POLITICS CORNER

[Tizer]

Thanks for the illuminating thoughts on tax and government spending. It's good to see the explanations and especially the difference from the `household finances' examples so often in use. It's become a `no brainer' really, there's so much we desperately need to spend money on in Britain - collapsing infrastructure for a start, not to mention innovation and new developments. I'd also suggest that we stop giving money as `financial aid' to other countries and instead use it in our own universities and technical institutions to fund R&D that would benefit the developing countries, such as ways of preventing and treating the many diseases that hold back their development. We should also use the funds to bring scientists, technologists and engineers from those countries to collaborate in these projects in the UK on a temporary basis, with them returning home to establish the the new developments there.

[Tizer]

[Deleted my double post, the first posting didn't seem to work so I tried again, but then it showed up twice.]

[plaques]

The recent postings show a general agreement that the Westminster bubble is more interested in scoring points over each other than doing anything remotely constructive. Targets are set with the sole purpose of showing how bad things are getting while at the same time withdrawing funding with the intention of making them worse. Mathematical constructs like ‘averages’, ‘rate of change’ and the much quoted GDP are only indicators of what is happening not proofs in themselves. In fact many of the numbers being bandied about would be prime contenders for the ‘Lies damned Lies and Statistics’ section.
Set piece answers are spewed out as to why steel works are closing, benefits are being cut and food banks are on the increase but nothing constructive is done. In the same breath our so called ‘power house’ capitalist country is driving us deeper into debt on the busted theory of austerity to the degree that we are having to turn to communist China and socialist France to help us build nuclear power stations and railways. Stanley, Bruff and Tizer have all pointed to the nonsense which is going on which I may summarise with a piece written by Francis Bacon over 400 years ago.
Francis Bacon. (1561-1626)
…as their persons were shut up in the cells of monasteries and collages, and knowing little history, either of nature or of time, did out of no great quantity of matter, and infinite agitation of wit, spin out unto us those laborious webs of learning which are extant in their books … cobwebs of learning admirable for the fineness of thread and work, but of no substance or profit.

[Stanley]

Lovely sensible, accurate and constructive posts. We are certainly not more intelligent or perceptive than everyone else and what intrigues me is why the logic and evidence based opinion expressed here isn't more visible in the corridors of power. Do Osborne and Cameron really believe that the policies they are pursuing are constructive? Perhaps they really are that stupid but there is a good chance that this is not the explanation. 'Constructive' depends on what the aim of the policies is, what is their core vision? I believe that the problem we see is a consequence of the fact that their agenda is based firmly in old Tory DNA. Because of their ignorance of the real world and history they see the Golden Age of Britain as being the laisser faire structure of the 19th century where one class had the upper hand and used their advantage to maximise their own position by bearing down on the standard of living and quality of life of the lower classes to make sure that they did not get 'more than their fair share' of the national economy. Note the use of the phrase 'politics of envy' which is wheeled out whenever anyone draws attention to the disparity in reward and opportunity. They still peddle the old lie 'a rising tide floats all boats' which is another risible comparison on a par with Mrs Thatcher's basket of groceries and comparison of the National to the Household economy. This is their cop-out for the obvious unfairness which eventually ruins a modern economy because the wealth creators are deprived of the rewards. This is the basis of my belief that the lower 85 percentile of the population are the drivers of consumption and economic activity and the paradox is that as this engine of growth is depressed, eventually there is a 'falling tide' which affects those at the top of the distribution tree as well.
I shall stop pursuing that one, we all know it is true. But there is another factor in this conundrum, the fact that we are trying to manage a 21st century society using a 19th century model. Much of the structure of Parliament (including the actual building!) is unfit for purpose. The rigid structure of procedural rules and tradition accepted by our politicians would be laughable if applied to a large business. High time for a change.
One last thought.... The economic model favoured by the Tories is ideal for the gradual takeover of the core functions of government by the top 1%. What they have forgotten is that there is a further layer which transcends this elite, unregulated financial institutions who hold all the real capital. That's where the real danger lies.....

[Stanley]

Well worth reading MD's 'Medicine Balls' in PE. He has an excellent track record in NHS matters and the picture he paints this week of the current state of the NHS is dire. Then there is THIS in the Guardian. It would appear that Jeremy Hunt is at it again, not content with the furore over his 'work like the Chinese' remark he has now poked a stick into a hornet's nest in the matter of the doctors and the hours they work.

[Tizer]

The current state of big companies, institutions and other organisations seems to be dire worldwide. And big business seems to think it's above the law. Take today's news about Apple for instance...
`Apple patent case: Wisconsin university wins huge damages'
"A US jury has ordered technology giant Apple to pay more than $234m (£152m) in damages for patent infringement. The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the patent licensing arm of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the verdict was important to guard its inventions from unauthorised use. The jury had earlier decided that Apple incorporated patented microchip technology into some iPhones and iPads without permission. Apple said it would appeal. The company declined to comment further." LINK

[plaques]

VW in fitting their 'defeat device' software to cheat on the emission tests have probably cost the DVLA / Government £millions in lost revenue. Although there is talk of bringing a class action for the motorists who bought the affected cars as far as I can see the government is still 'investigating' how to tighten up the tests themselves. Mind you VW is a big firm and it wouldn't be right to upset them would it?

[Stanley]

Funny isn't it that Parliament doesn't understand even simple maintenance. See THIS Guardian report on the state of the clock. very seldom mentioned is the fact that there was a fault when the clock was first installed. The hammer that strikes the bell was too big and cracked it. That's why the sound of the hours striking is so distinctive....
See THIS Mirror Report for an assessment of how Osborne's tax credit cuts are going down with the public. There are increasing reports of pressure from even Tory backbenchers to postpone the cuts until the 'increases' claimed by the living wage can bed in and cushion the shock. Some even say it could be Osborne's Poll Tax moment. Don't hold your breath for any respite, the Tories have the bit between their teeth.

[Tizer]

...I'd also suggest that we stop giving money as `financial aid' to other countries and instead use it in our own universities and technical institutions to fund R&D that would benefit the developing countries, such as ways of preventing and treating the many diseases that hold back their development. We should also use the funds to bring scientists, technologists and engineers from those countries to collaborate in these projects in the UK on a temporary basis, with them returning home to establish the the new developments there.

On Friday I wrote the words above. On Saturday, The Times published an interview with Professor Angus Deaton, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for economics “for his analysis on consumption, poverty and welfare”. In it he's quoted as saying we should stop giving aid money to developing countries and spend it here on research to prevent diseases such as malaria in those countries. I'm glad to know the Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of Economics at Princeton agrees with me!

By the way, Deaton is the son of a British miner who went out of his way to make sure his sons got a good education. He went to Cambridge to study maths but `wasn't much good at it' so became an economist instead. Now I know where economists come from!

[Stanley]

I heard him saying the same thing in an R4 interview, the man makes sense.....
Something is bothering me... I am one of the generation who remembers the death camps in Germany and the Gulag in Russia. I heard a report this morning that the facilities being used for the managing of the flood of refugees are reaching bursting point. I note that we have 'hostels' where people awaiting deportation or the resolution of asylum applications are held. What many people forget is that the term 'concentration camp' was coined by us during the Boer Wars to describe the areas where we 'concentrated' the disruptive elements of the opposing forces to help 'pacify' the country. They were so badly managed that they got a very bad reputation. During the 1930s in Germany facilities were established to house elements of society who were not regarded well by the government, the mentally or physically disabled, gypsies, homosexuals and these soon became the target for a euthanasia programme which in the end resulted in the horrors of places like Bergen Belsen, Auschwitz and Dachau. I'm not suggesting for one moment that the 'refugee centres' are nascent death camps but looking at places like Australia where the 'reception centres' for illegal migrants are in effect prisons and not nice places to be I wonder about the slippery slope we are on.
In Germany Mrs Merkel is coming under increasing pressure generated by the friction between those who see the young immigrants coming into an ageing society as a valuable resource to be welcomed and assimilated and the opposing faction which see them as racial pollution. This concept of 'racial pollution' was the argument used by the inter war German government to justify their repressive treatment of anyone who didn't fit the mythical Aryan model invented by the eugenics movement. This strand of thought is alive and well today right across Europe and it worries me. One thing is certain, the tsunami of migrants, for whatever reason, is not going to miraculously subside, if anything it will get worse. It seems to me that we need different policies than lock 'em up. I don't know the answer but suspect if and when it is found it will be rooted in compassion and tolerance. These concepts are thin on the ground at the moment.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the spate of steel closures. It's been clear for a while now that battered with high energy prices, the contraction of manufacturing and the competition of cheap Chinese steel the steel industry has been hovering on a knife-edge, it is now too late and the closures have started. Take no notice of the comforting phrase 'mothballing' which gives the impression that the plants can be switched on again as soon as 'circumstances improve'. This is a fallacy. Once you stop the blast furnaces and associated machinery nature takes control. The refractory linings collapse and the associated plant starts to deteriorate rapidly. In truth there is no such thing as 'mothballing', once stopped, a plant has to be virtually rebuilt before it can start producing again and by that time where are the skills? I doubt if the politicians realise this as so few of them have any experience of industry. The same applies to the service industries that support production, the transport links and the appetite of the ex-patriot entrepreneurs who will lose any enthusiasm they have for British steel production. Then there is the secondary question, if and when manufacturing industry needs steel where will they get it from? Once the capacity has gone the price of dumped steel will rise. This is straightforward economic warfare and should be seen as such. However, the minister Sajid Javid is generally reckoned to be about as much use as a chocolate teapot. His reaction to the present crisis is to announce that the department will set up a working party..... Great!

[Tripps]

Wow - listen to this. My new MP Heidi Allen's maiden speech. Bear in mind she is a Conservative. I just watched it all the way through - that doesn't happen very often - and actually clapped when she finished. Breath of fresh air or what?
Time to remind her that she said she would get me a ticket to PMQ's.

Heid Allen

[plaques]

MP Heidi Allen's maiden speech.
Read and listened to her speech. Very well balanced and well argued. I noticed that it went down like a lead balloon with her fellow Conservatives. The working poor, if I may call them that, are sliding bit by bit into a deeper hole. For many of them they don’t have the skills to command higher wages and the opportunities for more hours at higher rates is diminishing by the day. The elephant in the room is the Zero Hours contract where even if the rate is ‘living wage’ the hours are uncertain making their average earnings ‘unliveable’. Benefits and tax credits are not something that we should be pursuing as a perpetual system for underpinning the low earners. Frank Fields was correct in saying that Gordon Brown should never have gone down this road in the first place. Whether Heidi Allen’s speech will make any impression on George Osborne or the remainder of the conservatives I don’t know but current proposal is wrong and should be put on hold. As Denis Healey would say there is nothing wrong with changing your mind as the situation changes. Or is this a bit too ‘Leftish’.

[Stanley]

P, I'm afraid that politics is the only field of human endeavour I can think of where intransigence, being pig-headed and refusing to acknowledge evidence or a changed situation is seen as a virtue. Particularly so with the Tories who's chief preoccupation is maintenance of what they see as the proper status quo. That's why they are called conservative.... So yes, if you change your mind you are a leftie.....
Frank Fields is a good man.... He is right about Gordon Brown being wrong when he went down the tax credit route. He did it because he knew that any talk of redistribution or progressive taxation would not be seen as 'prudent' but it is still what is needed.
Later. Heidi's speech reported on at length with recorded extracts on the Today Programme on R4. There is an increasing groundswell against Ossie's policy and it has been noted that this isn't just coming from the usual suspects but right across the board. An example of the blind intransigence I noted above. Someone speculated the other day that this could be a Poll Tax moment. If the cuts go through and start to bite this may not be an exaggeration.

[Bruff]

Was indeed a good speech…………………..and at the vote she didn’t rebel. Never has fine words buttering no parsnips been more apt.

I learned something yesterday. Who Lord Warner is (he’s the Labout Peer who has given up the whip to become a cross-bencher). He gave Mr Corbyn a lecture on democracy, noting he had garnered no mandate from the Parliamentary Labour party. It’s stating the obvious to note that everything that is wrong with what passes for democracy in this country is encapsulated in him having neither the wit nor intelligence to realise the idiocy of this lecture coming from an unelected Lord.

Scottish venison and turbot on the menu at the State Banquet last night. Crowns, tiaras and ermine to the fore, the unremarkable Duchess of Cambridge resplendant in red. We the tax payer cough up the bill for a right right royal knees up for our favourite human rights abuser.

What a banana ‘republic’ we are…….

Richard Broughton

[plaques]

I don’t think anybody expected Heidi Allen MP to fall on her sword neither nor do I think that Cameron will offer Osborne’s head to appease his rebels. Like Charles1 he could be next. By the way who’s that scruffy soldier on the opposite side? Continuing in the same vein, Kings and Queens have always used public money to pay for their banquets, so what’s new. Having an extravagant bash is always a good way of showing that you can afford to borrow £3bn off someone. Its what you have to due to pay it back that’s the problem.

[Tripps]

"I don’t think anybody expected Heidi Allen MP to fall on her sword "

But I think after that speech she should at least have abstained. Do we file that under
self preservation, naivete, inexperience, fear of whips, or all of the above.

[Tizer]

If you didn't get a chance to hear `Britain and China' on Monday evening on Radio 4 it will be worth using iPlayer to listen to it or look out for a podcast if they do one. There will be some very worried people out there now that Cameron & Osborne have done their deal with China.

"Ahead of the State Visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the BBC's China Editor Carrie Gracie examines the past and future of the relationship between his country and Britain. Chancellor George Osborne has predicted a "Golden Decade" with huge benefits for both countries. The opportunities for business seem obvious. But what does history tell us about how China sees the relationship - and what are the risks to the UK in the future, both in terms of the economy and security?" http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06jtztq

[Stanley]

Richard, I loved your post.... Was it a 103 gun salute? As for Warner, I agree. John Prescott had it about right.
John is interesting and looking at his career might explain Heidi's behaviour. Son of a signalman and a worker in his early years he found his way into politics and eventually became a (sometimes uneasy) henchman for Tony Blair. Now he is out in politics he has reverted to his core instincts and I like it. Heidi may at heart be a liberal person but she has achieved a seat in Parliament and she knows that in order to progress she has to toe the line. It's called politics. This is something that perhaps Jeremy Corbyn has to come to terms with, politics is the art of the possible.
There has been some really good reporting on China on World Service. One wonders what the US thinks about Cameron's fawning behaviour. Being old fashioned I still remember Bevan and Macmillan, I disagree with selling our future (the 'family silver') to anyone in what is no more than the biggest PFI deal ever and see nothing wrong with some good old fashioned protectionism. Every country shouting free trade from the housetops does the same thing but by devious means. The Tory mantra is to reject responsibility for anything, outsource it and when the crap hits the fan blame the providers. (New Labour was just as bad)
The bottom line is that we are being ruled more by pragmatism than principle and in the long run we will suffer for it. Ask the steel workers what they think.... Then ask John Prescott....

[Bruff]

John Prescott’s brother passed his 11+ and was given a new bike. Prescott did not pass his 11+ and received nothing. A girl he was rather sweet on as 10/11 year olds can be, also passed the 11+ and Prescott wrote her a letter, in which he he expressed his wish that though they were now going to different schools they would remain friends. She wrote back saying no and for good measure took the trouble to return his letter having amended his spelling and grammar. As Jeremy Paxman noted when recounting this in one of his books, you can trace every fibre of that man’s political convictions to those experiences.

MPs are voting again today on this English laws for English votes thing. I’ll say it again: I did not vote for an Member of an English Parliament, I voted for a Member of the UK’s Parliament. I am of the view that Westminster is the UK’s Parliament and all MPs there are equal. If we are serious about this, give us an English parliament as per the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly, which like them we will elect by proportional representation. Westminster can then bother itself with defense and finance bills. We’d need a constitutional convention to thrash this out though, as Mr Miliband suggested.

I read a commentator on Chinese affairs yesterday who said that if you suck up to the Chinese, they think you’re suckers.

And as for a gun salute Stanley, do we do these for politicians or are they reserved for royalty? You know folk like those charming floggers, beheaders and crucifiers the House of Saud for whom we flew our flags at half mast the other month following the death of one of their number.

Richard Broughton

[Stanley]

I always look forward to reading your posts Richard and this is no exception. We vilify North Korea (quite rightly I suspect) but suck up to Saudi Arabia and others like China. So much for principle, pragmatism rules. The gun salutes are a throwback to medieval 'Ours is bigger than yours' demonstrations and is a waste of blank cartridges. 'Tradition' is one of the biggest con tricks ever played on the peasants. Most of it invented by the Establishment to bolster their case for being superior. Even state funerals are used as political tools. There is a case for some judicious iconoclasm, it's a well proven and effective way of bringing down ridicule on heads and initiating change. I mean, House Security in knee britches?!
I agree entirely with your views about Parliament being for the UK and any messing about with political practices should be devoted to modernising the work of the House, not counting angels on pin heads.

[Stanley]

I think Blair knows something about the Chilcot conclusions that we have not yet been made party to. See THIS for the Blair interview with CNN, noticeably not to UK TV, in which he gives a qualified apology. I think that what's going on here is that he is getting his version in first before the storm he expects erupts round his head. Classic attempt to disarm criticism but I have news for him, it won't work. He talked a lot about his 'legacy', I have always said that when the history is written we shall see the sorry story about the worst foreign policy disaster in recent history. It was obvious to anyone who has studied the history that the 2002 incursion was a massive mistake compounded by the fact that the army and police were disbanded for political reasons. Blair and Bush is going to be a toxic legacy....

[plaques]

a massive mistake compounded by the fact that the army and police were disbanded for political reasons.

I'm sure that Blair and Bush knew exactly what they were doing. The idea being to take over a country that was in complete turmoil and reap large profits for private companies. As you say there are enough precedents in history to show this was a mistake. In Oliver Cromwell's time his 'model army' had put an end to any expansionist ideas of the local Barons. Parliament, remember at this time it was unelected and controlled largely by invitation only, wanted to disband the army and return to the old system. Cromwell literally stood by his guns and wouldn't have any of it. He could see what would happen if you took this control away. Yes we have been there before.

[Stanley]

Dead right P and yet some say we can't learn from history. And yes, I've read Naomi Klein as well! Iraq was a money mine....
I am sure that Bush and Blair, at that time, perfectly fitted the definition of megalomaniacs. If they'd followed the Corbyn Principle and listened to the people.... Remember the Peace March?

[Tizer]

A very interesting article here from the BBC and it should be essential reading for all managers and probably for politicians too. It's prompted by the VW scandal but covers the more general problems with big institutions. I'm always ranting about the state of British business and other organisations and this addresses some of the causes. While reading it give a thought to the parallels with what's happening in government at present. LINK