POLITICS CORNER

[David Whipp]

The prospect of having a former senior officer in the Lancs Constabulary being the PCC is not a happy one...

There are two separate ballot papers for the elections. PCC on white and local Pendle election on yellow. In Craven Ward, there are two vacancies - so two votes.

In the PCC election you can indicate your first and second preference by placing an 'x' in each of two columns on the ballot paper.

[Tizer]

The current trouble over anti-Semitism raises a question. The phrase always seems to be used to mean anti-Jew but the word Semite covers Arabs as well as Jews. Are anti-semitics against Arabs too or has the use of the word Semitic been corrupted?

Another question, related to the first. We often see the term `Caucasian' offered as an ethnic option when filling in forms. The Caucasus is a mountain range between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea in Georgia and Azerbaijan. How do we come to use the term Caucasian for people throughout Europe? We might as well call them all Grampians or Cambrians.

[PanBiker]

As David says Stanley, the unknown candidates for the PCC that want your vote are on a separate ballot paper so you can do your worst if you wish with no impact to the locals. I have always used my vote one way or the other, the correct way is best of course but spoilt papers do have their place.

[Stanley]

Tiz, let's call them Jew Haters and they have always been around but many keep quiet about it. My view is quite clear, I love and admire many Jews but have no time for the intransigence of the Israeli government in their dealings with their Arab neighbours. The present kerfuffle in the Labour Party is perhaps more to do with the anti Corbyn tendency, about time they shut up and got on with being an effective Opposition. As for the motor-mouths like the MP who had no more sense than to post offensive material and Livingstone who has form on this matter and is congenitally incapable of being reticent, they are idiots and have damaged the Party they purport to love. Where Jeremy went wrong was omitting to read his copy of The Prince as soon as he became Leader and having a Night of the Long Knives a la Harold.... I said so at the time and still believe he should have cleaned the stables then. The Tories must be laughing their socks off.... manna from heaven. I have been, and always will be, a Labour supporter but it grieves me to see them falling into the same traps as all the rest, concentrating on 'getting power' instead of fighting for social democratic principles. Power without a solid principled base is no use to to society. If you don't believe that, look at what is happening in Parliament now. It's a shambles and we should all be ashamed of it.

[Stanley]

While our 'leaders' indulge themselves by concentrating on the referendum normal political service is on hold. Worth reading THIS BBC report on the latest analysis of Universal Credit, the flagship Tory welfare policy. A largely right wing organisation, the Resolution Foundation, Chaired by Willets says in effect that IDS was right when he resigned over 'salami slicing' of its budget. The general view is that it is off track because it is being seen as a vehicle for welfare cuts rather than a rationalisation of the system. Also worth remembering that Ossie has gone very quiet about the budget measure of reducing Capital Gains Tax, a gift to the wealthy, while losing his proposed cuts that were going to pay for it. Is the shortfall going to made up by other means? The cuts continue and the plight of the poorest gets worse. When do we hear news of this and the effects it is having on society, think rough sleepers, food banks and falling incomes. Look at housing and the plight of local authorities. We are in the middle of a slow burning deterioration of society and it is being ignored.

[plaques]

Cutting benefits has been the main target for Conservatives for the past six years. Going back 150 years ever since ‘The Poor’ became a visible problem the usual attack was to say the poor brought it on themselves and that they would always be with us because it was one of the natural laws of economics. One of the attempts to move away from charity based support was the Speenhamland System which was a relatively local effort at introducing a means tested, family allowance systems, based on earnings and the price of bread.Speenhamland. This proposal failed mainly because it allowed some employers to drop their wages below subsistence level with the tax payer making up the difference. The alternative was a continuation of the workhouse system which was in effect a voluntary imprisonment in return for a less than subsistence allowance. Those outside the workhouse being subject to the Poor Laws where the definition of being ‘poor’ was constantly being revised by very learned committees whose main intent was to make life so intolerable and miserable for those receiving benefit that any form of paid work, even if it was below subsistence level, was preferable to the stigma and guaranteed misery of being labelled a pauper. It may be a surprise to some people to know that the poor laws continued up to 1945 when they were abolished with the introduction of the Welfare State. So now we have gone full circle with benefits being salami sliced down to the minimum they can get away with justified on the grounds they are all ‘behind closed curtain’ scrounges with the ‘hard working people’ having to pick up the tab.

[Stanley]

Exactly P. The fundamental dichotomy between poverty wages for profit and humane policies towards the poor.
See THIS for further evidence that politics is a mad house. Ted Cruz drops out leaving Trump as the only Republican candidate. Barring a miracle, Trump will be opposing Clinton in November. Expect Trump to suddenly become a centrist contender making more promises than Cameron..... What the hell is happening?

[Tizer]

The US Republican Party is now in the same dustbin as the British LibDem and Labour Parties, the same one that the British Tory Party will be in after the referendum, regardless of the outcome of the voting.

We're seeing more tribalism, for instance the rise in anti-semitism and the divisions between Shia and Sunni, the splitting of political parties. Marc Dunkelman's book `The Vanishing Neighbor' addresses this problem and suggests that we are spending more time with those of like mind and less with those who might have differing views. We become more inward looking and fear outsiders. The use of mobile phones has contributed to this because we can remain with our tribal group, even when out and about, and ignore others (think of mobile phones on trains etc). It means that we find it harder to deal with disagreement and friction, and the harder it becomes the more we avoid it. I think he's got a good point...but I don't know what we should do about it!
The Vanishing Neighbor

[Stanley]

That sounds like a good hypothesis Tiz. I'd go for it until someone proved it wrong.
Have been rethinking the PCC vote after David pointing out that one was an ex policeman. I am considering voting for the one who isn't tainted simply to try to stop the copper! Delete that, I've just looked and he's UKIP! Spoiled ballot paper rules....
Liberals last flyer for the local elections was very good, full of facts. Purcell's was a master class in negative campaigning and dodgy reasoning dressed up as 'facts'. Guess who I will be voting for.

[Tizer]

I recommend listening to this programme which is repeated next Monday at 21.00 on Radio 4 or you can listen to it on Iplayer.
Past Imperfect

"Startling new research shows how false memories can be artificially generated and used to change behaviour - with implications for advertising, military intelligence and the treatment of addictions. Memory is more of a creative than a mechanical process. Like a Wikipedia entry, we can make changes to our autobiographical history - but so can other people. Martin Plimmer meets experts and observes experiments demonstrating the fragility of memory and the ease with which false memories can be implanted. At Warwick University, Prof Kimberley Wade has implanted false memories of childhood experiences such as taking a hot air balloon ride. Martin follows an experiment in which participants form vivid memories of activities they have not actually experienced.

"At Hull University, Prof Giuliana Mazzoni reveals how implanted false memories can change people's behaviour. Working with unsuspecting volunteers, she explores whether she can alter their food preferences by creating false memory of an adverse reaction to eating turkey sandwiches. Martin discusses the implications of this research with US psychologist Prof Elizabeth Loftus who believes it could be used to treat obesity and addictions by introducing false memories of disliking fatty foods, alcohol or drugs. Professor Loftus has also worked with the US military on ways of implanting false memories of their interrogator in enemy prisoners - raising admitted ethical issues and concerns about the abuse of these techniques. And Martin Plimmer learns how our memories are all being subtly altered by advertising - as certain types of adverts can create false memories of experiencing and liking a product."

[Stanley]

I heard him Tiz and thought it was fascinating. When I was writing my memoirs for the kids I often wondered whether what I was 'sure' were perfect recall of incidents was perhaps modified by the passage of time. In the end I decided that it was futile to speculate, and just trusted my memory. I think that on the whole, from what I could check, they were pretty accurate.
I'm listening to the election coverage and the thing that strikes me is that it is almost solely a report on events in Scotland..... All will become clear later!

[David Whipp]

The count for the council elections in Pendle begins at 9am this morning, with results being announced later on and into early afternoon. The PCC count will begin at 2pm.

Barnoldswick had the pleasure of Nigel Evans MP and a team of Ribble Valley Tories knocking up voters yesterday. Local Conservatives seemed a bit thin on the ground.

[Stanley]

Best of luck David......

[Tizer]

I was surprised that the memory programme didn't once mention `deja vu'. We often think something has happened before when the truth is that our brain has created false recognition.

[Whyperion]

Not totally certain why the tories gain seats in Scotland, might be an odd mix of how Labour-> SNP voter numbers leaving a conservative solid lump looking proportionally more. I am not overworried that Labour are losing there simply as SNP, seperatism aside, currently have a 'traditional' socialist programme of ideas, and Scotish Labour internally is still fractured from past problems with individuals. Interesting the Green vote - a SNP/Green coalition will be interesting to watch.
Locally not much choice , one Lib Dem, and three versions of Choose your own red ( oddly I think there were four shades of red out at the very traditional May Day in the park at Townley on Monday ) , the Lancashire Police Chappy , again not a good choice - this kind of role should be above party politics, just thought throwing a UKIP bod into 'power' would at least make the other parties think - I doubt if EU has much influence one way or another on local policing prorities - if the LibDem missed out by one vote going through one is terribly sorry but I guessed that the larger parties would get block votes elbowing that candidate out anyway.

Can we talk about false memory and deja vu(some I get in dreams, at other times I do a lot of similar things so repeats are not exceptional) , elsewhere, its an interesting topic - I can often remember the gist of the past, but not always the detail. The internet does give extreme scope to anyone (govt conspiracy?) of re-writing history, its why I am loath to throw out old newspapers even though when I'm gone someone else will. Not that the contempory record is ever correct, at least it gives a discussion point to get to a truth.

[Tizer]

The problems of the Internet rewriting history are documented in this BBC web page from 2011. It's made worse now by young people not being able to distinguish reliable from dubious information and not understanding what is meant by sound evidence. LINK

[David Whipp]

No doubt people will have seen the local election results...

In Barlick, my lot won two out of the three seats, with the Conservative Party winning the third. All the Pendle results can be seen here.

[Stanley]

You know what to do next time David, put out a last minute flyer full of half truths.....
Two things grabbed me about the national elections, Labour getting the London mayoralty and more publicity given to one rebel Shadow Cabinet member attacking Corbyn than to the Secretary of the GMB saying that it was high time the Blairites stopped opposing Jeremy and getting with the programme.
Goldsmith, quite rightly, is criticised by his own party for running a very dirty campaign, single handed he has once again raised the spectre of the 'Nasty Party'.

[PanBiker]

The Governments climbdown over the academisation of the primary schools. I heard on the news this morning that one of the largest academy trusts are "very disappointed about the U turn", I bet they are, they are the vultures that make profit from the education of children.

[plaques]

The opening line on Academies is that they are 'Non-Profit Charitable Trusts'. Which sounds pretty benign but I think most people will have sussed out as meaning that there is no money 'profit' left when you have taken out all the 'expenses'. Recent examples are, charging more for the Academy building, rebalancing salaries from the lower paid to the higher paid and moving funding from one basket into another, usually into top end salaries. There is also the hint there may be some double payment from subcontractors.Of course there are examples where the school has made genuine improvements and cannot be faulted. But overall there is always the potential to graduate to a graded elitist system where money talks and you get what you pay for. Don't be surprised if you hear the description 'Ragged Schools' being used to teach the 'Lower Orders'.
A full explanation of the English Academy System can be found here. Academy

[Stanley]

The same thought occurred to me as well Ian when I heard him complaining about the Tories 'bottling out'. Notice that they slipped the announcement out in the middle of the election results. I doubt if any other administration has backed out of so many policies. We are told now that the academy programme is 'an aspiration'. This means they will be using other methods to gain their ends.
Did you hear Michael Fallon defending the academy decision yesterday on R4? ( LINK) As a supplementary he was asked about Goldsmith's dirty campaign for London Mayor and he repeatedly refused to say that it was wrong. Give Sue Lawley her due, she pursued him but he got quite short fused. The Tories are evidently regarding it as private grief and want to bury it. (LINK)
Meanwhile, June 23 gets nearer.... It will get nasty! The Brexit camp are scanning the horizon for 'an event' a la Harold. Isn't it wonderful that we have manufactured a vote as important as this which could be skewed by a news item....

[plaques]

The Tories are evidently regarding it as private grief and want to bury it. (LINK)

The one thing I never read about during the London Mayor campaign was Zac Goldsmith's father, James Goldsmith. The founder of the Eurosceptic Referendum Party. A very very wealthy multi billionaire who had numerous run-ins with the Private Eye magazine and other well known personalities. A larger than life character with a multitude of business interests and some interesting 'Lady' friends. It wouldn't surprise me if Zac was an relatively innocent party to all this antisemitism being dragged along by other vested interests. If we have to rely on Michael Fallon we will never find out.

[PanBiker]

Did you see the disgusting picture of the Britain First candidate turning his back on Sadiq Khan while he made his acceptance speech? Attitudes like this have no place in British politics but I suppose are par for the course for the Neo-Nazi's.

[Stanley]

No I didn't but I heard about it and agree. Actually I think attitudes like Fallon's are more dangerous. He is a government minister and was asked to comment on the fact that racist slurs were used by the Goldsmith campaign. It's indisputable that they were used and that Cameron endorsed them. His avoidance of any comment is dangerous and as it was the Tory top brass closing ranks we have to question whether there are racist attitudes in their ranks. On the evidence the answer is yes and that's what needs addressing. Give Corbyn his due, in appointing Shami Chakrabarti (LINK) he has gone to the best woman for the job, I'll believe her opinion. The Tories should do the same, high time the closet racists were smoked out, there is no doubt they exist. We have all seen the carefully worded coded statements that we know signal discrimination.
What's all this about a referendum? Everything except a plague of locusts is threatened by both sides.... It will get worse in the next six weeks.
I can't find any mention on the web but the matter of the evidence used by Hunt to trigger the new contract has come under question again. In brief, the evidence he quoted is out of date and unreliable. Will it make any difference? Of course not, this dispute is a power struggle based on economics deliberately started by Hunt responding to his Treasury masters.

[Bruff]

I lived in London for 12 years and still go back regularly enough, and I can confidently state that in that city of over 8M people community relations are generally excellent. There really is very little tension at all. Folk get along. I find it absolutely rank that the Tories sought to ferment community tensions. It’s one of the most disgusting things I’ve witnessed. How any sensible person can look at these Tories and think they’re for the likes of them is beyond me. They are quite disgusting.

I remember some Britain First chap on the radio – well-spoken, patrician….idiotic. He was banging on about kicking out all EU nationals. ‘Including the Irish?’ he was asked. No he said as you see, they are essentially British. This is just like the folk who infest below-the-line comment pages on the Brexit issue arguing ‘we are the leader of the Commonwealth, and so we’ll trade with them’, as though we simply walk up and tell them what to do. Who insist the EU will shrug and give us everything we want no problem. It’s just madness. Who are these people who cling to this idea that ‘we are British and so we are exceptional’? Part of me blames it on the continued infestation of the national discourse by memories of WWI and WWII. The Battle of Britain, Spitfires, Brave Tommy Atkins sticking to the Germans. ‘Two WWs and one World Cup’ and all that; if it weren’t for us you’d all be speaking German. ‘Who won the war?!’

Drives me mad it does. Drives me mad. It’s just so beyond any sensible remembrance. It’s almost an indoctrination. I mean, eyebrows are often raised now if you don’t wear a poppy. When did that start?

Anyway, now I’ve got that off my chest I would not expect anything sensible from Mr Hunt. Like most Government Ministers he has no understanding of empirical evidence and even if he did finds it terribly inconvenient as it has this appalling tendency of flying in the face of one’s preconceptions. So best keep voicing in a confident manner your strongly held opinions as self-evident fact. Or take a leaf out of Mr Gove’s book. Quote some research and hope no one notices. Pardon? Well Mr Gove when at Education supported one of his musings on teenagers ignorance of history (as a part of his usual demeaning of teachers and useless types) with some research which apparently showed this. Sadly for Mr Gove, education researchers were interested in the research he quoted on a matter like this as like good researchers they are in touch with current thinking and weren’t aware of this new study. So they looked into it. It transpired this ‘research’ was a customer survey from the Premier Inn group of hotels, as well as other surveys from those hot-beds of evidential rigour UKTV Gold and the Sea Cadets. This sorry tale is a click away online.

Richard Broughton