The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 13th October 2017
The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 13th October 2017
THERESA May stumbles on, and despite being in charge of a minority government with little power she and her Cabinet are continuing to wreak havoc to the fabric of this country and to the peace and safety of the world.
An opinion poll conducted by BMG for the Independent this week put Labour five points ahead of the Tories after the Tories’ disastrous conference, so there are many reasons to raise the demand for a new general election:
The NHS
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) in its annual report says that the health system is “straining at the seams” and faces a “precarious” future.
The report warned of staff shortages, which have risen by 16 per cent, bed shortages with occupancy levels consistently above recommended levels since 2012, and patients with preventable illnesses.
The number of nursing home beds has fallen by 4,000 in two years. The number of people not getting support for their social care is now 1.2 million, an increase of 18 per cent in one year.
The number of mental health detentions has increased by 20 per cent to 63,000 last year because patients are unable to access proper help until they reach a crisis.
CQC chief executive Sir David Behan said that the NHS is “struggling to cope with 21st century problems”.
Labour Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said that the report was “damning”. It is more than high time that he replaced Jeremy Hunt as Secretary of State for Health.
Peace
May’s government has begun drawing up “battle plans for war” with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The whole world is shocked and alarmed by US President Donald Trump’s warmongering posturing and threat to demolish the tiny socialist state that refuses to bend to his will.
But Theresa May is intent on acting in Britain’s traditional role of tame poodle to the US President, even if he is clearly mentally unstable, and encouraging him to start a war that could lead to a Third World War and a nuclear winter that would see billions starve all around the world.
The environment
In Lancashire the government has overridden local and regional government decisions, to insist that fracking for gas and oil go ahead despite the risk of minor earthquakes and damage of contamination to water supplies.
Local people have been staging permanent protests at the site and police have been attacking the protesters, including manhandling of one woman over 80 guilty of the heinous crime of serving tea to fellow protesters.
Meanwhile more and more publicly owned land, public parks and beauty spots are being delivered into private company hands.
And the air pollution in our cities destines many of us to an early grave as our lungs become congested with particulates and nitrogen dioxide, amongst other pollutants.
Brexit
The Tories are locked into a mighty fight with each other as their pathetic attempts to negotiate a rational exit from the European Union have gone from one disaster to another — fuelling the suspicion that May’s real agenda is to make such a mess of it that people can be persuaded to have a second referendum and end up staying in the EU — and keeping this bastion of western imperialism shored up for the foreseeable future.
Right now they are arguing over whether British taxpayers’ money should be spent on preparing for a “no-deal” Brexit”.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was not impressed in the slightest. He savaged the Prime Minister’s Brexit plan by asking how many of her original objectives she has actually reached. Corbyn said: “Fifteen months on from the referendum, we are still no clearer what the future of this country will look like.”
Universal Credit
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has decided to finally roll out its big change from a variety of different benefits, including housing benefit, into one comprehensive Universal Credit system over the Christmas period.
But thousands of claimants, including both those in and out of work, will be forced to go either with reduced income or no income at all for a period of six weeks — as they sign off their existing benefits and before their first new Universal Credit payment.
The DWP has said it will offer some a loan, according to their circumstances, but this will have to be paid back. How much will the Treasury save by not paying hundreds of thousands of benefits for a full six weeks?