Public Sector Strike 30th June.

Remember when Carers, Teachers, Police Officers, Soldiers, Nurses, Fire-fighters, and other government employees crashed the stock market, took billions in bailout money, wiped out banks, took millions in bonuses, stopped their contributions to the pension system and paid no taxes? No? Me neither!


Davy Cameron's New Model (after cuts) Army

On Thursday 30th June 2011, hundreds of thousands of union members will be striking against an attack on their hard fought and won pension rights. People are being forced to withdraw their labour because they are outraged at having to pay for an economic crisis caused by selfish bankers and unaccountable financial institutions. Our public services, jobs and pensions are under attack by the ConDem Government of Millionaires for Millionaires.



Show solidarity with striking public sector workers. You can do this by joining a picket line in your locality and/or by attending one of the rallies listed below:

Aberystwyth: noon, rally at Morlan Centre, Queens Road, SY23 2HH.

Bedford: 10am, rally at Civic Theatre, Horne Lane, MK40 1RA. Speakers include Jim Stringer from PCS.

Birmingham: noon, gather for rally and march which will start and finish at Victoria Square, B1 1BD. Speakers include: Hugh Lanning, PCS deputy general secretary; Vici Whittal, PCS Birmingham prison; Jason Ferraby, PCS Cannock Department for Work and Pensions; and Kevin Courtney, National Union of Teachers (NUT) deputy general secretary.



Brighton: 10:30am assemble at The Level, 37 Ditchling Road, BN1 4SB. March to Hove Town Hall, Norton Road, BN3 4AH for rally at noon. Speakers include Dominic McFadden, PCS national executive (NEC).

Bristol: 11am, assemble at College Green, BS1 5TA. March to Castle Green, Wine Street, BS1 2BH, for speakers including John McInally, PCS vice president. There will be an afternoon of stalls and entertainment in Castle Park, Castle Street, BS1 3XD.

Cambridge: noon, rally at Parker's Piece, Parkside, CB1 1JE.



Canterbury: 10am to 2pm, rally at Abbotts Barton Hotel, New Dover Road, Canterbury, CT1 3DU. Speakers include John Walder, Kent NUT divisional secretary.

Cardiff: noon, assemble Sofia Gardens, Cathedral Road, CF11 9XR. March to Cathays Park, CF10 3ND, for a rally. Speakers include: Andy Richards, president of Wales Trades Union Congres; and Dave Bean, deputy president PCS.

Carlisle: 12.30pm rally by Old Town Hall, CA3 8JH, with music and food. Speakers include: Mary Ferguson, PCS NEC.

Chatham: noon to 2pm rally at Command House, Dock Road, ME4 4TX. Speakers include Zita Holbourne, PCS NEC.

Chelmsford: 11am, rally at High Street, CM1 1BE.



Chester: 12.30pm, rally at Town Hall Square, Northgate Street, CH1 2HJ. Organised by West Cheshire Trade Union Council.

Colchester: 12.30pm, rally outside Colchester town hall, High Street, CO1 1PJ. Organised by Colchester and Clacton trades union councils.

Dover: noon, rally at St Mary's church hall, Church Street, CT16 1BY. Speakers include Annette Rogers, NUT association secretary; Alan Dennis, PCS NEC.

Exeter: 11am rally at the Corn Exchange, George Street, EX1 1BU. Speakers include: Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC); and Hector Wesley (PCS NEC). March to Belmont Park for a Festival for the Alternative at 12.30pm with music from Billy Bragg, a bouncy castle and children's entertainment, stalls and food and drink available.

Glasgow: noon rally in George Square, Glasgow, G2 1DU. Speakers include: Janice Godrich, PCS president; Grahame Smith, general secretary of the Scottish TUC; Mary Senior, University and College Union (UCU) Scottish secretary; Mike Kirby, Unison Scottish secretary; and Pat Rafferty, Unite regional secretary.



Gloucester: 10.30am, rally at the bandstand in Gloucester Park, Park Road, GL1 1LH.

Halifax: 10am to noon, indoor rally at Arden Road Social Club, HX1 3AG. Speakers include: Linda Riordan, Labour MP; Ian Murch, NUT national treasurer.

Hastings: 10am to noon, rally at White Rock, White Rock, TN34 1JU. Speakers include Andy Reid, PCS NEC; Dave Brinson, NUT NEC. Followed by a picnic in Alexandra Park, St Helen's Road, TN34 2EL.
Huddersfield: noon, rally Market Cross, Market Plave, HD1 2AN. Speakers include Eddie Childs, PCS NEC.

Hull: 10am, rally at Royal Hotel, 170 Ferensway, HU1 3UF.

Ipswich: assemble at 10.45am in Giles Circus, Princes Street, IP1 1DT. March to a rally at town hall council chamber, Cornhill, Ipswich IP1 1DH. Speakers include Lorna Merry, PCS.

Leeds: 11.30am, assemble at Leeds Metropolitan University, Woodhouse Lane, LS1 3HE. March to noon rally in City Square, LS1 2AN. Speakers include Jane Aitchison, president of PCS in the Department of Work and Pensions.

Liverpool: assemble from 11.30am, William Brown Street, L1 1JJ. March to The Black-E arts centre, Great George Street, L1 5EW, for a rally at 12.30pm. Speakers include: Marie Daley, UCU NEC; Julie Lyon-Taylor, NUT NEC; and Alice Robinson, Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), national senior vice president.



Llandrindod Wells: 11am, rally at The Pavillion, Spa Road, LLD1 5EY. March to rally and picnic at Landrindod Wells Lake Park, LD1 5LG.

London - central: 11am, assemble at Lincoln Inn Fields, WC2A 3TL. Music provided by Love Music Hate Racism. March to Westminster Central Hall, Storeys Gate, London. SW1H 9NH, for a rally at 1pm. Speakers include union general secretaries - Christine Blower (NUT), Mary Bousted (ATL), Sally Hunt (UCU), and Mark Serwotka (PCS); Dot Gibson of the National Pensioners Convention; and Labour MP John McDonnell. Find out more and download the London rally flyer at the events page.

London Wembley: 10am, rally in The Torch pub, Bridge Road, HA9 9AB, by Wembley Park station.

Luton: noon assemble at Market Hill, LU1 2YN, walk to Town Hall, George Street, LU1 2BQ, for speakers at 12.30pm - including Ian Albert, PCS NEC. In the afternoon there's a picnic in Wardown Park, Old Bedford Road, LU2 7HA.

Maidenhead: 11am to 1pm, rally at The Thames Hotel, Ray Mead Road, SL6 8NR.

Maidstone: noon to 2pm, assemble outside the Walnut Tree, 234 Tonbridge Road, ME16 8SR, for a rally focussing on education.
Maidstone: 4 to 5pm, assemble outside County Hall, County Road, ME14 1XD, for a rally focussing on public sector cuts.



Manchester: assemble from 11am, All Saints, Oxford Road, M1 7DU. March to Castlefield Arena, Liverpool Road, M3 4JN for a rally at noon. Speakers include: Helen Andrews, NUT NEC; Mark Baker, ATL NEC; and Dominique Lauterburg, UCU NEC.

Merthyr Tydfil: 12.30pm, rally at civic centre, Castle Street, CF47 8AN. Speakers include: Peter Harris, PCS Wales secretary; Dominic MacCaskill, Unison; Debbie Scott, NUT; and Jeff Edwards, leader Merthyr council. NEW

Middlesbrough: 4.30pm, rally by the bottle sculpture, Russell Street, TS1 2AE.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Meet at noon at Life Centre, Times Square, NE1 4EP. March to the monument, Grey Street, NE1 7AL, for a rally at 1pm. Speakers from striking unions including Cheryl Gedling, PCS NEC; plus Kevin Rowan, secretary Northern TUC.



Newport (south Wales) : noon, rally at John Frost Square, NP20 1PA. Speakers include: Dave Bean, PCS deputy president; Roy McCabe, UCU; and Angela Davies, NUT.

Norwich: noon, rally outside the Forum, Millennium Plain, Bethel Street, Norwich NR2 1TF.

Nottingham: 11.30am, assemble at Castle Meadow, NG2 1AB, for march to Trinity Square, NG1 4AF. Followed by rally in Albert Hall, North Circus Street, NG1 5AA. Speakers include Paul Williams, PCS NEC.

Oxford: noon, assemble at Town Hall, St Aldate's, OX1 1BX. March to a 2pm rally in Bonn Square, OX1 1EU. With music and a barbecue. Called by the Oxford & District Trades Council.



Peterborough: 10am rally at Laxton Square, PE1 1UQ. Organised by Peterborough TUC.
Peterborough: noon, rally in conjunction with Unison at City Hospital, Bretton Gate, Bretton, PE3 9GZ. Organised by Peterborough TUC.

Plymouth: 11am to 12.30pm , rally organised by ATL, NUT and UCU at Plymouth Albion rugby club, Madden Road, PL1 4NE.
Plymouth: noon, assemble at Guildhall Square, PL1 2AD, for Stop the Cuts' march round town and back to Guildhall, organised by Plymouth TUC.

Portsmouth: noon, rally at Guildhall Square, PO1 2AB. Speakers include: Mike Derbyshire, PCS NEC.

Preston: noon, rally at The Flag Market, PR1 2JA. Speakers include: Kathy Eager, ATL NEC; Simon Jones, NUT NEC; and John Murphy, UCU NEC.



Reading: 11am, rally at Reading International Solidarity Centre, 35 London Street, RG1 4PS. Noon, leafleting at Oracle shopping centre, RG1 2AG.

Rotherham: 11am, rally All Saints Square, S60 1PW.

Sheffield: noon, assemble Peace Gardens, Pinstone Street, S1 2HH. March to rally at Barkers Pool,S1 2JA. Speakers include Marion Lloyd, PCS NEC.

Sittingbourne: 11am, rally at Phoenix House, Central Avenue, ME10 4BX.

Southampton: 11am, rally in Guildhall Square, West Marlands Road, Southampton SO14 7FP. Unite and Unison members who are in dispute with Southampton city council will join the crowd at 12.30pm.



Southend: 12:30pm, Victoria Circus, SS1 1TJ. Organised by Southend Against the Cuts.

Swansea: 12.30pm to 2.30pm, rally at Castle Square, SA1 3PP.

Taunton: 11am, rally at Taunton rugby club, Hyde Lane, TA2 8BU.

Telford: noon, assemble at Southgate, TF2 8JT. March to rally at Cordingley Hall, Wellington Road, Donnington, TF2 8JS. Speakers include Chris Morrison, PCS NEC. Refreshments provided.

Truro: 10am to 1pm, rally at Lemon Quay, TR1 2LW.

Worthing: 11am, rally in Steyne Gardens, Warwick Road, BN11 3DZ. March to Homefield Park, Homefield Road, BN11 2HZ. Speakers include: Adam Kalif, PCS NEC. Supported by Worthing Solidarity Network.

Wrexham: 11.30am, rally at Queens Square, LL14 3EQ.

The above list is not exhaustive. It is very likely that a rally will also be held in your locality, if none of the above is convenient for you. Please check the link below for the latest on events organised near you:

http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/campaigns/campaign-events/events.cfm



NECESSARY LEAVE TO LOOK AFTER DEPENDENTS

Some advice in relation to the strikes next Thursday 30 June 2011 on the legal position regarding necessary leave to look after children or other dependents as many employers are trying to “blindside” employees by not telling them about the legal position in relation to time off.

Under S.57A Employment Rights Act 1996 (“ERA 1996”), employees have the right to take unpaid time off work, in certain circumstances, to care for or make arrangements in respect of a ‘dependant’. In order for the right to apply, the employee must:

(a) tell the employer the reason for his or her absence as soon as reasonably practicable; and

(b) if able, to contact the employer before returning to work, giving the employer an estimate of how long the absence will last.




The issue here is whether employees have had sufficient time to make alternate care arrangements. The legal test is whether it was ‘necessary’ and ‘unexpected’, and not as is often wrongly assumed, ‘sudden’ or in an emergency situation.

Therefore it is imperative that any employee who believes that they will have a difficulty in finding alternative care provision for their dependents during next week’s strike, must inform their employer as soon as possible. This will then give them protection from any potential disciplinary action. It should be noted that the right is only for unpaid leave. Companies may offer the choice of taking a day’s holiday instead, but this would be discretionary.

Please do all you can to support public sector workers. A victory for them is a win for a better future for all!

To keep you going until Thursday here is the Jam singing ‎"Kidney machines replaced by rockets and guns"... still so true 31 years later!

The Demolition Job

Gideon then

It is amazing how uncritically craven the right wing press is in the face of today’s UK Comprehensive Spending Review – A concerted ideological attack on the poor and on women. Can you imagine the hysterical headlines about “Betraying Our Boys!” If Labour had emasculated the defence Budget the way the Lib Cons have? A gaffe by Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander has revealed that half a million job losses are set to emerge in the upcoming Spending Review - a Government strategy to cut the deficit released by George Osborne today.

The coalition's austerity drive comes despite huge waves of protest across the country from working class postmen, nurses and teachers who presume their jobs are on the line. However, despite this, Chancellor, George, formerly known as Gideon Osborne will outline the 'hard road' ahead as the Government takes on one of the biggest spending cuts in the Western World. The scale of the cuts dwarfs Britain's two most recent austerity drives, after a 1976 IMF bailout and in the 1980s, under the leadership of then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.


George now

Alan Johnson MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, has criticised the coalition’s Comprehensive Spending Review as a huge gamble from a government with no plan for growth and jobs.


Alan Johnson MP,Shadow Chancellor

Alan Johnson said:

“Today is the day that an abstract debate about spreadsheets and numbers turns into stark reality for people’s jobs and services. Their pensions, their prospects, their homes and their families. It is our firm belief that the rush to cut the deficit endangers the recovery and reduces the prospects for employment in the short term, and prosperity in the longer term.

“We believe we can and should sustain a more gradual reduction. Securing growth. I don’t believe that the Chancellor or the Prime Minster sufficiently understand the worries and concerns of families up and down the country. And I think those worries will have multiplied as a result of the spending review statement today.”

The full text of Alan Johnson’s speech follows:

Mr Speaker, members opposite are cheering the deepest cuts in public expenditure that have taken place in living memory. Today is the day that an abstract debate about spreadsheets and numbers turns into stark reality for people’s jobs and services.



Their pensions, their prospects. Their homes and their families.

The day that the statistics which were sitting so comfortably in the lap of the Chief Secretary yesterday, become uncomfortable reality for hundreds of thousands of families. The deficit deceivers opposite have peddled a series of myths to the British public.

The most incredible is that the biggest global economic crisis since the great depression is the fault of the previous government.

Perhaps the Chancellor will confirm three facts.

Fact one, when the global crisis hit the UK had the second lowest debt of any G7 country.

Fact two, that the last government inherited a debt interest level of 10p in every pound of tax received. And that even after a world recession, bequeathed a figure 15% lower.

Fact three, that the interest rates the UK pays on its debt have been falling since the beginning of the year.



The last CSR was in 2007, when the Chancellor was at this despatch box complaining not that we were spending too much, but that we were spending too little. He complained that we were slowing the growth in health and education expenditure. Indeed his party supported every penny of our spending plans until well after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in America set off a disastrous chain reaction around the world.

The Chancellor described his Emergency Budget in June as unavoidable and fair. It was actually unfair, as the IFS pointed out in a devastating critique within 48 hours. And it was also avoidable.

The deficit has to be paid down. But today’s reckless gamble with people’s livelihoods runs the risk of stifling the fragile recovery. The ridiculous analogy of credit card debt insults the intelligence of the British public.

If countries around the world hadn’t run up debts to sustain their economies people would not have lost their credit cards, they’d have lost their houses, their savings and their jobs. The Liberal Democrats know this. Because it’s what they argued when seeking the support of the electorate. Before the Deputy Prime Minister discovered Greece, in the period between the ballot boxes closing and the door of his ministerial car opening.



They, like us, argued that in the context of reducing the deficit, speed kills. The Chancellor repeats a list of organisations that support his swift cuts. Curiously he fails to mention the opposing views of the other nations that make up the UK – Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Perhaps that’s what he means when he describes himself as a one nation Tory.

And here’s another supportive quote.

"The measures we have taken have been commended by international bodies such as the European Central Bank, the European Commission, the IMF and the OECD. They have also won the approval of the international markets."

That was the Irish Minister of Finance last December, telling the Irish Parliament that his austerity plan was working, just four months before they slid back into recession. After months of overblown rhetoric from the Chancellor, the concerns of those watching his announcement today will be about:

• staying in work,
• staying in their homes
• and staying safe on our streets.

We are told that the expected job losses from this spending review amount to 490,000, in the public sector alone. And a Price Waterhouse Coopers report last week told us that a million jobs are at stake - because the impact on the private sector will be just as severe. Isn’t it the case that, at the same time as they throw people out of work, the government is reducing the support to help people return to the workplace?



They’ve already cancelled the Future Jobs Fund. Now, whilst the Work and Pensions Secretary tells us that the system must ensure that people are better off in work, the changes to Working Tax Credit announced today will have the opposite effect.

Reducing childcare support for working parents adds to the problem. This isn’t a strategy for jobs. It’s a recipe for unemployment.

On housing the Chancellor has announced the retreat of central government from any role in building new affordable homes. So I ask the Chancellor can he tell the House, how many jobs will be lost in the construction sectors as a result of his decision to all but end capital funding for housebuilding?

And on crime which has fallen dramatically over the last 13 years - how on earth can the government think they are in tune with people’s priorities when a substantial cut in the Home Office budget is bound to result in police officers being taken off the streets?

Spending does have to be reduced. But the frontline services on which people rely must be protected. The public do not want to see teacher numbers fall, fewer police officers on their streets, or hospitals short-staffed. So we support moves to protect schools and the NHS.

However, it seems clear that the Deputy Prime Minister has failed to meet his pledge that the pupil premium would not be funded from within the schools budget – a clear case of robbing Michael to pay Liam.

On the NHS, the small re al terms increase will be more than swallowed by the waste of £2 to £3bn on a top down reorganisation they promised in the election not to undertake.



And while we’re on the NHS, will the baseline for the Department of Health resource spending be reflected in the actual 2010/11 budget? Mr Speaker, without growth the job of getting the deficit down becomes impossible. A rising dole queue means a bigger welfare bill. And less tax coming in.

A cost of at least half a billion pounds for every 100,000 people thrown out of work by the government's approach. So to get the deficit down the starting point must be jobs, jobs, jobs. And that is the core of the difference between us and the government.

The Ministry of Justice tells us that they will see 14,000 staff go. Does he agree with the department’s assessment that the vast majority of those, 11,000, will be from the frontline?



Can he confirm that £230m of taxpayers funds have been earmarked for redundancy costs in that department alone? What is the total scale of redundancies expected across the public sector? What will the total redundancy bill be?

Thanks to the Chief Secretary we know that the Treasury has provided him with estimates. He should share them with the House. I welcome the Chancellor’s decision to revisit his plans for capital spending and support for science. The Business Secretary has rightly fought to partially protect the science budget, and to put more money into regional development.

It’s true that he had to switch overnight from opposing any graduate contribution to their education to support for unlimited fees, but such contortions are nothing new for the Rt Hon Member and his colleagues.

But given the warning signs in the UK and global economies, we believe the case for going further on infrastructure is clear.



The banks that benefit from the ending of the bonus tax, and the cut in Corporation Tax, can well afford to take more of the strain. This additional would mean that vital infrastructure projects could go ahead – keeping people in work now, and creating the environment for growth in the years to come. And we call again on the government to change their perverse decision on Sheffield Forgemasters.

It is right that the government looks for savings from the welfare bill. Where changes are fair, proportionate and encourage work we will support them as we have shown in respect of incapacity benefit, a reformed gateway for Disability Living Allowance and on up ratings. We will look at the other changes announced today.
But there is nothing fair about Child Benefit changes that leave a single earner on £45,000 losing thousands of pounds, while a family on £80,000 gets to keep every penny.

As things stand the government is looking for a bigger contribution to reducing the deficit to come from children than from the banks. That can’t be right.

Will the Chancellor confirm that his change to Child Benefit equates to a 6p increase in income tax for a single earner family on £45,000? Perhaps because of the consternation caused on this issue he has dropped plans to remove child Benefit for older children. Can he rule this our completely, or is it still under consideration?

And, while we accept that Housing Benefit should be reformed, how can anyone on the benches opposite suggest that removing 10% of the rent for a family’s home from someone who has been looking for work for 12 months is fair?

Can the Chancellor confirm that the poorest will bear a greater burden than the richest – with the middle squeezed even further? And that women are shouldering three quarters of the cuts? Does he still claim that these measures are progressive and fair?



Mr Speaker. There is an alternative to this slash and burn approach. This Spending Review is not about economic necessity, it’s about political choice. The Chancellor argues that Labour would have done nothing about the deficit. But he goes on to say that his cuts are no worse than ours. He can’t have it both ways. But he’s wrong on both counts.

The government is removing almost twice as much from departmental budgets as we think is wise, before we consider the further welfare reforms he has announced today. It is our firm belief that the rush to cut the deficit endangers the recovery and reduces the prospects for employment in the short term, and prosperity in the longer term. We believe we can and should sustain a more gradual reduction. Securing growth.

I don’t believe that the Chancellor or the Prime Minster sufficiently understand the worries and concerns of families up and down the country. And I think those worries will have multiplied as a result of the spending review statement today.

The Demolition Coalition

There is a huge democratic deficit at the heart of British politics today. The May 2010 General Election resulted in the LibCon Coalition of the Conservative Party who didn’t win the election and the Liberal Democrats who most definitely lost the election and whose promise of changing the “Face of British Politics” turned out to be a busted flush. Since then the public has been treated to a drip, drip, drip of spending cuts and tax raises based on slash and burn policies which were never put to the electorate. It is now clear that under the guise of “fiscal responsibility” what is happening is an ideologically driven attack on State services and the whole concept of “Society.” For David Cameron’s Big Society read Bogus Society.

Since the election the LibCon Coalition has announced so many cuts that it has been renamed the Demolition Coalition – no evidence they can (or want) to build anything but plenty of evidence they are happy to tear the house down. Non-protected departmental Budgets, everything apart from health and International Aid, are going to be cut by 25 percent on average. But Chancellor George Osborne told the House he would hope that the cuts to defence and education would be significantly less than that. The unspoken part of that is that the cuts to some other Budgets will have to be significantly bigger than that. Even then, Britain faces further tax rises even after the Coalition Government imposes deep cuts in public spending, according to a two-year study. An all-party commission has warned that taxes will have to rise to cope with the financial pressures caused by an ageing population; an increase in chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity; combating climate change; closing the gap between rich and poor; abolishing child poverty and improving skills levels in the workforce.



The coalition government's spending cuts to reduce deficit will see unemployment in the UK rise to almost 3 million over the next five years, according to a revised forecast by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). There was no prospect of real wage growth until at least 2015, and the public sector faced sharp pay cuts and job losses, which could total 725,000 by that year. The CIPD warned of a "bleak" outlook for "those individuals and communities already suffering the greatest hardship in society".

So it is not just the raving loonies that warn that the Demolition Coalition have got it wrong. That natural home of extremism, The Association of Police Superintendents has warned that the proposed cuts will lead to civil anarchy. The OECD is worrying that cuts will choke off recovery and the IMF is saying the UK has room for fiscal manoeuvre, so the Demolition Coalition’s arguments looks weaker every day.




Portcullis House

So I was very heartened last night to be in the Macmillan Room at Portcullis House in the Houses of Parliament, Westminster to meet the acting Labour Party Leader Harriet Harman and South East Labour Mp’s, Alan Whitehead, MP and John Denham, MP who represent Southampton, Andrew Smith MP for Oxford East, Fiona McTaggart MP for Slough. There is a real sense that the Labour Leadership campaign is leading to a real debate and renewal which will strengthen the Party. Over 32,000 people have joined the party since the election and disenchantment is rife among former Lib Dem supporters who voted for no VAT rise and against spending reductions.

It was good to see the inside of Portcullis House, a building which went significantly over budget and which has as its foundations, Westminster Tube Station. Portcullis House is built above the dramatic Westminster Tube Station on top of the “Box”, a vast 39m (127ft) void which was excavated underneath the old station to house the escalators, lifts and stairs to the deep-level Jubilee Line platforms, the deepest ever excavation in central London. One of the most difficult problems the engineers faced was to construct the station around the Circle and District line tracks, which continued in service throughout its construction. The tracks had to be lowered by 300mm (1 foot), an operation achieved a few millimetres at a time during the few hours each night that the system was closed. The station was by far the most complex in terms of engineering of any of those on the Jubilee line and it was the last to open, just before Christmas 1999. Nothing of the old station remains. The “box” gives you the impression you are in an Escher engraving and the spray concrete used in the “Austrian Tunnelling Method” is deliberately left exposed to demonstrate how it was constructed.






Westminster Station "The Box" under Portcullis House

The station's cavernous design, by Michael Hopkins & Partners, won it a 2001 Royal Institute of British Architects Award and earned it a place on the shortlist for the RIBA's prestigious Stirling Prize. The architects, Michael Hopkins and Partners, published their design for Portcullis House in 1993 and the existing buildings on the site were demolished in 1994. At the same time, London Underground was building the Jubilee Line Extension, including a new interchange station at Westminster tube station which occupies the same area; the two were thus designed and built as a single unit.



Inside with its dramatic atrium and its separation into Parlimentary and public areas (necessary for security reasons) Portcullis House reeks of long lasting quality and is hugely impressive. But what really impressed me was the fighting spirit of the Labour Party activists, MP’s and acting Leader Harriet Harman. With the Demolition Coalition greatly afraid of the electorates reaction to its slash and burn policies they are trying to Gerrymander the Electoral and Parliamentary systems, pushing through legislation to give Parliament a fixed five year term, postpone the Queen’s Speech (which sets out the Government’s legislative programme) and change the majority needed for a Vote of Confidence. As Harriet Harman pointed out the Labour Party is very much alive and kicking and holding the Demolition Coalition to account and the May Local elections next year will be a real moment of truth.


Acting Labour Leader Harriet Harman, a scion of the Anglo-Irish Harman-King family

One amazing feature of the Demolition Coalition so far is the compliant press coverage from the Murdoch and Tory Press. When you consider the acerbic and highly personalised disinformation campaign against Labour and its entire works before the May Election the docility of the right wing press in the face of, say swingeing Defence cuts is both incredible and hypocritical. The Demolition Coalition and the Labour Leadership Campaign has made the UK electorate realise why Labour is different. With its roots in the struggles for ordinary people’s rights by the Trade Union Movement and mutual self help by the Co-Operative Society it is set apart from the shallow opportunism of other parties and is the only political movement which can bring fairness and growth to Britain. As the outcome of the last election and the destructive experimentation of the Demolition Coalition has shown the Lib Dems were not an alternative to the overweening selfishness of the Tories.


Aaaahhhhhh ........ Nick, The Downing Street Baby