Rob Ray
Articles by East Anglia-based anarcho-syndicalist, journalist, ginger and editor of Freedom newspaper, Rob Ray.
All change in Angel Alley
I’ve recently been having a lot of fun with old bits of paper at Freedom Press indulging my mild archiving OCD, as preparations are made to move the building's retail arm downstairs by our tame shop-guru amid a serious change-around.
As the hordes of people who have been to Freedom know, we have for a long time had something of an eccentric setup. On the top floor, alongside a somewhat mysterious office there is the home of the Advisory Service for Squatters.
Those poor soldiers
Apparently, if you compare the wages of soldiers with traffic wardens the poor old grunts come off worse, according to the head of the armed forces General Sir Richard Dannatt.
Except that’s actually a load of old bollocks. The good General and knight of the realm is being just a little misleading – I’m sure it’s unintentional, him being such a respected state figure and all - when he fails to point out that, unlike the average traffic warden, our boys in khaki also get a number of little perks.
Projectile debating
This post is coming a little later than would be usual, as I just took my first proper (non-anarchist-related) break in what seems like ages after Projectile finished and only just got back from it.
For those of you who aren’t up on what the Newcastle-based Projectile anarchist film festival does, it really provides the main northern answer to the London Anarchist Bookfair as the place for libertarians to get together (though Manchester, Bradford and Glasgow all have their own regular bookfairs, none are on quite the same scale).
Egypt cracks down post-strike
Rob Ray reports for Freedom Newspaper on continuing crackdowns on civil liberties in Egypt
Following a period of upheavals in Egypt, the state is attempting to reassert control with a series of measures aimed at curbing both the labour movement and the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest radical Islamic group.
Who cares for the carers?
Rob Ray investigates how privatisation is costing social care workers, following a damning verdict in a recent report, for Freedom Newspaper
The full impact of two decades of privatisating social care on the working conditions of carers has been revealed in recently published research.
African health worker gap catastrophic
Rob Ray looks at claims that a brain drain to West is crippling healthcare across the African continent, for Freedom Press
It has been revealed that the global shortfall in healthcare professionals has reached four million people – with one million needed in Africa alone. The figures were voiced at the Global Forum on Human Resources for Health, which opened in the Ugandan capital of Kampala on March 3rd.
Damaging uranium mines restart
The new nuclear boom will hit Africa as advocacy groups warn poorly regulated mining of radioactive materials risks poisoning land and water, finds Rob Ray.
With 349 new nuclear reactors now either under construction, on order or in the early planning stages around the world, the uranium mining industry has been kicking into high gear with a glut of new extractions underway.
London: Improvements for the homeless
A new campaign to improve the lot of homeless people in London has been gathering steam after it was launched by the London Coalition Against Poverty (LCAP), finds Freedom newspaper.
LCAP, which was set up in August as a means of providing support to people who are not getting their legal rights through taking on ‘direct action casework’, identified homelessness as a growing problem in the capitol as resources are stripped away from shelter provision. Mat, a volunteer for LCAP, spoke to Freedom in a personal capacity about the group and campaign.
Examining the 2007 Royal Mail dispute
Rob Ray explains the introduction of competition to the postal service, and why it will be the government, not postal workers, who the public have to thank for the loss of cheap post and the universal service.
The problem, according to headlines in the mainstream press, was a 2.5% pay rise being offered by Royal Mail to its 190,000 workers, along with some vague problems to do with ‘terms and conditions’.
The reality of what is being faced by the postal workers is far more complex and vastly more damaging, not just for them, but for everyone who wants to be sure of getting their mail.
All’s fare in train robbery
Rob Ray looks into the strange case of train travel price hikes which have no apparent economic basis for Freedom newspaper
Two major train companies have announced large price rises this month, with Arriva deciding to raise their off-peak fares by over 30% and South West Trains 20%.
