09 November 2006

Danny The Champion

We have been informed first-hand that the Labour Party have come back to Danny Dewsbury in a favourable way with respect to his period of employment with them. As such our campaign ends in success. The £385 our cross-party group raised to cover the National Minimum Wage for his time in the employ of the Labour Party will not need to be paid to Danny. We can assume that he is reaching a settlement which exceeds this with Labour and hopefully this covers the £145 of expenses that have not yet been reimbursed to him.


This confirms our belief that we were right all along to take Danny's case up and press for his fair treatment by the Labour Party. On a day when the TUC called for a Low Pay Commission probe into the employment of young workers on unpaid internships, Labour undoubtedly felt shamed into acting to correct this manifest piece of exploitation. As a group we might feel entitled to crow, but I for one am applauding the Labour's party's decision to make a u-turn and this is the best way for this episode to end. Once the letter to Hazel Blear was in the public domain, there was no way that Labour could talk about workers' rights, social justice or student debt without being hypocrites.

This Internet campaign waged by a small number of cross-party politicos with a common sense of right and wrong is an example of how direct action can work to help the "little man" in a way unimaginable just a few years ago. We may be back, one day.

Danny, have a beer on us. I'll be having a few in Prague tonight. One last message - if you hit any snags, you know where we are.

PS - All you guys visiting without posting, you can post now. I promise not to beg for any money off you.

18 comments:

Peter Smallbone said...

Great news!

Croydonian said...

Rock AND Roll.

Glad DD is, by the look of things, getting his dues, and good for you kicking it all off /and/ seeing it through. Well done that man.

Anonymous said...

And you all really think you made a difference, ah isn't it cute....bless

The Sads said...

Too right, a man after my own heart

The Sads said...

ok i am sorry, i shouldnt be nasty, ignore above 2 comments, ill leave the politics to you people who care about it, i guess.............

kinglear said...

well done

Anonymous said...

Yes, oddly, Praguetory is a Tory, and I am a Lib Dem. But it is quite clear from the correspondence that we did have an effect by working together on this (and I will give due credit that the Tory bloggers involved did the most).

Guido Fawkes said...

Good work on the Labour gangmaster exploiting the working classes...

Anonymous said...

Excellent work guys. You're a excellent example of how Tories are not all evil rich people who like to punish the disadvantaged for being disadvantaged with big 'poor beating sticks'.

Hurrah for PragueTory and co!

Anonymous said...

Anon is a git, and we don't care.

Praguetory said...

I know anon/the sads - it's actually good-natured stuff, believe it or not.

We will be playing football together tonight and then going for beers. Don't worry, I'll make sure I'm playing against him. Watch your legs.

Thanks for all the comments, my head hurts

Anonymous said...

Fantastic job to all those who got the bit between their teeth and refused to let go. You should take up a profession in social justice.

Doesn't it make you wonder how effective DD's solicitors were in the first place? I would personally feel very aggrieved that they had not done their job properly, let's hope they don't mess up on this now.

The Sads said...

ok,

now I want you all to take this test

http://www.blogthings.com/thesimpsonspersonalitytest/

and tell me who you are

Anonymous said...

Congrats

Anonymous said...

In response to the sads - as they have been to my blog in the last few days:

I am Barney

I could have been an intellectual leader...

Instead, my whole life is a homage to beer

I will be remembered for: my beautiful singing voice and my burps

My life philosophy: "There's nothing like beer to give you that inflated sense of self-esteem."

Anonymous said...

Brilliant idea PT. I'll chip in fifty quid. Just let me know where to send it to.

Praguetory said...

I am Homer Simpson, but the Sads says I am Burns. ;-)

Croydonian said...

Well, big bold Anon at 9.07, we saw a wrong and attempted to right it. What did *you* do? Or perhaps you do not think that Danny was wronged?

Meanwhile, having tried a Simpsons test before, I was Barney if I opted for a cold bottle of Duffs, and Burns if I opted for world domination, but on this one I'm The Bart himself...