POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

I heard a news report last night that Johnson has said there will be no return to austerity. I can't convey how angry that makes me. For his information there is no need for a return, austerity has never gone away for the majority of the voters. Can I remind him of the cumulative cuts since 2010 that have left public services suffering cuts, wage freezes and cuts to the benefits system? How dare he try to make out that all this is over. It's clearly still present and will get worse as recession hits. Has he forgotten the number of councils who are warning that as things stand they will have to declare what is effectively bankruptcy as they haven't enough money to continue many statutory services?
Cynical grandstanding with no regard for the truth. Why am I not surprised?

[chinatyke]

Cynical grandstanding with no regard for the truth.

He's a politician, what do you expect?

[plaques]

I heard a news report last night that Johnson has said there will be no return to austerity.

You can't 'return' to something that you never left. The government lifted the restrictions on wage freezes and left it up to the bankrupt councils to pay their staff more money. Not an easy thing to do. Johnson's forthcoming speech will be full of aspirations and future projects to make sure that 'those who have lost their jobs' have something to plan forward to but don't hold your breath. Committees and task forces will be set up to see how we can spend money that we don't have on infrastructure projects who's profits will probably go to foreign companies. The emphasis will be on 'leveling up' whatever that means. The optimists may think of increasing wages up towards a higher level. The pessimists may think of those at the bottom paying their way with less intervention from the nanny state. You pays your money and takes your choice. The world is in turmoil with everything running on debt and borrowed money. One domino goes down and the rest follow. The relaxation of the lockdown rules is the governments attempt to prevent this financial contagion. The risk is more covid fodder and lives lost especially those at the bottom of the heap.

[PanBiker]

Recovering the economy. Nationalise all the utilities and essential services like trains and buses. Make sure there are no longer any Johnny Foreigner fingers whoever they are in our pies, Then you can invest. Take a good portion of those on no wage and officially on the dole and train them on the job into the building and allied trades using the model that proved to work post WWII and gave us our stock of council houses, just repeat the exercise. You can borrow the money to make that happen because you are investing it at the bottom and it will eventually benefit everyone, including the bankers but they will have to wait a bit longer. This model worked after WWII and within 10 or 12 years we were in the golden age of "never had it so good". Lots of skilled folk contributing to the economy, as the meerkats would say, simples!

[Whyperion]

' levelling up' tends to be increase house prices in cheap areas so that those with money will move to there, those without will have to find cheaper accomodation elsewhere.

Problem with Railways is that they eat money - forever - and dont always go to the places where they would be useful. Buses, maybe, mostly because changes to wages and lack of running subsidies means the smaller family companies are falling away.

Local Authority (funding) too little, Council Tax either needs more bands, or the return to the somewhat fairer Rates poundage.

Miniumum wages need to be living wages, UC needs replacement or at least a £120 minimum (taxable) income.

[Stanley]

Ken and Ian.... Quite right. In other words steal the rest of Labour's last manifesto!

[PanBiker]

That's about the size of it but they won't dare call it socialism. As everyone knows that is the work of the devil.

[Tizer]

Cummings is getting his wish fulfilled - a clean out of the civil service. Three top men gone this year already.

[Whyperion]

Was there any promises in the last tory manifesto that are useful to hold them to doing ?
Given the civil service bod had been with May at home office during hostile environment, maybe he wont be missed (well he is getting ennobled and off to chair some commission to report to parliament something that should have been sorted in the past anyway).

[Stanley]

Cummings. One word that can spoil the start to the day.....

[plaques]

Why does it all sound like a Trumpism. Fire the people that disagree with you and install someone from the same background camp as yourself with the unwritten threat of the same could happen again. People will say that these aren't political appointments but the selection process for 'suitable' candidates can be heavily biased through the internal promotion stakes.

[Tizer]

Boris and Trump are the two ends of a quantum tunnel - identical but perceived to be different due to our own local field distortions.

[Tripps]

I think the Guardians sketch writer has it spot on today - what a plight we're in. Problem is even if it were possible to get rid of him who would we get then? Is the job even 'do-able'?

I worry that everyone now seems to think we are almost over the virus. I don't. The only optimistic news I've seen recently is that people have been found with no antibodies, but evidence that the infection has been dealt with by T cells. Sue might explain it all.

The PM - vague upbeat and incoherent.

[Stanley]

Upbeat but incoherent... Sounds about right. The hamfisted way Leicester is being dealt with is a prime example. Confusion reigns.

[plaques]

Remember what Cummings said. Given 3 days and people will have forgotten all about promises and future budgets. The three days is well and truly in the past so its quite in order to recycle building hospitals, roads and infrastructure, railways, training schemes and anything else to make the future look rosy. Meanwhile back at the camp there are loads of people who we can safely kill and blame it on the virus plenty of firms sacking people or restructuring as they call it to take advantage of the rosy future. Just because the country is going through a bit of turbulence its no reason that this great country can't continue to lead the world.

[Tizer]

This is the press release today that's got the rest of the world a bit angry with Trump. He's cornered the market...
`Trump Administration Secures New Supplies of Remdesivir for the United States' HHS.gov, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

[Whyperion]

I'm sure that having made a bucket load of cash the makers will licence to another manufacturer and allow them to sell for three months at 70% of the current price to anywhere bar USA !!!

[Whyperion]

that this great country can't continue to lead the world.

Err, since when, world leading effectively has ever been a British Thing, we exploited while we could, then got tumbled by the natives, and those with bigger sticks caused disruption to their advantage. I suppose being a country of Fools and Drunks maybe is a good enough policy.

[Stanley]

Didn't I hear that the drug costs $10 a shot to make and is being sold for $2,000?
That's the market for you...... No wonder US pharma is salivating about a trade deal with the UK that gives them access to the NHS.
Private Eye arrived yesterday. No doubt I am going to be exposed to more dire information. Deep Joy!

[Tizer]

The manufacture of pharmaceuticals represents only a tiny sliver of the total costs which are almost all in development. That doesn't mean I approve of the price of course. It's why the new drug remdesvir is so much more expensive than the old drug dexamethasone for which the development costs have been recouped already.

[Stanley]

I suppose you're right Tiz but my suspicions about big pharma run deep and I suspect are well justified.



This caught my eye in PE yesterday. As you know I am deeply suspicious of this lady's competence and attitudes.

[PanBiker]

If you watch the body language Boris always has a grin on his face regardless of what he is bumbling about. Priti Patel comes over as smug and holier than though, not a good trait. Both of course consider themselves masters of the universe and in each case they are wrong..

[Tizer]

The Hansard writers are probably scared of being accused of racism if they don't `improve' her statements.

[Stanley]

Rightly or wrongly I see the clarity of a person's speech, when speaking unscripted, as a good indication of the clarity of their mind and thought processes. On this analysis both Patel and Johnson fail miserably.
They call it boxing on your feet. No place to hide. This is why face to face confrontation in Parliament is a good test of an argument.
Just been announced that pubs in England can open from 06:00 tomorrow morning. Am I wrong in thinking that this is another example of muddled thinking and knee-jerk policy making in Number 10?

[Whyperion]

6am I suppose depends on licencing conditions. confirms none from 00:01 to end of legal hours. Not many places licenced from 6am on a Saturday. The traditional early (or odd) hours of Pubs would have been those in markets particulary - Smithfield In London it was 4am to 11am ( by Midday most business had ceased !! ).