National News
Older people ‘lack basic rights’
MANY elderly people receiving care in their own homes suffer neglect and abuse amounting to a breach of their human rights, according to a report published by the Equality and Human Rights Council (EHRC) last week.
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Mental health understaffed
PROFESSOR Dinesh Bhugra, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, last week warned there is a “huge, massive problem” with a lack of staff and overcrowding in mental health wards.
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Justice on the cheap
UNIONS reacted angrily last week to Government proposals to cut more than 25 per cent of the criminal justice system.
The civil service union PCS, which represent many workers in the justice system, said that these cuts mean the government is trying to deliver “justice on the cheap”.
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Rise in London’s rough sleepers
THE NUMBER of people sleeping rough in Greater London has risen by eight per cent in the last year, according to the charity Broadway. The estimated number of homeless people in London is now around 4,000.
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Con-Dems fail domestic workers
THE DEPARTMENT for Business, Innovation and Skills last week refused to ratify an international convention, drawn up by the International Labour Organisation that would give protection to domestic workers against exploitation.
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LRC backs 30th June strikes
THE LABOUR Representation Committee last week issued a statement in support of the 30th June strikes:
“Over than three-quarters of a million trade unionists will be taking co-ordinated strike action on 30th June. In the last week, members of the NUT, ATL and PCS have voted to take action to defend their pensions. They will also be joined by UCU members who have already voted for and taken action in defence of their pensions.
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RMT gives facts on Tube victimisation
STRIKE action in the London Underground victimisation dispute began last Sunday evening. Just before this the RMT union set out a summary of the key facts regarding the specific case of Northern Line driver Arwyn Thomas:
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Parents of disabled children may lose £1,400
THE FAMILIES of around 100,000 disabled children will lose £27 a week through Government changes to welfare benefits that will halve the £54 a week tax credits they are currently entitled to and which help with the extra costs of looking after a child with disabilities.
The Children’s Society has warned this will plunge many families below the poverty line.
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Workers protest against Unilever pension “betrayal”
UNILVER workers, members of Unite, fighting to save their pension scheme took part in a demonstration tomorrow last Tuesday 21st June as Unilever began its formal consultation in London over plans to axe the final salary pension scheme for its 5,000 staff in Britain.
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The lasting legacy of the H-Block hunger strikers
by New Worker correspondent
THE LONDON Irish Centre in Camden last Saturday was packed to hear an array of powerful speakers at an event organised by Sinn Féin to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the hunger strikes in the notorious H-blocks of Long Kesh prison.
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International News
Hundreds of thousands march in Spain
by Ed Newman
HUNDREDS of thousands of protesters marched on Sunday in Madrid and other Spanish cities to protest at high unemployment and bleak economic prospects. The unemployment rate in Spain has topped 21 per cent — the highest in the 17-member Eurozone.
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Laos’ new leadership face challenges
Xinhua news agency
LAOS’ newly appointed senior leadership, chosen last week by the country’s parliament, the National Assembly, will govern amid a challenging period as Laos presently stands at a watershed in terms of development, with rapid growth in industrial and commercial sectors bringing huge income to the government and urban centres, while rural Lao lifestyles, and poverty, have seen few changes in decades.
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The Libyan quagmire
by Eduardo José González
BEGINNING this week US President Barack Obama will try to settle the attacks his government heads against the Libyan people within a scenario that seemed unlikely three months ago: the Congress of his own country.
The press has reported that Obama ordered the bombing Libya even against the advice of his principal legal counsel.
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IMF’s inflexible recipe
by Alex Silva
THE FEAR of uncontrolled non-payment of debts in the eurozone is portrayed as an extreme possibility, although not improbable, depending on the chaotic path of various states of the European Union, with Greece at the tip of the iceberg.
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Features
Libya defiant as Nato widens war
by Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
AFTER nearly three months of US/Nato bombing operations over Libya, the North African state has remained defiant in the face of one of the most intense military operations in recent months by the imperialist countries of North America and Western Europe. Official Nato sources say that more than 10,000 sorties have been flown over the oil-rich nation, resulting in large-scale destruction of the country’s infrastructure and the reported deaths of 10,000 to 15,000 people.
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Ireland: From Wolfe Tone to today
An Phoblacht
JUNE is the month when republicans honour “The Father of Irish Republicanism”, Wolfe Tone, where he is buried in Bodenstown, County Kildare.
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