Lead story

Tax credit cuts divide Tories

by Daphne Liddle

PRIME MINISTER David Cameron last Wednesday struggled to defend the Tories’ planned cuts to tax credits in the House of Commons after it had come under attack not just from Labour but also one of his own backbenchers, from the House of Lords and from the Adam Smith Institute.

Cameron claimed that cutting tax credits, due to come into effect in April, while raising pay was the “right approach” to reducing the budget deficit. If he had actually done that it would indeed be right to stop using tax payers’ money to subsidise greedy bosses who do not pay enough for workers to survive without help from the tax credits.

But his plans to raise the minimum wage (which he now calls the living wage) to £9-an-hour by the year 2020 is far too little and far too late to help families who face losing up to £1,300-a-year in tax credits while gaining only 20 pence-an-hour on the minimum wage this year.

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Tax credit cuts divide Tories

Junior doctors march against pay cuts and longer hours

by New Worker correspondent

THOUSANDS of junior doctors gathered in Waterloo Place in London last week for a rally and march to Parliament Square in protest at Government attempts to impose a new work contract that would cut their pay by up to 30 per cent while increasing the hours they are obliged to work.

They were supported by hundreds of nurses, other healthcare workers and patients — who would rather not face being treated by doctors who are too exhausted to be able to think straight.

The march was organised by the British Medical Association (BMA) — a body that rarely resorts to any kind of industrial action — as a “wake up call for ministers”. They are also considering balloting for strike action.

The BMA says the plans will lead to a drop in junior doctors’ salaries. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has accused the BMA of misleading doctors; he claims that the proposals would reduce their maximum weekly working hours but the BMA rejected this claim.

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Junior doctors march against pay cuts and longer hours

Editorial

Pay-back time in Syria

IN JUST three weeks Russia’s war on terror has dealt devastating blows against the reactionary militias that were financed and armed by US imperialism, Turkey and the feudal kings of Arabia. While Russian jets pound terrorist positions the Syrian army has launched an offensive on all fronts against the brutal ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood gunmen who have spread death and destruction throughout the country over the past four years. Well over 1,000 have laid down their arms in return for an amnesty. Thousands more have fled back across the Turkish border.

This week Russian president Vladimir Putin and Syrian president Bashar al Assad met in the Kremlin to discuss the current situation and future action. Putin said that the Syrian people have been confronting terrorists “practically single-handedly” for years, withstanding considerable casualties but now they have achieved serious and positive results in this fight.

Assad thanked the Russians for their help stressing that political steps will follow military action. “The only aim for all of us should be what the Syrian people want as a future for their country.” Once the terrorists are defeated, it will take a united effort to rebuild the country economically and politically and to ensure peaceful coexistence for all, Assad concluded.

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Pay-back time in Syria