POLITICS CORNER

[Tardis]

Borrowed #SR2013

[plaques]

Very interesting figures. However, the Bank of England has just created £375 billion of electronic money out of thin air (quantitative easing) and given it to the banking system. Eventually this money will have to be returned or lost through inflation. My bet is on the latter. Interest rates will rise and those poor suckers who have no money will have even less of it. Get ready for more belt tightening. Austerity is the name of the game. Of course chasing tax revenues from multi national companies or closing off-shore tax havens is far too complicated to even contemplate. Let’s keep it to skivers and strivers and those welfare scroungers who got us in this hole in the first place. Didn’t they?

[Stanley]

The only thing that's clear to me is the fact that the 'New Economy' under de-regulation gave the banks freedom to manufacture phantom money to support debt, both private and public. The government was happy because this increased treasury revenue and everything in the garden was lovely. All bubbles burst and that's what happened in 2008. The big political end economic mistake then was to throw all the available money at banks which were too big to fail. In the fairy land that ruled thinking then, the fact that we weren't adding value and making real money was completely forgotten. The next big [political mistake, this time driven by old fashioned Tory DNA was to rely solely on austerity to create 'sound money'. This damaged domestic spending which is what supports GDP. The Tory DNA said this didn't matter as we could export our way out of the problem and private enterprise and the market would fill the gap. Of course this hasn't happened and we are now locked in a spiral of decay where everyone knows that the only way to get the economy fired up again is to encourage investment in added-value industries but there is no confidence in the market and no government money left apart from borrowing. Because the economy is so depressed welfare payments rise and suck in all the 'spare' money there is. Public service wages, benefits and ordinary wages are either static and reduced by inflation or cut. The highest pay grades increase year on year so the disposable incomes of the sector of the economy which is the greatest driver of consumption and hence GDP falls. The gap between rich and poor increases and the possibility of protest and unrest rises. Some economists talk of austerity until 2020. They are wrong, for the poorest it will be far more than that. The train wreck is here now and I can't see any quick fix, there are no significant levers of power left. For many, this is worse that the depression of the inter-war years. The Tory answer, 'steady as she goes'.
Meanwhile, the global economy limps along and the EU looks more and more like a failed project. What a bloody mess.
Meanwile, in another part of the forest.... The Queen gets a 5% pay rise.

[hartley353]

Now that the world has driven itself to the brink of financial disaster it would appear there is only one tool left in the repair box. War! the final solution Stanley may be right Tin Hats, though Kevlar may be a better choice.

[Tardis]

The figures missing from that infographic are of course Welfare and Pensions, and debt repayments

[Stanley]

Comforting that Joseph Stiglitz warns this morning about the same imbalance on the economy that I mentioned above. He sees the growing gap between incomes at the top and the bottom as a major problem that can only cause trouble in the long run. He is dead against austerity as a strategy and abhors the large increases in pay at the top.

[Stanley]

Listened to Danny Alexander setting out the Brave New World of Tory funding. He must think we are all idiots, this is the biggest con-trick since Post War Credits.... Still, someone out there will believe him and think all is well, more fools they.

[Tardis]

On Thursday, Lord Greaves suggesting that "Pendle had no future", arguing for an increase in Council Tax but also Pendle must lose more jobs

[David Whipp]

On Thursday, Lord Greaves suggesting that "Pendle had no future", arguing for an increase in Council Tax but also Pendle must lose more jobs

An example of cryptic twitter communication losing the meaning of what's been said....

At last Thursday's council meeting, Tony Greaves commented on the Government spending review. Pendle Council is already one of the seven hardest hit local authorities in the country when it comes to government funding cuts. At present, services and facilities are being kept going by using money from reserves (£2.5 million in the current year). The new cut of 10% overall local government spending will hit Pendle hard as the borough council is likely to be affected disproportionately badly because district council services have less protection from ring fencing than social care or education etc.

At present, Pendle is cushioned from the cuts by using reserves. Other East Lanc's councils don't have the cushion of the reserves we built up in Pendle. It's likely that there'll be a question mark over their viability in a few short years due to the funding constraints. In Pendle, when the reserves are used up, there'll be the same conundrum over viability.

One pressure from central government is for councils to share services over ever larger areas. A consequence of this is that the likelyhood of council amalgamations is very much greater. If we're not careful, we could end up with Lancashire being 'local' government in Lancashire.

Hence, Tony's view that, under the present funding regime, the days of Pendle Borough Council are numbered. In the meantime, as the funding for services gets ever tighter, there'll inevitably be fewer staff at the council.

The above is a summary of what Tony said last Thursday, which I hope conveys a little more of the meaning than Tardis's sentence.

Amongst others, I regret the demise of individual councils like BUDC in 1974. In another 50 years, a future commentator could be saying the same about Pendle in this decade.

[hartley353]

Tory MP Brian Binley says his Grandmother could do better at running Economy than George Osborne, I for one would be willing to give her a go. Any other grannies wishing to have a go. The only down side is that they would be aided by career advisors with poor perception and bad work ethics, they would need to bring their own team of senior advisors.

[Stanley]

From your mouth to God's ear David. My recipe is bring in legislation to force national retailers and services trading in the town to pay a percentage of profits to a reinstated council and at the same time abolish the LCC and put services like fire, roads etc under dedicated authorities. Leave Pendle in overall charge. It'll never happen but I look back at when the town functioned best and the big difference is the cash that bleeds out of the town. Yes, I'm an old fart.
Cameron says he can't block a big pay rise for MPs. The proposal is for a £10,000 annual rise.

[Tardis]

Yes, Lord Greaves presented a very dystopian view, where nothing changed, there was no intervention or innovation, and there was a spiral towards calamity with the Council continuing to spend money until there was nothing left in the bank.

Mind you it did take over 5 minutes to deliver that point (going well over the red light) so I'm sure that you'll forgive me for being selective

I am happy to broaden the point to illustrate my quotes and show that they were entirely in the context of the political point being made. It was very noticeable that there were no positive suggestions.

[Tardis]

Benefits and Welfare Graphic 2011-2012:

[Tardis]

Simple graphic about Communities Challenging Local Government:

[Bruff]

That's being explored here as I speak with a grand old pub on the main street. Not listed, but an imposing structure, this has been shut for some time and is looking shabby. In it's latter days, it was run by what we euphemistically term 'Liverpool businessmen' and well, at least the bobbies knew where everyone was.....

Tesco are after it. But some folk as well as challenging this are looking to 'buy it' as an asset of community value. A few things.

Quite a few folk would like a Tesco. Some would prefer a Marks and Sparks or a Waitrose. Or an Aldi/Lidl. Others would like no chain at all. Some would like an arts complex; plenty of others wouldn't. As it's large, a few have suggested a venue for pop-up shops at peppercorn rents. All local residents are concerned about parking (this is a problem here, to be fair), and so want nothing that would add to the already acknowledged parking issues, to the extent that some wish for the dance school for kids over the road to be shut as they can't park when classes are on. I've not heard yet of any suggesting for it continuing as a community pub, but the nightime economy debate here is long-running and polarised - we have 15 bars and pubs and cafes within a max of 15mins walk at a brisk pace, plus 8 restaurants. But you might expect this in a town with a world-class sporting venue on it's doorstep.

It'll be interesting to see what pans out.

Richard Broughton

[Stanley]

Richard, we have a similar situation here with the old Midland Bank in Newtown. The applications have gone in for a gaming licence from Ladbrokes so we are waiting to see what transpires. It seems too big for a simple betting shop, are we going to get a casino?

[Stanley]

See this LINK for an example of how unthinking and out of touch some of our 'leaders' are. The really terrible thing is that he perhaps believes he is correct.

[Tardis]

Sir Jeremy Heywood with a particularly frank view:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... onomy.html

But in other news business leaders are saying that Business rates have risen 65% since 2005 and now that local government gets to keep some of that money, the revenue streams become all the more important

[Tardis]

The curious case of all this leaking of documents around Weird Ed and Unite

Sounds like internal strife, giving the viewing public just the scuffles of their public debates

[Stanley]

Pubic debates eh? Does this replace Ugandan Affairs?

[Tardis]

No spellchecker Stanley, I have edited it now, sorry for any confusion. I needed it yesterday, somedays my medication makes it quite difficult to exist

[Tardis]

The almighty row, spurs Tom Watson's resignation No.3 and a very strange letter exchange. I wonder if Weird Ed will take Unite in hand?

[Stanley]

The 'almighty row' is more a storm in a teacup made worse by inept handling by Milliband. More to do with the deep flaws in the party funding structure than anything else. The thing that strikes me is that people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. The Liberal and Tory funding is equally suspect. The bottom line is that the whole system has been rotten for years.

[Stanley]

The Pound has dropped below $1.50.

[Tardis]

The line coming from Egypt, that the military intervened because Morsi didn't represent all of the people