Category Archives: Rights

Tory attacks on protest mean UK downgraded in civic freedoms index

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Tory protest ban: Priti Patel used to be the Home Secretary and she’s the one who first decided to impose heavy curbs on how protest could happen.

Hostility towards campaigners and charities that has led to a new law clamping down on protest has caused the UK to be downgraded in an international index of civic freedoms.

Here’s The Guardian:

The UK has been downgraded in an annual global index of civic freedoms as a result of the government’s “increasingly authoritarian” drive to impose restrictive and punitive laws on public protests.

The Civicus Monitor, which tracks the democratic and civic health of 197 countries across the world, said the UK government was creating a “hostile environment” towards campaigners, charities and other civil society bodies.

The UK’s willingness to clamp down on civic freedoms such as the right to peaceful assembly means it is now classified as “obstructed” – putting it alongside countries such as Poland, South Africa and Hungary.

“The downgrade reflects the worrying trends we are seeing in restrictions across civil society that are threatening our democracy. The government should be setting a positive example to countries that have clamped down on civic space,” said Stephanie Draper, the chief executive of the Bond charity, a partner in the Civicus collaboration.

She added: “The UK is becoming increasingly authoritarian and is among concerning company in the Civicus Monitor ratings as restrictive laws and dangerous rhetoric are creating a hostile environment towards civil society in the UK.”

Has anybody told Suella Braverman, who’s currently on a propaganda junket in Rwanda?

She’ll be delighted.

Source: ‘Hostile, authoritarian’ UK downgraded in civic freedoms index | Police | The Guardian

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Jacob Rees-Mogg revealed: the Business Secretary is anti-worker

Jacob Rees-Mogg in Parliament.

Gratitude to Open Democracy for putting together a video clip showing Jacob Rees-Mogg demonstrating his extreme antipathy towards working people.

He believes that no employee should have paid holidays; that the minimum wage should not be raised, even in the face of rampant inflation; that national pay bargaining should be abolished so that wages in the UK can become a postcode lottery; and that the Victorian Age was one of the finest in British history.

This man is now the UK’s Business Secretary. You see the problem?

Check out the clip for yourself – along with Maximilien Robespierre‘s commentary:

Oh, and this is on-point too:

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Liz Truss sets her sights on workers’ rights. Are you going to let her? [VIDEO]

Liz Truss: the queen of cheese who warned that Brexit will seriously harm the UK is now using it to seriously harm the people of the UK.

What liars these Tories are!

They’ve had plans to strip you of your rights – both at work and as human beings – since at least as early as 2014.

Boris Johnson promised that leaving the European Union would not be used as a means to achieve that end – but it seems Liz Truss is switching straight back to the original plan.

She’s using the EU as a scapegoat for the UK’s current economic woes – Tory “divide and rule” tactics once again – and claiming that increasing the number of hours you may legally be asked to work every week, while decreasing the number of days’ holiday you must be offered per year, will help us afford the increased cost of living.

Of course, it won’t.

You’ll get no extra money for your extra time, because Truss’s Tory donors will take any extra profits for themselves.

Oh, and Truss wants to target the trade unions, to ensure that you can’t fight this racket.

Peter Stefanovic, of the CWU, says you need to act against this now – and he’s right. Watch his video:

What are you going to do?

Will you let Truss work you into the ground to make cash for her super-rich buddies?

Or will you stand up for what should be yours by right? It’s up to you.

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

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Is Rishi Sunak saying if he becomes PM, he will jail you for criticising him?

Sunak: if he replaces the man directly behind him on the left, he’ll sink the UK into a mire of extremist fascism – while pretending he’s fighting extremism.

He says he won’t target people who criticise his extremist government with this new plan.

But who would be stupid enough to believe him?

I refer, of course, to Rishi Sunak, who has said those who speak extreme hatred toward the UK will be treated as extremists and referred to the government’s deradicalisation programme Prevent, if he becomes prime minister:

People who display hatred through speech or writing would be referred to Prevent programme, Mr Sunak pledged.

The former Chancellor’s team clarified that the changes would not include criticism of the government or any government policy, and was not legally binding.

Extremism is defined in the 2011 Prevent strategy as “vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs”, as well as calls for the death of armed forces personnel.

Sunak’s team vowed to broaden that out to include “vilification of the UK” to ensure “those with an extreme hatred of our country that leads them to pose a risk to national security can be identified and diverted away from a destructive path”.

Sharp minds have already taken a look at that idea – and found it wanting:

So in fact, it seems Sunak is planning to breed far-right political extremism in the UK by targeting – as extremists – people who disagree with his plan for far-right Tory government.

He’ll use it to Prevent (capital letter intended) people from demanding independence for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

And he’ll use it to steamroller opposition to the imminent bonfire of your human and working rights.

And that’s probably just for starters.

If you’re not up in arms about this, you’re asleep and need to wake up.

Some are happy to protest passively:

Others are making the point more forcefully – that this is yet another example of the fascism that has underscored Tory politics for more than a decade now:

This Site has been calling the Conservative government out over its fascism for years – and been vilified for it.

Are you all ready to accept, now, that I might have a point?

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

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The Tory Bill for workers’ rights – just another Boris Johnson lie?

The Tory two-fingered salute: this time it’s for working people across the UK who thought the lying Boris Johnson was ever going to offer them a fair deal.

Simple answer: it’s what they do.

Unions and industry groups were incensed earlier this week when they discovered that the Tory government has not included an Employment Bill to protect workers’ rights in plans for the new Parliamentary session.

Why were they so upset?

Because the Tories had promised it, that’s why!

Boris Johnson had responded to concerns that workers’ rights could be watered down after the UK left the EU, and worries about treatment of employees in the gig economy with a pledge to enshrine rights in law. That was in 2019.

Since then, nothing.

According to the BBC,

When first announced, the bill had promised:

  • the creation of a single enforcement body, offering greater protections for workers
  • making sure that tips left for workers go to them in full
  • all workers would have the right to ask for a more predictable contract
  • redundancy protections would be extended to prevent pregnancy and maternity discrimination
  • parents allowed to take extended leave for neonatal care
  • entitlement to one week’s leave for unpaid carers
  • subject to consultation, the bill also proposed making flexible working the default unless employers have good reason not to.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said the lack of the Employment Bill in Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech meant “vital rights that ministers had promised – like default flexible working, fair tips and protection from pregnancy discrimination – risk being ditched for good”.

She claimed ministers had “sent a signal that they are happy for rogue employers to ride roughshod over workers’ rights,” adding it would see “bad bosses celebrating”.

She’s not wrong!

But then, working people and their representatives were wrong ever to believe that Boris Johnson and his gang of asset-strippers and exploiters would ever legislate to ensure proper treatment for them.

In short, it seems clear that the promise of an Employment Bill was another Boris Johnson lie. We should have treated it as such from the start.

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/mike-sivier-libel-fight/

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