The Queens speech… and what it will mean to the people of England. What can we do now?

The Queens speech this year wasn’t expected to be a kind one, I knew that it would attack the poor and the people of England and indeed it did. She has created a smokescreen for this Tory Government to run havoc on the poorest in England. Does she read what she’s saying beforehand? Indeed she does. She’s a very intelligent woman who knows exactly what she’s doing, and who also holds more power than people realise.

She said that her government hopes to raise the “productive potential of the economy” then she said “there will be more jobs with shirkers ordered to earn or learn, and more apprenticeships. Whilst saying this this government have also committed to a harsher welfare regime .  This means more sanctions because it is the DWP who decides if you are a shirker or not. Working 55 hours on a zero hour contracted job and being unable to fulfil your 37 hours a week job search because you went to sleep labels you a shirker in the DWPs eyes. Apprenticeships are very poorly paid and the young are exploited and finish these apprenticeships often without a qualification or a job prospect. Does she realise this? Im sure she does, but in her world where she doesn’t have to deal with tedious issues like money or hunger it seldom if ever crosses her mind to think about this. She’s in the club that enables her to think like this, much like David Cameron, born into wealth, and looking at the poor as shirkers. This club is exclusive though. None of us can join. We aren’t welcome.

She said that they want to control immigration, by what means it isn’t very clear yet, but they will do. However they will do this it will be cruel. Life for an immigrant in the U.K isn’t an easy one by any means. Please don’t believe the stories in the Murdoch owned press. Instead look at the troubles at Yarlswood a detention centre in Bedfordshire. It states that it is an immigration removal centre. Those very words send a shudder down my spine. Immigrants are living breathing people with feelings and emotions. Not something to be got rid of like yesterdays rubbish.  Most immigrants work, and immigrants that have entered the U.K illegally out of fear or harm in their own country are treated worse than a criminal. Many are held in detention centres which are worse than prisons , others are crammed into one room bedsits living on food tokens. Rules that state that they can’t work are already in place. I bet many wish that they were back home. This April they already brought in harsh and cruel immigration rules for immigrants from the E.U making it impossible for anyone to stay here if they aren’t working for longer than 6 months. If they loose their job they get nothing not even housing benefit and most have to return home. They can only return home if they have a passport thats valid and the money to do so, which proves impossible for most. Thus the homeless population will be increased yet again.

They want to secure the NHS… what she didn’t mention was that they will secure it through privatisation. They’ve stripped the NHS of its life force already, its existing by a very thin thread and if we don’t fight for it now we will loose it. Can we afford to lose it? No we can’t. I know that a trip to the doctors will become near impossible because of the cost. Will we see a system similar to that in America? Almost certainly, we are modelling the privatisation of the NHS on their failing healthcare model. And do we want to model our new system on an already failing system? We don’t. The mortality rate for the poorest in America is rising everyday and its shocking. We cannot loose our N.H.S to a system like this and I cannot believe that I am writing these words.

She promises to push forward devolution in a spirit of “mutual respect” how can this be done when there hasn’t been any respect given already? The “Northern Powerhouse” failed to consult the people of the north, infact they’ve been completely neglected and refused entry into the consultations. Indeed, local authorities are already using the paper letterheads of the combined greater manchester authorities. Do we want this? Well the public don’t know enough if anything about this to make a decision about devolution yet. What the people of the north are demanding is a referendum so we can be consulted and then make our minds up. Ive seen and read the documentation and  once you look below the surface its a very dodgy deal indeed, one not to be trusted at all in the state that its in. The public want consultation on this and a referendum would be the perfect opportunity to do so. For the Greater Manchester councils to think this is already a done deal is a shocking attitude. There would be outrage if this attitude towards devolution was carried out in an area like London. But the so called Great Northern Powerhouse is treated with such disdain its shocking. The north isn’t desolate its a beautiful, thriving friendly place to live. So please help to support us on this.

She also mentioned the push for the EU referendum. Yes we may need a referendum, but how this refurendum will be taking place and handled is a very different issue altogether. Do we trust a Tory government to do this when their attitude toward the E.U isn’t the best already? i know that it would be silly to do so. I shall be watching this very closely.

The scrapping of the Human rights bill has been downgraded to a wish rather than promise . Phew you might say, but when a spoilt child has a wish they normally get it. So rather than being forgotten about it will be put to one side. The E.U referendum will come first I suspect then this, so please don’t forget about it. They will throw this one out again when we are least expecting it.

She promised “one nation” reforms to help those struggling with childcare, workplace skills and access to their gp. Maybe they have forgotten that we aren’t one nation anymore and scotland will not agree to most of this.

The trade union reforms that are promised will impose oppressive restrictions on the long attenuated right to strike. As a member of a trade union myself I find the governments plans unimaginable. We have fought very hard to actually have trade unions in the first place, but the Tory governments of the past and now have always hated trade unions. Why? Because they are there to support workers when they are being badly treated. A tory government would ideally like to see all workers being exploited so the rich get the benefits. Look at the horrifying zero hour contracts and the workfare programmes. Yes slavery was abolished but it now has returned in new guises.

The snoopers charter has returned, with no one to stop this now I expect this to be one of the first changes to be made. This government doesn’t want us to have any ideas, plans to even have any contribution towards a positive world. Instead it wants compliant, obedient workers that are easier to control. The snoopers charter will help to achieve this. The freedoms that we once have will be eroded even more.

The right to buy housing association homes is only going to further the massive homeless problems that we already have. This is opposed by both sides of parliament, but they are carrying on regardless. Thatchers legacy still lives on, and hasn’t left since she left. Progressive governments have just continued with her plans.

They are also committed to welfare cuts that will hurt the vulnerable and the working poor even harder than before. How much more can we take? The cuts that have been made previously only targeted the very poor and the disabled, I use the word only because that was jus the start. Those that were standing back and saying that they are ok and that those affected are scroungers will be affected this time. More homelessness, more sanctions, more working poor. The list goes on.

Recently I attended a meeting talking to fellow trade unionists and people who read and contribute to the paper that I write for. I said to them that this isn’t the first time that we are here. Indeed we have been here before. Every time a tory government gets elected they do the same thing. They attack the poor and they attack the north. I reminded them about the miners struggles and the poll tax struggles, and indeed the protests against the Iraq war. I said the way to combat this and to fight against this is to remember what worked then and to transfer those ideas to the present day. We managed it without the aid of the internet and mobile phones, but we were more active on foot and face to face. I’m fortunate to remember those days, and even though I was only young I made the poll tax my first protest. I refused to pay. The riots didn’t stop the poll tax, but they helped. What really stopped the poll tax was the defiance of the public. People refused to pay. This is what we should do now. As well as our on the street and online writing and protests we need to form an attack like this. Like any rich corporation, those in charge of the U.K and those who are benefitting financially from Austerity should be hit in the pocket. We need to take a stand. We cannot afford to pay for Austerity anymore. The poor didn’t cause this, the government and the corrupt banking system did.

Any foot protest should also be followed up by ongoing actions. One big march can be ignored and forgotten in many ways by the government. Ongoing actions can’t be forgotten. Please don’t give up, the battle hasn’t ended its only just begun. We are many, they are few.

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