Manchester launches first locally controlled bus service in four decades

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/manchester-launches-first-locally-controlled-bus-service-in-four-decades/

“I hope it signals the start of a public transport revolution across the whole of England,” says Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham.

Greater Manchester has retaken control of its buses after almost 40 years of deregulation.

As bus services were deregulated across the UK in 1986 – except in London where services remained under local control – the move represents the biggest change to public transport in a generation.

The privatisation of Britain’s bus sector was introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s government. At the time, the government predicted that the move would lead to “lower fares, new services, and more passengers,” while removing “any potential liability on the taxpayer.”

Instead, bus use has been in decline ever since, and today, much of the sector is in crisis, with taxpayers subsidising corporate profits. In Greater Manchester, the number of passengers using buses has fallen from 355m in 1986/87, to just over 182m at the end of 2019, just before Covid.

From September 24, a fleet of 50 zero-emission Bee Network-branded buses (ZEBs) will be in service. The buses offer a range of improved features for passengers, including two bays for wheelchair users, anti-slip flooring, audio and visual announcement systems, and hearing induction loops. Over the next two years, existing buses in Greater Manchester will be gradually upgraded to Bee Network buses.

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/manchester-launches-first-locally-controlled-bus-service-in-four-decades/

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Anti-strike law: Major protest planned by unions to defend the right to strike

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has organised an emergency protest on Monday 22nd May for 6.00pm outside Parliament Square, as it fights to protect the right to strike which is under attack from the Tory government.

Mick Lynch from the RMT, Matt Wrack from the FBU and Kevin Courtney will be speaking at the rally, with Unison, USDAW and the PCS union all showing their support.

The government’s strikes bill, which will empower employers to sue unions and sack staff in crucial sectors if minimum service levels aren’t maintained, has been slammed as an attack on the fundamental right to strike and as a draconian piece of legislation. The Bill essentially means that when workers lawfully vote to strike in health, education, fire, transport, border security and nuclear decommissioning, they could be forced to attend work – and sacked if they don’t comply.  

The TUC said in a press statement: “We can’t afford to lose the right to strike. But multi-millionaire Tory politicians are attacking our right to strike for better pay and fair treatment at work.

Kwasi Kwarteng once more refuses to apologise for economic turmoil he caused

Former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has once more refused to apologise for his disastrous mini-budget which caused financial turmoil and which eventually led to him being sacked and Liz Truss being forced out of office.

Kwarteng, whose mini-budget resulted in chaos on the financial markets, the pound hitting an all-time low against the dollar and mortgage rates soaring, said he was ‘not in the business of forgiveness’.

“I’m not going to apologise,” he told Channel 4 News.

Ann Widdecombe’s appalling advice to hungry families struggling with cost of living crisis is condemned

Former Tory MP and now Reform UK party member Ann Widdecombe has been widely condemned for her ‘out of touch’ and appalling comments on families struggling to make ends meet during the cost of living crisis.

Widdecombe was asked on BBC 2’s Politics Live programme about the cost of living crisis and what advice she would give to viewers who could not even afford the basics.

Jo Coburn asked the former Tory MP: “What do you say to those viewers who literally can’t afford to pay even for some of the basics – if they’ve gone up the way that cheese sandwich has, with all its ingredients?”

“Well, then you don’t do the cheese sandwich,” Widdecombe replied.

Her comments were immediately condemned by fellow panellist Rachel Cunliffe who said: “We’re talking about absolute basics and staples. We’re talking about own-brand pasta, we’re talking about bread, we’re talking about families who can’t afford to feed their children.

Andy Burnham explains why Labour should back proportional representation

‘The First Past the Post system hands more power to the establishment than MPs or people.’

The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has set out the reasons for why the Labour Party should back a change to the voting system in favour of proportional representation (PR), despite party leader Keir Starmer saying that voting reform will not be a priority should Labour win power.

Although the Labour Party conference last year overwhelmingly backed a motion calling on the party to embrace a proportional electoral system, the leadership has made clear that it would not do as the motion says.

Since then, at the Progressive Britain conference last week, Starmer made clear that voting reform would not be among the priorities should Labour win power.

Burnham however has urged the party to adopt PR, saying that the current first-past-the-post voting system hands more power to the establishment than MPs or people and changing the system to proportional representation would mean “every vote would matter”.

Green Party sets out 5 ways in which the Tories have undermined our democracy

Carla Denyer claims Greens are the strongest party on democratic reform

Carla Denyer, Cost of Living Crisis, Bristol, 2 April 2022

The Green Party has slammed the Tories for dragging democracy in the UK in a dangerous direction.

Speaking at an event last night, co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, Carla Denyer, laid out how the Tory’s have assaulted our democracy – and how the Greens would solve it.

Denyer discussed how to restore public faith in politics and argued that the Greens were the strongest party on democratic reform.

The Greens have said they would apply proportional representation for all elections to all levels of government, along with bringing the voting age down to 16.

They would introduce devolution, mirroring systems in Europe by giving more power to local and regional government and Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Parliament. They would also introduce an elected upper house to replace hereditary power in the House of Lord and set up a Citizen’s Convention.

Introducing a fairer system of state funding for political parties, which would hope to eliminate the dependence of large private donations and strengthen transparency on political lobbying and donations. One in four people believe that party donors have the most influence on government decisions, according to Unlock Democracy.

Denyer also accused the media of preventing democratic conversations through its bias towards certain political parties.

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Jeremy Corbyn videos :: 2

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This blog and my previous blog is about me being a political dissident and a political activist. I am supporting Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour leadership campaign.

I consider that the vast majority of the UK electorate has been denied the opportunity to vote for anybody remotely representing their interests for far too long. Isn’t democracy an absolute farce if your choice is Conservative, Conservative or Conservative? (Conservative, Conservative-Liberal-Democrat or Conservative-Labour).

I will be featuring some videos about Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign. These vids are just within the last day or so.

Comments are monitored. They will be published if relevant regardless of any other consideration. OK, they may be cen***ed if obscene but they are welcome and encouraged.

ed: There are a lot more available. YouTube has a filter Sort by Upload date

 

Continue ReadingJeremy Corbyn videos :: 2

Jeremy Corbyn videos :: 1

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This blog and my previous blog is about me being a political dissident and a political activist. I am supporting Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour leadership campaign.

ed: Let me be clear. I can’t be a registered supporter of the Labour Party. I support him, I can’t vote for him. I can’t bring myself to register my support for the Labour Party … yet.

I consider that the vast majority of the UK electorate has been denied the opportunity to vote for anybody remotely representing their interests for far too long. Isn’t democracy an absolute farce if your choice is Conservative, Conservative or Conservative? (Conservative, Conservative-Liberal-Democrat or Conservative-Labour).

I will be featuring some videos about Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign. These vids are just within the last day or so. He seems really busy – no wonder he looks tired on the night bus.

Comments are monitored. They will be published if relevant regardless of any other consideration. OK, they may be cen***ed if obscene but they are welcome and encouraged.

Continue ReadingJeremy Corbyn videos :: 1

Psst, don’t say it too loudly. What’s wrong with UK politics. Shall we start and how the so-called ‘Labour’ party is going so wrong? To continue and continue …

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Well if the so-called Labour party’s not going to do it, someone’s got to do it.

Stop being such Neo-Con shits. How on Earth can you claim to represent ordinary people when you are such Neo-Con shits?

TBC

ed: The point is that if you’re such Neo-Con shits then you are Neo-Con shits. There is no difference because you are Neo-Con shits … who care nothing for people – never mind ordinary people. Neo-Con Labour shits care nothing except Neo-Conism. You evil, careless b’stards.

Neo-Con Labour have nothing to offer ordinary people. Well, they can offer you ridiculous, irrational shitless scaredness. That’s what Neo_Conism is. Be afraid. Be far more afraid of a ridiculous nothingness threat. Hey be afraid of walking on the pavement – that’s far more dangerous. Be afraid of going out. Stay in. It’s so dangerous – far more dangerous than food poisoning or falling down. Wouldn’t that be awful if you fell over? Terrible, That’s life.

Anyway, back to the Neo-Con Labour Party. They’ve accepted fully the Neo-Con skit. You know what it is – be skitless afraid. C’off Neo-Con Labour Party. Just C’off.

Be afraid to catch a bus. Be afraid, be so afraid. Be afraid. These b’stards make up terrorism shit to control you through fear. I suggest that we need a backlash. How dare they? How dare they manipulate people through fear? How dare they? Cnuts

How dare they manipulate people through fake manufactured terrorism?

Payback?

And such ridiculous, transparent terrrism nonsense. Can we hold thib to account?

It’s unfortunate that I will never have the same importunities – hey that may be it. No, I’d like similar opportunities to do TB and IB as they had. FM I was lucky but thanks also to everyone that I did not acknowledge before.

Isn’t it like an eye for an Ii? Isn’t it quite clear?

6?

I find it really weird that this IB cnut is still tolerated. I suppose that’s their siht siht. Shall we call it total siht? IB such a siht, it is so transparent that he was such a political tool. How on earth can anyone suggest that there is anything near democracy with absolute New-Labour murdering and more police cnuts like this? Oh Fcuk off.

New Labour Ian Blair. It’s so ridiculous. IB – actually – covering for murdering bastards on the tube. Jean Charles de-Menezes. de-Menezes is the surname. JCD.

ed: What can be done about this then? I have suggested 6
Is there another resolution?

Well of course there are other resolutions …
It’s difficult to accuse dead people. Be good if they died soon not from old age

Ed: The trouble is that this all seems outside any judicial process e.g. former Boss of the Metropolitan Police with assistance from a foreign paramilitary force calling for the murder of a UK citizen. If it’s outside any judicial process then I have suggested a resolution.

ed: Probably military rather than paramilitary. Yes, employed and financed directly. I don’t suppose they were anything else. Perhaps paramilitary because they were pretending not to be foreign military in UK.

Not that different to(p) terrorists then if you think about it.

ed: Yes, they were foreign but pretending not to be. They invented terrrism.

Continue ReadingPsst, don’t say it too loudly. What’s wrong with UK politics. Shall we start and how the so-called ‘Labour’ party is going so wrong? To continue and continue …