Saturday, January 16, 2016

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Maintenance grant fight not over

Posted: 15 Jan 2016 11:28 AM PST

maintenance grants, NUS, vote on Tuesday, contact your MP‘Please contact your MP now – we can still win this fight’.

The decision on 14 January to quietly force through the scrapping of maintenance grants has been met with a fresh wave of public anger and forced the Tories to have the debate they didn't want to have in parliament next week on 19 January.

The government quietly forced through legislation to scrap maintenance grants by bypassing a full debate in parliament and instead holding a 'Third Delegated Legislation Committee' on the issue, in which just 18 MPs voted to decide the fate of over 500,000 of the poorest students in the nation for whom these grants are a lifeline.

The decision passed by a narrow margin of just ten Ayes to eight Noes.

Over 500,000 students currently receive the grants, which are a lifeline to many and are set to be abolished from September.

The policy was not in the Conservative manifesto and was denied a vote in the House of Commons.

The fight is not over – take action before Tuesday.

Since Thursday’s vote, the government have faced mounting pressure from NUS and the public.

There has been significant cross-party opposition to these proposals – as can be seen in the praying motion which included signatories from Labour, the SNP, the Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru, SDLP, Greens and the DUP – and today, the Labour Party have called for an opposition day debate – which will take place on 19 January at 1.30pm.

The NUS's National President Megan Dunn has called for students to urgently reach out to their MPs ahead of the vote: "This is the debate the Government didn't want us to have.

"Please contact your MP now – we can still win this fight."

You can take action now by contacting your local MP using the links below:

Phone your MP now using this phone script;

Email your MP here or use this template; or

Tweet your MP here.

And please sign this petition.

And share this with your family and friends – urgently!

Shami Chakrabarti is leaving Liberty

Posted: 15 Jan 2016 09:14 AM PST

Shami Chakrabarti leaving Liberty“I’d say the greatest global injustice is gender inequality.”

Shami Chakrabarti, the director of human rights group Liberty, has announced that she is to leave the organisation after 12 years at the helm.

The recruitment process for the new director will begin in the next few weeks, and Chakrabarti will remain in post until her successor is appointed.

During this time, she will continue to lead Liberty's team of campaigning, legal, media and policy experts as they gear up for a critical year for civil liberties and human rights in the UK.

In the coming months we can expect to face:

Government plans to scrap the Human Rights Act and replace it with a weaker British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities;

A once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape our surveillance laws through the Investigatory Powers Bill – which, in its draft form, seeks to legitimise mass surveillance and legalise hacking with pitiful oversight and accountability; and

The inquest into the death of Private Cheryl James at Deepcut Barracks in 1995 – an investigation only secured after Liberty used the Human Rights Act to obtain crucial evidence.

Founded in 1934 in response to the hunger marches, Liberty – also known as the National Council for Civil Liberties – has always been – and will continue to be – a multi-disciplinary team which works together to protect civil liberties and promote human rights.

And in the face of increasingly savage attacks on our rights and freedoms, Liberty has repeatedly demonstrated the value of the Human Rights Act for all – from soldiers to protesters, from the bereaved to the homeless, or from spied-on families to victims of modern slavery.

Chakrabarti first joined Liberty as in-house counsel on the day before the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and was appointed director two years later.

During her time in the role, the organisation has seen off attempts to impose compulsory ID cards, disrupted plans to extend pre-charge detention to 42 days, defeated the internment of foreign nationals in Belmarsh prison and challenged the divisive section 44 stop and search without suspicion powers.

“I’ve had a fortunate time here and a fortunate life,” she told the news site Politics.

“There’s still a real struggle for women in all forms of public life.

"Some of the attacks in recent years, whether from the powerful or anonymous people online, have been a little gendered, but I’m not complaining.

"I think I’ve pretty much given as good as I’ve got. But then, I’ve had the opportunity and solidarity to allow me to do that. I was a human rights activist, not a women's’ rights activist.

"But I’d say the greatest global injustice is gender inequality.”