The lost 'War On Drugs'

The news that Home Secretary Alan Johnson has sacked the chair of his Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) reminds me of kids sticking their fingers in their ears and singing loudly when someone is saying something they don't want to hear. Professor Nutt has been consistent in his questioning of the success of the so called 'War on Drugs'. Like Afghanistan, it is a war that cannot be won.

Professor Nutt is a respected scientist. He and his colleagues make recommendations based on evidence. Alcohol and tobacco kill many more people than cannabis, ecstacy and LSD, yet alcohol and tobacco are legal while the three less harmful substances are not. Professor Nutt's mistake was questioning this. He also opposed the government's reclassification of cannabis from a Class C to a Class B drug. That decision was not based on evidence, but on "public perception" and "the need to send out a message". Possession of a Class B drug carries a sentence of up to five years inmprisonment. Class C carries a maximum of two. The classification makes very little difference in people's decision to use the drug, even though the penalties for being in possession of cannabis are much harsher now than they were a year ago, when cannabis was a class C drug. Professor Nutt says "Overall, cannabis does not lead to major health problems" and that it should not have been reclassified. Facing an election drubbing, the government are desperately trying to maintain a tough image on drugs and crime. The science is politically inconvenient. Professor Nutt, defending his evidence just had to go.

Why the striking postal workers deserve our support

It may be an inconvenience and it may cause major problems for some, but this week's postal strike was unavoidable. Royal Mail's plans for the 'modernisation' of the service, if implemented, will end postal services as we know them.

As Billy Hayes, leader of the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) has said:

"right now we can't avoid a dispute about the heart and soul of the future of mail delivery. It's important that the public know that Royal Mail are running down the public services and we are determined that this will not happen. Running down those services has meant running down jobs and terms and conditions of the workforce. It also means you will pay more for a worse service and be expected to pay for one you currently get for free. This can all be reversed - mail is not in serious decline, despite what the company claims."

At the Plaid conference last month, a motion opposing the privatisation of the Royal Mail was passed. The CWU are not opposed to modernisation. All they ask is that their members are involved in the plans, and not bullied into accepting proposals which will privatise their industry and downgrade their terms and conditions, should they be lucky enough to hold on to their jobs. The CWU are ready for mediation, yet Royal Mail bosses refuse to talk through ACAS.

Compass have come up with proposals to save a public mail service which include the creation of a people's bank using post offices, a call which has been supported by my colleague Dai Lloyd.

Like the bankers, Royal Mail bosses have been creaming off hefty bonuses while the company squeezes the workers and customers. It'll be a long and tough fight, but anyone who values our public mail service should back the postal workers in this dispute.

More on AA and DLA - from the record

Q10 Leanne Wood: What discussions has the First Minister held on the implications for Wales of the UK Government Green Paper 'Shaping the Future of Care Together’? OAQ(3)2328(FM)

The First Minister: That is for England. We will publish next month a Green Paper on the same subject in Wales. Our proposals will be set in the context of our overall approach to policy for older people, described last week in the report by the Institute for Public Policy Research as the most coherent long-term commitment to improving the position of older people of any administration in the United Kingdom in the last decade. That was Wales.
2.30 p.m.

Leanne Wood: First Minister, as you know, I have raised concerns about the future of the attendance allowance and the disability living allowance with you and the Deputy Minister for Social Services. Despite claims that the disability living allowance is not under threat, Lord McKenzie of Luton, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said last week that no options were being ruled out and that all disability benefits were under consideration. Clearly, that has implications for people in Wales. In her letter to me, the Deputy Minister recognised that any plans to replace those benefits with a different system were likely to be met with considerable opposition from stakeholders in Wales. Can you confirm that the Welsh Government will listen closely to the concerns of organisations such as Age Concern, Help the Aged and the Royal National Institute of Blind People about these proposals? Will you confirm that the Welsh Government will oppose any plans from the UK Government that will reduce the incomes and the independence of disabled pensioners and other disabled adults in Wales?

The First Minister: The issue is that the attendance allowance, per se, on its own, is not a devolved matter. If the UK Government decides that it wants to change the attendance allowance, it will. The points that we have made already to the UK Government are that there is a greater degree of dependence on attendance allowance in Wales than in most areas and that how you integrate the attendance allowance with either NHS continuing care or local authority social care will be crucial to any proposals for modernisation. Therefore, when our Green Paper comes out in November—Gwenda Thomas will be the Minister who will publish it—it will provide an opportunity for a full consultation over a 12-week period, I guess, with all stakeholder organisations. To put it in context, there is an English Green Paper and our Green Paper and I am confident that ours will be far better because of the recent compliment from the IPPR on just this kind of issue—an integrated, coherent and holistic policy. However, it cannot be completely different from the English system. It will be a co-payment system. If that is what England is having, that is what we will have in Wales, but it will be far better integrated with what the NHS and local authorities do by way of continuing and social care.

All Party Latin America Group to be launched in the Assembly

Yesterday the First Minister welcomed the ambassadors for Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia to the Assembly to celebrate the achievements of the Bolivian Revolution which is currently gaining support throughout Latin America.

In his welcoming speech, Rhodri Morgan referred to Cuba’s successful health innovations, Bolivia’s new support for the survival of the indigenous language against the pressure from ‘imperial’ Spanish, and told us of the horrors he saw in the barrios of Caracas when he visited Venezuela twenty years ago.

The Venezuelan ambassador explained how the Chavez government had used tax from oil to provide health and education programmes to the barrios where there were no public services before Chavez’s election.

There was also reference to the “memorandum of understanding” between the Welsh and Cuban governments in the field of education. The First Minister indicated that there may be further memoranda in areas such as the environment and sport.

While these countries are far from perfect, there are many things a small country like Wales can learn. Prior to the Cuban Revolution in 1959, 23% of the population were illiterate in a country which had become a playground for rich Americans. After a three year literacy programme, it had been brought down to 4%.

The WWF has said that Cuba is the most sustainable in the world.

Further cooperation with these countries will be assisted by the All Party Latin American group which has been set up in the Assembly, with the support of the public sector union UNISON.

No racism on our streets

Forty people were arrested in clashes between the English Defence League (EDL) and anti-fascist protesters in Manchester yesterday. Despite claiming they are not racist, and despite the BNP leadership seeking to distance themselves from the group, they are racist, and they are linked to the BNP.

A Welsh version of the EDL have called two demonstrations - one in Swansea next Saturday and one in Newport the following week. A new mosque is the reason they plan to demonstrate on Newport.

The EDL have held demonstrations in cities in England throughout the summer. Despite claiming they are not racist, this Searchlight article outlines the danger:

"It is the incendiary concoction of racism, alienation and suspicion that is so dangerous. The EDL is not a fascist organisation but there are fascists in key organisational positions and it is fuelled by Islamophobia and racism. That it is not an open fascist organisation and can mutate and manifest itself in different forms and in different places actually makes it more dangerous."

This shows the EDL links to the BNP.

I am of the view that the EDL/WDL will stir up tensions in Swansea and Newport that hardly exist. Their deliberate provokation means that there is a risk that those tensions will turn nasty, and could leave a lasting impact on those two cities.

I have tried to press the police to ban the marches, after a successful ban in Luton. If the police do not ban the march, I will be in Swansea and Newport, in solidarity with the Muslim community in both those cities, and for a Wales without racism.

As Searchlight says

"Opposing the EDL cannot and should not be left to the Muslim population. They might be the targets of the current wave of racism but if it were not them it would be another minority group, like so many times before. This might involve taking to the streets if the authorities do not or cannot act, but we will do so as a mass movement – a cross section of society – positively saying no to racism and fascism.

In 1946 Pastor Martin Niemöller made a series of speeches, later reproduced as a poem, in which he said that it was failure of people to stand together that allowed the Nazis to win. The context might be different but the sentiments are the same. The EDL and BNP attacks on Muslims are attacks on all of us and we must defend them together in a positive and constructive way."

First they came for the communists,

and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;

Then they came for the socialists,

and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;

Then they came for the Jews,

and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

We're all in this together

No major surprises from the Tory conference. If elected, a Tory government will freeze the pay of low-paid public sector workers, slash tax credits, extend the retirement age and introduce tax breaks for private schools. Yet the rich will be left hardly touched.

In the Netherlands, a cap on bankers' bonuses has been introduced. Under the Tories, the bankers will be let off scot-free. As Paul O'Shea from UNISON Cymru has said today:


"Yet again they (the Tories) are aiming to look after the wealthy, while low-paid public sector workers and those members of the public that depend upon public services pay the price for the bankers' greed."


Quite.