POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

My own view is that basic economics a la Piketty and Stiglitz has languished as fancy theories (Like Game Theory) have become fashionable because they are more attractive to the snake oil sellers in the financial markets who are always looking for the magic predictive bullet that will lead to easy profit. There are signs that the grenade lobbed into the discipline by Piketty is having an effect as the world watches the chaos in global trade partially engendered by the 'new economics' of austerity and pure market based capitalism. Modifications to the way the market works are needed and today there is a slight shade of odds that such changes may be based on old fashioned basic economics geared more to the real world than the fairyland of phantom money, 'instruments' and naked profit. All I can say is bring it on!
Referendum.... Oh God, let it end!

[Tizer]

The complaint of the students interviewed on the radio programme was that their economics courses were now more concerned with mathematics because the teachers wanted to claim they were in a science based subject. Economic history has been dropped. I remember my first job, as a trainee factory clerk, when I was sent for day release Business Studies at the tech college. One of the first books I was told to buy and study was on economic history.

[Stanley]

My long association with Martha Paas started because she was passionate about the need for students to have some grounding in economic history so they could make the connection between pure economics and the real world. She was very unusual in her field as long ago as 1980. That's the reason I shall be teaching the students this summer, I am there to make the link for them.
Bruff makes an important point in the Referendum topic about Article 50 and Gove lying about it in his speech. We are lucky to have Richard to guide us. His point should be widely publicised.
I have been having impure thoughts..... Imagine Brenda leaving after the referendum with Tories in turmoil electing Boris or some other dead leg to the Leadership as Chuck mounts the throne..... Events Dear Boy!

[Stanley]

Richard made the above worse by pointing out that if Brenda was incapacitated but still on the throne Gove would be in charge as Lord Chancellor. I think we need to revive a radical Chartist movement! I will freely admit to being no fan of the monarchy, it is at the head of a system of unearned privilege based on very murky antecedents. How about a referendum.......

[Whyperion]

I cannot see ER11 giving up voluntarily yet awhile - what might be the precedent when they are too 'old' (mental faculties gone) to sign off legislation ? What could reasonably happen is for ER11 some time in next 15 years to keel over from whatever cause, Charlie to go pretty quick to, and not impossibly given the wonderful safety record of helicopter pilots that little George gets left with the crown while still no more than a teenager, just as well he has a younger sister running as back up I suppose. I presume the mint , BoE and Royal Mail all have up to date patterns for when the change-overs occur.

[Stanley]

Obama tells the truth. Boris goes racist suggesting this is due to his family's experience of colonialism in Kenya. Bad day for the Leavers!

[Tizer]

Yes, Boris seems to have fallen into the Trump Trap. Good. He's showing his true self now. The Washington Post runs the article `London’s mayor just rehashed the old Obama-Churchill-Kenya conspiracy theory' LINK
And I like their final line, tongue in cheek: `A wealthy native New Yorker with crazy hair who disparages Barack Obama. What a world.'

[Stanley]

I was struck by the facial resemblance of Boris and Donald and the fact they are both at times incoherent.
I get the feeling that public image and 'celebrity status' has polluted the actions of politicians. In this respect Jeremy Corbyn seems to be acting more in the mould of Clem Atlee than these two. Does he lose real impact? Many commentators are saying that the crucial component of the Referendum is which way Labour supporters vote.
One advantage of long campaigns is that it gives the participants more cock-up opportunities. We are seeing that with Boris and Donald and in the London Mayoral Election as well. Interesting that racist tendencies seem to play a large part.....
My thoughts go back to the Nixon campaigns, would you buy a used car from these men? More to the point perhaps, would you like to have them as a house guest? I get the impression that I would enjoy Jeremy or Barack Obama but not the others..... Or is this just too simplistic.

[David Whipp]

Afraid the race card is being played a little closer to home as well...

Letters being sent to voters in West Craven attack the Liberals for voting in the local Labour leader Mohammed Iqbal as Pendle Council Leader - sub-racist or not?

(The truth is much stranger; wanting to cut our group out of the council leadership, last year the Tories tried to stitch a deal up with Labour which would either give the Tories all the seats on the Executive and Labour all the chairmanships of committees, or, Tory and Labour would share the Executive with each of the two group leaders being in charge for six months...).

[Stanley]

David, my reading of politics at local level is that the Tories have forgotten completely that all politics is local. This applies to Labour as well. This is the reason why, at local level, Liberalism still not only survives but prospers. Eventually this ignorance will transfer to national politics. It will be a slow process but at grass roots, irresistible.
Hunt is making a massive mistake in ignoring exit strategy offered to him by the Junior Doctors. Arrogance and hubris is always followed by nemesis but in the process the NHS will be damaged. His actions are not only totally repugnant but ultimately politically ignorant. They ignore the possibility of visceral hatred on the part of the electorate when they realise the damage that has been done to the finest social policy this country has ever seen. One that is the envy of the world.... A prime example of the effect of national policies at the local level. I may not see it but they will reap the whirlwind.
See THIS for the latest appraisal of the fate of yet another High Street Name. British Home Stores is likely to go into administration this morning so it would be a good idea if someone from the Tory party explained to the 11,000 workers who will lose their job exactly how 'The Market' has treated them, How Philip Green managed to extract squillions from the company before he sold it for £1 and just exactly how this demonstrates the wonderful effects of the 'Economic Miracle'. By the way, the taxpayer will make up most of the shortfall in the BHS pension fund.....
Port Talbot has gone very quiet........

[Tizer]

UKIP is planning to make itself an `online party', having seen that the approach is working well for some groups in other countries. That should appeal to the online ranters!

[Stanley]

Much discussion of how recent owners have managed to extract money from BHS legally while the pension fund deficit rose to £571million. On the face of it, the fair solution would be to establish a link between the amount paid in dividends to shareholders and what is injected into the pension fund but the stock market says that this would cause a collapse of share prices.... So that's all right then..... Clearly, the interests of the shareholders trump those of the pensioners....

[Stanley]

Listened to Trump mouthing off in the US. He was attacking Hilary Clinton.... That man is hateful and beyond a joke. He must be the Republican Party's biggest nightmare!
Over here all we have is the Phoney War of the Referendum debate. Theresa May infuriates everyone with an ounce of common sense by saying she wants to stay in but ditch the Human Rights component. Why is it that the Tories hate any advancement in human rights to the electorate? Answers on one side of A4 please.....

[plaques]

Theresa May only wants to ditch the EU Human Rights and replace it with a British Human Rights. Quote, "The Conservatives have pledged to replace the Human Rights Act with a "British Bill of Rights" but have not proposed leaving the convention altogether."May.. It is not quite clear which elements they want to replace. Perhaps the 'British' are less human than EU citizens and deserve less rights. A bit of clarity would help. Of course for those people who are really interested in this subject they could always read up on our unwritten constitution which spells out quite clearly what rights we have if only had someone taken the trouble to write it down. I hope you can follow that!

[Tripps]

BHS saga - From The Guardian

The questions over Green’s conduct came as the current owner of BHS, Dominic Chappell, said he was working with private US investors to put together a rescue package that would save a “substantial majority” of the chain’s 164 shops and continue the business under the BHS brand.

“The pension deficit was weighing us down and not allowing us to move forward,” he said. “After the administration, when the pensions side of the business is sorted out, we will be able to move on. I’m working with US investors to buy a substantial majority of stores.”

Looks like it was all pre-planned. Buy for £1, offload the problems (pension fund and badly trading stores), to the public purse - then buy the good bits in the ensuing fire sale. I think the only word for it is Chutzpah. It's enough to make you want to vote Labour.

[PanBiker]

Looks like it was all pre-planned. Buy for £1, offload the problems (pension fund and badly trading stores), to the public purse - then buy the good bits in the ensuing fire sale. I think the only word for it is Chutzpah.

Or Carpetbagger.

[Stanley]

Or Spiv..... and the banks say we are too heavily regulated.... Ask yourself who is running the country and then go and have a weep in the corner.
P. I reckon we ought to start the Chartist movement again. Thatcher even tried to smash the trade unions, remember sequestration of funds? She spent the North Sea oil bonanza on the project. We have 'hostels' instead of workhouses. Meanwhile Capital Gains tax is reduced while doctors and teachers are attacked. How much more do we put up with?

[Bruff]

Teresa May’s comment’s on the ECHR are a load of nonsense. For a start, the ECHR is absolutely integral to the Good Friday Agreement, which is a UN-sponsored treaty between two Nation States (Ireland and the UK). The Irish will therefore have a big say in any attempt by the UK to withdraw from the ECHR or attempt in any way to dilute ‘human rights’ I would have thought. That’s not to mention what the Scots (and Welsh) think as I’m pretty sure they are all of a part of the devolution settlements. And that’s before one even considers the merits of the likes of May and Gove etc. deciding what my human rights are, or which current rights I have they personally don’t think I should. I’d be reassured if I thought she was simply too daft to grasp all of this, but for some reason I don’t feel reassured.

Still we can puff out our chests, salute the flag and raise a toast to Blighty as we stand together with Belarus as the two countries in the whole of the wider European continent to want to have nothing to do with the ECHR or ‘human rights’. The company we should be keeping Belarus, I think we would all agree.

On the Trade Unions, I always think it illustrative to look around the globe now and in the past to identify those places that restricted trade unionism and made life difficult for trade unionists. Central and South American juntas crop up a lot, along with the Greek generals and other pretty unpleasant regimes like pre-democracy Korea and the Soviet bloc. Again, the sort of company we should look to align with I would have thought………

Richard Broughton

[David Whipp]

You may not have seen this... Patrick Stewart sketch

[Stanley]

Brilliant sketch David, I hadn't seen it..... Did Richard write the script? Politics used to be about honourable people doing their best to embed principle and ethics in society. I'm afraid those days are long gone....

[Stanley]

In the absence of any sensible politics coming out of the Westminster Village my mind switches to the local elections and the police commissioner. On the latter, I can't vote because I have had no information about the candidates. Same as last time.... This is the worst run electoral process I have ever seen and I forecast the voter numbers will be miserable again. On the local elections, interesting to read the outrageous puff the Tories delivered this week for Jennifer Purcell, talk about spreading it thin! Interesting also that their main line of attack on the LibDems who will of course win is that the last candidate 'ran away'. This is par for the course, they are so ineffective on the local level that negative campaigning is the only route they can take. I am, by temperament, a Labour voter but as usual in local matters I'll be guided by who has done most for the town, needless to say it will be David's lot!
All politics is local and I love the fact that at local level the LibDems have the upper hand while in national terms they are a damp squib. Someone at HQ ought to be taking notice!
Vote early and vote often! (right David, I've done my bit.... Can I please have my FYM ?)

[David Whipp]

Afraid FYM will have to wait until after polling day...

Thanks for comments!

Here's a link to an obscure info page about: PCC candidates

[PanBiker]

I will be claiming my ballot for the PCC election and will spoil it in an appropriate manner. Like you said and just like last time how can you vote for someone you know nothing about. Spoilt papers have a use within the electoral process, like the lack of information given I may well be quite ambiguous with my marks, I will probably add a comment as well which is more than I have received from them.

[Tizer]

David, thanks for the Choose my PCC link. We too have had no information, no direction to any web sites. It appears to be a secret election. Not very democratic!

[Stanley]

Ian, tell me how to spoil my PCC vote without damaging my real vote for the LibDem candidates!
I'm glad I'm not alone in deriding the PCC election process. God knows that, particularly on recent evidence (police Federation shenanigans and SY force) we need better control of the police but I'll be buggered if I can see how the flawed process we have at the moment can possibly ensure the appropriate person for the job. Far better if they were appointed on merit outside the sphere of politics but who could we trust to do it? We all know how 'wheels within wheels' operates in the back rooms of Westminster. A quiet word here and there.... Qis custodiet ipsos custodes?