Don’t be duped into thinking the affluent South East is unaffected by austerity

 

By Lucette Davies

Think of Eastbourne and you may think of affluent, conservative, apolitical, right wing people and to some extent you would be right.  But there is also poverty, deprivation, homelessness, inadequate housing, people with disabilities and many other vulnerabilities.  There is a growing number of children living in poverty but at last there is a group of vociferous and motivated people determined to do all they can to fight for a fairer society.  I have really felt lucky to join the Eastbourne People’s Assembly and meet with others who agree nobody can afford to stay quiet any longer in the face of  the savage austerity measures being implemented by this government.

Eastbourne People’s Assembly shows solidarity with junior doctors

 

By Lucette Davies

Did you watch Jeremy Hunt speaking yesterday on our news channels about the junior doctor’s strike?  I know I did and I know I felt incensed with anger at his attempt to place a load of spin on the issue that would absolve him of any blame.  This was expected, but I did attend the picket yesterday outside Eastbourne’s District General Hospital along with other members of Eastbourne People’s Assembly.  I felt I wanted to talk about why this was important to me and give some air time to the junior doctor’s point of view in this post.

The Eastbourne public say no to low pay

By Lucette Davies

How much longer can the people of Britain continue supporting a political system that leaves so many unable to afford to pay for their most basic of needs?  The cynics, the sceptics and those who are unable to have the insight and courage to make radical change are getting more vociferous with their grumblings but it seems a lot of people have an appetite for change.  They don’t any longer care simply about the size of the UK deficit or the GDP.  Unsurprisingly they are tired of hearing about people queueing at food banks or choosing between heating and eating.  This change of mood was demonstrated clearly yesterday in Eastbourne Town Centre when members of the local People’s Assembly ran a street stall to campaign for the local NHS hospital trust to pay all staff a living wage.