POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report
A Labour MP has been suspended after voting against the government's plan to tax inherited farmland from April next year. Markus Campbell-Savours, who represents the rural Cumbrian seat of Penrith and Solway, rebelled in an initial vote on the plans on Tuesday evening. Dozens of the party's backbenchers are said to have abstained, as MPs in rural areas expressed concerns about the proposals. Treasury minister James Murray insisted that taxing farm estates was a fair way to raise money to fund public services.
This policy weakens the financial position of farmers just when they need the most support The problem is that when this is appreciated it will be too late to go back.

[Tripps]

FT - Government criticised for delaying four mayoral elections in England
Opposition accuses Labour of postponing votes because of its poor showing in polls

Mark Twain (or whoever first said this) is proved to be right.
'If Voting Made a Difference, They Wouldn't Let Us Do It


Tripps on many occasions -
Politicians are people who spend most of their time doing things for one reason, whilst pretending it's for another.

[Stanley]

I think you are on the money David. See THIS report...
Elections for newly-created mayors will be delayed in four more areas of England, the BBC has confirmed, pushing back regional devolution plans. New mayors were expected to be elected in Greater Essex, Norfolk & Suffolk, Hampshire & the Solent, and Sussex & Brighton in May next year, but will now have to wait until May 2028. The government is arguing that more time is needed to reorganise local government in these areas, but stressed more homes, better high streets and support for business were "all on the way". But opposition parties are calling for the elections to go ahead as planned, with shadow local government secretary Sir James Cleverly accusing Labour of "subverting democracy".
Is it fear of Reform winning?

[Tripps]

I had never heard of Acorn The Union until tonight.

They were involved in a protest at a Bradford Council meeting. Link

If their figures are correct then I have some sympathy for their cause.

ACORN claims it has obtained Freedom of Information data showing that Bradford Council instructed bailiffs to visit over 5,000 homes in the last financial year, a 61 per cent increase on the previous year. But the success rate for resolving cases was eight per cent. Meanwhile, ACORN’s analysis shows that more than £1.7 million in bailiff fees were added to the burden of people already struggling to make ends meet.

Meanwhile in an unconnected event, about a hundred youths were involved in a disturbance in Oldham Town centre early last evening, about tea time.

I think we are approaching the abyss.

[Whyperion]

A number of Labour Councils have taken the view that arrears of council tax particulary are best first solved with better communication with persons. Better flexible payments and when needed being joined up with any benefits due beyond council tax exemptions and discounts are better. Personally I would say that court action should only be considered if the arrears are outstanding after nine months as long as the other contact (Beyond just sending letters) has taken place. This should still mean recovery should be complete by the end of the council tax year. I dont know if the Bradford report also covers Business Rates collection - which is another issue, and parking penalties likewise have their own rules. There are of course too the fly-tipping and similar charges that a local authority can levy.

[Stanley]

I've never heard of Acorn either David. But on those figures they are right to protest against the use of bailiffs. I think the reason they are used is that the threat of applying them can be a frightening tactic. We don't need frighteners on local finances but action against poverty. Remember that Piketty, in 'Capital' said that as comparative poverty increased there would be more unrest. It's a natural consequence of unfairness. It is even worse now than when he raised the suggestion, we have AI and Quantum Computing added to the mix of forces tending to increase the Income Gap.
So your fears about the abyss could be well founded David.

[Stanley]

I'm glad I don't have to have anything to do with THIS
Trans women will not be able to take part in the main session at the Labour Women's Conference next year. It follows a legal review into how the event should operate after the Supreme Court ruled in April that a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities legislation. Trans women will not be able to take part in formal proceedings, including speeches in the main hall and policy debates, but will be able to attend fringe events, which will be open to everyone regardless of their sex. It is understood the party considers the format to be the least restrictive way of balancing accessibility and compliance with the law. The Women's Conference, which is usually held the day before the party's annual conference in the same venue, was cancelled in 2025 after the party received legal advice in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling. Prior to that ruling, Labour had allowed people to self-identify as a woman, so trans women could attend the event and also take part in "positive action" measures such as all-women shortlists. Labour launched a "comprehensive legal review" of the rules around its women's conference following the Supreme Court decision, a spokesperson said, before confirming the 2026 event would go ahead with new attendance rules in a place.

[Tizer]

This brings a new meaning to the phrase `special relationship'...
`New US security strategy aligns with Russia's vision, Moscow says' LINK
Russia has welcomed Donald Trump's new US National Security Strategy, calling it "largely consistent" with Moscow's vision. The 33-page document, unveiled by the US administration last week, suggests Europe is facing "civilisational erasure" and does not cast Russia as a threat to the US. Combatting foreign influence, ending mass migration, and rejecting the EU's perceived practice of "censorship" are mentioned as other priorities in the report....

[Tripps]

Mr Farage has has a torrid time these last few days. They must be terrified of him - given the effort that has been put in to trash him in the last few days. Calm down - the election is a long time off, and much can change in the interim.

Meanwhile Inspector Hobson (Jonathon Hinder the Pendle Labour MP) has jointly signed a multi party letter to Health Minister Wes Streeting on the subject of puberty blockers. Not the type of people you'd expect a Labour man to be sharing a platform with.

It was signed by Labour MP Jonathan Hinder, Tories Tom Tugendhat and Rebecca Paul, Reform UK's Sarah Pochin, independent MPs Rupert Lowe and Iqbal Mohamed, and Lib Dem peer Baroness Ludford.


He's getting to be quite a bit of a rebel. He has also expressed his views on GB News. Hinder MP. Might he defect to Reform UK?

Here's a parody of a 'BBC Verify' video by Sophie Von - Gaslight.

[Whyperion]

So far as I can think of other world religions most dont care about the distinction between male / female.
This seems to arise in Jewish-Christian Thinking. (argueably islam too) One possible reason is the Male deity in the Bible , the female "Gaia" or Fertility Ashera as compatriot of warrior Yaweh (I simplify - the actual names in Aramaic especially differ slightly). Yet the female keeps re-entering the narrative - "The Sprit of The Lord in Gen 1 sometimes interpreted as female, sometimes male, and also the idea of "The Queen of Heaven" - again back projected onto Mary as mother of Jesus (and a whole load of interpretations of the root of Mary/Miriam as a name) . Some of course derived from later exiles and collection of Assyrian / Babylonian belief systems.
The roots though are also in Genesis - Male and Female He Created Them ( a probable not surprising ex post analysis of the world as observed that generally animals of species observed fell into the male ones and the female (which laid the eggs or gave live birth) , (the caring duties of each were often seen as complimentary , sometimes excursively female), Deuteronomy and its laws mention very slightly that cursed (by God) he he that takes on women's clothing ( presumably to pass off either as a military spy OR for some kind of other gratification ) ( and I think it is the other way round too. Yet Egypt and other places around the world the apparel worn is often not gender specific.
By the 1920s popular songs "Masculine Women and Feminine Men" pointed out that which indulgent middle classes , or desperate working classes got up to. The religious roots though bring us to the US Christian Right / (and to some extent Conservative Tories in UK) having this "fundamentalist" view, with the Left Wing having views of equal rights for transgender / intersex individuals . Nature as a whole doesnt really care what set of matching chromosomes can produce viable offspring ( with odd instances that such offspring may at times be infertile), but a chromosome mus-match , development chemical exposure errors or changing hormones passed particulary from a mother can result in , as in a few friends I have on the internet , the intersex or non-sex individuals - whom defy the male/female classification and thus we can get two types of "Trans Gender" - a chemical male or female in a body that otherwise presents as female or male - and thus looking at puberty may actually be the best Scientific treatment pending other investigtations ( there are also a very small amount of people that never go through puberty such is the way hormone systems work/dont work ), These would appear to be different from "Elective/Peer Pressure" Gender Changing. And is self-identifying appropriate - but then should everyone have extensive medical reports written on their gender (which would put everyone on a level playing field).
The Supreme Court legal ruling is only in the scope of the legislation it had before it to test , - exclusive female spaces - which is fair enough , but the rights of those that are not male (any longer) do need to be respected in delivery of services from state, and private, institutions . Generally the UK has it better , though much political and media chatter is under informed and prejudiced for what are essentially a tiny number of individuals with respect to the entire population , so should we be led by the Science or retain - often selectively - old religious texts which are clearly outdated ?
I can accept that some clinics and psychologists have vested interests to maintain their own incomes and jobs and can be over suggestive to what can be vulnerable people at a time of life which is pretty messed up with uncertainty at the best of times. I would expect better of legislators to actually develop a workable , legal framework that has to cover more than the traditional two clearly defined sexes rather than seemingly acting out of uninformed prejudice.

[Stanley]

THIS caught my eye this morning.... Starmer making the first moves to repatriate Rayner into the core of the Party before the next GE.
Sir Keir Starmer has said the "hugely talented" Angela Rayner will make a return to the cabinet, following her resignation over a tax scandal. The former deputy prime minister quit in September, after it emerged she had failed to pay the correct amount of stamp duty on a £800,000 flat in Hove. An investigation found she had "acted with integrity," but her failure to get the correct tax advice on the purchase fell short of ministerial standards. In an interview with The Observer, external, the prime minister said she remained a "major voice in the Labour movement".

But I think Peter raises an important matter when he highlights the US policy paper which seems to me to be more to do with America First and Isolationism than any adjustment to US policy towards Europe and Russia. The government policy makers and strategists seem to have forgotten what happened the last time the States operated full on isolationism ignoring what was happening in Europe. They did a rapid reverse when German submarines started operating off the US Eastern seaboard sinking US merchant ships feeding the exporting of aid to Europe. They sent troops and fully participated in the Nazi downfall in the end and then poured aid into Europe under the Marshall Aid programme to kick start a peace time economy.
Note that what they did then was never an altruistic response to the needs of European freedom and development, it was what was best for America and that's what we are looking at here. Thanks to Peter for alerting me to it. This is significant and believe me, there will be wiser heads than mine embedded in the UK political establishment who will be giving equal weight to this indication of the US long term strategy. There are implications for us that need to be addressed.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on yesterdays talks in Downing Street.
European leaders have said "now is a critical moment" to ramp up support for Ukraine and put pressure on Russia to bring an end to the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in London on Monday to discuss the latest version of a peace plan, drafted between Ukrainian and US officials last week. The European leaders said more work was needed to obtain security guarantees for Ukraine, as the US puts pressure on Kyiv to agree a swift deal with Russia. Zelensky, who travelled on to Brussels to meet Nato officials, said that Ukraine would share a revised plan with the US on Tuesday. Last week, Ukrainian officials spent three days with the US negotiating team in Florida pushing for changes to a US-backed peace proposal which has been widely considered favourable to Russia. Answering questions from journalists after Monday's meeting in London, Zelensky said that the "most certainly anti-Ukrainian points have been removed" from the initial deal proposed in November. But the Ukrainian president acknowledged that there were some outstanding concerns about ceding territory and a compromise had "not yet been found there".
Question, does this amount to more than hot air? I am deeply cynical.

[Stanley]

See THISbreaking news....
US President Donald Trump has criticised European leaders as "weak" and suggested the US could scale back support for Ukraine. In a wide-ranging interview with Politico, external, he said "decaying" European countries had failed to control migration or take decisive action to end Ukraine's war with Russia, accusing them of letting Kyiv fight "until they drop". European leaders have made attempts to carve out a role in the US-led efforts to end the war, which they fear will undercut the long-term interests of the continent in favour of a quick resolution. In response, the UK's Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said all she saw in Europe was "strength", citing investment in defence as well as funding for Kyiv. She added two presidents were "working for peace" - referring to Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - and "one president - President Putin - has so far simply sought to escalate the conflict with further drone and missile attacks". Trump continued to increase pressure on Zelensky to agree to a peace deal, and urged him to "play ball" by ceding territory to Moscow. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Zelensky, writing on X later on Tuesday, said Ukraine and Europe were working actively on "all components of potential steps toward ending the war", that the Ukrainian and European elements of the plan were now more developed. He then told reporters he believed the plans would be submitted to the US on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in the forest voices are being raised suggesting that Trump should step back and leave European leaders to work on a deal.
No reason why this shouldn't happen. the US will continue to supply weapons as long as it gets paid.....

[Stanley]

See THIS report....
European leaders have said "intensive work" will continue in the coming days on a US-led plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war, after a joint phone call with President Donald Trump. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said they "agreed that this was a critical moment - for Ukraine, its people and for shared security across the Euro-Atlantic region". Trump later said "we discussed Ukraine in pretty strong words", admitting that there were "some little disputes about people". The joint call comes the day after Trump called European leaders "weak", suggesting the US could scale back support for Ukraine. In the wide-ranging Politico interview published on Tuesday, Trump also claimed Ukraine was "using war" to avoid holding elections, prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to reply he was "ready" for them. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.
Is this anything more than posturing? Everyone talks and Putin quietly takes more and more territory.....