Berwick upon Tweed & District Trades Union Council Meeting, 29TH March 2013 and Public Meeting on Palestine.
The “Bedroom Tax” became law on last Monday. This Tax will result in rising homelessness, evictions and untold misery for hundreds of thousands of already poor households.
People with spare rooms will have nowhere to go: in Berwick and Northumberland there are almost no one bed roomed properties available so if you do have spare rooms you have no alternative but to take the Tory / Lib Dem hit. What has Alan Beith to say about this Tax? Nothing! He is part of the Government attacking the poor.
Cameron says the “spare room subsidy” will encourage people to move to smaller properties and save money on housing benefit – where are the smaller properties in Berwick and Northumberland Mr Beith? David Orr of the National Housing Federation has said the Bedroom Tax is a “once in a generation decision that is wrong in every respect, bad policy, bad economics and bad for hundreds of thousands of ordinary families, it’s profoundly bad politics!” Some Local Authorities, such as Dundee and Islington, have said that they will not evict tenants. Last weekend, in over 50 towns and cities across the UK, there were demonstrations and meetings organising against this evil tax. The Trades Council pledges to support any actions taken by local community groups against this nasty bit of legislation. Alan Beith should be ashamed; he has failed his constituents and must be held to account.
The Health Service is heading for privatisation and this is little understood with poor reporting in the main stream press. The Trades Council is organising a public meeting to discuss how privatisation will impact on Berwick. We may be seeing the end of the NHS in England while it is still in rude health in Scotland. This meeting is sponsored by the Co-op and the TUC. Speakers will include NHS unions opposed to privatisation.
On Thursday the 4th of April the trades council in association with the Berwick Peace Church held a well attended public meeting on Palestine. The speaker, Mick Napier, is a long time supporter of the people of Palestine. Considerable interest was shown in setting up a Palestine Solidarity Campaign in the area.