ideologically based cuts.
The budget will hit the poorest 6 times harder than the richest. The banks are still getting away with murder. The poor are blamed for not having a job. Those on incapacity benefit are being lumped together with scroungers. Public sector workers are painted as lazy incompetents languishing in cushy jobs with 'gilt edged pensions.'
The labour party is meanwhile having a leadership election. It's needed but God is it a distraction. I can't wait until it's over and we have someone in place. I've rejoined the party and I want to be involved - properly involved. I don't mind delivering leaflets but if that's the only role available to me I'm not interested. I want to have a voice and have some influence. I've so far been impressed with the candidates particularly - Andy Burnham's passion for inspirational socialism and rejection of the new labour power struggles, Ed Ball's fury and straight talking, David Miliband's confidence, experience and skilled arguments. I've not looked too closely at Ed Miliband or Diane Abbot yet but I will over the next couple of days. One thing is clear - whoever wins and whoever is in the party needs to be ruthlessly focussed on opposing the cuts and exposing the Thatcherite values behind it. In that sense I don't really care who wins, just that we can get on with the job.
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