Thousands March In Anti-Austerity Protests

http://news.sky.com/story/1505401/thousands-march-in-anti-austerity-protests

Thousands March In Anti-Austerity Protests
Charlotte Church and Russell Brand are among those at the first major public protests since the Tory government took power.

Tens of thousands of people are marching through London and Glasgow in demonstrations against austerity, spending cuts and nuclear weapons.

Singer Charlotte Church and comedian Russell Brand will address the crowds in the capital as well as Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, Labour leadership contender Jeremy Corbyn and Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness.

:: Watch London Protests Live Using Interactive Map

:: Live Blog - Anti-Austerity Protests

Church, brandishing an End Austerity Now placard, was at the front of the march in the capital.

"I'm here today in a show of solidarity with everyone here - it is a massive turnout - everybody who thinks that austerity isn't the only way and thinks it is essentially unethical, unfair and unnecessary," she said.

Organisers expected the demonstrations - the first public protests since the Tory government took power - to be the biggest for years.

People travelled from across the UK to march from the City of London to Westminster.

Shortly after the march started, red flares were let off, filling the street with scarlet smoke.

Sam Fairbairn of the People's Assembly, which is organising the demonstrations, said: "It will be the start of a campaign of protest, strikes, direct action and civil disobedience up and down the country.

"We will not rest until austerity is history, our services are back in public hands and the needs of the majority are put first."

Kate Hudson, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said mass mobilisation was key to persuading the new Government not to renew the Trident nuclear weapons.

Lindsey German, convener of the Stop The War Coalition, said: "I will be marching because I am fed up with all the main parties saying they are going to promote austerity.

"They have made the rich richer and the poor poorer and they're going to continue."

Union leaders and campaign groups have been highlighting the impact of spending cuts on the NHS, welfare and education, and warning of the effects of fresh cuts expected in next month's Budget.

Green MP Caroline Lucas is expected to say: "It's time for all of us who oppose the Government's self-defeating austerity programme to work together.

"That means more protests. It means taking action in our communities. And for those of us in Parliament it means voting against further vicious cuts to our precious welfare state."

Marina Prentoulis, representing Greek party Syriza, said:  "We have paid the price of the austerity policies in blood.

"The Greek government has the political and moral duty to put an end to the austerity measures that created a humanitarian crisis in Greece."

Sian Bloor, a primary school teacher from Trafford, near Manchester, warned that children "are being robbed of their childhood" because of government cuts.

"We have seen a huge impact on our work at primary school," she said.

"I regularly bring clothes and shoes for children and biscuits for their breakfast, just so they get something to eat.

"You can see how children are being affected by the cuts.

"Children come into school concerned because they are being thrown out of their house and have nowhere to live for the upteenth time that year because their parents' benefits are being cut.

"They are being robbed of their childhood."

Russell Brand.

Nice to see the nouveau riche supporting Joe and Jill Public. Russell Brand has an estimated net worth of $15 million. Despite being worth an impressive £11 million, Charlotte Church has declared that she is not rich. In a recent interview with Stylist magazine on Feb 26, 2014, the 28-year-old singer insisted she could not afford to maintain her lavish lifestyle. Her fortune has dropped from £28 million. LL

She sounds like poor Hillary Clinton when she proclaimed similar a few weeks ago despite $100 million.  

So who has asked those two to start this?

lily wrote:She sounds like poor Hillary Clinton when she proclaimed similar a few weeks ago despite $100 million.  

So who has asked those two to start this?

Probably the same gloop who wants a celeb to make a large donation to Bauch's begging page. LL

I wish these phonies would stay away, LL - especially Brand.

Now, my sympathies are with the marchers - at least, the less-loony ones. 'Austerity' isn't just causing utter misery, it's bad economics. It's trickle-up ruin - not helped by the fact that Osborne borrowed MORE money than previous governments, but it's being thrown away on vanity projects, like that stupid high-speed train to Birmingham. Oh, and at least £7 billion to repair the Houses of Parliament.

The big problem those marchers have is that it's pointless shouting Tories out! - England and Wales voted for all this only a few weeks ago. Now, I doubt if many of them knew what they were actually voting for - just wait till 'austerity' starts creeping into Mail readers lives'.

I suspect the Mail readers were taken in by the demonising of the less-well-off, and failed to grasp the misery will be lapping at their doorsteps soon, too. They would have been well-advised to look beyond the headlines at exactly why Greece is such a basket case. To simplify:

Because many fewer people were employed in, say, Greek hospitals, that meant fewer people spending money in shops. So then the shops closed, and more people were laid off, which meant there was a smaller tax base, and it just kept on shrinking until the misery was affecting everyone but the very rich.

It's only going to get worse in the UK - especially in England - and is not a good situation at all. The Tories know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

If Brown hadn't given away the gold reserves and Blair hadn't involved the UK in a phony war there would be a lot more cash in the kitty? I merely comment as an outsider on the political stage. LL

You have it in one, Bonny.  Jobs are what make for a vibrant economy.  

Of course I suspect that those at the top rather admire and pine for the days of the feudal system.

Yes, I would say so, LL.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/costly-failures-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-cost-uk-taxpayers-30bn-9442640.html


'Costly failures': Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cost UK taxpayers £30bn

It's worth remembering that in the 1950's, which are generally regarded as the last of the golden years for Britain, ideas that nowadays would be regarded as dangerous Communism (nationalised railways, anyone?) co-existed very happily with booming free market enterprises.

It doesn't have to be either-or, it can be both.

Of course it can be both and that is what I remember when I lived in the UK many moons ago.

The trains were often late but I remember most people took it all in good humor.  The days of steam trains were wonderful......

The loss of jobs has been devastating for many people who prefer to work rather than exist on handouts.

You may be interested to know, Lily, that after a succession of private companies made a mess of running the East Coast line, it was taken back into public ownership:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31680914

Over the five years it was in public hands, it made a profit for the Treasury of more than £1 billion. So, naturally, the Tories sold it off again.

This business of everything having to be all 'Left' or all 'Right' is, IMO, beyond stupid - different situations need different solutions, and no system fits Ievery situation. Sane people should be trying to make the best ideas from both work - and the Tories need to lose this idea that people actually WANT handouts, they would far rather earn a decent living themselves.

There are people of all ages, from all walks of life, in that march - including the Daily Mail demographics, as councils are closing nursing homes for the elderly. I hope it goes off peacefully, and isn't wrecked by the mad hairies - some of whom are probably employed by MI5 anyway.

I do totally empathize with people who are fed up with how things are, Bonny.  The polarization cannot help one bit.

That is interesting about the railway line and it must have seemed like such a nice plum for the picking.

Bless the marchers!  (I do not include Russell in that!). 

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-20/how-hillary-identifies

Love it!!     

More champagne socialist news:

Cherie's chain of health shops funded in the Cayman Islands goes bust and sacks dozens of staff in mass conference call
Staff told bosses to 'rot in hell' during conference call after announcement
Cherie Blair launched Mee Healthcare with American Gail Lese in 2011
Was funded via investment company in tax haven of the Cayman Islands
But four years on, only 11 stores opened and huge losses were racked up


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3132166/Cherie-Blair-s-chain-health-shops-funded-Cayman-Islands-goes-bust-sacks-dozens-staff-mass-conference-call.html#ixzz3ddkecNdG
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

She and her husband remind me so much of Bill & Hill.

Yes, they are similar. Except that everyone utterly detests Blair, while Bill is sort-of tolerated.

True.  

Husband lies about WMD and plunges country into an unwinnable war, wife is about as dodgy as they get - don't judge lawyers by her.  And then there's the tax-dodging - " Its offshore status meant any tax it paid to the UK exchequer was significantly reduced".  

BUT DODGY STATES FILL HER PAY PACKET

Mrs Blair is now focusing her wealth-creating efforts on the strategy tried and tested by her husband Tony – touting herself as a consultant to repressive regimes.

Her firm, Omnia Strategy, is advising the Maldives government on 'democracy consolidation'. But the country faces condemnation for human rights abuses, and locals say Mrs Blair's consultants have been employed to 'help wash the blood' off president Abdulla Yameen's hands.

Lucrative contracts have already been accepted from the oppressive Middle Eastern state of Bahrain, the autocratic regime in Kazakhstan and Gabon's president Ali Bongo Ondimba.

Toby Cadman, partner at Omnia Strategy LLP, said the company 'does not involve itself in domestic politics' and had been appointed 'to advise on legislative and constitutional reform'.

This is bad:

http://news.sky.com/story/1507922/queen-drops-bomb-in-eu-referendum-debate

Queen Drops 'Bomb' In EU Referendum Debate
The Queen's speech will be seen as a shot across the bow of those arguing for Britain to leave the EU, says Sky's Joey Jones.

It is becoming a familiar routine - the Queen drops a bomb into a hotbed of political argument, only for Buckingham Palace to insist the monarch is "above politics"; that anyone seeking a political message in her speech will be disappointed.

Days before the Scottish referendum, the Queen suggested that people should "think very carefully" before casting their vote, a suggestion that was widely interpreted as urging the Scots not to do anything rash.

It was inevitable that a speech about the dangers of "division" in Europe would be seen as a shot across the bows of those arguing for the UK to leave the European Union, for all the Palace's protestations.

The timing makes the Queen's words particularly resonant, coming as they do on the eve of a European Council meeting at which David Cameron will lay out his proposed reforms to other European leaders.

Palace officials point out that the Queen was referring to Europe as a whole in exhorting leaders to avoid the dangers of division, and not the European Union alone. ---more at link.

It is an absolute rule that the British monarch does NOT meddle in politics - and that is twice it's happened recently.

There was some doubt about HM's involvement in the Scottish referendum, as it came via Cameron - I for one couldn't believe she would do something so foolish.

There is, however, NO doubt that HM made a pro-Europe speech in Germany last night.

Two balls-ups by the Palace in 24 hours:

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/25/palace-denies-queen-words-britain-eu-political

t was the second clarification from Buckingham Palace in 24 hours on a matter of political sensitivity. On Wednesday, a senior courtier, Sir Alan Reid, said an earlier briefing on royal accounts – which resulted in reports that Scotland could cut its contribution to the monarchy – was “never intended to be a criticism of Scotland or of the first minister or to suggest that the first minister had cast doubt on the continued funding of the monarchy”.

Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, expressed anger following the reports, saying they had “no basis in fact”.

Oh my!  I wonder who wrote that?

I don't know just which civil servant is responsible for all this, Lily, but it is not good at all. Many of the anti-Europeans are the staunchest supporters of the monarchy, and they are fuming - it really is a red line that should never be crossed.

As for the nonsense that was put out about the evil SNP not giving HM her money - even the SNP-hating Mail has had to concede it was total bollox:

Indeed, its leader, Nicola Sturgeon, is astute enough to realise that the Queen and the monarchy remain overwhelmingly popular with most Scottish voters, including those who support the SNP. She may be a republican at heart, but she is not going to weaken her cause by admitting it.
The question is why a senior Palace official should have given such an apocalyptic — and misleading — briefing.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-3138309/STEPHEN-GLOVER-Royal-spin-clumsy-left-SNP-high-ground.html#ixzz3e5nMfDwP
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As I said, that's two giant blunders in very short order.

In olden days she could have ordered one or two to lose their heads...