Workplace and Community Organiser. All posts in a personal capacity. Likes and retweets not necessarily endorsements. Certified AI Free Posting
London, England
Joined January 2011
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Martin Smith retweeted
TUC's Paul Nowak calls out Conservative MP Luke Evans who criticised welfare payments.
"A third of those who claim universal credit are in work"
"And we are subsidising poor employers, many of whom are not small businesses, they're large businesses who can afford to pay more"
"And we are subsidising them as taxpayers"
My view:
36% of working Universal Crecit claimants worked more than 30 hours a week.
Telling people to work harder is a hollow response when so many are already putting in substantial hours and still qualify for support.
Why should taxpayers have to top up wages at hugely profitable companies that can afford to pay their staff more?
The people stacking shelves, serving customers and keeping these businesses running help create that wealth. They deserve a fairer share of it.
Universal Credit also helps with housing, children and other household needs.
Politicians should challenge those business decisions with the same energy they direct at benefit claimants.
When companies prioritise shareholder returns while the people generating those returns struggle to cover the basics, something is badly wrong with the system.
Martin Smith retweeted
I’ve resisted saying much about the Brand case bc it’s all straightforward and there are no real issues of law to discuss. However, I’m tired of reading the nonsense being posted on here so I just want to make a few points:
1 the jury decides Qs of fact after the judge has
1/4
Martin Smith retweeted
Congratulations Ilhan Omar. Federal agents raided her home on 12 October. Trump’s border chief talked of stripping her citizenship.
Three weeks later Minneapolis re-elected her with an even bigger share of the vote, 76%.
Trump tried to silence her. Her voters answered.
Martin Smith retweeted
🚨 @RMTunion urges LNER not to ignore ‘systemic racism’ on rail services
The union has sent @LNER its new report exposing how LNER’s outsourcing contracts create occupational segregation for ethnic minority workers: ier.org.uk/news/rmt-urges-ln…
Martin Smith retweeted
Well, well, well.
Would you look at that!
Look who voted against the £100 energy rebate for poor families.
@KemiBadenoch @Conservatives @Nigel_Farage @reformparty_uk @RupertLowe10 @griffitha @alexburghart @Helen_Whately
Martin Smith retweeted
U.S Minimum Wage in 2009: $7.25/hr
U.S minimum Wage in 2026: $7.25/hr
U.S. Billionaire Wealth in 2009: $1.27 trillion
U.S Billionaire Wealth in 2026: $9.15 trillion
Our job: Pass a billionaire wealth tax & raise the minimum wage to at least $20 an hour.
No more excuses.
Martin Smith retweeted
We're hiring an organiser to work with our Hackney branch.
If you've got what it takes to support our members in the fight for housing justice, apply below!
💰 £36,548 a year + wellbeing allowance.
📅 4 day week.
⏰ Deadline: 30 November, 10am
🔗 londonrentersunion.org/jobs
Martin Smith retweeted
Raising interest rates won’t fix inflation driven by rising energy costs and corporate profits. It simply makes debt more expensive, pushes more people into hardship and widens inequality. Why should those with the least pay the price while wealth continues to flow upwards?
Martin Smith retweeted
NEW: The government is making businesses legally accountable for what happens in their supply chains.
Unions have long campaigned for this - we welcome this crackdown on exploitation in global supply chains.
Martin Smith retweeted
Alternative view: without the bravery of the women involved - supported by @RosamundUrwin & @char_wace of the Sunday Times, and @geraldine_mck then of @C4Dispatches but now of our parish - Russell Brand’s crimes may never have come to light.
Martin Smith retweeted
Sean Lock (RIP) on Russell Brand in 2014.
"The reason I hate him so much is because I'm a dad and I have this fear that my daughters will bring something like that home."
Martin Smith retweeted
The BBC consistently interrupts every guest that criticises Israel with a defence on their behalf: “Israel would say [insert genocide justification here]”
They say they do this for “transparency” and “due impartiality”.
If they were honest about that, they would also add the other things Israel themselves have said.
Allow us to demonstrate:
1. “Israel would say [genocide justification] although Isaac Herzog, Israel’s President did say on 12 October 2023 ‘It is an entire nation out there that is responsible’”
2. “Israel would say [genocide justification]. Netanyahu did also say in a letter to his soldiers on November 2023 that Gaza is a ‘holy war of total annihilation’”
3. “Israel would say [genocide justification]. On 9 October 2023, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant also said ‘We are fighting against human animals.’”
4. “Israel Katz, the Energy Minister on 13 October 2023, did say that Gaza's civilians would ‘not receive a drop of water or a single battery until they leave the world.’”
5. “Bezalel Smotrich, Finance Minister in August 2024 said starving two million people “might be just and moral until they return the hostages.’”
The BBC has consistently hidden behind “transparency” and “due impartiality” to defend Israel at every opportunity.
But their cherry-picking of what they say after “Israel says”, is telling of just how opaque and partial they are.
“Israel says” is not inherently bad, if one actually says what Israel says.
Martin Smith retweeted
Victoria Derbyshire says "The Israeli govt would deny..."
This is a compilation I did in February last year. The fact that its still going on is a damning indictment of the BBC and yes, the people who work there & go along with it. People like Derbyshire.
Martin Smith retweeted
Most serious UN & human rights organisations plus scholars of genocide have called it out for what it is; nameley 'genocide'. Why this lame BBC attempt at 'balance', when everyone knows that it is nonsense?
Martin Smith retweeted
“No more military aid to the extremist government in Israel… what they’ve done to the Palestinians is genocidal…” Bernie Sanders tells BBC Newsnight.
The presenter is quick to interject that “the Israeli government would deny they’re extremist…”
Why are we still doing this?
Martin Smith retweeted
The @guardian makes the case: people shouldn't have to wait for GDP growth to live decently. UBI secures incomes, UBS provides essentials, a GND builds productive capacity, and PR enables lasting reform. Growth should serve people, not the other way round.
theguardian.com/commentisfre…
Martin Smith retweeted
It's utterly pathetic the way BBC presenters like Victoria Derbyshire are told by BBC bosses to say to outspoken interviewees like Bernie Sanders things like "President Trump and his family would deny they are corrupt", or "The Israeli Government would deny they are extremist". It's gross over-reaction to Trump libel action against the BBC.
Martin Smith retweeted
The richest man in the world spent more money than most people will see in a lifetime, only to lose a Senate race in Texas by double digits. This is a reminder that we must overturn Citizens United. But it's also a reminder that organized people can still defeat organized money.