A "Bedroom Tax" Protest March

[rhythmaning]

I went on a march today protesting at the "bedroom tax". I nearly didn't go, feeling that little good will come of the protest and feeling somewhat ignorant of the "bedroom tax" itself. (That's my fault; a lot has been written about it; but it does make for somewhat boring reading...)

The main reason I went on the march was because it strikes me as very wrong to demonise the poorest in society. The welfare budget accounts for a relatively small part of government spending (if you exclude pensions, which are more or less fixed), but recipients of benefits - by no means the "out of work scroungers" much of the media paints them - depend on it.

Society should be protecting those at the bottom of the pile, not making life harder for them by cutting what help they get.

So I went on the short march through Edinburgh, from St Andrew's Square down to the Scottish Parliament in the shadow of Arthur's Seat.

It was a very good natured march; even the police seemed surprisingly friendly. (Perhaps they were on overtime...!) There was a rather good choir who sang protest songs much of the way, making a welcome change from the usual call-and-response demo chanting (though there was that too; particularly inane).

I was struck by two, somewhat contradictory, thoughts.

Firstly, a lot - an awful lot - of people on the march seemed to have concatenated welfare cuts in general and the "bedroom tax" specifically with the forthcoming referendum on independence. There were a great many banners supporting independence. It felt like the "Yes" campaign had hijacked the march for its own purposes. This didn't feel right. Independence is no guarantee of social justice; indeed, an independent Scotland might have to make greater cuts than are already being planned.

The second thought was - where the hell were the Labour party? I am not a Labour supporter, but if they are meant to represent the opposition within the British parliament (as well as Holyrood), shouldn't they have been adding their voice to those of the very many "ordinary" people who turned out, as well the many unions that seemed to be represented and the many parties of the left - there were banners from the Socialist Workers Party, the Scottish Socialist Party - and the Communist Party! Even "Anonymous" were out. (Allegedly.)

Nothing from Labour at all.

Anyhow, I took some photos...

Comments

[nicnac.livejournal.com]

I have very mixed feelings on the changes to benefits, mostly as a result of situations encountered during my CAB work. Some of them are contradictory, as I haven't yet formed them into anything coherent. I guess they go something like this:

* It does make sense to move people from properties with more bedrooms than they need, as there are families living in very overcrowded circs who need access to these properties.
* However, there aren't enough smaller council properties to rehouse all those people who live in larger properties who could downsize.
* However, that doesn't necessarily present as an issue in the eyes of the govt since recent legislation means that councils can discharge their obligations towards homeless people by placing them in privately rented accommodation. Yes, this raises issues concerning a lack of stability, but then people who are working and renting also face these issues. See next point for different treatment for sick/people with disabilities.
* People who are job seekers should be treated separately from people who are claiming DLA or ESA, as these are people who cannot work due to sickness and are more vulnerable, yet the different categories keep being lumped together as far as housing is concerned.
* I have a friend who has a job, works hard and can only afford to live in a studio flat. Why should she live in those circs when people who are claiming JSA live in a proper flat, perhaps with a spare room?
* People say the govt should build extra properties for people to whom councils owe a duty, but where would the money come from to do that? Should we fall further into debt to achieve this?

Not sure whether any of that will enhance your knowledge. Fab photos, as always.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

Thanks, it does help - a bit!

But at a fundamental level, I can't help thinking that the government are scapegoating the poorest and most vulnerable in society, which is not what they should be doing.

[fiendish-cat.livejournal.com]

If the two options for a cash strapped government are increase taxes/reduce spending, this government are showing they are far more frightened of the protests of those who are against tax increases (such protests mainly coming quietly behind closed doors/on the phone/on the golf course (and indeed from their own well lined pockets) than a mass of people marching on the street. (Who probably wouldn't have voted for them anyway.)

[andrewducker]

Labour are generally in favour of all of the anti-welfare things going on. A lot of the cuts are following in the footsteps of changes made under Blair/Brown.

It would be nice to have a proper left-wing party, it really would.