POLITICS CORNER

[plaques]

the hard right wing Tories which I am convinced are hell bent on taking us back to the 'good old days' of laisser faire and inequality

Time for a quote. "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. Karl Marx".

[Tizer]

..and as I have been a loyal Labour supporter all my life I have to vote for them in a national election

Loyalty gets in the way of democracy. People should vote for whoever is the best, not the for those that they've always voted for!

[Stanley]

Tiz, but in this case loyalty (keeping the faith) coincides with good policies. That does it for me. We are all allowed to go to hell in our own way.
After mentioning Trump and his anti-vaccination policies yesterday I watched the C4 Despatches programme last night on the connection between him and Andrew Wakefield, the disbarred doctor who is making money out of his continuing opposition to MMR vaccinations. He lives in Texas now where they have 45,000 children who have had no vaccinations at all and are currently experiencing a rise in the incidence of Mumps.
I watched the Panorama programme on Facebook also and if you want a good example of verbal stonewalling watch the Facebook policy director evading answering the investigators questions. I imagined what would happen if the same thing was done in a court of law. The scale of their involvement in politics is frightening. Bit like a Sorcerers Apprentice who has initiated a spell and can't control it. The algorithms have lives of their own and move faster than we do.

[plaques]

People should vote for whoever is the best,

That's where the trouble starts. Which end of the donkey are we looking at? The names we see on the ballot paper are sometimes as thick as two short planks or high flyers who are aiming for a career in politics where the local voters are stepping stones to greater things. So leaving the rump of politicians behind, sorry about that, ignoring the individual and voting for the 'leader', ie: the bit of the donkey that is supposed to have some brains between its ears. A close scrutiny of the more recent leaders gives the impression they locked their brains in the locker when they clocked on. So lets go for performance. Words fail me, hands up anyone who can point at at genuine success. So what are the options? Basically a choice between Mrs May (strong and stable) who wants the best for everybody but in reality will settle for anything but. I know this because its a secret. and Mr Corbyn who is pitched to the left of Robespierre and Marx and if everything we hear is to believed will re-nationalize the coal mines, ship building, steel industry and every other industry that doesn't exist any more because of the Tories. Not to mention bankrupting the country by making the rich pay more taxes.
Yes, a real problem for the voter.

The scale of their involvement in politics is frightening. (Re Face Book.)

I think everyone who uses the internet is aware that they are being targeted by advertisers. Buy something on Amazon and you get a avalanche of e-mails plus adverts that pop up in newspaper articles. Go on YouTube and see 'suggestion for you' based on your past viewing. It should come as no surprise that Face Book gathers up all your intimate details and sells your 'profile' to those who wish to influence your thinking. Drip, drip, drip, and in no time you're Genghis Khan or Stalin.
PS I don't do God or Face Book.

[Stanley]

P. there are also the supporting cast members. Read MD in PE this week and you'll find he comes down heavily on the side of Ashworth the Shadow Heath Minister. I agree with him, he's the only one that is talking sense about the NHS. The Liberal notion of a dedicated 1p rise in income tax across the bard would work but the Treasury hates ring-fenced taxes. As for nationalisation, a dirty word these days but look at what happens when a franchise fails and a railway region is taken under the government wing. Even with our terrible system it improves and subsidies fall. One of the biggest mistakes of latter years in government policy, across all the parties, has been the flight from responsibility by successive governments by 'selling off the family silver' as Harold Macmillan described it. Nye Bevan put it differently, he said that we should retain control of the commanding heights of the economy and he was right. Corbyn isn't being allowed to lead by either the rats in his ship or the vile right wing assault on him. I don't see anything wrong with a PM who makes jam and speaks the truth about what is happening. In case you haven't noticed it is a slide towards greater inequality, more austerity and greater privilege for wealth. Think infant mortality, food banks and homelessness. These are the enemies, not the EU. This country has gone mad!
Have a look at THIS for a NY Times report into the firing by Trump of the FBI director Comey. Trump says it is because of the way Comey handled the matter of Hillary Clinton's emails but the taint of the swirling allegations about the Trump Campaign's relations with Russia hangs around this. I heard a comment on World service by a Democratic Senator. He said that he doubted whether the West Wing was 'sophisticated enough' to be capable of a subtle political move. He seemed to be inferring that Trump and his team don't do 'subtle'.....
Today we find out the results of the police investigation into the already proven misuse of funds in the 2015 election by the Tories. Whatever the result, it plays into the Labour rhetoric of advantage being gained by wealth in modern politics.

[PanBiker]

The attempted humanising of Theresa May by having her and the hubby as the only guests on "The One Show" last night. "We met up at Cambridge and it was love at first sight", then on to discuss those bloody kitten heels, Sally has some of those along with thousand of other women but nobody makes a song and dance about it when she wears them. I know it's an early evening magazine program but I wonder if all the other leaders will get the same opportunity and softly softly presentation. I wonder how they will present the jam making left wing politician with proper policies? He has a Mexican wife you know who s younger than him, she sells coffee, plenty to talk about there.

[plaques]

Plus another dead cat, or should I say dead fox, thrown on the table. Anything to divert attention from the real issues.

[Tripps]

File under 'you couldn't make it up'. From the New York Times.


Mr. Comey was addressing a group of F.B.I. employees in Los Angeles when a television in the background flashed the news that he had been fired.
In response, Mr. Comey laughed, saying he thought it was a fairly funny prank.
Then his staff started scurrying around in the background and told Mr. Comey that he should step into a nearby office. Mr. Comey stopped addressing the group. He proceeded to shake hands with the employees he had been speaking to. Then he stepped into a side office, where he confirmed that he had been fired.

At that point, he had not heard from the White House.

[Sue]

The worst aspect of all in my view is the loss of liberal values. Politics in many countries is polarising into an extreme right and extreme left with little in between. It's not just politics, it's getting worse in the media and even within the populations. Compassion and generosity are giving way to anger and selfishness. I won't vote for May or Corbyn or UKIP, I've always been suspicious of the Greens, so I'm left with LibDem but they don't stand much chance because they're the dwindling in-betweeners. I wish that a new, more effective party could come out of Labour but I wouldn't want it led by Corbyn, it would need someone who can convince others to come over to its side (and give it a new name, more appropriate for the 21st Century). Corbyn gets lots of adulation from his close supporters but he speaks to the converted and ignores the others. We hear so many former Labour supporters saying they won't vote for Corbyn. He's not trying to win them back and they feel let down. How about Sadiq Khan? He's very popular, he's a transformational leader, and he did more to support the Remainers than Corbyn did. He's 21st Century as opposed to Corbyn's `beer and sandwiches in Islington' hybrid image. I'd vote Labour if he were the leader and a possible future PM. There, I've nailed my colours to the mast! You can make me walk the gangplank now if you wish!

Some one who thinks like me Tiz. Corbyn keeps saying he is for the workers. Great, but I don't work. He has not said anything about middle England voters of that is the correct phrase. I have answered a number of questionnaires about my views and come out Lib Dem over and over again, the reason being, I believe, because I am not extreme in my views. I have strong views but rarely voice them, that's just the way I am, but I really don't like this man and cannot support him .

[Pluggy]

I'm with Sue & Tiz on politics. The Conservatives are going right and Labour are going left. Theres only The Lib Dems and the Greens left in Centrist land which in my world is the land of protest votes.......

Bring back Blair and Major......

[Pluggy]

Thanks to Ian I had to look up 'kitten heels', something I hadn't heard of before. My wife hasn't worn 'heels' in years, she's firmly in the comfort arena I think.

[Stanley]

I thought of doing the same thing Pluggy but couldn't be arsed. Who cares about her heels or whether she has better legs than Nicola?
David, things are going terribly wrong in the US but it looks as though some Republicans are joining the Democrats in the demand for an independent enquiry into Trump Team Russian links. Perhaps the system is working......
I can't help thinking about the real suffering that is happening at this moment. I hear nothing in the Tory message about this. This includes their 'reform' of the assessment for disability which is actively depriving those in need of the help they need just to get though the day.

[Stanley]

The usual Corbyn and Labour bashing from the Tories, it's getting boring! The leaking of the draft manifesto from Labour shows clearly that some of his own team are actively working against him. This is a terrible indictment of the state of the party and must be damaging. I am so sad that there can be such treachery in the party.
Trump is very careful with his language as he defends himself against allegations of links between him and Russia. Something is very wrong here, either he is lying or the Attorney General is. What a state of affairs...... Trump said he'd drain the swamp, up to press all he has done is not only antagonise the Democrats but many Republicans as well. It remains to be seen how all this plays out but it is doing nothing for US international standing. Like us, they are heading for being a laughing stock! Where has honest politics and common sense gone? I repeat, those whom the Gods wish to destroy they first make mad......
The thing that puzzles me most is the fact that a party without a single successful policy which has embroiled us in Brexit for its own ends is, on all normal indices, heading for a landslide victory. Or have I got something wrong?
My misgivings about the world were made worse this morning by the report that our emergency services, the 999 system, is on the brink of collapse due to increased demand and the effects of underfunding. Add to this the warnings about specific services and it's a bleak picture. How can this happen?

[Tizer]

The thing that puzzles me most is the fact that a party without a single successful policy which has embroiled us in Brexit for its own ends is, on all normal indices, heading for a landslide victory. Or have I got something wrong?

It needn't puzzle you, Stanley. Like it or not, the Tories are the only horse in the race. The only other contender is suffering from a rare equine disease where the right legs and left legs have completely lost coordination.

[plaques]

Fancy talking about renationalising railways when there is still profit and capital to be extracted before it collapses completely. Surely we can afford to keep on giving them the odd £million or two to make sure the share holders are kept happy. Totally ridiculous Corbyn should be ashamed of himself.

[Stanley]

As usual P you have put your finger on the root of the problem. The modern political Idiot's Guide to Governance states quite clearly that there are two advantages to 'outsourcing' and 'privatisation', the private sector is quite obviously more efficient because it makes money and gives it to the shareholders who are the funders of the political parties. This is at no cost to the Treasury as the 'client' pays. Also, responsibility for failure is avoided. Simples...... Small matters like the abject failure of the private sector to run GP services, prisons, probation, translation in courts, forensic services, defence procurement, army recruitment and training, the MOD Estates etc. are simply brushed off. Oh, and every time a rail franchise fails and is taken in-house the service has improved and costs have gone down. But what the hell do I know about it......
(I liked a comment I heard yesterday. The man said that we already have nationalised core services, problem is that it isn't our government that runs them, it's the Germans, the French, etc......)
I go back yet again to Aneurin Bevan, the government should retain control of the Commanding Heights of the Economy!
Later in the morning.... It struck me that one good thing about what I have seen in the Labour Manifesto is that in a couple of years when the doo doo has hit the fan, Labour can point out that they told you so.....

[plaques]

Having read through Alastair Campbell's diaries Vol:4 (the Blair Years) I'm now on with his recent Vol:5 (after Blair). All through the diaries he makes it clear, loads of expletives being used to express his feelings, that the majority of the newspaper media were totally opposed to the Labour movement and would resort to lies and defamatory statements at every opportunity. Bearing in mind Blair was next door to Thatcher in some of his thinking we now see the media at its worst with 100% anti Corbyn rhetoric from every newspaper. The BBC in trying to give 'balanced' coverage can only take their lead from the newspapers that are infront of them therefore any so called independent selection from these papers is bound to finish up with the same biased results. Its not entirely surprising that any 'poll' will reflect the same bias since the public are only getting one message. Compare this with the Communist states which control their media to do the same thing. We would then, "tut, tut" and say what else do you expect.
Even more annoying is our ex-Labour leaders and people who should know better dribbling out statements" if the polls are to be believed!". Which planet are they on? I won't mention Ben Bradshaw, good god I just did, hope he changes his attitude to Corbyn. Sorry Tizer.
Rant over. Feel better for that.

[Stanley]

Corbyn.... He has no trust funds in off shore banks, has never been caught with his fingers in the till, doesn't believe he is of the elite, has sensible policies that almost everybody agrees with and is direct and honest in his rhetoric, he tells the truth and listens to the people.... But he has an allotment, makes jam and espouses social democracy so is quite obviously dangerous.
The Tories have no successful policies and have failed to maintain everything from the armed forces to the NHS. Hard to decide eh?



I tripped over this pic in the archive. Tiz posted it during the Referendum Campaign. It strikes me that politics moves fast.... these are all forgotten men now, the real danger came from a totally unexpected quarter. Could the same thing happen again?

[Tizer]

Sorry Tizer. Rant over. Feel better for that.

No problem, Plaques! I don't have loyalty to any political party or politician. I analyse what I see as I would in a scientific experiment. I don't like much of what May is saying and doing but I know its drawing an awful lot of the population to her. I like some of Corbyn's ideals but he's turned off many Labour voters and sent them elsewhere. Prepare for either (1) a long period of right-wing Tory domination and strict rule accompanied by belligerence and selfish policies, or (2) social collapse and disorder on a grand scale and the emergence of new extreme groups more like the Alt-Right. Whatever happened to those broad sunlit uplands? Perhaps my house search key words should include island, bunker, silo, barbed wire, minefield... (Well. you've got to laugh, haven't you, otherwise....)

Stanley, thanks for resurrecting that image of the culprits!

[Stanley]

It was a pleasure Tiz! As for your two alternatives, I reckon if you combine both you have a pretty good image of the future......
I see May cherry-picked housing as a target, the Tories will build 'thousands of houses for rent. Really? If so she should look at the Addison Act of 1919. Macmillan built more houses than Bevan in the 1950s but it's generally agreed he did it by reducing design standards. The Tories have no track record of working with local councils and that's the only route that will get the results.
Later.... News of a slackening unemployment figures and forecasts that incomes are going to lag behind inflation as the effects of a weaker pound work through the system. Add this to the worsening GDP figures and we have a picture of an economy that is losing ground. It becomes obvious that this is the main reason why May did her U-turn on the election.
Isn't it funny that the Tories have suddenly realised that they can cure housing, NHS funding and worker's conditions.... Really??

[Tizer]

Isn't it funny that the Tories have suddenly realised that they can cure housing, NHS funding and worker's conditions.... Really??

May is suffering from a serious bout of Trumpism - promising everything under the sun, knowing that when you get in you can simply change your mind. Sadly, Corbyn can promise anything too, because he knows he won't get in. To put it in a nutshell, we're stuffed. The party that's going to get elected will be so strong that it can promise the Earth now and get away with doing completely different once it's in full power. What the other parties promise makes little difference if the majority of voters are gullible enough to believe all May's promises.

[plaques]

Watched and listened to Corbyn's Chatham House speech, Link. . Corbyn is not a great orator . Doesn't have any fire in his speeches. This one was full of detail, perhaps too much of it. It was though he was talking one to one trying to explain the process and logic of what he was trying to say. If you had the stamina to listen to the Q & A section he sounded as though he was much more comfortable at this level. I was surprised at his knowledge on international matters explaining the background before delivering his answer. Always aware of the 'have you stopped beating your wife' type of question posed by John Pienaar, (BBC). Said sorry John and just bypassed it. I'm not surprised that Mrs May doesn't want a face to face debate with him.
Summary. Delivery poor, Content OK but too much detail. Marks 7/10.

[Stanley]

It's an indication of my state of mind that this came into my head this morning:


The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

W B Yeats, 1920. Using religious references to describe the state of post-war Europe.

[Bruff]

Seems the Tories think we have a Presidential system in this country as all the nonsense that dribbles through my letterbox from them makes no mention of the candidate here in Wirral West (who is the runner up in the recent Greater Liverpool mayoral election rather than the previous MP and 3x candidate McVey who hot-footed it to Tatton at the first sniff of a safe seat, commitments to constituencies espoused in all sincerity and at length being essentially a fluid concept). It’s all about Mrs May. Well let’s spend a few moments examining the merits of this ‘presidential’ candidate and yesterday’s as good a place as any to start.

Confronted by a lady wanting to talk about cuts to benefits, Mrs May seemed unable to grasp the difference between mental illness and a learning disability, despite the lady three times mentioning she had a learning disability not a mental illness. May either didn’t listen or was too daft to understand the distinction. In an interview with Peston, May once again said that she was looking for a trade deal with the EU within the 2 years. Oh for goodness sake! How many times does she need telling? This cannot happen. The Irish European Minister explained in a live interview why it could not happen – the UK is a member of the EU until it leaves and a member of the EU cannot negotiate its own trade deals. This is in a signed treaty, a signed legal document, signed by the UK. What level of stupidity does it take to not understand, after months and months and months of telling, consistently, carefully, repeatedly, that you cannot do this? It does a huge disservice to the country.

But we know why it’s done don’t we? It’s cynically driven to ensure that the EU is blamed for whatever comes the UK’s way. Quite disgraceful. You’d think wouldn’t you that as a country we’d have the guts to deal with the path we’ve chosen rather than whining and carping. How can the EU be punishing us by calmly seeing through the consequences of the UK’s decision? I am not punishing the child when I warn them not to put their hand in the fire. I am simply giving them a lesson in basic logic, the importance of cause and effect. The UK’s sovereign right to leave, should they wish, the EU comes with consequences. The EU is simply pointing this out. I have to say too that the UK’s behaviour will be noted more widely and frankly I do have concerns that, when we come to look for trade deals elsewhere, this at once needy, entitled, superior, insouciant attitude will be noted. We become more of a laughing stock every day.

Just to emphasise the lack of awareness of the reality on the UK side, or the presidential Mrs May’s side, it’s worth reading the report in the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, helpfully at the link below translated into English, of the calamitous dinner between May and her entourage and the EU delegation the other week. It is scathing, and should be essential reading. Strong and stable? Read this and she’s out of her depth, clueless. Chuck this right back at any half-wit at your door that comes with the ‘strong and stable’. Link here (it’s five pages, so click through at the end of each – p4 is the important bit and where the UK’s [May’s] delusions crystallised in EU eyes):

http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ther ... 98803.html

Richard Broughton

[Stanley]

Thanks for another good informative post Richard. As usual I agree with everything you say particularly "But we know why it’s done don’t we? It’s cynically driven to ensure that the EU is blamed for whatever comes the UK’s way. Quite disgraceful
I've read the article and believe it is a truthful report, it certainly reads that way. What a depressing picture! Junker is quite right when he sums up May's optimism and flag waving.... "Brexit cannot be a success" it confirms all I have suspected about the naïve/incompetent attitude of the UK side. They are truly in another galaxy and until they beam down they are doing nothing but damaging the eventual outcome which is bad enough on best case! We are in the gyre and the centre cannot hold.
If you want a classic example of what happens when 'negotiators' wrap themselves in the flag and allow themselves full reign go back to the Treaty of Versailles, I believe that Brexit could be just as damaging to the UK. When J M Keynes wrote 'The economic consequences of the Peace' he was ridiculed but was eventually proved to be spot on the money but the damage was done. May is so blinded by her 'vision' and the necessity to get a Tory majority before the crap hits the fan that she is trapped in what can only be a disaster.
Meanwhile, the storm clouds in the shape of the economic indices get rapidly worse. Inflation gathers pace and is at 2.3%. The last (and optimistic) figure for wage growth was 2.3% per annum. The new estimates are due and are widely expected to be lower as the effects of the 10% devaluation in the £ work through the economy. Retail figures are already telling a story of decline as individual debt mounts month by month. This is the real elephant in the room, the emperor has no clothes, the 'Economic Miracle' is a mirage and the real effects of austerity are coming home to roost. May's worst case is this disaster and this is why the Tories are avoiding policy, ridiculing the Labour Manifesto while vaguely promising elements of it themselves. Can they sustain the illusion for another four weeks? Unfortunately I think they can and this is the real tragedy. Once back in power we will see the truth in Richard's remark "But we know why it’s done don’t we? It’s cynically driven to ensure that the EU is blamed for whatever comes the UK’s way. Quite disgraceful"