POLITICS CORNER

[Tripps]

There'as a lot of coughing out loud at tonight's policy Meeting of Pendle Council, and lots of talk. Pendle Council Policy Committe Super spreader event perhaps? Online audience of just six viewers.

Housing development in Barrowford. (I didn't realise that the name is pronounced as two words) Everyone except the developer seems to be against it.

PS - Vote unanimous rejection. Mr Whipp says there'll probably be an appeal.

[Stanley]

I think someone is giving Liz Truss good advice. Her claim that the Treasury mode of economic management is broken sounds plausible and will play well with the 'selectorate'. Sunak is fully committed to that set of policies so he has only one defence against her, to rubbish her constantly and that doesn't play well.
As for the governance of the UK, it's on hold until mid November and by then it will be too late to stop the plunge into a winter of discontent and certain recession. It is going to be very hard and as I predicted many years ago, the Tories are going to get the blame for all of it. we may yet see the complete reset of UK politics that I think is necessary. (That includes a leadership election in the Labour Party, they have an open goal and are doing nothing imaginative with the opportunity.)

[Tizer]

Several of the newspapers this morning lead with Mordaunt's plans to stop Truss. They're said to be `orchestrating a stop Liz Truss campaign'.

[plaques]

Nobody likes to hear bad news. Unfortunately our economy is going downhill fast with worse to come in the next two years. The standard Tory policies is to batten down the hatches, increase the bank rate. let inflation rip until it wears itself out and blame those scrounges at the bottom for earning unjustifiable high wages. Both Truss and Starmer are saying the only way out is to grow the economy but differ on the method. Starmer acknowledges that re-joining the Common Market is not possible within perhaps one or two parliaments but building a good relationship towards better trade is essential for growing the economy. Truss's gambit is first to blame everybody for what is going on and at the same time trying to convince the blue rinse selectorate that cutting taxes would alone give the required stimulus. This approach is very appealing especially if you benefit from the tax cuts even if the proffered outcome doesn't materialize. In my mind it sounds like another dose of Johnson's 'Get Brexit done' without understanding the consequences.

[Tripps]

our economy is going downhill fast with worse to come in the next two years. T

I agree - and so does Martin Lewis the Money saving expert. meanwhile we will have another six weeks of the Tories p***ing about choosing their leader. They have diametrically opposing views as to what to do. Who is correct ? - I've no idea , but am deeply unimpressed by Liz Truss, and not a fan of the Maharajah of Richmond.

I was taken by Michael O'Leary's (Ryanair) statement today that he could get visas for Moroccans to come and work here for him, but not Europeans. I thought that we had won back control of our borders? That should mean we should be able set conditions, and invite any one we wish, to work here - for as long as they, and we agree to.

They are having 12 (count them) hustings at various locations. What a total waste of time. The have, and will continue to take chunks out of each other, and they have both been part of the same team that got us here.

Meanwhile see what Martin Lewis has said it's apocalyptic

[Stanley]

Yes and as you know I agree as well. I've just sat and watched the video and Martin is exactly right. Particularly in his warnings about debt levels and the number of people whose income can not match minimum expenditure. He is also right to warn about civil unrest and mass refusal to pay movements. Anyone who took the trouble to read Piketty's 'Capital' will recognise the alignment with what he was saying about the future of the western economics and society if a global wealth tax wasn't put in place and that was before the current shocks of war, energy costs and rampant inflation.
As to his comments about the timing of this hiatus in politics which is entirely down to the Tories..... they will piddle about on the hustings while the economy burns and by November it will be impossible to stop the slide into recession and even more debt.
As I said when I first read Piketty and commented on him, the elephant in the room as far as the wealthy are concerned is that they think they are safe because of their wealth and income. What they don't realise is that as society crumbles under the corrosion of debt and extreme poverty and unrest grows, the world of the wealthy collapses as well and they will end up huddled together in gated communities relying on unstable utilities suppliers who can't make their enterprises economically viable under current conditions and, as they are privatised, will simply withdraw from the market.
I wonder whether anybody will then remember (too late!) what Nye Bevan said about the commanding heights of the economy?

[plaques]

Critical event recorded at Dover and other outgoing ports. The French are playing silly buggers using EU laws to frustrate UK travel. All this is perfectly true but turn the argument round and look at it from the French side.
Having left the EU which gave UK unrestricted movement we are now a third country and have to comply with third country entry rules. So while in the past the French only needed 'XXX' people to vet the movement they now need 'XXX+YYY' to do the job. In effect our leaving has increased their costs but taking a leaf out of our book on custom control they did nothing about it.
This is just one of the many inconveniences that we now Jonny Foreigner will have to suffer to enjoy our Sovereignty.

[Tizer]

Add this into the equation...
`Brexit: UK's divorce bill from EU could rise to £42.5bn' LINK
`The UK's Brexit divorce bill from leaving the EU could rise to £42.5bn, potentially adding billions to payments, the government says. Treasury minister Simon Clarke said inflation meant the bill could be up to £7.5bn higher than initially estimated. The UK struck a deal to pay the EU for outstanding spending commitments after leaving the bloc in January 2020.'...

[Stanley]

I heard that report also Peter and as I understand it that figure could be optimistic. There is also the the embarrassing fact that one part of the UK economy is doing rather well at the moment. Northern Ireland's trade with the EU has increased as it becomes more difficult to conduct EU/UK trade with the mainland, see the recent problems at Dover and Folkestone which are not expected to ease soon. Funny how we don't hear much about that......
Meanwhile.... see THIS BBC report on the fact that Truss and Sunak are both promising cuts in incoming migrants.... I think we have heard this before, didn't DC promise less then 10,000? Surely Priti 'Orrible should be keeping us up to speed on the progress of her initiative?

[plaques]

I heard that report also Peter and as I understand it that figure could be optimistic. There is also the the embarrassing fact that one part of the UK economy is doing rather well at the moment. Northern Ireland's trade with the EU has increased as it becomes more difficult to conduct EU/UK trade with the mainland, see the recent problems at Dover and Folkestone which are not expected to ease soon. Funny how we don't hear much about that......
Meanwhile.... see THIS BBC report on the fact that Truss and Sunak are both promising cuts in incoming migrants.... I think we have heard this before, didn't DC promise less then 10,000? Surely Priti 'Orrible should be keeping us up to speed on the progress of her initiative?

The Northern Ireland issue is gradually developing like a school yard dispute first they call each other names followed by threats of what they are going to do. When this fails one side moves up into more action, re: protocol changes, DUP withdrawal from Stormont, this in turn elicits court action and possible withdrawal of existing agreements. If these were cancer patients they would now be approaching stage four where the UK is the patient.

The Dover problem, "the French haven't haven't enough people to deal with the problem" says Liz Truss. Now we hear that a year ago the French said that when the Covid ended and things return to normal they would require more border booths in the UK, a UK supply which they would man. Nothing from the UK so the problem remains but the French get the blame.

Notice the change in words. At one time all the rubber boat people were all illegal immigrants, now they are migrants. Once they claim asylum they are here legally until they are processed. If rejected and stay in the UK they become illegal immigrants along with all the others who sneak in without registering. I doubt if legally we could put a cap on the numbers claiming asylum. For those immigrants like Americans, Australians, and other skilled workers there is a visa system which we could always control. The real problem is where the UK needs lots of unskilled low paid workers to oil the wheels of industry where there isn't enough of home grown workers. This problem won't be solved by more restrictive rules that make it sound as though they are doing something about it.

[Tizer]

I read in The Times that the Rwanda government say they can take only 200 migrants and there is only one place to house them. Yet we've already paid them £1.2 million to do the work.

And I heard on the radio that Priti Patel is fuming over the issue of `people trafficking' - is she not herself a UK-to-Rwanda people trafficker?

[Stanley]

The word is that Johnson is going to flood the Lords with Tory peers in his last honours list. Can't he be stopped?

[plaques]

The word is that Johnson is going to flood the Lords with Tory peers in his last honours list. Can't he be stopped?

If this is true it could be to get the illegal Brexit bill through the Lords. They will stop at nothing to wreak the country.


The ERG who now appears to be ruling the conservative party is one of those mystery organisations that don't publish minutes or member names or numbers. The best we can do is look at the names of the MPs who subscribe expenses, which Joe Public pay for.

Subscribers
Subscribers to the pooled service provided by the European Research Group can be identified on the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority records of Parliamentary expenses. As an unincorporated association the group does not publish membership details or annual accounts. Various media reports speculate that a wider membership exists and on 1 May 2019, following a ruling by the Information Commissioner's Office that the Department for Exiting the European Union must reveal the existence of an email to the group from Steve Baker, openDemocracy published a report on a wider membership.[24][25][26]

Bim Afolami[27]
Steve Baker[28]
Andrew Bridgen[29]
Suella Braverman[30][25]
Christopher Chope[31]
James Cleverly[25]
Therese Coffey[32]
Robert Courts[33]
David Davis[34][25]
Jonathan Djanogly[35]
Jackie Doyle-Price[36]
James Duddridge[37]
Iain Duncan Smith[38]
Charlie Elphicke[39]
Liam Fox[40][25]
Mark Francois[41]
Michael Gove[42][25]
Chris Grayling[43][25]
Jonathan Gullis[44]
Chris Heaton-Harris[45]
Gerald Howarth[46]
Stewart Jackson[47]
Sajid Javid[48][25]
Bernard Jenkin[49]
Eleanor Laing[50]
Pauline Latham[51]
Andrea Leadsom[52][25]
Brandon Lewis[53][25]
Peter Lilley[54]
Craig Mackinlay[55]
Kit Malthouse[56]
Stephen McPartland[57]
Nigel Mills[58]
Penny Mordaunt[59][25]
James Morris[60]
David Nuttall[61]
Owen Paterson[62]
John Penrose[63]
Chris Pincher[64]
Jacob Rees-Mogg[65]
David Ruffley[66]
Alec Shelbrooke[67]
Mark Simmonds[68]
Henry Smith[69]
Desmond Swayne[70]
Michael Tomlinson[71]
Martin Vickers[72]
Angela Watkinson[73]
John Whittingdale[74]
Bill Wiggin[75]
Mike Wood[76]

[Tizer]

From the BBC News web page about tonight's TV wrestling match between Super Sunak and Tiger Truss...
Boris Johnson's spokesman has responded to efforts reportedly being made to keep the current prime minister in No 10. Johnson's supporters claim around 10,000 party members have signed a petition calling for his name to be added to the leadership ballot. Whatever next?

[Stanley]

It simply reinforces the old saying; 'Those whom the Gods seek to destroy, they first make mad'.
Trouble is that the destruction of the Tory Party is going to cost us all a period of poverty and grief.

[plaques]

Never mind Boris, Penny Mordaunt is claiming that Truss instigated leaked papers that wreaked her chances at the last minute. An inquiry is now being held. Consequently the thinking is that she should be included in the final ballot. Meanwhile Rome burns.

Interview with some channel port authority. Claimed that together with the French they had been discussing the surge in traffic for over a year. During the covid pandemic traffic was down to 1500 a day. Projected to rise to 10,000 and then on to 15,000 later. It was all sorted and plans laid out. Then he said the French didn't put enough people into the system. The interview stopped at this point without further questions.. How convenient to stop at this point laying the blame completely on the French. If this is true why are the hold ups continuing when its all sorted?

[Tizer]

`UK chemicals sector hit by £2bn Brexit red tape bill: New ‘UK Reach’ regime has pitted ministers against a broad swath of manufacturing' LINK
`The chemicals sector faces a £2bn hit of post-Brexit red tape, twice the cost of initial industry estimates, as Britain sets up its own regulatory regime, ministers have warned. While Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have promised to “axe EU red tape” during the Tory leadership campaign, the cost of homegrown British red tape after Brexit is mounting. A government impact assessment, seen by the Financial Times, has put the central estimate for the costs of registering chemicals on a new UK database — often duplicating existing registrations with the EU — at £2bn. The chemicals industry warned last year that the new regime — known as UK Reach — would cost about £1bn — but the government now accepts that many more substances will have to be registered than previously thought. The British regime would be far more costly than the EU Reach system; UK companies spent £500mn complying with the Brussels regime over the previous decade, winning access to 27 markets.'...

[Stanley]

"Meanwhile Rome burns. "
Exactly Ken.... that's the basic problem we face but the Tories do not see that as more important than going through their process. What should have been done was to cleanly eject Johnson and install a senior civil servant with powers to take temporary action on important matters.
Peter, what we are seeing gradually work there way through the system are the true consequences of Brexit unmoderated by spin and news management. It's called reality and was always going to catch up with the politics. Look at the latest predictions by the IMF on our economic state next year. We are going to have the worse GDP of any G7 nation, less than half a percentage point. Taking normal spread of accuracy into account this is tantamount to predicting a recession. They avoid the word because they don't want to be accused of talking us down but that's the reality!
To go back to Ken, this is the problem, it will be the end of the year before our new PM can get to grips with reality and by that time it will be too late. Tin hats are no good now, start digging the bunkers!

[plaques]

Its hard to see that if the GDP drops from 3.2% growth to 0.5% then somewhere along the line there must be a recession. The definition of a recession has always been as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. ie GDP below the previous 3 months average, consequently it would take 6 months to register a recession. In normal time the figures of GDP have been massaged to gain a fractional point to avoid this stigma.
As always there are committees who want to change this definition as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.” This gives governments more wriggle room to avoid using 'recession'.

How long do recessions last? Normally anything up to 18 months. For the UK considering the present mess we are in put your own numbers on it.

[Stanley]

I think the PE cover makes a point....

[Tripps]

Good cover - mine has just arrived.

I heard the new (to me ) word 'cosplay' on the radio this morning.

"Liz Truss cosplaying Margaret Thatcher."

Thanks to this site I knew what they meant - she's rather good at it isn't she?

Truss Thatcher.jpg

[Stanley]

Which bears out my contention that they are all essentially engaged in Amateur Dramatics whenever they communicate with us. ( I hate the bit where they speak slowly to add weight to what they are saying.....)

[plaques]

'All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players'

How many times are we seeing the clenched fist with thumb pointing forward being used to emphasise a point and when they get really good at it they use both hands.

Liz Truss promising to make strikes in the transport sector illegal. All in the name of protecting 'hard working people'. "People have a right to get to work". This puts the Transport workers in the same category as scroungers who don't deserve to the benefits of their labour. Is she trying to become Margaret Thatcher mark 2. making sure that those at the bottom have no means to protect themselves. A slippery slope to dictatorship.

Keir Starmer sacking his transport minister for standing on picket lines. A shameful act which shows he is already giving way to the right-wing media frightened that come the election they will present him as a closeted commie. A man with his command of language should be able to face his detractors down and make it clear he fully supports ordinary workers. I repeat shameful.

[PanBiker]

Keir Starmer sacking his transport minister for standing on picket lines. A shameful act which shows he is already giving way to the right-wing media frightened that come the election they will present him as a closeted commie. A man with his command of language should be able to face his detractors down and make it clear he fully supports ordinary workers. I repeat shameful.

Shameful indeed, what else is a bloke who is a member of a supposedly socialist organisation and in the shadow role as minister for the section supposed to do? I would ask Starmer that exact question and to give an acceptable explanation. That bloke is a disgrace to the party. If right were right there should be dozens of Labour MP's on the picket line, they don't have anything to do in Parliament at the moment, an ideal opportunity to show unity for the folk we are supposed to be representing.

[Tizer]

According to the BBC's newspaper front pages summary today...
`The Daily Mirror says that allies of Boris Johnson are planning to find a safe Conservative seat for him to launch his political comeback. It claims recent polls suggest the outgoing prime minister is in danger of losing Uxbridge and South Ruislip at the next election. Sources have told the paper that Mr Johnson is "testing the water" over moving to a constituency with a larger Tory majority - and that his allies are prepared to offer knighthoods and peerages to MPs who are willing to give up their seats for him.'