{"id":4381,"date":"2015-06-04T15:30:06","date_gmt":"2015-06-04T14:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=4381"},"modified":"2015-06-05T10:53:32","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T09:53:32","slug":"common-cause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=4381","title":{"rendered":"Common cause"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ahead of what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s set to be the largest grassroots protest in a generation, Unite today (June 4) hosted a press conference for the People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly anti-austerity march to be held on June 20.<\/p>\n

 
\nHundreds of thousands are expected to attend the demonstration, which will kick off in the heart of the City of London, right on the doorstep of the very people who created the crisis in the first place \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the banks and their friends in Westminster.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe press conference panel, which included singer and actress Charlotte Church, Rachael Maskell MP for York Central, Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner, and Green Party deputy leader Amelia Womack,was chaired by the People’s Assembly national secretary Sam Fairbairn.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They described the growing public momentum that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s building rapidly against the Tories\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 latest attacks on public services, working people and society\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most vulnerable.<\/p>\n

 
\nLargest possible coalition<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nThe People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly, a group founded less than two years ago whose aim was to battle the previous government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s austerity agenda, has since swelled its ranks exponentially and represents a coalition of people up and down the country from all walks of life.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite assistant general secretary Steve Turner explained just how diverse the People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly is \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it has successfully gathered and mobilised all of Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s anti-cuts groups, as well as trade unions, political parties, faith groups, community and student activists and more, into a truly bottom-up movement.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly march will be formed by the largest possible coalition against some of the most vicious and destructive attacks that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see against our communities and our wider economy,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turner said.<\/p>\n

 
\nSinger and actress Charlotte Church recalled the first People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly rally she attended last year, in which she was inspired by the broad range of people united in solidarity as one.<\/p>\n

 
\nChurch argued that the movement against austerity will continue to grow apace as the public begins to realise just how central the state is to all of our lives.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen people think of the welfare state, many only think about those who are the most vulnerable in society, those who are on benefits,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut the welfare state is everything \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s our fire service, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s our NHS, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s our education, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s our transport system, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s everything we have.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe will all be affected by these cuts,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Church noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs soon as people realise the extent of it and how it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to impact pretty much all of us, people will be a lot angrier than they are now.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nRadical solutions are rational ones<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nThe \u00e2\u20ac\u015bcommon cause\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 that Turner said unites the People Assembly is not only attacking austerity itself, but attacking the ideology that underpins it \u00e2\u20ac\u201c an ideology that directly contradicts what even economic experts have said is good for the health of society and a nation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s finances.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bEven the IMF has said that not only has austerity failed in the recent past, but will fail if we continue along with this neoliberal economic policy,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 
\nTurner, like the IMF and economists around the world, rejected the argument that austerity-crazed Tories have used to justify their agenda \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that government debt is inherently undesirable and must be eliminated by slashing public spending.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015b[Government] debt is not in itself a bad thing, if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re investing the money that you borrow,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the deficit that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the bad thing. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re spending more money each year than you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re getting in, then that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a problem that you have to address. But how do you address it? You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t cut the money that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re spending.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou invest \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you take people out of the welfare state who are on benefits and into decent jobs. You build the infrastructure and the social housing we need in order to support the next generation.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nGreen Party deputy leader Amelia Womack agreed.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe biggest lie that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re being sold is that these cuts are inevitable,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYet here we stand as the People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly showing that there are big, radical solutions [to ideological austerity]. And right now, radical solutions are in fact rational ones.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0098We will not be debilitated\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nWhile the grassroots movement represented by the People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly continues to proliferate, Rachael Maskell, newly elected Labour MP for York Central, explained how an anti-austerity movement is growing within Westminster itself.
\nShe told of a group of incoming Labour MPs who are standing on a new agenda.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur agenda is that we have to have an alternative to austerity going forward. We have a very strong voice now within Labour and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll make sure that voice is heard. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already been really active in Parliament and have made clear that austerity isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t working.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re challenging the government every step of the way. And already a week in, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve held them to account and we will continue to do that.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because we believe there is a real alternative out there \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one that wakes up and actually listens to the very real pain that people are experiencing.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nTurner argued that if there is one thing that the growing momentum of the People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly has shown, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that upcoming protests are only the beginning of a mass wave of civic mobilisation, with enough strength to take on a government elected without mandate.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is about building community resistance against some of the most vicious ideological attacks on our communities that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen for over a hundred years. This is about resisting evictions. This is about positive direct action. This is about civil disobedience.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe whole history of social progress and the defence of progress is about struggle,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turner said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd it is about people uniting. And it is about standing up and not just sitting back and taking it.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nTurner went on to say that the Tories\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 fresh attack on trade unions as soon as they formed the new government last month is no coincidence.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be under any illusions why [the Tories] have come back again and again and again to try and debilitate and destabilise collective labour \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the largest single voluntary organisation that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got in our country with six and a half million workers.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey understand more than anyone the collective strength of organised labour. What they want to do is debilitate all of you. But we will not be debilitated.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nInterested in the People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly<\/a> march? Come make history and join us on June 20. Find out more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ahead of what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s set to be the largest grassroots protest in a generation, Unite today (June 4) hosted a press conference for the People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly anti-austerity march to be held on June 20.   Hundreds of thousands are expected to attend the demonstration, which will kick off in the heart of the City of London, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4382,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[265,76,44],"wps_subtitle":"The People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly get ready to march ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4381"}],"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=4381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4383,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4381\/revisions\/4383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}