Thursday, September 29, 2011

#Lab11 Back home and Vote Yes X to protect your pension

Back home in Newham's "green and pleasant" land after the worlds longest (but cheap) London Midland train journey from Liverpool.

I really enjoyed myself last week. Not sure it was a "great" Party conference but we are in a bit of a silly season at the moment. If the Party announces any "bleeding obvious" good policies this far ahead of an election, then the Tories will simply pinch them.

While the Daily Hates will have plenty of time to simply fabricate the "cost" of any others, while pretending this is all the work of evil union barons. This is pathetic but so true. 

I will post more on conference as and when.  I probably won't report on everything I went to.  Life moves on.

I've come back to find a big stack of leaflets and posters from UNISON urging members to Vote YES to strike action to protect their pensions.  Which I will be taking into work with me.  What is being proposed is not fair or necessary.  It is a tax on (mostly) low paid workers to pay for the excesses of very, very, very rich people.  It is plain wrong.

2 comments:

bob smith said...

John

I appreciate you are busy with all these conferences, but are you going to post your view on the closure of the Atherton leisure centre?

My understanding is that is would only cost £250k for the repairs ( a small amount when compared to the £40m raised for the Olympic Stadium) and it is a well used and well loved sports centre in Stratford.

It seems a strange decision at a time when we are encouraging people to take more exercise.

John Gray said...

Hi Bob

Not sure that this is a suitable post to make such comments? The future pensions of 6 million people are at stake?

Anyway, I use to be a regular swimmer at the Atherton (until I had an accident there which has stopped me swimming)so I know it quite well. I understand that that there is significant disrepair and the pool is just too expensive to repair but there is a plan to build a new centre with a pool on the site. There will be a public meeting on the site on Tuesday at 8.30pm led by Cllr Paul Brickell.