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”What Do You Mean School Holidays Is Still 2 Week’s Off!” Scream Nation’s Teachers
Australian school teachers have let out a collective scream, upon the realisation that the World’s longest term still has a week and a half to go.
”Oh, dear God please end this term,” cried Launceston Primary school teacher Mary Chalk. ”The kids are ratty, they’re all sugared up from Easter and quite frankly I’m not paid enough for this.”
”An 11 week term! What genius thought this one up.”
It’s not just Teachers upset, parents aren’t happy with school holidays and Easter not lining up this year as well.
”Bloody bureaucrats, don’t they realise that a lot of people just go away for the whole Easter/school holidays.” said Father of two Ivar Jeep. ”I mean, this weekend we only got a couple of days down at the shack, wasn’t even worth bringing down the boat.”
”And we’ve gotta do it all again in two weeks time.”
”Should’ve just left the boat there.”
The education department could not be reached for comment, they were already on holidays.
Mark Williamson
@MWChatShow
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Former MP Smith quits Labour after suspension for refusing to vote for cuts
Labour under control freak Starmer has no respect or inclusivity, says former Crewe and Nantwich MP Laura Smith, who also cites Starmer’s Gaza stance as a driver for her decision
Former Crewe and Nantwich MP Laura Smith has quit the Labour party with a blistering attack on Labour’s lack of standards and inclusivity under Keir Starmer, after being suspended from the Cheshire East council Labour group for refusing to vote in support of a package of swingeing Tory cuts.
In a public statement about her decision to resign, Smith said that she:
entered mainstream politics back in 2017 after years of activism in social justice
movements after growing up in a family of trade union and socialist values. I stuffed
leaflets In the Labour Party envelopes and served tea and biscuits at the meetings of the local group as a child, and some of my earliest memories were of Saturdays spent In the car with my dad as he drove Gwyneth Dunwoody, the MP at the time around the constituency. I knew my core values from a very early age and I knew from the feeling in the pit of my stomach that my fight was always going to be equality and social justice. I experienced many things growing up that further shaped my beliefs and that feeling only grew as I became an adult.Being supported by my local Labour party and then becoming an MP representing my home towns was something that I couldn’t ever have Imagined. As someone from a challenging background and always struggling to make ends meet, it wasn’t a future that I felt was possible. But it did happen In a whirlwind of political change and hope for an alternative in the snap general election of 2017. I was elevated into a position where I felt that I could make a difference and my motivation was always the same. Those same values that I had harboured since being a little girl.
That two and half years in Parliament was an experience that I will always cherish and struggle with, in equal measures. The stark reality of our political system is one that I cannot pretend hasn’t made me more cynical, less hopeful for a real alternative and unfortunately more worried for the future. When I was elected, I hoped that I could prove to young girls and women who had been just like me that their voices could be heard, that they could make a difference and that they could be the changemakers and creators of a better world. The sad reality is that the system itself hampers the opportunity for real progress.
I would love to say that politics is a safe space for women. It isn’t. I would desperately like to say that debate and conflict is healthy and respectful. It’s not. I wish I could say that the old tropes that politics is a dirty corrupt business were untrue. But sadly it is. And that is from the top of our system all the way down to local politics.
More than anything I would like to say that the Labour Party itself sets a standard of
inclusivity and respect but that would be untruthful in my experience. It has become a place where to have a thought in your head that differs to the Labour leadership and the officials behind the scenes is an offence that can lead to suspension or even expulsion. At a local level it is a space where judgment is felt because as a full-time working mother juggling multiple caring responsibilities as well as often working Saturdays, you can’t sit in meeting after meeting or knock on doors in your rare free hours. I have heard the tutting and watched the finger wagging and listened to the comments and I think that it unfortunately remains the case that to be valued in the party you need to have lots and lots of free time. Naturally that means being either retired, not have caring responsibilities, being healthy both physically and mentally, and more often then not financially secure. Equality right? This Is before even
touching on the factional aspects that rage through the party, manifesting Itself through bullying, belittling, a culture of fear and a general lack of respect.I am not perfect. I don’t have all of the answers. But one thing I am not is a hypocrite. It is for that reason, and after much consideration, I have decided to resign my membership of the UK Labour Party, rather than appeal my recent suspension letter by the local labour group at Cheshire East Council. I was suspended for not voting In line with the whip, but as I stated at the council meeting on the 27th of February I cannot support an austerity budget that places local councillors as the punching bag tor a Tory Government determined to destroy public services. This has not been an easy decision, but it is on balance the right one for me.
The reasons that I have stated combined with the position the Labour Party leadership is taking on international policy as well as domestic issues is now completely at odds with my personal beliefs and unfortunately, I feel that an alternative voice is no longer respected within the party structures. I would like to thank the great many friends that I have within the party who I hope will continue to value and respect me as I value and respect them. I will continue to serve my ward of Crewe South as an independent socialist councillor on the political values that I have always openly and honestly shared and was elected on.
I remain dedicated to fighting for true equality and Justice for the people in this country who quite simply are not receiving anywhere near the service and quality of life that they deserve. There is a complete void of honesty, decency, ambition and leadership from those with the true power to change things. Talk is cheap and the dishonesty that I have encountered on a daily basis in politics is something that I simply could not have imagined.
Bravery is required in desperate times, and democracy can only really work when fear and desire for power is not the driving force behind people’s motivations. It is our actions that define who we are and we owe it to ourselves to be true. I will be true to the little girl I once was and not allow my voice to be erased and my opinions silenced.
Smith was re-elected last year as councillor for Crewe South and will continue to serve, but as an independent.
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Palestinian ambassador’s 7yo niece killed, left hanging from building by Israeli bomb
Eight of Husam Zomlot’s wife’s family murdered, including 7yo twins, in Rafah attack as Israel’s genocide continues. Starmer silent
Israel has murdered an entire family group of Palestinian ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot, leaving the mutilated body of Sidra, the seven-year-old cousin of Zomlot’s wife hanging, mutilated, from the outside of a building after she was flung from her home by the force of the blast. Sidra’s twin sister Suzan, her baby brother and five other members of their family including their parents and grandparents were also murdered in Israel’s war on Palestinian civilians and its assault on Rafah in south Gaza, where it had told the Palestinian people to flee for safety.
Ambassador Zomlot announced the tragic news on his social media:
This is 7 year old Sidra, the cousin of my wife. The impact of the Israeli missile was so powerful it flung her out, leaving her mutilated body dangling from the ruins of the destroyed building in Rafah 48 hours ago. My wife’s aunt Suzan, her husband Fouzy Hassouna, two of their… pic.twitter.com/0RFgyPUdzu
— Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) February 14, 2024
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and MP Andy McDonald, who was suspended by Keir Starmer for wishing for both Palestinians and Israelis to have peace, responded:
My dear Husam and family, i am shocked angry and appalled at your loss and the thousands more in this dusgusting onslaught on the Palestinian people. You do so much good to represent Palestine despite the terrible pain of such loss.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) February 14, 2024
Husam, I am so so sorry to read this truly appalling news.
This is beyond unbearable.
All the words have been said over and over again, yet still the killing of the innocents continues.
In the name of God and in all humanity, the killing has to stop now.— Andy McDonald MP (@AndyMcDonaldMP) February 14, 2024
‘Labour’ ‘leader’ Keir Starmer, who has supported Israel’s ‘right’ to commit war crimes but put out a far too late call for a ceasefire after learning that pro-Palestinian, Jewish former ANC MP Andrew Feinstein plans to stand against him in the next parliamentary election, has not commented as of the time of writing.
Neither has Starmer’s Shadow Home Secretary David Lammy, nor Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Skwawkbox offers heartfelt sympathy and solidarity to Husam Zomlot and his family.
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