Women's Views on News |
| Posted: 01 Sep 2014 06:24 AM PDT
By Rachel Reeves, MP. Labour has been clear and consistent in its opposition to the Bedroom Tax. We said it was cruel and unfair, taking an average £700 a year from half a million low income households. The government has admitted that two thirds of those hit have disabilities, and another 60,000 are carers. All the evidence from housing and disability experts showed that most would have nowhere else to move to. We also said it was unworkable and could end up costing more than it saved, with people unable to keep up with their rent, destabilising the finances of housing providers and risking costly eviction proceedings, or ending up with private landlords where rents and housing benefit bills are higher. Our fears were confirmed by the government's own independent evaluation of the policy slipped out over the summer. This revealed that just 4.5 per cent of affected claimants had been able to move to smaller accommodation within the social sector, that 60 per cent had fallen behind with their rent after just six months, and that there was "widespread concern that those who were paying were making cuts to other household essentials or incurring other debts". These are the reasons why Labour MPs forced a vote in the House of Commons for its abolition in November last year. It is why we supported a Bill to abolish the tax put forward by Ian Lavery MP in February this year. And it is why Ed Miliband has committed the next Labour government to repealing it if we win the general election next year. To his credit, [Lib Dem] Andrew George MP has also been consistent in his criticism of the Bedroom Tax. He even voted in support of our motion to abolish it last November. But unfortunately the same cannot be said of his party, the Liberal Democrats. They joined the Tories in the lobbies to vote through the Bedroom Tax at second and third reading in 2011. They combined with the Tories to defeat Labour's opposition motion last November. And they were nowhere to be seen when Ian Lavery proposed his Bill to repeal the tax in February. The plain truth is that there would be no Bedroom Tax if it wasn't for Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats even refused to support amendments that Labour tabled in the Commons and the Lords to exempt disabled people whose homes had been specially adapted for them, or who could not find alternative accommodation where support services and suitable employment was locally available. Lately Nick Clegg has attempted a U-turn on the issue, claiming that new evidence showed people were unable to move to avoid the tax. But the evidence for this has always been available. In fact the government's own assumption was that no one would move, and that if they tried "there would be a mismatch between available accommodation and the needs of tenants", and that "in many areas this mismatch could mean that there are insufficient properties to enable tenants to move to accommodation of an appropriate size". In fact, the very report that the leader of the Liberal Democrats has cited as "the trigger" for his change of heart points out that the small number of moves is in fact "higher than some had expected as the DWP's impact assessment was modelled on the assumption that no significant numbers would downsize". The utter disingenuousness of Nick Clegg's attempt to excuse his collaboration with this Tories on this issue confirms once again that you simply cannot trust a word the man says. The Liberal Democrat leadership have not yet announced what position they will take on Andrew George's Private Members' Bill to exempt certain categories of household from the Bedroom Tax. The Labour Party will support it. This Bill does not go as far as the full abolition we want to see. But we will take any opportunity to limit the terrible impact of the Bedroom Tax. So this Friday, though most MPs will have commitments in their constituencies, I and other Labour MPs will be present in the House of Commons chamber to support the Bill so that it has the best chance of progressing through to its next stage. And in Committee we will do what we can to strengthen and extend its scope. We in the Labour Party will take any opportunity to protect as many people as we can from this unjust and ill-conceived policy. But the only sure way to get the Bedroom Tax fully repealed will be to elect a Labour government next May. In the meantime: please write to or email your MP, whatever their party, urging them to turn up on 5 September and start to abolish the Bedroom Tax. Rachel Reeves is a Labour MP, representing Leeds West, and the Labour Party’s Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. A version of this article appeared in Labour List on 1 September.  |
| Posted: 01 Sep 2014 04:12 AM PDT
The first ever coordinated national action around safety on nights out, the Good Night Out campaign, calls on bars, pubs, venues and clubs to improve their safety policies by signing a pledge and undergoing staff training, advice and support. So far, Good Night Out will launch during Fresher's Week 2014 in Sheffield, Edinburgh, Oxford, Bristol, Glasgow, Nottingham, Brighton, Galway, Limerick, and the Medway towns in Kent – and more towns and cities are signing up every day. It has been piloted in London since March in venues in London including fabric, The Old Blue Last, Birthdays, Village Underground, University of London, Dance Tunnel, Dalston Superstore, The Lexington. They undertook the Good Night Out training and display posters saying: "If something or someone makes you feel uncomfortable, no matter how minor it seems, you can speak to any member of staff who will work with you to make sure it doesn't have to ruin your night." Tyvian Vigrass, Operations Manager at Village Underground in Shoreditch, said of the campaign: "Having been in the industry for over 20 years it's refreshing to still be able to learn valuable skills and techniques when dealing with sensitive issues such as those brought to our attention by Good Night Out. "This valuable insight to such an important but sometimes overlooked issue was unanimously applauded by the staff team, and we are proud to be a supporter of Good Night Out and their campaign to raise awareness among staff and punters in late night establishments." And others have already signed up to the campaign. Bryony Beynon, co-director of the campaign coordinated by Hollaback London, said: "We've been overwhelmed by support for the campaign from London's night-time economy, who've sent a clear message to their punters that whether it's sleazy comments, groping, leering, sexual assault or homophobic attacks, harassment will not be tolerated. "The message from the rest of the country is loud and clear – they want this! "We've created a UK and Ireland-wide network of organisers ready to end this kind of behaviour for good. "We've already achieved big things with zero funding, and have the experience and knowledge to make this modest amount of cash go very far." Julia Gray, co-director of Hollaback London, said, "Groping, bum-slapping, and sexually aggressive behaviour are all too common aspects of night outs in London. "We started this campaign because so many women and LGTBQ people submit stories of harassment and even assault in clubs and pubs to our website; and these experiences are now so commonplace that they're actually putting people off going out altogether. "We're challenging our nighttime economy to create safer nights out for all their customers. "Taking on our up-front, coordinated approach means sending a public message that this behaviour won't go unchallenged. "We're are encouraging everyone to tweet their experiences @hollabackldn on the hashtag #goodnightout so we can ensure the pledge is put into practice."  |
| Rape? I have a nail varnish for that Posted: 01 Sep 2014 01:32 AM PDT
During a week heavy with stories of sexual abuse, perpetrators seemingly evaporate into the protective world lacking transparency, providing this never-ending covering cloak masking them from the media’s attention. Amongst the horror of the Rotheram report was a story that caught the attention of many. During my research for it, there was a report that the story was actually a fake. Alas, it was not. Though I can completely understand why it was thought to be so. There is now a nail varnish that can protect you from rape. How? You may ask. What magical powers does this nail varnish hold? Does it provide education in school to young boys and girls about safe relationships? Does it tell perpetrators that no matter what you wear they shouldn't rape you? Does it tell perpetrators that if you're drunk, they shouldn't rape you? Does it tell perpetrators that even if you're walking on your own in the dark, they shouldn't rape you? Does it tell perpetrators if you get a taxi on your own, they shouldn't think this is an opportunity to rape you? Does it tell perpetrators that if you left your car unlocked they shouldn't get in and rape you? The nail varnish does, though, indicate if someone has put the 'date-rape' drug in your drink; the nail varnish changes colour when you swirl your drink for some unknown reason with your painted finger. Some people have welcomed this additional 'protection' against rape. Ok, there is seemingly no harm, I suppose, in the nail varnish in principle. The harm is that yet again victims and potential victims are being told how to stop themselves being raped. Nobody in this new campaign is telling the perpetrators not to rape. Also this week we heard yet again from a judge, a female judge, how rape convictions will never rise until women stop getting 'so' drunk. Former judge Mary Jane Mowat said until women stopped getting so drunk convictions would continue to be difficult because it was one word against another. My immediate thought about this was, what happens when the victim is dead? When the victim is raped and murdered and there is no word to believe or not believe. What happens then? If there is no word to be believed does that mean that nobody can be charged with murder and rape? Of course not. Cases are heard in this country and people are tried sometimes when the other person has no voice at all. The problem here is that when the victim has a voice, in this case women, they are often not believed and circumstantial evidence is placed in the path to coerce jury's and judges alike to find an excuse for the perpetrator. Again. Rape is rape. It’s rape if she doesn’t consent, and she can’t consent if she is drunk. It is not the victim's responsibility to make sure, as Wikipedia puts in their 'guide to preventing rape', that women shouldn't 'let their guard down'. It's amazing that women go anywhere at all. ‘It was wrong of him to assault me in that way’ and ‘it is wrong to rape and assault people’. Those are the messages that should be out there. It is wrong to rape. It is wrong to ask us all to become potential victims and wear a nail varnish that may or may not prevent the perpetrators from raping us. It is wrong to tell us that we shouldn't drink too much because if we get raped we might not be believed. I couldn't finish this better than with the quote from feminist Texan Andrea Grimes on Twitter. She tweeted: 'rape prevention nail polish sounds like a good idea, but I'm not sure how you're going to get men to wear it'.  |
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