POLITICS CORNER

[Whyperion]

From 2012 looks like the kids have been going to specialist sports clubs rather than doing sport after school on some kind of school premises. I always tried to miss games to do music instead ( grade 3 , violin, failed ). Newsnight 10/08/2012 had a 8 piece Indian Dance performers on over closing credits , as much movement as Rhythmic Gymnastics at least , no doubt when Mumbai gets to host its Olympics it will be a team and individual event. They also finished the routine with a Bolt lighting pose.

[Tizer]

...the biggest medal haul in over 100 years from sportsmen and women across all backgrounds and education. Contrast this with the glory days of competitive sport and cold showers in the 50s and 60s when we won errrrrr....nothing like as much.

I keep hearing about the increased Olympic `medal haul' but is it a valid comparison when there are many more medals to be won now than there were in the 50s and 60s? There are a lot more sports and more events in the recent Olympic Games.

[Stanley]

Regardless of medal haul comparisons the idea that compelling children to engage in competitive sports will inspire them all to compete and exercise smacks more of brainwashing in public school than reality. Strong echoes of the 'Physical Efficiency' debate of the 19th C when the number of recruits rejected for army service on the grounds of poor physique alarmed the ruling classes. In that case the major result was public parks and a drive to 'rational leisure' for the working classes. I am still wondering about the rationale of funding the Games with contributions from the major manufacturers of unhealthy food.
Now the PR fog of the Olympics has lifted I await pronouncements from Downing Street with interest.

[Tardis]

Politics has no place in sport, as the Romans proved

The fact that some people mix Olympics with the access to sporting activity is simply wrong.

Olympics is about winning

School Sport is generally about having fun, and no one should be forced to do something which they don't want to do

Being forced to do anything sends out the wrong message, and micro managing the time of teachers can only lead to mistrust

The greater question: Is our school system actually able to produce the people that can be captured by the professional sports teams and pushed on to greatness. If not, why should the money available not be given to outside bodies?

[Stanley]

It's holiday time in the Westminster Bubble, traditionally the time the dissidents get together and plan their strategies.... I suppose it will be September before the flow of info starts again. Anyone would think that all is well.....

[Stanley]

Hot news of the Cameron holiday outfit (LINK) Not spent a lot on the wardrobe then....
The curse of the high speed botched rail privatisation that was John Major's last triumph strikes again. CPI and RPI figures are announced and there is some surprise that inflation has risen. Surprising really because surely they realised that last month's figures were a blip caused by early sales of summer clothes due to the bad weather. Rail fares to go up again by inflation plus and this makes our rail system the most expensive in Europe despite the subsidies the government pours in. In an effort to get the costs down they go for the most 'profitable' offer for the franchise on the West Coast line, Virgin lose it and First get to take it over. The government seem to have forgotten the problems they had with other lines where the franchise was overbid and had to be abandoned before the end of the contract, before the franchisee started to pay back. Also no mention of the dividends taken out of the franchises funded wholly by the taxpayer. It must be one of the worst ways of running a railway possible.
The Olympics over, the media takes a look at Europe. GDP figures for the Eurozone show that the core is flat lining while the periphery is in various stages of rapid decline. The smart money is on Spain and Portugal asking for a Greek-style bail out. Greece itself is toast. Italy is looking dodgy. Problem is that these matters can only be addressed by Europe wide political policies and there is no chance of these being in place in time to make any moves towards a solution, if indeed there is one. Most observers agree that September is going to be a crunch point and we can look forward to interesting times.
Meanwhile, at home, there is no sign of any significant policy change by the ConDem coalition. You couldn't make it up.......

[Tizer]

...and China's boom is ending due to lack of demand for their goods in Europe and the USA. Chinese exports to Europe and USA have fallen dramatically over the last year and by 40% to some of the more troubled Eurozone countries. Which means they won't be throwing their cash into Europe and USA like they did in previous years. In fact they might be withdrawing the cash instead. And only 3 months ago we were getting news stories like this one in The Grauniad: `China's shopping spree: UK businesses taken over'

[Tardis]

I for one, am quite happy to see Virgin thrown off the lines, it should have occurred much sooner.

The newbie on the tracks will get the newer and longer trains that Virgin was told to get some time ago.

Meantime someone has to fund all those platform alterations and line upgrades, because they aren't cheap

[Stanley]

Much puzzling about the unemployment figures which are at odds with the state of the economy. For what it's worth I think they are meaningless because there is no definition of what a job is. My suspicion is that the rewards and time spent at work have become so diluted that many of the jobs are worthless as they do not pay a living wage. I suspect that the total amount paid out in wages for these jobs would reveal a much worse picture. It suits the ConDem coalition to flag them up as a success but they should be looking harder at these figures.
It's useless to compare present day railways with BR but one thing is certain, the homogeneous management model they used was a far better basis for rail modernisation than the hopelessly over-complicated model that John Major et al introduced. They botched it and threw the baby out with the bath water for ideological reasons.

[Whyperion]

Well over 2m UB claiments seems to be a sucess statistic, No one worries about the balance of trade deficit , inflation over government target by more than 75%.

The taxpayer ( particulary in places like Bude and Barnoldswick ( which have no easily accessible rail services ) , should not be subsidising rail travel in any way at all , road use charging should be introduced with the amount of money saved put to reducing employers and employees national insurance contributions and reducing council tax or VAT. This would give a better balanced economic choice of individuals expenditure and encourage real asset investment.

[Bruff]

The people of Barnoldswick also have no coastline and so presumably should not be funding the coastal defenses of places like Bude (or the Coastguard). Should people without children (like me) be funding the education (and child benefit) of those with children? Should those who don't drive, or not own a car, fund anything to do with the roads?

I'm not so sure. Perhaps we do need to 'socialise' the costs (or risk) for national issues of significant social capital - the education of our future; the maintenance of national infrastructure; the coastline of an island people?

Richard Broughton

[Tardis]

Unfortunately, the way our tax system works it relys upon the 'next generation' to pay for the previous as no money is accrued anywhere. Our Lords and masters even rush to spend unspent budgets before year end to ensure that money is never rolled over into the next, leaving a massive short term outlook in public services

Thus it stands to reason that you would want to encourage children, and also educate them as more skilled people are likely to put much more into the 'pot'. It may also deliver other social benefits

Paying for things like coastal defence ensures that that populace does not need to relocate elsewhere (empty boroughs paying no tax), and having lived in a seaside hamlet I will always contribute to the RNLI

Trains are wondrous things (ex london commuter), the tube is not.

£52 million to open SELRAP? So why can't such a small investment be carried out?

Taxes should be about infrastructure and freedom, not micro managing people's time

[Whyperion]

Land anywhere is subject to erosion and movement , but it an accepted social cost to be borne by society. Rail travel is less accepted , particularly where former services have been withdrawn, what is the point of subsidising a means of travel that does not go ( either at all or at a reasonable time or to a reasonable location), to the destination required. Even with subsidy the standard price of travel with flexibility is expensive for one single person. As rail services are expanded then things like house prices increase , which does increase the amount of taxation relating to property.

[Bruff]

I'm sure folk will appreciate that my questions above were rhetorical; I have no problem with any of my taxes funding coastal defenses (and felt that before I lived by the coast). Nor rail travel, though others may have a different view.

It would be useful to see how the increased tax take that comes from increasing house prices is off-set by the rise in the housing benefit paid to those in work (by far the largest recipients of HB) yet who can't meet the rent in most parts of the country. Rising house prices is not necessarily a universally 'good thing'.

That point about the rail service not going to the destination required reminds me of the story of the Tory grandee who to his consternation had to get the bus home one day. He got on the first bus that came along and tendered his money with the request for '32 Villiers Mansions, please', or some such address.......

It might have been the Tube he got, thinking about it.

Richard Broughton

[Whyperion]

If he lived in Highgate there was a flexi routed minibus service that would drop you as close as possible to your door. ( Hampstead Garden Suburb area actually I think ).

[Stanley]

I agree entirely with Richard. Apart from the principle of social responsibility this would lead to immense complication and is the reason why Treasury Rules generally prohibit ring-fencing any tax intake.

[Stanley]

The September crunch gathers pace as Greece talks to Germany and seeks another two years of rebate before the next austerity cuts bite. They need over €11billion Euro to avoid bankruptcy. Meanwhile it becomes increasingly a given that Greece will leave the Eurozone. Time is running out and Greece could be the domino that starts the collapse.
Meanwhile, in the UK despite mounting calls for action the ConDem coalition does nothing and the BofE continues to pour money into the banks when it becomes increasingly obvious that this is the worst thing they could do with funding because the banks stick to the cash like glue.

[Tardis]

The newly released from central control NHS has refloated an idea first mooted by Andy Burnham when he was minister of health

Namely selling private NHS services abroad

I wonder if they have thought about the EU competition rules or the fact that it might just be seen as another colonial ediface?

Maybe it is yet another way to harvest doctors from around the world to substitute for our failing universites

Wonder who will stamp on it first?

[Whyperion]

The way they could do it , which the Tories have not thought of , is something like a partnership ( I think Virgin were mentioned ) , and Franchising the NHS name , this would then not actually use any frontline NHS resources , would enable technical sharing - useful for the UK NHS , and have nil investment from UK Taxpayer or NHS private earnings in UK.

Of course I dont think they have thought of this.

If EU Rules so constrict its sovereign state members from carrying out commercial activities anywhere outside of the EU , thus disadvantaging such state , as compared with say China / UAE investing in EU centered entities , then it is time to leave the EU as it provides no clear benefit to fast reactions in changing times.

[Stanley]

Tax take and borrowing figures are serious. On previous form, expect even more welfare cuts...... What a bloody mess!

[Tardis]

Tax take and borrowing figures are serious. On previous form, expect even more welfare cuts...... What a bloody mess!

They are, but lets also remember that the last time a Labour Government was in the same months figures were -£8 billion

The current project may well be not working as fast as is required but government borrowing cost is currently -1.25% ( people are paying us to buy the bonds)

What they do demonstrate is how hard business is struggling with the Euro Crisis (Euro parity has fallen from 83p to 77p I think) and that difference is causing some supply and competition issues

The records point at Corporation Tax receipts...remember those huge bank losses, although I believe this can be explained by a production issue with the North Sea Oil & Gas...if the companies don't make money then the Treasury doesn't get any and the burden falls on the general tax payers to make up the difference, but there is no flexibility within the system because of the massive rise in spending, and the retained asset price bubble. Rents are still high because property prices are still high, and that debt has to be serviced within the business structure.

[Thomo]

I do not pretend to fully understand much of what is said or done in a difficult situation such as the one that this country is currently facing, what I strongly believe in is that when someone is trying to do a very difficult and often unpopular job, constant sniping is less than helpful. In this countries economy there are some very big black holes, tax evasion is not just the property of the well off, it is rife in the lower echelons as well. The countries welfare system has been abused beyond belief " If you are going to dip your hand in the pot, put something in it first"!!

[Stanley]

A couple of weeks ago I forecast that the dissidents inside the ConDem government would be gathering and plotting. In the absence of any substantive political announcements the media are giving space to the various evidences of dissent that are surfacing. When it gets to the stage where a senior MP (Tim Yeo) is asking publicly if Cameron is a man or a mouse one could be forgiven for feeling sorry for Dave as he enjoys his holidays. What is even more serious is the ground swell of opinion coming from all quarters questioning Osborn's competence or rather lack thereof. September is going to be a crunch point, not only in the EU but internally in the government. Add to this the widely held belief in the Tory party that they would lose an election on present form and you have a perfect recipe for upheaval shortly. Problem is that any changes made for internal political reasons will not be the best ones for the country. There has to be a different approach very quickly and it should be done on the basis of consensus between all the parties. There is no sign that this is even on the cards. I can't remember ever seeing such a serious situation. The only thing it can be compared with is 1939 and this suggests that some very serious thought should be given to a National Coalition. I forecast that this could start surfacing in the agenda very shortly. The sooner the better!

[Tardis]

Broaden your horizons Stanley and have a look at Labourlist if you want to see some proper knife sharpening and back stabbing

They are opening talking of Wierd Ed sacking Blinky Balls and throwing him out into the wilderness

[Stanley]

Not much point when I'm talking about the current government, focus your attention and read the post instead of reacting on party political lines.
One of the reasons given by Tim Yeo yesterday for advocating a third runway at Heathrow was that 'the UK needs the boost to productivity' of a project like this. For a start off, large construction projects are hampered by long lead times, what is needed is an injection of money directly into the veins of the economy where it can work immediately. Also, big though it is, one new runway in the overcrowded South East is a pinprick compared with what is needed to really make a difference. Trillions have been channelled into the banks under various guises where it tends to stick for various reasons. What is needed is money injected directly into investment by manufacturing industry direct from the government via a different, faster route. Low interest development loans would be a good way. Easing the burden on the bottom 80% of the electors thus stopping the erosion in disposable incomes would be affective as well. If money is available for Quantitative Easing and capital injections into banks it should be diverted directly into the economy at the base. That way we get the benefit of faster recovery, the multiplier effect and an immediate reflection in GDP indices. These are the sort of new ideas the government should be considering but I am afraid that they are too dependent on the financial sector and the country is suffering. In the end of course this damages the banks and the higher earners anyway so it is not productive even for them in the long run. Until there is new thinking and a recognition of the bank's inefficiency as a conduit for capital we shall see no improvement.