Job Centre Plus. But plus what?

I’ve been to the job centre again today. Had my first work search review. If I’d have blink I could easily have missed it. So far on two visits I’ve spent more time sitting around waiting than your actually being interviewed and ting. They seem to specialise in keeping people hanging around. It’s a waiting game.

Architecturally they through the rule book out when they built this excuse of a public building in the eighties/nineties. It has windows. But those windows are large but next to useless; one side looks out to a shear concrete wall of another building literally a few feet away; the other side brick and concrete with a hint of daylight. It must be horrible to work in. And that’s without having to deal with the clientele!

There can only surely be one thing worse in the employment stakes than being unemployed and that’s working in a job centre. God that really must be soul-destroying. Apart from a few bewildered folk like myself, who sit wondering what to make of it all and what they have done in a previous life to deserve this, most of the punters are either clinically obese or malnourished and radiating varying shades of miasma/effluvia. A lot of these people seem to have given up all hope of a meaningful life, with or without gainful employment. It makes you want to weep. But it would seem that rather than helping them this evil government of ours just wants to beat people with a stick and generally grind them down.

As far as my future is concerned I feel very up and down about it. Today I feel quite upbeat but Monday and Tuesday I felt very down. What’s changed? I don’t really know. My employment prospects haven’t greatly changed but my attitude towards dealing with it is currently realistic but upbeat. And that’s how it is; you win some you lose some. The emotional roller coaster continues its white knuckle ride. Deep joy!

Jumpers no longer for goalposts

#jumperrecommendations
Great news!

Along the lines of ‘let them eat cake’ Cameron and his evil mob have decreed that in face of exorbitant fuel price rises the ‘poor and needy’ should wear jumpers to keep warm. So as a public service I thought I’d scour the jolly old interweb for what the Tories might expect us plebs to wear.
Enjoy:

Despite affecting a confident pose Roger still felt like a

complete dick in his Daily Mail ‘readers offer’ cardy

 

 

Betty still couldn’t quite believe that both Wilson and

Keppel were avid fans of Throbbing Gristle

 

 

Slightly confused Ronald had decided that

what would really keep him warm on his

zero hours contract would be a gonad cosy

 

 

Malcolm had decided that precautionary measures

were necessary when wearing his new cardigan to bingo

 

 

Rupert was unstinting in his efforts to try and blend in with the proletariat

 

 

Marjorie had concluded that if the poor refused to

wear jumpers that a sound thrashing would be in order

The coalition isn’t working

To the unemployed person it doesn’t matter what the level of unemployment is as for them it’s 100%. Today’s unemployment figure of 2.62 million people might well fit nicely with the Tory economic model but these are real people, real people that are being denied the right to work. My lady is one of them, a victim of the Tory local government cuts. A large proportion of this unemployment has been created by the government when it didn’t need to be so. There are alternatives we just need a government with some courage and a sense of fairness.

This government is destroying lives. You do wonder how ministers manage to sleep at night. I suppose it’s because they really don’t give a shit!

Evening all

Blame is easy, blame is cheap. Blame doesn’t really achieve a great deal. As a society we are all to blame for the Frankenstein’s monster of a country that we have created, but rather than waste too much time on blame we need to understand how things have gone badly wrong, and set about trying to create a better life for everyone.

Since the Tories have been in power we have seen a great many people covering a wide range of socio-economic groups taking to the streets. If they’ve done nothing else the Tory cuts have managed to get a lot of people off their arses to show their disapproval as best they know how. One thing that struck me when I went on the TUC march on the 26th of March this year was how friendly and sympathetic the police en route seemed to be. I suppose it is understandable really. They were no doubt bruised by the criticism over kettling and concerned over how the cuts would affect them.

I was born into an age when Dixon of Dock Green epitomised the British bobby on the beat and we all wore rose-tinted spectacles. The police force, I suspect never was or never will be like that. Today’s police force is an entirely different animal. I think one thing that tends to get forgotten is that the police force is a public service. They exist to maintain the rule of law to the best of their ability; a rule of law that can only be maintained with the co-operation and consent of the public. The police aren’t perfect, as I’m sure that many amongst their ranks would agree they are human like the rest of us but given the tasks that are expected of them and given the resources at their disposal I think they do a pretty good job. Clearly the recent revelations about the News International/police cosy relationship, trigger-happiness episodes, continued racism and some examples of thuggery during recent disturbances don’t do anything to enhance their reputation, and need to be addressed. But policing isn’t something to be done in a vacuum. The police are as much a part of society as you or I, we need to work with them and they need to work with the population as a whole. Using them as scapegoats is neither productive or will it serve any purpose. The government are just adding to the divisions in society by blaming the police for the extent of the destruction in this week’s riots. Yesterday’s comments by Cameron and May weren’t helpful at all and are a perfect example of what is wrong with our ‘me, me, me’ society.

This BBC internet news report Riots: Police chiefs angered by Cameron criticism highlights the stupidity of the Tories and concerns that a battle weary police force are having:

“A row has erupted between police chiefs and the government after David Cameron criticised the number of officers deployed to combat this week's riots.

The PM also said the wrong tactics were used - while Home Secretary Theresa May said it was her decision to cancel all police leave to boost numbers.

Sir Hugh Orde, head of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said she had "no power whatsoever" to do that.

It was police, not MPs, who had restored order, he insisted.”

Full story here.

I was there

#26march

It’s hard to know how momentous a day the 26th March 2011 was. Only time will tell. But it certainly felt good to me. At least 250,000 people marching in peace for a positive alternative to the unfair, unnecessary and divisive cuts. Cuts that are purely ideologically driven.

Our coach left Norwich at 7.45am on Saturday morning. Unite, my union, had provided two coaches for their members. It was good to see at various stages of the journey, as we joined first the A11, then A14, back to the A11 and finally the M11, so many other coaches clearly heading the same way and for the same reason. It became even more apparent when we stopped at the watering hole known as Birchanger Services and saw a gaggle of coaches all full of smiley people. The buzz in the air was one of optimism. Even the massed ranks of Socialist Worker newspaper sellers, the Jehovah's Witnesses of the political world, couldn’t dampen our enthusiasm. When we arrived in London we were dropped off on Southwark Bridge. Quite a number of coaches had stopped there to let off their passengers; masses of members from several unions. As we walked to the starting point it started to become apparent that the march was going to be something really rather huge. The 100,000 that the TUC had hoped for was going to be reached that was for sure. I wended my way through the crowds to where I could see a huge Unite balloon and a sizeable amount of Unite banners and flags. After a fair amount of noisy but good natured standing around we eventually set off, a little late, but with enthusiasm and a sense of purpose. It was pleasing to see that my fellow marchers were varied as well as many; there were people of all ages, along with a generous mix of ethnic backgrounds, gay and straight, and across such a wide range of professions both public and private. I don’t really hold with class classification but for the purposes of understanding I will note that there were a lot of middle-class people on the march. That’s not to diminish or downgrade the marchers who do not fall into that category but it’s just to make a point that no party will ever be elected to government if it does not enjoy considerable support from the middle-class. I’m not saying I necessarily like it but that’s how it is. Both the Tories and the progressively insignificant Lib Dems are pissing off the middle classes big-time. And, if they stick to their two-dimensional ideological economics this trend will continue.

The mood of everyone around me on the march seemed to be one of good humour. We were there to make a serious, positive political point, but we were pleased to be given the opportunity to do so. There was a definite sense of camaraderie, co-operation and community. It didn’t matter who you were you were on the march for the common good and that’s what counted. The march progressed at a reasonable pace, even for someone like me who is used to walking at brisk speed, only slowing at geographical bottle-necks en route. The route was well stewarded and well policed, with both offering smiles and friendly advice if required. It was also good to see observers from Liberty keeping an eye on proceedings. It was a truly perfect march, and with only a few spots of rain near perfect conditions. Just over two hours after we set off we ended up at Hyde Park where the already assembled masses were large in number. This was quite a surprise because I’m sure there were more in the park than were in front of us on the march. Clearly many had come along just for the gig in the park. And what a gig it was, stirring speeches from the great and the good plus a blinding mini-set from Show of Hands. All quality stuff. It made me feel very proud to be a union member. There is a warm feeling of collectiveness, society and solidarity that only the left engenders and personifies. Something that those on the right with their ‘the individual over all’ philosophy will never experience and I feel sorry for them. I am in no doubt that there is strength in unity!

It was such a good day and so well organised by the TUC that I sincerely hope it is the springboard to further action and further political success. We need to show the country that there is a credible alternative to the lacklustre Tory financial masturbation that we are enduring at the moment. And we need to keep reminding them until we return the next Labour government.

Regressive

#csr

“We’re all in this together” goes the cry from the ConDems when talking about their politically motivated cuts. ‘Fair’ and ‘fairness’ are words bandied about like they are going out of fashion. They profess to spread the pain of the highly accelerated deficit reduction equally. The trouble is that some are more in this together than others.

The comprehensive spending review is an exercise in extreme right wing ideology. The Tories want to butcher the state in such a drastic way that would no doubt win the admiration of the American Tea Party movement, and they are using the LibDems to do it. It has absolutely nothing to do with sane economics. The Tories have always been very clever when it comes to justifying economic policies. It seems to be a reflex action for them to reach for the analogy of the household budget when describing the country’s finances. I have no doubt this approach is done on purpose and for very cynical reasons. It’s done to muddy the waters. But it is also done because they assume that the average person in the street is incapable of realising that running the exchequer is actually a bit more sophisticated than household accounts. Unless of course George hasn’t twigged that it’s a little more complicated. In that case heaven help us.

Thank goodness the IFS tells it like it is!

Public service announcement

It’s a shit time if you are working for the civil service or local government. And, it’s going to get shittier by all accounts. The Tory propaganda machine seems hell bent on rubbishing the work of public servants, whilst the Con-Dem collaboration plans to make as many as possible unemployed. This government is biting the hand that wipes its arse.

As if that is enough to contend with our much battered public servants have to deal with members of the public!