www.twitter.com/StroudViews Thursday January 20th, 2011 Free to a good home

GO DIRECTLY TO JOBCENTRE,
DO NOT COLLECT £30 EMA
As youth unemployment tops xmillion, Government pushes poorest out of education
University and College Union and Association of Colleges Survey finds 70% of pupils would drop out if support grants taken away

By Youth Correspondents, Ed U. Cay, Shaun Four, Eve Reewon
Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is an of between £10 and £30, paid to 16- to 19-year-olds who stay on in education, on the basis of means-testing. Those with a household income of less than £30,000 per year were eligible.
EMA was introduced nationally in September 2004, and helps with the cost of books, travel, equipment or anything useful to the continuation of learning. Paid directly into pupil’s bank accounts, it gives students independence and forces them to take charge of a small weekly budget. It also forces them to attend classes, while there are further disciplining elements contained in the use of bonuses for hard work or good grades. It is worth noting that this bonuses are not comparable in scale to those paid to bankers, and that unlike bankers bonuses, repeated failure is not rewarded and threats to leave the country are not taken seriously.
Official figures suggest that youth unemployment is at an all-time high of 951,000 or 20.3% of those adults under 25 - the highest level since records began in 1992.
Protests against the scrapping of EMA took
place outside the House of Commons in London and around the country yesterday, as parliament voted by a majority of 59 to scrap EMA. Leeds Trinity University is currently in occupation for the second time, the first of the more than 50 universities that went into occupation in November and December to re-occupy.
Network X - a national anti-cuts network formed last weekend (see back page) is going to be producing a regular Further Education Bulletin. If you would like to contribute, particularly if you are a FE student, email upcaptiveminds [@] gmail.com.

Lying Politican of the Week - ‘No Plan Dave’
Prime Sinister David Cameron is wasting no time in engaging in that favourite pastime of political office: Lying. Following on from his broken promise not to raise VAT (covered in Issue 1), this week’s Coalition Clanger comes with regard to another three letter acronym - EMA. This time, you can watch Cameron disengenously claim that the Tories “have no plans to get rid of them” for yourself at a Cameron Direct event held in
January 2010:  http://saveema.co.uk/archives/521

''Deeply disturbing package of reductions may be illegal''

The public service union UNISON has written a response to the County Council’s proposals for the Library Service.
The report echoes the concerns of Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries, and those of the many authors, illustrators, educators, professional librarians, MPs and Councillors who are supporting the local and national campaigns to save local libraries.
The report makes the point that the proposals are based on the views of a random sample of less than 1% of the County’s population. Considerably more than double the number of people who took part in the consultation (5000) have signed the Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries petition opposing the cuts. At the time of going to press, the petition carried almost 13,000 signatures.
Further, UNISON argue that the survey questions were structured so as to lead people to respond in a particular way. It appears that the public are unclear about the proposals and are generally horrified when they discover the extent of what is proposed.
In particular, the proposals have overlooked where people live. Access is compromised by the failure to check public transport facilities, decisions being based on the assumption that everyone can travel by car. This also might explain the decision to scrap every mobile library scheme, including Share-a-Book - which serves some of Gloucestershire’s most deprived children and the Homelink service which visits socially isolated older people.
In addition, it is claimed that the county council’s strategy does not intend to retain some of the most used libraries. Cinderford, Matson, Mitcheldean and Tuffley are all earmarked to no longer receive a council run service.
However these libraries are currently better used than many of the ones proposed as a Library Express. Bishop’s Cleeve Library is the 3rd most used library in the county, and yet will remain only for only 3 and half days a week.
UNISON find that the proposals will reduce opening hours by 38.2%, and the number of public access PCs by a probable 28%. In total, if the collection point nature of Library Link services is considered, the 43% cut to the Library Service budget could result in Gloucestershire losing 54% of its libraries.
“This is a deeply disturbing package of reductions, and UNISON is not alone in questioning whether these proposals will fulfil the requirements of the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act, which requires the council to provide a ‘comprehensive and efficient’ library service.”
The full document is available from the ‘Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries’ website:  http://foclibrary.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/deeply-disturbing-package-of-reductions-may-be-illegal-unison/.

MISSION IMPETITIONABLE

Friends of Gloucesterhsire Libraries delivered a 10,600 strong petition to a full Council Meeting of Gloucestershire County Council yesterday (Wednesday, 19th January), as campaigners against the council’s plans for an Incinerator also handed in a petition of over 5000 signatures. Conservative councillors responded rudely to these enormous petitions - the first of their kind, refusing to vote on them. Thus they were able to protect their party line from fracture, and some of their local councillors were spared having to choose between their electorate and their party masters. On top of this, conservative councillors dragged out pointless procedural matters regarding the vote that never came for over 3 hours, with the result that many interested members of the public were forced to leave. Worse, councillors behaved like disobedient school children when Demelza Jones gave an excellent speech outlining the decimation of the library service that may follow the council’s proposals, choosing to chat amongst themselves and wander around the council chamber, rather than listen. Farcical is too kind a word for our County Council.

In Brief

Stroud District Council faces the largest cut in central government funding of any council in the country - 28.6% over two years. Why are we being picked on? Answers on a brick through a Millbank window... (ahem, postcard) please.
Total Banker Bob Diamond - CEO of Barclays - says the time for remorse is over for bankers. Mr Diamond is due to recieve an £8m bonus this year

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Saturday January 22nd 11.30am
National Shop Stewards Network Anti-Cuts Conference at South Camden
Community School. www.shopstewards.net
Saturday January 22nd London
National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts Conference (at UCL)  http://anticuts.com/
Monday January 24th
Consultation on GCCs proposals for the Library service, Stroud Library 4-7pm.
Protest called by Stroud Against The Cuts from 3.30pm.
Monday January 24th London
National protest against benefit cuts
www.benefitclaimantsfightback.wordpress.com
Wednesday 26 January
National Walkout called by National Campaign Against Fees & Cuts, details as above.
Saturday January 29th, 10.00am / 11.30am
Stroud Against The Cuts March & Rally March meets at 10am Stratford Park Car Park, Rally outside Subrooms at 11.30 am.
 stroudagainstthecuts@yahoo.co.uk
Saturday, February 5th - Save Libraries
National Day of Action to  http://www.voicesforthelibrary.org.uk/wordpress/?page_id=802
Tuesday, February 15th, London
Defend Council Housing Mass lobby of parliament www.defendcouncilhousing.org.uk
Thursday, February 17th, Stroud, 7.30pm
Money as Debt: Film and discussion about reforming our money system.
At The Exchange, Brick Row.
Saturday March 26th - National Anti-Cuts Demonstration called by the TUC - “March for the Alternative: Jobs, Growth, Justice”. Coaches will go from Stroud.
 http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=176812472328977

X MARKS THE SPOT FOR NEW NATIONAL
PROTEST NETWORK

By our roving reporter Peter Pannier.
As the Coalition government brings an end to the belief that the Liberal Democrats represented an “Alternative” to the politics of the last 30 years, and the Labour opposition struggles to escape the party’s neo-liberal recent past, disillusionment with politicians - and with ‘Representative Democracy’ is probably at an all time high. This is before we mention the expenses scandals, or the regular examples of misleading promises and corrupt backroom dealings.
It would seem strange then, if anti-cuts campaigns were to place their faith in the Labour Party - or indeed, in any political party. In Argentina - after the financial crisis of December 2001 and the austerity agendas that followed, a mass movement emerged that chanted as its key slogan “Que Se Vayan Todos” - “They ALL Must Go!” In Manchester last weekend (15th-16th January), a group of people with similar feelings got together to thrash out the shape of a new network that can act against the cuts, and organise for a better future.
The network has since issued two statements.
The first statement forms a summary of the network’s analysis of the problems we face:
“Capitalism in Crisis
We live in a time of crisis; economic, environmental and social. This is the normal functioning of capitalism: the shock and misery of crisis, and the shock and misery of “recovery”. The economy falters and the majority of us suffer the consequences, the economy is readjusted in the aftermath and it is the majority of us who suffer unemployment, cuts etc. to foot the costs. To fight austerity, we must fight capitalism itself.
The working class pays
Austerity is nothing more than an attack on the living standards of the working class. Class ultimately is not about having a manual job, education level of accent, it is a about our relationship with the economy. Either you live off your ability to work now (wages), your ability to work in the future (a student loan) or, unable to work, you are allowed to scrape by on the dole. Those with the wealth and power to be above these “choices” will be untouched by austerity. Instead, we will pay the price through layoffs, wage cuts, attacks on working conditions, cuts to benefits and services and student loan hikes.”
The second statement is a call for an Anti-Capitalist section or ‘Bloc’ on the March 26th “March for the Alternative” organised by the TUC. It reads “The politicians, businesses and banks ARE in it together. The rest of us need to take action on 26th March in London, the financial and political capital.”
Arguing that action needs to go beyond an obedient march from A-to-B, the statement calls for people to “Sit down // sit in // don’t go with the flow //enough of doing what we are told.
When you act you will not be acting alone. Legal advice, food and shelter will be available.”
Whether this new organisation represents just another political group, or an exciting development for the movement, remains to be seen.
For more - including the full statements and information on getting involved see:
 http://networkxuk.wordpress.com/

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