Rachel Reeves Explains Labour's New Deal For Working People

Hat tip TUC. Good stuff!

RISHI'S RAW DEAL -Pay £10 more tax and get £2 off

Poster campaign launched today in Wellingborough where Labour candidate, Gen Kitchen is campaigning to replace disgraced Tory MP, Peter Bone.

Hat tip Independent "From Saturday, the main rate of national insurance will be cut by two percentage points to 10%, as promised by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in the autumn statement in November.

Ministers have previously said cutting the main rate for employees is a tax cut worth £450 for the average employee on £35,400 in 2024/25.

But Labour point out that income tax and national insurance thresholds, which have been frozen since 2021, mean that many families have been drawn into higher tax bands.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “Under Rishi Sunak’s raw deal, for every extra £10 people are paying in tax they are only getting £2 back.

“Working people know that this month’s tax con is just a cynical giveaway from a weak and out-of-touch Tory government that is desperate to cling onto power, rather than a credible plan to fix our broken economy".

Today BP announce their highest profits in 8 years (Tax 'em)

Makes perfect sense to me

"Today BP announce their highest profits in 8 years - just as many people’s energy bills hit the roof. It’s time for the Chancellor to back Labour’s plans to cut energy bills, by bringing in a one-off windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas producer profits".

Rachel Reeves MP at gathering of East London Labour Movement family

On Wednesday evening at Newham Town Hall Rachel Reeves MP was the keynote speaker at a fund raising event organised by East Ham Labour Party.

There was around 400 guests mainly from East and West Ham but also from CLP's in Tower Hamlets, Walthamstow, Redbridge, Havering and Barking & Dagenham. There was also support from affiliated trade unions. London UNISON Labour Link helped sponsor the brochure. 

It had been organised by the notoriously shy and retiring, Cllr Unmesh Desai. The food was fantastic and there was live music and stage dancing. Followed of course by the traditional Labour Party raffle and auction (by Steve Pound MP). Local MP Stephen Timms spoke, as did the Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales and Labour GLA leader Len Duvall. East London Assembly member and Labour Tower Hamlets Mayoral candidate John Biggs also did the rounds.

Rachel reminded us that there was only 462 days before the next General Election. This election will be about values. Labour values against Tory values. If we all work together with the trade unions then we will have Ed Miliband as our next Prime Minister and a Labour Government.

Afterwards UNISON and West Ham colleagues met up with GMB comrades from Barking and Dagenham to put our world to rights at the local Spoons (and debate the provenance of local history photographs on the pub walls).

It was a good night. It was suggested that each of the East London Borough Labour Parties ought to organise in turn similar events each year. Good idea.

An Evening with Rachel Reeves MP - East Ham Town Hall 29 Jan 2014

East Ham CLP invites you to “An Evening with Rachel Reeves", MP and Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in the company of Stephen Timms MP, Sir Robin Wales, Newham
Mayor and Len Duvall, Chair of the London Labour Party.

TUC #Oct20 March for A Future that Works

Another fantastic Labour Movement march and rally for an alternative economic policy,” A Future that Works”. 150,000 in central London and many more in Glasgow and Belfast. The weather held out for us. It was mild and balmy with lots of sunshine. A colourful, lively, noisy but peaceful protest against the wrecking of our economy by this one trick Tory Coalition of economic illiterates. 

I was in the main UNISON component near the front of the march, going to and fro from my Housing Association branch banner to the London regional one. In picture collage below you see UNISON comrades, my local Labour MP Lyn Brown with West Ham CLP; Newham folk gathering at Stratford Station, UNISON Regional Convener Gloria Hanson, Deputy Convener Conroy Lawrence, Regional Publicity Officer Lynn Bentley and NEC member Kim Silver. See also Labour Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Rachel Reeves.

We all booed Starbucks and Vodafone shops we passed by as being tax cheats and thieves.  

I heard that the selfish idiots who shamed our movement at the end of the march last year with their pointless yobbery tried to infiltrate our march this year wearing masks and were told in no uncertain terms by rank and file activists “Oi, take your masks off your cowardly b*****ds” and the 0.001%ers were “persuaded” to go forth and multiply elsewhere.

The Rally at Hyde Park was better organised than last year. Great speeches from Ed Miliband and Dave Prentice. Afterwards London region UNISON retired to the ‘spoons at Marble Arch to celebrate the March. The pub was packed out with marchers and you could not move around without finding people to argue and debate about putting the world to rights. Some made more sense than others but this is really why we were all there.

We did not march for marching sake but to make the case for an alternative economic policy. Austerity does not work. Our National debt is growing and our economy is still tanking. We need a different way to run our country.

(I'll post more pictures of the march on Facebook tomorrow).

Lab12: Last post from Peoples Party Conference

Once again I ran out of time during the 2012 Labour Party Conference to write posts on the last two days. So here is a quick summary of some of the highlights during the last few days of Conference.

Clockwise. Due to disorganisation and meanness I stayed in a hotel in Rushholme which had the worse reviews on Booking.com that I have ever seen. It wasn't that bad but one of the things that kept me fairly sane during Conference was a morning run around the fantastic City green lung Platt Fields Park (the Peoples Park).

Picture of Peoples Republic Newham Crew (and guests) in Midland Hotel bar stairs. Below Gerry Sutcliffe MP, speaking at the EU fringe for Azerbaijan (UK is the biggest investor) ; Ed Balls MP speaking to UNISON reception at the "Peoples History Museum". Ed admitted that he would have lost his seat at the last General election if not for the help of UNISON - "no doubt" and he pledged to never ignore anything that UNISON said but we would not always agree.

Then a very good and sharp fringe on ending poverty by Webb Memorial Trust (lost notes), another on pension auto enrollment with Labour Shadow minster Gregg McClymont sponsored by the Peoples Pension (lost notes); then picture of UNISON reception with Andy Burham MP and Rachel Reeves MP and final centre picture of the great leader with UNISON delegates Mike and Mandy. What a great natural relaxed smile Ed? We never knew!

Roll on Brighton 2013.

Remuneration Committee "Racket"

Today I listened to Any Questions on Radio 4. There was a question about the outrageous 49% increase in the pay last year of the average FT100 director (about 10 minutes in).

Lib Dem Coalition minister Jeremy Browne
described the company remuneration committees who "set" the pay of such executives as being "a cartel... a real Racket". Tory MP David Davies also cheerfully admitted that it was all a big fiddle and stitch up. While Labour MP Rachel Reeves pointed out that it was not as if these bosses had added any value to these companies in the last year.

Despite accurately describing such pay arrangements as being akin to organised crime Browne failed to offer any solutions. Davies suggested allowing getting company AGM's to vote on individual executive pay rather than the whole executive package en bloc. This would be useful but is not going to change things.

As the TUC points out here why shouldn't there be elected employee representatives on these remuneration committees who would bring "directors a much-needed sense of reality". This seems to work in many of our European competitors such as Germany? Why in the UK is this seen as being some form of unBritish devil worship? This is the sort of dare I say radical but necessary change that Labour should pursue. It is good that Ed is on board.

Over the years I've banged about the subject here, here, here (last year's increase was 55%!), here ... (and elsewhere). Check out Tom's latest post as well.

By coincidence I have just submitted a branch motion on applying the principles of the "The Spirit Level" to company pay differentials.

Picture: Typical FT100 Remuneration Committee at work. The Chair of the Board is asking the committee if they are going to increase his pay...or sleep with the fishes. Well, something like that.