Billions stolen in unpaid wages

Sinn Fein have been challenged to publically rule out the introduction of water charges after a senior member of the party called for separate water charges to be brought in after the May’s elections.

In an interview in today’s The Irish News, Paul Butler claimed Sinn Fein needed to start taking “hard decisions rather than populist decisions” in order to find extra funding and added “really the only place the Stormont executive can go is the area of water charging.”

East Belfast Socialist Party spokesperson and education worker Tommy Black today attacked Minister Caitriona Ruane after revealing that promised new school buildings in East Belfast will now be scrapped.

The decision by the Minister to scrap plans to build a much needed new building at Victoria primary school is a slap in the face for the local community. Assembly cuts have already led to the closure of Beechfield Primary School, the closure of Ballymacarratt Library, funding cuts to the Playzone facility at Ballymac Community Centre and also the scrapping of new buildings at Strandtown Primary school.

Bring the media monsters into public ownership

Rupert Murdoch’s News International has been lacerated by a report from a House of Commons select committee into the News of the World's phone hacking activities. Chris Huhne, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesperson, in no sense an anti-establishment figure, has demanded a judicial inquiry. Ben Bradshaw, New Labour’s media secretary said the report raised “extremely serious questions” for the Murdoch empire. Even Gordon Brown’s official spokesperson described the revelations in the report as “absolutely breathtaking and an extreme cause for concern.”