Politics
Politics in the price we pay for living in a community.
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Jeremy Corbyn, Anti-Semitism and The Labour Party
Until he was elected leader in 2016, anti-Semitism in labour were virtually non-existent. There have been no identified reports of Corbyn being anti-Semitic, yet somehow Jeremy Corbyn became identified as the biggest threat to Jewish people that the country had ever seen.… Read the rest
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Russia Report: ‘Russian interference is the new normal’
‘Russian interference is the new normal.’ Yes, the Russia Report said this and the country just looks away. What does interference really look like? It’s the troll farm accounts on social media who push the insidious propaganda that influences opinions because if you see something often enough, it becomes true and if enough of the accounts you follow say it then for certain character types you are swayed ‘because if everyone is saying it, it must be true’.… Read the rest
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Insidious and Murderous? Institutional Racism in the NHS
The thing about institutional racism is, like its insidious cousin cultural racism, that it’s not always obvious. Even to those on the receiving end and certainly not to those benefiting. The behaviour of the NHS towards its staff during the Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated this all too clearly and it should shame us all.… Read the rest
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Covid-19 Test Blues
Earlier this week I received an invitation to have a Covid-19 test and this is my story. For the last couple of months I’ve been logging my symptoms on the Covid-19 App and recently I checked my emails to find an invitation to have a Covid-19 test. … Read the rest
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Are You Ready for the Second Wave of Covid-19 Deaths?
As of 28 May 2020 the number of excess deaths in the UK which are attributed to the Covid-19 outbreak is approximately 64,000. If that number is too big for you, it means for every million people, 940 have died in the first wave of Covid-19 infections.… Read the rest
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Get ready for a post lockdown world by attending online meetings
Post lockdown we’re going to see a struggle between the establishment trying to make us pay for the cost of the Covid-19 lockdown through lower wages, reduced conditions and an even harsher austerity policy. We’ve seen this beginning to play out in the media as the ground is prepared for the magic money tree to vanish.… Read the rest
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Who does what in the Labour Party?
With the leak of the internal Labour Party report that was prepared for submission to the EHRC, there’s been calls for the Leader of the Party to take action but the question is, who is responsible for what? Looking at who does what, doesn’t really make it much clearer but here’s a guide to the terms you’ll be hearing more of.… Read the rest
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Here’s why the UK is so reckless in managing the Coronavirus
The UK is deliberately defying the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended behaviour to stem the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. To an outsider it beggars belief that a government would do so little to protect its people – except to tell the over 70s to avoid cruises and to tell everyone to wash their hands.… Read the rest
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Why keeping the BBC licence fee is an act of defiance
There’s a lot of people on both sides of the political spectrum that have welcomed the government’s suggestion that they remove the licence fee from the BBC and make it subscription only. So it’s time we talked about the BBC and despite my tweet above, why we need to fight to keep the fee.… Read the rest
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Factors Influencing the 2019 General Election Labour Loss
With all the blame and recriminations floating around on both the traditional and social media, indulge me as I take a moment to look at the context of a selection of the factors that lead to the defeat and some suggestions to counter some of the issues that still confront Labour as it continues to seek to attract the confidence of the electorate.… Read the rest
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If the UK is so rich, why are most of us so poor?
You hear it bandied around all the time, we’re the 5th richest country in the world but we have austerity because we’re actually poor. What’s the truth? Well it’s something in between. Before we go on, you must remember that there are lies, damn lies and statistics. … Read the rest
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Progress is Saving Labour by Colluding with the Tories
The latest instalment of the ongoing saga that sees the right wing of the Labour Party going all out to make the party unelectable under the current leader. Since changing the Party rules didn’t get rid of him, they’re now conspiring with the Tories to wipe the party out electorally.… Read the rest
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Why did Jeremy Corbyn Sack Hilary Benn?
Ever wondered just what pushed Jeremy Corbyn to sack Hilary Benn? Particularly since Corbyn had been exerting a lot of effort to keep the Shadow Cabinet together? This might be the answer. It’s a report of a press briefing held by Seumus Milne on 5 January 2015.… Read the rest
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Settling scores in the Parliamentary Labour Party
There’s been a bit of talk about settling scores after the leadership election. From the coup plotters breaking away and going to court to take the brand and the assets with it, to removing the whip from the 171 MPs who triggered this latest leadership challenge.… Read the rest
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Some people don’t vote for policies, they vote for a brand
Branding is insidious. It’s used by people as a shorthand for aspiration and to show others how they define themselves. We see it with the popularity of iPhone, Nike and the other big names in the commercial world but did you realise that politics is a brand too?… Read the rest
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My Wishlist of Policies for Labour
Some of these are already on the labour Party’s list but here’s my quick and dirty wish list to start to make the country more equitable. It’s not complete but it’s a start. You’d like to hope that each of the shadow cabinet is making their policy list as we speak but the media is consumed with the chaos and nastiness of the leadership contest, no real information is making it through the noise.… Read the rest
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Austerity as a political choice
If you ever doubted the claim that Austerity is a political decision, remember that the government spent £250 billion to play the money markets after the decision was announced – in theory to ‘stabilise it’. Most of this went into the speculators hands, who just love political insecurity as there’s money to be made. … Read the rest
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PLP snatches defeat from the jaws of victory for Labour
It’s been quite embarrassing watching the own goal scored by the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) this last week. In a week that should have given the party a chance to make up all the lost ground with the voters that ultimately led to them losing what should have been an un-loseable election back in 2015, they chose instead to turn on their leader, ultimately giving the government time to recover from the EU referendum defeat and to hide their own deep divisions.… Read the rest
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The State of the Economy Conference
Today I spent the day experiencing something I never thought I’d see, some of the great and the good from the Labour Party getting down with the plebs. Yes, the audience contained some of that glorious mix of people that you never see outside of party events, including some new elements of crazy from the peanut gallery that made me laugh plus all the normal interest groups that makes Labour such a cauldron of sometimes bonkers ideas but there were normal people there too. … Read the rest
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Is politicial opportunism and wilful blindness a prerequisite for being a politician?
Two weeks ago when the story of the unauthorised access of the voicemails on Milly Dowler’s phone because news and the extent of the collusion and corruption between politicians, police and the media started to become known, politicians were nodding furiously and claiming victim status due to what they claimed was intimidation by the media.… Read the rest
