POLITICS CORNER

[Tizer]

`Home Office criticised for billions of asylum overspending' LINK
A think tank has blamed "woeful budgeting" at the Home Office for repeated overspending on asylum support. Over the last three years, the department's initial estimated budgets for asylum, border, visa and passport operations amounted to £320 million. But the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said it had ended up spending £7.9 billion over the period, £7.6 billion more than forecast. The IFS also warned the department had submitted figures it "knows to be insufficient" for this year....

[Stanley]

See THIS for a well of misery that tends to be forgotten....
Councils in England spent a record £1bn on temporary accommodation for homeless families in the past year. This is more than 50% higher than the year before, driven by record numbers of families living in short-term housing, including over 150,000 children. Councils spent £417m accommodating families in hostels and bed and breakfasts, a 63% increase on the year before. The Labour government has said it inherited a housing crisis which has "left families stuck living in temporary accommodation". In a statement, a housing ministry spokesperson said the government would deliver on its target of 1.5 million homes and "prevent homelessness before it occurs" by banning no-fault evictions. Experts say soaring private rents, a lack of housebuilding and increased eviction rates have made homelessness a chronic problem.
I hear the hopeful estimates but I wonder how successful Labour will be in reducing these numbers?

[Tizer]

Our Somerset County Council is on the brink of bankruptcy. Much planned work is now being abandoned. More housing estates have been built on the edges of Taunton and others are partly built. But it's all houses and no schools, shops, GP surgeries, pubs, restaurants etc. The town centre hasn't enough car parking for even the present population and the local paper now announces that a present major multi-storey car park bang in the centre near all the shops, library, restaurants, cafes etc is to be closed and the land sold off for building more houses. (The reason for closure is said to be vandalism, theft, drugs etc and complaints from residents in the newly built block of fancy expensive flats next door to it.) You couldn't make it up. The council seems to have no viable plan for solving the town's problems.

[Stanley]

Sounds like bad management Peter but certainly not assisted by the starving of the councils of investment by central government over the last 30 years. Also a burden is the way central government has shifted responsibility for many areas away from Whitehall and on to local government. I fear many councils are in a similar condition.....
In some cases the position has been worsened by councils investing money (sometimes borrowed.) in badly advised get rich schemes trying to make up the shortfall in their funding.

[Tizer]

Bad news...
`Far right eyes political earthquake as Germans head to the polls' LINK
The far right is on the cusp of winning the most votes in German state elections for the first time since the Nazis. For some in Germany, the rise of Alternative for Germany (AfD) is a literal nightmare. But others, particularly in the east, say the AfD is a chance for change. All year, the temperature has been rising in German politics and Sunday’s vote in Thuringia and Saxony may be the boiling point.

[Stanley]

It's Sunday Peter and there is no political news so the headline writers feed us the shock stories from abroad. I'm not saying the Far Right isn't worrying but I wish they'd let us have a day off!

[Tizer]

I've since read that the AfD will be kept out today by a coalition of other parties. Fingers crossed!

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of the result of the election Peter.
Germany's anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) is celebrating a "historic success", with the far-right party on course for a big victory in the eastern state of Thuringia. The AfD is set to win almost a third of the vote, according to a projection for public broadcaster ARD, nine points ahead of the conservative CDU, and far in front of Germany's three governing parties. The result would give the far right its first vote win in a state parliament since World War Two, although it has little hope of forming a government in Thuringia. The AfD came a close second in Sunday's other big state election, in the more populous neighbouring state of Saxony. Projections there gave the CDU almost 32% of the vote, a point ahead of the AfD, again far ahead of the three parties running the national government - the Social Democrats, Greens and liberal FDP. The AfD's top candidate in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, who is a highly controversial figure in Germany, hailed a "historic victory" and spoke of his great pride. He reportedly failed to win a direct mandate for the state parliament, but could still win a seat because he is top of his party list.
Disturbing stuff and whilst we can get some comfort from the fact that they won't get actual power, nevertheless they have got support and this is how other Right-wing movements have started. Some of us are old enough to remember what that can lead to.

[Tizer]

Interestingly, the far-right leader Giorgia Meloni in Italy refuses to give her support to Germany's AfD. Even she considers them too dangerous.

[Stanley]

Like you Peter I watch developments in Germany with trepidation. I have read the history, lived through the consequences and fear the consequences of the swing to the Right.
See THIS for another instance of Right wing consequences but this time in Palestine.
Last October, Palestinian grandmother Ayesha Shtayyeh says a man pointed a gun at her head and told her to leave the place she had called home for 50 years. She told the BBC the armed threat was the culmination of an increasingly violent campaign of harassment and intimidation that began in 2021, after an illegal settler outpost was established close to her home in the occupied West Bank. The number of these outposts has risen rapidly in recent years, new BBC analysis shows. There are currently at least 196 across the West Bank, and 29 were set up last year - more than in any previous year. The outposts - which can be farms, clusters of houses, or even groups of caravans - often lack defined boundaries and are illegal under both Israeli and international law. But the BBC World Service has seen documents showing that organisations with close ties to the Israeli government have provided money and land used to establish new illegal outposts.
We have seen how this same Right wing activity has sparked the IDF action against HAMAS in Gaza and also the West Bank. In turn this has triggered retaliation by the Houthi with its consequential effects on shipping in the Red Sea and increased activity by Iran's other client in Lebanon, Hezbollah.
How long before the shift to the Right in Germany triggers violence? This is how it happened in the 1930s.....

[PanBiker]

One of Netanyahu's government ministers or could have been himself, said yesterday the the future to security in Gaza could be the establishment of Jewish settlement across the region. I don't think there is any "Could be"about it! I have said this from the start of the conflict and the obvious genocide happening across Gaza. I firmly believe that it is the whole intention of the IDF to level the country and then rebuild for the sole benefit of Israeli expansion. The illegal occupation of the West Bank is the practice area for such action.

Netanyahu has already stated that a two state solution is not even considered. What does it take to trigger action from the UN when there are clear and serious international law breaches?

[Tripps]

Nearer to home, and relevant perhaps to a few on here - certainly to me.
The Failsworth MP, Deputy Prime Minister, and and dancing queen from Ibiza, Angela Rayner- has not denied that there may be plans afoot to abolish the single person occupancy discount to the Council Tax.

This stands currently at 25 %. As Carol Vorderman will explain - if you ask her - to remove this discount will involve an increase of 33.3% in the amount currently paid by someone in receipt of the discount.

Stand by. . . . . .

[Stanley]

Ian, I think you are absolutely right about Netanyahu's intentions. He has always opposed the two state solution and everything that the IDF have done in Gaza points towards the elimination of the Palestinians. (Last time I checked that's a definition of genocide.)
This is of course another example of me demonstrating that I am anti-Semitic according to some opinions.
Incidentally I note the Chief Rabbi exploded in indignation when he heard that the UK government had instituted a token ban on 30 arms licenses yesterday. He said "It Beggars belief when Israel is fighting a war on seven fronts".
From where I sit Israel has always fought against anyone who opposes its total control of what used to be Palestine and that's what this is all about now. It was Israel who forced HAMAS to transition from a Palestinian political organisation to using violence and hence becoming 'terrorist'. This does not excuse them of course but it gives some clues as to how this situation came about. I can remember when the infant state of Israel employed terrorist tactics to further their end. Anybody remember the 'Irgun'? (Hebrew for "organization") Also known as Etzel, which is the Hebrew acronym for "Irgun Tzvai-Leum" or "National Military Organization." The Irgun was an underground Zionist paramilitary group active during the British mandate of Palestine.)

David, If that is correct and Labour policy it is bad news for some of us and more evidence that I was right to suspect that they were going to swing into full austerity mode, making the same mistake the Tories made in 1920 and 2010.
They should read their history and try to learn!

[Tizer]

I can remember when the infant state of Israel employed terrorist tactics to further their end. Anybody remember the 'Irgun'? (Hebrew for "organization") Also known as Etzel, which is the Hebrew acronym for "Irgun Tzvai-Leum" or "National Military Organization." The Irgun was an underground Zionist paramilitary group active during the British mandate of Palestine.)

I was born just after WW2 but I remember in my early years reports on radio and then TV about the problems in Palestine and many of the names are still in my memory. This is a summary of the time from our National Army Museum: `The British Army in Palestine' NAM

[Stanley]

THIS is the main political news for me, the publishing of the Grenfell Report.....
The depressing conclusion any reader will take from the vast Grenfell Tower Inquiry report is the sheer breadth of failure, in how many directions the fingers of blame can point.
That sums it up really and the question now is will any sanctions be applied to the guilty parties and what changes will there be in the way we view housing.
What occurs to me is that our present day attitude to social housing is dreadful, we look down on anyone who needs it. Many of us believe that this goes back to the time when social housing started to be used as a tool for dealing with 'problem families' and many housing estates came to be regarded as sinks where such families could be housed.
This is neither the time or the place for a complete reappraisal of council housing but we should recognise that it has been neglected for decades.
At very best this can be seen as no more than work in progress. 72 people died because we let them down. Fires are still happening in buildings clad with the same flammable materials, there was one not much more than a week ago......

[PanBiker]

Regarding the building cladding. I cannot for the life in me see why we cannot train up thousands of folk that are on the dole on how to remove the cladding. Surely the practicalities are not that complicated that this would be an issue. Identify them all and get the job done.

It's a problem like the mass housing building after the war. My dad was trained on the job via a government scheme set up after the war. One skilled bloke had six others to train up in his particular skill. In my dads case it lasted three years at Brackenbank in Keighley and resulted in the housing stock built in the valley running up to Haworth top. They rotated round the different skilled trainers on the site. Classroom session in the morning then the practical side in the afternoon. My dad came home with bricklaying and masonry skills, plastering, laying footings and drainage and roofing work under his belt. I have some of his technical notes that he took from the project. The skills lasted him for a lifetime of work until retirement.

[PanBiker]

I forgot to mention, Jonathan made his maiden speech in Parliament on Tuesday.

Parliament TV

Jonathan's bit starts at 17:17:09

[Tizer]

Regarding the building cladding. I cannot for the life in me see why we cannot train up thousands of folk that are on the dole on how to remove the cladding. Surely the practicalities are not that complicated that this would be an issue. Identify them all and get the job done....

I think we need something like a military reserve scheme, overalls instead of uniform but strictly controlled with regard to time-keeping, respect for trainers, behaviour. It could be used for various types of training. And in the future we could adapt it to a true military reserve like they have in the Baltic states in readiness for Putin's mongol hordes when they descend on the rest of Western Europe.

[Stanley]

I know it's a typical old bloke's comment but National Service, while not welcome, was a good thing for most of us. Some form of compulsory public service could be a useful antidote to many of the ills we see besetting the modern-day young. Only problem is I am told by my son in law Mick, who was a Regimental Sergeant Major in a Guards regiment, that if the same rigorous training we got in the 1950s was applied today 50% of the intake would go over the wall so I'm not sure how it could be done.

Judging by THIS BBC article, Starmer is having a similar problem with his new intake of MPs.
Money might be tight for Rachel Reeves, but she is trying to stretch Number 11’s hospitality budget. The chancellor is holding a series of drinks receptions for Labour MPs, an opportunity for casual chit-chat and get a quick selfie in Downing Street. Oh, and while you’re here, don’t even think about rebelling on spending cuts. Or there will be no more wine and nibbles for you. On the face of it the chancellor, and her boss Keir Starmer, have nothing to worry about. They are sitting on a majority of around 150. There is a long time until an election. The official opposition hasn't even chosen its new leader yet. And yet there is real nervousness at the top of the Labour government about how to keep all these new MPs in line.
I doubt if Clem Atlee had that problem in 1945.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC article on the Renters' Rights Bill.
The government is set to introduce a bill in the Commons next week which will ban landlords from evicting tenants without a reason. Ministers are expected to bring the Renters' Rights Bill for its first reading. The draft law, which will apply in England, will also give tenants the right to request a pet. A ban on no-fault evictions has long been promised but repeatedly delayed, with the previous Conservative government running out of time. The bill will be debated later in autumn.
Well done if it happens, it's high time the tenants had some rights, under the Tories the balance had swung too far in the landlord's favour. Quelle surprise!

[Stanley]

I suppose we all knew THIS but at last someone has come out into the open and admitted it. I give Starmer credit for that at least.
The NHS in England has been "broken" by successive Conservative-led governments - and the state it is now in is "unforgiveable", Sir Keir Starmer has told the BBC. In his first major interview in Downing Street, the prime minister said a review of the health service to be published on Thursday finds changes to the NHS were "hopelessly misconceived". He said austerity in the coalition years, and then the Conservative government's handling of the pandemic, left the NHS in an "awful position".
Where I would argue he is wrong is in laying all the blame on the Conservatives. Labour have made their contribution as well. All parties have failed largely because they were trying to get an NHS on the cheap and it can't be done. True, successive surveys have shewn that it was the cheapest health service in the world but often at the expense of quality. The way wages in the NHS have been repressed for years is just one example.
What I fear now is that the scenario that Labour is operating is the Tory £22billion black hole and this is going to preclude what is really needed, significant investment in the service. The only direction this can go is more private investment and that means profit being taken out of the finest piece of social engineering in the last century.
In my view, that is the really 'unforgivable' bit!

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of Starmer's interview with Laura Kuenssberg yesterday.
The prime minister has told the BBC his new government is "going to have to be unpopular" as he defended his "tough" decision to cut winter fuel payments. Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg in his first major interview in Downing Street, Sir Keir Starmer said he was determined to deliver change but this meant having to "do the difficult things now". Challenged on his plan to remove winter fuel payments from most pensioners while also awarding above inflation pay rises to some public sector workers, he said he was "fixing the foundations" and those in need would still get assistance. He said: "When we talk about tough decisions, I’m talking about... the things the last government ran away from."
Funny that the first 'tough decisions' impinge on the poorest people. I haven't heard a lot of serious measures proposed against the large capital holders. It may be that we shall hear those in the Budget but at the moment all I am hearing is the old worn out mantras about sound money. (Although that particular phrase has been avoided.)
Whilst I have no doubt that the situation at the Treasury is as dire as has been described, the main reason it is as bad as that is because the wrong economic policies have been employed by successive governments. A progressive industrial firm sees nothing wrong with borrowing to invest as long as the return from the investment is larger than the amount of interest it has cost to get the capital. In 1939 when the War Coalition had to take on debt to pay for the war it did so without a second thought and I have said many times that the successive crises we have seen should be treated like war and in some cases with a coalition government. What we are seeing is a Labour government making exactly the same mistakes as their predecessors and it will end in the same failure.
Will we never learn?

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC comment on the prisoner releases scheduled for today.
Up to 1,750 offenders are spending their last night in prison before being released under the Ministry of Justice’s emergency plan to ease the overcrowding crisis in jails. Releases are due to begin on Tuesday morning as governors unlock cells under the plan to free up 5,500 beds. One charity has warned that women and children will become the unintended victims of the emergency plans - while rehabilitation specialists fear any rushed releases will compromise vital work in turning around the lives of some offenders. The chief inspector of prisons told the BBC his “biggest concern” was whether everyone released had accommodation to go to, a crucial part of stopping ex-offenders becoming homeless. Last week prisons reached a record population of more than 88,500. That meant almost all of them were full, a situation that had been coming for months but had been exacerbated by the summer’s riots.
Do you remember Chris Grayling privatising probation? (Now Lard Grayling of course. How did that happen?) This was partially reversed after it was realised what a disaster it was but has never recovered. Now all that comes home to roost as they have to carry on with rehabilitation of released offenders.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the proposal to re-introduce a strengthened version of the Renter's Bill.
England's 11 million renters are set to get more security as Labour introduces a new bill to ban "no-fault" evictions. A Renters’ Rights Bill was introduced by the Conservatives but initial plans for a ban were put on indefinite hold before the whole bill was dumped because of the election being called in July. Now, Labour has brought forward a strengthened version of the bill, including an outright ban on tenants being turfed out for no reason by landlords using a Section 21 notice. Homelessness and renters' rights charities welcomed the tougher plans, which will also end blanket bans for those on benefits or with children, and extend Awaab’s Law, forcing landlords to fix issues like damp and mould, into the private rented sector.
No fault eviction and the whole subject of leases were the two areas where renters had fallen completely behind landlords and Lease-holders.

[Stanley]

The NHS is a troublesome subject in Parliament.....
"Ballooning" NHS waiting times and delays getting vital treatment in A&E and cancer care is harming health and costing lives, according to a critical government-commissioned report. People have "every right to be angry," Sir Keir Starmer will warn on Thursday, adding the health service must "reform or die". Health Secretary Wes Streeting vowed to "turn the NHS around" after the review found it is still struggling from the effects of the pandemic, weakened by under-investment and missing key targets for treatment. But the Conservatives said the government needed to turn "rhetoric to action" after scrapping its plans to reform social care and build new hospitals. The report was the result of a nine-week review of the health service in England by the independent peer and NHS surgeon Lord Darzi.
I get the feeling that the Darzi report is a tipping point. The parlous state of the NHS is no longer in any doubt and something has to be done. The question is what? The opposition may not like what Starmer is saying but in this case I really do think he is on the money. We have talked and moaned long enough. Now we have to DO SOMETHING!