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Militant

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From: The Socialist issue 903, 25 May 2016: Tories in crisis - we can get them out - vote to Leave the bosses' EU

Search site for keywords: Them & Us - US - Pensioners - Poverty - Pensions - Militant - Labour - Housing - Pension - European - European Union - Europe

Them & us

Them and us fishes, photo Suzanne Beishon (Click to enlarge)

Kinnocks coin it...

Disastrous former Labour leader Baron Kinnock and his wife Baroness Kinnock have glommed six pensions between them. The apparent amount of their entitlement is - well - baronial.

Big business think tank Open Europe estimates the pair of proto-Blairites could make £185,000 a year from the pensions. No doubt it has its own agenda, and the Kinnocks claim figures are "inflated" - but don't outright deny them.

The fattest estimated payouts are from the bosses' European Union. The baron could receive £83,089 for his nine years as an unelected commissioner. Meanwhile the baroness could get £48,000 a year from Brussels - on top of her House of Lords ministerial salary.

The Kinnocks have plenty of form. As an MEP, Glenys got busted in 2004, along with many others. She would sign on for her £175 daily allowance and then immediately leave for the day.

And Neil led the notorious witch-hunt against Militant, forerunner of the Socialist Party. Among other things, Militant-supporting Labour MPs took only the average wage of a skilled worker. Neil couldn't be having that, could he?

...pensioners poor

Meanwhile, nearly one million over-75s are living in poverty, according to charity Independent Age.

The report found one in five - 950,000 - live below its poverty threshold. This was the very meagre £182 a week before housing costs, or £272 for couples.

The study also found women pensioners more at risk of poverty.

The Socialist says: bosses rob workers all our working lives. Stop the theft from pensioners! For a living pension, free healthcare and guaranteed housing for all. Take the wealth off the 1%!

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Finance appeal

The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.