The following article is in Italian. Related English version will follow shortly.

La Costituzione è sempre all’ultima moda

Gli italiani a Londra hanno mantenuto la loro promessa anche questa volta, scendendo in piazza il 12 Marzo per difendere la Costituzione.

La folla, pur non numerosa come nella precedente manifestazione ‘Se non ora, quando?’, si è avvalsa di numerosi e approfonditi interventi da parte dei rappresentanti del gruppo organizzatore della marcia stessa, il Popolo Viola London. Tricolori di varie dimensioni hanno contribuito a rendere più intensa l’atmosfera.

La folla si è riunita, come di rito, nel primo pomeriggio a Richmond Terrace, di fronte alla sede del PM in Downing Street. Sono stati ricordati i valori della Resistenza, da cui la nostra Costituzione è nata, citando il pensiero di alcuni suoi valorosi esponenti e ponendo l’accento sia sull’importanza del pensiero democratico che dello stato di diritto.

E’ stato sottolineato il valore degli art. 1 e art. 4 della Costituzione, offesi da lavoro precario e giovani costretti a passare da uno stage al successivo senza prospettive per il futuro, con la conseguente fuga di cervelli all’estero. E’ stato inoltre evidenziato il problema del lavoro svolto in condizioni non dignitose.

Il mancato rispetto dell’art. 21 in un paese in cui l’informazione tutta, internet escluso, è in mano al Presidente del Consiglio, è stato un altro dei temi centrali della protesta e non meno scottante di quello dell’istruzione. Sembra infatti che l’attuale Governo voglia scardinare gli art. 33 e art. 34 che difendono sia il valore della scuola pubblica che il diritto di ognuno all’istruzione in base alle proprie capacità.

Il tema del vilipendio dell’art. 3 sulla pari dignità sociale di tutti i cittadini e soprattutto dell’art. 54, calpestato da figure politiche di rilievo che continuano ad applicare o meno la legge in base ai propri interessi personali, hanno contribuito ad animare lo scambio di idee tra la folla. Alcuni partecipanti, infatti, sono intervenuti per esprimere la loro opinione.

Tra i vari italiani presenti all’evento c’era Rossella Merlino, trentaquattrenne che collabora attivamente con il Popolo Viola London e lavora nella capitale britannica come ricercatrice.

“Sono molto vicina alla difesa dell’art. 3 della Costituzione; la pari dignità sociale è un diritto essenziale e deve essere preservato tenacemente da tutti gli italiani – spiega Rossella – purtroppo, invece, stiamo retrocedendo: da un lato c’è il nostro Primo Ministro pronto ad attaccare gli articoli costituzionali, manipolandoli a difesa dei suoi interessi personali; dall’altra c’è una popolazione poco partecipe alla vita politica ed un Governo che di certo non agevola tale interazione”.

Numerosi gli studenti decisi a manifestare, come Francesco Mandolini, che frequenta la London School of Journalism.

“Sono qui soprattutto a difesa degli art. 33 e art. 34 della Costituzione. I forti tagli alla scuola pubblica rendono il nostro Governo un elemento di attacco alla pubblica istruzione nel suo complesso. La scuola, oltre ad essere un diritto ineludibile per ogni cittadino, è lo strumento che aiuta a formare le menti e quindi a pensare. Sembra che i nostri politici temano un popolo dotato di opinioni proprie”.

Il C-Day a Londra ha inoltre catturato l’attenzione di qualche passante inglese solidale alla nostra causa, come Richard Willmsen, insegnante trentottenne che ha citato il problema del mancato rispetto dell’art. 21 della Costituzione.

“E’ fantastico vedere un popolo così motivato nel difendere i propri diritti. Mi sembra che in Italia non ci sia libera informazione e credo il problema consista nel fatto che tutti i media sono in mano a Berlusconi. Internet è l’unica oasi di libertà, poiché permette la libera espressione dei cittadini, ma non l’accesso ai veri piani del primo Ministro. Temo per il futuro della Gran Bretagna – rivela Richard– e spero che Murdoch non dia vita ad un panorama mediatico simile a quello italiano”.

Subito dopo lo scambio d’idee davanti a Downing Street, i manifestanti si sono mossi attraverso Trafalgar Square e Green Park, per poi giungere a Grosvenor Square, di fronte all’Ambasciata italiana. Proprio lì, tra slogan sulla difesa degli articoli della nostra costituzione e ringraziamenti finali, i partecipanti si sono uniti lungo le note della partigiana Bella Ciao.

Tutte le principali piazze italiane, in contemporanea, si sono colorate di verde, bianco e rosso rendendo così possibile il C-Day. Migliaia di persone, unite in tanti cortei diversi, hanno marciato animate dallo stesso forte desiderio di rispondere all’attuale emergenza democratica.

It is the end of gold-plated pensions

Public sector pensioners could be deeply disappointed from 2015 onwards.

Council workers, NHS staff, civil servants and other public sector employees will face the scrapping of final salary schemes if the biggest ever overhaul of public sector pensions is put into place.

Lord Hutton has released new pension proposals according to which gold-plated pension pots will be replaced with ones linked to average career earnings. He also suggested raising the normal age at which public sector staff can retire to the same as the state pension.

About 12 million people depend on a public sector pension and half of them will be affected by these changes if the Treasury accept the reform.

The cost of providing public sector pensions has soared by almost a third in the past decade as people live longer and the Labour peer’s scheme is meant to stop unaffordable pensions within the deepest ever cuts in council spending.

Professional organisations and union would take coordinated actions and the Government would face months of strikes by millions of public sector workers if it implemented Lord Hutton’s proposals.

The Labour peer has however confirmed that despite his proposed scheme, pension entitlements already accumulated will not be affected, giving a generation of public sector employees the chance to retire on gold-plated deals, as the rest of UK faces hard times.

Over 50-s hit by unemployment in Britain

Many over 50-s in Britain are struggling as their standards of living has got worse during the past year.

Falling incomes, rising living costs and higher rates of unemployment are amongst the main causes of the elder’s bleak future prospect.

According to the report based on an analysis of economic data carried out by the centre for economics and business research and a survey of 10,000 over-50s, unemployment rates for the group had increased by almost 70 per cent since recession struck: 43 per cent have been out of work for more than a year.

Even though unemployment is a serious problem affecting both young people and qualified young professional, the elders often find it quite hard to get back into work again, especially when they are close to retirement. Their pensions, moreover, are often unlikely to deliver the income they were expecting, while low interest rates have hit their savings.

Media generally provide much information on how the long-term unemployment has hit the young people hardest, but new statistics show the older generation is probably not the lucky one anymore.

Italy won't be a joke to the rest of the world anymore

Hundreds of Italians took to the streets across London yesterday, demonstrating against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The protest ‘Se non ora, quando?’ (If not now, when?), designed to express the frustration of those Italian people and especially women, who are asking what it will take for the PM to resign, was organised by a group of Italian protesters, who call themselves ‘Il Popolo Viola London’ (the Purple People London). The group was established in 2009 and has since organised marches against the Italian government.

During the last few years Italy had sadly become a joke to the rest of the world because of the allegations surrounding Berlusconi: sex with underage prostitutes, after-dinner sex games better known as ‘bunga bunga parties’, and corruption.

Over 400 people gathered in Richmond Terrace, in front of the English PM headquarters in Downing Street, where the Purple People introduced a speech on the conflict of interests, the link between Mr B. and the mafia, the resigned attitude of many Italians towards their Government and the sexual exploitation and negative feminine image.

Francesca Gioia, 35, is one of the numerous women protesting to defend female dignity and is also an active member of the Purple People London. “Our goal is to support thousands of protesters who marched today in the main Italian cities. We all share strong feelings and innovative ideas as the march ‘If not now, when?’ is linked to ‘Wake up Italy’, a protest against our government as a whole,” she said.

Protesters from all over Italy joined ‘Il Popolo Viola London’ in Richmond Terrace; Francesca Sironi, 25, works in the English publishing industry and believes that the representation of women in newspapers, advertising and television has become indecent. She was holding a sign reading ‘I am a woman, I am not an ornament’. “We are fed up with all Berlusconi’s scandals. Everywhere in the world people laugh at the Italian government,” she said.

Roberto Pagani, 42, is another Italian living in London. He works in finance and is often embarrassed about his origin country’s PM. While showing a sign reading ‘Italy deserves much better than bunga bunga’, Roberto said: “Egyptians have triumphed over Mubarak dictatorship, while we still cannot get rid of Berlusconi.”

After having gathered in front of Downing Street, protesters marched through Trafalgar Square and Green Park, to eventually stop at Grosvenor Square, in front of the Italian Embassy. The protest ended with slogans saying ‘Enough’, ‘Berlusconi resign’ and ‘We want a country that respects women’ and people singing the Italian hymn ‘Fratelli d’Italia'.

Coordinated demonstrations against Berlusconi took place in more than 230 Italian cities as well as 28 cities worldwide, including Paris, Barcelona, Prague, Athens and Bruxelles. More than a million people in the world, counting Italians and local supporters all together, had turned out in disagreement towards Mr B. public image.

The Italian version of this article is available on:
http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2011/02/15/contro-la-derisione-dell%E2%80%99italia-nel-mondo/92195/

N4 Library escapes axe

Last Saturday, February 5, was the National Library Action Day and local authors along with readers, librarians and councillors joined forces in quiet demonstrations against 450 planned library closures threatened up and down the UK.

One hundred and thirty libraries across the capital, almost one out of three, are set to close as a result of massive cuts in Government funding. Many campaigners warn that councils are choosing to keep larger urban libraries in order to scrap local branches, often relied on by those unable to travel easily – the elderly, parents with kids and the poor.

N4 is one of Islington's libraries, located in the busy and varied community of Finsbury Park, in North London. It is also one of the biggest in its council and is not facing closure at the moment.

Tharsini Giopal, a newly qualified accountant from Finsbury Park, comes to N4 library on a regular basis.
"N4 is my nearest library and is a very important commodity. I generally come here to print and borrow books on life in the UK. This library has helped me a lot while I was studying and I don't know what I could have done without it.
"Libraries improve people's lives and are also a good source of information for jobseekers," she said.

Another regular customer at N4 library is Eugene Salomons, a Maths teacher from Finsbury Park.
"I come here four times a week to read biography books, travel guides and newspapers. I also borrow movies for my kids, sometimes.
"I have been a library member since when I was 10 and lived in South Africa and I cannot imagine any library in Britain to close down. It would be a disaster, especially for kids who come regularly after school, adult students and foreigners. Libraries are the first place where to get all the information from when you move to a new place," he said.

Finsbury's Park library is also popular amongst people coming from different parts of the Islington borough.

Phaik Connor is a freelance local government officer from Highbury Corner who decided to visit the N4 as she could not find some travel books she was looking for at her local library.

"I belong to the Central library, but I prefer the N4 as it is smaller and I can easily find the titles I need. I spend part of my leisure time in this place, by reading travel, biography and cookery books.

“If many libraries closed, it would affect a high number of people who come here for leisure, culture or simply to find a comfortable place where to stay warm and fight isolation, especially during the winter. I think Government should tackle other areas to make cuts and not libraries,” she said.

Libraries are places where people af all ages and backgrounds can go and books enable them to realise their full potential and come across new ideas.

More than 300m books loans were made from public libraries last year, according to the Chartered Institute of Public and Accountancy, but with £37m to cut from its budget this year, councils will probably have little choice.

Fourth teenager knifed in London this year

An 18-year-old boy was killed in the early hours of Saturday outside Dulwich Hamlet Football Club in Southwark, where he had just attended an 18^th birthday party.

The youngster, whose name is Daniel, had fled the party after a gunman opened fire inside the packed avenue, where another teen, whose condition was described as not critical, was hit in the leg.

Daniel was chased out of the club by a gang who followed him to East Dulwich railway station, where he was repeatedly stabbed with a ferocity that has shocked detectives.

The victim made a last effort to jump on board a 176 bus, where a passenger called an ambulance. The bus driver carried on for several hundred yards, up to the point the victim was met by paramedics. He was taken to King’s College Hospital in Camberwell but died shortly after arrival.

Police, who believe violence broke out at the football club after a confrontation between rival gangs from different areas of South London, have arrested a boy of 13 for attempted murder in connection with the shooting. The youngster has been bailed today.

The tragedy comes just days after a 17-year-old was run over and killed by a bus while fleeing gang of thugs in Walthamstow, Waltham Forest.

Three teenagers have been killed in London during the last eleven days, bringing the total number of victims to four, this year.