Supporting RMT's campaign to save the guards

This motion was debated at the ARMS Merseyside AGM on 24 March:

"Merseyside ARMS deplores the refusal of Merseytravel to engage in constructive negotiations with the RMT and we continue to offer our full support to the union in their fight to keep guards on trains, including the decision for the next strike. We recognise for ourselves and our families that our trains need a safety critical role, to be carried out by a second person in control of our trains: the guard.

"We note the strident demands for the RMT not to disrupt Grand National day, but we believe any disruption will be caused by the intransigent stance of Merseytravel who could resolve the situation by immediately withdrawing their DO* proposal.

"The RMT fight is the fight of all who give priority to safety rather than delivering the highest profit to shareholders. Therefore, we condemn in the strongest of terms Merseytravel combined authority’s decision to press for driver only operation and deplore the role of Labour councillors in reaching that decision."

Passed unanimously.

* DO = driver only.

By-election results - ARMS motion

This emergency motion was proposed at the NW ARMS AGM on Wednesday 1 March by Tony Mulhearn and passed by the meeting.

North West ARMs welcomes the victory for Labour in Stoke but also recognises the setback in the Copeland by-election.

We believe that major factors in the Copeland result were:

1. The wrecking intervention by the Mandelson and Blair who days before the election slandered Jeremy Corbyn, and the continuous sniping by Blairite MPs in the PLP.
2. The Tory and right wing-inspired media distortions about Corbyn's policy on nuclear power. He has categorically stated that no nuclear industry worker will lose their jobs under a Corbyn-led Labour government.
3. The Blairites' responsibility for the defeat shown by the decline in Labour's majority in Copeland which had declined from nearly 12000 in 1997 to 2564 in 2015.

We believe it essential that the treacherous Blairite MPs who continually undermine Corbyn should be held to account by the membership who should be empowered to deselect those MPs who sabotage his leadership, including Frank Field who has called for an end to the triple lock which would undermine the already inadequate state pension.

This government is determined to continue with its attacks on working class living standards, pensioners' entitlements, the NHS and the trade unions. We reaffirm our support for Jeremy Corbyn and the policies he represents and call for the fight to be stepped up to force the government to retreat.

Triple lock under threat

This motion will be discussed at the next Merseyside ARMS meeting.

This organisation condemns the growing campaign to end the triple lock which protects the already inadequate State Pension spearheaded by the appalling Ian Duncan Smith.

The Tories are determined to penalise Pensioners on the spurious and dishonest grounds that pensioners are being protected at the expense of the younger generation.

This is a complete falsehood designed to distract from the real causes of the economic crisis which was the massive miss-selling of mortgages and criminal marketing policies, with bankers being guilt of the worst excesses of de-regulated capitalism. And scandalously they continue to pile up wealth at the expense of the disabled, working poor and those who did not cause the crisis in the first place.

British pensions are amongst the lowest in Western Europe, thousands die each year from hypothermia because they can’t afford adequate heating, with hundreds of thousands denied care because of the callous cuts policies of Duncan Smith’s government.

Pensioners are entitled to live their lives without hardship and worry.

We reject any attack by this Tory government and we call on the whole anti-austerity movement to join us in a mass campaign to protect our pensioners as part of a determined campaign to bring an end to the continuing programme of austerity being perpetrated by the this fat cats’ government.

Tony Mulhearn

NW Regional ARMS Committee meeting - 9 June

A message for all ARMs members in the North West:

As you may be aware, the next scheduled meeting of the NW Regional ARMS Committee (to which all ARMs members in the North West are cordially invited) will be held as follows:

• Date: Thursday 9 June 2016
• Time: 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
• Place: PCS Regional Office, 3rd Floor, Jack Jones House, 1, Islington, Liverpool, L3 8EG

The main purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the motions submitted to the National ARMs forum taking place on the 21 June and to mandate our delegate accordingly. We will also be discussing other issues which will be of interest to members, so why not come along and see what PCS is doing for you?

'Scrap triple lock to fund social care' - NHS boss

Tony Mulhearn, Merseyside ARMS committee member, proposed this motion to the Merseyside Pensioners Association (MPA), who passed it.

This MPA expresses grave concern at the proposal by Simon Stevens NHS chief executive that David Cameron's administration should look at all the options for finding the billions of pounds needed to fund social care, including revisiting the triple lock, which guarantees Britain’s pensioners so-called 'generous' annual increases in their state pension until 2020.

He argues that one of the main questions in tackling the challenge of how to pay for and look after an ageing population was whether some of the money spent on increasing state pensions should instead be allocated for social care and also the government should be prepared to risk upsetting Britain's growing army of senior citizens by looking at whether the benefits they receive are fair to working-age and younger people.

Recognising that UK pensioners are paid the lowest in the European Union and the current crisis was caused by the bankers and financiers we condemn this proposal, and believe pensions should be increased and not attacked, and we deplore yet another attempt to drive a wedge between the young and the pensioners.

We call on the NPC to declare its strong opposition to this suggestion and resolve to contact our MPs and to register our opposition.

Benn’s speech: demagogic and dishonest

The definition of a demagogue: ‘a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular fears, desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument.’

He is the darling of the right wing media today, and basking in the approval of the most right wing Tory government since WWII. The Murdoch Press, Daily Mail and the rest, including right wing Labour, will promote him as the man to replace Jeremy Corbyn. His resort to flag-waving jingoism is the device used by demagogues throughout the ages. Benn’s reference to Labour Internationalism and to the International brigade’s fight against Franco to buttress his support for international capitalism was unscrupulous. He implied that opposition to military action constituted less than total opposition to the monstrosity of Isis. The millions who oppose bombing which will result in the slaughter of the innocents need no lessons from Benn who enthusiastically supported the invasion of Iraq which unleashed today’s sectarian madness.

I can also report that the Merseyside Pensioners' Association passed a resolution in support of Jeremy Corbyn in his opposition to the bombing. Police Commissioner Jane Kennedy also addressed the meeting outlining the consequences of Tory cuts on the police service.

A call was made for a real campaign against all the cuts being imposed by the Tory and implemented by Labour Councils all over the country.

Tony Mulhearn