And from Brum

We were in Birmingham at the weekend, not to see the Villans, but to enjoy art, food, shopping and whatever ever else the UK’s second city could offer.

It turned out the Brum’s offer included a demonstration on school cuts. We did not linger too long, but did spot a few stalls. One in particular caught our eye – the Revolutionary Communist Group stall was a lonely affair. One person ‘in charge’, and no-one showing any inclination to visit and see what the RCG was all about.

We went over, had a quick chat, and was given a leaflet.

We also picked up a leaflet on school cuts. Enjoy.

Heard the one about the Tories and prosperity?

The Tories in Southend-on-Sea make all sorts of silly claims (their apparent stance on the NHS and Police cuts, for instance, stands in defiance of their actual actions). They have even asserted they are bringing jobs and prosperity to the town.

Some of us have argued that many of the 'new' jobs are low and minimum wage roles, and this appears to be backed up by a news item on the BBC today (The UK towns and cities with the highest and lowest wages).  We have also had to endure years of misinformation as regards to education in this wonderful borough of ours.

The reality is that far from being prosperous (although there is considerable wealth in parts of the borough) there is a real poverty here. Southend lies bottom of the wages ladder, another achievement for the Administration that gave us rotten borough status as well as diversity training for councillors who do not understand that racism, sexism, and many other forms of discrimiantion are both unacceptable and illegal. 

The Conservative Administration only exists because of the elasticity of a couple of UKIP councillors' principles, as well as a Labour councillor who ambitions were beig stymied so she jumped ship. Let's hope tomorrow sees an end to their ineffective and rotten rule.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43729508?SThisFB

 

The UK's lowest paid towns and cities

At the other end of the table, the lowest pay is, perhaps surprisingly, found in another place close to London.

At £413 per week, average pay in Southend is just over half that in the capital.

This helps explain why so many people commute from Southend into London, with one in five of its working population making the journey.

The number of people earning their money in London means that the average salary among Southend residents is £144 higher than it is for those who actually work in the town.

However, Southend is one of the few places in the South East near the bottom of the pay-scale. Worthing is the only other town from the region in the bottom 10.

Laurie Burton, no better choice for Blenheim Park ward

It would be a nice change to find a Tory who does actually work hard for Milton ward

If you remember when Milton ward had three ineffective Tory councilors, and you enjoyed those days when the ward was largely overlooked and ignored, then I guess Garry will get your vote.

 
If you prefer councilors who engage with residents, and are a big voice for the ward then Cheryl Nevin will get your vote

Going backwards with the Tories in Blenheim Park

One of Floyd Waterworth’s priorities if re-elected is: “Work with Sir David Amess MP for the abolition of Inheritance Tax”.

Once again Mr Waterworth demonstrates his regressive tendencies with yet another attempt to drag Britain backwards. Almost everything that the racist and sexist Waterworth wishes for stands in contradistinction to my ideas of radical, progressive, and fair politics.

(Read here for some arguments for inheritance tax.)

Waterworth has forgotten to mention his election as a UKIP councilor, and subsequent rat-run to the Tories.

If Waterworth succeeds I sincerely hope his next four years are a significant improvement on his first term as councillor. He really could, and should,  do a lot better.