Published February 11th, 2008
Domestic violence - the way out
Hall Green Ward Councillor Jackie Hawthorn writes in our latest issue of Focus:
If you are the victim of domestic violence, the festive season may have been a time of fear and despair but it doesn’t have to be this way. Have you been made to feel that the violence is all your fault? After a beating do you get a promise that it will never happen again? Are you afraid to leave because of what might happen if you do? Have you a safe place to escape to? The facts are that violence is unjustifiable and it is NOT your fault. If you have been beaten once, the chances are that you will be beaten again and again. “At one time, the police would not get involved in what was classed as ‘a domestic’ but times have changed” says Cllr Jackie Hawthorn. “It’s now possible for abusers to be prosecuted in the Courts even when the victim is, as so often happens, too afraid to give evidence. You can make a new beginning. Ask yourself do you really still love this person? Would you be happier with them or without them?” Help and understanding is available. ‘Women with Essence’ have a drop-in meeting at St Michael’s Church, Redstone Farm Road on Tuesdays and Fridays 10am - 12 (phone 778-4958) or phone 07918714257 or 07918720968 Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm.
Published February 7th, 2008
Services that put ordinary people first
There’s growing concern (but no action from the Government) about the way that members of the public are used as profit fodder by banks and privatised utilities. Having had a bit of a read, I wrote recently in The Birmingham Post:
In a compelling novel, The Historian, a surprising number of librarians turn out to be vampires (rest at ease Cllr Whitby, this isn’t about intentions for Centenary Square). Few would turn to this mild profession to find bloodsuckers, there being a richly populated necropolis of bankers, power companies, fuel firms and telecomm providers. BT clearly has the contagion with its recent hike in charges for those, typically thrifty and older people, who do not wish to be drawn into direct debit.
The corporate ethics and social responsibilities of yesteryear are but a memory and national government similarly usurps its citizens - security of data about individuals is discarded for petty cost cutting. So where are we to find the vampire slayers? Enter the unlikely (potential) heroes in the form of local Government.
We need not resort to garlic or even Christian icons and, in taking the brakes off devolution, we could avoid a stake through our global city’s innocent local heart. We must ensure that our services put the ordinary people first, bemused and exploited as they are, and we should restore former services such as a Municipal Bank that would offer a simple and trustworthy alternative to the financial creatures of the night. Oh for the days when we also had our own water, gas, buses and a visible police force. Now there’s a line-up that would ward off the bloodsuckers.
Published November 18th, 2007
Post Offices
Incredible as it sounds, the Government’s intentions for post offices include over two thousand further closures over the next two years despite the 28 million people who use post offices every week. This awful policy was supported by Labour in Birmingham during a Lib-Dem sponsored debate.
Government plans would mean yet more closures in Birmingham on top of the offices paid to shut and those that go because the Government takes business and services away, swelling the profits of banks.
Telling people to use the internet - as Labour in Birmingham have done - won’t help most old people or the one in three who don’t have a computer.
Cllr Michael Wilkes comments: “So called ‘consultation’ makes little difference. We support the efforts of local business to try to replace the lost post offices in our area. We will do our utmost to keep these key services and the local shopping centres in Hall Green that are vital to our local communities”.
