Remembering West Ham Station Attack - 50th Anniversary

 

Two separate events were held to commemorate the murder of 34-year-old Underground driver Joseph (Julius) Stephen on 15 March 1976. 

He was shot dead while trying to stop an IRA terrorist after a bomb exploded on his train, injuring nine passengers. Another passenger was shot and seriously wounded before the terrorist was overpowered by an unarmed police officer. 

Mr. Stephen was posthumously awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal but left behind a widow and a four-year-old son. 

The first commemoration was organized by the charity Ancre Somme Association, with speeches from Northern Irish MP Carla Lockhart and local West Ham MP James Asser, and attended by family friends.

The second, marking the 50th anniversary, was organized by TFL and the RMT union, of which Mr. Stephen had been a member. 

Many thanks to the charity and TFL for both well-attended events, which the family seemed very pleased with. It is only right that we remember and honour a brave public servant who sacrificed his life to protect his passengers, as well as all those injured in the attack.

"Sadiq Has Frozen Your Fares"

 

After work this evening together with activists across London, we leafleted local railway stations with these flyers pointing out that Sadaq had frozen fares for the 5th time! 

While the Tories have allowed fares to rise by 4.9% elsewhere. Together with free school meals and the largest number of council homes built in London since the 1970s, Sadiq policies are making a massive difference to ordinary Londoners struggling with the cost of living crisis. 

Bank Holiday Stall "Voting for Change" in Newham (and some great music)

 

Picture from the "Voting for Change" stall in Stratford yesterday with respected community activist Josephine and John, my fellow West Ham Councillor,. We were handing out postcards and answering questions to residents outside the main Station.  

There was a really helpful Transport for London officer, who advised us where we could legally pitch our stall. Over the years I have had a number of battles on this issue with Labour Party stalls at this same spot. 

It was a little windy and we had to lash our stall to a telecom box to stop it and our banner being blown away. 

I had a number of decent debates about the case for democratic change in Newham. 

Leafleting can at times be pretty tedious. Best of all was that there was a marvellous singer, Sophie Clarke, next to us busking. Despite the noisy environment from the wind and the nearby religious speakers, she kept us entertained with her "Mezzo-Soprano"  singing. 

Newham Dockside Dusk

Off message. There has been some spectacular dawns and sunsets this month. This is view from the Cabinet workstations on the 4th floor, Newham Council Dockside, E16 on 6.12pm, October 5 (Google stylised photo but it was stunning at the time) 

‘Fair Deal for Tube Users’

Ken Livingstone has called on Conservative Mayor, Boris Johnson, to get a grip of increased delays on the tube. The latest Transport for London (TfL) performance figures show:
• Tube passengers are spending 10% more time on delayed trains and 33% more time on the Central line.Tube passengers are spending 10% more time on delayed trains and 33% more time on the Central line.

• Station closures are up on District line by a staggering 1250% and over 100% on the Northern line.Station closures are up on District line by a staggering 1250% and over 100% on the Northern line.

• Delays up on the Jubilee line are up by 300% and over 100% on the Victoria line

Ken has called for a ‘Fair Deal for Tube Users’ which sets out five immediate steps the Mayor should

1. Get a grip of persistent tube delays and disruption.
2. Improve how TfL communicates tube problems to passengers.
3. Compensate delayed passengers and clearly explain how to claim refunds for late running journeys
4. Bring common sense to the weekend tube-closure programme.
5. Tackle the problem of engineering works over-running into Monday mornings.

Ken Livingstone said: “The increased number of delays and closures on the Tube are causing huge frustration and inconvenience for millions of Londoners. It’s time for Boris Johnson to roll his sleeves up and get a grip.

‘My ‘Fair Deal for Tube Users’ would put the interests of Londoners at the very top of the Mayor’s agenda. ‘The Mayor must be far more accountable for the tube, improve the way TfL communicates with Londoners, make more effort to ensure delayed passengers can fairly claim compensation and review the weekend tube-closure programme.’

London shadow transport minister, Jim Fitzpatrick MP said, “It's time for Boris Johnson to get a grip of the daily delays and disruption on the tube. It's not fair that Londoners are paying more in rail, tube and bus fares, because of decisions taken by the Conservative Mayor, and then suffer delays in their daily commute to work.

'Tube delays and closures incur costs which London businesses can ill-afford and are detrimental to the quality of life for millions in inner and outer London. The Mayor must act quickly to improve tube services and reverse the increasing delays we are all experiencing."

Val Shawcross AM, Labour’s London Assembly transport spokesperson said: “It is hard to recall a day in the past few months when there has not been a signal failure or major delay on the tube which has caused real inconvenience for Londoners. We are all paying more for tube services which Boris

Johnson’s own figures show are getting worse. ‘It’s about time Boris Johnson paid some attention to his day job and got a grip of the increasing number of tube delays. The Mayor claims he watches the tube on a screen in his office ‘like a hawk’, I think Londoners want a Mayor who is more than a spectator.”
(Hat tip poster to Col. Roi)

Unfare: Boris and Osborne fare rise

"Higher fares and cuts under Boris and Osborne"...This leaflet is being handed out outside bus and railway stations in London.

Single bus journey by Oyster UP by 8% - 44% under Boris in three years.

Rail fares up by 6.2% average - some more than 10%.

Zones 1-5 monthly travelcard UP £11.50 to over £180.

Weekly bus pass UP to £17.80, a rise of 7%

Zones 1-2 monthly travel card UP £6.90 to £106.  

All this while most people face pay freezes and pay cuts.  

Unfare

Off now to my local station before work to spread the festive news.

Last year here and here

Wake up with a Boris fare hangover

Another good Bashing Boris leaflet over London fare increases.  See also here, here and here.

Bashing Boris Bombshell in Canning Town

This morning there was a mass Labour Party leaflet protest across London at underground and rail stations to protest against the Tory Mayor’s fare increases (see previous post). Many of the stations in Newham had protestors handing out leaflets despite the freezing weather (I had 5 layers, gloves, hat and an UNISON "I love the NHS" scarf and was still b*****y cold!). Picture is of Labour Councillors Joy Laguda and Patricia Holland handing out leaflets outside Canning Town station.

The increase in tube fares of 3.9% at a time of deflation and nonexistent pay increases (or worse) will hit everyone. But the massive increase in bus fares of 12.7% will impact the most on those in London who can ill afford it. As our good Comrade John Prescott puts it in his blog

“Thanks to Boris, the average couple will now have to shell out an extra £263 a year. That might be chicken feed to people like Boris, but not the majority of people in the capital.

Why do working class Londoners have to pay more? Because Boris is looking after his own in West London. The western extension to the congestion charge zone, which would have provided an extra £70m a year, was scrapped by Johnson.

He also axed the £25 charge for the most polluting cars driving into central London, protecting the Chelsea tractors and Porsches but costing London a projected £50million a year.

So the poorest in London are now effectively subsidising Boris, Dave, George and their Notting Hill friends to clog up the roads with their 4X4s on the school run.”

Nuf said?

I was particularly pleased that despite the time of year the London Labour Party had organised such an important event at possibly the most difficult time to do so. More please!

Boris Fares Bombshell

(Labour Party Party)
On Monday January 4th millions of Londoners returning to work after the Christmas and New Year break will be hit by Boris Johnson’s above-inflation fare increase. The fares hike, which kicks in on Saturday January 2nd, will see:

* A single bus journey by Oyster UP 20% to £1.20

* A weekly oyster bus pass UP 20% to £16.60

* Six-zone peak single Tube fare by Oyster UP 10.5% to £4.20

* A five-zone off-peak single Tube fare (outside zone 1) UP 18.2% to £1.30
< * Most Oyster pay-as-you-go Tube fares UP by 20p per trip.

Overall tube fares will rise 3.9% and overall bus fares up by 12.7%.

It comes after Boris Johnson’s 2009 fare increase which saw London transport fares up by six per cent overall, but with some fares rising more steeply – including an 11 per cent increase in a single bus fare on Oyster. It means that the price of a single bus journey by Oyster will have risen by one third since Boris Johnson was elected – from 90p to £1.20. Boris Johnson is committed to further annual above-inflation fare increases.

Boris Johnson's Bad Fare Day

Hat-tip Socialist Unity.  Double click scan to bring up details.

The “Worse” Big Pension Schemes in UK

FairPensions have published their latest survey (league table) on responsible investment for the top 30 British pension schemes. These schemes have nearly 5 million members and an estimated £351 billion of asserts.

The performance of the bottom 10 appears to be pretty awful. Check out the FairPensions website which “names and shames”.

As a UNISON pension activist I am particularly concerned that the Transport for London (TFL )scheme is apparently joint 19th out of 30 while the E.ON electricity scheme is 25th!

It is noticeable that the top schemes are usually signatories to the UNPRI while from 11th-30th they are all non-signatories.

This is all serious stuff since we need to make sure that all our pension schemes are run in a responsible and transparent manner.

Bank pension schemes (now mainly owned by the government) have also performed relatively badly. No great surprise there I suppose.

It is simply wrong that the bottom 5 schemes did not participate in the survey (see below). FairPensions is an established player in the governance field who should have been treated with respect. The question will be asked rightly or wrongly - what have these pension schemes got to hide (apart from poor governance)?

Coal Pension Trustees Pension Schemes
IBM Pension Scheme
Unilever UK Pension Fund
BAe Systems Pension Scheme
Lloyds TSB Group plc Group Pension Scheme