ARMS Merseyside Group - AGM 2021

To all ARMS members in Merseyside and Halton:
You are invited to participate in our 2021 Annual General Meeting as follows:

• Date: Thursday 11th March 2021.

• Time: 10.00 a.m. to midday.

• Place: by zoom. The link will be e-mailed to you closer to the time.

Nominations and motions
Nominations are called for:

Chair

Vice Chair

Secretary

Organiser

Treasurer

Committee (4)

Auditors (2)

Please send nominations and motions to the secretary, Dave Owens, (davegowens@hotmail.com) by Monday 22nd February.

We look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

ARMS North West - the fight continues

Attendees at the ARMS NW regional committee today (30 May) in Jack Jones House, Liverpool. The meeting was primarily to mandate our delegate on motions to the ARMS national forum in Liverpool on 19 June. The new ARMS Manchester banner is on display.

Some other issues were discussed at the meeting:

• Emergency motions were agreed on pensions overpayment/underpayment concerns and intergenerational fairness.
• An update on ARMS' successful intervention at PCS conference was also given.
• A message of support was agreed to the striking PCS members in the ongoing Universal Credit dispute in Walsall and Wolverhampton DWP.

Steve Ion

Chair
ARMS North West

MPA motion & Jeremy Corbyn rally in Liverpool

Motion on MP reselection to the Merseyside Pensioners Association

Proposed by ARMS committee member Tony Mulhearn and passed by the MPA. 

The Merseyside Pensioners' Association declares its continued support for Jeremy Corbyn and deplores the charges of bullying and intimidation falsely aimed at his supporters.

We applaud the conference decision of Unite the Union which recognises the right of party members to select candidates that reflect their views and supports the need for mandatory re-selection of Labour MPs with a view to selecting candidates who support a programme of opposition to the continuing savage cuts of the Tories.

We believe that in spite of assurances given that the triple lock will be protected we believe that pensioners' entitlements will be threatened by austerity supporters on both sides of the House and we need genuine anti-austerity MPs who will fight to defend the interests of the old and younger generations. 

Jeremy Corbyn Rally In Liverpool

• Date: Monday 1 August 
• Time: 7.00 pm 
• Place: St George's Plateau, Liverpool 1 

Jeremy Corbyn MP will be speaking in Liverpool next Monday at 7.00 pm on St George's Plateau in front of St George's Hall in Liverpool city centre

Speakers include:

• Jeremy Corbyn MP.
• Cllr Alice Bennet.
• Cllr Peter Mitchell.
• Mel Walker.
• Cllr Joann Kushner.

Come and join us to support Jeremy Corbyn in his campaign to be re-elected Labour Party Leader.

All welcome!

'Scrap triple lock to fund social care' - NHS boss

Tony Mulhearn, Merseyside ARMS committee member, proposed this motion to the Merseyside Pensioners Association (MPA), who passed it.

This MPA expresses grave concern at the proposal by Simon Stevens NHS chief executive that David Cameron's administration should look at all the options for finding the billions of pounds needed to fund social care, including revisiting the triple lock, which guarantees Britain’s pensioners so-called 'generous' annual increases in their state pension until 2020.

He argues that one of the main questions in tackling the challenge of how to pay for and look after an ageing population was whether some of the money spent on increasing state pensions should instead be allocated for social care and also the government should be prepared to risk upsetting Britain's growing army of senior citizens by looking at whether the benefits they receive are fair to working-age and younger people.

Recognising that UK pensioners are paid the lowest in the European Union and the current crisis was caused by the bankers and financiers we condemn this proposal, and believe pensions should be increased and not attacked, and we deplore yet another attempt to drive a wedge between the young and the pensioners.

We call on the NPC to declare its strong opposition to this suggestion and resolve to contact our MPs and to register our opposition.

Benn’s speech: demagogic and dishonest

The definition of a demagogue: ‘a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular fears, desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument.’

He is the darling of the right wing media today, and basking in the approval of the most right wing Tory government since WWII. The Murdoch Press, Daily Mail and the rest, including right wing Labour, will promote him as the man to replace Jeremy Corbyn. His resort to flag-waving jingoism is the device used by demagogues throughout the ages. Benn’s reference to Labour Internationalism and to the International brigade’s fight against Franco to buttress his support for international capitalism was unscrupulous. He implied that opposition to military action constituted less than total opposition to the monstrosity of Isis. The millions who oppose bombing which will result in the slaughter of the innocents need no lessons from Benn who enthusiastically supported the invasion of Iraq which unleashed today’s sectarian madness.

I can also report that the Merseyside Pensioners' Association passed a resolution in support of Jeremy Corbyn in his opposition to the bombing. Police Commissioner Jane Kennedy also addressed the meeting outlining the consequences of Tory cuts on the police service.

A call was made for a real campaign against all the cuts being imposed by the Tory and implemented by Labour Councils all over the country.

Tony Mulhearn

Merseyside ARMS motions

The following resolutions were passed unopposed by the PCS ARMS Merseyside Group Committee held on Friday 27 November 2015.

1. Jeremy Corbyn and Syria

Merseyside Arms Group Committee condemns the terrorism of Isis but history shows, particularly the Iraq invasion, that military intervention serves to worsen an already appalling situation and cannot create a sustainable solution. Support should be given to those forces who stand for peace, socialism and democracy within Syria. Therefore, we support Jeremy Corbyn whose refusal to back armed intervention against Syria reflects the wishes of the thousands who backed him as leader, and we condemn the Tories and their warmongering agencies of the media and Labour MPs who constantly attack him.

We call on the PCS NEC to declare their support for the stand adopted by Jeremy Corbyn.

2. Tory spending plans

We condemn the latest government cuts contained in the last budget statement. Far from it being a give-away budget as depicted by sections of the media, it proposes a continuation of endless austerity while those responsible for the financial crash continue to enrich themselves. We also condemn the proposed closure of offices of the HMRC which not only affects our members’ jobs and security but also diminishes the ability of government agencies to collect the massive amounts of tax avoided by the national and international tax dodgers.

We call on the PCS NEC to reaffirm its opposition to austerity and the crazed policy of privatisation being perpetrated by this government.