POLITICS CORNER

[plaques]

Labour should be homing in now on opposition to ditching worker's rights not arguing about who did what. Many of the things Blair said yesterday ware right but he too is partisan and should keep his nose out. He had his spell at the wicket and as I remember it didn't go well. There is a school that would argue that it was his move to the right which triggered the resurgence of the far left.

Every time privatization is mentioned in the NHS or schools. the answer is always 'well its your man that started it'. Then we have Private Finance Initiative (PFI) introduced under the Conservatives but expanded under Blair to a point where it became an embarrassing scam. Corbyn is often criticized for talking to rebel groups to find a mutual solution but compared to Blair who in his first six years in office, ordered British troops into combat five times, more than any other prime minister in British history. This included Iraq in both 1998 and 2003, Kosovo (1999), Sierra Leone (2000) and Afghanistan (2001). I can never understand the logic that requires a 'statesman' to kill people. How long before Johnson and his pal Trump to go down this road again. Nothing like a good war, now downgraded to conflict, but still amounts to killing people, to take your mind off whats going on at home.

[Tizer]

My message is disregard leadership elections, they will sort themselves out. Watch Johnson! He is running on adrenaline and so are his advisers. They will make mistakes and go too far too fast forgetting promises. I fear that damage is going to be done.....

I agree with that. We need a strong opposition party to fight him. If Labour want to be it then they need to decide which Labour they are - left, centre, right, remain, leave - then get on with the job. It's a great opportunity for them because there'll be lots of opportunities to remind him of his promises and take him to task when he fails to deliver.

I chanced on this cartoon later in the day...

[Stanley]

Good cartoon Tiz and exactly right.
Watched Corbyn yesterday in the clips from the House. He is damaging the party simply by being there. He should leave immediately and make room for a caretaker. As things stand he is going to be a dead hand on any opposition until at least March 2020 just when Labour should be mounting a credible attack. There are plenty of targets!
Later, I see that Dominic Cummings has been tasked with telling the top brass in the armed forces where they are going wrong. He's already talking to some of them. What could possibly go wrong?

[PanBiker]

Watched Corbyn yesterday in the clips from the House. He is damaging the party simply by being there. He should leave immediately and make room for a caretaker.

How do we choose a caretaker? More bother than it's worth when you already have a change of leadership on the books. The fact that we do it properly rather than an effective nod from the 1922 committee is enough. There is nothing wrong with the current Labour manifesto on the big things that Boris will target. I'm more concerned with the likes of Blair sticking his two pennorth in, he should be in jail for war crimes in my book.

[Tripps]

Despite references to the matter in the election campaign, with talk of phasing it out altogether, and decriminalising the non payment of the fee, those paying attention will have noticed there was no mention of the matter in yesterday's Queen's Speech.

With poetic timing I had a letter today containing 'your new free TV licence'. It runs out however on May 31st 2020.

[Tizer]

Watched Corbyn yesterday in the clips from the House. He is damaging the party simply by being there. He should leave immediately and make room for a caretaker. As things stand he is going to be a dead hand on any opposition until at least March 2020 just when Labour should be mounting a credible attack.

I agree with Stanley. His presence is dragging down the Party's reputation even further. You will have seen all those newspaper front pages with the same photo - Johnson grinning at the camera and Corbyn looking off into the distance. It's so easy to show him in a bad light and provide the Tories with plenty of opportunities to embarrass Labour.

[PanBiker]

I agree with Stanley. His presence is dragging down the Party's reputation even further.

I reiterate, how do you choose a "caretaker"? There is a defined procedure in the party rule book. If you choose to ignore it you get into the same crap that was tried by the Blairite faction of the NEC a few years ago.

[Tripps]

Trying hard to stay out of this but failing

Haven't labour had caretaker leaders before? Harriet Harman and Margaret Becket? I don't know the detail, and I guess the situation is not the same now.

[plaques]

Don't you lot read any history? The last thing you do is leave a vacuum where no one is in charge and there is no direction within the party. The right-wing media would love it because it lets them take control of the agenda without any responsibility. Once the runners and riders line up for the leadership there will be a feeding frenzy of who they think is best for the job. Meanwhile Johnson will gloat over his victory and conveniently forget the promises he made in the run up to the election.
Good news for those on minimum wages. The current £8.21 minimum may not go up to £10.50 over the next 5 years, it would have been £9.52 over this time with a 3% per year increase anyway. Knowing that there will be no change to their poverty levels they can now organize their lives accordingly. Food banks will carry on as normal but decent outdoor sleeping spots may be harder to find. Meanwhile Corbyn growls, what else can he do?

[PanBiker]

Spot on P. There will be a new leader in place elected by the membership in due course according to our rule book. Worst scenario is a knee jerk reaction just to please the media and the opposition, JC made this plain in his post election speech and he is right. Watch your emails Stanley (I assume you are signed up for party notifications as a paid up member). You will get your opportunity to make your choice in due course. There will be plenty of information on all the candidates during the run up to the ballot. The policies in our manifesto were well received on the doorstep they will suffice to hold the Tories to account in the short term. There is nothing we can do anyway to block Boris he holds all the cards, for the moment. Outside of open revolution on the street there is little that can be done under our present system. The first option may come at some point when reality dawns.

[Tripps]

according to our rule book.

I looked at the rule book - it runs to over a hundred pages, and the procedure to elect a new leader seems complex. I think it might be complicated by the fact that the post of Deputy Leader is currently vacant. Of course there is no vacancy for Leader at the moment.

My flippant side can't help thinking of Fred Kite whilst reading the rules.

[PanBiker]

I looked at the rule book - it runs to over a hundred pages, and the procedure to elect a new leader seems complex.

Yes the rule book is over a hundred pages but the bit about leader and deputy leader is only two pages worth.. Chapter 4, pages 21 and part of 22.

[Stanley]

The principles behind the Labour Manifesto were spot on but the execution was horrible. In particular the surprise offer of free fibre broadband puzzled many, including me.
I still say that Labour is hampered in presenting a viable opposition until a Leader is elected and the sooner it happens the better.
David was quite right to point out that we have had caretakers before who did a good job. Harriet is still available....

[chinatyke]

Won’t you join our Common Market? said the Spider to the Fly,
It really is a winner and the cost is not too high,
I know De Gaulle said “Non”, but he hadn’t got a clue,
We want you in, my friends and I, for we have plans for you.
You’ll have to pay a little more than we do, just for now,
As Herr Kohl said, and I agree, we need a new milch cow.
It’s just a continental term believe me, mon ami,
Like “Vive la France” or “Mad Anglais” or even “E.E.C.”
As to the rules, don’t worry friend, there’s really but a few,
You’ll find that we ignore them – but they all apply to you!
Give and share between us, that’s what it’s all about
You do all the giving, and we all share it out.
It’s very British, is it not, to help a friend in need?
You’ve done it twice in two World Wars, a fact we must concede,
So climb aboard the Market Train, don’t sit there on the side,
Your continental cousins want to take you for a ride.

Sent to me by a friend, attributed to EVIE2012

[plaques]

We could always ask the queen to pick someone like Sir Alec Douglas-Hume when Macmillan retired. But I'm forgetting the rules have changed since then. So we are back to the Express newspapers to chose one for us.

[Stanley]

The thing that really concerns me at the moment is the fact that the election was fought on what I believe was a false premise, that Brexit had to be done, uncertainty banished and equilibrium achieved in Parliament. In support of this the Johnson message has been unrelenting Boys Own rhetoric about this great nation moving forward into a golden future on the wave of power induced by sovereignty over our affairs.
My problem with this is that if this is possible it is against all the global tides of trade and finance that we are seeing. Every regime is struggling as the economic and political indices tighten, the stock markets are convinced there will eventually be a crash, trading in shorts and debt are the rule and not the exception. In other words, everything that Thomas Piketty forecast. UK figures are no different.
Is Johnson really unaware of this? Or is the present stance simply his bid to get us in a position where, when trade talks fail at the end of next year, we can crash out and convert to the largest predatory economy in the world? Look at the donors to the Project, they are all institutions and people who can profit from a melt-down and lax regulation.
If he is ignorant of these facts, he must be a fool. If he isn't he is a con-man. I don't think he is ignorant. I think he and the Party are pursuing an agenda that we have not been made party to and by the time we wake up to this it will be a fait accompli and we will be doomed to the consequences.
That's why I am so wary of the amendments we have seen to the Brexit Bill. They all point the same way, towards paving the way to a 19th century ethos where capital is king. We will see more clearly the direction of travel when the Brexit Bill is passed and in law. The Tories are then in a position to do whatever they want.
We will see then if I am on the right scent.....

[plaques]

This will probably fall under the heading 'extreme' conspiracy theories, but before dismissing it out of hand think about it for a minute. Corbyn has come under some of the most viperous propaganda unleashed by the right-wing press, even now You Tube is running selected extracts where he is smashed, bashed and skewered. The question is 'why all this extended vendetta? My explanation is that our Monarchy and the Palace Mafia are adding their weight to get Corbyn. Why? becomes more obvious when you think of his background.
A declared republican. Reason enough to stop him.
Proposing a written constitution. No more ' some are more equal than others'.
Review of tax breaks and property ownership. No more voluntary tax payments, If the tax payer pays for the property why is it free to them?
Finally if the EU fails completely, ie the collective European Republic goes under is there a chance that the European Monarchy will re-establish itself again?

Plenty of reasons here to stop left-wing thinking, it nearly happened to Harold Wilson, but after saying all this you will never see it in the newspapers.

[Stanley]

I won't scoff at you P. Not sure if you are right but what I do agree with is that there is a clique in the Establishment who I can well believe would not shy away from extreme measures like some version of a coup supported by the armed forces. We all know that there are examples in the past that can only be satisfactorily explained by dirty tricks not too far distanced from the security establishment, think Wilson and Scargill just for starters then think about the Derek Hatton affair and the number of accusations and court cases that all came to nothing. Then look at the shameful way John Stalker was treated when he had the temerity to tell the truth about 'shoot to kill' in Northern Ireland. I'm sure all these things are on your mind also. So no, I'm not scoffing, just saying that nothing would surprise me. (Except perhaps if Brexit turned out to be the key to a golden future. Now that would be a surprise. But no, too far fetched!)

[Tizer]

Sorry, Plaques, but I don't go with your conspiracy theory. There's no need for any conspiracies, there's far too much incompetence and denial to need any conspiracy; and there's quite enough vested interest about to do the job of wrecking us without conspiracies. Take climate change for instance. Decades ago we could have been tackling the problem and we wouldn't be in such a dangerous state now and faced with such serious restrictions on our consumption of energy and food. More than that, we could have been taking economic advantage of the situation. The UK should have thrown itself into renewable energy early on and led the world in its development. The redundant workers such as miners and shipbuilders could have been retrained and given jobs in these new industries. Instead it's been decades of satisfying vested interests, and misinformation and denial.

There are other examples. The anti-vax campaigns and the return of major diseases. The failure to control antibiotic use in human medicine and veterinary care, leading to resistance. The failure to control the big tech companies that run social media and allow so much abuse, misinformation, pornography and gambling. Widespread pollution with chemicals and plastics. Fraud in large companies. Charity bosses earning half a million pounds. All this goes on and little is done about it.

[plaques]

You are right Tizer. I only used the word 'conspiracy' because I can't 100% prove it. There is enough evidence to say that the Royal family will go to any lengths to maintain the status quo. The rest of your comments are very important issues that detract from their political interference. Just a simple question why does Johnson have to see the queen every week to tell her what's going on? No records, nothing in writing and does the Queen just sit there and take it?

[Sue]

Sorry, Plaques, but I don't go with your conspiracy theory. There's no need for any conspiracies, there's far too much incompetence and denial to need any conspiracy; and there's quite enough vested interest about to do the job of wrecking us without conspiracies. Take climate change for instance. Decades ago we could have been tackling the problem and we wouldn't be in such a dangerous state now and faced with such serious restrictions on our consumption of energy and food. More than that, we could have been taking economic advantage of the situation. The UK should have thrown itself into renewable energy early on and led the world in its development. The redundant workers such as miners and shipbuilders could have been retrained and given jobs in these new industries. Instead it's been decades of satisfying vested interests, and misinformation and denial.

There are other examples. The anti-vax campaigns and the return of major diseases. The failure to control antibiotic use in human medicine and veterinary care, leading to resistance. The failure to control the big tech companies that run social media and allow so much abuse, misinformation, pornography and gambling. Widespread pollution with chemicals and plastics. Fraud in large companies. Charity bosses earning half a million pounds. All this goes on and little is done about it.

I couldn’t have put it better myself. I was teaching all these climate , pollution and environmental issues in the 1980s and the antibiotic and vaccination issues in the 1990s. I was even teaching about phage therapy as a replacement for antibiotics in the early 90s. Nothing has changed however.

[Stanley]

I see that Lindsay Hoyle has said that John Bercow should, as is the custom, be offered a peerage. Well done that Man!

[Tripps]

I hear today that the First Floosie will acompany the P.M. when he visits the White House, and meets the President, and the First Lady. . Has anyone seen any odds as whether she will be still on the scene for the full duration of the Parliament. Unless the press keep all the pressure off, (which is possible), I doubt she will.

[plaques]

Tripps have you been reading the tabloids again?
Tizer & Sue I was making the point that one of the vested interests is our Monarchy, whether you believe it or not is up to you, that is what they call democracy.
Taking some of the issues mentioned, which I agree have world wide implications, who do you think should have ownership of them. Clearly those with their snouts in the trough will carry on with the status quo as long as possible. Only when the gravy train hits the buffers will they change their attitude and redirect their capital into what has been obvious to everybody else for years. With the rise of global economies we are told it must have collective decisions before we can make any headway yet every day America is trying to increase its hegemony over other free trading countries using sanctions to get their way. Now with Johnson and 'get Brexit done' we are handing even more of industry over to them without any real parliamentary discussion. The same applies to Tax evasion. Once it was 'we must follow what the EU says they have clout than us '. Now we are going to ignore their rules at every opportunity. Forget what you would like to see and remember you are dealing with a bunch of charlatans and rogues. But as they say 'that is the will of the people' so sit back and enjoy the ride into the abyss.

[Stanley]

I suspect P is right but we must sit back and wait and see what happens. I don't have a good feeling about it.
As for the Monarchy, what happens when Phil and Brenda shuffle off the coil? It might take care of itself. What I object to is the crooked honours system, undeserved privilege and the modern version of devil take the hindmost greedy capitalism.