Global Secondary Picketing For Climate Change

(guest post by J R Ewing)

I have to admit to a dislike for the School Strike for Climate Change movement.  Firstly because it’s not actually possible to strike from school – it’s not employment.  You don’t get paid.  Thus really it should be described as “bunking off for climate change”.   Of course these days in the UK (probably thanks to Tony “Education, Education, Education” Blair) education is so important that one’s offspring bunking off can incur a parent a fine of £60, which rises to £120 each if you do not pay within 21 days.  Yes, one’s children bunking off is equivalent now to such great social evils as driving in a bus lane.  One wonders how Greta Thunberg would have got on in a society where her activities are so criminalised.  One is suspicious of political movements that target school children.  Still who needs to go to school when one’s parents are an opera singer and an actor who can pass on such skills as creating a lot of pointless drama and self-publicity…?  

Furthermore even if you’re an adult and you engaged in the Global Strike for Climate Change movement …well, it’s not really a strike is it?  No one’s withdrawing their labour for better pay.  You know most of the people on these demonstrations wouldn’t have the bottle to actually withdraw their labour from their employers because they might get handed their cards so we have the farcical situation of the TUC negotiating with unions and employers to get time off for workers to attend the “strikes”.  Not much of a strike if it doesn’t inconvenience anybody, is it?  These people hanker after the glamour of industrial action but one suspects very few of them would actually take any … because the workers don’t have any real say anymore.  That and it might involve self-sacrifice. 

Secondly - and possibly more importanly - if people want to protest about climate change why does it have to be cloaked in the language of “strikes” at all?  Or is that my first point repeated?  Hum ... but...  The idea of standing up to the boss is very emotive but, of course, there is no real boss to stand up to here – it is the people disputing with the people.  Indeed, calling something a strike when there is no actual labour dispute identifiable is bordering on the illegal practice of secondary picketing.  Note to any flying climate change pickets – you’re only allowed 6 people on a picket line which I presume makes all these rallies completely illegal in their entirety.

Still, in a world where we seldom see the operatics of large scale industrial action anymore perhaps these pseudo "srtikes" give people a sense of power that is sadly lacking in the 21st century since most post-modern day industrial relations are usually just a lady one has never met before in HR handing one one's P45 in an envelope and asking in a soft voice if there's "anything (she) can do to help"?  Top tip: the answer is not "resign so that we can pay my wages out of your salary".

I’m not sure either why ordinary service based businesses are responsible for the perceived sins of those of us who’ve actually worked in the evil behemoth that is primary industry.  Couldn’t they find a power station or nodding donkey to picket?  Okay it might be difficult to picket an oil rig in the North Sea but there are plenty of land wells in Iraq.  Now that would be a day out…

In all my years in primary industry the only time I remember anyone picketing a refinery was when the government put up duty on petrol - then they were round there faster than you can say "Maggie Maggie Maggie!  Out out out!" (see here)

Somebody said on twitter that strike does not have to mean industrial action but I think if it came to it that might be disputed ...

Protesting is legal but mass picketing isn't legal in the UK - Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1927 (brought in after the General Strike). 

Secondary picketing was banned by the late Mrs Thatcher under the Employment Act 1980. 

And a secret ballot before srike action was made mandatory by her later legislation - the Trade Union Act 1984.  This might explain why the Unions feel they have to negotiate with employers for time off to protest... as they may be liable to a fine if...

Not that this is right but it is so ... so I say so ... there's a reason strikes generate so much legislation - it's because they are about not working... and if there's one think the government really doesn't want... it's us to stop working.

The definition of stupidity is doing something "whatever the circumstances"?

Mr Watson and other senior Labour figures, including shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, say they will campaign to stay in the EU in any circumstances.

The Cabinet Office say the UK will be leaving the EU on 31 October whatever the circumstances. We must respect the referendum result.

Surely the definition of stupidity is doing something "whatever the circumstances"?   


I mean what if Tom & Boris are both devoured by a giant alien shape shifting squid creature that eats the Queen and can't be destroyed even by a nuclear strike... 

... What then? 

The UK will be leaving the EU on 31 October whatever the circumstances

You’re receiving this email because you signed this petition: “Do not prorogue Parliament”. To unsubscribe from getting emails about this petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/signatures/74166777/unsubscribe?token=UawSAhFasLa8Z1YKFEfV Dear Anthony Miller, The Government has responded to the petition you signed – “Do not prorogue Parliament”. Government responded: Prorogation is a prerogative Act of the Crown, exercised on the advice of Ministers. We must respect the referendum result and the UK will be leaving the EU on 31 October whatever the circumstances. The UK will be leaving the EU on 31 October whatever the circumstances. We must respect the referendum result. Prorogation is a prerogative Act of the Crown, exercised on the advice of Ministers, to bring about the end of the parliamentary session. The royal prerogative is the term used to describe the powers held by Government Ministers, either in their own right, or through the advice they provide to the Queen which she is bound constitutionally to follow. The Government determines the length of a parliamentary session and advises the Queen on the date for the beginning of the next parliamentary session. The beginning of the next session is marked by the State Opening of Parliament during which the Queen delivers the Queen’s Speech. The Queen’s Speech sets out the programme of legislation the Government intends to pursue in the forthcoming parliamentary session. As the Prime Minister said in his statement on 2 September 2019, the Government has committed to recruiting another 20,000 police officers, improving both NHS and schools funding, and completing 20 new hospital upgrades. It is to progress the Government’s agenda on these and many other fronts that the Prime Minister has sought to commence a new session of Parliament in October. Parliament is only dissolved before a General Election. Dissolution brings an end to a Parliament. The effect of a dissolution is all business comes to an end and every seat in the House of Commons is vacated until a General Election is held. Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, General Elections are now automatically held every five years and the next general election is scheduled for May 2022. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act removed the prerogative power to dissolve Parliament; no longer can the Prime Minister advise the sovereign to dissolve Parliament and call a General Election. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act also provides the basis on which an early General Election can be triggered: 1. If a motion for an early general election is agreed either by at least two-thirds of the whole House of Commons or without a vote; or 2. If a motion of ‘no confidence’, in the terms set out in the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, is passed and no subsequent motion expressing confidence in Her Majesty’s Government is passed by the Commons within 14 days. In the event of an early-general election, the Fixed-term Parliaments Act allows the Prime Minister to recommend a suitable polling day to the Queen. There will be a Royal Proclamation to set the date. Parliament is then automatically dissolved 25 working days before polling day. The Government would prefer to leave the EU with a deal and will work in an energetic and determined way to get a better deal. The Government is very willing to sit down with the Commission and EU Member States to talk about what needs to be done to achieve that. The Prime Minister has said an election needs to take place ahead of the European Council on 17 to 18 October. This would allow the Prime Minister to go to the European Council with a clear mandate from the British people to deliver the referendum result. Cabinet Office

Humm.  Surely if we're leaving "whatever the circumstances" there's no actual pressure on the EU to agree a deal as they know we're going to leave however bad a deal we get...?

Do or Die Incumbency Pulls...

Boris’s expulsion of 21 Conservative MPs (sorry “withdrawing of the whip from”) leaves several curious questions in my mind.  The first is whether or not he thinks Brexit is a giant game of Escape from Colditz.  And the second is...

 

Well, it doesn’t look to me like Mr Johnson does much in the way of “plan Bs” but one has to wonder how – if Boris gets his wish of a general election in October - CCHQ are going to get candidates in place in that time?

Assuming they've even thought that far ahead...?  Okay half a dozen are retiring anyway but that still leaves two dozen....

Back in the days of David Cameron prospective parliamentary candidates were dispatched to their constituency associations a good two years in advance of the election.  This allowed them to deluge local residents (particularly in ultra-marginals like mine) with industrial quantities of paper Tory propaganda before the short spending limit kicked in during the actual election campaign...

Of course the local associations’ candidate choice processes were not always the most democratic (see here) but at least they bothered to go through a pretence at internal democracy.  With no time to run an exhaustive ballot process will CCHQ effectively just dump candidates on constituencies?
 

Also withdrawing the whip from sitting MPs is never quite as easy as it sounds.  During the 00s David Cameron withdrew the whip from then Croydon Central MP Andrew Pelling in a scandal that became known locally as Pellingate (see here). 

Mr Pelling then sat as an independent while the police investigated but when they couldn’t get enough evidence together to make a case out of Mr Pelling asked for the whip back and Dave said no.  So Mr Pelling stood as an independent splitting the vote.  

Mr Pelling had a lot of money (from supporters) and from his 2^nd career as an Investment Banker which he’d managed to keep going despite being technically off sick from his parliamentary duties with depression and managed to pull 3,239 votes.

A bit of a worry when it’s the 2^nd most marginal constituency in the country.  His successor Gavin Barwell later lost the seat at the next general election (called by Theresa May who gave him a Downing Street job by way of apology which he also lost but that’s another story…).

The point is that sitting MPs are known (by those in politics in polling) to have a thing called “incumbency pull” which basically means because they’ve been there for ages there are a certain number of voters who will tick their box simply because they’re local, seem to be nice or they’ve met them. 

This is why after Dave got rid of Andrew Pelling he gave Gavin a good 2 years to bed himself into the constituency prior to the next election.  Gavin had a blog, a twitter account and generally wandered the streets posting leaflets more frequently than an actual postman.  Boris’s substitute 14 will not have this advantage at the next election …so one wonders if mercy may not be shown to those who grovel?  Or perhaps not…   

Anyway Pelling’s antics give us a possible scale for the size of incumbency pull in the region of 3000 votes (and keep in mind there is no scandal about the below unlike with Pelling) so let’s see of the 21 which have such a majority…

Kenneth Clarke 8,010

Philip Hammond 18,050

David Gauke 19,550

Greg Clark 16,465

Sir Oliver Letwin 19,091

Justine Greening 1,554

Dominic Grieve 24,543

Rory Stewart 15,910

Sir Nicholas Soames: 19,673

Alistair Burt 20,862

Sam Gyimah 23,914

Stephen Hammond 5,622

Guto Bebb 635

Richard Benyon 24,380

Steve Brine 9,999

Richard Harrington 2,092

Margot James 7,654

Anne Milton 17,040

Caroline Nokes 18,006

Antoinette Sandbach 11,942

Edward Vaizey: 17,380

… out of the 21 above at least 1/3 are, as I say, retiring but I count at least 3 seats where incumbency pull could be a real vote-splitting problem if the current soon-to-be-ex-Tory MP stood against a Boris-Conservative candidate …?

Still that’s first past the post for you…

My preparations for Brexit...

I put very brief details into the Government Prepare for Brexit website and it seems that all I need to do to be ready for it is this...

What you need to do now to prepare for Brexit
Based on your answers, we know:

You own or operate a business or organisation
You work in retail and wholesale (excluding food, drink and motors)
Your business imports goods from the EU
You do not employ EU citizens
You do not exchange personal data with EU organisations
You do not use or rely on intellectual property protection
You do not receive EU or UK government funding
You do not sell products or services to the public sector
You are a British national
You live in the UK
You are employed in the UK
You do not plan to travel after 31 October 2019

Your business or organisation
Check if you need to register as an importer and apply to be a 'place of first arrival' to import plants from the EU

The plants may be delayed or rejected when they reach the UK if you do not register.

Read the guidance: Importing and exporting plants and plant products if there’s a no deal Brexit

It takes up to 3 months

Check if you need to pay a tariff on goods you import from the EU

Your goods will be held at customs if you do not pay the correct tariff.

Read the guidance: Check temporary rates of customs duty (tariffs) on imports after a no-deal Brexit.

It takes more than 4 weeks

Get an EORI number that starts with GB to move your goods into or out of the EU

You will not be able to buy goods from or sell goods to the EU without an EORI number.

Read the guidance: Get ready to move goods between or through common transit countries including the EU

It takes up to a week

Register for Transitional Simplified Procedures (TSP) to make it easier to import goods from the EU

You'll need to make full import declarations each time you buy goods from the EU if you do not use TSP.

It takes 2 to 4 weeks

Set up a 'duty deferment account' to pay your customs duties, import VAT and excise duties monthly by Direct Debit, if you need to pay duty

You'll need to pay your import duties as soon as your goods pass through customs if you do not have a 'duty deferment account'.

Read the guidance: Customs procedures if the UK leaves the EU without a deal - Deferring Duty

It takes up to one week

Check if you need permission to sell someone's intellectual property in the EEA, if you've already sold it in the UK

You may not be able to export your intellectual property protected products from the UK to the EEA without the right permission.

Read the guidance: Brexit and exhaustion of intellectual property rights

Do it as soon as possible

Check if you need to apply for a permit for journeys through or between EU countries

You may not be able to transport goods through or between EU countries without an ECMT permit.

Read the guidance: ECMT international road haulage permits

It takes up to 2 weeks

Check what steps you need to take to sell goods to the EU

You may not be able to sell goods to the EU if you do not get your business ready.

Read the guidance: Get your business ready to export from the UK to the EU after Brexit

It takes up to 4 weeks

Check if your customers can give you the right documents for trade with the EU, if you’re a haulier

You may not be able to transport goods through the EU if your customers do not give you the right documents

Read the guidance: International road haulage: no-deal Brexit haulier checklist

It takes more than 4 weeks

Check what documents you need to transport goods through the EU, if you’re a haulier

You will not be able to transport haulage goods through the EU without the right documents.

Read the guidance: Carry out international road haulage after Brexit

It takes more than 4 weeks

Check what steps you need to take in order to import goods from the EU.

If you do not get your business ready, you may not be able to import goods into the UK from EU countries.

Read the guidance: Get your business ready to import from the EU to the UK after Brexit

Do it as soon as possible

If you buy chemicals from the EU, you will need to register on the new UK REACH system

You may not be able to bring chemicals into the UK if you do not register.

Read the guidance: How to comply with REACH chemical regulations

It usually takes up to 6 weeks

You may not need to do all these actions ahead of the 31 October deadline. The action you may need to take may change subject to negotiations and your circumstances.

And there was me worried for a moment...