BREAKING: our people-powered investigation has uncovered Jeremy Hunt’s secret plans for our NHS. [1] So far, these plans - drawn up for every single area across England - have been kept under wraps. That changes today.
These plans are huge and complicated. Together we’ve started to shed light on them. But we just don’t know enough yet. [2] If we want to have our say on our local NHS services before it’s too late, we need to see every detail. The next step is to take this to our MPs. They’ll be concerned about changes to the NHS too. If MP after MP puts pressure on Jeremy Hunt, it could be enough to force him into publishing his full plans for our NHS.
So, Peter, will you sign the petition asking Dawn Butler to lift the lid on the plans for the NHS in your area?
Right now these plans force local NHS leaders to make impossible decisions to save money. But they could be so much better. Imagine an NHS with state-of-the-art technology, and doctors and nurses who have the time to look after every single patient properly. An NHS that puts patients before budget cuts. So 38 Degrees members are building a massive people-powered campaign across the country. From Liverpool to Canterbury, York to Leicester, 38 Degrees members in every area are demanding we see the full plans and get the chance to have our say on them. Together, we’re saying that patients - not politicians - should decide the future of our NHS.
We’re already making progress together. Already, a quarter of a million of us have signed the petition calling on Jeremy Hunt to lift the lid on the plans. [3] And thousands of us chipped in to fund the people-powered investigation that’s splashed all over the media today. [4] Some of these plans for our NHS are downright scary. From the proposed closure of an A&E in The Black Country to hospital wards in Leeds, these plans will mean a different NHS for all of us. [5] A lot’s still unknown - and it’s up to us to find out the truth. Thanks for being involved, Maggie, Rachel, Laura and the 38 Degrees team PS: Thousands of 38 Degrees members chipped in to pay for an expert investigation to get the scoop on what the plans look like. The experts looked at everything they could find about the plans in every single area, to give us the information you see in this email. But lots is still unclear, and some areas haven’t released any details about their plans to the public. You can see the full investigation here, including what we know about every plan across England: https://secure.38degrees.org. PPS: The 38 Degrees staff team have tried our best to make sure that the information in this email is accurate and right for your area. But there’s a chance that some people who live on the borders of two NHS areas might see information about the plans for their neighbouring NHS in this email instead. If you spot any problems with the information in this email - or have more information to share about your local plans - please email the staff team atnhssecretplans@38degrees.org. NOTES: [1] 38 Degrees blog: Is our NHS at risk of cuts? NHS England’s “Sustainability and Transformation Plans” explained: https://secure.38degrees.org. [2] 38 Degrees blog: The 38 Degrees crowdfunded investigation into secret NHS plans: https://secure.38degrees.org. [3] 38 Degrees petition: Jeremy Hunt - Reveal your plans for the NHS: https://secure.38degrees.org. [4] BBC: NHS cuts 'planned across England': http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ The Guardian: NHS plans radical cuts to fight growing deficit in health budget: https://www.theguardian.com/ [5] See note 2 | ||||
38 Degrees is funded by donations from thousands of members across the UK. Making a regular donation will mean 38 Degrees can stay independent and plan for future campaigns. Please will you chip in a few pounds a week?
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NEWS AND VIEWS FROM BRENT GREEN PARTY - VOTE GREEN IN THE MAY LOCAL COUNCIL ELECTION
26 Aug 2016
Proposed NHS cuts in North West London:
17 Aug 2016
Grunwick Changed Me
Grunwick Changed Me
Listen at http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Maya Amin-Smith explores the impact of the Grunwick dispute, which began in August 1976, and finds out how members of her family became involved, and how they look back on it now.
The Grunwick dispute, at a film processing plant in north west London, is widely regarded as a landmark in British trade union history. For the first time, a high-profile strike involved women from South Asian immigrant communities, many of whom were fairly recent arrivals in the UK. Few if any had experience of industrial action - and the press at the time quickly noticed what they called 'strikers in saris', an image which challenged the perception that strikes were largely led by white men.
But aside from the public legacy of the Grunwick dispute, what was the personal impact on the people involved?
Maya Amin-Smith was born fifteen years after the strike was abandoned, into an Indian family of East-African immigrants. Her family had settled in the Chapter Road area of Dollis Hill where the Grunwick factory was situated. Indeed, two of her great aunts worked at the film processing plant themselves.
There's little sign now in the narrow streets of Dollis Hill that this was once the site of a long and bitter struggle, but now that the dust has settled, Maya explores the impact that this industrial action has had not only on her family, but on families like hers within the South Asian immigrant community, and how it's remembered now.
29 Jul 2016
Michaela Secondary Free School punishes children for having hard-up parents
Friday, 29 July 2016
Michaela Secondary Free School punishes children for having hard-up parents
I suspect not many of my readers also read the Daily Mail so here is a brief summary of an on-line story carried by the Mail LINK.
Katharine Birbalsingh who hit the headlines when she became Michael Gove's darling after she told a Tory Conference that the education system was broken based on her experience at a London secondary school, is head of Michaela Secondary Free School in Wembley Park. The school advertises its strict discipline policy and 'private school ethos' and has a laudatory comment from Boris Johnson hanging on its exterior.
The Mail story is not about the school's strict umbrella code (black or navy blue only) or its service to parents whereby they can text pictures of school shoes they are about to buy for approval LINK, but about its attitude towards the children of hard-up families.
The Mail reveals that children whose parents are behind with meal payments are put in lunch isolation, being made to sit on their own for the whole lunch hour, and are given a sandwich instead of a hot meal with dessert.
The Mail quotes a letter from the deputy headteacher, Barry Smith, to unemployed care worker Dionne Kelly. Dione had paid by the time she received the letter but her child was punished anyway:
Sam Royston of the Children's Society said, 'No school should punish and potentially stigmatise a child because a parent has not paid for, or is unable to afford, school meals.'
http://wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/michaela-secondary-free-school-punishes.html
Katharine Birbalsingh who hit the headlines when she became Michael Gove's darling after she told a Tory Conference that the education system was broken based on her experience at a London secondary school, is head of Michaela Secondary Free School in Wembley Park. The school advertises its strict discipline policy and 'private school ethos' and has a laudatory comment from Boris Johnson hanging on its exterior.
The Mail story is not about the school's strict umbrella code (black or navy blue only) or its service to parents whereby they can text pictures of school shoes they are about to buy for approval LINK, but about its attitude towards the children of hard-up families.
The Mail reveals that children whose parents are behind with meal payments are put in lunch isolation, being made to sit on their own for the whole lunch hour, and are given a sandwich instead of a hot meal with dessert.
The Mail quotes a letter from the deputy headteacher, Barry Smith, to unemployed care worker Dionne Kelly. Dione had paid by the time she received the letter but her child was punished anyway:
The deadline for this term's lunch payment was 1st June 2016. You are currently £75 overdue. If this full amount is not received within this week your child will be placed into Lunch isolation.Birbalsingh told the Mail that the letter was sent in an attempt to encourage the parent to change her ways and support her son by paying for his food.
They will receive a sandwich and a piece of fruit only. Only when the outstanding sum is paid in full will they be allowed to eat lunch with their classmates.
Sam Royston of the Children's Society said, 'No school should punish and potentially stigmatise a child because a parent has not paid for, or is unable to afford, school meals.'
http://wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/michaela-secondary-free-school-punishes.html
8 Jul 2016
Grunwick and Lucas 40 Years On: Union Rights, Workers' Control
Grunwick and Lucas 40 Years On: Union Rights, Workers' Control
Screening of The Year of the Beaver and The Lucas Plan, with discussion and brief talks by Kerria Box (Grunwick 40) and Solfed.
22nd July 7pm at LARC, 62 Fieldgate Street, E1 (nearest tubes Whitechapel, Aldgate East.)
Organised by Breaking the Frame, Grunwick 40 and North London Solidarity Federation. FREE/donation.
1976 was a high tide of workers’ struggle and the year it all began to change. Giving the lie to racist and sexist myths that Asian women were submissive and would work for a pittance, workers at the Grunwick plant in Willesden rallied the left behind their struggle for the right to join the union. At the Lucas Aerospace arms company, the Shops Stewards’ Combine Committee took the fight to the bosses, with their workers’ Alternative Plan for socially useful production.
In 2016 we are still facing the fiction of ‘foreigners taking our jobs’. In the face of climate change and militarism, we again need industrial conversion, from fossil fuels and Trident to renewables, and to stop the bosses replacing our jobs with robots. Join us for 2 films and discussion, showing how workers’ rights and ideas are crucial to facing those challenges.
Refreshments will be available for a donation. Contact info@breakingtheframe.org.uk for more information. Venue is wheelchair accessible.
http://breakingtheframe.org.
http://www.solfed.org.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/
- !Save the date for the Lucas Plan 40th Anniversary Conference in Birmingham Saturday November 26th - more information soon at http://lucasplan.org.uk/
14 Jun 2016
London Greens send their solidarity to the UNISON strikers in Barnet,
London Greens send their solidarity to the UNISON strikers in Barnet, you are making a stand for public libraries which are under attack all overLondon and throughout the UK. You are not only defending pay and conditions, but also standing up for education and culture. The abolition of ignorance is a central principle of the welfare state and it should be an aim of local and central government, by defending this you are representing all of us.
P.Murry
Secretary Green Left
London Federation of Green Parties Trade Union Liaison Officer pp GPTU
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