Health service workers and users are obviously very cynical about David Cameron’s recent pause for reflection on the Health and Social Care bill. Concerns that the NHS is being turned over to private providers are huge and growing. Profit not patient care is the driving force behind the planned changes. The Government is a million miles away from the public on this issue and we need to make sure that they know that.

It’s under threat and now is our chance to save its future.

We need to make sure that the strength of public feeling on this issue is fully understood. Local Lib Dems think that enough has been done to the Bill to get the public back on side, we know that is not true.

What can you do?

We need to build an alliance of people opposed to the changes to make the Government listen. Please share this post with your friends, family and neighbours and encourage them to pass it on too. If we keep the chain going we can make sure our voice is heard.

Contact your MP and ask them to oppose the Bill as it passes through Parliament, you can find out who your MP is here.

You can also contact any Member of the House of Lords, the Lords will play a vital role in scrutinising the Government proposals and could block the passage of the Bill in to law. Find out more about writing to a Lord here.

You can also download a model letter that you may wish to use. Please do feel free to amend the letter to include your own personal experiences and views as personal letters do tend to be more powerful.

MP’s met with social workers at the Houses of Parliament to hear some very difficult accounts of how many social workers are being forced out of their jobs at a time when family breakdown, mental illness and distress, and abuse of children and adults is more likely to occur with the pressures of Benefit cuts and rising prices.

Ruth Cartwright, England Manager at BASW (The British Association of Social Workers) said: “We are delighted to have the backing of Tony Lloyd MP as we continue to oppose cuts which directly affect vulnerable people and social work posts. Last year 94% of BASW members warned the government that upcoming cuts would have an adverse effect on vulnerable children, they didn’t listen and we now know this to be true. It is time for the government to start listening and taking responsibility for what these cuts will do to vulnerable people.”

Tony Lloyd is supporting The Wildlife Trusts’ Petition Fish campaign to protect our seas and the wildlife it supports. Tony showed his support by signing a scale on a Petition Fish at a launch event in the House of Commons this week.

Tony said: “As an island nation, we have a strong connection to the sea and the thousands of plants and animals it sustains. The creation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can help our seas to recover and flourish by restricting activities that can damage wildlife.”

Simon King OBE, President of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “Our seas are stressed from over-fishing, pollution and climate change. But they can be transformed into Living Seas that pulsate with life and colour and are a source of wonder to us all. The Government has the power to manage and protect our seas to help them become some of the most productive and wildlife-rich on earth.”

The Petition Fish will return to Westminster in the spring of 2012 before the Government publishes its proposals for Marine Protected Areas.

On July 6-9, parliamentarians from OSCE member states gathered together for the annual conference of its Parliamentary Assembly, which was held in Belgrade. Among several agenda items, some of them strictly dealing with the usual OSCE bureaucratic protocol, the human rights situation in countries of the former Soviet Union was featured prominently. Uta Zapf, OSCE PA’s Rapporteur on Belarus held a special briefing on the post-election crackdown in that country, where she invited Belarusian and Russian civil society activists. Kimmo Kiljunen, OSCE PA’s Representative on Central Asia, addressed the plenary session and later spoke at an NGO briefing about the results of the work the International Independent Commission for Inquiry into the interethnic violence which took place in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010. Joining him at the briefing were NGOs and an anti-torture activist who urged eradication of torture in the OSCE area.

This was Kiljunen’s farewell appearance at the Assembly both as Chair of the Commission, which just finished its work, and as a member of the Finnish delegation, following his loss in Finland’s last parliamentary elections. Kiljunen prefaced his speech at the plenary by acknowledging the great emotional toll that his work as chair of the Commission took on him. He proceeded to express his doubts regarding the Kyrgyz government’s political will to deal with the aftermath of the tragedy in a balanced and fair way. As he noted, the overwhelming majority of destroyed homes and of casualties during the June 2010 events were ethnic Uzbeks. Ethnic Uzbeks continue to be underrepresented in Kyrgyzstan’s government. For as long as the Kyrgyz government continues to resist calls for a credible effort of interethnic reconciliation, the future of Kyrgyzstan will remain bleak, was Kiljunen’s pessimistic prognosis. As soon as the diplomat finished his speech, the Kyrgyz delegation went on offensive, challenging the credibility of the Commission and the validity of its findings. The delegation’s head, Kanatbek Isaev, characterized the commission’s report as “subjective,” going as far as to accuse its members of having a “pro-Uzbek” bias. A female member of the delegation became so emotional during her retort that she appeared to be screaming by the time she finished. Among her complaints: the suggestion proposed by outside experts to change the name of the country from the “Kyrgyz Republic” to “Republic of Kyrgyzstan,” in order to better reflect the country’s multi-ethnic character.

Among several speakers who took the floor following the emotional outburst by the Kyrgyz delegation was Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, a member of the Green Party from the German delegation, who defended the Commission and its report and urged the Kyrgyz side to abide by its international commitments in protecting its ethnic minorities from discrimination.

Ethnic discrimination, torture and other assaults on human rights in the OSCE area was the subject of a special NGO briefing which took place on the second day of the conference. The briefing was organized by a prominent local human rights group, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia. Joining Kimmo Kiljunen were Tony Lloyd, chairman of the Labor faction of the British Parliament and long-standing critic of the use of torture and other illegal interrogation techniques in the global war on terror; Judita Popovic, Vice President of the Serbian Parliament; Vitaly Ponomarev, Memorial Human Rights Center; and Petr Afanassenko, a torture victim and anti-torture activist who worked as a bodyguard for former Kazakh Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin.

Tony Lloyd deplored the practice of extraordinary renditions in the prosecution of the war on terror, citing egregious individual cases which are a violation of international standards. He lent support to Amnesty International’s 12-point program to eradicate torture, urging the OSCE community to go even further in its implementation.

Petr Afanassenko, who is originally from Kazakhstan and currently residing in Belgium, shared with the audience his personal story of enduring torture at the hands of the former high-level Kazakhstani official and former member of the Kazakh President’s family, Rakhat Aliyev. Echoing Tony Lloyd’s appeal for countries to abide by the principle of inadmissibility of evidence obtained under torture, Afanassenko told the audience about Mr. Aliyev’s efforts to discredit Kazhegeldin by forcing him to sign a self-incriminating confession under the influence of psychotropic drugs and various kinds of physical and psychological duress. Having filed a civil lawsuit against Aliyev in a Vienna court, Afanassenko claims to represent a group effort by individuals who were victims of Aliyev’s. Apart from his personal goal of obtaining damages for the loss of his career and health, Afanassenko hopes to send the following message to Aliyev and other torturers: “There is no place for you in democratic Europe.” Together with other human rights activists at the conference, Afanassenko delivered a letter addressed to the head of the delegation of Austria to the OSCE PA, Barbara Prammer, urging the Austrian government to order a thorough investigation into the criminal charges against Aliyev. A recent article in the leading Viennese newspaper, Wiener Zeitung, quoted members of the European Parliament expressing dismay with Austria’s failure to take action regarding the grave charges against Mr. Aliyev, including his alleged responsibility for the murder of two bank employees whose bodies have recently been found, after missing for several years.

Participants in the briefing noted the irony of legitimate refugees from Central Asian countries facing obstacles in obtaining asylum in EU countries, while human rights abusers like Aliyev seem to be able to find safe haven using their unlimited wealth and influence. Vitaly Ponomarev finished the briefing by drawing attention to the plight of the 28 Muslim refugees who were recently extradited from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan. He urged the repeal of the 1992 Minsk Convention signed by members of the CIS, which contravenes the UN Committee against Torture and the internationally recognized principle of non-refoulement.

On the evening of June 29th, JFC held a successful parliamentary reception in the House of Lords, in conjunction with the Parliamentary Friends of Colombia (PFC) group and the TUC. Many MPs and Lords attended as well as representatives from the major UK trade unions.

The reception was held to bid farewell to outgoing JFC Chair Jeremy Dear and welcome new JFC Chair, CWU General Secretary Billy Hayes, as well as to welcome new MPs to the PFC – which already has over 60 Labour MPs as members. Speakers included PFC and PLP Chair Tony Lloyd MP, Lord John Monks, Richard Howitt MEP, Jeremy Dear, Billy Hayes, NUT General Secretary Christine Blower and Lord Hoyle.

The speeches highlighted the extent of support within the labour movement for JFC, and noted that already this year 17 trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia, making it more important than ever to step up the pressure on the Colombian regime to improve the human rights situation. JFC also thanked Jeremy Dear for his commitment and contribution over the last years.

[via Justice for Colombia]

Manchester’s little known Italian community has a history dating back almost 200 years; the community lives mostly in Ancoats, one of Manchester’s poorest areas, and so the parade began at St Michael’s Church where many were baptised and married.

The Syrian Awareness Day at the British Muslim Heritage Centre drew attention to the atrocities taking place in Syria. Up to one thousand families came together to celebrate Syrian culture and to remember the 1700 killed in recent weeks. Tony Lloyd supported calls for tougher actions against the regime.

Tony is pictured with the school’s council at Park View Community Primary School in Miles Platting. Each of the pupils were selected by their classmates to be part of the school council. These ‘local politicians’ discussed many issues of mutual interest with Tony.

The above picture is an example of handwriting by Reception pupil, Sasmit, Age 5.