POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

As far as I can see P she has no need to turn up at any negotiations because there aren't going to be any, just meetings of apparatchiks arguing about the small print. Her whole position is a sham though just as you say. Why isn't she being attacked on this? Are we the only people who, thanks to Richard, have seen the Negotiating Directives?
I suspect Richard is right, if she gets back in the first 'news' we are going to get about Brexit is that the EU are playing dirty pool by refusing to meet 'face to face' to discuss the terms. Cue attack by the President on the grounds of intransigence followed by a tantrum. What a bloody mess......
Later.... some interesting speculation about where May will stand with her party if she doesn't deliver a large majority. Also, David Davies steps in to point out that President May's statement about migration in the 'tens of thousands' is an 'aim' rather than a promise. So that's all right then.
Commentators in the US are pointing out that Trump can't back out of an international treaty or re-negotiate the terms unilaterally. They don't work like that! Also, they are questioning whether his naïve assumption that coal mines in the Rust Belt will be reopened as it would be too expensive and there is no market for coal. That's why they closed in the first place. Looks like another example of muddled thinking in the White House!

[plaques]

that President May's statement about migration in the 'tens of thousands' is an 'aim' rather than a promise

Its been long said that most people are 'Politics Light' and are turned off from the system because they just don't believe what Politicians say and they take no notice of what the voters want anyway. So why bother to get involved? In the last election Ed Miliband is quoted as saying " Old Labour forgot about the public, New Labour forgot about the party. Corbyn is certainly connecting to the public but has been rejected by the party. The Tories are continuing in their old ways of telling everybody what is good for them but will drop it at the first opportunity. Things may be changing with some reporters getting a bit fed up with the repetitious sound bites of Mrs May classifying them as 'Maybots'. If we can just put to one side all the nonsense that the righwing papers are pushing out then Corbyn may be in with a chance.

[Stanley]

That's my feeling as well P but I am not holding my breath....
Private eye had a good cartoon yesterday comparing the President with a Praying Mantis.....Even more accurate than Nosfaratu! many commentators are noting the exclusive use of 'I' and 'My', she is incapable of changing this because her whole proposition is based on what she sees as her personal qualities. She is still avoiding all the difficult problems like the reduction in Disabled Living Allowance and nurses using food banks. Corbyn on the other hand is enjoying this and gets more comfortable in his role as leader and champion of the people every day. His enemy is time......
On another note, he is ridiculed for his allotment and jam-making..... I can't imagine TM doing either! Is that a plus point for her?

[plaques]

Probably central to Mrs May’s election campaigned are the words ‘strong and stable’ and more recently ‘to support her in ensuring a strong negotiating position on Brexit’. But also running in the background ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’ shouldn’t be forgotten. All good resounding stuff along the lines of ‘give me the tools and I’ll do the job’. Unfortunately, the nature of British politics has changed. No longer do we have Cabinets comprised of MP’s of different talents and expertise who sit down fully briefed to discuss and examine the best way forward but one run by spin doctors to decide what is to be offered up to the media for public consumption. Increasingly, Mrs May is running on a Presidential ticket where she is trying to fill the Tory benches with people who will give her guaranteed support. In effect, she will become no better than a dictator who has been given a manifesto blank cheque to do has she pleases. Perhaps the most recent pointer is her reluctance in not condemning President Trump for pulling out of the Paris climate change agreement. I have spoken to him is her answer. In the event that the negotiations fail, which undoubtedly they will, we will be going to America cap in hand pleading for trade. (‘no deal is better than a bad deal’)?. Look forward for a re-run of situation leading up to the Blair, Bush , Iraq fiasco, all in the name of trade, if she gets her way.

[Stanley]

Dead right again P. What's worrying me this morning is the effect the news from London will have on the mood of the nation as the President retreats to COBRA to emerge no doubt mouthing platitudes about 'plucky Londoners' and 'They will not prevail'. Is some idiot going to go against this and suspend campaigning for a day or two? Not beyond the bounds of possibility. Will Paul Nuttall resist the urge to make more racist comments about Islam?

[plaques]

Is some idiot going to go against this and suspend campaigning for a day or two?

The BBC has reported that the Conservatives have suspended their campaign.

Just to keep banging on again about Mrs May's robotic answers we are repeatedly told of future plans to increase the funding in the NHS, building and nurses etc; all dependent on a strong and stable economy which in turn will come from strong negotiations on the Brexit. Unfortunately, a careful examination of this statement raises a number of questions.
1 This assumes the negotiations will be in our favor. If not its 'no deal is better than a bad deal' So where is plan B.
2 How long are these negotiations going to last? And how long will it be before we can say we have a strong and stable economy?
3 will the NHS continue on its downward path until these conditions are met?
Naomi Klein in her book 'Shock Doctorine' outlines the economic rundown of States to a point where all social services are privatized. Services like the NHS being one of the biggest prizes.
Noam Chomsky, the American philosopher clearly states that 62 people now own the equivalent of Half the Worlds wealth with inequality continuing to rise.
Lets hope that Mrs May's plan B if she ever declares it never talks us down the road of more inequality and privatized NHS.

[Tizer]

...62 people now own the equivalent of Half the Worlds wealth

I seem to recall Tim Harford has looked at that claim in `More or Less'. Podcast here: LINK

I was away in Cornwall at the time of the Manchester bombing and we didn't watch any TV and had no wifi. On radio we listened to only the headlines. The BBC seemed to have nothing but the bombing in their headlines for some days. All this might have been discussed on OG but, for what it's worth, my view is that the news media are doing the terrorists' job for them. In Cornwall life went on as usual as I guess it does today here in Somerset. Some people have been killed and others badly injured in London. I'm sorry for them and their relatives and for others traumatised by being at the site of the incident. But people are being killed all the time in the UK. The latest statistics show 574 killings in the year to 2015 and most of those were not terrorist related. And many more are dying on the roads (1,775 in 2014). The more the news media amplifies the terror, the more the maniacs will believe their attacks are a success.

[PanBiker]

I never thought I would agree with anything that Paul Nuttall said but he is right in this instance, suspending political activity is wrong. We have a government but they cannot run indefinitely on emergency powers, we need a new parliament.

[plaques]

In line with the suspension of electoral campaigning I propose to follow Boris Johnson's lead by totally ignoring it. Triple Whammy . His comments are total speculation without substance so there is little point in arguing against something that doesn't exist. In fact I've only mentioned it so that I don't appear to callous about the recent London atrocities. My real intention is to point people at the comments made by James O'Brien (LBC Radio) James O'Brien (3.5 mins) on what is termed the Dementia Tax. The question being why single out this particular condition for a different financial approach? By extension could you use this argument for other non-terminal illnesses, hip replacements etc: Well worth listening to.

[Stanley]

James O'Brien is correct of course but this is only the thin end of the wedge. Naomi Klein describes it well, the government shedding responsibility by withdrawing from control of vital areas of public life by privatisation and outsourcing. Public services are converted to profit centres and in the end the poor pay until the pips squeak.
No way the Tories were going to call for postponing the election, the more time Corbyn has the more he chisels into their vote. Their record is so bad all they can do is distort figures and bang on about how bad Corbyn would be at 'negotiating'. There isn't going to be any face to face negotiation, just a settlement hammered out by apparatchiks behind closed doors. Whoever is PM after the election will simply be given a fait accompli, sign here please. The 'I' and 'My' campaign has to be pursued to the end. They haven't even the luxury of a U-turn now.

[Whyperion]

There isn't going to be any face to face negotiation, just a settlement hammered out by apparatchiks behind closed doors. Why are Lab and LibDem not pointing this out more clearly (not that 70% of the electorate would care to listen to such facts anyway)

[plaques]

just a settlement hammered out by apparatchiks behind closed doors. Why are Lab and LibDem not pointing this out more clearly

Probably because it may expose the myth that the Prime Minister has hands on control of the negotiation process. The bulk of the work will be done by civil servants in Whitehall plus another chunk by the Treasury. There will be lots of drafts flying backward on forward to No 10 and possibly some to America for good measure. Don't want to upset our special relationship do we? If the Tories are still in power at the end of the squabbling then Parliament MAY get a vote on the matter. (Silly me thought the reason for leaving the EU was to get more control over what happens in the UK not move into a dictatorship, but that's another matter). When Trump Mrs May declares it a NO Deal then things will get really interesting. The some of the 70%, who are not interested in what's happening will find that their months survival savings buffer is down to about two weeks. Savings Buffer. You have been warned.

[Stanley]

I have to be careful at my age quoting from memory but listening to President May defending the indefensible when Jeremy told her to resign because of the way she had run the police numbers and funding down when she was home secretary my crap detector started to buzz. Isn't this the woman who was slow hand-clapped at the Police Federation conference? Did not the Chairman of ACPO announce publicly that the funding cuts were damaging police response? Wasn't it announced recently that the Met is so short of detectives that they are going to recruit directly into CID without the normal beat experience. Did she use 2015 as the year to quote when spending increased because this was after five years of cuts that had gone too far?
Sadiq Khan comes under attack from Trump again after he misconstrued Khan's advice about not getting alarmed about an increase in armed police on the streets. See THIS for the BBC report. Apart from the fact he got it wrong, what the hell has it got to do with Trump? Hasn't he enough on his plate back home with the White House in a shambles, his inane policies being stymied at every move and the fact his team is under severe scrutiny on serious charges?
Only three days to go before we know the state of public comprehension of the politics we are facing.... The most I will say is that it no longer looks like the walk-over May was expecting but elections are strange beasts. I am still apprehensive....

[Bruff]

The most recent events in London struck it a bit close to home for me. From 1997 – 2009 I worked 2mins walk from Borough Market/London Bridge and walked through the market every day. I was in The Wheatsheaf pub having a pint the week before last; I am off down to a retirement do next week at a pub just off the market. I’ve been in most of the pubs, bars and restaurants of that area in my time, explored every nook and cranny, and seen it develop from a run of the mill backwater to the very popular destination it is now. My absolute favourite part of London is ‘The Borough’ and Bankside/Southwark.

Interesting to note that Borough Market developed from the wholesale fruit and veg market it’d been for centuries to the foodie mecca it is now due to in no small part to the vanguard efforts of three northern producers: a Herdwick sheep farmer and a Cumbrian pork butcher and a fishmonger out of Barrow. They were followed not long after by The Ginger Pig from North Yorkshire. They dragged their produce down, set up stall, slept in their vans and later a hostel popular with Aussies and NZers. The pork butcher and fishmongers are still there, as is The Ginger Pig who now have a lot of shops as well.

Dreadful events. But life goes on…

Richard Broughton

[Tizer]

Bojo on the Today programme this morning being his usual arrogant self, probably more so because he was faced with questions from a woman TV presenter. He was interspersing all his comments with potshots at Labour and reached a peak of nastiness when he said Corbyn `would be eaten alive' by the EU's negotiators. Methinks if it's anyone eaten alive it'll be May and her Brexiteers after they've been so belligerent and aggressive in their recent approaches to the EU. And as others have said here, it won't be any of them who are doing the real negotiation. The one good thing Bojo said was that he supported Sadiq Khan against Trump's comments.

[plaques]

While the nasty party gets nastier and their chosen target keeps playing a straight bat most rational people will have already made their choice. Having said that it came as a bit of a surprise to find someone who I've only vaguely heard about explaining in easy terms what the current situation is all about. Ref: Ann Pettifor. From Wiki :- Ann Pettifor is a UK-based analyst of the global financial system, director of Policy Research in Macroeconomics (PRIME) a network of economists concerned with Keynesian monetary theory and policies; an honorary research fellow at the Political Economy Research Centre at City University, London (CITYPERC) and a fellow of the New Economics Foundation, London. So she is no Dummy. In this clip, You Tube, Ann Pettifer. (12 mins). The Economic Myths.. Without saying directly she covers 80% of the Labour manifesto. Unfortunately, we have 7 years of 'There's no money' that it may come as a surprise that there is tons of the stuff, its just that its been working against us rather than for us. Well worth 12 mins of anybody's time.

[Stanley]

I heard the Bojo interview as well. Apart from anything else he was rude and simply kept talking but I thunk the lady interviewer did well, she exposed him for what he is, a rude arrogant and ignorant man.



The Bullingdon tradition lives on!
Of course there is plenty of money!! Have you noticed that the phrase 'Money Tree' has become the stock attack? Pure Naomi Klein, manufacture a crisis and use it as a lever to move political thinking. Ann Pettifor is quite right, it's not the lack of money that's the problem it's the priorities.
I note that Diane Abbot was retired from the Woman's Hour debate yesterday on the grounds of ill health. It was definitely one of the better political programmes of the campaign. The UKIP woman did a good job as well despite the obvious disadvantage she works under....
Just heard a report on World Service that President May has said that she will suspend any Human Rights rules that interfere with the deportation of terrorist suspects. Now let's have a think, who can we remember who did exactly the same thing and what did it lead to.......
I see that Donald Trump is crowing over the 'final battle' with ISIS in Raqqa. He evidently sees it as the end of the movement. How naïve can you get? It will make there efforts abroad even more prolific. You don't get rid of an ideology by smashing it.
Later at 06:15 listening to the news before I go in the shed the right wing papers are in attack mode against Labour accusing them of being traitors. I find it indicative of the present mood in the Tory Party that instead of lauding the performance and policies of the government they are reduced to totally negative campaigning. Now I wonder why that is the case???
It's going to be a very wet day tomorrow, traditionally a bad thing for the Labour vote.....

[plaques]

The cost of a typical Bullington club dinner when Boris was a member was over £400 per member, then they had to pay extra on top to cover the damage they caused by their 'high spirits'. No wonder it was exclusive.

Just heard a report on World Service that President May has said that she will suspend any Human Rights rules that interfere with the deportation of terrorist suspects. Now let's have a think, who can we remember who did exactly the same thing and what did it lead to.......

Abu Hamza al-Masri caused Mrs May all manner of grief when she was Home Secretary. Abu Hamza. Being a British citizen he was gaoled for 7 years for inciting violence. Later the US requested extradition for terrorist offences. This is where Mrs May made a series of cock ups that seemed to go on for ever, finally he was deported and given a life sentence (2014). Mrs May is quoted as saying..British Home Secretary Theresa May said that she was "pleased" that Abu Hamza had "finally faced justice". I bet she was.

[Stanley]

I have just had two glossy full colour leaflets delivered urging me to vote for the Tories and 'Strong and Stable' government. I wonder who paid for them......

[plaques]

Here are some facts and figures obtained from the Mirror newspaper for the Pendle constituency. I draw no conclusions from these figures they are just statements of fact.

Constituency - Pendle
Current MP - Andrew Stephenson, Conservative
2017 CANDIDATES Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by first name.

Andrew Stephenson Conservative
Brian Parker British National Party
Gordon Lishman Liberal Democrat
Ian Barnett Green
Wayne Blackburn Labour

Conservative PREVIOUS RESULT, 2015
Conservative 20,978
Labour Labour 15,525

ECONOMY
Pendle’s economy is slightly weaker than the average when compared to all 632 constituencies in Britain.
Unemployment in the constituency stands at 4.5 per cent, roughly the same when compared to the average of 4.8 per cent across all constituencies in Britain between October and December last year.
Unemployment has changed by -3.9 percentage points between 2012 and 2016 - slightly better than the average of -3.0 percentage points.
Around 1.0 per cent of the working-age population claim Jobseeker’s Allowance which is fairly normal relative to the average of 1.2 per cent.
House prices in Pendle are a lot less expensive compared to the average of £215,000 in England and Wales.
House prices have changed by 6.9 per cent between 2012 and 2016 - a slightly worse performance than the average constituency where house prices have changed by 11.5 per cent after inflation

COST OF LIVING
The median weekly wage for full-time workers in Pendle is £469.00, much lower than the average of £541 a week across the whole of Britain.
This is a change of 0.7 per cent when compared to 2012. Wages across Britain have dropped by 1.8 per cent in that time.
In Pendle 23.0 per cent of children live in low-income families.
This is a slightly greater proportion compared to the national average of 20.0 per cent across the UK.
House prices were approximately 3.9 times greater than the annual median wage in the constituency compared to the average of 7.6 in England and Wales in 2016.
This represents a change of 6.2 per cent from 2012 when house prices were 3.7 times more expensive than the median wage.
Nationally this change was 13.5 per cent.

IMMIGRATION
According to the 2011 census 89.1 per cent of people in Pendle were born in the UK. This is a slightly lower proportion than the 91.8 per cent average for England and Wales.
Additionally, 14.5 foreigners per 1,000 residents sought to get National Insurance numbers from the Department for Work and Pensions in 2016.
This is slightly more than the average of 12.6 per 1,000 and a change of 129.9 per cent when compared to 2012.

HEALTH
You live within the boundary of NHS East Lancashire CCG.
84 per cent of patients in the CCG area are satisfied with their overall experience at the GP, slightly lower than the average of 85.2 per cent.
75.3 per cent of patients say they were satisfied with the opening times of their GP surgery, about the same as the average of 75.9 per cent.
Hospitals are set targets to treat people within 18 weeks after they have been referred by a consultant and to start cancer treatment within 62 days (two months) of diagnosis.
In NHS East Lancashire CCG, 92.4 per cent of those referred by a consultant were treated within 18 weeks - slightly higher than the average of 89.2 per cent.

PENSIONS
There are 16,144 people aged 65 and over in Pendle meaning that 17.9 per cent of the population is of pension age - comparable to the UK average of 17.8 per cent.
In Pendle £1.39 million was spent on pensions for every 1,000 residents in 2015/16, similar to the national average of £1.41 million per 1,000 people.

[Stanley]

In addition. Some wards in Pendle and Burnley have some of the highest infant mortality rates in the UK.
It's polling day and I shall exercise my democratic right as soon as they open. I shall keep the faith and vote Labour, I can do no other.
Walking is good for thinking and the thought that entered my head was again 'Strong and Stable'. This from a party whose Leader and Chancellor scuttled after the referendum and this led to May getting the leadership with no mandate. Contrast this with the terrible Corbyn who was overwhelmingly elected by the membership and when challenged repeated the exercise with an increased vote. So who is strong and stable?

[Pluggy]

I voted. I'll not say who but I will say its was not Conservative.

One of the reasons (albeit a minor one) I got seriously p*ssed off with the number of tory ads on Youtube. Not setting out any policies but solely about rubbishing JC.

I decided that Xenophobia was no basis for a system of government. (apologies to Monty Python).

[Tripps]

For me it's the 'lesser of two weevils'

[plaques]

We can always say that OG did its bit.

He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Corbyn
He that shall see this day, and live old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say "To-morrow is Corbyn's Day."
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say "These wounds I had on Corbyn's day."
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words—

With apologies to William S and especially to China who thought he had heard the last of him.

[Stanley]

Good reasoning Pluggy....
I'm listening to the results programme and one thing seems certain, President May's gamble has failed miserably. Good!!
Later at 05:20 as I get geared up for the day. You all know what's happening, no need for me to remind you. Who would have thought that at this stage the big political question would be whether President May will resign this morning! I'm so glad that her opportunist grab for absolute power has been rejected. I have always said that the Tory policies were bound to fail eventually but didn't expect this and I am grateful to Mrs May for hastening the day. What interests me at the moment is how the rebellious Tory backbenchers are going to react. Everybody is discussing what the final position will be but nobody appears to be factoring in the possibility that the Tories are going to have a massive internal battle triggered by the fact that many will be absolutely livid with the failure of the campaign. It will make their position of characterising the Labour party as being riven by dissent untenable.
Another thing I am pleased about is that the right wing media policy of monstering Jeremy Corbyn has failed completely, he comes out of this as the best campaigner and the best hope for Labour. It will be interesting to see what effect this has on the Blairites.
I am a much happier bunny this morning. We are almost certainly going to have a hung parliament and possibly another election. Hard to see what this does for Brexit and our standing in Europe.