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A selection of links to political news. The lobbying bill discussed in Parliament on Tuesday and Wednesday has not been addressed by corporate media.

Firefighters to stage five-hour strike next week

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“No firefighter wants to strike, and it’s desperately disappointing that governments in Westminster and Cardiff continue to deny reality over pensions costs and the need for a pension scheme that reflects the job firefighters do.

“Firefighters simply cannot be expected to fight fires and rescue families in their late 50s and into their 60s.” …

UK asylum seekers ‘told to prove they are lesbian or gay’

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In the report produced by the Home Affairs Committee, they expressed concerns over the way the UK Border Agency made decisions and highlighted the 30 per cent of appeals against initial decisions approved in 2012.

They noted the 32,600 asylum cases backlogged from 2011 which had yet to be resolved, with some waiting up to 16 years in extreme cases.

They also focused on the way asylum seekers who claim to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex are treated. The report found they faced “extraordinary obstacles” in persuading immigration officers of their case.

In the report, it said: “The battleground is now firmly centred in ‘proving’ that they are gay. In turn, this has led to claimants going to extreme lengths to try and meet the new demands of credibility assessment in this area, including the submission of photographic and video evidence of highly personal sexual activity to caseworkers, presenting officers and the judiciary.”

The committee stressed “it is not appropriate to force people to prove their sexuality if there is a perception that they are gay.”

Its chairman, Labour MP Keith Vaz, told BBC News: “It is absurd for a judge or a caseworker to have to ask an individual to prove that they are lesbian or gay, to ask them what kind of films they watch, what kind of material they read. …

Royal Mail share buyers profit as price soars

… Royal Mail shares, which the government sold at 330p, started trading at 450p on Friday morning and peaked as high as 459p before settling at 445p at 9am.

The steep share price rise will heighten accusations that the government “massively shortchanged” taxpayers by significantly undervaluing the 500-year-old national institution.

Royal Mail’s market value has risen by more than £1.1bn to £4.5bn. The government valued the company at a maximum £3.3bn, and attacked analysts who valued Royal Mail at £4.5bn as “way out”. …

Driving age could be raised to 18 in UK – with a curfew and strict rules for recently-qualified drivers

The driving age in the UK could be raised to 18 and a curfew introduced for newly-qualified drivers, under recommendations put forward in research commissioned by the Government.

Under the proposals, prospective drivers would have to be 17 before they could begin a 12-month “learner stage”, during which they would need to complete more than 100 hours on the road and fill out a log-book recording their progress.

A “probationary” licence – and a mandatory “P” plate to go on their car – would be given only once the driver had turned 18, completed the first stage and passed their tests.

For a further 12 months the young person would be subject to a number of new restrictions, including a curfew from 10pm to 5am unless they were accompanied by an adult over 30, a ban on carrying any passengers at all under the age of 30, and stricter rules on mobile phone use (even hands-free) and alcohol consumption.

Only once all these stipulations were met would a person be granted a full licence and unrestricted driving.

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Energy price rise sparks new political row over power bills

Miliband said the SSE announcement highlighted the need for a price freeze. He tweeted: “New electricity and gas prices announced today show the need to freeze bills.”

In a second tweet, he wrote: “We need an energy market which works for ordinary families and businesses.”

The SSE announcement, which prompted the Tory energy minister Michael Fallon to express his disappointment, comes at a politically sensitive moment on the issue of fuel prices. …

Guardian’s NSA revelations: spies to go under spotlight

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27/11/13 Having received a takedown notice from the Independent newspaper for a different posting, I have reviewed this article which links to an article at the Independent’s website in order to attempt to ensure conformance with copyright laws.

I consider this posting to comply with copyright laws since
a. Only a small portion of the original article has been quoted satisfying the fair use criteria, and / or
b. This posting satisfies the requirements of a derivative work.

Please be assured that this blog is a non-commercial blog (weblog) which does not feature advertising and has not ever produced any income.

dizzy

Continue ReadingPolitics news links

Royal Mail refusenik calls share offer ‘a step backwards’

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http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/10/royal-mail-refusenik-share-offer

Postman Paul Firmage, one of only 368 employees to have turned down the £2,200 of free shares, says they are ‘little more than a bribe’

Paul Firmage, a postman who turned down Royal Mail shares as a matter of principleOf the 150,000 Royal Mail employees, just 368 have turned down the £2,200 of free shares offered to them as part of the privatisation of the 500-year-old company.

One of them, Paul Firmage, 59, described the free shares as “little more than bribe” and said he refused to take the shares as a “matter of principle”, even though they could be worth more than £2,600 by Friday if the stock rises by 20% or more as predicted.

“I know my refusal to take the shares won’t make much difference, but it is a matter of principle. I’ve always been opposed to privatisations. It’s a step backwards,” he told the Guardian. “Only those at the top – the snouts in the trough brigade, the corporate executives and the speculators – will win. We, the postmen and women on the ground, will lose.”

Firmage, 59, from Downham Market, Norfolk, admits that others think he is silly for not accepting the shares despite his principles. “Yeah, I could have taken the money and still been opposed to it, but principles are principles.

“Some people think it is amazing to turn down £2,000, but I’m looking at it from a long-term point of view – the service will rapidly deteriorate. When it’s private they can cut back on pay and conditions. Our conditions are quite good at the moment.”

He conceded that he might have thought differently about taking a principled stand if he had had a family to support. “I’ve got an older brother, but no other family,” he said. “If I had a family around me I might have a different view.

“[Royal Mail] has always been a public company and there are some things that should be beyond privatisation,” he said. “It’s a state service – it should remain a state service.

“Everything these days is geared towards money. We’ve seen the water companies, the energy companies, the railways, all go. You’ve only got to look at the stock exchange to see everything that used to be ours.”

Firmage, who has been a postman for 11 years, said many colleagues had said they were also going to turn down the shares in protest, but “[the company] hit us with a lot of propaganda”.

The rejected shares will be redistributed between the 150,000 staff who have accepted the shares, which they must hold on to for at least three years.

The 368 figure includes all eight of Royal Mail’s non-executive directors, who are not taking part in the free allocation.

 

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Royal Mail shares: City broker says shares are undervalued by 80% as investor bonanza and questions for Vince Cable loom

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/royal-mail-shares-city-broker-says-shares-are-undervalued-by-80-as-investor-bonanza-and-questions-for-vince-cable-loom-8870740.html

Image of Royal Mail postboxA City stockbroker has said the Royal Mail £3.3billion sell off could have been underpriced by up to 80 per cent.

Canaccord Genuity believe the Royal Mail should be valued at a sum closer to £6billion, or 559p per share, compared to the 330p price per share the Government is expected to charge when trading begins.

Shares were initially priced between 260p and 330p, but were raised to 330p by the Government following strong demand, the BBC has reported.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said approximately 700,000 applications were made by Tuesday night’s deadline, which he believed demonstrated the high level of interest in the controversial privatisation.

Mr Cable faced tough questions from the Business Select Committee over concerns that the company has been undervalued. Committee chairman Adrian Bailey said the Government was overseeing the sale of a profitable, popular, publicly owned company to financial institutions that Mr Cable had criticised in the past.

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27/11/13 Having received a takedown notice from the Independent newspaper for a different posting, I have reviewed this article which links to an article at the Independent’s website in order to attempt to ensure conformance with copyright laws.

I consider this posting to comply with copyright laws since
a. Only a small portion of the original article has been quoted satisfying the fair use criteria, and / or
b. This posting satisfies the requirements of a derivative work.

Please be assured that this blog is a non-commercial blog (weblog) which does not feature advertising and has not ever produced any income.

dizzy

Continue ReadingRoyal Mail shares: City broker says shares are undervalued by 80% as investor bonanza and questions for Vince Cable loom

Royal Mail warns thousands will lose jobs after sell-off

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http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/09/royal-mail-warns-thousands-job-losses

Company spokesman indicates substantial job losses following controversial privatisation of 500-year-old institution

Image of back of postman and post sacks

Royal Mail has warned that thousands of postal workers will lose their jobs following its controversial privatisation. On Tuesday the 500-year-old national institution saw unprecedented demand for its share offer, with more than 1 million people thought to have applied. In its written submission to parliament on Wednesday, Royal Mail said: “The company will employ fewer people in the future, whoever owns it.”

The company refused to state how many jobs will be axed, but a spokesman indicated it would be thousands if not tens of thousands of Royal Mail’s 150,000 employees.

Moya Greene, Royal Mail’s chief executive, who was paid £1.6m last year, has said the company needs to be “sized appropriately for the [declining] traffic we have to process”.

The forthcoming cuts come on top of 50,000 jobs lost over the past decade. The company said it “remains committed to the overarching objective of achieving this without compulsory redundancies”.

“Over the past decade, the postal services sector has changed dramatically. A decline in mail volumes has coincided with the liberalisation of the market and the emergence of competition. In recent years, we have seen a significant increase in the number of parcels being sent. All of this has meant a difficult process of change for our people,” Royal Mail said in its submission to the business, innovation and skills select committee.

“Many of Royal Mail’s employees have seen changes to their working practices as the company has adapted its operations to the changed mix of mail. Change will continue and the company will employ fewer people in the future, whoever owns it.”

Royal Mail workers, who are 96% opposed to the privatisation, continued their campaign against the sell-off with a protest outside parliament ahead of committee meeting. Activists dressed up as highway robbers carried banners saying: “The Great British Royal Mail Robbery”.

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Campaigners call for east coast rail franchise to stay in public hands

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http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/08/rail-east-coast-public

Rail unions and MPs say state-owned operator’s success means government should rethink return of franchise to private sector

Image of an East Coast trainCampaigners have renewed calls to keep the east coast mainline rail franchise in public hands after the state-owned operator revealed it returned £208.7m to the taxpayer last year, a rise of 6.6%.

Directly Operated Railways, the Department for Transport-owned company behind East Coast, said revenue had risen 4.2% and record levels of customer satisfaction had been reached in the year 2012-13 – although that has since fallen after a series of delays on the line.

Karen Boswell, the managing director of East Coast, said: “We’ve been able to show increased growth year on year and I expect next year to be even stronger.”

She ascribed the positive results to leadership, investment and increased employee engagement.

Mick Whelan, the general secretary of the train drivers’ union Aslef, said: “These latest figures show why we need to keep the east coast in the public sector. It’s a key tool against which we can measure the success or failure of the privatised train operating companies.

“Each year these companies are pushing up prices for passengers and moving hundreds of millions of pounds in dividends to shareholders, often offshore, money which could and should be used to hold down fares and provide vital investment in Britain’s railway network.”

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Related: East Coast rail service costs taxpayers less than private lines, report reveals

Continue ReadingCampaigners call for east coast rail franchise to stay in public hands