Spain: Thousands 'March for Dignity' through Madrid's city centre Against Austerity

Ruptly TV

Organizers from the so-called 22M movement estimated that more than 8,000 people joined the rally, the EFE news agency reported.

UK to increase defense spending by 30% in the midst of massive social spending cuts

RT

The British government says it will boost anti-terrorism spending by 30 percent, including buying new stealth fighter jets. The announcement comes on the eve of expected massive spending cuts that could decimate public services.

The decision to increase security spending was made by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne on Sunday, who said he wants to make sure that London is capable of doing its part in the fight against terrorism.

"We are going to step up the aircraft carrier punch of the United Kingdom. We are going to make sure that when these aircraft carriers are available they are going to have planes that can fly from them in force," Osborne told BBC television.

"By 2023, we will be able to have 24 of these jets, some of the most powerful in the world, the F-35, on the decks of these carriers."

To pay for increased anti-terrorism spending, Osborne plans to slash social welfare spending in what the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is calling the most aggressive austerity plan amongst the world's developed nations between now and 2020.

The UK chancellor also refused to rule out introducing spending cuts to the police force. "Every public service has to make sure it is spending money well," he told the BBC.

Osborne is expected to announce an estimated £20 billion ($30 billion) worth of budget cuts on Wednesday, as the Conservative government aims to run a budget surplus by 2020.


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Meanwhile, in Iceland, the 26th banker has been jailed for their role in the 2008 financial crisis

The Independent i100

While British and American bankers who brought the world's economy to its knees in 2008 have barely faced the consequences for their actions, in Iceland, it's a different story.

The Nordic nation, which was one of the worst affected by the 2008 financial crisis, has sentenced 26 bankers to a combined 74 years in prison.

In two separate rulings last week, the Supreme Court of Iceland and Reykjavik District Court sentenced six top managers of two national banks for crimes committed in the lead up to the banking sector's collapse, bringing the total number of people who have faced the music for their roles in the crash to 26. 

At the moment the maximum penalty for white collar crime in Iceland is six years. 

Iceland deregulated its financial sector in 2001, and manipulation of the markets by bankers led to a system-wide meltdown when the global economy tanked in 2008. 

Iceland's economy is now in comparatively rude health since the country was forced to borrow heavily from the International Monetary Fund seven years ago. 

As Iceland's president Olafur Ragnar Grimsson said when asked how the country recovered so quickly:

"We were wise enough not to follow the traditional prevailing orthodoxies of the Western financial world in the last 30 years."

"We introduced currency controls, we let the banks fail, we provided support for the poor, and we didn’t introduce austerity measures like you’re seeing in Europe.

In the US and the UK, of course, we just bailed them out. 

HT US Uncut

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More:This banker has raised millions for the Conservative party. He's just been knighted
More: Bankers more likely to lie, cheat

James Petras: The assassination of Greece

"The European economic crash of 2008/09 resounded worst on its weakest links – Southern Europe and Ireland. The true nature of the European Union as a hierarchical empire, in which the powerful states – Germany and France – could openly and directly control investment, trade, monetary and financial policy was revealed. The much vaunted EU “bailout” of Greece was in fact the pretext for the imposition of deep structural changes. These included the denationalization and privatization of all strategic economic sectors; perpetual debt payments; foreign dictates of incomes and investment policy. Greece ceased to be an independent state: it was totally and absolutely colonized."

James Petras
Voltaire Network

The Greek government is currently locked in a life and death struggle with the elite which dominate the banks and political decision-making centers of the European Union. What are at stake are the livelihoods of 11 million Greek workers, employees and small business people and the viability of the European Union. If the ruling Syriza government capitulates to the demands of the EU bankers and agrees to continue the austerity programs, Greece will be condemned to decades of regression, destitution and colonial rule. If Greece decides to resist, and is forced to exit the EU, it will need to repudiate its 270 billion Euro foreign debts, sending the international financial markets crashing and causing the EU to collapse.

The leadership of the EU is counting on Syriza leaders abandoning their commitments to the Greek electorate, which as of early February 2015, is overwhelmingly (over 70%) in favor of ending austerity and debt payments and moving forward toward state investment in national economic and social development [1]. The choices are stark; the consequences have world-historical significance. The issues go far beyond local or even regional, time-bound, impacts. The entire global financial system will be affected [2].

The default will ripple to all creditors and debtors, far beyond Europe; investor confidence in the entire western financial empire will be shaken. First and foremost all western banks have direct and indirect ties to the Greek banks [3]. When the latter collapse, they will be profoundly affected beyond what their governments can sustain. Massive state intervention will be the order of the day. The Greek government will have no choice but to take over the entire financial system . . . the domino effect will first and foremost effect Southern Europe and spread to the 'dominant regions' in the North and then across to England and North America [4]. 

To understand the origins of this crises and alternatives facing Greece and the EU, it is necessary to briefly survey the political and economic developments of the past three decades. We will proceed by examining Greek and EU relations between 1980 - 2000 and then proceed to the current collapse and EU intervention in the Greek economy. In the final section we will discuss the rise and election of Syriza, and its growing submissiveness in the context of EU dominance, and intransigence, highlighting the need for a radical break with the past relationship of 'lord and vassal'.

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French goverment resigns amid rancor over German austerity pressure

RT

The French government has resigned despite being formed just 4 months ago. They quit after ministers slammed President Francois Hollande's plans for taxation and cuts, while also being critical of Germany’s austerity program.

The statement published on Monday said the new office would be formed on Tuesday and would be in the "direction he (the president) has defined for our country."
 
Following the 2008 financial crisis, Germany has taken the lead to try and resurrect the EU’s economy. This has been marked by cutbacks and taxation, which have not proved to be universally popular within the eurozone. Economics Minister, Arnaud Montebourg, an outspoken critic of Germany, believes that country has hindered France’s development. 

Montebourg said it was time to resist Germany's "obsession" with austerity and work out some alternative ways to promote household consumption. He said that measures that had been introduced since the financial crisis were not doing anything to help the country’s economy grow. He also blamed Germany for factory closures in France. 

"You have to raise your voice. Germany is trapped in an austerity policy that it imposed across Europe," the Socialist minister said in the interview with the French newspaper Le Monde on Saturday. 

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Tens of thousands march in London against coalition's austerity measures

The Guardian 

 

Tens of thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday afternoon in protest at austerity measures introduced by the coalition government. The demonstrators gathered before the Houses of Parliament, where they were addressed by speakers, including comedians Russell Brand and Mark Steel. 

An estimated 50,000 people marched from the BBC's New Broadcasting House in central London to Westminster. 

"The people of this building [the House of Commons] generally speaking do not represent us, they represent their friends in big business. It's time for us to take back our power," said Brand. 

"This will be a peaceful, effortless, joyful revolution and I'm very grateful to be involved in the People's Assembly."

 

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Thousands Stage Anti-Monarchy Protests Across Spain

Anti-monarchy demo held in Madrid, Spain on Saturday, June 7, 2014. Thousands of protesters in Spain urge the abolition of monarchy following the king's recent abdication.

Common Dreams

Anti-monarchy demonstrations were held in over 50 cities across Spain Saturday in protest actions called by leftist groups. In Madrid over 15,000 people marched. Similar demonstrations were held in Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, Oviedo and many other Spanish cities.

Five days after Spanish King Juan Carlos announced his intention to abdicate the throne, the demonstrators demanded a referendum on whether Spain should continue as a monarchy or become a republic.

Monday, shortly after the abdication, a spontaneous outpouring of 20,000 people poured onto Madrid’s streets in a protest led by the 15-M anti-austerity movement. “Spain, tomorrow, will be Republican,” protesters chanted.

An El Pais poll, published Sunday, shows that nearly two thirds, about 62 percent, of Spaniards believe a referendum is necessary to decide whether Spain should continue to have a monarchy.

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IMF to Ukraine: We'll Give You Money If You Give Us Austerity

Comment: More cartel capitalism from the "Structural Adjustment Team"

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Common Dreams

The International Monetary Fund announced on Thursday a $14 to $18 billion "bailout" for Ukraine that is contingent on Kiev's imposition of stringent austerity measures.


The package, which is slated for approval by the IMF's board next month, will unlock credits of up to $27 billion from the United States, European Union, Japan, and other countries over the coming years if Ukraine imposes "economic reforms."

According to Reuters, the IMF's requirements include: "allowing the national currency, the hryvnia, to float more freely against the dollar, increasing the price of gas for the domestic consumer, overhauling finances in the energy sector and following a more stringent fiscal policy."

Ukraine's new government on Wednesday passed a drastic increase in domestic gas prices, to take effect May first, and pledged to gradually reduce energy subsidies — a widely unpopular move that former President Viktor Yanukovych refused to take.

The deal comes amid ongoing anti-austerity protests across Europe, including hundreds of thousands strong protests across Spain over the weekend. Critics charge that austerity measures, by eroding vital public goods and services, deepen crises of poverty and inequality.

Spain austerity: Huge Madrid protest turns violent

BBC News

Violence has broken out at the end of an anti-austerity protest attended by tens of thousands of people in the Spanish capital Madrid.

Dozens of youths threw projectiles at police, who responded by charging at them.

Demonstrators were protesting over issues including unemployment, poverty and official corruption.
They want the government not to pay its international debts and do more to improve health and education.

Irreparable damage
 
The BBC's Guy Hedgecoe in Madrid says protesters travelled from all corners of Spain, many of them making the journey on foot, in order to voice their anger. 

The BBC's Guy Hedgecoe in Madrid says protesters travelled from all corners of Spain, many of them making the journey on foot, in order to voice their anger. 

 

 

Police were confronted by protesters who trekked from the furthest corners of Spain

 

 

 

Police responded to the violence by charging at demonstrators

 

 

 

The government's austerity policies have provoked widespread anger

 

 

 

The protesters blame the policies for high unemployment rates

They called their protest the march of dignity, our correspondent says, because they say that the government of Mariano Rajoy is stripping Spaniards of just that.

For many of them, the cutbacks that Mr Rajoy has implemented, in particular to health and education, are causing Spain irreparable damage. 

Although most of the demonstration took place peacefully, violence broke out later on Friday with a number of arrests and several policeman injured.

Analysts say that Spain came out of recession in the second half of 2013.

But unemployment soared with the government's labour reforms which reduced the cost of hiring and firing.

Record 20% of Households on Food Stamps in 2013

CDS News

A record 20% of American households, one in five, were on food stamps in 2013, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

 

The numbers also show there was a record number of individuals on food stamps in 2013 and that the cost of the program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), was at an all-time high.
The USDA says that there were 23,052,388 households on food stamps in the average month of fiscal 2013, an increase of 722,675 from fiscal year 2012, when there were 22,329,713 households on food stamps in the average month.

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Argentine Default-Era Chaos Relived as Blackouts Follow Looting

Bloomberg

For Dominga Kanaza, it wasn’t just the soaring inflation or the weeklong blackouts or even the looting that frayed her nerves.

It was all of them combined.

At one point last month, the 37-year-old shop owner refused to open the metal shutters protecting her corner grocery in downtown Buenos Aires more than a few inches — just enough to sell soda to passersby on a sweltering summer day.

“It was scary,” said Kanaza as she yelled out prices to customers while sipping on mate, Argentina’s caffeine-rich herbal drink. The looting that began in neighboring Cordoba province when police officers left streets unguarded to strike for higher pay had spread to the outskirts of Buenos Aires, sparking panic in Kanaza’s neighborhood. The chaos, she said, was like nothing she had seen since the rioting that followed the South American nation’s record $95 billion default in 2001.

Thirteen years after that collapse, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is running out of time to avert another crisis. The policy mix that Fernandez and her late husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, used to usher in 7 percent average annual growth over the past decade — higher government spending financed by printing money — is unraveling.

Inflation soared to 28 percent last year, according to opposition lawmaker Patricia Bullrich, who divulges monthly estimates for economists cowed into silence by Fernandez’s crackdown on price reports that clash with official figures. By the government’s count, inflation was less than 11 percent.


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Clashes in Madrid as protest over govt spending spreads to 46 cities

RT

Rallies that started in the Spanish city of Burgos have spread nationwide, including Madrid, leading to 14 arrests in the capital. The initial protest to a costly government project quickly infected other cities in the recession-stricken country.

The capital, Madrid, saw one of 46 protests take place in Spain on Wednesday.

There, several hundred people came out onto Puerta del Sol square in the city center in support of those who had been gathering in Burgos’ Gamonal district for about a week to protest the government’s plans to re-model a street, as well as its brash spending in times of economic difficulties for the country. 

But the protest in Madrid quickly turned into a riot, resulting in several dozen of the more radical protesters clashing with the police, several hours later in the afternoon. 

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£1,430,000,000,000 (that's £1.43 trillion): Britain's personal debt timebomb

Comment: The USA welcomes the UK into official debt slavery....

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The Independent

Britain faces a timebomb as the cost of living crisis forces more people into crippling debt they will not be able to repay, according to a major study published today.

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) think tank, founded by Iain Duncan Smith in 2004, warned that two of the flagship policies he is implementing as Work and Pensions Secretary - the “bedroom tax”  and universal credit - could plunge more people into debt. It revealed that more than 5,000 people are already being made homeless each year because they cannot pay their mortgage or rent.

The study, “Maxed Out,” said that despite the return to economic growth, personal debt in the UK totals £1.43 trillion, close to its all-time high. Average household debt stands at £54,000 - almost twice the level a decade ago. Although much of it stems from mortgages, the report warned that poor people were hit hardest as unsecured consumer debt almost tripled in the last 20 years to nearly £160bn.

According to the CSJ,  households owe the equivalent of 94 per cent of the UK's economic output last year. Only Ireland has a higher ratio of personal debt to GDP amongst European countries.

Privately, ministers are worried that, while interest rates have been held at a record low of 0.5 per cent, less personal debt has been repaid in the UK than countries like the United States. The Bank of England will consider raising rates when unemployment falls from its current 7.6 per cent rate to 7 per cent, triggering a rise in mortgage rates for millions of home-buyers.

The CSJ said more than 26,000 UK households have been classed as “homeless” by local authorities in the past five years, and warned that the number could increase if interest rates rises. Some 3.9m families do not have enough savings to cover their rent or mortgage for more than a month.

Another time-bomb is the number of people retiring before they have paid off their mortgage.  About 40,000 interest-only mortgages are due to mature each year between 2017 and 2032 where the householder will be over 65. Between now and 2020, a third of the shortfalls on endowment mortgages will amount to more than £50,000.

Although the CSJ backed the principle of the “bedroom tax” imposed on tenants in public housing, it said the “spare room subsidy” should not have been removed unless they had refused a “reasonable offer” to “downsize” or work longer hours. It warned there had been “genuine confusion” about the impact of the change and discovered that some local authorities are failing to fully allocate their share of the £25m set aside for discretionary housing payments.

“The potential short-term impact of removing the spare room subsidy on rent arrears is concern in relation to the threat of problem debt,” said the report. There was evidence of some “property swaps” being put on hold until tenants had paid off all their rent arrears, which risked more debts piling up.

The CSJ, which originally proposed the merging of benefits into a universal credit, expressed concern that switching to monthly payments might fuel debt problems. Pilot schemes found that 17 per cent of tenants got behind with their rent and the CSJ warned: “Unnecessary and unmanageable debt would severely undermine the important principle behind this welfare change.”

Christian Guy, the CSJ's director, said problem debt has “taken root in the mainstream of British society.” He added: “Years of increased borrowing, rising living costs and struggling to save has forced many families into a debt trap that is proving very difficult to escape.  Some of the poorest people in Britain are cut off from mainstream banking and have no choice now but to turn to loan sharks and high-cost lenders.”

Today's study found that payday lenders have grown their business from £900m in 2008-09 to more than £2bn. The number of people using illegal loan sharks has risen to more than 310,000 each year. “Their use of violence and intimidation terrorises people and communities, enforcing a 'veil of silence' that allows them to escape detection,” said the report.

Warning that debt is rising “at an alarming rate”, the CSJ concluded: “Unless proactive steps are taken, problem debt in the UK will continue to grow unabated. The current levels of debt are worrying because they not only have severe financial implications,but also more wide-ranging impacts on people's mental health, family stability, and ability to work. These are especially pronounced amongst low-income households and the vulnerable.”

Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, said yesterday that food banks will “not go away any time soon” amid a “new and terrible” rise in poverty.  He told the General Synod of the Church of England that the number of people being admitted to hospital with malnutrition is a “dark stain on our consciences.” The Independent revealed on Monday that the number of cases treated at NHS hospitals has almost doubled since the economic downturn.

To Defend British Pensions, Impose a 1% City of London Sales Tax, and Force the Bank of England to Provide £1 Trillion in 0% Credit for Infrastructure and Industry

Press TV
Tarpley.net

It is called the biggest strike in 30 years in which two million people came out of their homes to strike on what they call the tripling assault on their pensions.

This edition of News Analysis review the impact of the pension cuts on the life of British people and asks: Is this strike only about pensions?

Jobcentres to send poor and hungry to charity food banks

Independent

Tens of thousands of benefits claimants will be referred to food banks by the Government, which is worried that many Britons face a stark choice: starvation or feeding themselves by begging or stealing. 

From tomorrow, jobcentres in England and Wales will refer the needy to charity-run food banks that will give them a food parcel. It is the first time in living memory that hungry people will have been passed on to charities in this way.

The move comes amid growing levels of food poverty, fuelled by rising food prices and high rates of unemployment. Under the scheme, people whose benefits have been delayed, or have been refused crisis loans, will be referred to their local food bank. A claimant will be limited to three consecutive referrals – each time giving them enough food for three days. They will be given basics such as tinned soup, baked beans, meat, fish and pasta.

The scheme will operate from more than 70 food banks run by the Trussell Trust, a Christian charity. It will open another 60 in the next six months, according to Jeremy Ravn, a director. "We are forecasting that we will feed somewhere between 90,000 and 100,000 this financial year," he said. "And we'd expect 30-40 per cent of those to be [caused by] problems over benefits."

Demand for emergency food has soared in many parts of the country. Coventry food bank fed almost 800 people in July – up from 171 in April. In Bournemouth, the figure rose from 168 in April to 348 in August. And in Norwich, the numbers given food jumped from 122 in April to 335 last month.

The total given emergency food boxes will rise from 61,000 in 2010 to an estimated 100,000 this year, according to the trust, which predicts that half a million Britons will need help by 2015. The latest available figures reveal that, in 2008-09 in England and Wales, almost 2.4 million people applied for crisis loans. Only 1.7 million received an initial award, meaning almost 700,000 were left waiting for a loan or had their applications turned down. 

A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said yesterday that the scheme would "signpost" claimants for help. "Jobcentre Plus helps thousands of people every day. As part of that work, we will be happy to signpost those people who need it to the Trussell Trust or other organisations that provide additional help."

Rebecca Waller, 21, from Salisbury, took part in a pilot when she was unemployed earlier this year. "I applied for a crisis loan, which was turned down. I found myself absolutely broke. It was embarrassing having to use the food bank but the people there made me feel really comfortable. Although I only used the scheme once, I'm not sure how I would have coped without it."

Oxfam research shows that up to 6 per cent of Britons report they have enough to eat only "sometimes". 

Helen Longworth, Oxfam's head of UK poverty policy, said: "It's shocking that more and more people in the UK are being forced to go to food banks to be able to eat ... In this day and age, nobody should be forced to choose between paying a bill or feeding their family." 

Greece debt crisis: The 'we won't pay' anti-austerity revolt

Guardian

Among the chic bars along Thessaloniki's historic waterfront, one restaurant stands out. "We want our money!" reads a banner dangling from the terrace of an American-themed diner and grill. Inside, 12 staff have changed the locks, are serving cans of supermarket beer to supporters and taking it in turns to sleep nights on the restaurant floor in protest at months of unpaid wages and the restaurant's sudden closure. This is the new symbol of Greece's spiralling debt crisis: a waiters' squat.

Margarita Koutalaki, 37, a softly spoken waitress, divorced with an 11-year-old daughter, worked here part-time for eight years, earning about €6.50 (£5.70) an hour. Now she is taking turns to sleep on an inflatable mattress in an upstairs room, guarding the squat, while her parents babysit her child.

"I'm owed about €3,000 in unpaid wages," she says, warning her plight is shared by legions of workers all over Greece who are waiting for months for outstanding pay from struggling business owners. "At first we were told we'd be paid the following month, then the pay stopped completely and we were told by phone that the restaurant was closing. We're still working, we're keeping the place going, providing food and drinks to our supporters. We've got more clients than before. This protest is all we can do. It comes naturally." [...]

French group calls for Spain-style street protests

(Reuters) - A French group has called for a large demonstration in Paris this weekend to show solidarity with tens of thousands of youth protesters demonstrating against austerity programs in Spain.

Eyes will be on France this week when President Nicolas Sarkozy hosts world leaders in the seaside town of Deauville for a meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized countries. Such meetings are often the target of anti-globalization protests.

In Spain, tens of thousands of demonstrators, angry over unemployment and austerity measures, packed Madrid's Puerta del Sol square all last week ahead of local elections, overshadowing the last few days of campaigning. The ruling Socialists suffered a major loss at the polls on Sunday. [nLDE74M02A]

Solidarity with "los indignados" (the indignant) in Madrid has already inspired several dozen French youths to spend nights camped out at the Place de la Bastille, the Paris square where a jail was torn down during the 1789 French Revolution.

Protesters say demonstrations spreading this year through the Arab world have crossed the Mediterranean. They describe the fight in Spain as a European struggle against governments who favor the interests of financial institutions.

"They take money, we'll take the street," a French group named after the Spanish "Real Democracy Now" movement said on its website. "We're being strangled by these austerity plans that are multiplying throughout Europe."

Youth unemployment in France, at about 20 percent, is well below Spain's level of 45 percent, but opinion polls suggest the French are angry at sliding purchasing power as stagnant wages fail to keep up with inflation.