POLITICS CORNER

[Wendyf]

Nice work Kev.

[Marilyn]

So long as Trump is keeping "between the lines" and not doing "dot to dot" pictures we can all sleep soundly...

[plaques]

Something I came across from an old 1929 Labour Party poster. In today's compassionate Conservative era nothing like this could ever happen even under austerity. Could it?

[Stanley]

You evidently hadn't noticed P. It's happening now!

[Stanley]

See THIS for an ITV report on the warning from the Commons Select Transport Committee on the work of the DOT. This is quite restrained compared to some reports I have heard which describe the work of the department in 'scathing terms'. I hope something comes of this because I am of the opinion that they are making a complete mess of the railways, we are paying more out to subsidise them than it would cost to take them back 'in-house' and run them as a joined up business but nobody wants to hear about what is seen as 'nationalisation' these days. I am from the old school that believes that private profit shouldn't be taken out of a public service. Remember 'The Commanding Heights of the Economy'!!
Later.... Just heard that the appellant court has chucked Trumps appeal out and the immigration restrictions are still lifted until at least tomorrow. This means that the people who were locked out are piling on planes to get in before a further decision bars them again. What a way to run a country...... Makes our lot look like polished professionals.

[Stanley]

Trump continues to dominate the political news. He is now attacking the Justice System for knocking his Executive Order on immigration back again on appeal. History shows us that when the political executive attacks the safeguards in the Justice System, and by implication the constitution as well, we are on a very slippy downwards slope.
See THIS for the latest government initiative to give the appearance of doing something about the dreadful failure of the housing market. Corbyn is right, the private market can't address the real problem. This can only be efficiently alleviated by pumping money into local councils for genuine social housing. In other words council housing! Like railways, housing should be regarded as a social good and not a profit centre. Until this happens we shall continue to see a rise in the homeless and rough sleepers. At the moment money is frittered away providing sub-standard B&B accommodation via private landlords. In economist's terms, the market is not efficient!

[PanBiker]

I heard this morning that if Trump continues to denigrate the Justice System he could be held in contempt of court and this can be used for impeachment.
On the social housing fiasco, I have no problem with the original policy of allowing people to buy their council houses however, each one sold should have been replaced with a new build.

[Tizer]

Ian, I hope you are right about Trump. On Twitter he's now telling anyone who'll listen (and that's millions, most of them owning guns) "Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!" He's endangering the life of the judge and should be held responsible if anything bad happens to the poor man who, after all, is only doing his duty for his country.

New BBC information on the voting results in the EU referendum show that: "The level of education had a higher correlation with the voting pattern than any other major demographic measure from the census." LINK

[PanBiker]

John Bercow's outspoken view that Trump will not be allowed to visit and address Parliament. Foul play some of his former party say, however in this respect, he, as the Speaker of the House has full authority of who is and who is not allowed into the house.
Well said that man.

[Stanley]

Let Trump come and boycott him.
The latest moves on housing will fail if no significant new money is injected.

[PanBiker]

It's a sobering thought but if you look back at history you would see that the biggest technological changes have always come with war. Additionally the largest changes to transport, social care and housing during the periods immediately following global conflict.

Rabid fear of "Johnny foreigner" and the subsequent drift to isolationism, the rise of the extreme right and fascist factions in Europe, total meltdown in the Middle East and it looks like we are heading for the perfect storm. Maybe this is what is needed to give a reality check to those who think they are in control. Problem is, the civilian soldiers will not fight the next war in any great numbers so will not have a voice at the end, so not even a light at the end of the tunnel. I fear for my grandchildren.

[Tizer]

I was startled when listening to Yvette Cooper and a lady from Trump's team speaking on the Today programme at about 8.45 this morning. Cooper spoke first and when the Trump lady was asked to respond to Cooper her first words were: "It's a change to hear her not shrieking and thumping her chest". The Today presenter (Justin Webb?) was shocked too and stopped her with "Hold on, hold on..." and asked her to confine herself to addressing the topic of the interview.

[Tripps]

Let Trump come and boycott him.

My thoughts exactly. I'm surprised I've seen no press comment on this tactic yet. When he thinks about it - his ego would not permit him to come then. The visit would be 'kicked into the long grass'.

This man seems to have never heard the word 'no'. I guess that's the downside of being a billionaire most of your life. Everyone around him, including his wife and children, give the appearance of being frightened of him.

[Stanley]

I heard that as well Tiz. The characteristics that come to mind every time Trump, his advisers and all his works are shoved in my face are selfishness, rudeness and most of all, childishness. I see no evidence of restraint or compromise. He's not been in the job long enough to learn anything and already he is locked in a fight with his own Justice System and has just appointed a woman to be in charge of education who knows nothing about it and is most famous for advocating the closing of the Public School System describing it as a dead end. I could go on....
See THIS for a BBC report of a seriously depressing forecast for the UK economy for the next ten years. The bottom line is that some of the most respected thinkers in economics are forecasting exactly what Thomas Piketty laid out in 'Capital in the 21st Century' which is in effect a terrible indictment on government economic management and policies over the last 50 years and in particular the Tory Austerity policies since 2010. What is clear to the economists but not to the man in the street is that what is lauded as 'good' growth now, 1.6% per annum, is less than half of what is necessary to compensate for rising population and inefficiencies in the system and is in effect slow recession. Add to this the effects of Brexit and the message is 'you ain't seen nothing yet'. When kitchen table economists like me forecast twenty years of poverty in 2010 we were derided as pessimists. Go figure.....
Another salutary thought is that the genesis of much of what afflicts us today started with the popularity of The Chicago School of Economics in the 1960s when the markets were freed from restrictions and allowed to operate as robber barons. Trump is advocating exactly the same policies now in the US. Reasons to be cheerful? I'd be glad if someone could point them out to me. I can't find any.

[Tizer]

The BBC has responded in detail to Trump's criticism that the news media doesn't report all terror attacks. The bottom line is that the BBC reported almost every incident in the list of unreported attacks given by Trump's people.
`Trump says terror attacks 'under-reported': Is that true?' LINK

[plaques]

The one thing that everyone agrees on is that inequality is on the rise. The problems with this statement is that inequality covers a vast range of subjects, education, housing, health care and job opportunity. The one thing that most people can easily grasp is that of income level and capital savings. Collectively, both these measures are moving wider apart and if you compare the top 1% with the bottom 75%, there is no sign of easing. Piketty has suggested higher taxation as one possible remedy. Unfortunately with the loopholes that exist today the top 1% will carry on as normal with the tab being picked up by the lower orders. Its worth pointing out that direct taxes, income tax, has only been increased in times of war with the last one being the Korean war. Meanwhile indirect regressive taxes, VAT, rates etc:, are increased at every opportunity. Another thing that smacks of inequality is seeing executive pay moving off into the stratosphere with multiples of 400 times the lowest paid while ordinary workers are being capped at 1%. It has been suggested by some economists that executive pay should be limited to between 20 or 40 times average earnings. 20 x £25,000 = £500,000 (half million £s) is still worth having and working for. This suggestion only deals with earned income from lesser mortals what you do about the billionaires and the Masters of the Universe who derive their money, profit, from other peoples labours is back to the Piketty suggestion.

[PanBiker]

So the government is supposedly pushing a new initiative for mass house building. At the same time we have an extremely acute problem in the hospitals with elderly patients who are occupying urgently needed beds. They have been cured of the health problems that they were admitted for but still take up the bed space waiting for the administration of care packages to be sorted out.
How about this for an idea, it's not rocket science but I reckon it would help. Use some of the brass (or produce more) to build a nursing home to be used as a halfway house in every reasonably sized town in the country. Staff this with qualified care workers and you have a system that would help the log jam.

Fixed elderly patients could be discharged to their local temporary care home until the admin gets it's act together, (kick up the a..se required there also to speed things up). This would also provide employment for a huge number of care workers.

[Stanley]

P, as usual you are spot on. Worth mentioning that Piketty's conclusion was that the alternative to a global wealth tax was most likely to be mass public unrest and we are seeing the first stirrings of that in the swing to Populist politics and disasters like the referendum result where people simply voted for something different. Unfortunately in that case I think they collectively jumped out of the frying pan into the fire and the IFS report yesterday gave some clues to that.
Ian, dead right, we need more staffed non-urgent beds locally. We used to have the cottage hospitals but they were deemed inefficient and closed as being superfluous. Don't look for any improvement because due to a combination of disastrous policies, ranging from neglect of the manufacturing base to austerity measures the tax take is not keeping up with the demands placed on the system so we are losing what politicians regard as 'least important', and we can all see where their priorities are..... At the moment the glaring example is the capacity of the NHS but there are plenty of other areas where the government is disclaiming responsibility. We are being government solely on the basis of what the government can get away with in their relentless support of the financial interests who support them, a plutocracy. The passing of the Bill for Brexit without amendment is an open cheque for the PM. We are now on a very slippery slope. I like the fact that the SNP had to be called to order after standing up and singing the Ode to Joy from Beethoven's Choral Symphony, the unofficial national anthem of the EU. I think they made their point!
One cheering bit of news from the US is that Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsach, has criticised the way Trump is treating the appeal court and the judges. He may not be the poodle that some suspected. Trump's nomination for Attorney General is coming under criticism because he has a terrible record in Equal Rights.

[Tizer]

Fixed elderly patients could be discharged to their local temporary care home until the admin gets it's act together...

Mrs Tiz and I came to exactly the same conclusion the other day after listening to a programme about the NHS problems. When my dad had been in Exeter hospital for an op he got stuck there for weeks but eventually we managed to get them to move him to a small local `cottage' hospital in Tiverton which was much better. When our parents have been stuck in hospital it has always had negative effects on their health and made them depressed. Quaker firms used to fund convalescent homes for employees who'd been in hospital. Ronwtree had one in Scarborough. Dunollie Rest House

[Stanley]

Tiz, a lot of the Unions had the same policy of convalescent homes for members....
A little used concept comes to mind this morning, only a small word, 'shame'. We are told we live in one of the richest and most progressive countries on earth. For many years I looked at our social policies and whilst there were mistakes, I believed this. Now I believe that we have moved into a different era where the needs of society are no longer a priority and policy makers as a whole seem to be completely shameless. We sit here watching a triumphalist Tory Party concentrating solely on 'higher matters' whilst the fabric of society and infrastructure crumbles around them. It is a total disgrace.
There is another general matter. I note that the politics of fear is increasing not only here but globally. There is nothing new in the use of fear to influence the public, think 'Boney' in the 18th century, 'The Russian Bear' in the 19th and Communism in the 20th. We saw it used in the Referendum campaign and at the moment Trump is playing it to the hilt in the US. I don't know the answer but what I am certain of is that we should be sceptical whenever someone exhorts us to 'be afraid'.

[PanBiker]

There is another general matter. I note that the politics of fear is increasing not only here but globally. There is nothing new in the use of fear to influence the public, think 'Boney' in the 18th century, 'The Russian Bear' in the 19th and Communism in the 20th. We saw it used in the Referendum campaign and at the moment Trump is playing it to the hilt in the US. I don't know the answer but what I am certain of is that we should be sceptical whenever someone exhorts us to 'be afraid'.

Is it three times now that Trumps travel ban has been kicked out of court? Due to the fact that there is no evidence of a threat from those particular countries. Trump seems to be playing the Iraq preamble, tell a lie long enough and it becomes truth and we all know where that led.

[Tizer]

Ian, this BBC page is worth a look: `'American carnage': Is Trump's bleak vision of the States justified?'
It has lots of numbers and graphics comparing Trump's claims with reality.
For example...
Terrorism and US immigration
1 in 3.6 - chance of an American dying in a terror attack on US soil committed by a foreigner.
1 in 3.64bn - chance of American dying in terror attack caused by refugee.
1 in 10.9bn - chance of American dying in terror attack caused by illegal immigrant.

Causes of death in 2015 in the USA
979 - people killed by "accidental suffocation or strangulation in bed".
57 - by bees, hornets or wasps.
21 - by glass.
22 - by contact with hot water from a tap.

15,055 - number of people killed in shootings in the US last year.

"Far more dangerous than terrorism to Americans are painkillers. The leading cause of accidental death in the United States is now overdoses from painkillers - opioid medicines kill 60 people a day, or 22,000 a year, according to the National Safety Council."
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From the FT: ` Rupert Murdoch secretly sat in on interview with Donald Trump: News Corp boss joined Tory columnist for The Times newspaper exclusive'
The FT describes Murdoch's close links with Trump and his family. Trump and Murdoch have business interest entwined between their families.

[Stanley]

You both make good points. Trump is taking 'populism' to unheard of levels and the sad fact is that many people will be cheering him on because they are as ignorant of the facts as he is. Goebbels knew the efficacy of the 'Big Lie'. It is a very dangerous route and will do immense harm globally.
What grabbed me was Jeremy Hunt being forced to admit the bleeding obvious about the NHS and in particular A&E waiting times yesterday. Nothing he didn't already know but was ignoring. Well done the BBC because I think that their concentration this week on the subject has been a major factor in dragging him kicking and screaming into the admission. Question now is does he intend to do anything about it. Don't hold your breath.....
Later.... Trump flies down to Florida in Air force One for a weekend playing golf. He is saying now he may amend his executive order on immigration to get it past the Justice System but as it is basically racist and bigoted it's hard to see how he can modify it without disappointing his red-neck followers.

[Tizer]

The Government is now saying that Trump won't get to address Parliament because they'll only let him come during the recess and he'll be kept away from London as much as possible. The State Visit is still on the cards and Trump has said he wants tea with the Queen and to play a round of golf with her. I wonder what Prince Philip has to say about Trump?

The house builders are, quite rightly, under fire for the poor quality of new homes they build. I heard the man from the Housebuilders' Federation on the radio today say `We can't expect every new house to be perfect'. He's made a fool of himself saying that - it's simply wrong, we not only can but do expect each house to be perfect. That's what inspection and quality control is all about. The companies sign off the houses as finished and sell them. If they are not perfect they shouldn't sign them off. It confirms that they don't properly check the houses before selling them. The man also boasted that 85% of new houses were OK, as if that was acceptable. Some 142,890 homes were completed in the 12 months to December 2015 (Gov figures) and 15% failing means more than 214,000 21,400 were not OK. That's one heck of a lot of people with terrible problems and it's taking ages for them to get remedial work done. The NHBC `guarantee' is near useless and the NHBC itself says `It is not our job to ensure that houses are without faults. Our job is to provide risk assessment'. We have a chronic shortage of well trained builders and now the industry is going to hit the buffers when brexit stops all the building workers that we currently get from the rest of Europe. And many of them are better trained than our own builders. Don't buy a newly built house!

[Stanley]

I think that figure should have been 21,433 Tiz but you are right, it's a horrible record. I agree totally about the benefit of old houses because they have had time to settle down and for the undoubted faults to be fixed. Perhaps that's the problem, if you buy a new house it hasn't had enough time for the snags to show.
I remember when I was doing the S19 course with my old teacher Steve Constantine we found that the main reason why housing targets after the Great War weren't reached was because of shortages of materials and labour. Do the government's latest aspirations for house building take account of these matters?
It doesn't bear thinking about what Philip's views on Trump are......