Attached is a brief
email that I received from my MP Owen Smith in May of last year, just after the
2015 general election.
As the then convenor
of the People’s Assembly Wales I had re-circulated an email from Adam Johannes
about the Cardiff People’s Assembly and made an appeal to continue the fight
against austerity and the Tories.
You can see that I
received a brief response from Owen as follows:
“Dear Len,
Please take me off this email list. I
can take no more.
Owen”
I was appalled at the
time that my local MP would wish to be so dismissive about continuing the fight
against austerity after the election, and to such an extent that he no longer
wished to know about the PA in Wales. However, knowing the MP, I considered it
par for the course and just filed it away.
The situation today
is different. Owen Smith is standing against Jeremy Corbyn and claiming
he is opposes to austerity, although has also been equivocal. Well in my book there
is nothing equivocal about this email given the context he was responding to.
Given the shortness of the
email it could leave it open to other interpretations and he was just fed up with the
election result.
But so were we all:
and as the People’s Assembly we were trying to help provide people a way of
continuing to oppose austerity.
So should someone who
now wishes to lead the Labour Party.
The email exchange:
RE: Peoples Assembly
Wales: March on Saturday
12/05/2015 18:50
To: Len Arthur;
Dear Len,
Please take me off this email list. I can take
no more.
Owen
From: Len Arthur [mailto:len.arthur@phonecoop.coop]
Sent: 11 May 2015 09:36
To: Left Unity Wales info; People's Assembly Wales
Subject: Peoples Assembly Wales: March on Saturday
Sent: 11 May 2015 09:36
To: Left Unity Wales info; People's Assembly Wales
Subject: Peoples Assembly Wales: March on Saturday
Sorry for much cross
posting but needs must
All
Please support
everything in this email. We must continue to speak out, criticise and argue
for a radical alternative to austerity on behalf of the majority of the
population – no matter how they voted! – who will now be getting in the neck.
Well done to everyone
for organising the demonstration on Saturday – it was just the act of defiance
and unity that was needed to lift us all.
Will not succumb! We
will keep the vision of a humane, equal and just society going and act to bring
it into reality.
All the best
Len Arthur – People’s
Assembly Wales convenor
From: Cardiff
Ppls Assembly
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2015 3:42 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: March on Saturday
CARDIFF PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY
END AUSTERITY NOW: COMMUNITY MARCH AGAINST THE TORIES
END AUSTERITY NOW: COMMUNITY MARCH AGAINST THE TORIES
Demonstrate Saturday 16 May. Assemble at 1 pm,
Aneurin Bevan Statue, Founder of NHS, Queen Street
"Whether you win or lose isn't the final
determinant of whether it was worth fighting. You have to fight or you
lose"
- Tony Benn
We are ordinary people. We are like you: people,
who get up every morning to study, work or find a job, people who are sick or
housebound, people who have family and friends. People, who work hard every day
to provide a better future for those around us....
We are all very concerned and angry about the new
Tory government and the situation which we see around us -
- A million people forced to resort to food banks
in the sixth richest economy in the world.
- One in four parents in Wales who have skipped
meals for days so they can put food on the table for their children.
- People working long hours who still struggle to
pay bills or rent because their employer is too greedy to pay a living wage.
- A housing crisis denying too many a stable secure
affordable home.
- Poor and disabled people targeted by benefit
cuts.
- Libraries, youth services, play centres and other
community facilities being cut back and closed down.
A new government promising twice as many cuts this
term including £12bn welfare cuts targeting the very poorest.
I could go on...
This situation has become normal, a daily
suffering, without hope. But if we join forces, we can change it. It’s time to
change things, time to build a better society together.
For all of the above, I am outraged.
I think I can change it.
I think I can help.
I know that together we can. I think I can help.
I know that together we can.
Please forward on this email and invite people. Bring friends,
neighbours, and families. If you are a member of a community group, trade
union, club, or any kind of network please get them involved. We're all in it
together!
PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY AGAINST AUSTERITY - NATIONAL (UK)
DEMONSTRATION
The People's Assembly is calling a national
demonstration in just 6 weeks time:
Tell the new government: End Austerity Now
National demonstration, Saturday 20 June
Assemble: 12pm, Bank of England
We will be organising buses there and back. Details
to be confirmed soon.
WALES PETITION AGAINST AUSTERITY
Please sign and share our declaration. We can build
it into a referendum on austerity in Wales
THE PEOPLE'S FILM CLUB
Thursday 28 May. The Abacus, Wood Street (across
the road from the bus station)
Doors open 6pm. Screening starts 6.30 pm. Bring
food to share.
Documentary screening: The Take: Occupy, Resist,
Produce by Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis.
Join us for the second in our series of documentary
film screenings around the theme of “Disobedience!”, exploring resistance
movements around the world and throughout history
“The Take looks at Argentina after its spectacular
economic collapse in 2001 when Latin America’s most prosperous middle class
finds itself in a ghost town of abandoned factories and mass unemployment. In
suburban Buenos Aires, thirty unemployed auto-parts workers walk into their
idle factory, roll out sleeping mats and refuse to leave. All they want is to
re-start the silent machines. But this simple act–the take–has the power to
turn the globalization debate on its head.”
Come and watch the film and then discuss how we can
organise now for social change and economic justice.
Adam Johannes
Co-Convenor
Cardiff People's Assembly
07940108146
UK
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