The Labour revolt begins...

Post by **fmrPOSTIE** » 17 Dec 2008, 10:49

Labour MP Jim McGovern resigns from Govt job in protest at Royal Mail plans...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7787369.stm

Hopefully more will come out of the woodwork!

Yahoorsur · Post by **Yahoorsur** » 17 Dec 2008, 14:43

'Well done sir'
as you say fmrPOSTIE,hopefully more will come out of the woodwork,it is interesting to note the background of Mr McGovern,a glazier to trade and a GMB activist,before becoming a Mp I thought all Labour Mp's had to attend uni,then get a job as a researcher to a mP,then fight a hopeless seat afore being put forward to stand in a winnable seat

,he looks a bit 'working class' for Blu Labour to me.

Is there any chance of the folk on here e-mailing,writing,or even going to a Mp's surgery in order to put over our point of view?
maybe a list of Labour Mp's and their contact addresses could be put up on here?

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 17 Dec 2008, 15:25

You could try this site http://www.theyworkforyou.com/ - enter your full Post Code and it gives you loads of information including a way to email them.

Also a bit further down the page that gives you your MPs details will be contact details including phone numbers, Constituency address, fax number and a myriad of other details.

eian687 · Post by **eian687** » 17 Dec 2008, 15:53

we should stop paying the political levy to labour

DirtyHarry · Post by **DirtyHarry** » 17 Dec 2008, 16:05

eian687 wrote:we should stop paying the political levy to labour

That we still do, has long been a puzzle to me, I mean, look at what this "Labour" administration is looking to attempt, PRIVATISATION of the ROYAL MAIL, talk about money down a drain as far as our "political fund" is concerned, and has been for a good while now.

k979aaa · Post by **k979aaa** » 17 Dec 2008, 17:52

fmrPOSTIE wrote:Labour MP Jim McGovern resigns from Govt job in protest at Royal Mail plans...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7787369.stm

Hopefully more will come out of the woodwork!

This man i can say has principals and morals of the highest kind not many in new labour would do as he has done!.

Night Tonic · Post by **Night Tonic** » 17 Dec 2008, 19:51

Unfortunately thats the problem. Not many would and there won't be enough of a rebellion to stop this. It will just be a slightly noisy murmur. As always, Labour MPs will back their leader rather than represent local voters.

BELIAL · Post by **BELIAL** » 17 Dec 2008, 19:57

Night Tonic wrote:Unfortunately thats the problem. Not many would and there won't be enough of a rebellion to stop this. It will just be a slightly noisy murmur. As always, Labour MPs will back their leader rather than represent local voters.

f**k me you must be Russel Grant and Nostradamus rolled into one oh mighty prophet or is that profit?

Post by **Carnoustie** » 17 Dec 2008, 20:01

fmrPOSTIE wrote:Labour MP Jim McGovern resigns from Govt job in protest at Royal Mail plans...

BLOODY HELL, a politician with principles

Though I'm afraid this only confirms what I already suspected about these so-called 'proposals' for part-privatisation.
Because if McGovern thought there was no chance of these proposals being enacted, surely he would have just kept schtumm and hung on to his post (if you'll pardon the pun) and watched them get thrown out by a backbench revolt

As I said yesterday, this is going to railroaded through whether we like it or not. And I sure as hell am not gonna subsidise the Labour Party with CWU-affiliated subs

Post by **fmrPOSTIE** » 17 Dec 2008, 20:24

What about if it goes through the commons and house of lords, a different story maybe?

Night Tonic · Post by **Night Tonic** » 17 Dec 2008, 20:38

It can get delayed via that process but rarely stopped

axeman · Post by **axeman** » 17 Dec 2008, 21:29

The power is with the people and already they are voicing opinions as to the disgraceful way the government has gone about it
oh and nighty the lords have stopped many a bill going onto the statute book in past times if public opion is anything to go by theres giong to be hopefully a lot of milage in this yet not as clear cut as you seem to think ...........but of course you know better

Post by **Carnoustie** » 17 Dec 2008, 21:48

axeman wrote:The power is with the people and already they are voicing opinions ...........

Trouble is, not nearly as many of them are gonna be as sympathetic to us as you might think. For example, the 21,000 Woolworths employees, who will be out of a job straight after Xmas. They might well say 'given the choice of a job with an employer who's having a change of ownership, or no job at all, I know which I'd prefer', and to be honest, many many non-Posties out there are gonna agree with them.

With 1.86million people out of work, this is not an ideal time to expect the public to rally behind us, especially with a Murdoch-owned newspaper having a field day if the strikes go ahead this Friday. Cue stories of Xmas presents being delayed and rabble-rousing editorials along the lines of grateful to have a job etc etc

axeman · Post by **axeman** » 18 Dec 2008, 17:42

Slightly strange anology woolies does not serve the country like royal fail or am i making assumptions i know the last time i entered through there doors was last christmas but a letter pops through my door on a daily bassis and i do strange as it may seem in these days of txt etc... use p.o counters to pay bills i personally would never trust doing it online as digital is open to hackers no mater how good the security. And of course i do post letters packets, and parcels during and throughout the year .................Just maybe im the only recipient of the service from r.m ???? thoughts please

Post by **Carnoustie** » 18 Dec 2008, 20:14

axeman, you are missing my point.

When Heseltine was trying to get the ball rolling on possible privatisation in the 1990's, the CWU mounted an excellent campaign against it, which I supported and indeed joined in on one of the rallies. The public supported us too.

A hell of a lot has changed since then. We are entering a recession, thousands of people are losing their jobs every month.
Members of the public are getting their mail a lot later in the day than they used to do, and because they are ignorant of the reasons why, their perception is that the postal service has got a lot worse. So it's all too easy for New Liebour to sell them on the idea that getting some outside investment into Royal Mail will improve the quality of the service. It might be b*llocks, but it's an easy lie to spin.

The reason I mentioned Woolworths employees is simply because they are one the most high-profile collapses so far. I could just as easily mentioned MFI. The point I was trying to get across was that if I'd just lost my job, I doubt whether I'd feel too sympathetic towards someone who has still got a permanent job and is moaning about a partial change of ownership of the company that employs him. Because if the administrators of Woolworths could have found a new owner, Woolies staff would still have a job, so it's especially unlikely that they'd sympathise with us.

The unions were opposed to privatisation of British Telecom. So were the public, supposedly. BUT IT DIDN'T PREVENT IT HAPPENING. The public were so opposed, in fact, that not one single individual bought any shares whatsoever in BT. Oops, wait a minute, millions of them did.

If the government want to steamroller this TNT thing through, it will happen. Jim McGovern is a rare creature, a politician with principles. But many in the Labour ranks won't want to be seen as a rebel and damage their future political careers, and will not vote against these proposals !!!