The face of cuts to all our services

Fire and rescue services across the country are battling against cuts to front line services, being pursued at an increasingly aggressive and alarming rate.

Essex forms part of a region locally with Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire fire and rescue services. Each one of these are facing or have under gone cuts to the frontline services with varying degrees of severity.

In recent action Essex voted overwhelmingly, 71% from a 75% return rate, to upscale their dispute to full strike. A decision not taken lightly but as a response to the total disregard for consultation and negotiation required by management over the aggressive cuts being pushed through resulting in a disregard for the safety of crews and members of the public in the communities they live and serve in.

It was a last resort and something no firefighter ever wants to do.

Brentwood station walk out.

Essex are not asking for more. This dispute is not about better pay or pensions, they are fighting to stand still, maintaining the current number of stations, fire engines and firefighters to crew these engines safely and protect the communities they live in and serve. In the case of the fire service, cuts cost lives.

Last week at the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) conference, Hertfordshire FBU Chair Derek Macleod announced that “Hertfordshire would not be crossing the boarder” in response to fire calls in Essex on any of the initial 5 dates announced, something that would severely affect fire cover in Hertfordshire if asked to do so. The first of which is to take place on June 28^th.  They also pledged £5000 to the Essex hardship fund.

Hertfordshire face new ‘super’ stations called super day crewing that effectively see the return of the Victorian working days of a 96-hour working week, firefighters are expected to live on station for the duration. A 20% increase in a firefighters wage has been offered, but in reality this equates to a pay cut when compared to the hourly rate for being on duty this length of time. All this in addition to station down grading and job cuts.

Bedfordshire recently underwent a shift change resulting in crews working for 24 consecutive hours. The cuts agenda in Bedfordshire has seen the down grading of Toddington fire station from wholetime (full time) to retained (part time) plus a reduction in 36 wholetime posts being lost through ‘natural wastage’ (retirement). Natural wastage is the term being used up and down the country to avoid compulsory redundancy; however they are the jobs of the children born tomorrow that are lost forever.

Cambridgeshire FBU delegate Cameron Matthews reported how they are facing a new restrictive shift system fundamentally reducing their ability to take leave, something that will hit hard firefighters with young families. There is the prospect of losing 40 wholetime posts out of a current 180, 2 retained fire stations, 5 fire engines and 4 out of 5 special appliances. Some redundancies will be compulsory.

Cambridgeshire FBU members polled their local communities and found that 97% of 5000 people asked, are in favour of the fight to protect their service from the cuts attacks.

Paradoxically, whilst the government and local managers push through these savage cuts, they expect the same firefighters to take on additional tasks and responsibilities that fall way outside their remit, with no extra reward and fewer personnel and resources to do so, all in the name of resilience.

As Cameron Matthews stated “we still have life in us and our service matters to us, its time to make them hear us”. Our moment is now.

Double dip closures.

When the recession started in 2008 people remarked how quickly the high street in Dunstable was affected with a number of shops closing. Now in 2012 the grip of the recession is plain for all to see in Luton.

Whilst on the face of it the sight of the Mall and the new shop front would lead you to believe everything is OK, the inside paints a different picture. Rows of empty units and quiet aisles are the generic theme.

Familiar sight in the Mall

Over recent weeks and months a number of units in the Mall have closed or become outlet stores, so following the announcement that Clinton Cards was closing some 350 nationally, I decided to count up the number of units shut in the Mall itself. Currently there are 14 empty units with 3 more due to close including Luton's own Clinton Cards store.

Clinton Cards bids farewell

One area flourishing are coffee shops with there now being 6 in the Mall. We can always find time and money to sit and talk about the recession over a cup of tea or coffee; at least we have the Jubilee to raise our spirits.

Not the King's speech

At the recent alternative march to the presence of the EDL in Luton on May the 5th 2012, there were a number of speeches made by local people, trade unionists and MP's. I have been fortunate enough to get a transcript of one particular speech and have posted here in NNI.




'WE ARE LUTON.


And we are here today because there is an ever-increasing divide in the UK between people of different heritage. This divide is pushed on us by people such as Theresa May and David Cameron. Cameron who last February made a scandalous speech, whilst you were here standing against the oppression of the EDL, when he said that multiculturalism had failed in the UK. This divide and rule is accomplished through the mainstream media, whose sole purpose it seems, is to keep us in a perpetual state of fear and terror of each other.


A Fear and terror that is preyed upon by likes of Stephen Lennon and Saiful Islam.


The challenge is to rise above this daily indoctrination, led by the media, on how we should see one another. Like Martin Luther King I am proud to be “mal-adjusted to a sick society”, a society that stands by and watches as our liberties are eroded daily and the blame laid at the feet of Muslims.
I do not need to be a Muslim to know that Muslims are being targeted today, and let me be frank, it is white males like George Bush and Tony Blair, with the exception of Barack Obama, that have been the biggest terrorists and terror threat for the past 11 years, not Islam. We have to realise we all share a common heritage, the human heritage, that we have more in common with each other than we do differences and it is this fact that has led to me speaking here today.


There are no problems but human problems.


When we start to see ourselves as being human, not divided, not separate races, then we start to realise that we cannot sit idly by and watch as groups get singled out, and not stand in defence of them. It is all to easy to sit and point the finger of blame at everyone except ourselves for not making a stand, because we were too distracted by football or X-factor.


Once we have taken responsibility for the world we live in we have a duty to act.


Tensions in the town are high and it is everybody’s responsibility to do what we can, to undo the damage being done by a minority group of ignorant people that do not truly represent the people that they claim to.


Now I am going to say something that may not be popular but feel it is important. Hating the EDL will neither make them go away nor solve the problem. This goes for all extremist views. The leadership, if you can call it that, of the EDL have ignorant views on society and have been followed blindly by a misguided and ill-informed group of people.
Ignorance breeds fear, for you’ll always fear what you do not understand.
These extremists, like all people, are products of their environment. That is to say that if Stephen Lennon had been adopted at birth by a Muslim family, then I am sure his views on Islam would be vastly different to that of the rhetoric he spouts today.


This is human nurture over nature.


If the environment and experiences of these people are of a negative nature, with regards to different parts of the community, then the extremist views of people like Stephen Lennon and Saiful Islam will find a home to fester and grow.


So long as we continue to be conned into being divided up into groups we will change nothing, Muslims will fight for the Muslim causes, the nationalists will fight for their nations and the ignorant will fight for their idea of race.


Hate will only lead to more hate.


Positive experience is one way we can help to rebuild relations, in not only this town, but across the country. We are all connected in a way that no one yet fully understands and if we do not come together in brotherhood then we will perish as fools. As Jiddu Krishnamurti said “you have to be the light”, this means WE, have to be the light.
Which is why I am proud to stand here today with people coming together to make the change.
To demonstrate in a peaceful way is a much more powerful message than letting it descend into violence and confrontation, so I urge you evoke a spirit of non-violence today and on this note I will leave you with Martin Luther Kings view on non-violence;


"I am still convinced that nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom and justice.” '

Nonviolence, the most potent weapon against oppression

Martin Luther King said that "nonviolence was the most important weapon in the fight for freedom and justice in the face of oppression." In these times of rising fascism and violence it might seem like 'human nature' to fight fire with fire.

An eye for an eye will only serve to leave the world blind.

On Saturday May 5th 2012 the English Defence League (EDL) held a rally in what they call their 'home', Luton, but faced stiff opposition from a counter rally taking place at the same time made up of people both locally and nationally. The counter rally was organised by a group of people that both live and work in the town from across all the communities.

The group are called 'We Are Luton'.

Lindsey German

We Are Luton (WAL) have been busy in recent weeks organising not only a counter rally but also a public meeting the week before, where big name speakers included Unite Against Fascism (UAF) Weyman Bennett, Yvonne Ridley from Press TV and Lindsey German from Stop the War Coalition. The evening was quite a success with all the speakers making valid points on the issues facing not only Luton, but the UK as a whole regarding the rise of fascism. Yvonne Ridley struck a chord with me particularly when she commented on the lack of positive news in the media when it comes to Muslim's and the creeping of Islamophobia in the news. Ridley also explained how the medieval laws that are being passed in Europe on the niqab have led to an increase in sales in London, where wealthy Saudi's now flock to do their shopping. I do not know if this has made it into the mainstream news but find it highly unlikely that anyone is going to report on a positive story of women wearing niqab.

Following the success of the public meeting the next target was the counter rally. It was well attended by people from Luton and areas around the country that have been affected by the presence of extremism at either end of the scale. People began gathering in the Wardown Park area from around 11am and talked amongst themselves whilst coaches began to appear with supporters from further afield, when the police then dropped a clanger by guiding in an EDL coach to the park. This was only a minor hiccup and they were quickly ushered away and to the far side of the town centre where they were due to congregate with the rest of the misguided EDL followers.

We Are Luton on the march

The first phase of speeches were held, followed by the march through town and back again, to the stage to finish up with more speakers. The speakers took to the stage with passion on the reasons why we had gathered and included local MP Gavin Shuker and Councillor Sian Timoney, who sported a rather fetching jacket. The WAL rally was well attended throughout, watching it on ITV in the evening gave a true sense of the numbers in attendance on both sides; these images seemed to suggest that the true figures in attendance were at odds with the police press release statement. The numbers quoted here of 3000 EDL to 1000 WAL have been hotly disputed by community members that oversaw the event from the central control area who believed it to be more the other way around.

The cynical amongst us may suspect that the police need to exaggerate the extent of the EDL numbers so that they can justify their claims to be left alone during times of austerity.

The press rounded up its coverage of the day with the police by focusing on a small group of United Against Fascism (UAF) protesters that broke away from the WAL march. In this small and misguided act by youngsters, the police and the media focused on the apparent disorder of the UAF, without having too much to say about the smoke bombs, flares and bottles thrown by the EDL at both the police and the protesters as they made their way under a bridge along their route.

Bank holiday Monday ambush

There is a motoring myth out there whereby innocent motorists view a bank holiday the same as a Sunday, and so park accordingly, wherever they feel like it. Not so the Traffic warden, or Civil Enforcement Officers as they are now called, who this morning walked around the corner of my street only to find a line of sacrificial lambs waiting to be ticketed.

2 out of 12 unlucky motorists

Whilst most people were out enjoying their extra day off, the Enforcement officer was getting an early night ready for the bank holiday Monday ambush. In total 12 cars had been ticketed, including my own, which I am not going to pay.

Thankfully though the bank holiday will be a thing of the past, after all working maximum hours for minimum wage is they key to a long, healthy and joyous life didn't you know? 

'Experts' have worked out that the bank holiday costs the UK economy somewhere in the region of £18 billion a year, a cost that has been exasperated by the Royal 'distraction' Wedding and the upcoming Queen's Diamond Jubilee. I would rather work than celebrate either of those days at any rate.

The bank holidays, including the additional one for the Royal wedding, have been attributed to the stall in the economy, that subsequently led to the 'surprise' double dip that occurred in recent weeks. This happened in spite of the governments attempts to 'cook the books' by drumming up fear and panic buying at the petrol pumps and super markets leading up to the end of the last quarter. The fact that people have less purchasing power and technological unemployment becoming ever more present, of course had nothing to do with it.

So to the bank holidays, enjoy them whilst you can for I am sure your elected government will decide, in your best interests, that you are best served to work, work and work yourself some more, into happiness and prosperity.

Hijacked! The London Marathon 2012

Several years ago I decided I wanted to run a marathon, living in England the obvious choice was the London Marathon being local and all, I entered the ballot and like many was unsuccessful on my first attempt. I applied on two more consecutive occasions and was eventually informed that upon the fifth time of begging I would automatically be given a place. This was not for me so I ceased applying for it.

However upon changing career a new world opened up to me, the world of running for charity was brought to my attention, something I had not previously considered as an option.  I sat and thought about who and what I wanted to run for and have since run and completed the New York Marathon in 2009 for Children with Leukaemia (now Children with Cancer) and the Berlin Marathon in 2011 for Macmillan Cancer Care. Both great causes and amazing cities at the same time.

Suddenly the allure of London did not seem the same.

Following Berlin I had completed two of the 'big 5' marathons. The others include London, Chicago and Boston, so I decided to seek a route into the London Marathon, making it three out of five and it also happened to be Olympic year too. I secured a place with the charity Asthma UK in January 2012 and started the long road of preparing for the 26.2 miles (42km) ahead of me in April.

Then something went wrong.

A couple of weeks after thinking I had secured a place in the marathon via Asthma UK I received an email when on the other side of the planet to say that there had been an issue with my registration. On my return I found that the charity had failed to registered me and as a result I would not be running the marathon this year. I rang any one and everyone I could to try and rectify the situation, including Virgin themselves, even tweeting Richard Branson, the resounding answer I received was "NO".

I was told that I could be Haile Gebrselassie and I could not get a place once the cut off date set by Virgin had passed.

So I resigned myself to the fact that this year I would have to settle for a place on the sidelines cheering on my partner from a designated cheer point as she strode along London Bridge and ceased my training. Once the feeling of disappointment subsided I focused my attentions on supporting my partner in the gruelling training schedule ahead of her, undertaking the odd training run, somewhat satisfied in the knowledge that it would not be my legs that suffered on the Monday morning after the event.

As the weeks went by and race day approached I started to feel a little more disappointed in the fact that I had been let down and was not unable to compete. Then, with ten days to go it hit me, if London was like any of the other marathons I had run previously then I would be able to join in anywhere on the route.

Operation 'Hijack the London Marathon' was conceived.

Initially I planned to find out where my partner would be starting from and arrange to meet her somewhere just after the start and join in, then it occurred to me that if I had a race number I would probably be able to just walk through the gate and into the main start area. We just had to wait to attend the expo, on Saturday April 21st, the day before the marathon. We headed to London for the expo first thing in the morning and secured the running number, grabbed a Starbucks and returned straight back home to the editors cove, where I photoshopped the race number and changed it around. I printed this on A4 paper and had myself and unofficial race number. Nothing was going to stop me now.

An unusually late night followed considering we were running 26.2 miles the next day but for some reason I think nerves had begun to set in; would I get in to the holding area or would I have to join in further along the start somewhere? Or would I get dragged off by police as the boat race saboteur had a few days earlier? We would not know until the morning.

Due South, 0700hrs

At 0600hrs we awoke and started the journey to Greenwich, even at this early hour the underground was packed with runners and their families, the train was filled with a mixture of deep heat and Vaseline that made it smell more like a sporting locker room rather than the capitals main travel hub. When we arrived at our final destination the sun had begun to shine and the temperature began to rise. As we walked through the park there were a number of signs stating 'runners only beyond this point', loved ones said their good luck and good journey goodbyes, sealing it with a kiss and went their separate ways. As we arrived at the entrance gates there were actors (security personnel) barking orders at the humans "no number, no access" and volunteer Virgin race marshals. I had already attached my unofficial number to my running vest before leaving for London and strategically veered towards the volunteer marshals... and waltzed straight though and into the holding pen. I was in, race on.

All that stood in front of me now was the small feat of 26.2 miles and the fact that I had stopped training two months ago.

The race started well and was largely enjoyable as the weather was good, so the crowds came out, not quite the 29 degrees in Berlin last September, but warm enough for one to build up a sweat. This caused a problem with my running number, being printed on regular A4 paper it got soggy and started to tear. The rush job of putting it together meant that I had not managed to print it on any sort of water proof paper, if you have ever seen or felt a real race number you will know it is not normal paper. It was the best I could do with the time I had.
I tried to place it on me in various places to try and mitigate the damage being done by water from drinks bottles and sweat but to no avail, I also resisted the temptation to tear it off in frustration, this was perhaps the best decision I have made all year.

On the home straight the people from Marathonfoto appeared along the sides of the streets, taking pictures of runners in various poses, those of us that still had the energy to pose that is, proudly displaying their race numbers so that they could collect them a few days after the race. I turned to my partner and said how I could not wait to see the '385 yards to go' sign as by this point my legs were hating me for not having prepared them more. As we approached the sign a race marshal appeared out of nowhere, telling the runners that they had to display their numbers or have a foot tag. I now faced a big problem because obviously I did not have a foot tag and my race number was in bits and pieces in my pouch.

He ran right along side me and told me that without a tag or race number it was "not going to happen" and so he started to point to the side of the track for me. I reassured him I had my number but that it was in my pouch. As I pulled it out he just said "no, they are designed not to do that".

My number was hardly legible and had torn in a number of places.

The finish line was in sight, but this marshal was about to end my race with 300 yards to go, I could not believe it, my partner unsurprisingly had distance herself from me and left me to it. I tried to explain that it was not my fault that the weather had been so warm and that I had been clumsy with my drinks bottles and torn it in the process of moving it around my person etc but he was not buying my story and sprinted towards what was the senior race marshal, and ordered me to follow him, adding more distance to my already tired legs.

As I ran on towards the senior race marshal I could see a lot of finger pointing and gesturing going on, I began to wonder if I had enough gas left in my legs to make a sprint for the finish line but I realised this may result in being rugby tackled on the concrete, something I was keen to avoid, so I continued over towards the side of the track and thought my valiant effort was over. In my head I could hear it now "you ran 26 miles? I thought a marathon was 26.2 miles". Luck it seems was on my side, as I got to the senior marshal he just pointed and told me to head to the lost tag aisle.

I did not see where this was and took it as my chance to sprint off and cross the finish line.

I rejoined my partner who suddenly remember who I was and we finished together, relieved that I was allowed to finish at all. I walked straight through the finish area, collecting my medal and post race bag, and did not look back in case the race marshal had decided to follow me. We had done it.

Gold is the colour, photoshopped number.

A couple of days later and my legs have forgiven me for putting them through hell and more importantly they have forgiven my partner for encouraging me to act in an 'unsane' manner. Why anyone would wilfully put their body through the trauma of a marathon, just to see if they could gate crash it, is beyond most people who I have told the story to so far. The drama that unfolded in the last 300 yards just made it all the more worthwhile for me.

All I can say is this, that sitting here now I am already considering my next marathon. The problem  is pain does not last and when it is gone all you are left with are the memories of your achievements. Having secured a place only to have it taken from me due to an error in administration was hard to take, I was not prepared to miss out on the opportunity, so I took a leaf out of Richard Branson's book and thought outside the box to solve my problem.

London Marathon route, 27 miles, zig zagging inclusive.

Why can't we all just get along?

Luton is set to be the scene of another EDL rally on May 5th, a counter rally has again been organised by the people of Luton who know that the EDL do not truly represent them or the town. Last year on February 5th, local police caused outrage at the 11th hour of negotiation when they refused access to the local people battling against the rise of fascism, the right to hold their rally in the centre of the town, instead pandering to the ego of the EDL and its self proclaimed leader Steven Lennon, handing the centre of Luton to them.

Luton's town centre was on lock down. The cost of the EDL's presence and marches through the town is measured by more than fiat currency.

Market Hill

The damage done by the babbling of Lennon and the misguided followers of the EDL are felt by all who live in the town, in particular the young. Children as young as 8 have been caught up in school yard scraps over whether Christians or Muslims are the stronger. It is terrifying to see children as young as this being mixed up in a storm being driven by the media, and the irresponsible adults around them, when the extent of their concerns should be who won the football at the weekend.

With this in mind we turn our attentions to the May 5th 2012, the date of the next instalment of Luton and the EDL saga.

Once again 'We are Luton', the new umbrella organisation promoting the counter demonstration, are in negotiation with the police as to where the planned march and rally will be held. As it currently stands both the EDL and We are Luton have been told that neither party will be allowed access to the town centre and in particular St George's square. Steven Lennon in the latest edition of the Luton on Sunday has said that their protest is against the council and that they (the EDL) will return "every six weeks" until they are allowed to do so.

Lennon did not go on to explain exactly why the protest was against the council but presumably it is a front to claim the square.

George Street

The police will probably succumb to Lennon's threats and allow the EDL to occupy St George's square, claiming that it is for the ease of policing them, thus in the process totally disregarding the wishes of actual residents from the town that would like to see the back of extremism in all its forms, both locally and nationally.

As a supporter of the right to freedom of expression and the freedom of assembly I would never support a position in banning the EDL from holding a march, or indeed a rally for whatever it is they feel they believe. As I have said before we are all products of our environment and only through positive experience, and critical education, will we ever undo the deep seated root cause of the mistrust and hatred between people that causes extremism.











Pictures by Christine McKeown EDL march in Luton on February 5th 2011