Rotherham Politics has had his attention drawn to this election leaflet Jahangir Akhtar published online today:
Rotherham Politics
Robust scrutiny of all things political around Rotherham and beyond. Speaking truth to power since 2008
Rotherham Politics has had his attention drawn to this election leaflet Jahangir Akhtar published online today:
Rotherham Politics 
Are labour really going to get rid of bedroom tax. Also, no group are more cosy to thatcher than new labour that is why is welcomes people like Darren Hughs. Every part about ukip is dribble. Under Blair the marriage between the corporate and politicalorlds became so I twined that it was the banks who called the shots. Pure fascism at its best that’s why they love the e
EU as it gives more power to big business to do whatever they want like lowering wages and all the other cr we at the bottom have to collerate. Only in rotherham can you have an ex taxi driver on such a remarkable wage with
Title or no real skills. What a feckless borough rotherham is under rotten labour!
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The particular form of the usual ‘rotten labour’ we have in Rotherham, has been pickled and matured into a form of labour party, that truly deserves the title ‘scum labour’!
Akhtar pretends to the leadership, with this piffle?
He should grow up first, he is so childish for a grown man, it does not look well for him in Rotherham West, unless he thinks he has already fixed things?
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Jahangir Akhtar, recruited by Naz Ahmed to be his anointed successor, after he became a lord but, before Naz and the labour party parted company.
We all knew that this would end in tears after such a poor start, that, and his two convictions.
The more serious of which, ended with both Akhtar and his son, Azizzum, getting convictions for affray. They only escaped prison, by the skin of their teeth!
Their Barrister? None other than, the now Baroness Warsi, a Senior Conservative minister and a friend of Naz Ahmed! Small world? Unless you have an understanding of how it works, within the Asian community, that is!
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I don’t understand why Labour council candidate leaflets boast of ‘repealing the bedroom tax’ etc or their unhealthy infatuation with UKIP. By the way, a friend of mine stumbled upon a Jeanette Mallinder leaflet whilst leafleting for me. It was discarded next to some daffodils; I will forward a copy to RothPol!
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It is time to debunk Labour’s election myths.
Bizarrely only a few years ago Ed Miliband voted for the introduction of the “Bedroom Tax” as part of the Welfare Reform Act 2007. Even the most cursory glance of Hansard debate records show that the “Bedroom Tax” has been part of Labour’s plans as far back as 2001. The “Bedroom Tax” is every inch a Labour policy.
Given Ed’s backing of the policy only a few years ago, is this something Ed really believes in, or is it just a bandwagon gambit?
This isn’t Ed’s first flirtatious flip-flop with past Labour policy. Miliband’s first policy announcement as leader of the Labour party was the reintroduction of the 10p tax rate for the lowest earners, a policy that he was personally responsible for scrapping in 2007 as part of his role in the Treasury.
Miliband’s consistantly poor polling throughout the Mid-Term period (where the opposition should be comfortably 10 points a head) will have many senior figures in the party worried. As conference season gets into full swing, I’m sure there will be more than a few hushed meetings in hotel rooms to talk about the “Miliband Problem”.
No amount of bluster can change the facts, the “Bedroom Tax” is a Labour initiative, and it has been since 2001.
Miliband in his leader’s speech last year promised to freeze energy prices for 20 months after 2015 if he is elected Prime Minister. It is impossible to discuss energy policy without considering the EU dimension. Although UK governments – Labour and the Coalition – have no doubt added extra requirements, much of the cost of reducing CO2 and other emissions are now locked into legally binding EU agreements. Incidentally, Ed Miliband was Energy Minister from 2008-10 when many of these policies were being developed. Capping price increases while keeping the underlying policies will do nothing for long term energy affordability. Meeting the renewables target is costly and requires significant investment – this will not be forthcoming under a price freeze.
The real question then is whether Miliband is also ready to go to Europe to renegotiate these policies to achieve affordable energy in the long-term? But more fundamentally, it’s also a reminder that, not matter how it tries, Labour won’t be able to escape tough decisions on how to approach EU policy – in all its various shapes and forms.
The irony is that the accusers over privatisation, Labour, have in office bought in private sector care for NHS patients themselves, sometimes preferring a private sector contractor to their own in house staff. There is also one huge elephant in the room for those who claim to be against all private involvement in the NHS. That is the General Practitioner (GP) service.
The primary care GPs were never nationalised in the first place. To this day they remain as a collection of small businesses, running their own practises, with payments from the NHS under contracts for services they provide.
The claim that the Tories want to “privatise” the NHS is a strange one. No-one has ever proposed selling off the hospitals to the private sector in the way power stations were sold in energy privatisation. (Although you could say G Brown’s PFI has had a similar effect.) Trades Unions had convalescent homes for their members, that was private medical treatment for members only. It was private health care.
Just what any of the above and Akhtar’s misleading leaflet has to do with LOCAL elections is beyond most peoples understanding of electing councillors.. What has Akhtar done for the residents of Eastwood? What has Akhtar done to preserve our greenbelt? Why does he condone the extravagant expenditure on the Mayor’s car and mayoral junkets? Why did he agree to the closure of SureStart centres? Why does encourage non-English speaking Asian residents to use postal votes? These are local issues.
Akhtar’s leaflet peddles the same Airy Fairy Fantasy Land rubbish promoted by Labour MP’s, It has nothing to do with local politics and Labour local councillors.
Labour’s record in Rotherham is woeful, their overspends on budgets and the massive debts they have incurred and accumulated need exposing and explaining to the electors.
Time For Change.
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Very impressive contribution Colin. It could almost have been cut and pasted from here:-
http://thebackbencher.co.uk/bedroom-tax-every-inch-a-labour-policy/
It’s a sad fact that all parties seem to obfuscate local and national politics and none more so than UKIP.
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What! Colin quoting a Tory blogger? 🙂
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And more cutting and pasting from here: –
http://openeurope.org.uk/Page/OurVision#
Do you ever have an original thought Colin? i haven’t studied it too closely but a cursory glance gives the impression that Open Europe is actually pro EU. Surprising source for you to be quoting!
I’ve now read the whole of your post and I find it incredible that you find it “strange” that somebody has said the Tories want to privatise the NHS. The Health and Social Care Act has enabled the likes of G4S, Serco and Virgin to hoover up massive NHS contracts despite their questionable records on other public contracts such as the over-charging for electronic tagging of criminals and the London olympics fiasco. As for selling off hospitals to the private sector one need look no further than Hitchingbrooke hospital in Cambridgeshire, which is now run by a private company yet they have the nerve to apply for a government loan to help fund building work. Privatisation of the NHS is creeping but before we know it companies such as Serco will be running the majority of services.
Your suggestion that trade union convalescence homes amount to private health care is ludicrous. Trade union convalescence homes did not provide health care; they merely gave members the opportunity to (unsurprisingly) convalesce after a period of illness. UNISON still offers wellbeing breaks to members who are recovering from illness or injury but I can assure you that no health care is provided.
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Robin
Nothing wrong with Colin quoting from other sources, as long as he acknowledges the source – it’s then fair-use; otherwise it borders on plagiarism.
I tend to think of Open Europe as more an informed and objective critic of the EU than “pro-EU”.
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So that`s why Blackburn School gets special treatment, Leader in-waiting has an interest in the school.
Who would have ever thought that would happen in Rotherham?
Vote UKIP and end his £70k/year snout in the trough lifestyle.
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Sorry to break the bad news but Cllr Akhter is home and dry, postal voting and the minority block vote will see him returned to an even more lucrative position on 15th May.
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I hear that Akhtar is strutting round Rotherham West with his chest puffed out knowing full well he will be returned to office.
Arrogant out of touch Rotherham Labour may well think that they have nothing to worry about on 22nd May and that UKIP is a flash in the pan, so much so they have tried to spike the UKIP guns by pointing out that the three Rotherham West Cllr`s have donated money to the local.community,
Let’s get this right, over four years three Labour Cllr`s have donated approx £12,000 and how much did one UKIP Cllr donate during his current term in office?
They have steered well clear of any Rotherham based facts and policies in their election leaflet as they know they are in trouble if they rely on their track record in the town.
One final point, the leaflet is very sadly lacking, not one photo of Shabs!
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Playing Bingo every week – what a great metaphor for the Labour Party who have thrown themselves unashamedly behind market principles instead of taking responsibility to stand up for ordinary people on middle and low incomes. The national Labour Party are advised by Price Waterhouse Coopers – I rest my case…
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Rev,
” The national Labour Party are advised by Price Waterhouse Coopers”,err – perhaps not quite!
All of the major parties take on “free” short-term seconded labour from the big accountancy companies, although it is true that Labour and the LibDems have been the main beneficiaries, see:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a7574dbc-c7aa-11e2-be27-00144feab7de.html
If we were to widen the net to all company-supplied secondments we might easily see more secondees to, in particular, the Tory party.
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… and just to add:
My kid, a Whitehall civil servant, works with several fee-earning consultants from one of the accountancy companies on policy matters. So why give them for free to the government when you can get ’em in fee-earning.
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Leaving the “minority block vote” to one side as I could go on about the patronising tone of that comment for the next hour I would like to ask Mr Akhtar – and will do so in an e-mail shortly – if Rotherham West ward elect him again he is saying he’d get rid of the bedroom tax – why not do it now? Come on Mr Akhtar, use your Cllr powers and tell David Cameron to cut this rotten, evil, wicked tax, do it! Do it now!
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If this lot in Rotherham had got even a quarter of the guts that the Clay Cross councillors had back in the seventies they would have refused to implement the bedroom tax. And for Colin Tawn, UKIP supporter, to go on about privatisation of the NHS he should read what the deputy chair of UKIP, Neil Hamilton; believes in.
Dave Smith
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The £12000 donation is from you the tax payer not from the Cllrs own pockets
each cllr gets £1000 per year community leadership fund = 4 x years x 3 cllrs @ £1000 each = £12000 Akhtar still having problems with the truth.
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