A New System Needed

World Financial Problems

Credit Crunch, Recession, Depression, Printing more money. Are we seeing the end of the capitalist system as we know it?

We have had the years of ‘New’ Labour trying to make capitalism work with a softer and more humane edge to be fair to all after the years of the extremes of right wing government. New Labour achieving a great deal but inevitably failing to fix all without a radical change in direction.

All of today’s financial troubles we are facing in the UK can be traced back to the Thatcher CONservative government’s sale of publicly own utilities, sale of the railways, the sale of public housing. The deregulisation of banking and financial institutions, allowing ‘Dog eat Dog’ to form the giants we have today being milked by the system and directors and allowed to crumble.

The playing with stocks and shares is no more than the working man going to the betting shop and putting a ‘Fiver’ on a horse and trying to make a pound or two; as they try and sell shares at a high price and buy them cheap, to maximise their own profits, we all suffer.

‘There is no such thing as society’ said the Thatcher CONservative government handing everybody a few hundred pounds to give away our assets to capitalist giants and sold to foreign firms. Remember ‘listen Sid’? The only people CONd were the British Public.

We have had 100 years, or more, of our right wing media and press making the word Socialism as bad a word like the familiar four letter Anglo Saxon swear words we all know. A better system is now needed combining the best of both systems.

It is very significant that the Co-operative Bank and Nationwide Building Society (the two largest mutual organisations in Britain) are as sound as ever and do not require any assistance from the government?

Is this not a classic example of Socialism working on behalf of the members and not for Directors and Shareholders? And that they have survived the onslaughts of the capitalist doctrine over the years.

Heathrow

Heathrow

Progress at last. The coming of the 3d. Runway at Heathrow is to be welcomed, this will bring about the continued prosperity of London.

I was born in our Borough when Heath Row was a small village on the edge of London. ‘London Airport’ came about almost by accident following a war time base being developed for civil use. As such I have seen the prosperity of the area grow and grow with the growth of the airport. In fact my own business grew in Twickenham and provided local employment, within this prosperity, with work as a direct result of Heathrow.

London became the centre of world commerce, no doubt with the help of the airport. Thousands of people moved into our and surrounding boroughs to enjoy this prosperity , to be in easy reach of lucrative jobs in the city and enjoy their flying holidays abroad.

It is mainly these people now complaining, petitioning and being ‘whipped’ up by local councils spending millions of pounds campaigning , no doubt for their own political purposes. Now London’s Mayor announces he will spend council taxpayers money lining the pockets of the legal professions.

The new generation of aircraft are being developed with quieter and more efficient engines, lets hope Heathrow continues to provide the wealth, employment and prosperity we all enjoy in this great part of the UK.

Excerpts from

"If I only had time"

*
by Ken Elmes

The following passages are taken from Ken's autobiography and recount involvement with the squatting community in Twickenham (Mddx, England).

The squat started in September 1972 and ended in August 1976.

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23. Twickenham Squatters.

During the long discussions over the centre of Twickenham and its development, many properties in the Grosvenor and Queens Road area of Twickenham were being bought up by potential property developers and left empty for a long time. Being a local councillor, known for my help for the homeless and the underprivileged, and for helping those who seemed to fall through the net of the social security system I was asked to help the many squatters that had descended upon the area.After making many enquiries and calls on people in their 'squatted' homes, I came to the conclusion that I should become involved and try and help where I could.

Basically they were fine people who had difficulty in coping with the pressures of modern life and could not afford the cost of what little accommodation there was in that part of West London suburbia. Like all sections of society the squatting group attracted a small group of misfits. It was those misfits that attracted, and got most of the media coverage.

24. Squatters Council Debates.

During this time there were many debates in the council chamber over the so-called Twickenham squatting 'problem'. I and one particular Conservative councillor, Cllr. George Tremlett, often clashed in debate.

He had a far better command of the English language than I had, although to many, I won the argment but lost the debate. It is rather ironic that this particular councillor made his money out of young people and the squatters by writing books etc. on the contemporary 'pop' stars that would appeal to young people.

One such debate I recall, rather vividly, was after I was photographed, and the photograph published, removing boarding nailed over the windows and doors of the squatted houses by council workmen after the squatters had left for work that day. The squatters' personal effects had been nailed up in the houses. During the following debate in the council chamber a few days later I was accused of being the Axeman of Twickenham. To this I rose to my feet to make a point of order.

"Mr Mayor", I said, "It was not an axe, it was a claw-hammer". This remark caused much hilarity and laughter among the council members. A play was written and performed at the 'Orange Tree' fringe theatre in Richmond on this episode of Twickenham life and the social problems of that period, that remark becoming a central point of the play.

26. Eviction

[In 1976, the last of] the squatters were evicted and the houses pulled down for development. I made many good friends during this period, and developed a respect for the squatters who were prepared to accept whatever advice I could offer at the many informal meetings we held in one of the houses. They paid bills such as the electricity, household and water rates on my advice, but were unable to find out who were the 'faceless' men of the property developers and speculators and so pay a fair rent for the use of the properties until such time as they would be required for pulling down for the development.

The character and history of Twickenham were lost for all time when the houses were finally pulled down for the development to go ahead.

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from "If I only had the time"

by Ken Elmes published by Ecomex Press, Teddington, Middlesex, 1998

Barama

Wow - A new start, 3 Cheers -

again, again and again.

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The end of Bush and all he stands for.