Update for members in the Seetec owned CRCs - Joint Trade Union Bulletin
Unions make our anger about poor engagement very clear
Trade unions recently wrote to the KSS CRC Chief Executive Suki Binning. Here we set out our serious disappointment at the lack of tangible progress by SEETEC senior management following agreed actions from the earlier engagement meetings with the unions. The letters are attached to this joint bulletin and articulate the range of issues where we feel no progress has been made.
Pay
In these communications we have among other things been strongly critical of the disinformation that has been issued by some senior managers. Evidence reaching us suggests that it is being said that unions are preventing staff from getting a pay rise! This is a complete fabrication on the real picture which is that SEETEC have failed to undertake appropriate due diligence and have made an unacceptable pay offer which is both inadequate and lacks any acknowledgement of some key facts. Further news on pay will follow.
Engagement with unions
After some quite farcical events leading up to the cancellation of planned pay discussions which should have taken place on 23rd May, it has at last been possible to agree that talks on pay and the issues referenced above can now get underway on 6th and 7th June.
The unions have made it very clear that we have reluctantly made significant concessions (which have caused personal pressures on a number of our reps) to help accommodate these latest changes to scheduled talks. We now expect to see a reciprocal show of commitment from the KSS CRC Chief Executive.
As can be seen from the attached correspondence there are many areas where the level of engagement between KSS CRC/Seetec is no better than the last failing contractors Working Links. While there are many questions to be answered about exactly where all the money has gone to from their insidious and incompetent regime, it’s obviously not reached the pay packets of their former staff.
Our concerns about meaningful engagement and agreeing a programme where the unions can be treated as partners instead of a nuisance, is a situation that needs to be improved and fast. Meanwhile we are making preparations for a series of trade disputes with plans for supportive industrial action should they become necessary.
Future of Probation
All union members and prospective members will have welcomed the news of the Governments dramatic policy U-turn which will see 80% of offender management work move to 11 new NPS regions by the time that the current CRC providers are shown the door by April 2021 (latest) or sooner if there is a Labour Government in power.
While this is a victory for the probation unions it does not give us all that our members are demanding. We do not see any justification for retaining Intervention and Programme work in a so called ‘mixed-market’ and we will continue to demand:
As members will know, the plan for OM work to transfer to Wales by December this year was announced well before the recent Government U-Turn.
This means it is imperative that the transition plan for Wales is the subject of national and local discussion to ensure a smooth transition. The unions are insisting that we be given access to the transitional board meetings between NPS and KSS CRC and that the overarching transfer arrangements for staff will be the subject of high level negotiations similar to those that resulted in the National Staff Transfer and Protections Agreement back in 2013.
The intended roadshows for KSS CRC staff about the transition plans will have no substance whatsoever without there first being a National agreement in place and we will suggest that SEETEC spend that money improving on their pay offer.
The change in policy for probation is welcome but it now means that we are in a further period of uncertainty as consideration is given to how OM work and staff are to be moved out from failing contractors by 2021.
One thing that has already been made clear to senior HMPPS and MOJ leaders is that whatever arrangements are reached on the selection criteria, the likes of SEETEC and other CRC providers must have no part in deciding who goes into the NPS and should merely do as they are instructed by their paymasters. We have suffered four and a half years of an irredeemably flawed Probation service in which all CRC Providers including KSS CRC in some aspects are implicated. Members in this or any other CRC would be well advised to trust the news coming from their trade unions as opposed to speculative comments from employers who may not even be around beyond 2020.
Join a union now!
If ever there were was a need to emphasis the importance of belonging to a trade union this joint bulletin spells it out very clearly! Transforming Rehabilitation and the disastrous impacts of part -privatisation have featured large in reports from the Justice Select Committee, the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee, as well as the Chief Inspector of Probation.
The unions are campaigning for:
Fair pay for all
The reunification of all probation work
An end to all privatisation
A moratorium on formal action against staff for failures not of their making
Restoration of local bargaining across KSS CRC
Immediate action to reduce workload pressures
Staff to be treated with dignity and respect.
Can you afford to leave the struggle to everyone else?
Letter from Napo
Letter from UNISON
Letter from GMB
--oo00oo--
For circulation all Napo Members
Unions make our anger about poor engagement very clear
Trade unions recently wrote to the KSS CRC Chief Executive Suki Binning. Here we set out our serious disappointment at the lack of tangible progress by SEETEC senior management following agreed actions from the earlier engagement meetings with the unions. The letters are attached to this joint bulletin and articulate the range of issues where we feel no progress has been made.
Pay
In these communications we have among other things been strongly critical of the disinformation that has been issued by some senior managers. Evidence reaching us suggests that it is being said that unions are preventing staff from getting a pay rise! This is a complete fabrication on the real picture which is that SEETEC have failed to undertake appropriate due diligence and have made an unacceptable pay offer which is both inadequate and lacks any acknowledgement of some key facts. Further news on pay will follow.
Engagement with unions
After some quite farcical events leading up to the cancellation of planned pay discussions which should have taken place on 23rd May, it has at last been possible to agree that talks on pay and the issues referenced above can now get underway on 6th and 7th June.
The unions have made it very clear that we have reluctantly made significant concessions (which have caused personal pressures on a number of our reps) to help accommodate these latest changes to scheduled talks. We now expect to see a reciprocal show of commitment from the KSS CRC Chief Executive.
As can be seen from the attached correspondence there are many areas where the level of engagement between KSS CRC/Seetec is no better than the last failing contractors Working Links. While there are many questions to be answered about exactly where all the money has gone to from their insidious and incompetent regime, it’s obviously not reached the pay packets of their former staff.
Our concerns about meaningful engagement and agreeing a programme where the unions can be treated as partners instead of a nuisance, is a situation that needs to be improved and fast. Meanwhile we are making preparations for a series of trade disputes with plans for supportive industrial action should they become necessary.
Future of Probation
All union members and prospective members will have welcomed the news of the Governments dramatic policy U-turn which will see 80% of offender management work move to 11 new NPS regions by the time that the current CRC providers are shown the door by April 2021 (latest) or sooner if there is a Labour Government in power.
While this is a victory for the probation unions it does not give us all that our members are demanding. We do not see any justification for retaining Intervention and Programme work in a so called ‘mixed-market’ and we will continue to demand:
- The total reunification of all probation work to public control
- The harmonisation of all staff on to NPS Pay rates before the ending of CRC contracts
As members will know, the plan for OM work to transfer to Wales by December this year was announced well before the recent Government U-Turn.
This means it is imperative that the transition plan for Wales is the subject of national and local discussion to ensure a smooth transition. The unions are insisting that we be given access to the transitional board meetings between NPS and KSS CRC and that the overarching transfer arrangements for staff will be the subject of high level negotiations similar to those that resulted in the National Staff Transfer and Protections Agreement back in 2013.
The intended roadshows for KSS CRC staff about the transition plans will have no substance whatsoever without there first being a National agreement in place and we will suggest that SEETEC spend that money improving on their pay offer.
The change in policy for probation is welcome but it now means that we are in a further period of uncertainty as consideration is given to how OM work and staff are to be moved out from failing contractors by 2021.
One thing that has already been made clear to senior HMPPS and MOJ leaders is that whatever arrangements are reached on the selection criteria, the likes of SEETEC and other CRC providers must have no part in deciding who goes into the NPS and should merely do as they are instructed by their paymasters. We have suffered four and a half years of an irredeemably flawed Probation service in which all CRC Providers including KSS CRC in some aspects are implicated. Members in this or any other CRC would be well advised to trust the news coming from their trade unions as opposed to speculative comments from employers who may not even be around beyond 2020.
Join a union now!
If ever there were was a need to emphasis the importance of belonging to a trade union this joint bulletin spells it out very clearly! Transforming Rehabilitation and the disastrous impacts of part -privatisation have featured large in reports from the Justice Select Committee, the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee, as well as the Chief Inspector of Probation.
The unions are campaigning for:
Fair pay for all
The reunification of all probation work
An end to all privatisation
A moratorium on formal action against staff for failures not of their making
Restoration of local bargaining across KSS CRC
Immediate action to reduce workload pressures
Staff to be treated with dignity and respect.
Can you afford to leave the struggle to everyone else?
Letter from Napo
Letter from UNISON
Letter from GMB
--oo00oo--
For circulation all Napo Members
Dear Napo Members,
Please see the attached letter the General Secretary Ian Lawrence has written to the Seetec company representative. You will read the stark continuity of the Seetec position adopts not much difference from their predecessors Working Links. The facts are as the general secretary describes and who stands very tall today post yesterdays fantastic news. Let us not be complacent the fight to save interventions from the misery and ideological failings of profit from probation's services in Privatisation continues. It is NAPOs common purpose to see the end of the fundamentally wrong flawed and failed Privatisation activity for any offender services. The Intervention reunification arguments will continue as the Private companies now have to come to terms with the reality. Case management goes back to where it can be managed properly and put public protection as the priority before profits.
The talks on the derisory Pay offer from seetec continue next week. I will keep you posted on how this goes. Ian's letter makes clear the fairly low ebb trade union relations are with the new contractor seetec as they fail to get a proper understanding on how to work productively with Trade Union relations or properly under the terms of meaningful discussions as the GS point out.
I will post out the held over branch report shortly while we have been waiting for the reunification news. The SSW branch congratulate National Napo and all the unions and members for working through and winning part of this great outcome and important U turn on offender public protection services
Dino Peros
Napo SSW Branch Chair
Napo SSW Branch Chair
--oo00oo--
Suki Binning, Chief Executive
Kent Surrey and Sussex CRC
12 May 2019
Dear Suki,
While I am writing this letter from the perspective of Napo, it will come as no surprise that the probation unions have serious concerns at the lack of tangible progress following the action points that were agreed between Seetec and KSS CRC senior leaders and the trade unions in Cardiff on 9th April 2019. My disappointment is profound, because despite some obvious difficulties, the meeting seemed to mark a significant step forward from the disrespectful treatment that we had become used to under the Working Links regime.
I have also expressed my concerns (as contained in the following narrative) with senior HMPPS leaders in the Probation Programme, in so far that the expected arrangements for engagement between KSS CRC and the unions is already failing to pass muster.
The unions are in receipt of your recent response to the joint pay claim, and I expect that a joint reply will reach you before our meeting to discuss this, on which we are currently trying to identify a date with Paul Giles.
Whilst I readily accept that there were a number of actions agreed upon at Cardiff and that some of these were bound to take longer than others, I must express Napo’s concern at the clear refusal (against a previously agreed action from the Cheltenham meeting) to release the 90-Day Transition Plan. Apart from a brief snapshot which was seriously short on detail, this has still to see the light of day since the Unions were first promised sight of it at the initial meeting. I was genuinely shocked to hear at Cardiff that this was not to be issued to us after all; this was an act of bad faith of the type that mirrored what we regularly encountered from the former employer.
The list below represents some examples of other actions that we had expected would have seen priority action by now. Especially as many of them have featured as legacy issues from the disputes with Working Links.
Communications
As I write, I have just received disturbing news suggesting that one of your managers has claimed during a recent staff ‘roadshow’ that secret meetings have taken place with Napo and management over an operational matter. Suffice to say I am investigating this reported incident and that the events described are a complete fabrication. Moreover, if I receive sufficient evidence to prove that the report of the manager’s comments is accurate then I will be taking the appropriate action.
I am well used to seeing off previously unsuccessful attempts by employers who have sought to discredit Napo with misinformation, and I sincerely hope that this is not another example of such reprehensible behaviour.
Of far more importance however, is the negative feedback from these ‘roadshow’ events that, as reported to me, have featured comments such as: ‘it’s the Unions who are standing in the way of your pay rise’.
This example and the stream of glossy corporate messages that are being regularly issued to staff in the face of the continuing operational issues that we have sought to raise and engage with you on, are being received with a combination of cynicism and sheer disbelief by staff. At best they appear as clumsy ill-conceived propaganda, and at worst they represent a colossal failure by senior management to recognise the difficulties being experienced by their workforce.
The above situation is compounded by the intention to issue a staff survey, which from the feedback reaching me will likely be a total waste of time and precious resources, let alone the questionable rationale underpinning the charitable donations ‘incentive’. I have seen so many employers over the years who believe that staff surveys will give them an entirely different perspective about what is actually happening on the ground, as they have mistakenly reached the conclusion that the unions are simply making up stories (we do not) or are just an irritant to be simply ignored (we are not).
As and when it becomes possible for the unions and your SLT to meet again, I would hope that it would be possible for you to prioritise that engagement as I have been doing. This will provide me with the confidence that your team will have the appropriate level of leadership in place to enable them to make decisions where necessary.
Operational Issues
When your SLT met with the unions to discuss the transition and operational plan for the former Wales, DDC and BSWG CRC’s there seemed to be a clear understanding of one another’s position moving forward. Notwithstanding the non-appearance of the 90-day plan, we did get some encouragement in respect of how we might iron out some areas of the previous dispute and we identified some key areas where work was needed to stabilise the organisation and to assist staff during this latest period of uncertainty.
Of course, there were some areas where there was a difference of opinion and no expectation from Napo that we could resolve all of the issues. Nevertheless, promises to revert on our request to be part of the Transition Board have failed to materialise, while further announcements are made directly to staff that make no mention of the positive agenda being proposed by the unions. I still await sight of the emerging transitional plan and the reasons why we have yet to be invited to the Board.
Much was made in Cardiff about going back to a traditional probation approach. This was obviously welcomed by Napo, but it was acknowledged that it will only happen with an increase in staffing an adherence to existing work measurement tools and a change to discredited and dangerous working practices implemented by the incompetent previous providers whose footprints SEETEC have inherited. This is why we suggested that local JNCC’s should be established pending consideration of the wider collective bargaining agenda. The outstanding issues over the delivery of intervention work which in some areas had seriously declined even before the collapse of Working Links, show no sign of improvement and also need to be a priority subject for discussion.
Another concern discussed in Cardiff was the status of the minimum contact specification regime where we had expected an early invitation to engage with you at regional JNCC level to monitor progress here. We still await tangible proposals and suggested dates for engagement.
In terms of the transition of OM work to Wales, I am pleased to say that engagement between the NPS, Dawn Blower and the union reps from Wales is starting to take shape. The introduction of Sara Robinson will hopefully assist in enabling a smooth transition, but again there needs to be a clarity of message here so that staff who are likely to be impacted can consider their personal circumstances and raise questions in advance of the intended transfer to the NPS which is only just over six months away.
At our last joint meeting, the issue of workloads was discussed at length. KSS CRC acknowledged that workloads are considerably higher in the former Working Links areas and that this needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The unions proposed a moratorium for staff involved in formal processes such as absence management and capability as a result of workloads, especially in the former Devon Dorset and Cornwall CRC areas. Your SLT agreed to review all the cases, and institute group and individual stress assessments while you considered the union’s request. Since then I have seen no formal response or any such initiatives, but have learned (again by way of announcements at a ‘roadshow’ event) that our proposal has been rejected. This has caused serious anger amongst our members, especially in that area of your estate. I am due to address the Napo SSW Branch AGM next month and I am fully expecting that there will be a call for a member’s ballot for action over this issue.
Another key issue that was on the Cardiff agenda was that of estates. Your team acknowledged that some of the (now enlarged) KSS CRC estate is in urgent need of action for operational as well as health and safety reasons. Reps had identified key location issues and we expected an update from the employer so that joint engagement and inspections could take place. We still await news.
Further work is also required on the future collective bargaining arrangements that meet the needs of both parties whilst acknowledging a wide geographical area. It was agreed that pan-CRC JNC’s will need to be established for collective negotiating such as pay, but that more local forums are required to look at issues such as staffing and workloads.
Agreement has still to be reached on the harmonisation of KSS and Working Links policies and Napo has made our view clear; we stand by the terms of the National Staff Transfer and Protections Agreement and any attempt to depart from that are simply non-negotiable. I also stated that I believe this longer-term discussion will have to wait until we know what the future landscape is for probation going forwards; one that may look markedly different from that we are in now.
It may be that this letter elicits further views from colleagues in Napo’s sister unions on these issues and any others not covered here and I genuinely hope that we can start to see tangible signs of progress on the foregoing. As you would expect I am under some pressure to convene a trade union side meeting to explore the possible options around regional and or collective disputes if we cannot move forward.
After nearly four years of being in such a position with Working Links it is a scenario that we could all do without, and I hope that you will agree that our time and energy would be far better spent in meaningful engagement with a view to reaching agreement.
I look forward to your reply and a suggested programme that unions and the employer can jointly work towards achieving within the existing term of your contract.
Yours sincerely
IAN LAWRENCE
General Secretary
Suki Binning, Chief Executive
Kent Surrey and Sussex CRC
12 May 2019
Dear Suki,
While I am writing this letter from the perspective of Napo, it will come as no surprise that the probation unions have serious concerns at the lack of tangible progress following the action points that were agreed between Seetec and KSS CRC senior leaders and the trade unions in Cardiff on 9th April 2019. My disappointment is profound, because despite some obvious difficulties, the meeting seemed to mark a significant step forward from the disrespectful treatment that we had become used to under the Working Links regime.
I have also expressed my concerns (as contained in the following narrative) with senior HMPPS leaders in the Probation Programme, in so far that the expected arrangements for engagement between KSS CRC and the unions is already failing to pass muster.
The unions are in receipt of your recent response to the joint pay claim, and I expect that a joint reply will reach you before our meeting to discuss this, on which we are currently trying to identify a date with Paul Giles.
Whilst I readily accept that there were a number of actions agreed upon at Cardiff and that some of these were bound to take longer than others, I must express Napo’s concern at the clear refusal (against a previously agreed action from the Cheltenham meeting) to release the 90-Day Transition Plan. Apart from a brief snapshot which was seriously short on detail, this has still to see the light of day since the Unions were first promised sight of it at the initial meeting. I was genuinely shocked to hear at Cardiff that this was not to be issued to us after all; this was an act of bad faith of the type that mirrored what we regularly encountered from the former employer.
The list below represents some examples of other actions that we had expected would have seen priority action by now. Especially as many of them have featured as legacy issues from the disputes with Working Links.
Communications
As I write, I have just received disturbing news suggesting that one of your managers has claimed during a recent staff ‘roadshow’ that secret meetings have taken place with Napo and management over an operational matter. Suffice to say I am investigating this reported incident and that the events described are a complete fabrication. Moreover, if I receive sufficient evidence to prove that the report of the manager’s comments is accurate then I will be taking the appropriate action.
I am well used to seeing off previously unsuccessful attempts by employers who have sought to discredit Napo with misinformation, and I sincerely hope that this is not another example of such reprehensible behaviour.
Of far more importance however, is the negative feedback from these ‘roadshow’ events that, as reported to me, have featured comments such as: ‘it’s the Unions who are standing in the way of your pay rise’.
This example and the stream of glossy corporate messages that are being regularly issued to staff in the face of the continuing operational issues that we have sought to raise and engage with you on, are being received with a combination of cynicism and sheer disbelief by staff. At best they appear as clumsy ill-conceived propaganda, and at worst they represent a colossal failure by senior management to recognise the difficulties being experienced by their workforce.
The above situation is compounded by the intention to issue a staff survey, which from the feedback reaching me will likely be a total waste of time and precious resources, let alone the questionable rationale underpinning the charitable donations ‘incentive’. I have seen so many employers over the years who believe that staff surveys will give them an entirely different perspective about what is actually happening on the ground, as they have mistakenly reached the conclusion that the unions are simply making up stories (we do not) or are just an irritant to be simply ignored (we are not).
As and when it becomes possible for the unions and your SLT to meet again, I would hope that it would be possible for you to prioritise that engagement as I have been doing. This will provide me with the confidence that your team will have the appropriate level of leadership in place to enable them to make decisions where necessary.
Operational Issues
When your SLT met with the unions to discuss the transition and operational plan for the former Wales, DDC and BSWG CRC’s there seemed to be a clear understanding of one another’s position moving forward. Notwithstanding the non-appearance of the 90-day plan, we did get some encouragement in respect of how we might iron out some areas of the previous dispute and we identified some key areas where work was needed to stabilise the organisation and to assist staff during this latest period of uncertainty.
Of course, there were some areas where there was a difference of opinion and no expectation from Napo that we could resolve all of the issues. Nevertheless, promises to revert on our request to be part of the Transition Board have failed to materialise, while further announcements are made directly to staff that make no mention of the positive agenda being proposed by the unions. I still await sight of the emerging transitional plan and the reasons why we have yet to be invited to the Board.
Much was made in Cardiff about going back to a traditional probation approach. This was obviously welcomed by Napo, but it was acknowledged that it will only happen with an increase in staffing an adherence to existing work measurement tools and a change to discredited and dangerous working practices implemented by the incompetent previous providers whose footprints SEETEC have inherited. This is why we suggested that local JNCC’s should be established pending consideration of the wider collective bargaining agenda. The outstanding issues over the delivery of intervention work which in some areas had seriously declined even before the collapse of Working Links, show no sign of improvement and also need to be a priority subject for discussion.
Another concern discussed in Cardiff was the status of the minimum contact specification regime where we had expected an early invitation to engage with you at regional JNCC level to monitor progress here. We still await tangible proposals and suggested dates for engagement.
In terms of the transition of OM work to Wales, I am pleased to say that engagement between the NPS, Dawn Blower and the union reps from Wales is starting to take shape. The introduction of Sara Robinson will hopefully assist in enabling a smooth transition, but again there needs to be a clarity of message here so that staff who are likely to be impacted can consider their personal circumstances and raise questions in advance of the intended transfer to the NPS which is only just over six months away.
At our last joint meeting, the issue of workloads was discussed at length. KSS CRC acknowledged that workloads are considerably higher in the former Working Links areas and that this needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The unions proposed a moratorium for staff involved in formal processes such as absence management and capability as a result of workloads, especially in the former Devon Dorset and Cornwall CRC areas. Your SLT agreed to review all the cases, and institute group and individual stress assessments while you considered the union’s request. Since then I have seen no formal response or any such initiatives, but have learned (again by way of announcements at a ‘roadshow’ event) that our proposal has been rejected. This has caused serious anger amongst our members, especially in that area of your estate. I am due to address the Napo SSW Branch AGM next month and I am fully expecting that there will be a call for a member’s ballot for action over this issue.
Another key issue that was on the Cardiff agenda was that of estates. Your team acknowledged that some of the (now enlarged) KSS CRC estate is in urgent need of action for operational as well as health and safety reasons. Reps had identified key location issues and we expected an update from the employer so that joint engagement and inspections could take place. We still await news.
Further work is also required on the future collective bargaining arrangements that meet the needs of both parties whilst acknowledging a wide geographical area. It was agreed that pan-CRC JNC’s will need to be established for collective negotiating such as pay, but that more local forums are required to look at issues such as staffing and workloads.
Agreement has still to be reached on the harmonisation of KSS and Working Links policies and Napo has made our view clear; we stand by the terms of the National Staff Transfer and Protections Agreement and any attempt to depart from that are simply non-negotiable. I also stated that I believe this longer-term discussion will have to wait until we know what the future landscape is for probation going forwards; one that may look markedly different from that we are in now.
It may be that this letter elicits further views from colleagues in Napo’s sister unions on these issues and any others not covered here and I genuinely hope that we can start to see tangible signs of progress on the foregoing. As you would expect I am under some pressure to convene a trade union side meeting to explore the possible options around regional and or collective disputes if we cannot move forward.
After nearly four years of being in such a position with Working Links it is a scenario that we could all do without, and I hope that you will agree that our time and energy would be far better spent in meaningful engagement with a view to reaching agreement.
I look forward to your reply and a suggested programme that unions and the employer can jointly work towards achieving within the existing term of your contract.
Yours sincerely
IAN LAWRENCE
General Secretary
So nothing has changed except the CRC ownership. Dino continues to fight bare-knuckle, wihile Napo HQ are riding on his coat-tails (the Napo letter signed 'Ian Lawrence' can only have been written by Dino). The CRC owners seem only to vary in their capacity to mislead, deceive or cheat. The MoJ/HMPPS seem only to want to intervene selectively, i.e. when its politically expedient but NOT when it involves staff welfare, terms & conditions or staff pay.
ReplyDeleteJB nails it again with his opener: "In what feels alarmingly like a re-run of the original TR process"
No-one should expect anything to change significantly - not now, or in 2021 - not even if there's a change of government. The 'mixed economy' is far too lucrative for too many decision-makers. Its here to stay. Beancounters, snake oil marketeers & bullies will continue to rule the roost unless or until there's a cure for the poisonous greed that has infected our nation. Too many have invested too much for that to change in less than a generation or two.
Respect you opinion 703 but let us hope collectively the change of government does stop the mixed economy. The description of bar knuckle is a wonderful image if it only it could all be settled over a 12 rounds of three minutes I dare say the unions anger would win that hands down. I think the Chair of that branch is much more sophisticated in his strategy for protecting union members than anything else.
DeleteBoris summoned to court for misconduct in public office and telling lies.
ReplyDeleteCould Grayling be next? Should Grayling be next?
http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2019/05/29/chris-grayling-to-stand-in-liberal-leadership-race/
I've discovered a classic piece of funky soul, powered by brass & clearly dedicated to JB:
ReplyDelete"I've been through all them changes
A lot of stuff came down
I've dealt with all the issues
You might say I've been around
But back when I got started
There was a righteous sound
It doesn't matter what I've been through
I'll still be diggin' on James Brown
Ya know the more things change
The more they stay the same
It may be a different age
But I'm on the same page
Cause one thing that I've found
I'll still be diggin' on James Brown..."
Songwriters: Emilio Castillo / Kenneth Allen Kessie / Stephen M. Kupka
Diggin' On James Brown lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfj8zxGos10
Get on down y'all...