POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

See THIS Report of Johnson ditching his Northern MPs in favour of a quick trip to the Ukraine. Could it be avoidance of meeting backbenchers who are feeling under pressure for the relative safety of a war zone. His apologist Ben Wallace said PM's Kyiv trip had been "important", adding he was not "affronted" by him cancelling speaking at the conference. But Henri Murison, director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership business group, told the BBC it was a "missed opportunity" to engage with his MPs and people from the region.
Later.... Reports that Priti 'Orrible thinks the actions of the European Court of Human Rights was scandalous and she wants to revise our application of human rights. Another of our guarantees of some degree of fairness is under attack.
We are quietly being dragged back into the 19th century.......

[plaques]

The government has approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the US, where he faces espionage charges. This is after he has spent the last ten years locked away arguing that if our police got hold of him up he would finish up in an American prison. He was right. Priti Patel has authorised the extradition. No mention of Foreign Courts because the Americans are our friends and when they say jump we jump. This so called one sided agreement allows America to ask for extradition if one of their courts issues a warrant for arrest. On the other hand the UK has to prove beyond doubt that there is a case for extradition which is impossible without the individual being present. In short nobody tells America what to do.
The UK appears happy to go along with the double standards where a foreign American court can tell us what to do but the European Court of Human Rights which was set up by the UK and has a sitting UK judge is interfering with our Sovereignty.

[Tripps]

I heard on the radio tonight that the Minister for Transport Mr Green (not his real name) is advocating hiring agency labour to run the railways during the imminent strike. Good luck with finding the required number of trained signalmen.

Would that be the same Mr Green who, when P&O did something similar way back in March this year feigned indignation and said he would get the practice made unlawful?

I think it might have been.
**************************************************************************

This is interesting - from a reputable journalist. Again - can it possibly be true?

I think it might be.

boris coincidence.jpg

********************************************

PS I note that Prince Charles and the Prime Minister are going to Rwanda soon for a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting


That would be the Rwanda which no too long ago shot and killed 12 refugees for rioting due to hunger. Human Rights Watch
I think it might be.

[Stanley]

It's Alice through the Looking Glass isn't it.
Grant Shapps (For it is he....) fulminates about strikers. Instead he should read Private Eye this week which details to failings in running our railways since John Major (Who he?) did a quick and dirty nationalisation to spite the incoming Labour Party at what he knew was going to be a car crash election.
Have a look at THIS BBC report on the matter.
There is of course another consideration. Whipping up opposition to the rail strike is a distraction from the main problem, the rule of the Buffoon. One of these days Johnson will run out of diversionary tactics....
Later. Quasi Kwarteng accuses the unions of using 'vast war chests' to bribe workers to strike. This is perhaps the start to action to sequester union funds as Margaret Thatcher did once of a day..... Watch the buggers, they will stop at nothing. (They're watching pressure for strikes building inside the public services as well....)

[plaques]

Since the Human rights legislation has been used to stop the Rwanda deportation nonsense we now hear that that its all the fault of those left-wing Corbynista backing lawyers. Lawyers and judges are there to apply the law that applies to everybody. They don't go round making it up on the hoof to suit their specific purpose. Perhaps these right-wing Tories think that the laws and its built in loop holes only apply or not apply to themselves. Johnson's Partygate has demonstrated a clear example of rule breaking at the top of the tree its now clear that its systemic throughout the Tory party.

Even some of the lesser right-wing papers are saying that Boris is just bouncing from one diversion to another hoping to shake off the dogs. Government of the country is secondary to saving the albino big dog. GDP growth in down, Investment is down, the value of the £ is down, exports are down, wage growth is down. Meanwhile inflation is up, food and energy prices are up. In short the whole economy is knackered. Can we survive another two years of this nonsense? I doubt it.

[Stanley]

Ken, nothing can survive what is going on at the moment. It's just a matter of time until the collapse of our economy becomes obvious at street level. Notice how quiet Sunak is. He knows what's coming and is working on his escape tunnel.....
All right, I have a reputation of being a Jeremiah but you wait and see, we ain't seen nothing yet!

[plaques]

The RMT (Rail, Marine and Transport Union) are all set to embark on a series of strikes. As always in these circumstances the RMT workers will lose money by going on strike and thousands of travellers trying to get to work will also be losing money. The UK has one of the strictest laws governing strikes so we are not talking about some on the spur of the moment wildcat action but one that has been rumbling on for months if not years. Remembering that the railways have been largely privatised with 13 different companies being involved they still receive subsidies from the government to keep running. Grant Shapps the Transport Secretary has said the dispute has nothing to to with him and that the government can't afford extra subsidies anyhow. Keir Starmer doesn't want to get dragged into the dispute only saying he doesn't want the strike to happen. Clearly if he takes sides with the RMT all the pain and suffering of the travellers will become his fault. In reality there is nothing he can do to stop the strike only to go along with the Tories and suggest to the RMT that they accept a pay cut along with future redundancies which would be opposite of what Labour stands for and in effect be committing political suicide.
There is a feeling amongst some commentators that Johnson is happy to let it happen. This may be because it could prevent a flood of similar cost of living strikes or its another smokescreen to cover Big Dog Partygate. Either way what a way to run a country.

[Stanley]

Ken, The baLD TRUTH WHICH NOBODY IS ARTICULATING )eXCEPT THE UNIONS) is that if you cap wages for years while inflation eats away at the economy, you build up fault lines in society which sooner or later have to be addressed. That's where we are now, Osborne and Cameron thought they were so clever cutting back on government spending. Now their pigeons are coming home to roost. It's like an irresistible tide rolling in.
Later..... (13:21) I see senior barristers working in criminal law are going on strike from Monday. Will Mr Shapps and his mates be attacking them as well?

[Stanley]

According to THIS BBC report Johnson is calling for 'compromise' in any settlement of the wage negotiations that are the subject of imminent strikes. There was no talk of 'compromise' when wages were being frozen or artificially capped. In the end, wages find their own level under the laws of supply and demand. That's how their favourite mechanism, 'The Market', works under capitalism. Wonderful how Economics 101 is conveniently forgotten when necessary. The Unions and the Left are being painted black as the villains but I hear very little criticism of the barristers who are doing exactly the same as the rail workers and for the same reasons. Their stipends have been frozen for almost twenty years. Lined up are all the other public sector workers who have been similarly capped.
What we are looking at is the culmination of years of bad management by the government but that's the last thing they will admit to. It's those Lefties........ (Let us not forget Cameron and Osborne and their policies of austerity.....)

[plaques]

Part of the inflation smokescreen is to point at the 1970's where the economy was growing, there was full employment and the Trade Unions were in a strong position to ask for wage rises. In this period the increase in wages pushed the background inflation up causing a wage / inflation spiral. The Bank of England stepped in by increasing the interest rates adding to the inflation but also choking off investments and pushing the GDP down. Today the situation is totally different. Cameron and Osborne introduced the start of austerity holding back public sector rises below that of inflation. Ten years later this erosion of real wages as now places the public sector at anything from 5% to 10% behind what the wage levels would have been.
So where did our current inflation come from? The government will site external factors. Anything from excess profits reluctantly agreed by Sunak, fuel prices on the back of the Ukraine / Russia war although prices started to rise before then, distribution and supply problems as the world recovered from covid. Our own self inflicted harm of leaving the Common Market. None of it down to wage rises but the remedy of increasing interest rates is just the same ie: increased inflation and lower investments resulting in lower GDP.

Johnson's answer is to take another wage cut but no mention of profit cuts or pay backs these will continue as normal creating even more inflation.

The extract shown below gives the game away on where the real money is going.
.

Inflation 1.jpg

[PanBiker]

I hear also that Shaps says that he can't do anything about the current strike action but for the future. He will introduce legislation to make it legal for workers from other areas and other sectors to fill in for those on strike. Legalised SCABS. Lets see how they get on with skilled operatives like signallers on the railways.

[Stanley]

Spot on Ken! Even though the railways are on strike the subsidy flows and investors are paid.
Ian, Shapps knows nothing about skilled or unskilled work. he thinks all jobs are like his, available even with no skills or experience....

[Tripps]

I'm warming to the RMT leader Mick Lynch - refreshingly direct. . . .

[Stanley]

I agree David and have thought so for some time now. He tells a consistent story about the DoT managing relations between the rail franchisees and the workers and encouraging the capital holders to do anything that makes the railways more profitable and cuts back on the need for subsidy. This has all blown up in their faces and despite protesting the talks have nothing to do with them send in acolytes like the man in that clip to oppose the union. They do so on the grounds that unions are a BAD THING! as usual. This dispute is of the government's own making, they have no valid arguments and so are left with no alternative but to lie and paint the unions as the villain.
This is all going to wear a bit thin when they find they are in dispute with the whole of the public sector including the barristers.....

[plaques]

Don't worry Sunak's cavalry is on the horizon.

"We are using all the tools at our disposal to bring inflation down and combat rising prices - we can build a stronger economy through independent monetary policy, responsible fiscal policy which doesn't add to inflationary pressures, and by boosting our long-term productivity and growth."

Not quite sure what these tools are but they sound very good. I suppose a trade war with the EU may increase prices a tad but if you take your sovereign certificate to the supermarket you may get a discount on out of date items.

By independent monetary policy I assume he means Bank of England who will put interest rates up, make things more expensive, reduce investment and lower GDP bringing the £ down in value, putting import prices up. To be honest I can't see much boosting more like defenestration.

[Stanley]

Ken. Sunak is blethering to 'assure' the voters he is doing something. Words are so important in this struggle between the government and hard up workers.
The workers have only one weapon, that is to withdraw their labour. This is a doomsday option of course because it automatically means they lose their living. When this happens it is called a 'Strike' which automatically makes it sound like a violent aggressive act when actually it is a cry for help from people who have been driven to this action by policies controlled by the employers or/and the Government. In the course of this event many things are conveniently forgotten, in this case the fact that the franchisees are not making any profit at all, the dividends that they are continuing to pay to their shareholders stem directly from government subsidies. In other words an entirely artificial economic model which should never have been allowed to develop.
This is where the cry of 'Left Wing' arises and words like Nationalisation are bandied about. The provision of Defence isn't seen as Nationalisation, just a sensible and essential use of government funds to supply a universal good. People like me think that the commanding heights of the economy should be treated in the same way as Defence, as public goods. Is it moral or ethical to apply the profit motive to things like essential public utilities like energy, water. transport, education or health?
I must stop, we all know these are valid matters for discussion but as long as the government controls the agenda it will be couched in terms of violence and opposition to anything seen as 'Left Wing' instead of workers drawing attention to deep wrongs in the system. (And yes, a system that rewards the skilled workers necessary for it to work by allowing their wage to be wasted away by adverse economic factors is basically flawed.)

[plaques]

Prime Ministers Questions saw Johnson making a statement that Starmer was recipient to £thousands from the Trade Unions. By implication he was backing the RMT because they were his paymasters.

The Conservatives have spent weeks somewhat desperately attempting to blame Starmer for the strikes despite the fact that the RMT is not affiliated to Labour, and Starmer himself had said he did not want the action to go ahead.

The Tories are desperate to talk about anything that may divide the voters into small groups eg: Brexit. Rwanda, Foreign Courts. or any dead cat subject they can think of. Meanwhile the overriding concern for most people is the cost of living crisis. Can they put food on the table. Pay their bills. Afford fuel to go to work. All we get is we have the tools. Well lets be seeing them in action.

[Stanley]

I also heard Johnson at PMQs banging on about 'Union Barons'. All the old cliches are being wheeled out.
But then occasionally we get a refreshing view. I heard a well spoken man who appeared to know what he was talking about commenting on why it was Mersey Rail have settled their strike with no problem. He said that what has struck him is that in every case where the rail unions have been negotiating with the rail operators with no involvement with the government, settlements have been reached. The difference with the national rail strike is that the government have chosen to see it in political terms rather than letting the operators and the unions settle the matter. This is exactly what Mick Lynch has been saying and been rebuffed by Raab et al every time.
Meanwhile, see THIS BBC report. Labour have won Wakefield and The LibDems have smashed a huge Tory majority at Tiverton and Honiton. Swings of 10% and 30% respectively.
Both seem to have hinged on rejection of Johnson and all his works. It was made clear in Wakefield that the return to power of Labour was not because of support for Starmer but as a protest against Johnson. This is a big problem and needs addressing if Labour are to have any chance of a convincing win in a general election.
Now we wait to see what excuses Mr Johnson will trot out this morning. Many Tory backbenchers will be looking at what has happened and assessing what it means for their jobs in a General Election.

[Stanley]

I may not get into the shed this morning..... The by-election results are having an immediate effect. The chairman of the Conservative and Unionist Party, Oliver Dowden, has resigned saying someone has to take responsibility. This is the best news I have had for a long time.

[plaques]

It was made clear in Wakefield that the return to power of Labour was not because of support for Starmer but as a protest against Johnson.

I think Starmer is playing 'The Man in a Grey Suit' card, making sure that the right-wing press have nothing to hang on him as they did with Corbyn. The press and the Tories have already tried to link him with the RMT industrial action, 'why doesn't he sort it out' is the cry. The moment he stands in the picket line he will be branded a Communist trying to bring the country down. We would all like him to be more charismatic and take the lead at bashing Boris at every opportunity But as we saw with Brexit people got fed up with listening to it year after year and went for the 'Get Brexit Done' option. It looks like Starmer is using courtroom tactics and saving all the venom for the general election speeches.
At least that's what I hope.

Future 'Express' headline quoting our deputy Prime Minister Raab. Since Starmer cannot sort this dispute out it has been left to the government to step in and find a solution that is fare and equitable to both sides. Rail fairs will rise to support greater investment and workers will have to accept a pay cut along with all the other public sector workers. What can be farer than that?

[Whyperion]

Little BBC note on Wakefield Results
" In this case, Labour went up 8.1% and the Conservatives were down 17.3% (and the Lib Dems down 2.1%). If those share changes were replicated across the country, with the SNP and other parties seeing no change, Labour would be one seat short of an overall majority. They would win all the required Conservative-held targets, plus 13 more. But they would miss 13 SNP held targets, and one Plaid Cymru held target."

One thing noted is that there was a reduction in Turnout (I think down 20percent of electorate) - Conservatives staying at home.

Also for both seats Conservative Share Wakefield 30percent Honiton 38.5percent . One is surprised given everything the tories are doing a third of those voting are still supporting them , if anything every By Election could go non-tory and it still wont dent what the tories are up to.

I didn't like the tory-bashing speech of LD Foord at Honiton, gave no positive on what LDs would do.

For those struggling to understand what Shapps is talking about (and I dont think he does either) it relates to the Rail Delivery Group post-Covid Recovery Plan. Basically to remove 1800 posts within the maintenance part of the rail network (basically by a form of flexible working). However I cannot see where as such the numbers can be cut without a safety compromise.

Modern Railways report

In a letter sent to the RMT, Unite and TSSA unions, the infrastructure manager invited representatives to a meeting to discuss its proposals.

Programme Director, Modernising Maintenance and Chair of National Maintenance Council Paul Rutter wrote: ‘As you will recall at Rail Industry Recovery Group (RIRG), at an industry level, in principle the need for changes to working practices was agreed to ensure that the rail industry became sustainable.

‘However, many hours spent in discussions both under the auspices of RIRG and more recently under our own collective processes we have not managed to make meaningful progress.

‘In particular we have been meeting since earlier this year with the aim of seeking a negotiated settlement on how to effectively deploy our Maintenance and Works Delivery organisations in light of the post Covid increased financial deficit with which our industry is now faced.

‘We have always made clear to you that we needed to make material progress in these discussions and that we needed to implement meaningful changes to working practices by April 2023.’

Mr Rutter said NR ‘cannot, however delay any longer and with that in mind we intend to consult formally with you on the implementation of changes to a number of working practices which we believe can be changed within the existing agreements and T&Cs under which our Maintenance and Works Delivery staff are employed.’

He said NR would also press ahead with consultation of certain unspecified technologies ‘in order to make the railway a safer and more efficient workplace.’

‘Our need for Maintenance and Works Delivery staff is likely to reduce, and so we will need also to commence formal redundancy consultation with our trade unions under s188 of the 1992 Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act.



Changes proposed by Network Rail include implementing individual rostering, standardising the allocation of night working and a revised roster authorisation process. NR also wants to introduce ‘joint incident response teams,’ explaining that in these, staff would work ‘collaboratively to assist each other and respond to incidents together whilst maintaining their engineering discipline. This would also apply for maintenance tasks where applicable.’

Of course in the world of Barnoldswick and Earby the lack of Railways is of note. The Works part might include just why the costs of building a new rail station (of the raised platform Bus Stop Style) are so expensive - and most of that is done by outside contractors. I suspect there would be a saving in NR costs if some of the management planning roles went to the DfT and to contractors - this shifts mainly the pension committments and I think this saving of 1800 jobs will end up in those two places with the cash savings to NR being an illusion. I would think the Rail Delivery Group is aware of this and is somewhat deliberately confusing the Minister into a political route that will make him look good.

[Stanley]

I hadn't thought of the 'Grey Man theory Ken. You may be right but somehow I doubt it... I think he really is a grey man. just like Major was......

[Tripps]

The Tories are desperate to talk about anything that may divide the voters into small groups eg: Brexit. Rwanda, Foreign Courts. or any dead cat subject they can think of.

They will be now - standby for a whole sack full of dead cats to land on the table - and soon.

I make it a rule not to comment on typos and errors from posters - that way lies unnecessary trouble. I can't resist this one though ..
No offence intended. As Aunty Josie used to say "fair do's". One man's focaccia is another man's fare rise.

Rail fairs will rise to support greater investment and workers will have to accept a pay cut along with all the other public sector workers. What can be farer than that?

The broadsheets yesterday picked up what was mentioned here about a week ago, and it's amplified by the fact that the triple lock for public service pensioners is to be restored. That means all public service pensions will be raised by about 10% next April. This is the Tories preparing for the next election, and Mr Sunak getting tired of being immensely wealthy, but still a pariah. That rise means that the (unfunded) pension bill will then exceed the total national debt, as it alone will rise to about £2.3 Trillion.

Remind me again about the curent trend in interest rates. What could possibly go wrong.

[plaques]

Fair's fair. Don't worry about me Tripps. Just one of my word blindness cock ups . Bordering (verb gerund or present participle:) on Wordnesia or Dyslexia I've several thousand just like it in my word bank. Thank Dog God for the spell check.

No trouble with Cath's word list. In railway terminology the downline's OK the problem is the upline.

[Stanley]

We all have weak points Ken. I noted the fair/fare and smiled. Yes, I have the same problem at times but I blame the keyboard.
The thing that struck me yesterday was the philosophical question that faces the Johnson acolytes. The most rabid are those who directly owe their position to Johnson, I'm thinking of people like Raab and Shapps. It's notable that other Cabinet members like Gove and Sunak are keeping quiet. It seems fairly obvious to me that blind defence of the Bog Dog is political suicide in the long run. I don't think anyone can doubt that Johnson's defence of ignoring all outside opinion and crashing on with what he thinks is policy is doomed to fail. At the moment he has the protection of 'being busy' in Rwanda but that will end soon. The summer recess looms, another bolt hole for him but see THIS BBC report about moves to act quickly to change the rules of the 1922 Committee and have another leadership election.
However, this too has its problems. What is the value of a process that can be changed if you don't like the result it generates? Expect a serious debate before anything happens.