POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

Have you seen the cartoon this morning Ian.....
The most noticeable thing about politics this morning is the deathly hush from Downing Street. I suppose even Sunak realises that the miniscule rise in economic activity last month is risible and can't be used to 'prove' that Tory policies on the economy are working. Besides, I wonder what effect inflation has on the metrics of activity.
For example, many sales figures are reported to be up but when you examine the figures, it's the value of sales that has risen because prices have gone up. In reality, the quantity of goods has gone down. In statistical terms it is still an increase...

[Stanley]

Thinking about the effects redundancy can have, I remembered writing this piece fourteen years ago. I think it's still pertinent today.

LOVE ON THE DOLE?

I don’t know about you, but I have reached the stage where listening to the news about the financial crisis is deeply depressing. At my stage in life I suppose I am well off compared to most people. I have no responsibilities, no children to support and no debts because I learned my lesson about that a long time ago. Another generation is going through the same learning curve that we did and hopefully they will learn some lessons. The first thing to get hold of is that every cloud has a silver lining, it may be hard to recognise at the moment but I’m sure that in five years a lot of people will recognise this.
The first thing they will learn will be to have a healthy mistrust of the experts, particularly the ones who eighteen months ago were talking about ‘The New Economy’. They told us that we had seen the last of boom and bust and that the future was bright. You may remember that at the same time I was telling you that there was a storm coming and the best thing to do was to batten down the hatches, cut back on expenditure, ditch the second car and ignore the blandishments of the advertisers. Nobody likes a party-pooper and I don’t blame anyone who ignored me. I think by now the message may have sunk in, things are serious, the storm has arrived and in my opinion it’s a big one and we won’t see any brightening of the horizon for a long time, far longer than the experts would have us believe because they think it is their job to ‘talk up confidence’.
I want to do the same thing but not from any political or economic point of view, that’s a lost cause and the sooner our masters realise that we can’t be fooled any longer, the sooner we will start to see some relief. So what’s different about my approach? Simple, what I’m going to tell you isn’t based on political or economic theory, it’s based on common sense and experience. I’m not going to tell you how to make your money go further, I want to tell you about some of the things I learned by experiencing hard times and reading the history of the inter-war depression.
I’m sure you will have noticed that unemployment is estimated to be about two million at the moment and most forecasters expect it to be at about three million in twelve months. I think they are right. Losing your job is a disaster under any circumstances but if you have responsibilities like a mortgage and children it is even worse. I don’t know what the official attitude is going to be towards this, all I will say is that instead of throwing billions to the bankers who got us into this mess and even paying bonuses for the past year to Northern Rock employees out of the public purse they would do more good by protecting those worst hit by the recession. How about making it automatic that anyone unemployed who has a mortgage should have it frozen until they get back into the economy? Think of the load that would take off many people. However, there are things that we can do for ourselves where a bit of official help would be nice.
What about my title? Is Stanley suggesting that the best thing to do is go to bed for the duration? Not quite, although going to bed to keep warm isn’t a bad strategy if the gas bill is too high, what you do once you get in there is entirely up to you. No, I’m thinking about the book written by Walter Greenwood, published in June 1933 and later made into a very successful play. The subject was the trials and tribulations of people living in ‘Hanky Park’ during the depression. It was first brought to my notice by Steve Constantine at Lancaster who tried to turn me into an historian. Walter Greenwood was born in 1903 and brought up in the Hankinson Street district of Salford. He saw the effects of poverty caused by the depression and wrote the book to bring them to the notice of the better-off in society. When the play opened in 1935 in London it was an immediate success and ran for 391 performances at the Garrick Theatre. My point is that the depression triggered one of the best loved and most successful books of the period. A little chink of light in the dark cloud. However, suggesting that all the unemployed should write a novel isn’t going to do a lot of good.
Take a simpler case, imagine that you are a pit pony and spend the greater part of your life in the dark thousands of feet below the ground. One day the pit goes quiet and you are loaded in the cage and lifted to the surface where you are turned out into a field and left there to graze. This was what happened in the inter war years to some lucky animals. Is the pit pony better or worse off? How about the miners who suddenly had leisure and could walk the hills instead of slaving in a narrow seam hewing coal in terrible conditions? They were worse off financially but in terms of their health and ability to live a normal life they were certainly better off.
Being thrown out of work can also force you into a re-assessment of your life. Back to personal experience. In 1978 I was made redundant when Bancroft closed and there weren’t many steam-engine tenting jobs going! Funnily enough there was one at Abbey Mills at Whalley and I was offered it but refused, good job too, they went out a few months later. No, I had already decided that if society didn’t want me to work I would stop being a wage-slave and go to university. I’d already done eighteen months Open College at Nelson and Colne College and had qualified for Lancaster before the mill closed. I missed the 1978 intake because Bancroft didn’t close till December but started in September 1979 and did my three years degree course, a decision I have never regretted.
I’m not suggesting that everyone thrown out of work should do what I did, apart from anything else it was not the gateway to untold wealth! What I am flagging up is that being ripped out of a nine to five job and having plenty of me-time does open up some interesting possibilities. Suppose you used the time to improve your qualifications, investigate a completely new career or even think of starting your own business. I know a woman in the same position as me who started a little business making cushions and selling them on a market stall, she was successful and now owns her own company. All things are possible.
There is one fly in the ointment as regards further education. In 1978 there was a good support structure of grants for the ‘mature student’. This doesn’t exist now, it vanished with the ‘new economy’. Perhaps it is time for the government to invest some of the money it is printing in imaginative schemes to finance and encourage the unemployed to improve their qualifications and expand their minds. I commend the concept to our masters in Whitehall, rescuing the banking sector is not the only route to recovery and future prosperity.
Some things are certain, there are people reading this that will find themselves out of work. I know what that feels like. Once the anger starts to abate think about what I have said and get your head into pit pony mentality. Things could be worse, start looking at what you can do for yourselves. Another certainly is that if you do nothing there will be no improvement. Get out there and make things happen. I promise you that if you do you will never regret taking hold of your life and doing what you really want to do. You might not write a successful play but who knows? There is something better out there and one thing the crooked bankers did was give you the space to go out and look for it. There is a silver lining, all you have to do is find it. Best of luck!
SCG/25 January 2009

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report for their headline political news this morning.
There has been a "massive increase" in antisemitic incidents in London since the Hamas attacks on Israel, the Metropolitan Police said. Between 30 September and 13 October there were 105 antisemitic incidents and 75 offences. In the same period last year, there were 14 antisemitic incidents and 12 offences. The PM called the rise "disgusting", adding extra funding had been given to protect Jewish institutions.
I'm not sure that Sunak has quite understood what's happening. The rise in anti-semitic incidents he refers to is I think evidence of how uncomfortable many people are with the actions of the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, particularly with the present edict to the inhabitants of Gaza City to evacuate to the south as this is impossible. The expectation is that the Israeli forces are going to invade and raze the city in their search for Hamas and the missing hostages.
This misconception is exactly what was happening in the attack on the Labour Party because they were regarded as 'Anti-Semitic' when in actual fact the majority of those accused were anti Zionist. This blind support for Israel, especially from the States, is more to do with protecting the Jewish vote in upcoming elections than any actual understanding of the situation.
Like many others, I cannot make a clear judgement of cause or blame, I don't know enough about it. All I do know is that putting all those people at risk in Gaza City by military action has to be wrong. The Israelis seem to have accepted that this is a price worth paying. Many of us are not so sure......
It is a dilemma!
All I can say with certainty is that being unsure about the course that is being pursued does not make me anti-Semitic.
Later at 05:30 after hearing the later reports from Gaza. It has dawned on me what is troubling me most about the situation. The rhetoric being used by Netanyahu continually refers to Hamas but I begin to wonder if, in fact, the actions being taken are actually seen as being against Palestinians as a whole. After all, we know that the long term ambition of Israel must be seen to be the sole occupants of what used to be Palestine.... So much about this situation is unclear!

[plaques]

Perhaps what confuses the issue is that 'Hamas' is an elected government of the Palestinians. Its foundation is basically religious and starting as a charity which moved to politics with a military wing with the right to protect its own country. In some respects its no different to the Israel government and its army that is there to protect their own country.

So can an elected government be classed as a terrorist organisation? What Hamas did is totally unacceptable but by the same measure so is what Israel is doing.

Far too complicated for off the cuff comments.

[Stanley]

Far too complicated for off the cuff comments.
Couldn't agree more Ken. It is worrying enough without doing anything to make it worse. I was trying to explain how confused I am......

[Tripps]

The current Middle East situation is reall too awful for casual comment, but I had reason to google Hebron yesterday. I discover that it is on the occupied West Bank and the complexities of its history are immense.

It's a similar (or more complicated) situation for the rest of the region, and today's nastiness is probably just a continuation of history.

The phrase "religion of peace" rings a bit hollow at the moment.
.

[Stanley]

"The phrase "religion of peace" rings a bit hollow at the moment."
If anyone needs proof of the accuracy of David's remark, have a look at THIS live report from Palestine.... I don't think it needs any comment.
See THIS for the depth of insight and substance in UK politics.....
WhatsApp messages from 2020 released by the Covid inquiry have revealed senior civil servant Simon Case complaining about the influence of Carrie, the partner of then-PM Boris Johnson. In exchanges with a Downing Street adviser at the time, Dominic Cummings, Mr Case jokes that Mrs Johnson was "the real person in charge". In a later text Mr Case also says the government looks like a "tragic joke". The messages came as the Covid inquiry heard evidence on political governance. The screenshot of the WhatsApp group chat from autumn 2020, provided by Mr Cummings, was displayed on screen during a session in which the senior lawyer for the inquiry, Hugo Keith KC, was drawing attention to what he called "dysfunctionality" at the heart of government. In a discussion about introducing regional circuit breakers, Mr Case writes: "Am not sure I can cope with today. Might just go home."
I wouldn't call it "dysfunctionality", how about incompetence and ignorance. They had been entrusted with running the country! All they were thinking about was themselves.
The world must be watching this and splitting its sides laughing at us.

[Stanley]

Can anyone tell me what possible effect THIS could have?
Rishi Sunak is to address MPs to set out the government's response to the unfolding crisis in the Middle East. The session will follow a visit by the prime minister to show support for the Jewish community, Downing Street said. It will also mark the first time Parliament has met since the four-week recess for party conference season.
I'm sorry if I am being too pessimistic but I can't see anything that Sunak does having the slightest influence on Netanyahu's actions or the fate of ordinary people in Gaza City, including foreign nationals.....

What is certain is that he will fail to condemn the killing of innocent civilians, women and children included, who become collateral damage in the intended destruction of Hamas. (Incidentally, you can't destroy an idea by force so the military action is futile before it starts but nobody would welcome the voicing of reality like that!)
Anyone opposing this action on humanitarian grounds will automatically be classed by this administration as 'anti_Semitic'.
Sorry, but I think you might be getting the message, I am upset and angry!

[Stanley]

It's getting to the stage where yet another breakdown in the provision of a public service slips past without attracting attention but we must resist this and protest as strongly as we can! See THIS BBC report on a truly shameful state of affairs.....
Prisons will be allowed to release some "less serious offenders" on probation early to relieve overcrowding in jails in England and Wales, the justice secretary has said. The prison population has ballooned in recent decades as a result of tougher sentences and court backlogs. Alex Chalk announced justice reforms aimed at freeing up prison spaces. The minister said the plans included jailing fewer low-level offenders and deporting more foreign prisoners. "We must do whatever it takes to always ensure there are always enough prison places to lock up the most dangerous offenders to keep the British public safe," Mr Chalk said. Labour's shadow justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said the plans announced by Mr Chalk were a "damning indictment of the government's collective failure". "The reason we are in this position," Ms Mahmood said, "is that the government has consistently broken its promises to deal with the rising prison population." The Lib Dem's home affairs spokesman, Alistair Carmichael, said: "A merry-go-round of inexperienced justice ministers have made up prison policy on the fly for far too long "Our prison system is in crisis and in desperate need of real reform, not the confusion, gimmicks and reheated policies that have already failed on offer from Alex Chalk."
In the best Tory tradition, part of the solution is seen to be to outsource the problem, send prisoners back to their home countries....
Figures from earlier this year revealed that 61% of prisons were overcrowded. The system's total capacity is 88,782, while the current prison population is 88,225 - that means prisons are about 500 places away from reaching full capacity. The prison population has increased by 7,000 over the past year - an increase of 8%. It is projected to rise to 94,400 by March 2025.
Elsewhere in UK politics you can take your pick between THIS Report of the accusations brought against Peter Bone MP.
Parliament's behaviour watchdog has recommended Conservative MP Peter Bone be suspended for six weeks for bullying and sexual misconduct. It follows a complaint made to the body by a former member of staff, over alleged behaviour which took place over 10 years ago. The suspension will have to be voted on by the House of Commons to be approved. It would trigger a recall petition that could potentially lead to a by-election in Mr Bone's Wellingborough seat.
Or THIS report about the problems with Andrew Bridgen MP.
North West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen has reported a fellow member to parliamentary authorities for allegedly slapping him on the back of the head. Mr Bridgen, who joined the Reclaim Party after being kicked out of the Conservatives, demanded that Tory Crispin Blunt apologises for the "chop" in Parliament on Monday. When asked about the reports, Mr Blunt said the allegation was "not correct". Parliamentary officials confirmed they were aware of an incident. The alleged slap is said to have taken place in the atrium of Portcullis House.
We are living during a time when both abroad and at home there are important matters demanding attention, debate and decisions in our Parliament but instead what we see as the matters being prioritised are playground disputes and complaints.
I think it's fairly obvious we need a change!

[Stanley]

The whole world is focussed on events in Palestine, there is no political news here this morning.

[Stanley]

I see that Sunak is off on another little trip proving to us that he's a statesman (and diverting attention from the mess at home....) He's going to Israel today and other ME countries tomorrow.... Oh, and someone is stalking Gavin Williamson.... I thought he was the bully?
What really grabbed me as significant was THIS welcome news that Harriet Harman has been made chair of the MPs' standards committee.
Former deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman has been elected as the new chair of the Commons Standards Committee, which oversees MPs' conduct. She replaces Sir Chris Bryant, who has become a Labour shadow minister. Ms Harman chaired the Commons inquiry which, in June, found Boris Johnson had deliberately misled Parliament over Covid lockdown parties. Another Labour former cabinet minister, Liam Byrne, is the new chair of the business and trade committee. A third Labour MP, Cat Smith, who represents Lancaster and Fleetwood, will chair the petitions committee, after predecessor Catherine McKinnell was made shadow schools minister last month. All three will take up their positions with immediate effect and will receive an additional salary of £17,354 in their new roles, on top of their MP's salary of £86,584.
Harriet is one of the most respected members in Parliament and has said she will retire at the next election. The committee is safe in her hands!
The Tories have kept so quiet I'd forgotten about THIS !
There are two seats being contested - Tamworth in Staffordshire and Mid Bedfordshire - on Thursday.
Perhaps Sunak thought that being out of the country was the best way to treat these..... I doubt if he is expecting good news!

[Stanley]

We have news this morning..... Have a look at THIS BBC account of the two by-elections.
Labour have overturned huge Conservative majorities to win Thursday's two by-elections in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth arty leader Sir Keir Starmer said the results showed "people overwhelmingly want change" abour emerged victorious in Mid Bedfordshire - Nadine Dorries' seat until she quit as an MP - where the Tories were defending a majority of more than 24,000 he Conservatives were also defeated in Tamworth, where Labour overturned a majority of more than 19,000
It will be interesting to see how Sunak will explain this......

[Tripps]

I've just watched Andrew Bridgen MP's performance in the Commons. Sparse attendance - he started totally alone on the oppostion benches, but the cheers of some people outside the building (?) could clearly be heard. Must admit that there was too much information and it was delivered too quickly to make a lot of sense. I was waiting for it, and am still not sure what his point is. It's probably me.

The House was seem at its worst with a long list of private members' bills being read out, and immediately objected to by Christpher Chope MP, and dropped. He's been doing that for years - some procedural principle he has.

A Junior Minister responded to Bridgen, but had just five minutes to do so, and was cut off by the Speaker in mid sentence ! The mace was put back in its box and someone shouted "Who goes Home". They all did.

With a system like that, they have no right to speak about British levels of productivity.

[Stanley]

That's a very good point David!
As expected the Tories had nothing to say officially about their disaster. They put nobody up for interview by the BBC, said to be unheard of after such elections. The only comment that slipped out from one MP was that "sitting governments always do badly in elections".
Sunak keeps his head down trying to look statesmanlike in the Middle East. Much talk about similarities with 1997.
Give Starmer his due, whilst jubilant he is also urging caution, he doesn't want to see any slacking off in effort to win an election that could be closer than anyone thinks.... Remember Harold..... 'Events dear boy!'.

[Tripps]

but the cheers of some people outside the building (?) could clearly be heard.

Not outside I discover - in the public gallery, wisely behind the bullet proof shield. House empty - public gallery crammed.
Net result of the 'debate' nothing - just the fact that it is all 'on the record' via Hansard - Trend in Excess Deaths now which is a good thing.

I came across this site yesterday, and would recommend it. (If you can bear watching it at all) Parliament TV

[Stanley]

Once again there are no politics and as far as I can see no PM either.....
But later I got wind of him making statesmanlike pronouncements about the advice and warnings he has given Netanyahu about the conduct of the Israeli armed forces. I am sorry to say that this is the image that came to mind...

[PanBiker]

Regarding no politics, that Jenrick bloke has warned that more folk are likely to die in Gaza, talk about stating the bleeding obvious! His main concern though is making sure that British Nationals can get out so that's OK. No mention of trying to establish dialogue to halt the indiscriminate bombing of civilians.

[Stanley]

I heard Jenrick and you're right Ian. I regard Jenrick as another Shapps. There is no evidence of his competence but plenty of his predilection for cutting corners... Remember his lunch with the developer?

[plaques]

Not outside I discover - in the public gallery, wisely behind the bullet proof shield. House empty - public gallery crammed.
Net result of the 'debate' nothing - just the fact that it is all 'on the record' via Hansard - Trend in Excess Deaths now which is a good thing.

I came across this site yesterday, and would recommend it. (If you can bear watching it at all) Parliament TV

Dr John Campbell has a better recording.
The deputy Health minister concentrated on 2019 when people were dying of -covid-19 Andrew Bridges was specific in pointing out that the EXCESS deaths not related to covid-19 occurred in the years 2020 and after and are still ongoing. These excess deaths are being ignored by the government and the media when all available evidence and peer review studies are pointing at the mRNA vaccine. The gravy train rumbles on.

Dead men tell no tales. so Pfizer hope.

[Stanley]

Morning Ken.... I am listening to you and all I have to say is that I don't feel any great compulsion to get a Covid booster.
Still on the subject of Jenrik..... See THIS BBC report on what he said yesterday.
Rishi Sunak's government will consider tax cuts if it can meet its target of halving inflation by the end of the year, a Tory cabinet minister has said. Robert Jenrick said the PM had the "right priorities" after his party suffered two heavy by-election losses. There is disquiet over the results among Tory MPs, with some calling for tax cuts to shore up support. But Mr Jenrick told discontented MPs in his party they "shouldn't read too much" into the by-election defeats. When asked if the government was listening to those voices, the immigration minister told the BBC he understood Conservatives and the public "all want to cut taxes". "But the first task has got to be bearing down on inflation," Mr Jenrick told the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme. Describing inflation - the rate at which prices rise - as a "great evil", Mr Jenrick said "if we can get that under control" then "of course we will consider what more we should do" on taxes.
It would appear that Jenrick is the Party's response to the need for some form of acknowledgement of the by-election results on Friday. When Shapps was wheeled out as spokesman you could always be sure all the senior Cabinet Members had refused. Now Jenrick has that palm.....
Notice that the BBC remind us that 'inflation' is the rate that prices are rising. I think this might be a gentle nudge to the government who speak of 'inflation' as if that was the evil. The evil is the fact that prices are higher each month, inflation 'falling' doesn't mean the prices fell only the rate at which they are rising. We need to be reminded of that occasionally.

[Stanley]

HERE'S a handy reinforcement of the news David brought us about Simon Case....
The most senior official in the civil service is taking time off from his job because of a private medical matter. Simon Case, who has been cabinet secretary since 2020, is expected to return to work in a few weeks. A No 10 source said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak "looks forward to him returning" and wishes him all the best. The absence comes as the government grapples with challenges at home and abroad, ahead of a general election expected next year. Mr Case was appointed to his role when Boris Johnson was prime minister and has been embroiled in a string of controversies, including the Partygate scandal, during his time in post. When an internal investigation into lockdown parties in Downing Street was launched in 2021, Mr Case removed himself from the process after he admitted an event he did not attend was hosted in his office. Mr Case was pictured at the birthday event the Metropolitan Police imposed fixed penalty fines on Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak for attending. Since then, his name has come up in reports about the inquiry into bullying allegations against former Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, and the arrangement of an £800,000 credit facility to Mr Johnson. And last week, WhatsApp messages in which he complained about the influence of Mr Johnson's wife, Carrie Johnson, were released by the Covid-19 inquiry. The head of the civil service said the government was looking like a "terrible, tragic joke", while Mrs Johnson was "the real person in charge".
Call me suspicious but this is convenient to say the least.
See THIS for another matter that is an embarrassment to the government.
The government is set to confirm plans to end the use of 50 hotels to house migrants by January. In March, the BBC learned around 400 hotels were being used to house record numbers of asylum seekers. On Tuesday, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick will announce plans to start terminating hotel contracts that are costing the taxpayer £8m a day. Ministers have frequently criticised the cost, promising the reduce the government's reliance on hotels.
The thought that occurs to me is what are they going to do with the asylum seekers who are in the hotels? If there is an answer to this question, why has it not been implemented sooner? Or is this just an aspiration?

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report for the most serious political news this morning.
The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, has accused Israel of a "clear breach" of international law in Gaza. He told the BBC there was "no justification for the withholding of essential supplies" from the people of Gaza. His comments came amid resignations within the party over Sir Keir Starmer's stance on the crisis. The Labour leader has repeatedly insisted Israel has a right to defend itself within international law.
Sarwar has a point and is backed up by the UN who say the same thing. It's hard to see how Starmer's stance can be justified and this is evidently the view of the Labour officials who have resigned.
The rest of the political news makes dire reading. Jenrick taking hotels of the asylum seekers accommodation list without any obvious alternative being offered. News of the tremendous waste of money by the Home Office at Bexhill where The Home Office has been accused of wasting millions buying an immigration detention site at more than double the price it was bought for a year before. About £15.3m was spent on the Northeye site, a former prison in Bexhill-On-Sea, new figures reveal. Thirteen months before, developers had bought the land for £6.31 million - meaning they turned a profit of £9m. The government is working on plans to turn the land into accommodation for up to 1,200 men.
Looking at business we get confirmation that no-fault eviction will not be stopped as promised and the cap on banker's bonuses is to be scrapped.... These two measures seem to show favour for those who already have the money and abandonment of those who haven't got it. Or am I just being an old Leftie again?
If anyone knows of any good political news will they please post it here?
Later.... I heard a local councillor saying that many of the asylum seekers made homeless by the Home Office ceasing to fund the 400 hotels will become the responsibility of the local council and they will have to hire the hotel rooms vacated by the Home Office. Is this what we are looking at here? A shifting of financial responsibility from the Home office to already stretched Local council budgets?

[Stanley]

See THIS for what I regard as a piece of good news. I have always thought Bone was a nasty piece of work and will admit to being quite surprised that the Tory dominated Commons voted for a suspension long enough to trigger re-selection in his constituency.
MPs have voted to suspend Peter Bone from the Commons for six weeks after an investigation found he had bullied and was sexually inappropriate around a former member of staff. The move is likely to lead to a by-election in his Wellingborough constituency, a former Tory safe seat polling indicates could flip to Labour. Parliament's behaviour watchdog found Mr Bone had exposed himself to an aide and physically struck him. Mr Bone denies the charges. The Conservative Party had already withdrawn the whip from the MP, meaning he will not be able to stand for re-election as a Tory candidate and he currently sits as an independent.
Anyone like to guess what the result of a by-election might be? Mr Sunak is seeing hie Party melting away beneath him. It makes you wonder whether he might go for a January election rather than wait for even more bad news because there doesn't seem to be any good news on the horizon.
Elsewhere in the forest the situation in Palestine dominates all politics. The dilemma is that whilst everyone can see that the vengeful attack on Hamas means a tremendous cost in civilian casualties and this attrition is being made worse by the embargo on supplies to the Gaza Strip Anyone who comes out and tells it like it is (Like the UN spokesman who gave his view) is immediately the object of an attack by the Israelis.
(Just writing that paragraph makes me immediately suspect and vulnerable.)
It's very hard to see where any movement can be made towards peace and 'normal' relations. My sympathies go out to both the Israelis who were affected by the Hamas atrocities and the Palestinians who want nothing more than a peaceful life but are subject to a blitz.

[PanBiker]

The Isrealis are making the mistake of not taking notice of history. In their rampant desire to eradicate Hamas they forget that they are actually creating a perfect breeding ground, certainly among the surviving children for many more damaged and angry individuals who may well develop into the next generation of fighters. One could say who could blame them?

[Stanley]

Problem is that at the moment the last thing Netanyahu and his government want to hear is good sound common sense like that Ian.