{"id":1529,"date":"2014-09-22T09:52:45","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T08:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=1529"},"modified":"2014-09-22T13:30:07","modified_gmt":"2014-09-22T12:30:07","slug":"raise-banner-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=1529","title":{"rendered":"Raise the banner high"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Inequality is rife \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Unite believes it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all about Putting the people back in politics<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the title of the Unite and Daily Mirror\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Real Britain fringe, on September 21.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Inequality costs Britain \u00c2\u014139bn a year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the same as the annual spend on defence. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the real cost of dealing with the consequences of inequality \u00e2\u20ac\u201c poor health, bad housing, and low educational attainment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It harms community cohesion, trust and social mobility. It costs every man, woman and child in the UK at \u00c2\u0141622 per year. And even an IMF study says inequality is damaging to economic growth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And with Britain’s five richest families worth more than the poorest 20 per cent, it was no surprise that delegates and visitors packed into the Unite marquee to hear Unite general secretary Len McCluskey and campaigners Harry Leslie Smith and Gill Thompson.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Harry Leslie Smith at 91 described himself as \u00e2\u20ac\u015ban old bloke.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 The war veteran (pictured) has seen how devastating the effects of austerity and poverty really are \u00e2\u20ac\u201c both in the 1920s and today.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He told how in the days before the welfare state he watched his sister Marion die \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba horrible and pitiful death in the workhouse. She was 10 years old. We had no money to bury her and had to put her in a common grave.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He told how most of his generation \u00e2\u20ac\u015bhad been denied a childhood.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 When Harry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s father was injured at work, Harry had to go out to work \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he was just seven years old.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bToday austerity can be just as cruel. We must always be vigilant. We must make sure that every citizen regardless of wealth has the right to a decent standard of living, to education, healthcare and a pension. Everyone must assist and defend those less fortunate than themselves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Equally moving was Gill Thompson, whose brother David Clapson, an ex-soldier who had been a full time carer for his mother, died as a direct result of benefits sanctions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

David was diabetic and was unable to store his insulin in the fridge \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as he had no electricity. He was also starving. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen he died he had no money, six tea bags, a tin of soup and out of date pilchards. The post mortem found he had no food in his stomach,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bDavid was not a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098scrounger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he needed his \u00c2\u014171.70 a week minimum benefit to survive. And they cut his lifeline.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHe never complained, never made a fuss. The vulnerable don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t shout, they lay down quietly and say nothing. They suffer in silence. I just want lessons to be learned \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if not more people will die.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Addressing the fringe, MP Tom Watson said Labour had to listen to what speakers had been saying and take action. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bLabour needs to respond to the challenges spoken of by Gill and Harry. If Ed does that Labour will be returned to government next May.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The final speaker, Len McCluskey said he found the contributions to be \u00e2\u20ac\u015bhumbling.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 In a fiery contribution against the present government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s policies, he urged delegates to get involved and fight back against austerity. People had to be put back into politics.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He said people needed, \u00e2\u20ac\u015ba different type of policy. And if Ed supports our fight he will be in government next May.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need an alternative to austerity \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it just isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t working. A decent civilised society has to invest in communities, manufacturing and proper progressive taxation. This is a phoney government.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe nation has its highest level of personal debt. There will be no sustainability unless there are real jobs with real wages.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen people are engaged \u00e2\u20ac\u201c like they were in Scotland \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to get involved, we cannot be defeated.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s raise the banner high enough and sweep the Tories out of power. A Labour government will make a real difference.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inequality is rife \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Unite believes it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all about Putting the people back in politics\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the title of the Unite and Daily Mirror\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Real Britain fringe, on September 21.   Inequality costs Britain \u00c2\u014139bn a year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the same as the annual spend on defence. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the real cost of dealing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[107],"wps_subtitle":"Put the people back into politics","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1529"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1529"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1534,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1529\/revisions\/1534"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}